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This Thread Spoils Peacemaker; you know you want to click it
Topic Started: Apr 1 2014, 01:07 PM (3,435 Views)
Mitha
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I wonder how much the armor weighs and what damage it does to the Bu-javid floor.

One has no doubt that if the armor in any way scuffed the parquet or tore the carpeting we would have heard about it.

Which leaves the question of how heavy the armor is.

I believe we do know that the planet has higher gravity than the ship. Possibly the armor is made from some hi-tech lightweight unobtainium sort of material.

Or, hmmm. There must be some sort of "artificial" gravity on the ship and the station. So...could this generated gravity be used "in reverse" to make the armor weigh less than it would otherwise? And so then...could the armor *fly*???

:baji :t
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Eupathic Impulse
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No, the ship and station rotate for gravity.
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Xheralt
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Unlike most of the rest of :cherryh:'s ouput, this book peaks kind of early, rather than packing all the action into the last 50 pages. Not sure if it was an improvement, I kept expecting something more to happen, especially given the deceptive cover blurb I alluded to earlier. Haven't gone back for the more in-detail re-read yet. Will comment more once I have.
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Eupathic Impulse
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I appreciated the difference. They had to have the party.

I wonder what the suits do to make Kaplan and Polano comfortable enough to stand there for several hours completely immobile. Sedated until some kind of instantaneous reactivation at need? Are Guild techs busily trying to figure out how to build their own?
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weeble
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I imagine they can 'lock' the suits then wiggle around in there a fair amount. The armor makes them considerably taller, Banichi's height, so I figure they sort of work like Ripley's loader in Aliens, only with guns rather than pincers!

There was a lot of wrap-up and regroup in this one, but we still end up with a fair amount unresolved.

We have to wait a year??? Sigh
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hrhspence
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Am I the only one that felt that this could have been a good place to wrap up and end the whole series?
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weeble
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!!!!

There's the whole Kyo plot line just hanging...

I mean, in a lot of ways the wrap up was there, and realistically, it COULD be a place to end it, but I think there's lots of story yet to come!
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hrhspence
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I am sorry to say this so publicly, but I am more than a bit ready for some other story line, almost any other storyline.
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Kokipy

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I don't disagree. But she has almost finished no. 16 and so there are at least two more after that one, I expect. I like this series hugely but I agree it is a shame she couldn't clone herself, one to keep on with Bren et al and the other to go where her fancy takes her. When you see the great variety that people like Neal Stephenson and Ian McDonald, and even someone like Walter Jon Williams, are capable of, it makes you yearn for a contractually unfettered CJC.
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Reptile

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Maybe it's partly a question of markets in a very difficult sales environment.

That said, I am very fond of the Bren plot/situational twists. But I live in a multicultural environment here in New York and, for example in volunteer work at a nearby senior center, have to constantly interact in two (or more) languages. And my Spanish is pretty good, but not quite fluent.

And as an English major with a fascination for historical development, the issues Cherryh deals with in this series resonate deeply.

Furthermore, I like her contemplative moments and my favorite book of all is Cyteen.

But others may have different tastes; c'est la vie.
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Eupathic Impulse
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It's largely a market issue. But yes, she needs to at least bring us Kyo closure. I don't know how she's going to do that in three more books, though...
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BlueCatShip
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It's a different viewpoint for me altogether, since I got into the Foreigner series very recently, and am only now getting back near my old reading habits. (Oh, but it feels good to enjoy reading again!)

What attracted me to CJC's writing initially...could probably fill a book in itself...but the major points were a tight and visual quality to her writing, and the realistic treatment of language and culture and history, with humans and aliens who weren't just cardboard cutouts or (ahem) bumpy foreheads and makeup.

I'm an English major originally, with a strong "foreign" language bent and some technical background too. So history and thinking that differs from my own American background are naturally attractive to me. It's something of why I like science fiction in general. It's exotic. It's weird. But then, I don't quite fit neatly into my own native-born culture, so there's that too.

I am very much enjoying the Foreigner books now that I'm reading them. -- But I'm a little daunted that I'm on book 3 out of 16, and will read 15 out of sequence. -- And I've loved her other books, so I'm eager to see her get to write more brand-new, original books, or books continuing her other series. (Compact/Chanur especially, but Alliance/Union too and, and, and....)

She's written book 16 or nearly done with it, and that means two more in that trilogy. Past that, we don't know.

I'm looking forward to the hint that the short story / stories upcoming may be something other than Foreigner. It would be so good to see something like that.

She's bound to have other ideas percolating, continuing other series / universes, or brand-new tales. I hope we get to see those too.

Who me? Greedy? For good stories, yes, of course!
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Kokipy

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I would really advise against reading them out of sequence. Decades pass between #3 and fifteen. It really won't make any sense at all to do it this way. Much better to be slow and patient and take them as they were written.
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Reptile

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I agree with reading in sequence. If I remember correctly, about ten years (?) pass between 3-4 (developing the space program), maybe two-three years in the next trilogy, then maybe a year for 10-15.
If this sounds like odd spacing, it really does make sense. Also, these books aren't 800 pages long a la Robert Jordan/GRR Martin/Cyteen.

Enjoy!
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ready
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Ideally one would read all the books in order, BUT if one wants to jump into the series, such as a person who has not read CJC before, I believe that Peacemaker with its' history of the Aishidi'tat is a great place to decide whether one wants to pick up the rest of the series. With books 4, 5, and 6 not yet available in an e format, reading this book could be a smart solution to the "Do I or don't I get the whole series" dilemma. My personal recommendation is to read books 1 through 3 and then read Peacemaker (15) to see if you are interested enough to go through the rest. Peacemaker is particularly easy to read because it doesn't take 50 pages to get into, and the action is scattered throughout the book.

All that being said I'd love to see a completely new book unrelated to any of the previous books/series. CJC doesn't need to stroke our egos by pandering to our wants, only written what runs screaming for outlet in her mind. She does deserve our support in her doing what will keep her housed, clothed, and fed. If that includes writing in her most successful universe, so be it.

If you want more of different books, you can always support CJC by making a donation on the Closed Circle site, and leave a short message with your donation to that effect. It's time we put up or shut up!
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