Traveller-digest     Wednesday, August 18 1999     Volume 1999 : Number 976



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Stereotyped Gamers...
Piper / Hal Clement...
Re: Stereotyped Gamers... 
Re: Starship Combat Question...
RE: Army Bases
Re: Ethically challenged merchants
Re: Army Bases?
Re: Starship Combat Question...
Re: Fast Food 
RE: Starship Combat Question
Andre Norton Followups...
Elizabeth Moon...
Odd Lights in the Sky!!!!
Re: Army Bases
Speech drift (was RE: Stereotyped Gamers...)
Re: Squad Leader
Re: Pronunciation (was Re: Stereotyped Gamers...)
Re: Stereotyped Gamers... 
Re: Army Bases
Re: Speech drift (was RE: Stereotyped Gamers...)
RE: Pronunciation (was Re: Stereotyped Gamers...)
Re: Army Bases?
Re: Piper / Hal Clement...
Re: Squad Leader
Close but no cigar on Hal Clement...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 10:22:52 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Stereotyped Gamers...

> If you affected the Latin pronunciation it would sound something like 
> "ore Anne us"

I was only joking, but that's interesting. The latin is neither the old way
or the new-fangled "Yur in us"? Silly Skin Monkeys.
BZA
////////////////////////////////////////
Akella 0609 C654474-6 S kk+ hi++ as+ va+ dr+ da+ so@ zh- vi+  A523
IMTU tc++ ?t4 ru@ 3i+(-) c+ jt au@ st- ls+ pi+ ta@ he+

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 10:28:07 -0700
From: shudson@lightspeed.bc.ca (Steven Hudson)
Subject: Piper / Hal Clement...

>From: "Jason Kemp" <Jason.Kemp@tdh.state.tx.us>
>Subject: Hal Clement...
...
>"Mission of Gravity" is technically flawed in world design, but the 
>race of creatures he describes on the ellipsoid world are very cool.
>
>"Cycle of Fire" (?) talks about a world and her large moon, both of 
>which are inhabited by different species which make contact with one 
>another and eventually destroy themselves.

  Piper, "First Cycle", IIRC.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 10:30:23 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Stereotyped Gamers... 

> If a certain region had high levels of 
> media-trade and cross settlement there might be a regional (subsector)
> accent, but I think it would mostly be a planet by planet thing if there is
> no FTL communication.

This was my thought, now, what regions have the best chance of a
trans-steller accent? I would doubt the Spinward Marches, as they are a
border zone. How about Corrider? It is a border zone, but it also is the
only way "Behind the Claw", so I imagine some mighty concentrated traffic.

I would also imagine that Spacers (as opposed to grounders) would have a
more cosmopolitan accent.
BZA
////////////////////////////////////////
Akella 0609 C654474-6 S kk+ hi++ as+ va+ dr+ da+ so@ zh- vi+  A523
IMTU tc++ ?t4 ru@ 3i+(-) c+ jt au@ st- ls+ pi+ ta@ he+

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 10:38:59 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Starship Combat Question...

> I think you are getting *too* detailed.

I'm tempted to say the same, but only in regards to the starship combat.
Have you considered one round of starship combat followed by, say, five
rounds of personal combat? Or another scale.
BZA
////////////////////////////////////////
Akella 0609 C654474-6 S kk+ hi++ as+ va+ dr+ da+ so@ zh- vi+  A523
IMTU tc++ ?t4 ru@ 3i+(-) c+ jt au@ st- ls+ pi+ ta@ he+

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:45:27 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: Army Bases

Kenneth Bearden writes:
>I'm trying to figure out how likely it is that the Imperial Army
>maintains a base on a specific world.
<snipped>

	In keeping with the "governing the space between the worlds" 
	philosophy oft alluded to on the TML, IMTU there is no Imperial 
	Army.  If ground troops are really needed, the Impy Marines are
	sent in.

Peez

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 18:15:36 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Ethically challenged merchants

>Boarding Tactics
>(#1) Inform the disabled ship that their lives will be spared provided that
>they surrender.
<SNIP the rest>

Technology Defeats Technology.
People Defeat People.

Using psychology is usually the best way to win a battle. (Someday maybe
even the Pentagon will figure that one out. <g>)

Nick
- ---
*To avoid charges of hypocrisy when comparing this to earlier posts, I'd
like to state that I'm an affirmed Gearhead, and prefer, even when the
technical solutions aren't the best ones, to examine them anyway. I leave
the choice of solution up to the buyer/officer.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 18:25:20 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Army Bases?

>But, that same source doesn't state whether an Imperial Naval base
>usually has an accompaning Army base with it.


I always assumed that due to the way the Imperium works, the Fleets were the
big thing, and each world will have its own army (unlike the Zho's, where
the only Army is under Consular command). That would account for the vast
majority of ground troops in Imperial space.

As far as Imperial Army units went, I figured that they'd be fairly
self-mobile, attached to fleets and covering a subsector or larger area.
When a conflict blew up, the IN Fleet would secure the area and the Imperial
Marines would perform the initial beachhead operations with meteoric drops
and assault shuttles. If the conflict required extensive
pacification/peacekeeping, then the Army units would follow up, in big
lumbering noncombatant troop transports. This saves your highly specialist
Marines for doing what they're best at - space and orbital assaults.

Well, that's what I figured, anyhows.

Nick

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 18:34:32 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Starship Combat Question..

>OK, I'm gearing up to start my campaign.  I'm going to start off with a
>bang (literally) and have the characters involved in a ship-to-ship
>combat as well as personal combat on the deck of the ship they are in.


Mmmm. Nice. :-)

>What I'm trying to figure out is...


I know you're using CT systems, and that's cool. To provide another
perspective, here are the TNE numbers. I bring these up because TNE is
pretty definite about exactly how mnay shots are going off in what time,
etc. Use or ignore as you wish.

>How fast can a starship weapon fire?


Depends. The baseline energy weapon fires at around once per three minutes
(180 seconds). This gets 10 shots off in a half-hour BL turn. Weapons may be
designed to fire faster (consuming more power), firing at ROF 50 (once every
36 seconds), ROF 100 (every 18 seconds), ROF 200 (every 9 seconds), ROF 400
(every 4.5 seconds) or for the fastest PD lasers, ROF 800 (every 2.25
seconds).

Missiles are usually a lot slower, due to the fact they weigh a couple tons
each and have to be loaded into a launch tube mechanically.

>How long does it take a starship scale laser to recharge and be ready to
>go after a shot?  Can missile launchers fire every 5 seconds?


Lasers take the times listed above to recharge (constant power input
spinning up an HPG or capacitor bank).

Autoloaded launchers under FFS take about five minutes to recycle and load a
new missile. I always presumed this accounts for powering up the missile,
electronic bootup, nav system alignment etc.

>I'm assuming that system is somewhat abstract, and any damage involved
>is the result of several shots that may have missed the target
>ship--with a few getting lucky and doing damage.  We make the to hit
>throw once, but that throw is representing several times the gunner
>fired the weapon during that 16 and a half minutes (the 1000 second
>turn).


Same idea; FFS gives you one hit roll for that time, but the weapon may have
fired up to 600-odd shots. (It's just that the chances of each one hitting
are damn low at a few hundred thousand kilometres, so you spray and pray).
The faster you fire, the better hit-roll bonuses you get.

Of course, if you're closing to boarding ranges, the whole dynamic changes,
since each shot has a good chance of hitting the target. At real close
ranges, I'd agree that kind of turn would be appropriate.

Nick

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 18:46:36 +0100
From: "Nick Bradbeer" <nickb@ndirect.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Fast Food 

> Hmm ... care to expound about those two items a bit more? I recall
>something, but not enough to count, and I'd appreciate a refresher.


I'd rather not expound too much more, if you'll pardon my abrupt silence.

In any case, I'm far from being an expert on this kind of thing. (Antti
would be the better person to ask).

Nick

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:50:21 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: Starship Combat Question

Leonard Erickson writes:
>I think you are getting *too* detailed. Even at the velocities
>involved, due to the *distances* involved only lasers will have moved
>significantly. And at most combat ranges they'll *still* be fired and
>hit/miss in the same "turn". Though at longer ranges (over 2.5 light
>seconds = over 750,000 km) the light waves *telling* you that you git
>or missed won't get there until the next turn. 

	Everyone has their limit as to how much detail to deal with,
	but 5-second space combat rounds is certainly going to be 
	slow going.  On the other hand, not knowing whether or not
	your last shot hit until next round could add something to
	the play.

Peez

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:57:56 EDT
From: Diespamer@aol.com
Subject: Andre Norton Followups...

Greetings:

To followup on my recently posted list of reading suggestions...

Jory Earl (j-man@iname.com) asked about "Firehand" with P.M. Griffin. My book 
collection is home, I'm at work, but I think it's around 3-5 years old. It 
was the first of these collaborative efforts to come out (before any of the 
Solar Queen followups). From what I've heard, they are working on another 
book...called something like "Time War" or "Mind War". Not sure of a 
publication date.

(BTW, Jory, it's "Diespamer"...as in what I wish those folks who so kindly 
send me all those porn links would do...die spamer...)

Leonard Erickson (shadow@krypton.rain.com) had a few questions/comments...

Thanks for the note about "Ordeal in Otherwhere", I've modified my list...

I agree on "Galactic Derelict". For those of you who have not read the 
series, "Time Trader" takes place on Earth, during the "present/near future" 
when we are still in the Cold War with the USSR. Part of that war extends 
into time travel. Agents are sent into the past, and part of their adventure 
involves discovering wrecked spaceships. "Galactic Derelict" has the 
characters (some old, some new for the book) discover a fully operational 
starship that they try to bring into the future (their present). However, the 
engines are activated and they are sent on a trip where they have to learn 
the controls, learn how to refuel, figure out what stuff in the lockers is 
edible, etc. A good book. "Defiant Agents" and "Key Out of Time" take place 
several years later when humans have copied the alien technology and are 
travelling on their own. "Firehand" is probably most directly a sequel to 
"Time Traders" and the title refers to an incident in that book.

As for Leonard's other suggestions...I've used a lot of Robert A. Heinlein, 
Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, Andre Norton, Poul Anderson (a lot of his 
stuff!), Hal Clement...the list can go on for quite a while! Someday when I 
have some of that Free Time that people wish they had more of I'll put up a 
web page and one of the resources will be books that I've read that would 
help in a SF RPG campaign!

The Winston "juvie" SF collection! Man, I've got about 3/4 of them, and they 
are hard to find in good condition (I've got a few without dust jackets that 
you might want Leonard, contact me and I'll forward titles to you ). "Battle 
on Mercury", "Eric Van Lhin" was a pen name that Lester Del Rey used (usually 
by himself, but once he wrote a book with Frederic Pohl and they used that 
name together). Lester Del Rey also wrote the "Philip St. John" books 
("Rocket Jockey" and "Rockets to Nowhere") that appeared in the Winston SF 
Series. I've never been able to locate a copy of "Mystery of the Third Mine" 
or "Stadium Beyond the Stars". "Trouble on Titan" I agree is excellent. 

In addition to Nourse's "Scavengers in Space", I would also recommend several 
other of his books. He wrote a "Doctor to the Stars" series of short stories. 
I'll have to dig up all the titles that I've used by him and I'll post that 
later...Murray Leinster (I'm reminding myself) also wrote some "Doctor to the 
Stars" style stories that would work, and of course there's James Whites 
"Sector General/Star Surgeon" series (still going strong after what...50 odd 
years?????). See, I told you I could go on and on with book suggestions!

Fred Kiesche
(e-mail: Diespamer@aol.com)
(SF Fan Since 1964)
(Amateur Astronomer Since 1965)
(Traveller Since 1977)
(Father Since 1998)

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:58:05 EDT
From: Diespamer@aol.com
Subject: Elizabeth Moon...

Greetings:

For all of those who wrote and said that they had tried or looked at 
Elizabeth Moon's fantasy and were turned off...try her SF! I was in the same 
boat, then read a chunk of "Hunting Party" while in a bookstore. 

It is vastly different and much improved in style. I don't think you'll 
regret it!

Fred Kiesche
(e-mail: Diespamer@aol.com)
(Personal SF Library 3k volumes and--unfortunately, in my wife's 
opinion--growing!)

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:58:20 EDT
From: Diespamer@aol.com
Subject: Odd Lights in the Sky!!!!

Greetings:

- --begin paste--

Any thoughts on that odd light? A new type of quasar the guy said? And only
one? Odd, very very odd.

- --end paste--

It's a Dyson Sphere! It's a Dyson Sphere! Oh! Oh! Oh! We found one!

(It would be great, would it not?)

Fred Kiesche
(e-mail: Diespamer@aol.com)

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:06:39 -0500
From: Black ICE <wombat@premier.net>
Subject: Re: Army Bases

Ian Ferguson wrote:
> 
> Kenneth Bearden writes:
> >I'm trying to figure out how likely it is that the Imperial Army
> >maintains a base on a specific world.
> <snipped>
> 
>         In keeping with the "governing the space between the worlds"
>         philosophy oft alluded to on the TML, IMTU there is no Imperial
>         Army.  If ground troops are really needed, the Impy Marines are
>         sent in.

The problem with this approach is that it invalidates the canon relating
to the Fifth Frontier War.  As I look through TNS entries for that
period, there are numerous references to Imperial Army forces.  Further,
there is a distinction in the FFW board game between regular and
colonial forces.

Of course, YTUMV, but I prefer to work, as much as possible, within the
framework of canon.

- -- 
AuricTech Shipyards Journeyman Gearhead
"Gold-Plated [tm] solutions for copper-plated problems!" (r)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/9776

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 11:12:25 -0700
From: "Thing" <gduke@orca.esd114.wednet.edu>
Subject: Speech drift (was RE: Stereotyped Gamers...)

On Tuesday, August 17, 1999 3:41 PM
AveNelso@aol.com said,

>     Yes, to a certain degree this is true, if and only if there is a
> concerted effort to maintain a standard pronunciation.  It is just as
likely
> that a sound change will be spread rapidly by such a media.  If the
> broadcasters adopted a new pronunciation it would make change that much
more
> rapid.

But today, many of the people on Television are taught and coached in
pronunciation, diction and such.  With the bleeding of info-tainment I can
see allot more newscasters and such getting the dialog coaches that the
entertainment industry uses.  It is common for people to be taught what is
thought of as a neutral accent to make there speaking more broadly
understandable.

I was also thinking of the more automated aspects of education.  I work for
a school district with a pretty significant investment in technology and I
always see Teachers trying to offload there duties and re always hungry for
software to do the actual teaching.  The demand for software to test, drill,
and instruct in areas like spelling and such is very high and I constantly
get asked questions about voice recognition software for pronunciation and
such.  I could easily see a future where the average child learns most of
his spoken vocabulary and diction from automated systems and recorded
voices.  I think that this type of education would tend to standardize
speech and build in resistance to drift.

If this type of material was traded between worlds before the long night, it
might have allowed many of the worlds to keep very close to the same speech
patterns.  I would also think that this type of technology would be brought
into a world after the 3I recontacted worlds that had slipped from high tech
as part of the uplift process.

G.D.D.
========
History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.  -Winston Churchill

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 14:33:43 EDT
From: AveNelso@aol.com
Subject: Re: Squad Leader

In a message dated 8/18/99 11:14:52 AM Eastern Daylight Time, j-man@iname.com 
writes:

<< A bit later I asked about the novel's status and he
 said it had fallen somewhat on his list of priorities.  (Sequel to Space
 Viking being another one that he may never get around to writing). >>

    I'm curious did he mention anything about the Falkenberg's Legion/ Sparta 
series?   I'm a big fan of those books and thought the foundation of the 
Spartan hegemony would be very interesting and very Traveller (especially T4 
or TNE) approriate.

            Dave Nelson

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 14:55:13 EDT
From: AveNelso@aol.com
Subject: Re: Pronunciation (was Re: Stereotyped Gamers...)

n a message dated 8/18/99 11:17:27 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
shadow@krypton.rain.com writes:

<< 
 Uranus is pronunounced "YER'n-us" according to the article. I'd have
 written it "YER-uhn-us" but you get the idea. And since it's the name of
 a Greek God, no, the pronunciation *isn't* allowed to shift.
  >>

    The problem is that Uranus is not a Latin word.  It is a Greek word which 
has been transliterated into Latin by modern folk.   The Greek spelling is 
"Ouranos" and the accent is on the LAST syllable (syllable accents are marke 
din Greek writing).  So the authentic pronunciation in Greek would be 
"oo-ran-OS".
Neither Latin nor English likes a final syllable accent so it has to shift to 
one of the other syllables.   I was under the impression at first that the 
middle syllable was long, which would compell it to carry the accent in 
Latin, but have checked and the Greek does show a short a.  SO, your article 
is correct in one sense, a strict Latin pronunciation would be "OO-ran-us".
    As to English,  "Yer-AN-us" and "YER 'anus" are arbitrary choices. The 
first shifts the accent   one place from its original(as so is closer to 
Greek), the second shifts it two places (and so is closer to Latin).  Notice 
that the "Y" sound on the intitial syllable is just an idiosyncratic piece of 
English pronunciation, not found  in Greek or Latin.  "Yer-AN-us" of course 
was the prefered pronunciation unitl there were too many jokes about it.

            Dave Nelson

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 15:03:32 EDT
From: AveNelso@aol.com
Subject: Re: Stereotyped Gamers... 

In a message dated 8/18/99 1:32:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
xrp@sierratel.com writes:

<< is was my thought, now, what regions have the best chance of a
 trans-steller accent? I would doubt the Spinward Marches, as they are a
 border zone. How about Corrider? It is a border zone, but it also is the
 only way "Behind the Claw", so I imagine some mighty concentrated traffic.
  >>

    That sounds like an awfully good place for a regional accent to me as 
well.  But the absolute best place to find such a dialect would be a cluster 
of wordls in close communication who all were settled from the same region of 
a home world.  (The Sword Worlds, or a similar group of worlds settled from a 
district of Sylea)

            Dave Nelson

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 15:06:19 EDT
From: AveNelso@aol.com
Subject: Re: Army Bases

In a message dated 8/18/99 1:46:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
ian@vax2.concordia.ca writes:

<<  In keeping with the "governing the space between the worlds" 
    philosophy oft alluded to on the TML, IMTU there is no Imperial 
    Army.  If ground troops are really needed, the Impy Marines are
    sent in.
  >>

    I have a similar attitude, but figure that the Imperial Army is just a 
call up of planetary armies which serve in exchange for training and 
equipment ungrades during "peace time".  So every world of any size has an 
"Army Base" but it is rather a Planetary Army, which could see Imperial 
Service.  Much as planetary navies do not have a base code listed either.

            Dave Nelson

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 15:19:45 EDT
From: AveNelso@aol.com
Subject: Re: Speech drift (was RE: Stereotyped Gamers...)

In a message dated 8/18/99 2:13:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
gduke@orca.esd114.wednet.edu writes:

<<   I could easily see a future where the average child learns most of
 his spoken vocabulary and diction from automated systems and recorded
 voices.  I think that this type of education would tend to standardize
 speech and build in resistance to drift. >>

    The trouble is that people don't by and large learn their speech patterns 
from school.  They learn from a) mothers  b) teen aged peers.   Neither of 
these sources are likely to be overwhelmed by automated systems, especially 
since the amount of sound change in one single generation is slight enough 
that most people would say "I can't hear the difference"  or "What's the big 
deal".  It takes about a century of really big societal chaos (e.g.  5th to 
6th century Gaul) or several centruies of slow change to mark a complete 
shift in intelligiblity.   In any case the depth of disruption and loss of 
contact over the immense period of the Long Night would unavoidbly cause the 
emergence of thousands of new langauges across Imperial Space developing out 
of Anglic and Vilani.  I would even surmise that varieties of Galanglic would 
arise during the period between the Rebellion and the New Era which would 
call for some difficulties in communication, although not to the point of one 
language per world.
    If you needed to wave away language change in the Long Night, you would 
have to postulate automated diction machines that children were plugged into 
during the first two years of life, since it is during these two years that 
we learn to recognize the sounds that belong to our language or do not.  This 
is why the vast majoity of non-native English speakers never correctly 
pronounce the TH sound, to their ears it sounds like a strange "Z" or "D" 
sound.   Likewise English speakers do not recognize the German u, umlaut as a 
separate sound, it seems like an OO sound.


            Dave Nelson

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 14:59:56 -0500
From: "Moody, Danny M." <DMoody@bridge.com>
Subject: RE: Pronunciation (was Re: Stereotyped Gamers...)

On Wednesday, 18 August 1999 13:55, AveNelso@aol.com [SMTP:AveNelso@aol.com]
wrote:
> "Yer-AN-us" of
> course 
> was the prefered pronunciation unitl there were too many jokes about it.
> 
>             Dave Nelson

<futurama>

Prof.Farnsworth: I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to
end that stupid joke once and for all.

Fry: Oh.  What's it called now?

Prof.Farnsworth: "Urectum."

</futurama>


 -- vargr1                                              UPP-8D9B85 --
The three principle virtues of a good programmer   |   vargr1@jcn1.com
 are Laziness, Impatience, and Hubris.             | dmoody@bridge.com
             ** Omnia dicta fortiora, si dicta latina. **           

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 12:56:41
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <dberry@hooked.net>
Subject: Re: Army Bases?

At 10:58 AM 8/18/99 -0500, you wrote:

>Since there is no standard labeling symbol for the hex maps, I'm
>assuming that Imperial Army bases are usually attached to Scout and
>Naval bases as ground security and additional ground troops.  Army bases
>are probably pretty common, although the size of the base may vary
>widely.

IMTU:

The Imperial Army is the combined Armies of the subsectors.  Each Subsector
raises an Army from the member worlds, and gets Imperial aid to fund and
equip this force to TL14-15 standards.

The main mission of this force is to defend the subsector, and maintain
stability.  Due to the logistical nightmare of moving even a single
division, all but the largest offensive actions are undertaken by the Navy
and Marines.

Each world has it's own army, separate from the Imperial forces, along with
it's Imperial commitment.

If you're interested, I can send you an extended write-up I did on the
subject.
- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       dberry@hooked.net
http://www,hooked.net/~dberry/index.html

There was once a time when the church controlled the government. The laws
of the church were the laws of the land. Belief in God was strong, teachings
of the church were rarely questioned. This time was called The Dark Ages.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 16:59:22 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Piper / Hal Clement...

Cycle of Fire" (?) talks about a world and her large moon, both of
>which are inhabited by different species which make contact with one
>another and eventually destroy themselves.

>  Piper, "First Cycle", IIRC.

Yes, it was H. Beam Piper and Michael Kirkland (sp) who wrote that book.  I
believe the Cycle of Fire reference may be to "Fire Time" by Poul Anderson,
with the lion-headed Centaur people?

___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 17:10:15 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Squad Leader

Dave Nelson asks :
- ---
I'm curious did he mention anything about the Falkenberg's Legion/ Sparta
series?   I'm a big fan of those books and thought the foundation of the
Spartan hegemony would be very interesting and very Traveller (especially T4
or TNE) approriate.
- ---

I didn't ask because I've never read the series.  You could ask him
yourself, he does respond to emails when his busy schedule permits.  He runs
a website known as "Chaos Manor"

Here is the URL :

http://www.jerrypournelle.com/

Here is some info from his current projects :

MAMELUKES by Jerry Pournelle

Working title for the fourth book in the Janissaries series. Jim Baen hates
the title and it will probably have an entirely different title. Introduces
new character and lots of new conflicts. About 45,000 words done and
polished. My current project.


and :

SPARTAN HEGEMONY by Jerry Pournelle, possibly alone. The next volume in the
Sparta series.

FALKENBERG ON KENNICOTT (project title; working title not selected). John
Christian Falkenberg's romance and brief marriage to Grace; takes place
after the WEST OF HONOR sequence in Falkenberg's Legion. Falkenberg is
posted to, and takes command of,  the CoDominium 42nd Line Marines.


___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 17:20:30 EDT
From: Diespamer@aol.com
Subject: Close but no cigar on Hal Clement...

Greetings:

Jason Kemp opined...

- --begin paste--

"Cycle of Fire" (?) talks about a world and her large moon, both of 
which are inhabited by different species which make contact with one 
another and eventually destroy themselves.

- --end paste--

Close...but that's not Clement's book you're describing! That is a book by H. 
Beam Piper, called "First Cycle" (finished by Michael Kurland). 

Clement did write a book called "Cycle of Fire", but the plot was quite 
different. It involved a planet where a human had crashlanded and was trying 
to survive and return to civilization and a mystery involving the inhabitants 
of said planet...

Both great books, BTW! Clement, for those who are interested, in undergoing a 
bit of a revivial right now. NESFA Press (the small press "arm" of the New 
England SF Association) is publishing a three volume set of his stuff. The 
first volume, "Trio for Sliderule and Typewriter" is out and has "Ice World", 
"Needle" and "Close to Critical" in it. The second volume, to be called 
"Music of Many Spheres" will contain short stories by Clement. The third 
volume, "Variations on a Theme by Sir Isaac Newton" will contain all the 
"Mesklin" novels and short stories (e.g., "Mission of Gravity").

Volume 2 is scheduled for "late 1999" and Volume 3 is "planned but not yet 
started".

See:

http://www.nesfa.org/home.html

for further details on these and many other excellent books! Click on the 
"NESFA Press" button on the main page...

Fred Kiesche
(e-mail: Diespamer@aol.com)
(long time fan of H. Beam Piper and Hal Clement!)

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #976
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