So, you David Weber fans...

[J-WO]

I had the pleasure of encountering Mr Webber in the flesh just last weekend and, though I'm not really into his stuff, I found him to be the most polite, laid back and charming fellow.

He has an incredible thirty one book contracts to fufill, with two more Harrington novels ready to step up to the plate. He admits there's books he'll probably never get to write- DW's got a saga all planned out about an American naval family starting from the Revolution all the way up the Gulf War, but he's certain he'll never get to do it.

 

[Vertigo]

Where did you pick up this bit of info? Baen's forte is certainly military SF, but is this actual info, or is this someone's surmise?

Aargh I can't find it now; I was doing a bit of a search for Weber threads and came across an old one where someone posted this (I don't remember who). I don't think it mentioned any source for the info so I can't back it up in any way . On the other hand I could well believe that with Baen's bias towards military novels it could be true.

 

[Parson]

Vertigo, I would concur that I would not find it surprising, but it seemed to be a pretty specific insight, which brings my background in biblical criticism to the fore.

J - Wo, I am happy to hear that David Weber is a personable guy and a hard worker. I would love to write a lot of the things that he has written, and from his books I would like to think that we could be friends.

 

[J-WO]

J - Wo, I am happy to hear that David Weber is a personable guy and a hard worker. I would love to write a lot of the things that he has written, and from his books I would like to think that we could be friends.

Keep on writing and maybe you'll get to be both! He's a methodist lay preacher so you'd probably have a lot to chat about.

 

[alchemist]

I really enjoyed On Basilisk Station, Field of Dishonor, Flag in Exile and Echoes of Honor. I haven't gone any further since, but I'm dying to read the rest. It's really too bad how badly designed the covers are. I imagine Baen has probably lost sales because ppl aren't even willing to pick up the book to read the blurb on the back.

I bought Basilisk Station off the internet on the recommendation of all here. If I had seen it in a bookshop and read the blurb on the back, there wouldn't have been a bargepole long enough to keep me away from it. It was absolutely abysmal. It also made the book sound like a comedy.

 

[Vertigo]

I think it's a common fault with any military SF and indeed any military biased books. The publishers seem to think the covers and blurb should look and read like something out of a 50s/60s kids comic like the Eagle. (for non-brits check the Eagle out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(comic))

 

[Parson]

Keep on writing and maybe you'll get to be both! He's a methodist lay preacher so you'd probably have a lot to chat about.

<<STUNNED>> That is very interesting information. His books give religion a fair shake, and it is one of the things that draws me to his books, but I would never have thought this.

Vertigo: The Eagle sounds like something I would have loved when I was a kid, and might not even mind reading today.

 

[chrispenycate]

What, Dan Dare vs. the Mekon? Of course you would.

But, despite having read the HH books up to "War of…", the collaborations with Steve White, 1633, even the Bahzel books, I think my favourite of his is "the Path of the Fury"; possibly because it's self contained and requires no sequels, possibly because I haven't done masses of webrespondence about drive systems, weaponry, or the probable skeletal system of treecats.

 

[Parson]

The Path of the Fury is indeed one of his best. It is self contained, but I would surely like to read a sequel. I think the "group" could have a lot of adventures which would be fun to read.

Chris: How did you come to help with all of that scientific stuff. Did you just sign up on the web site, or is there something more that went on?

 

[Moggle]

I bought Basilisk Station off the internet on the recommendation of all here. If I had seen it in a bookshop and read the blurb on the back, there wouldn't have been a bargepole long enough to keep me away from it. It was absolutely abysmal. It also made the book sound like a comedy.

I have no idea what the blurb says since I have only have the hardcover version and that one doesn't come with a jacket. The artwork on that is actually worse.

I think it's a common fault with any military SF and indeed any military biased books. The publishers seem to think the covers and blurb should look and read like something out of a 50s/60s kids comic like the Eagle. (for non-brits check the Eagle out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(comic))

Baen is mostly the one that publishes military scifi and it seems they are going for that retro look. I can't tell you what a horrible decision that was. They've only recently changed the way they present their covers to something more comptemporary, but the bad artwork is still there.

The Path of the Fury is indeed one of his best. It is self contained, but I would surely like to read a sequel. I think the "group" could have a lot of adventures which would be fun to read.

Chris: How did you come to help with all of that scientific stuff. Did you just sign up on the web site, or is there something more that went on?

Isn't there a rumor going around that their will be a sequel to that? I could be wrong.

 

[Parson]

Isn't there a rumor going around that their will be a sequel to that? I could be wrong.

Jo Wo said:

He has an incredible thirty one book contracts to fufill, with two more Harrington novels ready to step up to the plate. He admits there's books he'll probably never get to write- DW's got a saga all planned out about an American naval family starting from the Revolution all the way up the Gulf War, but he's certain he'll never get to do it.

so I would think that would be quite likely. I also thought another stand alone; "The Apocalypse Troll" might be fertile soil for further adventures.

 

[Vertigo]

It is possible that such a rumour might have come out of the rewrite of The Path of The Fury as In Fury Born. Though I must admin when I finished IFB I sort of felt it could have taken a sequel quite happily.

 

[chrispenycate]

The Path of the Fury is indeed one of his best. It is self contained, but I would surely like to read a sequel. I think the "group" could have a lot of adventures which would be fun to read.

Chris: How did you come to help with all of that scientific stuff. Did you just sign up on the web site, or is there something more that went on?

I went to Baen's Bar for the 163xverse, (and they ended up paying me for something I wrote for the Grantville Gazette) and, while I was there, got into discussions about the Honorverse. I'm fairly techy to start with, and had read the books, and understood the theories of the different propulsion methods and weapons, so got into the discussions.

And, being the stubborn, egocentric personality you know, won a few, and refused the "it's canon that" argument and argu – had differences of opinion with the boss. Fun. I think it started with "the effective range of a laser", something I happen to understand rather well, and moved on from there.

 

[J-WO]

As a matter of interest, what is the effetive range of a laser in space battle terms?

 

[chrispenycate]

Depends on the manoeuvrability of the target craft, and almost nothing else. Oh, with a lot of debris and leaked atmosphere this won't be quite true; but a plane-wave coherent light beam hardly spreads at all unless there's atmosphere, so the beam would still be lethal at light month distances. Unfortunately, what you've aimed it at doesn't tend to be there a month later (well, an orbital fort, perhaps) so you're basically down to a few light minutes; quite reasonable distances in intra-planetary conflict. But, since these ships move fast, and accelerate fast, if they know they're being shot at, or likely to be shot at, they can take evasive action; and even a minute puts them a long way from where they were predicted.

So, for ambushes and sneak attacks I'd say probably two or three light minutes for your first volley; best to get as much as possible done with that, as subsequent ones you'll have to get in much closer.

For a prepared enemy I'd say you'd be down to about a million kilometres; three and a bit seconds of reaction time, maybe a bit further.

Missed shots go on virtually for ever, losing only absorption to space dust and defocus by gravitational fields. Quite possible that, a century after the war is finished an innocent freighter gets fried by a miss in a system hundreds of light years away, that might never have known the battle had been fought.

David disagrees with me. He holds nothing can be made that accurately collimated; I say that to get operational efficiency such that it does more damage to the enemy than yourself, that accuracy is essential. He's never adjusted lasers; I have.

 

[Coragem]

Well, this thread has gone a little off topic... Flag in Exile?

Still, it's been interesting!

* I've ordered Path of the Fury. Looks good!

* I agree, Baen's covers are awful. Being English I just assumed it was something Americans liked -- images of Honor looking overly madeup, and us English tend to stereotype American females as overdoing it with cosmetics. Not that Honor is big on them... And why does Nimitz look like a wolf?

* Writing four novels per year does Weber really have time to check his techno geek stuff out? Does he sit at his writing desk calculaing KPS squared and how many gravities a ship needs to exert in order to reach a destination in a certain time? Of course, I'm not going to check up on his tech, so I'm easy to fool.

For me Weber's great strength lies in presenting characters with differed biases and points of view -- he does awesome heated conferences and debates, and knows how to make annoying characters (whether RMN or otherwise) get under the reader's skin. Not artful, and strangely limited to contemporary American language and imagery given the far future setting, but very entertaining.

Coragem.

 

[J-WO]

* Writing four novels per year does Weber really have time to check his techno geek stuff out? Does he sit at his writing desk calculaing KPS squared and how many gravities a ship needs to exert in order to reach a destination in a certain time? Of course, I'm not going to check up on his tech, so I'm easy to fool.


Coragem.

My friend asked how Webber goes about battles, to which the writer jokingly replied 'I cheat'. His subsequent longer answer may be of use to any writer trying to do stellar fleet engagments, given he's an undisputed master at it. Essentially, he does his battles in the same way Agatha Christie did her murder novels- working backwards.

He thinks of the engagements end result first and then pictures how he'll work toward it. Once that basic skeleton exists, he'll move on to the science required for it to occur. Then comes the actual job of writing it.


(Thanks, Chris! I've got a better hold on lasers now)

 

[Coragem]

I just came across (and contributed to) a thread "moved to the Joe Ambercrombie forum".

This doesn't seem right SFF Chronicles!!! Ambercrombie has one solid trilogy, plus one bad stand alone (BSC) and one good one (The Heroes).

Meanwhile, David Weber has many times the output, has no doubt sold more books, and is repeatedly of interest to members of this website.

Similarly, if Joe Ambercrombie has a forum, why not Alastair Reynolds -- more output than Ambercrombie, many would say at least as good, and (again) of interest to many here.

Coragem.

 

[Vertigo]

I think there's a couple of reasons for that Coragem. Remember, getting a sub forum is based purely on the level of interest shown. Abercrombie is a relatively new author and consequently he generates a lot of new interest. David Weber has been around for a long time so doesn't generate as much fresh interest. Also you will find that there is a bit of a bias towards fantasy on this forum. In a poll thread on which members prefer - SF or F - there were slightly more F than SF but I think the fantasy fans tend to be a little more voluble than the SF. Also I think SF readers tend to read more fantasy than vice versa.

 

[Ursa major]

And on top of that, Joe does post here now and then.