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2016-08-04, 02:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Frankly, I love the Andermanis. Sure, they're culturally Germanic, but ethnically they're primarily Chinese. Their founder was a mercenary who believed he was Fredrick the Great reincarnated, and his descendants all ranged from mildly quirky to outright deranged - Gustav VI was deposed when he tried to have his prized
horserose bush declared Chancellor, his younger sister Gustav VII had herself legally declared a man to settle the otherwise nasty dynastic war that would have followed (and was one of the best rulers the Empire ever had, to boot). They're less the 'Prussians IN SPAAAAAAAACE' than they appear to be, though you are still in the books where C.S. Forrestor and Hornblower remain extremely strong influences on the setting.Last edited by The Glyphstone; 2016-08-04 at 02:25 PM.
NOW COMPLETE: Let's Play Starcraft II Trilogy:
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2016-08-04, 02:50 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
I get it. Plus, i am sure they are awesome. The little i have seen (and heard about) points to awesome third parties and allies, with fun interaction.
I just find Weber's lack of subtlelty grating. As in Grated Cheese. But still fun! ^_^
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2016-08-04, 03:20 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
I don't see it as a lack of subtlety so much as a fake-out. You've noted the direct parallels between Manticore+Britain, Haven+France. They're pretty blatant analogues both culturally and socio-politically as far as the story goes. But then you get to the Andermani, who are Germanic and seem equally blatantly telegraphed as the Prussian analogue to the above, except they don't fit the socio-political angle. Prussia and Britain were on-and-off allies, but never really enemies or even rivals, through most of the 18th century, part of the big intertangled mess that was European politics. Whereas Manticore and the Andermani have been longtime rivals over their respective influence in the Silesian Confederacy, to which RL history lacks any appropriate analogue (there was an actual region called Silesia, but the British never had any territorial or trade connections to it), so the analogy starts to crumble.
NOW COMPLETE: Let's Play Starcraft II Trilogy:
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2016-08-04, 03:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2010
Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
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2016-08-04, 04:13 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2012
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- Montreal
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
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2016-08-04, 04:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
The real-life Silesia was a fairly insignificant chunk of the Polish/German border - rich in minerals, and nowadays an industrial center, but in the 17th century it had nothing worth noting. Its fictional counterpart doesn't really have any effective real-life historical analogue, like I noted - the closest you can get might be the Italian city-states, and that's grasping at straws; the Italian peninsula wasn't unified, but its individual city-states were more or less functional, which the Silesian Confederacy....isn't. But it's the best we'll get if we need to find one.
Last edited by The Glyphstone; 2016-08-04 at 04:19 PM.
NOW COMPLETE: Let's Play Starcraft II Trilogy:
Hell, It's About Time: Wings of Liberty
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2016-08-04, 07:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2013
Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Silesia's always struck me as being like the New World in the time period - or at least, like the fictional version of such. Pirates everywhere, the nations are all Banana Republics, and the big nations around them only care when their trade starts getting affected. I'm not that familiar with the actual history of 1800s South/Central America so I'm not sure how true to life it is, but the Silesia in the books very much fits the setting of a pirate movie.
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2016-08-04, 08:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
You know that's a pretty fair point, though I'd move the locus inward to the Caribbean and Central America. North America was more or less stable between America and British Canada, and South America was firmly under the thumb of the Portuguese and Spanish, but the Age of Piracy didn't really come to an end until the 1830's and the Caribbean was very much as you're envisioning it up till then.
Sadly, I don't believe Prussia ever had any territorial ambitions in the New World.NOW COMPLETE: Let's Play Starcraft II Trilogy:
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2016-08-04, 09:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2010
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- Toledo, Ohio
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
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2016-08-04, 09:21 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2012
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- Montreal
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2016-08-04, 10:44 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2005
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- Mountain View, CA
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Silesia having a sufficiently coherent, united, and effective foreign policy as to actually ally with someone? Are you trying to make me laugh?
I really don't see Silesia mapping to the US, it's far too fractured and riddled with corruption and piracy. It might have the size for it, though I'm not sure about even that, but nothing else.Like 4X (aka Civilization-like) gaming? Know programming? Interested in game development? Take a look.
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2016-08-05, 07:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
First impression of Citizen Commander Caslet:
I like him a lot. His passionate speech about stopping the murderous pirates really hits home that he is another very decent Haven military commander.
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2016-08-05, 08:52 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2013
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2016-08-05, 11:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2010
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Caslet's pretty neat. You don't get to see him very much in the previous book (him and Foraker are on-screen just long enough to realize that some of Grayson's SDs were pulled out, and then to spot Harrington's trap just a little too late) but in this one you get to see a good bit of his character and behavior.
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2016-08-05, 04:05 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Awww.. Stacy Hauptmann is so cute.
Man she is SO dead.
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2016-08-05, 07:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Like 4X (aka Civilization-like) gaming? Know programming? Interested in game development? Take a look.
Avatar by Ceika.
Archives:
SpoilerSaberhagen's Twelve Swords, some homebrew artifacts for 3.5 (please comment)
Isstinen Tonche for ECL 74 playtesting.
Team Solars: Powergaming beyond your wildest imagining, without infinite loops or epic. Yes, the DM asked for it.
Arcane Swordsage: Making it actually work (homebrew)
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2016-08-05, 08:09 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
NOW COMPLETE: Let's Play Starcraft II Trilogy:
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2016-08-05, 08:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Like 4X (aka Civilization-like) gaming? Know programming? Interested in game development? Take a look.
Avatar by Ceika.
Archives:
SpoilerSaberhagen's Twelve Swords, some homebrew artifacts for 3.5 (please comment)
Isstinen Tonche for ECL 74 playtesting.
Team Solars: Powergaming beyond your wildest imagining, without infinite loops or epic. Yes, the DM asked for it.
Arcane Swordsage: Making it actually work (homebrew)
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2016-08-05, 08:30 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
NOW COMPLETE: Let's Play Starcraft II Trilogy:
Hell, It's About Time: Wings of Liberty
Does This Mutation Make Me Look Fat: Heart of the Swarm
My Life For Aiur? I Barely Know 'Er: Legacy of the Void
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2016-08-05, 10:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Thats one beautiful wall of spoilers you are having there.
I hope the discussion is motivating
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2016-08-05, 10:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
What's your read on the Lower Decks B-plot? Is it improving the book to have Aubrey's story intertwined with Honor's, or would it have been better off as a short story/novella in one of the anthologies?
NOW COMPLETE: Let's Play Starcraft II Trilogy:
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2016-08-05, 10:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2013
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2016-08-06, 03:11 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2011
Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Speaking of impending doom, Has Nimitz gotten lucky yet?
Last edited by Rakaydos; 2016-08-06 at 03:11 AM.
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2016-08-06, 03:17 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2010
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2016-08-06, 03:30 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2011
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2016-08-06, 07:50 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
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2016-08-06, 08:00 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2008
Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
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2016-08-06, 08:51 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
For the record, segments based on Wanderman are a bit.. boring.
But i absolutely love the scene focused on Ginger. NCO relationships, struggle and responsibility. That alone was worth the story arc. I hope we get to see more of NCOs in the future.
Wanderman himself is just bland at the moment.
Edit: did i ever told you guys how much i love Webster as a character? From book 1, i am always happy to see him appear.
He is awesome.
Edit 2: aaaaand Act 2: Enters Harkness. Suddenly, Aubrey's side of the story doesnt sound so bad after all.Last edited by Cikomyr; 2016-08-06 at 09:44 AM.
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2016-08-06, 11:42 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2005
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Re: Honor Harrington - Should I pick it up?
Harkness does make anything he's involved in more interesting, that's for sure.
NOW COMPLETE: Let's Play Starcraft II Trilogy:
Hell, It's About Time: Wings of Liberty
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2016-08-06, 01:33 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2011