Before I begin I REALLY need to stress how much I love this series, I just took a break from my 3rd re-read of the series to read the latest book. With that being said I have MANY problems with this latest episode.
-The moments of completely out of place comedy.
It was really awkward when we just had a scene with thousands of people dieing and we jump to a scene that (as far as I can tell) was only there for a comedic moment. If you are gonna be heavy with us, be heavy. Don't bitch out by trying to lighten the mood because you are worried the book would be to much of a bummer. IT'S WAR, War is HORRIBLE and you can't just crack a one liner to make it better.
-The introduction of an animal as a NAMED character (and to make it worse, a cat).
What the fuck!? I never want to read anything about a fucking cat with a Sci-Fi name ever again. Are you gonna have Vlad design a way for the cat to talk next and it will spill forth words of feline wisdom?! You wanna be cute? Than write something that isn't a Sci-Fi Military Drama. You aren't writing a family friendly show that needs to put something in for the kids to enjoy. This was so incredibly out of place with everything else you have written I honestly thought I was reading a joke chapter and it turned out that Nathan was having a fucked up dream, THAT would have felt more in place.
-The abrupt introduction of Call Signs with little to zero explanation of who the people really are, why they have the names they have and why I should care when they die.
Who the hell are these people? Why the hell is that guy called Jellybean? Oh he's dead...why did I need to know his name? I'm not sad I'm just confused. I always assumed you didn't use Call Signs because let's face it, most of these guy weren't gonna last to the end of the chapter. Fine, you want them to nickname the Major, that's ok, he is a beloved character and the name is a fun play on his real name. The rest...just seemed like a waste of time.
-Speaking of names, why are we spelling out numbers?
Maybe it's a military thing or maybe it's just how you like to do that when it's the name of something but as a reader with zero to do with the military I can tell you that it's just annoying. I can stand seeing "Seven Forty Seven" once as an introduction but after that just saying 747 is good enough, it's quicker to read and gets the point across. If it is a military thing I still stand by what I said. Look at it from a READERS perspective and not a SOLDIERS perspective.
-The Ghatazhak being so jolly at the beginning.
Once I realized they were just joking with each other I was more ok with it but it was incredibly jarring when all we have ever seen from them were robotic personalities. If the intention was to show the readers that they aren't just literal killing machines that is totally cool, but we never knew the name of a single Ghatazhak outside of Telles so for the better part of that introduction I thought he was talking to some Corinari.
I feel like I need to stress again how much I adore this series. I also should stress that these are my OPINIONS and I expect them to carry zero weight but I had to get out my frustrations with this book. It felt like it was written by a different writer, like someone who is used to writing teen dramas.
the cat shows even hardened highly trained troops and techs have a heart when it comes to children, the cat lived because of the little girl being sent to tanna.
call signs were explained as part of the edf pilot influence and the merging of alliance and edf. rememeber when the cag had to get used to saying talon one away and not airborne getting used to launching through the tubes. both were direct to the point and didn't need pages of clarification why.
the ghatazhak are not just super killing machines, they are programmed super soldiers yes, but without the evil mind behind them, they not only are super soldiers due to the programming and training, but human as well, with human thoughts, emotions, and yes a sense of humor. this book shows them as a little more human, instead of being fighting simpletons. it also makes it that when more ghatazhak arrive, those we now know by name make sense for internal promotion, without further explanation.
yes war is hell, but even the greatest war movie or story has the human compassion side evident and understood. the ones that don't have you empathize with the characters, are either flops, or don't sell.
Ryk on the other hand, has written the human side into the scifi military aspect with great skill, so that we feel with the characters. only the best are able to convey this.
perhaps you should reread 11 with the only expectations being the next few weeks of the story.
my opinions to your rant.
Me thinks you read a different book to myself I'm afraid.
The only issue I have with the book is the flow of the timeline. On one page Tellas & co have 2 weeks to wait for the jump shuttles to be ready. Next page they are done. Obviously 2 weeks have passed since but it doesn't really say that. It might have been handy to have included dates per chapter/paragraph to help show the flow of time. Or even a countdown until the Jung fleet arrives.
That however is a minor niggle.
I had written a lengthy response to Jeffrey Duke's comments, but decided against posting it. I'm pretty sure, based on his attitude, that you will all understand why I have chosen not to respond.
Ryk
Ryk I agree with you. Your book are a good read. Sometimes I get a little confused with them. BUT that is just me.
Then when I come on here and talk y'all on here I understand what you mean.
Jeff obviously doesn't get "it". He is one of those people not happy unless he is nitpicking every little thing that bothers him. For someone who says he adores the series he sure had a lot to complain about. Ryk please don't let jerks like that influence your writing, you're doing an awesome job, and I thank you for the entertainment.
Well I'm new here but I find this rant strange. In terms of genre this series has hallmarks of Space Opera where I fully expect to find a cat and the human aspects of all the characters developed. I am waiting for a relationship between some of the central characters but that's part of what keeps me reading. Nice work Ryk
I am with Ythanya on this one, it seems that the ranter has a problem with a more human element and depth of characters... I can see a development of writing style from the first to the last episode and its great. and as far as the joking after the death of thousands goes, well that's pretty human, it may be crass but it is what we do. Laughter is one of our escape hatches when something horrible happens, it is a lot more productive than drinking and doing drugs... Love the work Ryk, now bring the new episodes out every week!! 🙂
I'm not sure which bit of humour the original poster was referring to. Anyone got a Kindle marker so I can go reread it.
I think it was Jess talking to Nathan after Telles secured the evacuation landing zone with deadly force. To me, and I may be a bad person, that was one of the most human the characters felt. He needed his mind distracted from a horrible but unfortunately necessary (given the resources available) decision. I guess ryk could have written in a way to save the people but that scene would not be as poignant, in my opinion.
no that part was written perfectly. Nathan gave the order if it was needed do what must be done and that means lethal force. it happens in real war as well, combat teams have orders and if there is no other way to complete your mission, you do what you must do to get the job done.
Right so I don't know what else he could be talking about in the rant.
Well this is an assumption, but I would guess that Jeffrey hasn't severed in the military, especially in a combat zone. Military types have very dark and twisted senses of humor, more so in line troops. Have a beer or 10 with anyone in the special operations community and you'll laugh your ass off for days. The humor is caustic and demented to the uninitiated but also a very valuable pressure release mechanism. The continued humanization of the Ghatazhak is one of my favorite aspects of them. The banter in the assault shuttles brought back memories of too many Hillarious bitch sessions both pre and post mission. A shining example of these types of conversations can be found in the Arisen series (zombie series but still).
Next about pets... back in my time (a bit longer ago than I will admit), I was never in a single unit that didn't have at least 1 animal mascot, in the Army and Marines they tend to be stray dogs. I've heard tell than many Naval ships have cats on board (no real proof, so this is anticdotal) both for morale and vermin control. So adding Cosmos made perfect sense to me, hell I would have been happy with that who brood the little girl had becoming permanent fixtures. Though I could see Cameron having fits about this reg or that 🙂
Complaining about a cat, in a space opera? Really, I was lamenting the fact that they didn't have a cat since about episode 4. Cats are part in parcel with space fare. Good grief, just about every book Heinlein put out had a cat in it.
Better name it Schrödinger.
