Ryk, I have enjoyed your books enormously and am pleased to hear that there will be additional books coming in the New Year. Thank you for your continued work and may you have a healthy and prosperous 2016!
What are we looking forward to in Part 2? On your main page you mention that the story arcs in each part will be self-contained. Does that imply that the story will now jump decades/centuries/eons into the future with perhaps a mention to how the events at the end of Ep 15 worked out? Or will Part 2 start a new arc but pick up where Ep 15 left off?
Take care of yourself Ryk. While we all enjoy your books thoroughly, your health and well-being are paramount and infinitesimally more important than our literary satisfaction.
Ryk has said In answer to the question how long between part 1 and part 2:
'A few years. The exact number has yet to be determined. For now, I’d say less than 10 and more than 1.'
I think 2 years is about right. Its long enough to get the Alliance back up on its feet, with a number of Frigates, Cobras and a load more fighters. long enough for the Jung to mobilize if that is they're want. And it is long enough for the Takaran Nobles to build out they're Battleship.
Beyond two years gives all sides time to build up, train and develop new tactics. One of the things that has been great about the Frontiers saga is the on page development. If the story picks back up in say six years, the main people on the main ship units will be experienced and well trained.
Ryk has mentioned that Nathan Scott will grow to become a great Captain, and while he has made great strides, he is not there yet. So I hold out hope that after the trial Nathan will somehow live on, and eventually find his way back to the Alliance.
While I won't speculate on the number of years that while separate Part I from Part II in universe, I will say that I expect it to be hopefully at least three. Personally I see the time between Parts spent in a tense cease fire between the Alliance and the Jung Empire, possibly with a number of incidents between them when Jung commanders that haven't received their governments orders to cease hostilities because of communication lags launch unsanctioned attacks. The same could be said about rogue elements in the Jung military that launch such attacks without the sanction of their government despite the order to suspend hostilities.
On the Alliance side, I think we'll see a renewed attempt to arm themselves. We'll probably see a crash program to build more frigates and gunships in Tau Ceti since Sorenson seems to be becoming the arsenal of the Alliance. The Alliance needs to replace the Kent and build more ships. I wouldn't mind seeing a frigate named the Prince Casimir and probably one named the Nathan Scott.
Hopefully we'll learn where the survivors of Tanna are resettled. I could see a new squadron of gunships being commissioned with Tannan crews and a motto to "Remember Tanna" like the US motto for WWII was "Remember Pearl Harbor".
I think that the Jung Military will use the Alliance arm's build up as they're excuse for a preemptive strike. I think that would be a very good reason for a kick off in Part 2.
As to how they would know??
I like fleet battles, but could you imagine how complicated a fleet battle would be where both the Jung and Alliance know its happening?
Finally!!! Jump battles!!!
I see more of a cold war going on. The Jung have to know that over time the Alliance will most likely deploy even more planet killers making their old methods of conquest a non starter with Alliance affiliated worlds. I can see a race between the 2 sides to expand their areas of influence.
Also the jung may start infighting if they find it hard to have an outlet for outward expansion.
So much could happen and the story could go anywhere. I'm thinking it might leave the alliance / cold war as a side story while the focus is on the Aurora going out exploring, making new friends, starting more wars 🙂
Long time reader, first post.
I have a feeling Captain Dubnyk (sp) and Captain Scott will met again.
Someone mentioned a Cold War, already. The MADD paradox was mentioned in the book, being in the form of JKKVs programmed to initiate when there is no timely reset of a clock. It's a fail safe designed to counter naked aggression from beyond the horizon. But like all arms races and cold wars, I'm sure there is to be a proxy war to be had, somewhere. The caste system of the Jung isn't really a rational one, with the Isolationist being at the forefront. Wasn't there a mention in the book about a sleeping giant. Perhaps the days of the Isolationist are done, considering they weren't very isolationist to begin with.
I would like to see now for Part 2 some new technologies derived from the Data Ark. Too much hassle to save it, to cpy it, to preserve it, to send it to the Pentaurus Cluster and back and nothing yet out of it? There should be something useful there, even if it is one thousand years old... Why the Jung wanted it? Why the Takarans kept a copy if there is no actual use of the knowledge there?
Do the Takaran's still have a copy of the Arc?
Do the Alliance have a Takaran copy of the Arc to go along with the Originals?
How cool would it be for the Takaran's to build they're new battleship with the best of all the Alliance, Takaran and Original Earth's tech?
@four-islands The Takaran copy of the Data Ark was transferred to the Avendahl and now resides with the Corinarans. When the copy was on Takar it was in the custody of House Ta'Akar and when the other nobles made their first attempt to destroy the royal house Casimir had it moved to the Avendahl. So, I would assume that the Takaran battleship is being built with purely Takaran technology.
Oh, is that what happened to the copy? I thought I read it was destroyed, which made me grimace at all the build up with no result. Seemed like a lot of tail-chasing...
Ok, here is my theory...
I haven't found a graph online to show what I think it is what happens with knowledge over time after a catastrophe. Knowledge could be more or less a straight line with positive slope (steepness at the time of the Bio-Digital Plague would be very, very high). But when the catastrophe happens, the curve falls until a recovery period starts. I can imagine that the Data Ark contained much more than what it was available for the general public at that moment; if it weren't because of the Plague, most likely in a few years Terrans would have created the jump drive. The colonies and the settlers would have had only a part of all Terran knowledge and once established in a livable planet, they would start enhancing their knowledge (and science and technology, obviously) with what they brought with them, but not the most advanced topics in every field. Proof of this could be the Jung, they have not yet developed a Jump Drive.
Therefore, the Data Ark must contain a lot of very interesting science and technology, and even if it is 1000 years old, it has no match yet in the science and technology of the surviving colonies.
Part 1 was the greatest series I have ever read! A note at the bottom of the home page mentioned that every story arc will end with the end each part. If part 2 picks up with Nathan dead or 70 years old... I'll really be... hmmmm... ticked! And... I'd like for he and Jessica to become a real item. Anyway... Ryk, you are one of the most entertaining writers I've read. Just don't tick me off! :=]
ok, you know Nathan will be with a fellow Jung prisoner when the next series starts, right? like, they were cellmates, and now Nathan is hanging out with a tattooed, hairy biker dude?
