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Honor's superhuman resilience

Join us in talking discussing all things Honor, including (but not limited to) tactics, favorite characters, and book discussions.
Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by BobfromSydney   » Thu Jun 05, 2014 10:44 am

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I just watched an interview with Andersen Silva (Former World Middleweight MMA Champion) where he talks about his recovery from the broken leg in his last fight.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3CsNDSvVtE

Now seeing the impact this kind of injury has on a world class martial artist really illustrates how challenging various injuries can be to recover from.

This has gotten me thinking about Honor's toughness. She's had half her face and eye completely disabled, had difficult prosthetic surgery and physio to train the new implanted nerves and eye. Then she lost that half again AND lost her arm. Despite this disability she manages to organise a camp of close to a thousand people to initiate the biggest prison break-out in the history of the galaxy. Then she goes through another round of surgery and physiotherapy with the facial nerves, eye and prosthetic arm. I have not yet mentioned all the scrapes, bruises, concussions, burns, gunshot wounds or emotional trauma she has suffered throughout the series as well.

She's a role model for the rest of us in hanging tough and battling through whatever life throws at us.

I have consequently attained a new level of appreciation for Honor Harrington's badassittude. Honor Harrington is so badass that even the author of the book couldn't kill her.

Has anyone else ever decided to adopt Honor as a role model?
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by Borealis   » Thu Jun 05, 2014 2:00 pm

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Something to consider that you didn't mention and may have overlooked Bob is the difference in medical capability between our current medical tech and Honorverse medical tech.

With quick heal, medical nano-tech (not the mind-control sort), neural interfaces, regen (for those who can use it), etc., the speed and ability to repair most damage that we would consider catastrophic would almost be in-patient service.

Even when Honor was 'ship-wrecked' on Hades, she still had the, albeit limited, facilities of an Assault Shuttle combined with Dr. Montoya's knowledge and skill. (I imagine that by virtue of being an Assault Shuttle, there are more extensive medical capabilities than a basic first aid kit.) There is even a reference to the skill of her amputation that made a prosthetic replacement much easier.
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by runsforcelery   » Thu Jun 05, 2014 5:23 pm

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Borealis wrote:Something to consider that you didn't mention and may have overlooked Bob is the difference in medical capability between our current medical tech and Honorverse medical tech.

With quick heal, medical nano-tech (not the mind-control sort), neural interfaces, regen (for those who can use it), etc., the speed and ability to repair most damage that we would consider catastrophic would almost be in-patient service.

Even when Honor was 'ship-wrecked' on Hades, she still had the, albeit limited, facilities of an Assault Shuttle combined with Dr. Montoya's knowledge and skill. (I imagine that by virtue of being an Assault Shuttle, there are more extensive medical capabilities than a basic first aid kit.) There is even a reference to the skill of her amputation that made a prosthetic replacement much easier.



My only observation. In 1797, Horatio Nelson lost his right arm at Santa Cruz (Tenerife). Within one hour of the amputation (without anesthesia) he was back on deck writing his first dispatch --- writing it, not dictating it --- with his left hand.

Aside from idiocies we see on screen where (for example) a Transformer flings the hero around by one arm for the better part of 20 seconds and the arm isn't simply unbroken, the shoulder isn't even dislocated --- aside from that sort of nonsense, I say --- the toughness and intestinal fortitude of real human beings often beggars the imagination of most of us.


"Oh, bother!" said Pooh, as Piglet came back from the dead.
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by BrianC   » Thu Jun 05, 2014 6:46 pm

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I haven't taken Honor directly as a role model so much as the attitude of service and honour that is typified in the novels.

As for Honor's superhuman resilience. Well... RFC's points are certainly taken, himselfs words is law. However. By any reasonable modern day definition. She is kinda superhuman. Genetically engineered for strength, stamina, toughness and later we find out perhaps intelligence. She's kinda captain america... in spaaaaaaace.
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by BobfromSydney   » Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:44 pm

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Captain Manticore perhaps?

Technically she's still a captain now...

Could you imagine how embarrassed she would get if she found out there were a series of Honor Harrington comics? (Do they still have that format in the future?) Or a Tri-dee series 'The Adventures of Honor Harrington'. Are these things already available on Grayson?
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by SharkHunter   » Tue Dec 09, 2014 3:34 pm

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She's also lucky to be alive, and knows it. Without Weber giving the Honorverse advanced medical (regen, etc.), she would have been out of battlefield commission permanently in the 2nd book, having been lucky in the 1st one. That's why her "big media nickname" is the "Salamander', because she's been where the fires are hottest, having had to take ships into battle in the face of overwhelming odds, and survived the near misses, even when body parts and many of her close friends and crew mates over the years have gotten blown away. Nimitz' survival has been by inches also.

She's described as carrying a lot of survivor's guilt as well because she knows that she SHOULD be dead. Besides ship mates and friends in uniform, all of her original armsmen die in the line of duty, protecting her or her family.

Put it this way. In the HonorVerse, I wouldn't want to be in her shoes, not for all the Crown Reserve.
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by SWM   » Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:04 pm

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Sharkhunter, is there a particular reason you are resurrecting dozens of threads that died six months ago?
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by Armed Neo-Bob   » Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:32 pm

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SWM wrote:Sharkhunter, is there a particular reason you are resurrecting dozens of threads that died six months ago?


??he didn't start this one.

Rob
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by fallsfromtrees   » Tue Dec 09, 2014 9:18 pm

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SWM wrote:Sharkhunter, is there a particular reason you are resurrecting dozens of threads that died six months ago?

It is clear that he just joined and that he is reading the old threads, and wishes to comment on some of them. Apparently there is an unwritten rule that you can't comment on a thread that has not been commented on for x days, where x is some arbitrary number that grand poobah fleet admirals get to decide.
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Re: Honor's superhuman resilience
Post by SWM   » Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:30 pm

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fallsfromtrees wrote:
SWM wrote:Sharkhunter, is there a particular reason you are resurrecting dozens of threads that died six months ago?

It is clear that he just joined and that he is reading the old threads, and wishes to comment on some of them. Apparently there is an unwritten rule that you can't comment on a thread that has not been commented on for x days, where x is some arbitrary number that grand poobah fleet admirals get to decide.

I hope you don't really think my mild question was an attempt stomp all over a newcomer with spiked fleet admiral boots. I didn't say anything when the first zombie thread was reanimated, nor even the after the first dozen. But when I have to completely reread two dozen old threads in one day from beginning to end just to understand the most recent posts, it's getting a bit much.

I wouldn't call it an unwritten rule of this forum; rather I would call it a very old custom of internet courtesy, which can be traced back as far back as the days of modems dialing into bulletin board systems. If a thread is so old no one remembers what was said in it, I think you should consider carefully before reviving it. Threads usually die because no one has anything more to say on it. Sometimes something new comes along, and it makes sense to restart the conversation. Sometimes there is a brilliant new perspective. Sometimes the thread is just fun comments or idle commentary on favorites or whatever, and can easily be revived. Sometimes it makes more sense to start a new thread. Sometimes it is not worth it.

No one is likely to mind if the occasional old thread is revived again. Just please remember that none of us are going to remember what an old thread was talking about, and we'll all have to reread the whole thing. Sometimes we don't want to remember (some arguments get pretty heated :) ). Just keep it in mind and think about whether it is worth reviving a dead thread. And if you decide it is, go ahead. I'm not trying to be a party pooper--I'm just getting overwhelmed.
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