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SPOILER: Road to Hell

"Hell's Gate" and "Hell Hath No Fury", by David, Linda Evans, and Joelle Presby, take the clash of science and magic to a whole new dimension...join us in a friendly discussion of this engrossing series!
Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by n7axw   » Mon Dec 28, 2015 5:40 pm

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PeterZ wrote:If i understand correctly, magic is the channeling of extra dimensional forces into the physical universe to induce an effect that could not manifest absent the intrusion of magic. Magical forces can counter gravity and inertia to enable flight, levitation and all manner of other phenomena. Arcanans have already created a power net on their more developed universes. Why haven't they developed some version of a telegraph? Hummers can carry more info than a telegraph, sure. But improving transmission rates would be a matter spellware development.

We know that large amounts of data are transferred between PCs. Why can't that data be transferred over any distance beyond the reach of an individual?

Personally, I believe the reason is that the Arcanans never had the need to create that sort of exception to the natural laws. Since magic is the structuring of extra dimensional forces to cause an effect that is inconsistent with natural laws, Arcanan development is the art of combining the forces to generate the desired results. The magister envisions the effect then tries to combine the forces to make the effect happen. Sharonan development on the other hand seeks to understand what the physical laws allow then engineer solutions that are within what is allowed.

I wonder if having the Voices as an example will spur some magister to find a way to transfer data at some larger distance than has been possible? Same with Sharona regarding electricity. That is another source of power they can control much like magical energy.


Mummm...Is their textev to support Arcanan networking? I don't remember any...

Don

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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by PeterZ   » Mon Dec 28, 2015 7:12 pm

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Yes. Arcanan developed worlds have a power grid that facilitates recharging accumulators. Power grids distribute power via some sort of transmission process.
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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by Astelon   » Mon Dec 28, 2015 8:08 pm

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We know nothing about the power grids aside from the fact that they allow gifted individuals to do more than they otherwise could. What form they take, and how they function have not yet been shown. They may just be simple batteries that absorb and store ambient magical energies making it easier for a gifted engineers to charge their crystals. Or they could be an entire power grid more like a modern electrical grid.

As for networking we have seen instances were information was passed from one PC to another. All occurrences shown have appeared to be short range (inside the same room), and no explanation of how it functions has been given. Best way to think about it for me is as kind of Bluetooth system. It may or may not be related to actual radio transmission as we understand it.
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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by feyhunde   » Tue Dec 29, 2015 11:05 am

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Keith_w wrote:Did anyone else think it was kind of short compared to the other two?


Yup. Disappointed me.
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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by Keith_w   » Wed Dec 30, 2015 6:49 pm

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feyhunde wrote:
Keith_w wrote:Did anyone else think it was kind of short compared to the other two?


Yup. Disappointed me.

I just looked the 3 books up at chapters-indigo and was surprised to find: Hells Gate: 816 pages, Hell Hath No Fury: 512 pages, and Road to Hell: 816 pages. It certainly didn't feel that long when I was reading it.
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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by n7axw   » Wed Dec 30, 2015 9:11 pm

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It's an earc... Could it be that the length of the book would change significantly for the finished product?

I have no experience which would answer this question...

Don

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When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by Robert_A_Woodward   » Thu Dec 31, 2015 1:10 am

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Keith_w wrote:
feyhunde wrote:
(re: shortness)
Yup. Disappointed me.

I just looked the 3 books up at chapters-indigo and was surprised to find: Hells Gate: 816 pages, Hell Hath No Fury: 512 pages, and Road to Hell: 816 pages. It certainly didn't feel that long when I was reading it.


I suspect that the length they had for Road to Hell was a placeholder. I did a word count on the HTML files for Hell's Gate vs 1/2 of Road to Hell and Road to Hell appears to be about 20% shorter (though it appears to be longer than Hell Hath No Fury).
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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by Louis R   » Thu Dec 31, 2015 2:41 pm

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No. At least, it would be really, really unusual for it to do so. ARCs are intended for reviewers and the purchasers at the major outlets, so giving them something significantly different from the final product doesn't go down well. e-ARC is essentially the same text that's printed off and bound into ARCs. Both are generated early enough in the production process that major changes are still feasible, but they don't happen casually.


n7axw wrote:It's an earc... Could it be that the length of the book would change significantly for the finished product?

I have no experience which would answer this question...

Don

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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by PeterZ   » Fri Jan 01, 2016 2:03 am

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We also know that automiticars communicate with the traffic pods using a short range communication spell. That suggests the possibility to broadcast. So the data transfer between PCs are performed by communication spells.

There are obviously limits to those spells. But they should make LANs possible if not a worldwide net. Also, the broadcast would not pierce a portal.

Astelon wrote:We know nothing about the power grids aside from the fact that they allow gifted individuals to do more than they otherwise could. What form they take, and how they function have not yet been shown. They may just be simple batteries that absorb and store ambient magical energies making it easier for a gifted engineers to charge their crystals. Or they could be an entire power grid more like a modern electrical grid.

As for networking we have seen instances were information was passed from one PC to another. All occurrences shown have appeared to be short range (inside the same room), and no explanation of how it functions has been given. Best way to think about it for me is as kind of Bluetooth system. It may or may not be related to actual radio transmission as we understand it.
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Re: SPOILER: Road to Hell
Post by Karthak   » Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:42 am

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Huh, I think Jathmar would make an excellent Sith. During some of his PoV scenes, I can almost imagine Emperor Palpatine sitting there, crooning "good, good. Let the hatred flow through you."
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