Dauntless

Yow wrote:Lost fleet series? Any good?

It is a bit of a fun story, but it is very much what Mr. Weber describes as "war porn," in that only the bad guys or the faceless die. After book three or so, I totally stopped being worried about the survival of the main characters, and I think it took that long only because I had just finished re-re-re-reading the Honorverse. It made me realize, RFC is sort of a nicer GRR Martin.

crewdude48 wrote:

Yow wrote:Lost fleet series? Any good?

It is a bit of a fun story, but it is very much what Mr. Weber describes as "war porn," in that only the bad guys or the faceless die. After book three or so, I totally stopped being worried about the survival of the main characters, and I think it took that long only because I had just finished re-re-re-reading the Honorverse. It made me realize, RFC is sort of a nicer GRR Martin.

Not really IMO. Some of the named characters that were good have died just not many, and not nearly as many or s often as in the honorverse.

supersonic05 wrote:Does anyone else feel a ship named Dauntless should be a battle cruiser not a heavy cruiser?



sent from HTC One

NO! To any classic SF fan, Dauntless should be an SD...at least!

But maybe you aren't old enough.

dreamrider

crewdude48 wrote:

Yow wrote:Lost fleet series? Any good?

It is a bit of a fun story, but it is very much what Mr. Weber describes as "war porn," in that only the bad guys or the faceless die. After book three or so, I totally stopped being worried about the survival of the main characters, and I think it took that long only because I had just finished re-re-re-reading the Honorverse. It made me realize, RFC is sort of a nicer GRR Martin.

I've met both of them. GRRM is a perfectly nice man, gentle even.

Just don't let him have a sword...er...pen - there's this jekle'n'hyde thing that happens...

dreamrider

dreamrider wrote:

supersonic05 wrote:Does anyone else feel a ship named Dauntless should be a battle cruiser not a heavy cruiser?



sent from HTC One

NO! To any classic SF fan, Dauntless should be an SD...at least!

But maybe you aren't old enough.

dreamrider

I am. And I agree, as long as you have a Kinnison somewhere in the Crew....

dreamrider wrote:

supersonic05 wrote:Does anyone else feel a ship named Dauntless should be a battle cruiser not a heavy cruiser?



sent from HTC One

NO! To any classic SF fan, Dauntless should be an SD...at least!

But maybe you aren't old enough.

dreamrider

I am not apparently, however take some comfort in the fact that it seems to be able to out smash a vega class SD easily and should probably be a Gryphon class SD by book standards, or even an Agammon clas BC(P)!

BrigadeΔ wrote:

dreamrider wrote:NO! To any classic SF fan, Dauntless should be an SD...at least!

But maybe you aren't old enough.

dreamrider

I am not apparently, however take some comfort in the fact that it seems to be able to out smash a vega class SD easily and should probably be a Gryphon class SD by book standards, or even an Agammon clas BC(P)!

In some of the original space opera (before reviewers started warping the term), E. E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" series, Dauntless is the recurring name of whatever Battleship hero Kimball Kinnison, Gray Lensman, is operating at the moment.

Do Not Get me wrong! "Battleship" in the Arisian universe (Doc Smith's venue) is nothing like those wimpy, limp..er..celery, rowboats of that class in the Honorverse. The only class that a Danutless BB could't take and paddle like a puppy was a thing called a "Mauler", which is just what it sounds like, and, due to differences in things like speed and maneuverability, even THAT duel one-on-one might be a toss-up. Think of Doc Smith's Dauntless as an SD+ sized BC, with the armor and weaponry of the SD, and the mobility advantages of the BC.

OK. There was one other class of...vehicle...in the Arisian universe that could seriously threaten a Dauntless class (whatever the current Dauntless was), but that was basically Dahak.

dreamrider

Yes well, I am more of DuQuesne man myself.
(Oops, I should have wrote Seaton; betrayed and exposed by my own hand. )

I know, I know, Ryk is running with this one already, but still, wouldn't it be just grand if the Avalon class successor, aka the Roland class light cruiser companion-to-be, was named the Skylark class?

dreamrider wrote:In some of the original space opera (before reviewers started warping the term), E. E. "Doc" Smith's "Lensman" series, Dauntless is the recurring name of whatever Battleship hero Kimball Kinnison, Gray Lensman, is operating at the moment.

Do Not Get me wrong! "Battleship" in the Arisian universe (Doc Smith's venue) is nothing like those wimpy, limp..er..celery, rowboats of that class in the Honorverse. The only class that a Danutless BB could't take and paddle like a puppy was a thing called a "Mauler", which is just what it sounds like, and, due to differences in things like speed and maneuverability, even THAT duel one-on-one might be a toss-up. Think of Doc Smith's Dauntless as an SD+ sized BC, with the armor and weaponry of the SD, and the mobility advantages of the BC.

OK. There was one other class of...vehicle...in the Arisian universe that could seriously threaten a Dauntless class (whatever the current Dauntless was), but that was basically Dahak.

dreamrider

(thought of this one after I posted, and just had to share )

Vignette:

A Solly SD arrives with an ad-hoc screen at an outlying wormhole terminus, picketed by a few CL and a half-dozen tincans.


Complete communications record of battle, submitted to the Admiralty in after action rapport:

”This is the SLNS Bernard Silvestris to Manti riff-raff sitting on our terminus. This terminus is Solly property; strike your wedges and surrender or be fired upon. This will constitute your only warning. You have three minutes to comply.”

“HMS Tweety Bird to Solly target:
This little pod went to marked,
This little pod went to town,
This little pod had roast Felis,
This little pod had fun,
And this little pod went full boar all the way inbound.“


("Ain't I a stinker?", as that other guy said )

hvb wrote:Yes well, I am more of DuQuesne man myself.
(Oops, I should have wrote Seaton; betrayed and exposed by my own hand. )

I know, I know, Ryk is running with this one already, but still, wouldn't it be just grand if the Avalon class successor, aka the Roland class light cruiser companion-to-be, was named the Skylark class?

hvb wrote:Yes well, I am more of DuQuesne man myself.
(Oops, I should have wrote Seaton; betrayed and exposed by my own hand. )

Well, DuQuesne did get a more-or-less happy ending at the end of the series, so I get the feeling "Doc" Smith somewhat liked him too. (Unfortunately the last book - Skylark DuQuesne - was written something like 20 years later [if not more] and isn't as good as the others. Still fine, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't quite have the spirit of the first 3 IMO.)

(There's also a heroic version of DuQuesne in Ryk E. Spoor's Grand Central Arena/Spheres of Influence. You might be interested in that -- those books are awesome.)