HFQ Thoughts/reflections SPOILERS

khameirsith wrote:I didn't see the Stephanie scene coming (spelling of her name I don't remember), nor do I see the point? Very odd.

Beyond what others have pointed out, I think the Stephanie arc might be to set up how regular people will react to the Truth. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through the audio book, so there's probably more to it than I'm aware of so far.

Nimue's father is Welsh.

Alistair wrote:Random question where was Niume born, in one place in a previous book I thought it was northern Europe like Sweden but here in this book it says the UK? shrug memories playing games on me.

In the last book the last land battle was awesome in the trees with the desperate Dohlar and Desneir regiments vs Charis mounted infantry but this book not so much. though the battle that was snippeted was pretty cool.

Naval battles were great!

I thought the camp scenes were moving as well on the whole not a bad book.

I also like how Hector now has is own command he can now be sent off on lots of dangerous missions with the snarcs to help!

Can't wait to see the new Ironclad battleships in action!

PeterZ wrote:

PlaysWithBees wrote:Oh, one other little thing I found. Anybody else notice that Merlin and Nimue got promoted?

In earlier books Merlin was referred to by Owl as Lieutenant Commander Alban. In this book, they are referred to as Commanders Athrawes and Chwaeriau.

Not sure if it was intentional or accident. Could be a time in rate thing like in Manticore...

That was OWL referring to Nimue Alban's TFN rank and using the new names. Prior to Nimue Chwaeriau's creation, he continued to refer to Merlin as Commander Alban. Now he had to differentiate between the two Commander Albans.

I got that. I'm referring to the rank!

BSRA intro, page 12-13 wrote:"I'm headed home. Run a hundred-click sweep around the Alpha base and make sure there's no one hanging around to notice the skimmer on its way to the garage. And take a look at my balcony too. Make sure no one's in a position to see me when you drop me off."

"Yes,Lieutenant Commander," the AI acknowledged and Merlin reached for the skimmers controls.

Now, however, they are both commanders. Just an interesting aside.

What's happening is that OWL is unbending. A little.

Lieutenant Commander Alban is a formal mode of address or reference. Most of us would never get to be anything else, but then we'd just say "Ma'am" when addressing her anyway. Those of greater privilege, in informal settings, can speak of or to her as "Commander Alban". Those of very great privilege would simply yell "Nimue" [as, sometimes, might colleagues of equal rank].

OWL certainly doesn't have the authority to promote anyone - Nimue Alban might, but I'd be inclined to doubt it - so it looks to me as if s/he is presuming on a longer acquaintance with LtCmdr Athrawes to use the slightly more relaxed mode.

ChaChaCharms wrote:

PlaysWithBees wrote:Oh, one other little thing I found. Anybody else notice that Merlin and Nimue got promoted?

In earlier books Merlin was referred to by Owl as Lieutenant Commander Alban. In this book, they are referred to as Commanders Athrawes and Chwaeriau.

Not sure if it was intentional or accident. Could be a time in rate thing like in Manticore...

The reason was because Owl had to differentiate between the 2 Nimues, and since Merlin was officially what, 3-5 years(?) older than Nimue PICA #2, he was given a higher rank, making Merlin the commanding officer of Nimue.

It's not unthinkable that a Lieutenant Commander might get referred to as just "Commander" by a subordinate.

When I was in the Army, I was assigned to the headquarters unit of a battalion. The battalion CO was a Lieutenant Colonel, but everyone under him consistently called him just "the Colonel" when referring to him and no one thought anything strange about it.

I can see the same thing being done in a naval organization, especially a SPACE Naval organization with several centuries of cultural drift from today's militaries.

evilauthor wrote:It's not unthinkable that a Lieutenant Commander might get referred to as just "Commander" by a subordinate.

When I was in the Army, I was assigned to the headquarters unit of a battalion. The battalion CO was a Lieutenant Colonel, but everyone under him consistently called him just "the Colonel" when referring to him and no one thought anything strange about it.

I can see the same thing being done in a naval organization, especially a SPACE Naval organization with several centuries of cultural drift from today's militaries.

I suspect that dropping the "Lieutenant" part of a rank in conversation is fairly common outside of formal circumstances or a need to differentiate between a Lt <whatever rank> and a <whatever rank> with the same last name. Not entirely unlike dropping the JG in a Lieutenant Junior Grade, or other modifiers to the primary rank title.
And I don't see a reason why that would change.

Expert snuggler wrote:What could he possibly say to Thirsk?

If he says "Your family is safe", Thirsk's public appearances are not going to show the emotional state everyone will expect, and the wrong people might notice.
*****SNIP*****

I think that is exactly what he has to say. I mean, the poor guy is depressed because he thinks his entire family is dead and is about to give up. It would be cruel to not tell him. And while our heroes might be ruthless at times when the situation calls for it, they try to be fair and decent whenever possible. Letting him falsely believe his family is dead would be wrong. Based on the way I read the characters in the inner circle, I think that alone is enough reason for them to tell him. Outside of any political/military ramifications (such as trying to convince Thirsk to defect).

And on the subject of political ramifications: is there any real point in rescuing his family if they let him think that they are dead? I don't see one.

Henry Brown wrote:

Expert snuggler wrote:What could he possibly say to Thirsk?

If he says "Your family is safe", Thirsk's public appearances are not going to show the emotional state everyone will expect, and the wrong people might notice.
*****SNIP*****

I think that is exactly what he has to say. I mean, the poor guy is depressed because he thinks his entire family is dead and is about to give up. It would be cruel to not tell him. And while our heroes might be ruthless at times when the situation calls for it, they try to be fair and decent whenever possible. Letting him falsely believe his family is dead would be wrong. Based on the way I read the characters in the inner circle, I think that alone is enough reason for them to tell him. Outside of any political/military ramifications (such as trying to convince Thirsk to defect).

And on the subject of political ramifications: is there any real point in rescuing his family if they let him think that they are dead? I don't see one.

I suspect that getting his family out allows him to follow his conscience and perhaps offers him a way out as well.

Don

The conclusion starting from there is that there needs to be a contingency plan or cover story to explain why Thirsk will be so cheerful. He's probably not a skilled actor. Inquisitors are probably alert to the slightest emotional false note.

Expert snuggler wrote:The conclusion starting from there is that there needs to be a contingency plan or cover story to explain why Thirsk will be so cheerful. He's probably not a skilled actor. Inquisitors are probably alert to the slightest emotional false note.

If he were not a somewhat skilled actor, then the inquisition would already be questioning him about his attitudes towards the church and his government.