HFQ Thoughts/reflections SPOILERS

Louis R wrote:We need to be really careful with these "there's a river" schemes. Look at a map of North America, and it's obviously plain sailing from the Atlantic to Chicago or Duluth, right? Well, in fact it is, but only thanks to some really impressive engineering - on 3 separate sections of the route. Something that you do _not_ see on a map at the scale we have for the Sabana River, where, even if the name 'Niagara Falls' were sufficient hint [and it's not automatic], you don't see it anyway.

Can't argue with any of that. But there's really no textev either way, which means Himself COULD take the narrative that way if he wanted, and it wouldn't be a crazy direction given what we have been told about the Mighty Host's supply line, Thirsk's upcoming moral dilemma, and Earl Hanth's position. Duke Eastshare's too, for that matter. Anyhow, always fun to speculate!

Until the MWW decides the Sabana river could go in any direction, IMO though it is a massive river that is connected to 2 canals. Canals I might add made by Shan-wei terraforming crews so it should be a reasonable assumption that the Sabana River is usable for a significant chunk of its length. Especially in light of how heavily canals are used on the mainland and how strongly people felt about the maintenance of those canals and rivers. Besides the Langhorne Canal connects to a number of rivers on the Lake City end and thus far all of those rivers have been navigable for all of their length.

On the subject of Thirsk being a turncoat I find that unlikely, as well as unnecessary given the current military position Dohlar is in. The established powers in Dohlar have 120,000-160,000 men vs 300,000 that Duke Eastshare has plus Earl Hanth's (Thesmar) force. Their ally the army of god has to go into winter quarters way up at Lake city which allows Eastshare significant freedom of action especially in light of how close Dohlar is the to equator. Given the immobility of the army of god an option Eastshare could take is to support Hanth in finishing off Dohlar's involvement in the jihad. Somehow I find it unlikely that Dohlar will be loyal to the CoGA, especially when the main 2 field commanders are already nervous about the inquisition making examples of them.

IMO its a viable prospect that Charis will want to have Dohlar go neutral so that they can take advantage of the Sabana river's connection the the Langhorne canal. After all how happy (or willing) will Clyntahn be if the army of god has to retreat to protect their supply lines.

CJK wrote:IMO its a viable prospect that Charis will want to have Dohlar go neutral so that they can take advantage of the Sabana river's connection the the Langhorne canal. After all how happy (or willing) will Clyntahn be if the army of god has to retreat to protect their supply lines.

Didn't the AoG effectively cease to exist in HFQ? I mean sure, there are still small detachments here and there and a training unit near Zion, but all the main formations were destroyed before HFQ ended and what's left isn't all that much.

Well the host of god and archangels is what I meant, that said there is not much difference in the command structure of the army of god from the Temple Lands(now all destroyed) and the host of god and archangels from Harchong. All answer to Clyntahn and occasionally Magwair. This matters when talking about an army fighting for Clyntahn having to retreat due to supply lines being threatened. Mainly because Clyntahn could demand they not retreat resulting in them following the army of god into oblivion.

Though will admit I am interested to see how Earl Rainbow Waters is going to act, he is far more competent and appears to be much more willing to ignore bad orders. Wonder if should add him to the list of potential candidates that kill Clyntahn? If Clyntahn goes berserk I would not put it past him to decide that he has better odds of survival seeing to Clyntahn's desmise.

My first post on here and the first thing I HAVE to say is....

AAAUUUURRRGGGHHHH

I can't wait for another two years for the next book !
I'll go through the inevitable process of reading HFQ again....and again. But it won't be enough.
Does anyone know of a good 12 step program to help a person through these tough times ?

Read it 12 times?

Ha - that's funny. You could also do what I'm planning on doing which is start re-reading all of the books. That won't take me 2 years, but hopefully I'll answer a lot of questions I have because I just can't remember exactly how things happened. I'm actually excited about re-reading them all (maybe I just need to get out more).

evilauthor wrote:

CJK wrote:IMO its a viable prospect that Charis will want to have Dohlar go neutral so that they can take advantage of the Sabana river's connection the the Langhorne canal. After all how happy (or willing) will Clyntahn be if the army of god has to retreat to protect their supply lines.

Didn't the AoG effectively cease to exist in HFQ? I mean sure, there are still small detachments here and there and a training unit near Zion, but all the main formations were destroyed before HFQ ended and what's left isn't all that much.

AOG still has 200,000 men in Siddarmark, but dispersed in garrisons to keep the locals down or guarding the prison camps. Currently they are busy raising another 500,000 men to replace Wyrshym's and Kaitswryth's lost armies.

Don

TBird50 wrote:Ha - that's funny. You could also do what I'm planning on doing which is start re-reading all of the books. That won't take me 2 years, but hopefully I'll answer a lot of questions I have because I just can't remember exactly how things happened. I'm actually excited about re-reading them all (maybe I just need to get out more).

That's why I have the three series I like most on a shelf behind my desk, because I am continuously rereading one or the other of them. Honorverse, Safehold and War God take me long enough to read through that I still find them interesting and I still keep finding little nuggets that I didn't catch on a previous reading. I'm also finding that where I thought I read something is really somewhere else.

At this point, I believe that I have all of MWW's books, even those that I don't really care for all that much.

Dan92677

IMHO, Dohlar is fast approaching a tipping point - both politically and militarily.

n7axw wrote:

Sargon wrote:
Couple odd thoughts. RFC made quite a point of spelling out how dependent the entire MHGA was on the Holy Langhorn Canal for supplies. There is a river that goes from the Northeastern end of the Gulf of Dolar to (and past) the junction point where the Bedard Canal ends and the Langhorn begins. If the navy of Charis did not have to worry about the last remaining enemy fleet-in-being, they could send City-Class Ironclads at the least steaming up that river. And if Earl Hanth didn't have something else to be doing, he would have an army to accompany the ships that could sit on that canal junction and fortify like hell, especially if he could move during the winter.

Which leads back to Thirsk. I agree he's no turn-coat; I can't see him defecting to Charis. But I think he not only CAN be brought to stage a coup (in conjunction, probably, with Alvarez), he will feel compelled to do so. He was -- barely -- willing to let the new Charisian prisoners be sent off to Zion, but there is no way he will allow his own men to be sent off. And Clintahn will certainly demand it as soon as the men who returned after losing the Charisian captives to Seamount are all well enough to travel. Either Thirsk gets the Royal Council and the King to refuse the demand (in which case they will effectively break with the Go4), or he will feel his loyalty to them take a back seat to his loyalty to his subordinates and he attempts a coup. Either scenario could end with Dohlar becoming neutral at the least, freeing the navy and Hanth to take a crack at that MHGA supply line.

I agree with the point that a shake-up is coming in Dohlar. Whether it's a coup staged by individuals like Thirsk from outside the government or perhaps an internal shakeup by someone by Duke Fern who grows tired of seeing Dohlar's interests sacrificed to Clyntahn's whim, something is in the offing.

Reinforcing your point is Thirsk's awareness that without doing something to change the equation, his own lifespan is limited unless something happens. He may well take matters into his own hands.

I wonder if Ahlverez has some of his veterans available to add to Thirsk's seamen to help pull off a coup... The question in my own mind is how Thirsk and Ahlverez could put together the force needed for a coup and bring the thing together without the inquisition interfering. I think that point is underscored by what happened to Khaphar's attempt to get Thirsk's family out.

Dunno what happens...

Don