noblehunter wrote:Something might go wrong and the Gbaba aren't outclassed. Or things go according to plan but the social and cultural fallout is the meat of the story and not the military conflict. There's definitely stories RFC could tell about confronting the Gbaba or its aftermath but they're quite different stories from the one he's telling about Safehold.
Yes, he could. Almost all of them would conflict with the original Gbaba genocidal mindset or are human conflicts resolved in short order. I am not arguing that is also true for the preparation for war against the Gbaba. That preparation story is can be long and very interesting.
Actual war comes down to having the tech to clean their clocks or not. Both tell a one sided tale. If the Gbaba only fight when confronted by a stronger foe, the story is over once the Gbaba recognize their inferiority. If humans don't wish to engage in genocide, that can be told in less than a book as their forces go through the Gbaba armada like a hit knife through butter.
If the Gbaba are anything like the Bugs, killing them is the only option. If they are redeemable in any way, it won't happen unless they get their clocks cleaned first. That's true because the Gbaba WILL genocide any space faring race. Making the Gbaba a compelling enemy in war for humanity will be tough and likely not as interesting as a human enemy. Everything that makes the Gbaba war interesting won't be about the actual fighting, but the decisions about stopping the fighting. That won't take more than one book.
