Honorverse opinions

OBS is too much of a gimmick book. The grav lance is two layer of doubletalk.

Not a bad book, I read it when it came out and went to to read the rest, but the gimmick is clearly a gimmick.

kzt wrote:OBS is too much of a gimmick book. The grav lance is two layer of doubletalk.

Not a bad book, I read it when it came out and went to to read the rest, but the gimmick is clearly a gimmick.

Symptomatic of not being a virgin beginning with OBS. By the time you read the most significant book, your views were already tainted by the tech, and you missed the human element completely, which comprises the goodness that is OBS.

kzt wrote:OBS is too much of a gimmick book. The grav lance is two layer of doubletalk.

Not a bad book, I read it when it came out and went to to read the rest, but the gimmick is clearly a gimmick.

cthia wrote:Symptomatic of not being a virgin beginning with OBS. By the time you read the most significant book, your views were already tainted by the tech, and you missed the human element completely, which comprises the goodness that is OBS.

Why not allow people to have their own opinions? Perhaps the best book is the next one. The grav-lance is something about which the author has become ashamed. The human element is a big part of most of the books, if not all. OBS was the first book that I read in the series and it is a good introduction. HotQ has the great speech about honor. SVW introduces the wider political and military stakes. FoD shows us Honor's darker side and FiE justifies the "Salamander".

tlb wrote:

kzt wrote:OBS is too much of a gimmick book. The grav lance is two layer of doubletalk.

Not a bad book, I read it when it came out and went to to read the rest, but the gimmick is clearly a gimmick.

cthia wrote:Symptomatic of not being a virgin beginning with OBS. By the time you read the most significant book, your views were already tainted by the tech, and you missed the human element completely, which comprises the goodness that is OBS.

Why not allow people to have their own opinions? Perhaps the best book is the next one. The grav-lance is something about which the author has become ashamed. The human element is a big part of most of the books, if not all. OBS was the first book that I read in the series and it is a good introduction. HotQ has the great speech about honor. SVW introduces the wider political and military stakes. FoD shows us Honor's darker side and FiE justifies the "Salamander".

Indeed! And, it has been implied I'm the most opinionated on this board. So my light-hearted opinion of his opinion passes customs too?

cthia wrote:Indeed! And, it has been implied I'm the most opinionated on this board. So my light-hearted opinion of his opinion passes customs too?

Of course. We can argue about interpretations of the hints that the author provides us; but opinions cannot really be forced on each other. It is fine to present them, however they are not necessarily received truths. Consider the other thread that Duckk just shut down. Most specially if the thread creator really believed what he wrote, what was accomplished by trying to argue?

My own opinion of the best book does not matter, since there are several that are close to the top and that can change. However there are several places where I think the author has played unfairly with our expectations. The most recent case was the charade of the great and powerful Solarian League, making the collapse when the curtain was pulled away anticlimactic. But the first one that bothered me was Honor and the married man. I thought there must be some legal reason that kept them apart on Manticore and that there should be no reason why they could not all marry under Grayson law. Then it turned out that the problem was the marriage vows and all that was needed was to rewrite them. So several books worth of anguish could be erased by changing a few words on a scrap of paper?

tlb wrote:

cthia wrote:Indeed! And, it has been implied I'm the most opinionated on this board. So my light-hearted opinion of his opinion passes customs too?

Of course. We can argue about interpretations of the hints that the author provides us; but opinions cannot really be forced on each other. It is fine to present them, however they are not necessarily received truths. Consider the other thread that Duckk just shut down. Most specially if the thread creator really believed what he wrote, what was accomplished by trying to argue?

Lines of communication. The world's problems are not going to be solved without opening up a report.

tlb wrote:My own opinion of the best book does not matter, since there are several that are close to the top and that can change. However there are several places where I think the author has played unfairly with our expectations. The most recent case was the charade of the great and powerful Solarian League, making the collapse when the curtain was pulled away anticlimactic. But the first one that bothered me was Honor and the married man. I thought there must be some legal reason that kept them apart on Manticore and that there should be no reason why they could not all marry under Grayson law. Then it turned out that the problem was the marriage vows and all that was needed was to rewrite them. So several books worth of anguish could be erased by changing a few words on a scrap of paper?

It matters to me. I'm highly interested in everyone's opinion of the best book in the series. It is highly interesting. And I respect that. People like what they like for various reasons. Do note that I never argued or tried to change someone elses' favorite. How could I when I absolutely adore every mainline book in the series. What I'm adamant about is the priceless benefits of beginning the series with OBS. I can totally understand either book being someone's favorite. I can certainly understand Honor of the Queen being a common favorite. It isn't called 'Hot Q' for nothing.

I agree the buildup of the Solarian League was somewhat anticlimactic, but I wonder if the author had painted himself into a corner with the advantages of Manty tech. Plus, I wonder if feedback from his fans changed his course. Especially when he said, somewhere, "I think the way I resolve the Solarian League will be acceptable to everyone." Paraphrased. David couldn't beat up on the League too badly, and giving them some sort of edge was difficult. The link I included in the thread just shut down, David said he doesn't let his fans alter his course. Thank God his wife isn't just a fan, or poor Honor.

I wonder if he'll face the same dilemma with the MA, of how to satisfy his fans need for revenge. And his characters and governments need for revenge, and not appear to be a bloodthirsty heartless psychopath himself.

I have no problem with the messy issue drawn out about the marriage. It is interesting and realistic. Religion has a tendency to be complicated. In fact, I said on several occasions that the quickness of the pen to solve that issue may not have erased the difficulty that may still linger behind the scenes in the church itself, behind closed doors. I also wonder if that reality is why Emily ultimately "bought the farm."

Why do I have to be so darn opinionated, and open so many cans of worms. Although I do love book discussions. I was the only male in several clubs. They loved me. Once I didn't show up because I was sick. They brought the discussion, and soup, to me.

tlb wrote:Of course. We can argue about interpretations of the hints that the author provides us; but opinions cannot really be forced on each other. It is fine to present them, however they are not necessarily received truths. Consider the other thread that Duckk just shut down. Most specially if the thread creator really believed what he wrote, what was accomplished by trying to argue?

cthia wrote:Lines of communication. The world's problems are not going to be solved without opening up a report.

It matters to me. I'm highly interested in everyone's opinion of the best book in the series. It is highly interesting. And I respect that. People like what they like for various reasons. Do note that I never argued or tried to change someone elses' favorite. How could I when I absolutely adore every mainline book in the series. What I'm adamant about is the priceless benefits of beginning the series with OBS. I can totally understand either book being someone's favorite. I can understand Honor of the Queen being a common favorite. It isn't called 'Hot Q' for nothing.

I agree the buildup of the Solarian League was somewhat anticlimactic, but I wonder if the author had painted himself into a corner with the advantages of Manty tech. Plus, I wonder if feedback from his fans changed his course. Especially when he said, somewhere, "I think the way I resolve the Solarian League will be acceptable to everyone." Paraphrased. David couldn't beat up on the League too badly, and giving them some sort of edge was difficult. The link I included in the thread just shut down, David said he doesn't let his fans alter his course. Thank God his wife isn't just a fan, or poor Honor.

I wonder if he'll face the same dilemma with the MA. How to satisfy his fans need for revenge. And his characters and governments need for revenge, and not appear be a bloodthirsty heartless psychopath himself.

I have no problem with the messy issue drawn out about the marriage. It is interesting and realistic. Religion has a tendency to be complicated. In fact, I said on several occasions that the quickness of the pen may not have erased the difficulty that may still linger behind the scenes in the church itself, behind closed doors. I also wonder if that reality is why Emily ultimately "bought the farm."

Arguing against someone's opinion is not "opening lines of communication", particularly when the only support for that opinion is additional invective.

The speech about honor in HOTQ tilts my opinion.

Another opinion of mine is that Emily was NOT emotionally blackmailed into a joint marriage. Further, whatever the author may have intended, "bought the farm" is not an appropriate phrase to describe what happened (until she actually died).

Snopes.com wrote:Though “buying the farm” did become a way of saying “he died” (in battle or otherwise, soldier or anyone else), the connection between G.I.s’ death benefits and swarms of families paying off mortgages with those sadly-gained funds is tenuous at best.

Others postulate the term derived from wistful statements uttered by aviators who later met the Grim Reaper in dogfights; each making a statement to the effect that after the war was over, he’d like to settle down and buy a farm. “He bought the farm” thus became a way of saying “His war is now over.”

Another theory leaves out soldiers entirely — according to it, farmers whose buildings were hit by crashing fighter planes would sue the government for damages, and those damages were often enough to pay off all outstanding mortgages on the property. Since very few pilots would survive such a crash, the pilot was said to have “bought the farm” with his life.

These are charming tales filled with imagery and romance, but nothing other than our desire to believe supports any of them. Moreover, “to buy it” (meaning “to die”) existed in the language long before “to buy the farm” did. It’s more reasonable to suppose the one is an extension of the other, with “the farm” substituting for (the often unstated) “it.”

The Oxford English Dictionary offers this definition of “buy”:

To suffer some mishap or reverse, specifically to be wounded; to get killed, to die; (of an airman) to be shot down.

The earliest use of “buy” in this sense dates to 1825, more than a century before the earliest appearance of “buy the farm.”

Lexicographer Dave Wilton concludes “the farm” is a slang reference to a burial plot (i.e., a piece of ground). “Buy a plot” appeared around the time of “buy the farm” (both mean the same thing), but it’s a particular snippet of World War I slang that ties it all together: “Become a landowner” thus means “to inhabit a cemetery plot.”

kzt wrote:OBS is too much of a gimmick book. The grav lance is two layer of doubletalk.

Not a bad book, I read it when it came out and went to to read the rest, but the gimmick is clearly a gimmick.

So you did begin the series by way of the Basilisk terminal first? Are you due an apology and a late RSVP?

cthia wrote:So you did begin the series by way of the Basilisk terminal first? Are you due an apology and a late RSVP?

Why would anyone be due an RSVP, unless they invited you to something?

RSVP = "Répondez s'il vous plaît" = Respond, if you please.

tlb wrote:

cthia wrote:So you did begin the series by way of the Basilisk terminal first? Are you due an apology and a late RSVP?

Why would anyone be due an RSVP, unless they invited you to something?

RSVP = "Répondez s'il vous plaît" = Respond, if you please.

Dude, please pump your breaks, you're destroying the pads. And for the love of God, please drink decaf if coffee you must! You are the only one that didn't get that reference. Try reading my posts and holster that sidearm. Gees. Read the RSVP link on the previous page. If you still can't figure it out then, I don't know what to tell you.

In another thread where I included so much substance, you choose to argue the current accepted usage for "bought the farm." ??? Now I know what trolling is! If you want me to continue to respond to you. Get a grip.