Comic for Monday, Jul 1, 2024

[Darth Fluffy 338]

Comic for Monday, Jul 1, 2024

VS list with some mental images.

Tensaided looks fierce, Tedd looks apprehensive.

Susan and Rich both look freaked out.

I think George is getting ready to stomp AJ.

Hope still looks worried and withdrawn. She needs to pull Sarah aside and talk to her.

[mlooney 3,594]

1 hour ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Susan and Rich both look freaked out.

Rich knows about Susan and her reputation of being the hammer queen. Not sure why Susan looks freaked out, maybe she's not ready to be hit on by Rich, which I'm sure she knows about.  Granted due to the hammer queen thing Rich isn't likely to hit on her, but she is an attractive woman and that brings out the worse in him.  On the gripping hand, Rich might have had a changing moment during the not-D&D game and might start treating women better.

[Don Edwards 561]

And now we know the true purpose of AJ's seemingly-underpowered spell: it gives Dan more interesting-looking outfits to draw.

[Darth Fluffy 338]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

Rich knows about Susan and her reputation of being the hammer queen. Not sure why Susan looks freaked out, maybe she's not ready to be hit on by Rich, which I'm sure she knows about.  Granted due to the hammer queen thing Rich isn't likely to hit on her, but she is an attractive woman and that brings out the worse in him.  On the gripping hand, Rich might have had a changing moment during the not-D&D game and might start treating women better.

Susan seems to still be freaking out about being widely recognized in general, not specifically because of Rick.

We haven't seen her use her hammer summoning recently. I wonder if it is affected by the change in magic? It might have new restrictions, such as distance.

On the other gripping hand, if Rick hits on her, she might hit on him, so we get a hammer summoning. (But a second gripping hand is less interesting than just one.)

Dammit, they need to write another Moties book. Also, if Moties evolve so fast to fill the various niches, why are there not more variants with more arms?

[mlooney 3,594]

10 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Dammit, they need to write another Moties book.

Might be tricky, Pournelle is dead.  And Niven/Pournelle is a different writer than either of them solo.  Much better in my opinion

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,619]

 

George has repeatedly indicated that he is aware of the weird shenanigans that take place in and around Salty Crackers.  

He may be a "normal" who can figure out AJ is cheating and call him out on it without explaining Wizard Sight. 

 - - - - - 

By the way, is George supposed to be a Pirate, Naval Officer, Military Officer, or just someone who likes the Big Hat look that dominated the world's battlefields for so long. 

 

[mlooney 3,594]

Given that he summoned dragons, I'd go with just likes Big Hats.

[Darth Fluffy 338]

10 hours ago, mlooney said:

Might be tricky, Pournelle is dead.  And Niven/Pournelle is a different writer than either of them solo.  Much better in my opinion

Concur, although I'd caveat that Niven is very creative on his own; I'd wager the Moties were his idea.

I liked the Dream Park series, which was a three way collaboration with them and Steve Barnes, IIRC. Layers of stories to keep track of.

[mlooney 3,594]

15 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Concur, although I'd caveat that Niven is very creative on his own; I'd wager the Moties were his idea.

I liked the Dream Park series, which was a three way collaboration with them and Steve Barnes, IIRC. Layers of stories to keep track of.

Oh, I like both of their solo work, I just N&P better than either of their solo stuff

[Darth Fluffy 338]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

Oh, I like both of their solo work, I just N&P better than either of their solo stuff

I'm not sure about Pournelle. He wrote well, if he had something to say. Ages ago, he had a computer column, it was rambling and full of drivel, like his pet names for his computers. Low information density. His views on government seemed to be at odds with reality. I didn't hate what he wrote, but I can't think of anything he did on his own that I thought was good.

Niven had a very fertile imagination. He explored ideas novel in a field know for novel ideas, a step ahead of the crowd. Some had enough traction to become tropes and shared settings, such as the Kzinti wars. His characterizations maybe fell short of compelling, but they were relatable, and you could root for them.

I agree that they are better together.

[mlooney 3,594]

14 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

I'm not sure about Pournelle. He wrote well, if he had something to say. Ages ago, he had a computer column, it was rambling and full of drivel, like his pet names for his computers. Low information density. His views on government seemed to be at odds with reality. I didn't hate what he wrote, but I can't think of anything he did on his own that I thought was good.

I remember Chaos Manor in Byte.  I like his more military stuff, like the Falkenberg's Legion series.  <google>  Chaos Manor is still around.  Last updated in 2020 and looks like a turn of the century web page.
https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/

[Darth Fluffy 338]

17 hours ago, mlooney said:

I remember Chaos Manor in Byte.  I like his more military stuff, like the Falkenberg's Legion series.  <google>  Chaos Manor is still around.  Last updated in 2020 and looks like a turn of the century web page.
https://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/

It is good that he can write a column posthumously; that's quite a skill.

I have not read the Falkenberg's Legion series. I like quite a bit of military SF, I enjoyed Starship Troopers, The Forever War (got to hear Joe Haldeman talk about it at a con, which added to the experience), and David Drake's Hammer's Slammers stories (he lives not far away, and the local Sci Fi group went to his place for the 4th of July many years ago, I got to meet him as well). Based on what I've read by Pournelle, I would be willing to try the Falkenberg's Legion series, but I would not have high hopes. I'd expect it to be too pedantic.

Pournelle had a hand in the Janissaries series; that was a good read, although like many movies, the first was much better than the sequels (I've only read up through the 3rd, there are now several more.)