More Questions from an L.E. Modesitt Fan
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RecluceMage
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Of course, we could always create our own, you know. I've been archiving the MQG personally. We could then post the document to the site so that people could download it. That would be a good idea, yes?
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Kvetch
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mmm. good idea.
go and look at my Recluce:xxxx posts in the RPG forum: they would be helpful too - lots of geography in there.
If we can get Mr Modesitt's permission, why don't we try?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~EDIT:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
have been thinking: you could run it as a spreadsheet:
NAME,BOOK(S),PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION,NO SPOILER CHARACTER DESCRIPTION,FULL CHARACTER DESCRIPTION etc
hmmmmm.......
/me wanders off to muse upon the possibilities
go and look at my Recluce:xxxx posts in the RPG forum: they would be helpful too - lots of geography in there.
If we can get Mr Modesitt's permission, why don't we try?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~EDIT:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
have been thinking: you could run it as a spreadsheet:
NAME,BOOK(S),PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION,NO SPOILER CHARACTER DESCRIPTION,FULL CHARACTER DESCRIPTION etc
hmmmmm.......
/me wanders off to muse upon the possibilities
"I'm the family radical. The rest are terribly stuffy. Aside from Aunt - she's just odd."
Scepters
I'm sorry to have to inform those of you in UK-based areas who have been getting many of my books from Orbit that Orbit has decided not to publish any more of my work -- at least for for any time in the near future. So... if you want to read Scepters, The Wellspring of Chaos, Flash, or the forthcoming Ordermaster, you'll have to get a U.S. edition.
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
that has really runined my day. oh well, amazon here I come.
Begging without grace
I know you publish often, and I have no basis for whining...and I know I only have to wait until January....but I can't resist begging for more books.
I also thought I would beg for author references...I recall your reasoning for not provided cover "quotes" and respect you for it, but I truly am desperate at this point.
Any pointers? The only one of your novels I have not yet read is Green Progression, which has thus far eluded my attempts at purchase. The only one of your novels I haven't cared for is Order Maseter, because I don't have it and am directing all my literary frustrutration at my inability to read it right now.
Sigh....Whiny in Washington how cliche
I also thought I would beg for author references...I recall your reasoning for not provided cover "quotes" and respect you for it, but I truly am desperate at this point.
Any pointers? The only one of your novels I have not yet read is Green Progression, which has thus far eluded my attempts at purchase. The only one of your novels I haven't cared for is Order Maseter, because I don't have it and am directing all my literary frustrutration at my inability to read it right now.
Sigh....Whiny in Washington how cliche
Author references
I'll begin this with the preface that what I like is not always what I write, but I will [my arm having been twisted by Torybear] offer a few books that I have enjoyed, a mixture of old and new:
The Shadow of Ashland -- Terence M. Green
Soldier, Ask Not -- Gordon R. Dickson
Pavane -- Keith Roberts
The Fresco -- Sheri Tepper
Agents of Light and Darkness -- Simon R. Green
Industrial Magic -- Kelley Armstrong
Creatures of Light and Darkness -- Roger Zelazny
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Shadow of Ashland -- Terence M. Green
Soldier, Ask Not -- Gordon R. Dickson
Pavane -- Keith Roberts
The Fresco -- Sheri Tepper
Agents of Light and Darkness -- Simon R. Green
Industrial Magic -- Kelley Armstrong
Creatures of Light and Darkness -- Roger Zelazny
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
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Kvetch
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Re: Author references
I'll keep an eye out for them. I always need new books. Good on yer for asking torybear.
one question: is this one anything to do with Dime Store Magic (It's ringing vague bells for some reason, although i've read neither)lmodesitt wrote: Industrial Magic -- Kelley Armstrong
"I'm the family radical. The rest are terribly stuffy. Aside from Aunt - she's just odd."
Industrial Magic
Industrial Magic is the sequel to Dime Store Magic -- according to the book jacket, -- but I didn't read the first one.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
The Eternity Artifact
The Eternity Artifact is a stand-alone AF novel set more than 4,000 years in the future. Humanity has reached the stars -- but only in a fraction of our galaxy -- although that amounts to thousands of worlds colonized. There have been no alien intelligences discovered anywhere, and no traces of them, when one system discovers a "rogue" world speeding past the edge of the galaxy at a velocity unheard of. On the long-abandoned world sits a single "city" -- comprised of silver towers -- a huge oval roughly three hundred kays wide and six hundred long. The planet is without sun or satellites, although it once clearly had both, and the atmosphere has long-since frozen solid. The city appears to be ten billion years old, and dead, yet the towers remain in perfect condition and inviolate, products of a technology still well beyond human abilities.
The technology, if it can be understood, promises power and control to the human system that masters it -- except some human systems belief that the technology represents the original "fall."
The book tells the story of four people on the first expedition to investigate the world -- a historian, an artist, a pilot... and a spy from another system.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
The technology, if it can be understood, promises power and control to the human system that masters it -- except some human systems belief that the technology represents the original "fall."
The book tells the story of four people on the first expedition to investigate the world -- a historian, an artist, a pilot... and a spy from another system.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
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RecluceMage
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I have spoken with Lee about this book, and let's just say that I am chomping at the bit to actually read it. Too bad it takes so long for them to be edited and published. Oh well, now I can add it to my list of christmas wants for NEXT year.
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Good! New Modesitt books are always a treat even if I wish we had cloning tech to improve the rate at which his books emerge.
Because the highly esteemed Mr. Modesitt does not produce books at the rate of one per week, I have been re-reading. In doing so, I have rekindled my respect for his Johan Eschbach series. However, I have some questions that I could never resolve.
1) Is DC really like that? Do bureaucrats really fight in that manner? I know that they are short-sighted and so on (by watching their current antics). However, I was curious if the culture really is that vicious (and bloody).
2) Do music (and other) students really act that stupid? Or is it a caricature of their flaws?
3) Are steam-driven vehicles actually a preferable alternative or is that just wishful thinking? I have seen no technical articles about steam driven vehicles. Steam is (at my last check) too heavy to be practical for smaller power plants such as would be used in cars.
4) The Carolynn ghost is still just too wierd for me. I don't understand the interaction between Johann and Carolynn, much less his father and mother. It seems to be implied that Carolynn loved Johann, but I just couldn't understand it. Why? How? What about Johann's father? Why was he trying to preserve the ghost? I just couldn't find any motivation for these plot elements, and I guess I'm just missing it.
5) What was Lysette programmed to do? Just gather intel? Why was she going to shoot Johann? He was no threat to her, as far as I could tell. As an agent, if she had Johann so well smitten with her, she should have just lied and gone along with his proposal and gotten more out of him.
On the up side, I really enjoyed the mystery and political aspects of the story. It's also a nice glimpse into aspects of life as a professor. Academia really can be cut-throat (although not typically as bad as Miranda encountered, I hope). I liked the discourses on ecology as being more complicated than "save our environment at all costs especially at the cost of humans" and how politics alters how we approach it.
I also enjoyed the more mature leads and the more adult relationships. However, it was excellent to see Mr. Modesitt continue his theme that any success is usually more expensive than any common estimate.
Because the highly esteemed Mr. Modesitt does not produce books at the rate of one per week, I have been re-reading. In doing so, I have rekindled my respect for his Johan Eschbach series. However, I have some questions that I could never resolve.
1) Is DC really like that? Do bureaucrats really fight in that manner? I know that they are short-sighted and so on (by watching their current antics). However, I was curious if the culture really is that vicious (and bloody).
2) Do music (and other) students really act that stupid? Or is it a caricature of their flaws?
3) Are steam-driven vehicles actually a preferable alternative or is that just wishful thinking? I have seen no technical articles about steam driven vehicles. Steam is (at my last check) too heavy to be practical for smaller power plants such as would be used in cars.
4) The Carolynn ghost is still just too wierd for me. I don't understand the interaction between Johann and Carolynn, much less his father and mother. It seems to be implied that Carolynn loved Johann, but I just couldn't understand it. Why? How? What about Johann's father? Why was he trying to preserve the ghost? I just couldn't find any motivation for these plot elements, and I guess I'm just missing it.
5) What was Lysette programmed to do? Just gather intel? Why was she going to shoot Johann? He was no threat to her, as far as I could tell. As an agent, if she had Johann so well smitten with her, she should have just lied and gone along with his proposal and gotten more out of him.
On the up side, I really enjoyed the mystery and political aspects of the story. It's also a nice glimpse into aspects of life as a professor. Academia really can be cut-throat (although not typically as bad as Miranda encountered, I hope). I liked the discourses on ecology as being more complicated than "save our environment at all costs especially at the cost of humans" and how politics alters how we approach it.
I also enjoyed the more mature leads and the more adult relationships. However, it was excellent to see Mr. Modesitt continue his theme that any success is usually more expensive than any common estimate.
Replies
In response to the questions:
1. D.C. -- indeed any center of government -- is vicious. Generally, in "our" D.C. the violence stops short of murder, but I saw a number of suicides, either directly or indirectly, as a result of machinations that left people without any prospect of employment and alienated from friends, family, and spouses.
2. Virtually every type of student "flaw" shown in the book is taken from real life, either from my classes or from lessons/classes taught by my wife. If anything, the students are treated charitably. I am, however, not blaming them for such shortcomings, but noting that they are products of a system and of a large number of parents who refuse to allow teachers to hold their children accountable not only for academic achievement, but for personal responsibility and courtesy. Again, the students in New Brunswick tend to behave better than those in "our" world.
3. Whether steam-driven vehicles are "preferable" depends entirely on factors beyond the technology itself. The early Stanley steamers were actually lighter and faster than their internal combusion counterparts, and the Williams brothers adapted a flash boiler to production cars in the USA some 15 years ago, as I recall. The greatest technical problem, really, is that water freezes. You'd really need some sort of "block" heater, but then you need those in parts of the US and Alaska anyway. Basically, under current economic conditions, fuel isn't that expensive, and an internal combustion car tends to be a bit more convenient. Plus, it has the infrastructure to support it.
4. Almost every word Carolynne the ghost utters is a quote from Shakespeare. It's the only way she can communicate. And yes, Johan's father did take steps to preserve her, but why is never said. And yes, in her own way, Carolynne loves Johan -- and gives back what he and Llysette lack.
5. Academia is cutthroat. Henry Kissinger once observed that being Secretary of State was easier than dealing with faculty politics at Harvard.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
1. D.C. -- indeed any center of government -- is vicious. Generally, in "our" D.C. the violence stops short of murder, but I saw a number of suicides, either directly or indirectly, as a result of machinations that left people without any prospect of employment and alienated from friends, family, and spouses.
2. Virtually every type of student "flaw" shown in the book is taken from real life, either from my classes or from lessons/classes taught by my wife. If anything, the students are treated charitably. I am, however, not blaming them for such shortcomings, but noting that they are products of a system and of a large number of parents who refuse to allow teachers to hold their children accountable not only for academic achievement, but for personal responsibility and courtesy. Again, the students in New Brunswick tend to behave better than those in "our" world.
3. Whether steam-driven vehicles are "preferable" depends entirely on factors beyond the technology itself. The early Stanley steamers were actually lighter and faster than their internal combusion counterparts, and the Williams brothers adapted a flash boiler to production cars in the USA some 15 years ago, as I recall. The greatest technical problem, really, is that water freezes. You'd really need some sort of "block" heater, but then you need those in parts of the US and Alaska anyway. Basically, under current economic conditions, fuel isn't that expensive, and an internal combustion car tends to be a bit more convenient. Plus, it has the infrastructure to support it.
4. Almost every word Carolynne the ghost utters is a quote from Shakespeare. It's the only way she can communicate. And yes, Johan's father did take steps to preserve her, but why is never said. And yes, in her own way, Carolynne loves Johan -- and gives back what he and Llysette lack.
5. Academia is cutthroat. Henry Kissinger once observed that being Secretary of State was easier than dealing with faculty politics at Harvard.
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Speaking from my own experience as a math/stat teacher/professor in both jr. high, sr. high, and college, I have seen and heard practically every single one of the dialogues in my classes at one point or another. It is certainly not a caricature and in fact, I have seen and heard alot worse. Johan's classes are actually quite a great deal better than some of the classes that I have taught over the years!Brians256 wrote:
2) Do music (and other) students really act that stupid? Or is it a caricature of their flaws?
It is the rare student who actually does the reading and homework on time and even in that small group who do the reading and do their homework, they rarely think about what they are doing or reading to try and figure out how it relates to everything else. Usually they do enough just to get by and be able to answer questions that are similar to the text. So, if the context changes just a little, they think it is not at all similar to what they just did.
After a while in my class they learn they are going to have to read deeper and think and then some of them will work harder at this- but it is usually only because they want to pass and know that I expect it of them. You'd be amazed at how difficult and frustrating it can be to try and get students to really think! It is wonderful when they do though.
Ean
there is yet time enough for us to take a different path
theres one series that i have been reading for just as long as i been reading the recluce series. the valdemar series by mercedes lackey.
a couple of other good series to read are daid eddings the elenium series, or the belgariad, or the malloreon( which takes place after the belgariad). then theres the song of albion series by stephen lawhead. he also did a excellent series called the celtic crusades.
a couple of other good series to read are daid eddings the elenium series, or the belgariad, or the malloreon( which takes place after the belgariad). then theres the song of albion series by stephen lawhead. he also did a excellent series called the celtic crusades.
all life begins with not but a step upon a path..
..choose your path choose your life...
..choose your path choose your life...