EP262: Cruciger

[kingNOR]

I really loved this story.  I know this thread isn't really going anymore but I just wanted to throw my thoughts in having gotten to it late.

I understand why people could find it convenient that Duxa had endless resources to fix the problems she encountered and I can appreciate the logistical questions of how something like Duxa could be built in the first place.

To me the story wasn't so much about these aspects of the universe the story is set in.  I felt the author did a good job of setting up a scenario that leaves us with interesting questions.  Humans in Duxa's universe obviously are more technologically advanced than us by a great deal, the plague didn't hit in any near future to us.  Likewise, humans still manage to get wiped out.  So we weren't masters of even our own solar system yet apparently.  I felt enough information was given there to get us going with out having to give a step by step of how we got to where we are.

Earth has been rendered uninhabitable by a plague.
Our only choice is to engineer a new home in another system.
We used every scrape of resource we had left to create Duxa.

The real story here is only focused on the Sci-Fi in so much as it shapes who and what Duxa is.  How she goes from something that only barely grasps death to truly understanding the value of life. 

I found the scene when she kills Sun in freezing experiments to be right at the heart of this story.  Even though the character exists in the story for just a little while, you get the feeling that Duxa has made a huge emotional connection to the him and she's really, for the first time ever, experiencing true loss. 

Duxa had known people before, but I'd venture that Sun was the first real friend she'd had.  To go from casually holding her sign informing everyone "I'm going to destroy your planet soon" to her outburst over Sun...  well I found it very effective.


As for the inconsistent computing power of Duxa,  all I know is my computer can do somethings nice and fast and other things painfully slow.  I imagine a moon sized space craft which isn't even sure where it's own processors are might be just a tad inconsistent at times. 

[Unblinking]

I really loved this story.  I know this thread isn't really going anymore but I just wanted to throw my thoughts in having gotten to it late.

No need to apologize for raising inactive threads! 

[Dave]

Have you ever seen something >1.0 Ga? Or is Gandalf an absolute measurement, like Kelvin.

I have never seen >1.0 Ga.  Allanon, from the Shanara series, is .95 Ga, but none have passed the great wizard himself.  I believe Gandalf is like the speed of light, absolute, but others may prove me wrong.   

And yes, feel free to use this for yourself! 

Oh, man... Allanon... I was a huge Terry Brooks fanboy when I was a kid, but I remember thinking of the 12 step group every time I read his name. And he was definitely pretty high on the Character-As-Plot-Device scale. He always had ooooone more trick or reserve of power up his sleeve.

[Unblinking]

Oh, man... Allanon... I was a huge Terry Brooks fanboy when I was a kid, but I remember thinking of the 12 step group every time I read his name. And he was definitely pretty high on the Character-As-Plot-Device scale. He always had ooooone more trick or reserve of power up his sleeve.

Yeah, I could not stop thinking of the 12 step group either.  I knew some people in Allanon, so it really made me wonder why they chose that name.  And yup, you can't get much more plot-devicey than that.  I thought the Sword of Shannara was pretty good when I read it, but I hadn't read Lord of the Rings yet...  And the other followup books were just terrible.  In each one, a new threat that endangers the entire world--if those really came around every few years, then statistically the world's got to end one of these times.

[Scattercat]

Oh, man... Allanon... I was a huge Terry Brooks fanboy when I was a kid, but I remember thinking of the 12 step group every time I read his name. And he was definitely pretty high on the Character-As-Plot-Device scale. He always had ooooone more trick or reserve of power up his sleeve.

Yeah, I could not stop thinking of the 12 step group either.  I knew some people in Allanon, so it really made me wonder why they chose that name.  And yup, you can't get much more plot-devicey than that.  I thought the Sword of Shannara was pretty good when I read it, but I hadn't read Lord of the Rings yet...  And the other followup books were just terrible.  In each one, a new threat that endangers the entire world--if those really came around every few years, then statistically the world's got to end one of these times.

I don't know.  I actually quite liked "Elfstones."  I felt like Terry Brooks managed to make his world much more unique in that one and gave it a sense of place instead of just Middle-Earth with the serial numbers filed off.

And you can't tell me that "Druid of Shannara" and "Elf Queen of Shannara" aren't both just awesome by themselves.  That series as a whole is middling-to-fair, as the first and fourth books are mediocre at best and the overplot isn't really all there, but that stone city thing... man.  That stuff is rad.

[Unblinking]

I don't know.  I actually quite liked "Elfstones."  I felt like Terry Brooks managed to make his world much more unique in that one and gave it a sense of place instead of just Middle-Earth with the serial numbers filed off.

And you can't tell me that "Druid of Shannara" and "Elf Queen of Shannara" aren't both just awesome by themselves.  That series as a whole is middling-to-fair, as the first and fourth books are mediocre at best and the overplot isn't really all there, but that stone city thing... man.  That stuff is rad.

I thought both "Elfstones" and "Wishsong" were of low quality, trying to suck more money out of a concept that he'd taken as far as he could.  I guess I was thinking of the original "trilogy" only when I referred to the followup books disparagingly.  I haven't read Druid or Elf Queen since I was a teen but I remember enjoying those very much, because the writing and ideas just seemed much better and not just rehashes of the original, the Shadowen being a cool component especially, and the stone city.  I particularly liked Walker Boh (I think that was his name).

I believe Druid was the 2nd Shannara book I ever picked up, having no money at the time and instead only able to grab whatever book was available at the library.

[Scattercat]

"Wishsong" is a bit pants, since it basically relies heavily on the Magic Omnipotence power for its plot and resolution.  I liked the implacable horror-movie of "Elfstones," though, and it was one of the earliest books I read that really subverted a trope strongly.

(What is it with "Cruciger" and spin-off discussions?  Isn't this like the third digression?)

[kibitzer]

"Wishsong" is a bit pants...

Are you English, cat?? Thought you was an USian.

[Scattercat]

"Wishsong" is a bit pants...

Are you English, cat?? Thought you was an USian.

My formative years were significantly shaped by Monty Python, Terry Pratchett, and P.G. Wodehouse.  I am prone to veering wildly from patois to patois in my speech and writing, switching from online slang to oddball Britishisms to Buffy-speak to academic papers more or less at random. 

I'm USian, but one who is widely read and fond of linguistic oddities.  I pick up my slang where I find it.  "Manky" is another excellent British word that doesn't get as much use as it should, for instance.  I do have to police myself to avoid putting "a bit" and "rather" in every sentence. 

[Wilson Fowlie]

Apropos of the Gandalf discussion.  (Note: the best part is at the bottom.)

[Prophet]

I just wanted to say this EP episode was my first. And I loved it! Good story and well read. I've been hooked on Escape Pod ever since.

Only part I didn't like? Finding out hour-long episodes are not typical. 

[kibitzer]

I just wanted to say this EP episode was my first. And I loved it! Good story and well read. I've been hooked on Escape Pod ever since.

Only part I didn't like? Finding out hour-long episodes are not typical. 

Well, good intro, then! Stick around. Hope you enjoy the ride.