HOST EBK Shark: *** The opinions expressed in this chat do not necessarily represent those of the Science Fiction General chat room or America Online. *** HOST EBK Shark: Didn't have my log turned on. HOST EBK Shark: LOL R2na: As I was saying, I started reading Ringo's book Gust Front HOST EBK Shark: Ok. Mr. Ringo will be 'FleetstrikeCom'. R2na: ok HOST EBK Shark: Did you read 'A Hymn Before Battle'? HOST EBK Shark: That's the first book. R2na: No. I just wanted to at least start reading one of his books, so I went to Barnes&Noble this past weekend, but they didn't have that one HOST EBK Shark: So, what do you think so far? R2na: So I picked up Gust Front instead R2na: I haven't gotten very far, but I like it so far HOST EBK Shark: That's as good a place to start as any, I guess. HOST EBK Shark: Ok. Protocol will be in affect tonight. OnlineHost: HOST EBK Astra has entered the room. HOST EBK Shark: If you have a question, just type a '?' OnlineHost: FleetstrikeCom has entered the room. HOST EBK Shark: Hiya Astra! HOST EBK Astra: Yo :) HOST EBK Shark: How ya doing tonight, Fleet? HOST EBK Astra: And that must be John? HOST EBK Shark: Everyone! I would like you meet John Ringo. FleetstrikeCom: Actually, I nearly forgot and was half way on my way to bed. ;-) HOST EBK Shark: Oh, I feel so loved... HOST EBK Astra: ::: applauds ::: I *loved* 1632 :-) FleetstrikeCom: Everyone being the two moderators and R2na? R2na: Evening, Mr. Ringo OnlineHost: janicemars has entered the room. FleetstrikeCom: I'm going to hope that that was a joke. Eric Flint wrote 1632. HOST EBK Shark: So far. It's not quite 8PM FleetstrikeCom: :-P janicemars: :::waves hi::: HOST EBK Shark: Hiya Jan!! HOST EBK Astra: Very much a joke ... I have con hangover :-) HOST EBK Astra: Hi Jan! FleetstrikeCom: Which con? HOST EBK Shark: Welcome to Military Mayhem Monday!! Tonight, we have the honor of having John Ringo (FleetstrikeCom), author extraordinaire, with us for an hour long chat! OnlineHost: NINLILA has entered the room. FleetstrikeCom: I adore cons which is why I have to limit myself. NINLILA: ;;;waves hi::: HOST EBK Astra: LosCon - David Weber was GoH HOST EBK Astra: in Burbank HOST EBK Shark: Hiya Nin!! janicemars: afk HOST EBK Shark: Welcome to Military Mayhem Monday!! Tonight, we have the honor of having John Ringo (FleetstrikeCom), author extraordinaire, with us for an hour long chat! HOST EBK Shark: (Protocol is in affect, so, please see Mistress Astra for details and queue.) FleetstrikeCom: The last one I was at was Dragon. FleetstrikeCom: Ah, I'll quit gabbing. HOST EBK Shark: But, we will wait until everyone arrives. HOST EBK Shark: LOL. Nah, we're pretty well laid back here, Mr. Ringo. HOST EBK Astra: Never been to DragonCon ... interferes with WorldCon now :) HOST EBK Shark: We do have our stragglers, though. FleetstrikeCom: Well, I've been to WorldCon. FleetstrikeCom: And I've been to dragon. HOST EBK Astra: Gonna be in Toronto next year? FleetstrikeCom: For personal _and_ professional reasons, I'll stick to Dragon. HOST EBK Astra: Ahso. OnlineHost: HOST EBK Astra has left the room. HOST EBK Shark: You know, I just found out tonight that 'Hell's Faire' was the fourth book in FleetStrike. HOST EBK Shark: Shows how far ahead I read. OnlineHost: Araiused has entered the room. HOST EBK Shark: R2! Get my duct tape. HOST EBK Shark: Hiya Ara! Araiused: Heyla HOST EBK Shark: Welcome to Military Mayhem Monday!! Tonight, we have the honor of having John Ringo (FleetstrikeCom), author extraordinaire, with us for an hour long chat! FleetstrikeCom: WorldCon's such a SMOF con that the potential audience for what I write is too small for me to pick up many readers. R2na: There's a fourth book? I thought it was a trilogy for some reason. HOST EBK Shark: Probably because I told you it was, R2. Araiused: Astra just moofed? HOST EBK Shark: Don't listen to me. R2na: Oh FleetstrikeCom: Dragon is a media con, but the readers who are there tend more towards the "exploding spaceships" lovers. FleetstrikeCom: It was _supposed_ to be a trilogy. I tried, really I did. OnlineHost: HOST EBK Astra has entered the room. FleetstrikeCom: My apology is at the end of HF. HOST EBK Shark: Exploding spaceships are cool... HOST EBK Astra: Sigh. I love AOL. FleetstrikeCom: Yep. Araiused: Doesn't military have an explosive factor....? HOST EBK Shark: LOL R2na: Oh, I see. I jsut satrted reading 'Gust Front' Araiused: Ah, NIN, are we on Cybling too? R2na: I agree, Shark. Exploding spaceships are very cool FleetstrikeCom: Gust Front is, I think, the best of the Posleen books. FleetstrikeCom: A real gut wrencher. HOST EBK Shark: Is 'Hell's Faire' complete, Mr. Ringo? FleetstrikeCom: Done, in. Complete. FleetstrikeCom: Some maps to provide still. HOST EBK Shark: Too cool!!! FleetstrikeCom: It's short. Effectively it's the end of WtDD. HOST EBK Shark: I updated my intro to reflect that. FleetstrikeCom: (When the Devil Dances) R2na: I didn't read the first Posleen book yet. Barnes&Noble didn't have it when I went there the other day, so I got 'Gust Front' instead HOST EBK Shark: Still haven't read that one. FleetstrikeCom: Gust has some spoilers for Hymn, but nothing major. HOST EBK Shark: I keep dancin' between 'March' and Fleet FleetstrikeCom: You can still enjoy the book I think. HOST EBK Shark: I think you can, R2. FleetstrikeCom: March to the Stars is coming out in January. FleetstrikeCom: Hell's Faire is out in May, IIRC. HOST EBK Shark: Great!! Almost done with March to the Sea. FleetstrikeCom: After that it's off to a completely different universe. More...fantasyish. FleetstrikeCom: No exploding spaceships. HOST EBK Shark: Really? HOST EBK Shark: Hmmm... FleetstrikeCom: But there will be some explosions. (Grin.) Araiused: What does military SF entail - alien invasion? Defence. Offensive? Araiused: Civil wars? HOST EBK Shark: Well, I'll give fantasy a read, too. FleetstrikeCom: Military SF, I think and it's only an opinion, is distinguished by SF that has military characters that act in a military manner. FleetstrikeCom: It's not straight fantasy. janicemars: ? HOST EBK Shark: Good question, Ara! FleetstrikeCom: It's actually the fall of a hypercivilization that will be the "God Wars" of a fantasy milieu. Araiused: Are we in protocol? FleetstrikeCom: Back to Mil SF. HOST EBK Shark: Yes, Ara. Araiused: Sawwy :) HOST EBK Shark: You're fine, Ara. FleetstrikeCom: What I mean by that can be looked at as a comparison between... FleetstrikeCom: Say... HOST EBK Shark: You just got us started. FleetstrikeCom: Star Wars and Starship Troopers (book, not the movie.) FleetstrikeCom: In Star Wars, there are military ranks. FleetstrikeCom: But they're set dressing. HOST EBK Shark: <---bows to Star Wars Araiused: I have to sign off when the venison is ready: I have house guests :) FleetstrikeCom: Hardly anyone acts in a military manner. janicemars: What for you would differentiate a "pure" SF Military novel from a 'fantasy Araiused: ? janicemars: Ooops...forget I said that. FleetstrikeCom: What in the hell is Darth Vader's rank? HOST EBK Shark: Lord of the Sith!!! FleetstrikeCom: And what fleet academy did he train at? FleetstrikeCom: Did he go to a Command and Staff college? FleetstrikeCom: Does he actually have any formal training in warfare? FleetstrikeCom: The answer is no. HOST EBK Shark: I can't answer those. Episode 3 hasn't come out yet. R2na: Star Wars isn't Science Fiction, some say. It's Science Fantasy FleetstrikeCom: He doesn't understand logistics. HOST EBK Shark: It is Science Fantasy. FleetstrikeCom: He doesn't understand strategy. FleetstrikeCom: And he doesn't understand tactics. FleetstrikeCom: It's space opera. FleetstrikeCom: It's GOOD space opera. HOST EBK Shark: Tactics! FleetstrikeCom: But it's not combat SF. HOST EBK Shark: The gristle of any combat. FleetstrikeCom: That's the best answer I can give. HOST EBK Shark: That is true. FleetstrikeCom: Combat SF is about soldiers and sailors and Marines and pilots. FleetstrikeCom: "Space above and beyond" is combat SF. HOST EBK Shark: That was a good show! FleetstrikeCom: Next question. Araiused: Some say Star Wars is Space Western :) R2na: "Space Above and Beyond" was great. janicemars: What for you would differentiate a "pure" SF Military novel from a 'fantasy' Military novel and are there such things? (sorry about the presend of the partial question there.) FleetstrikeCom: Star wars is space western, yeah. R2na: No, Ara. The show Firefly is a Space Western FleetstrikeCom: There are _bad_ military novels. FleetstrikeCom: Military novels where it's clear the person writing them doesn't understand the military and/or doesn't like it. FleetstrikeCom: Going to movies, again, Starship Troopers was a classic bad/fantasy military novel. FleetstrikeCom: It also had bad science, as if that wasn't enough. HOST EBK Shark: I am a believer that tactics make or break a good SF/Military story. What's your opinion? FleetstrikeCom: The tactics/operational methods used would have been outdated in the 17th century. FleetstrikeCom: Characters make or break any book/movie. FleetstrikeCom: Story. FleetstrikeCom: Plot is next. FleetstrikeCom: I'd place tactics a distant third or fourth. FleetstrikeCom: But, yeah, bad tactics can really make a novel tank. HOST EBK Shark: Really? I would have thought that making the tactics believeable would be first. HOST EBK Shark: Maybe second. FleetstrikeCom: But, generally, bad tactics are part and parcel of bad characters and plot. FleetstrikeCom: Not...really. HOST EBK Shark: Ok. I'll give you that. FleetstrikeCom: I've done some lousy tactics in my books. HOST EBK Shark: When? FleetstrikeCom: I did them deliberately and with a slight of hand so they didn't _look_ bad. FleetstrikeCom: Voitan. HOST EBK Shark: Most I've read seemed classic battlefield tactics. FleetstrikeCom: They should have done a running movement back to the castle. FleetstrikeCom: They had the capability to do that. FleetstrikeCom: It would have permitted more time to prepare the defenses and it would have winnowed down the Kranolta. FleetstrikeCom: But they didn't. HOST EBK Shark: Next question? HOST EBK Astra: The Q is ... Ara FleetstrikeCom: I did that _intentionally_, by the way. FleetstrikeCom: The battle as set piece was much more dramatic. Araiused: Do you use advanced weaponry tech, tech that isn't invented and do you take pains to explain how to use it or just show how the tech is used?