Another review from @InBrightestDay. It’s always a pleasure to read your reviews of Last Full Measure and hope I continue to keep you entertained with each chapter as much as I enjoy writing them up.
From InBrightestDay on February 12, 2019
And the awkwardness begins. At the very least, the interactions between Sam and Tirsa are less adversarial than those between Celeste and Adara. This makes sense, of course, given that Sam wasn't cheating; she just didn't want to be in a long distance relationship. That thought is also amusing, since when you say "long distance relationship," you're generally talking about something measured in miles or kilometers, not light-years.
Something I've noticed about the interactions between the crew is that it seems like most of them speak at least three languages, which is neat, since it's something else that suggests aspects of the setting. Given that it's a globally integrated military, perhaps they feature language training as part of basic, or maybe it's not so much a military thing as a general education idea. Either way, it helps get across that there's a lot more international exchange.
All the rookies also seem very excited to see combat. I sense this will not end well.
Finally, as a sci-fi fan, I love that you mentioned kinetic bombardment using Jerry Pournelle's Project Thor term. The basic idea is gaining more traction in popular culture, but it's rare enough that it's still kind of cool every time it pops up.
Just because I’m feeling weird, I’m going to address the last section first… lol.
Finally, as a sci-fi fan, I love that you mentioned kinetic bombardment using Jerry Pournelle's Project Thor term. The basic idea is gaining more traction in popular culture, but it's rare enough that it's still kind of cool every time it pops up.
I wasn’t sure anyone would have the idea of what the Project Thor reference (or, as some people may know it, the Rods from God reference) actually was. I, personally, love the idea and, while I haven’t used it in many of my writing here, I have referenced them in one of my other works not set up here. It’s one of those things that is ‘present’ in reality (even just hypothetically or otherwise) that sounds so sci-fi that some people wouldn’t believe it. It’s much like the railguns referenced in Chapter 5 as being part of the Greyeyes’ complement of weapons. (Speaking of which, historical fun fact… The Greyeyes and the Pegahmagabow-class are named after historical figures… Because… History fanatic!...)
And the awkwardness begins. At the very least, the interactions between Sam and Tirsa are less adversarial than those between Celeste and Adara. This makes sense, of course, given that Sam wasn't cheating; she just didn't want to be in a long distance relationship. That thought is also amusing, since when you say "long distance relationship," you're generally talking about something measured in miles or kilometers, not light-years.
The awkwardness definitely begins… and will continue… I wanted the Sam/Tirsa relationship to be a foil to that of Celeste/Adara. And I certainly wanted to show that Tirsa’s relationship didn’t fall apart (although it was far from mutual with regards to the break-up). And, yes, that was a bit of a hilarity in itself and one that I hoped would have some humour to it. Like you said, ‘long distance relationship’ is usually thought of in miles/kilometers (occasionally, I’ve heard people reference it in terms of hours), but the idea of it being in light years, I got a laugh when I first wrote it in and hoped it translated to other readers.
Something I've noticed about the interactions between the crew is that it seems like most of them speak at least three languages, which is neat, since it's something else that suggests aspects of the setting. Given that it's a globally integrated military, perhaps they feature language training as part of basic, or maybe it's not so much a military thing as a general education idea. Either way, it helps get across that there's a lot more international exchange.
The idea of having other languages involved worried me. I had previously posted a topic on the Forums regarding other languages (last year sometime) and it seemed the common consensus was that most people preferred not to have them (or so it read to me) and I was worried it would be a similar response on here. But, as you said (“suggests aspects of the setting”), to me it provides that multinational force present a little more weight to it and, without excessive prose worldbuilding, gives that build in just the language. Many of them, though, I think I only have speaking two languages (English and a ‘mother’ tongue). And I am personally grateful to those who have helped ( @sweetmamajama, @Windrider Shiva, Yaoichi (Tocuatl)), more so than words can say. Without their help, the world of Last Full Measure would be similar to many other movies and books (that is, everyone speaks English because… Hooray, USA?). That wasn’t something I wanted to happen, I still wanted people speaking their own mother tongues far into the future. Indeed, with PFC Nakanasa’s Cree, I wanted the implication to be that Reconciliation had come to fruition and the attempted cultural genocide from the Canadian government through the residential schools had failed, that Indigenous peoples had reclaimed their cultures and languages.
All the rookies also seem very excited to see combat. I sense this will not end well.
Oh, yeah. Many of those who haven’t seen combat before really want to. But, as I mentioned prior in the story, there’s not many of them who truly have seen it (even the officers) and those who have are highly sought after (or so I hoped was implied). And those that aren’t ‘bloodied’ (haven’t seen combat) are heavily excited at the prospect of being ‘heroes’, although that’s not going to be used. It’s supposed to parallel the feelings of World War I (in that it’s some great mission with a heroic tale they’ll be able to tell people)… And no, nothing ends well in that regard. But the real question, who survives and who doesn’t?
Thank you for your review, as always. I appreciate it and it’s always a pleasure to read yours. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it and that you continue to return (so I must be doing something right! YAY!).
On a side note, InBrightestDay, and with a shameless plug (I regret nothing), I do have some sketches (bad ones, I think, but still...) of characters within LFM if you want to see some ideas of what they might look like (according to my thoughts).