In Her Name: First Contact - Book Club Part 1

[Michael R. Hicks]

Welcome to the In Her Name: First Contact book klub!

Here's How to Play: Come as you are, post as you please. No schedules. If you need to refer to something in your post that other readers probably wouldn't know at that point in the thread, remember to use the spoiler tags I tried to make the questions not-too-revealing, but there might be a very slight amount of spoiler-ing here and there, so scroll down carefully! The topics in the threads are just idea generators/points of reference - they're not a limiter. Talk about whatever you want about the book (or kilt wedgies, whatever)! I'm posting all of the threads at close to the same time. So if you're blitzing through the book, you can blitz through the threads, too I decided to not try and break things out by chapter, but by general part of the story, with each part in its own thread. There's so much going on in some places, it was hard to come up with "interesting" questions without getting bogged down

The most important thing, of course, is to ENJOY YOURSELF!



Without further adoo, here's the first round of idea generators:

Close Encounters: Chapters 1 through 8

This isn't directly related to the story, but it's something I'm always interested to hear what people think: should we reach for the stars (and why/why not)?

When the Aurora's crew first learned about the alien ships coming toward them, did you have any suspicions about what might happen? And did your suspicions prove correct?

What were your impressions when you first meet the various members of Aurora's crew - who did you like most/least, and why?

Captain McClaren decided to stay and greet the alien ships. Would you have done the same if you were in his shoes?

What were your first impressions of the aliens as they "greeted" the Aurora's crew? And did you root for anyone in particular during the battle for the ship?

What did you think of the healers and the medical "technology" they used on McClaren and the other crew members?

You're introduced to a couple of different castes on the Kreelan warship. What did you think of them?

Captain McClaren catches a glimpse of a "towering figure" at the back of the amphitheater where they watch the builders at work. From that and some earlier snippets, and before she is "formally" introduced into the story, did you suspect who this was (for those who've read the original novels)? And were you glad or not?

What did you think of the crew's reaction to the "lottery"? And who did you think would be chosen as the Messenger?

What were your thoughts during the battle fought in the arena? What was your favorite scene(s), and why?

What was your overall impression of the Kreelans by the end of the arena scene?

Was the Messenger who you thought it might be?


When you're finished with this section, feel free to move on to Part 2 >>>

[Ann in Arlington]

Off to read. . . . .guess I'll be bopping back and forth between China with Ed and the Kreelan Empire with you!

[Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake']

Ahhh, mention of kilt wedgies inspires me.  I'll start us off with the onset of ... Wedgie Wars

[Michael R. Hicks]

Off to read. . . . .guess I'll be bopping back and forth between China with Ed and the Kreelan Empire with you!

Cool! Hope ya enjoy (both)!!

[Michael R. Hicks]

Ahhh, mention of kilt wedgies inspires me.  I'll start us off with the onset of ... Wedgie Wars

Now THAT didn't take long! LOL!!

[Edward C. Patterson]

I'm in the Ominbus, so I have to wait. 

But I'll bop back and forth anyway. 

Ed Patterson

[geoffthomas]

This isn't directly related to the story, but it's something I'm always interested to hear what people think: should we reach for the stars (and why/why not)?
Because they are there.
And to spread the gene pool. You never know when there will be a solar storm or whatever and the earth becomes inhabitable.

When the Aurora's crew first learned about the alien ships coming toward them, did you have any suspicions about what might happen? And did your suspicions prove correct?
Having read In Her Name, I was pretty sure what would happen.

What were your impressions when you first meet the various members of Aurora's crew - who did you like most/least, and why?
I liked the captain because he was a nice man. I liked Ming because he was an honorable person who cared about others.

Captain McClaren decided to stay and greet the alien ships. Would you have done the same if you were in his shoes?
The story explained both sides well, I thought...you can stay because that is why you go out in the first place or you could run because Earth needs to know about the new guys.  Without communication other than returning this is a bigger problem. But I would have stayed - they did not know about the kreelans yet.

What were your first impressions of the aliens as they "greeted" the Aurora's crew? And did you root for anyone in particular during the battle for the ship?
While I understood why the Kreelans were doing it (because of IHN) I really felt angry that "my" people were being attacked without provocation.  And of course you had to root for Ming.

What did you think of the healers and the medical "technology" they used on McClaren and the other crew members?
I loved how you the author provided more info about the advanced stage of technology for the Kreelans.  After all if they have been around for over 100,000 years and most of that as spacegoing, then they would have "very" advanced technology.  And I always "leave my skeptism at the door" when I read fiction.  Unless the author insults my intelligence I will go with the given premise.  Like in math when we start out with GIVEN:. So I liked it.

You're introduced to a couple of different castes on the Kreelan warship. What did you think of them?
I will mention this at this time because this is a good place for it.  But this was with me throughout the read thus far.....I already knew about the castes.  Therefore this just carried on from what I already knew and I was quite pleased that I did not have to read through a lot of pages of explanatory info.  However I am unable to assess whether it is clear to the person who starts with this book.  I am interested in other's opinions about this.  But once again some small details were filled in for me.  Or I had missed them when reading IHN.

Captain McClaren catches a glimpse of a "towering figure" at the back of the amphitheater where they watch the builders at work. From that and some earlier snippets, and before she is "formally" introduced into the story, did you suspect who this was (for those who've read the original novels)? And were you glad or not?
I was certain that it was Tesh Dar. And I was very happy to see a familiar face (that I had come to like a lot).

What did you think of the crew's reaction to the "lottery"? And who did you think would be chosen as the Messenger?
I was not surprised that they rejected the choice by chance.  Although I thought that the crew might insist that the captain go or that Amundsen would be chosen.  And if Tesh Dar had chosen, I expeced it to be Ming.

What were your thoughts during the battle fought in the arena? What was your favorite scene(s), and why?
I was proud of Yao Ming.  And the captain and the Chief.  They accepted what they could not change and prepared to meet their fate.  But I especially liked that Yao Ming was a "true warrior".

What was your overall impression of the Kreelans by the end of the arena scene?
We had learned that they were not just butchering madwomen, but that they had a purpose and were observing honorable priciples, if not those I would choose.

Was the Messenger who you thought it might be?
No.  I really thought that Tesh Dar would choose Ming, anyway.

[Michael R. Hicks]

Geoff -

I'm with you on going to the stars, or at least spreading our presence beyond Earth. I know a lot of people pooh-pooh it as a Hollywood obsession, but Earth getting slammed by an asteroid (you can pick your own form of disaster, that's mine! LOL!) is - over time - an inevitability. We have the technology now to do something about it, and we should. And mining the asteroids and other moons would bring an incredible amount of resources. If *I* were king for a day...

I liked Ming a lot, but it's interesting that he was your guess for the Messenger - why did you pick him, BTW? Jan (and my dad, who was one of the alpha readers, for fun!) thought it would be Ichiro. It'd be interesting to see if others thought it might be someone different (Amundsen, perhaps?).

Ming is an interesting character, and the Kreelans certainly respected him for his fighting skills, but Tesh-Dar was clearly looking for something else; I suspect Ming was too calm, at peace. She must have thought he wouldn't be effective at delivering the message. Interestingly, Jan had the Messenger pegged early on!

Kreelan technology is a bit difficult to peg. You'll see more of it in the next chapters, but it's basically a manifestation of Arthur C. Clarke's third law: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. And that is largely what's happened with the Kreelans, for much of what they can do has passed from their conscious understanding - their powers stem from the Empress, but past that they simply exist, like forces of nature. The builder caste is an excellent example of this, and I think in Legend of the Sword we'll see the armorers again in a bit more detail, as well.

As for how clear the whole caste thing is to someone who hasn't read the previous book(s), that's a good question. Any takers on that one (Scarlet? Others)?

[scarlet]

Regarding the caste system, I really didn't give them much thought (except in some numerical comments made while beta reading regarding how many there were). 

[Ann in Arlington]

Point of clarification?  May I assume there are actual "Parts" and you're not just using 'part' instead of 'chapter'.  I'm guessing so as I'm on chapter 6 and no where near the end of the book which you indicate is Part 7.

That being given, could you possibly tell us how long the parts are?  Just so I have a clue how far to go to because I don't want to read any of the responses until I've finished the part and I wonder how close I am to doing that.  Of course I could just keep reading to find out. . .but. . . you know what I mean.

Thanks!

[Michael R. Hicks]

Point of clarification?  May I assume there are actual "Parts" and you're not just using 'part' instead of 'chapter'.  I'm guessing so as I'm on chapter 6 and no where near the end of the book which you indicate is Part 7.

That being given, could you possibly tell us how long the parts are?  Just so I have a clue how far to go to because I don't want to read any of the responses until I've finished the part and I wonder how close I am to doing that.  Of course I could just keep reading to find out. . .but. . . you know what I mean.

Thanks!

Picky, picky!

Okay, I'll go back through and put in the from chapter-to chapter info. Don't know why I didn't put that in already, but that's me... 

[Edward C. Patterson]

d*mn you Mike for not getting me to read the first books sooner so I could read this new series. And d*mn you for keeping me up reading until after 1 am in the morning when I need to get up for work at 5. 

Ed Patterson

[Michael R. Hicks]

d*mn you Mike for not getting me to read the first books sooner so I could read this new series. And d*mn you for keeping me up reading until after 1 am in the morning when I need to get up for work at 5. 

Ed Patterson

Ha! I tried!   Looks like we have another member of the "I stayed up until X a.m. reading In Her Name" club... 

[Michael R. Hicks]

Point of clarification?  May I assume there are actual "Parts" and you're not just using 'part' instead of 'chapter'.  I'm guessing so as I'm on chapter 6 and no where near the end of the book which you indicate is Part 7.

Okay, I updated the threads listing the chapters involved (I *think* I counted right, but you know how bad I am at that)... 

[Edward C. Patterson]

Well Mike, you know what I do until 1130 (as I am also a member of the Suthors Support Thread). Now listen here. You won;t get any of that time.  I also play you (along with Ms. gaskell) in text-to=speech while I apply cash at work.

Ed Patterson

[Michael R. Hicks]

Well Mike, you know what I do until 1130 (as I am also a member of the Suthors Support Thread). Now listen here. You won;t get any of that time.  I also play you (along with Ms. gaskell) in text-to=speech while I apply cash at work.

Ha! Just wait until you get to the last few chapters!

[Ann in Arlington]

This isn't directly related to the story, but it's something I'm always interested to hear what people think: should we reach for the stars (and why/why not)? sure, why not. . . .because it's there

When the Aurora's crew first learned about the alien ships coming toward them, did you have any suspicions about what might happen? And did your suspicions prove correct?
Given that I'd read the other book I figured there'd be some sort of challenge happen. . . you did say at the end of one of the early sections that soon all but one would be dead.

What were your impressions when you first meet the various members of Aurora's crew - who did you like most/least, and why? Yao Ming?  Really?  A basketball player.  Actually, he was a pretty cool character. . . . the others were more or less what you would expect

Captain McClaren decided to stay and greet the alien ships. Would you have done the same if you were in his shoes?  Well, of course, if they didn't, it would have been a very short book.  But, yeah, as expressed by most of the crew, that's what they were there for. . . .it would have been pretty silly to turn and run.  Especially since the 'enemy' clearly also knew they were there and would likely have followed them anyway. . . .

What were your first impressions of the aliens as they "greeted" the Aurora's crew? And did you root for anyone in particular during the battle for the ship?  They were as expected from reading the first books. . . .definitely rooting for Yao. . .

What did you think of the healers and the medical "technology" they used on McClaren and the other crew members?  It's cool to see some of the rest of the culture. . . .the In Her Name trilogy focused mostly on the warriors, of course.  Not knowing what was coming it would definitely be scary. . . .

You're introduced to a couple of different castes on the Kreelan warship. What did you think of them? As I said, it's good to see some more parts of the culture. . . . I had the impression before that 'not warriors' were 'lower class' but it's beginning to seem that they are all sort of the same level, just different, if you know what I mean.

Captain McClaren catches a glimpse of a "towering figure" at the back of the amphitheater where they watch the builders at work. From that and some earlier snippets, and before she is "formally" introduced into the story, did you suspect who this was (for those who've read the original novels)? And were you glad or not?  Yeah. . . . I figured she had to be in here somewhere. . . . .

What did you think of the crew's reaction to the "lottery"? And who did you think would be chosen as the Messenger?  The only surprise is that there weren't more who wigged out.  I actually thought the messenger might be the last one standing. . .a la Reza and his final challenge.  But once I saw how it was going and who was left at the end I thought it would be Sato. . . he was the most 'young Reza'-like of the group.

What were your thoughts during the battle fought in the arena? What was your favorite scene(s), and why?Not much for battles. . . but I liked Yao's zenlike fighting style. . .total antithesis of how the Kreelan are taught. . .he sure had 'em figured.

What was your overall impression of the Kreelans by the end of the arena scene? Well, given I know from the other books what they were looking for, my impressions might be colored.  But I do think there was a definite aura of 'searching' and not quite but almost quiet desperation to find the 'one not of their race whose blood would sing.'

Was the Messenger who you thought it might be?  I thought it might be Yao at first, if it was a last man standing type of choice, but, the Captain's choice of Sato made sense after the battle.


Part of me wishes I hadn't already read the Omnibus. . . . I wonder how much knowing the end, as it were, affects how I'm reading this section.  But the story is definitely good. . . .the writing keeps pulling you along. . . .I'd read the next part now, but I have to go to bed.

[Michael R. Hicks]

This isn't directly related to the story, but it's something I'm always interested to hear what people think: should we reach for the stars (and why/why not)? sure, why not. . . .because it's there

Ha! Too easy!

What were your impressions when you first meet the various members of Aurora's crew - who did you like most/least, and why? Yao Ming?  Really?  A basketball player.  Actually, he was a pretty cool character. . . . the others were more or less what you would expect

You know, I never thought of that at all about Yao Ming, because I have no clue about sports!  

Captain McClaren decided to stay and greet the alien ships. Would you have done the same if you were in his shoes?  Well, of course, if they didn't, it would have been a very short book.  But, yeah, as expressed by most of the crew, that's what they were there for. . . .it would have been pretty silly to turn and run.  Especially since the 'enemy' clearly also knew they were there and would likely have followed them anyway. . . .

Well, I think that's one thing the Kreelans couldn't have done - follow Aurora back through hyperspace. That's why the Kreelans wanted to catch them before they jumped out. But yes, it would've been a short book otherwise! Ha!

What were your first impressions of the aliens as they "greeted" the Aurora's crew? And did you root for anyone in particular during the battle for the ship?  They were as expected from reading the first books. . . .definitely rooting for Yao. . .

I should make a poll for this one...!

You're introduced to a couple of different castes on the Kreelan warship. What did you think of them? As I said, it's good to see some more parts of the culture. . . . I had the impression before that 'not warriors' were 'lower class' but it's beginning to seem that they are all sort of the same level, just different, if you know what I mean.

Yes, everyone is interlocked, as it were. Our natural inclination, I think, is to think the warriors are "superior," but they're not. In most human cultures, caste systems tend to be a type of ranking structure, but not so for the Kreelans - the castes simply represent segments of their population that are tailored toward specific tasks required to support their society. But each individual is ranked against all of her peers in terms of social standing, which is measured in some number of steps down from the throne...

Captain McClaren catches a glimpse of a "towering figure" at the back of the amphitheater where they watch the builders at work. From that and some earlier snippets, and before she is "formally" introduced into the story, did you suspect who this was (for those who've read the original novels)? And were you glad or not?  Yeah. . . . I figured she had to be in here somewhere. . . . .

w00t! She's bad.

Part of me wishes I hadn't already read the Omnibus. . . . I wonder how much knowing the end, as it were, affects how I'm reading this section.  

True - the only person I've heard from so far who hasn't read the omnibus (yet) is Scarlet, so that's a bit hard to gauge. Hmph!

But the story is definitely good. . . .the writing keeps pulling you along. . . .I'd read the next part now, but I have to go to bed.

Oh, you don't have to stay up until 2 a.m. this early in the book! LOL!!

[scarlet]

Scarlet is becoming more and more happy that she did not read the omnibus!   I promise to actually the answer the questions as soon as I re-read the first few chapters.  I need to "cleanse my palate" of the way I read through the book the first time and try and read simply for pleasure now!

[Michael R. Hicks]

Scarlet is becoming more and more happy that she did not read the omnibus!   I promise to actually the answer the questions as soon as I re-read the first few chapters.  I need to "cleanse my palate" of the way I read through the book the first time and try and read simply for pleasure now!

D'oh! I guess I better get back on writing the next one... 

[scarlet]

D'oh! I guess I better get back on writing the next one... 

You've got a couple of months before I start harrassing you.

[geoffthomas]

Don't listen to her Mike.
You have almost no time till I start harassing you again.
I am 70% through.

Oh My.

[scarlet]

Don't listen to her Mike.
You have almost no time till I start harassing you again.
I am 70% through.

Oh My.

Harass him all you want.  I'll be off the grid most of the month of October, so if you harass him, maybe I'll have stuff to beta-read when I get back.

[Michael R. Hicks]

Don't listen to her Mike.
You have almost no time till I start harassing you again.
I am 70% through.

Oh My.

D'oh! You better get on to the other book club threads then! LOL! Brutal, man, just brutal...

[Michael R. Hicks]

Harass him all you want.  I'll be off the grid most of the month of October, so if you harass him, maybe I'll have stuff to beta-read when I get back.

<mutter, mutter...tap...tap...tap at the keyboard>