In Her Name: First Contact - Book Club Part 3

[Michael R. Hicks]

Behold: part 3!

Repel Boarders: Chapters 13 through 15

Now, don't ask me why my fingers chose the French to be a powerful force in our far distant future (although they certainly were powerful in our past). But beyond that, what did you think of Lefevre and how he handled the initial "fleet fun" at Keran?

Li'ara-Zhurah. You may be wondering (if you've read the other books) if she's related to Esah-Zhurah. Answer: yes, she is. Now you just have to sort out what their relationship is!

Emmanuelle Sabourin: what did you think of her performance as the Kreelans attacked her ship?

What were your impressions thus far of Admiral Tiernan as a leader?

Captain Morrison, commanding the destroyer McClaren, makes a dreadful mistake, and compounds it with another as he relieves the ship's tactical officer of duty. Things don't look good for Sato and company at this point. Did you want to keel-haul the captain?

Did anybody do the wave when you found out Tiernan had brought a bunch of Marines?  


When you're ready, zip on to Part 4 >>>

[geoffthomas]

Now, don't ask me why my fingers chose the French to be a powerful force in our far distant future (although they certainly were powerful in our past). But beyond that, what did you think of Lefevre and how he handled the initial "fleet fun" at Keran?
As in real life, I am often impressed with those who chose to serve their country and mankind in uniform - putting themselves in harm's way. 

Li'ara-Zhurah. You may be wondering (if you've read the other books) if she's related to Esah-Zhurah. Answer: yes, she is. Now you just have to sort out what their relationship is!
I did. Ah. Sister?

Emmanuelle Sabourin: what did you think of her performance as the Kreelans attacked her ship?
Intelligent. Brave. Resourceful.

What were your impressions thus far of Admiral Tiernan as a leader?
Proud of him.

Captain Morrison, commanding the destroyer McClaren, makes a dreadful mistake, and compounds it with another as he relieves the ship's tactical officer of duty. Things don't look good for Sato and company at this point. Did you want to keel-haul the captain?
What a jackass! Aren't troops allowed to execute an officer that is endangering the mission? Hmm.  I thought they were all dead.

Did anybody do the wave when you found out Tiernan had brought a bunch of Marines? 
and neat that they turned out to be the original U.S. Marines.  Resourceful Ruiz.

[Neekeebee]

Li'ara-Zhurah. You may be wondering (if you've read the other books) if she's related to Esah-Zhurah. Answer: yes, she is. Now you just have to sort out what their relationship is! 
Goodness!   Don’t know how I missed that connection, but I totally did!  It’s your fingers’ fault for typing such engrossing battle scenes!

Emmanuelle Sabourin: what did you think of her performance as the Kreelans attacked her ship?
Again: Wow!  Loved the part where she cussed out Li’ara Zhurah and L-Z thought it was a salute! 

What were your impressions thus far of Admiral Tiernan as a leader?
It takes a confident man to look at the big picture and willingly hand over control of his fleet to someone else.

Captain Morrison, commanding the destroyer McClaren, makes a dreadful mistake, and compounds it with another as he relieves the ship's tactical officer of duty. Things don't look good for Sato and company at this point. Did you want to keel-haul the captain?
Don’t know what keel-haul means, but sounds like the right thing to do to that pompous  *#$!@&!  Please tell me Sato is not dead!  (If this were a paper book I’d be paging forward like crazy!)

Did anybody do the wave when you found out Tiernan had brought a bunch of Marines?
   

N

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

Behold: part 3!

Repel Boarders: Chapters 13 through 15

Now, don't ask me why my fingers chose the French to be a powerful force in our far distant future (although they certainly were powerful in our past). But beyond that, what did you think of Lefevre and how he handled the initial "fleet fun" at Keran?

Wasn't Nicole from Avignon?  I don't know why your fingers did that either, but power nations do come and go.  He handled it as best he could given the fact that there was no way they could be prepared for the actuality of the Kreelans.

Li'ara-Zhurah. You may be wondering (if you've read the other books) if she's related to Esah-Zhurah. Answer: yes, she is. Now you just have to sort out what their relationship is!

Sisters, Sisters, Lord help the mister that comes between me and my sister, and Lord help the sister that comes between me and my man.  

No ... that's not an original rhyme.  

Emmanuelle Sabourin: what did you think of her performance as the Kreelans attacked her ship?

She rose to the occasion and more.  I loved when she turned the Kreelans explosives back on them. 

What were your impressions thus far of Admiral Tiernan as a leader?

Excellent leader.  He thinks on his feet and can change plans in an instant as the need occurs.

Captain Morrison, commanding the destroyer McClaren, makes a dreadful mistake, and compounds it with another as he relieves the ship's tactical officer of duty. Things don't look good for Sato and company at this point. Did you want to keel-haul the captain?

Yes.  Fitting punishment, except there are probably no razor sharp barnacles clinging to the hull of the McClaren.  How about we do it without a pressure suit? 

Did anybody do the wave when you found out Tiernan had brought a bunch of Marines?  

Well, no, because having read IHN, I know that the marines are not so effective against Kreelan warriors.  I just thought, oh, no, more people are going to die.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Don’t know what keel-haul means, but sounds like the right thing to do to that pompous  *#$!@&! 

When there were wooden ships, it was used as a punishment.  The sailor would be tied to ropes and dragged underneath the ship.  Either he would be cut to ribbons by the barnacles on the bottom of the ship, or he would drown.  Sometimes they actually lived.

[Michael R. Hicks]

Geoff - sorry, I meant to get to on this one earlier! D'oh! 

Okay, let's see:

Li'ara-Zhurah - Yep, Esah-Zhurah's sister, although I guess technically half-sister. The "fathers" in the Empire never sire more than one child... :-(

The French Alliance: Actually, if I recall correctly Nicole was from La Seyne, which I think got a passing mention somewhere in this book. And Lefevre's situation showed how important it is to "know your enemy" - that will come into even greater play in the ground battle. Fortunately, he and Tiernan got their act together quickly - that *so* easily could not have happened after what Morrison did (idiot!).

gain: Wow!  Loved the part where she cussed out Li’ara Zhurah and L-Z thought it was a salute!

Sabourin was another one of those characters that just came out of nowhere and started causing trouble! I love it when that happens!

What a jackass! Aren't troops allowed to execute an officer that is endangering the mission? Hmm.  I thought they were all dead.

Our good friend, Capt. Morrison. The only reassurance I can give about him is that he's deader than a doornail. And yeah, Geoff, I can imagine this guy would've been a prime candidate to hand an armed claymore mine to. Stupid bugger. But he's a sad case of art imitating life...

Yes.  Fitting punishment, except there are probably no razor sharp barnacles clinging to the hull of the McClaren.  How about we do it without a pressure suit?

Hmm, maybe tie him outside a shuttle and then reenter the atmosphere??

The Marines make their comeback in this book, but I think we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the next (two?) books!

Well, no, because having read IHN, I know that the marines are not so effective against Kreelan warriors.  I just thought, oh, no, more people are going to die.

Interesting - why did you think they weren't effective against the Kreelans?

[telracs]

The French Alliance: Actually, if I recall correctly Nicole was from La Seyne, which I think got a passing mention somewhere in this book.

Mentioned in the epilogue...

[Michael R. Hicks]

Mentioned in the epilogue...

I brought up the file - turns out it's also also mentioned when the president & her cabinet are having their pow-wow. Thought it was in there somewhere!

[telracs]

I brought up the file - turns out it's also also mentioned when the president & her cabinet are having their pow-wow. Thought it was in there somewhere!

Emmanuelle is on La Seyne in the epilogue.

[Neekeebee]

When there were wooden ships, it was used as a punishment.  The sailor would be tied to ropes and dragged underneath the ship.  Either he would be cut to ribbons by the barnacles on the bottom of the ship, or he would drown.  Sometimes they actually lived.

Yikes!    Thanks, Gertie!  Learned something today!

Li'ara-Zhurah - Yep, Esah-Zhurah's sister, although I guess technically half-sister. The "fathers" in the Empire never sire more than one child... :-(

I know I missed it somewhere...how long before the start of IHN does First Contact take place?

N

[telracs]

I know I missed it somewhere...how long before the start of IHN does First Contact take place?

I think 100 years.

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

The Marines make their comeback in this book, but I think we'll be seeing a lot more of them in the next (two?) books!

Interesting - why did you think they weren't effective against the Kreelans?

When Reza was sent back after he made his choice not to fight humans, the marines were getting their collective butts kicked.  Humans were losing the war.  That tells me the marines weren't that effective, although I'm sure they were Semper Fi.

[Michael R. Hicks]

I think 100 years.

Yep. FC is about 100 years before the original IHN trilogy starts...

[Michael R. Hicks]

When Reza was sent back after he made his choice not to fight humans, the marines were getting their collective butts kicked.  Humans were losing the war.  That tells me the marines weren't that effective, although I'm sure they were Semper Fi.

Hmm. Not sure if this is really a spoiler type thing, but I'll use spoiler tags, anyway!

Jumping "forward" to IHN, I think the Marines were effective, in that they could dish it out as well as they could take it, but at by that time humanity was simply being overwhelmed. The Empire had virtually limitless resources and were simply grinding the humans down, trying to find the One they were looking for (sort of like a galactic juicer, I suppose - ewww!). While it wasn't spelled out in IHN, although it comes out in FC, they were also under time pressure: they didn't have very long to find what they were looking for before their race died out. By the time of the events in IHN, they were pushing humanity much harder than they were at the start of the war, so they were getting their butts kicked by a big steamroller...

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

Hmm. Not sure if this is really a spoiler type thing, but I'll use spoiler tags, anyway!

Jumping "forward" to IHN, I think the Marines were effective, in that they could dish it out as well as they could take it, but at by that time humanity was simply being overwhelmed. The Empire had virtually limitless resources and were simply grinding the humans down, trying to find the One they were looking for (sort of like a galactic juicer, I suppose - ewww!). While it wasn't spelled out in IHN, although it comes out in FC, they were also under time pressure: they didn't have very long to find what they were looking for before their race died out. By the time of the events in IHN, they were pushing humanity much harder than they were at the start of the war, so they were getting their butts kicked by a big steamroller...

Yes, that's true.  I didn't mean to take anything away from the marines.  They took a lot of Kreelans down with them. But, as you said, the humans were being worn down.  It got to be a war of attrition, more than anything else.

[Michael R. Hicks]

Yes, that's true.  I didn't mean to take anything away from the marines.  They took a lot of Kreelans down with them. But, as you said, the humans were being worn down.  It got to be a war of attrition, more than anything else.

I wonder if we shouldn't mark all the posts with spoiler tags - this is fun! LOL!! 

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

Why not?

[telracs]

Okay, if you folks want to play with the black lines, take it over to the spoiler page.

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

Okay, if you folks want to play with the black lines, take it over to the spoiler page.

Spoilsport ... 

[telracs]

Spoilsport ... 

Gee, that's what kreelanwarrior called me while I was beta-reading.  Guess it's my new nickname!
 

[Michael R. Hicks]

Gee, that's what kreelanwarrior called me while I was beta-reading.  Guess it's my new nickname!
 

Gertie, she obviously needs a hat!

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

Gertie, she obviously needs a hat!

Not much of a hat, but it's the sentiment that counts.   

[Michael R. Hicks]

Not much of a hat, but it's the sentiment that counts.   

Hey, I like it!

[telracs]

Not much of a hat, but it's the sentiment that counts.   

I don't wear hats.  And tiny tyrant works for me!

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

I don't wear hats.  And tiny tyrant works for me!

TINY TYRANT BATTLES THE KREELANS

[Ann in Arlington]

Now, don't ask me why my fingers chose the French to be a powerful force in our far distant future (although they certainly were powerful in our past). But beyond that, what did you think of Lefevre and how he handled the initial "fleet fun" at Keran?

Lefevre is the name of a yacht company.  I know someone who has one.  

Li'ara-Zhurah. You may be wondering (if you've read the other books) if she's related to Esah-Zhurah. Answer: yes, she is. Now you just have to sort out what their relationship is!

sister. . . .or fighter mate or whatever it's called when the two train together. . .I forgot, sorry

Emmanuelle Sabourin: what did you think of her performance as the Kreelans attacked her ship?

 pretty sure we've not seen the last of her  

What were your impressions thus far of Admiral Tiernan as a leader?

Haven't seen much of him yet, but he seems reasonable

Captain Morrison, commanding the destroyer McClaren, makes a dreadful mistake, and compounds it with another as he relieves the ship's tactical officer of duty. Things don't look good for Sato and company at this point. Did you want to keel-haul the captain?  

Well, he's done it for himself.  I expect a select group of his crew -- led by Ichiro -- have survived and he has conveniently not.  Or if he has, as the Admiral said, it'll be the mother of all courts martial.

Did anybody do the wave when you found out Tiernan had brought a bunch of Marines?  

eh. . . .marines. . . whatever. . . .smart move, but not wave inducing, sorry.