In Her Name: First Contact - Book Club Part 4

[Michael R. Hicks]

Here comes part 4 - things are getting a little hectic...

Little BigHorn: Chapters 16 to 20

What did you think of General Ray's discussion with the officer from the Keran defense forces?

What was your first impression of Colonel Sparks?

Steph and Sparks have a private conversation after their meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Grishin of the Alliance Foreign Legion. What did you think of Sparks's comments, both "off" and "on" the record?

Tesh-Dar helps Li'ara-Zhurah "calm down" spiritually in the aftermath of the first space battle. What were your impressions of them as a pair?

There's a lot that goes on in the ground battle: was there any particular part(s) that you enjoyed? A few possibilities:

  -- Tesh-Dar's performance on the battlefield.

  -- The match between her and Roland Mills.

  -- The battle fought against the Kreelans by Sparks, Steph, and the other soldiers holed up in the shop.


Ready to move on? Here's Part 6 >>>

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

Here comes part 4 - things are getting a little hectic...

Little BigHorn: Chapters 16 to 20

What did you think of General Ray's discussion with the officer from the Keran defense forces?

Discussion?  <inserttonguefirmlyincheek>

What was your first impression of Colonel Sparks?

Definitely a character, but also one who knows what he is doing.  I wouldn't mess with him.

Steph and Sparks have a private conversation after their meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Grishin of the Alliance Foreign Legion. What did you think of Sparks's comments, both "off" and "on" the record?

Realistic.

Tesh-Dar helps Li'ara-Zhurah "calm down" spiritually in the aftermath of the first space battle. What were your impressions of them as a pair?

Since I know that Li'ara-Zhurah is Tesh Dar's niece, I know there is a closer than usual bond.

There's a lot that goes on in the ground battle: was there any particular part(s) that you enjoyed? A few possibilities:

  -- Tesh-Dar's performance on the battlefield.

  -- The match between her and Roland Mills.

  -- The battle fought against the Kreelans by Sparks, Steph, and the other soldiers holed up in the shop.

Yes - Tesh Dar is a character that I came to like a lot when she was protecting the young prince, Reza's son.  What was his name?

Yes - That's the thing about the Kreelans.  Tesh Dar recognized Mills as a worthy opponent, and treated him accordingly.

Yes - Garry Owen (although I keep thinking of Laugh-In)

[geoffthomas]

What did you think of General Ray's discussion with the officer from the Keran defense forces?
It is interesting how many people are pompous *sses even in real life.  You wonder how they avoid winning the Darwin Award at an early age.  I must admit that I hesitate to ask where you drew your inspiration for this character.

What was your first impression of Colonel Sparks?
My first impression was that here is someone off his rocker.  Most over the top types are.  But then there are the Patton's of life.  And Sparks seems to have the strength of character to pull it off.

Steph and Sparks have a private conversation after their meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Grishin of the Alliance Foreign Legion. What did you think of Sparks's comments, both "off" and "on" the record?
Well he knew from the descriptions of the enemy that Sato brought back that they were likely to get their butts battered.

Tesh-Dar helps Li'ara-Zhurah "calm down" spiritually in the aftermath of the first space battle. What were your impressions of them as a pair?
One begins to wonder if Li'ara-Zhurah will be recruited to the order?

There's a lot that goes on in the ground battle: was there any particular part(s) that you enjoyed? A few possibilities:

  -- Tesh-Dar's performance on the battlefield.
You know we realize that we will kind of like her later.  But when she is walking through walls and stuff, there is no real chance that a human will live after meeting her much less best her.  So where is the "sport" in that?  I know honor to the Empress.

  -- The match between her and Roland Mills.
This was a nice touch.  The sort of honor that worked for both sides.

  -- The battle fought against the Kreelans by Sparks, Steph, and the other soldiers holed up in the shop.
It was heroic of Sparks to hit the Kreelans from the flank and draw them off of the citizens. And in the end, it was the saber charge that caught the fancy of the Kreelan warriors.

[Michael R. Hicks]

What did you think of General Ray's discussion with the officer from the Keran defense forces?
It is interesting how many people are pompous *sses even in real life.  You wonder how they avoid winning the Darwin Award at an early age.  I must admit that I hesitate to ask where you drew your inspiration for this character.

The inspiration wasn't from any particular person, just small-minded xenophobic morons in general...

What was your first impression of Colonel Sparks?
My first impression was that here is someone off his rocker.  Most over the top types are.  But then there are the Patton's of life.  And Sparks seems to have the strength of character to pull it off.

He's definitely someone who appreciates the value of theater! He's sort of a composite of a number of officers I served under ages ago...

Steph and Sparks have a private conversation after their meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Grishin of the Alliance Foreign Legion. What did you think of Sparks's comments, both "off" and "on" the record?
Well he knew from the descriptions of the enemy that Sato brought back that they were likely to get their butts battered.

Yes, and you know, now that I think of it, I should have put in a more surprised reaction that the Kreelans didn't demonstrate the vastly more advanced technology that Sato reported. Then again, I guess they had their hands full as it was...

Tesh-Dar helps Li'ara-Zhurah "calm down" spiritually in the aftermath of the first space battle. What were your impressions of them as a pair?
One begins to wonder if Li'ara-Zhurah will be recruited to the order?

Ha! You're fishing, aren't you? LOL!

  -- Tesh-Dar's performance on the battlefield.
You know we realize that we will kind of like her later.  But when she is walking through walls and stuff, there is no real chance that a human will live after meeting her much less best her.  So where is the "sport" in that?  I know honor to the Empress.

I'm not so sure she wanted sport: this was the first time in thousands of years that the Empire had been able to fight in a real honest-to-goodness war, and I suspect there was a bit of collective angst, shall we say. In Tesh-Dar's case, imagine being a warrior priestess with her powers, but never able to *really* use them to full effect in combat. Not that she had to against the humans, but I think she was just releasing her pent-up bloodlust.

  -- The match between her and Roland Mills.
This was a nice touch.  The sort of honor that worked for both sides.

I think she'd worked off a bit of her initial angst by the time she got to him!

  -- The battle fought against the Kreelans by Sparks, Steph, and the other soldiers holed up in the shop.
It was heroic of Sparks to hit the Kreelans from the flank and draw them off of the citizens. And in the end, it was the saber charge that caught the fancy of the Kreelan warriors.

An interesting flip-flop of technology, isn't it? 

[Ann in Arlington]

Frankly. . . .I didn't care for this section much. . . .it was just battles and fighting and dueling . . . .I was happy when it was time to move on.  I know it's a war. . . .but I'm not really keen on the play by play.

[Britt]

Ok, I just had to come out of lurkdom to share this...

Right after Sparks stabs a Kreelan with his saber: "The impact on the other warriors was instantaneous and totally unexpected: they stopped their attack. Had Steph not been peering over the top of the counter, no longer content to cower behind it as Hadley had told her to, she would not have believed it." (Location 5319)

Not too long before this particular human-Kreelan showdown, Steph had said she had to pee and giggled to herself when she realized she was still recording. Because of that, I totally read it as, "Had Steph not been PEEING over the top of the counter..." and I was like, "What? I mean, I know they ran out of ammo, but peeing on the Kreelans is taking it a little too far!" LOL, I need some sleep!

[Michael R. Hicks]

LOL, Britt! You *really* need to stop reading so late!