The Caps have been without a real tough guy enforcer since Brashear left in the off-season. Earlier today it was announced that they traded away Captain Chris Clark (4g, 11a) and Milan Jurcina (0g, 4a) for Columbus Blue Jackets enforcer Jason Chimera (8g, 9a). He won't play in tonight's game against Carolina, though he will reportedly be in attendance.
There are some interesting implications in this trade for the Capitals. First and foremost is that they are now without a team captain. Part of me believes that this might be so that they can name Alex Ovechkin as captain, possibly to level some of the ground between him and Sidney Crosby, who has been the Penguins captain for a few years now. Now, personally, I don't think Ovie is captain material, but then I don't think Crosby is either. I'm not sure who I would name as captain, but I could see a guy like Knuble stepping up to the job.
The loss of Jurcina is a bit more significant to the team, even though his numbers might not show it. He's a solid defenseman, which the team is really lacking in, but he also hasn't been getting much ice time this year. He's the kind of player who is good, but you don't really notice him that much.
Chimera has a decent offensive track record, but his real contribution to the team is his ability to scrap and rough players up. Ovechkin is capable of taking care of himself, but I'm sure the Caps management would like to see him take less risks with his body, so a semi-dedicated enforcer to the team is an important addition. And, to help prove that point, it's worth noting that Chimera was the player responsible for the fight in November that resulted in Ovie missing a few games with an injury.
Weird symmetry there.
Also worth factoring is that Jurcina and Clark have a combined salary of around $4 million while Chimera comes in at a relatively paltry $1.87 million. This, alongside finally freeing up Michael Nylander's $5 million salary earlier, gives the Caps some significant wiggle room with their salary cap -- space that is sorely needed if they are going to maintain the powerhouse Ovechkin/Backstrom/Semin line for years to come.
Either way this trade has to come as a bit of a blow to both Clark and Jurcina who have been with the Caps for five and four years respectively, and Clark has been the team captain for four years. The Caps are currently the number one team in the entire league with 54 points while the Blue Jackets are third from the bottom with 35 points.
While not as bad as the playoff with debacle long-time Cap's staple Olaf Kolzig from a few years back, this is still a bit of a sad way to pay respects to some dedicated Cap's veterans. Ultimately the NHL is a business, and the management has to make decisions that will earn them the most money, but it's still a depressing move when you look at it from a legacy point of view.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Baltimore/Nashua Update
The ongoing trials with Daniel Webster continue, but this time for the better. I spoke with my advisor for a good fifteen minutes or so earlier and he updated me on what the school was working on (which was news to me since I haven’t heard a damn peep from them until now). Their proposal is actually significantly more reasonable than I had expected, but we’ll see if they can push it past the registrar. If they do then the chances of me remaining in Nashua will skyrocket up to near-certainty levels – but that’s still dependant on what gets through. What my advisor proposed is around 40-45 credits, some of which are trivial (basic college calculus? Pffft), which I consider acceptable (12-15 credits per semester… that’s what most college kids do anyway). But if the registrar wants any more than 45 then that’s the end of the story, and if any of those 45 are unnecessarily hard (and non-major related) then that’s also a killer.
We’ll see, I may have an answer as early as tomorrow.
(P.S. Thanks for breakfast Qt and Kay :D)
We’ll see, I may have an answer as early as tomorrow.
(P.S. Thanks for breakfast Qt and Kay :D)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Skycatcher
Airplane developer Cessna reported earlier that their first Cessna 162 Skycatcher was delivered today to Rose Pelton, the wife of the CEO of Cessna. Certainly an interesting first 'buyer' of the brand new Light Sport Aircraft (LSA), but I guess Cessna wanted to send a positive message after losing the first two 162 prototypes crashed after induced spins (the pilot escaped safely both times).
Cessna is famous in aviation circles for their easy to fly, so-called trainer aircraft like the Cessna 172 (which is what I personally learned to fly in, as well). Simple to fly and virtually impossible to lose control of (you practically have to force it to stall, and you do have to force it to spin), the 172 is a great little airplane. The 182 is positioned as an intermediate plane with more power and performance capabilities of the 172, and upgraded avionics packages by default. The 162 is a step back in that regard, as it is a smaller, slower airplane (as per LSA rules) meant for training and short hops. I think Cessna is hoping that people who have their pilots license and want a plane of their own, but can't afford the standard prices, would love to have their hands on a plane they know they can fly and afford (starting price is $100,000 versus $250,000-$400,000 for a 172 or 182).
It's certainly a valid option, but I'm keeping my eye on the Salder Aircraft Vampire LSA (despite the shitty name of "Vampire" it's quite a good plane) as a potential plane for myself, though not any day soon (since it is not available yet, and I couldn't afford it even if it was :D)
Cessna is famous in aviation circles for their easy to fly, so-called trainer aircraft like the Cessna 172 (which is what I personally learned to fly in, as well). Simple to fly and virtually impossible to lose control of (you practically have to force it to stall, and you do have to force it to spin), the 172 is a great little airplane. The 182 is positioned as an intermediate plane with more power and performance capabilities of the 172, and upgraded avionics packages by default. The 162 is a step back in that regard, as it is a smaller, slower airplane (as per LSA rules) meant for training and short hops. I think Cessna is hoping that people who have their pilots license and want a plane of their own, but can't afford the standard prices, would love to have their hands on a plane they know they can fly and afford (starting price is $100,000 versus $250,000-$400,000 for a 172 or 182).
It's certainly a valid option, but I'm keeping my eye on the Salder Aircraft Vampire LSA (despite the shitty name of "Vampire" it's quite a good plane) as a potential plane for myself, though not any day soon (since it is not available yet, and I couldn't afford it even if it was :D)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Airliner of Your Dreams
It was a big day for Boeing today as their brand new 787 Dreamliner took its maiden flight this morning. The oft delayed 787 (originally planned to enter service in 2007) has taken its first critical step towards certification and entering service with the commercial companies. They’re now aiming for a late 2010 commercial introduction, which is really fast for first flight to implementation, but we’ll see if their intensive testing will be up to the task (for the record, I hope it is… but I’m still leery).
The 787 is designed largely to be a replacement for the 767 and a competitor for the Airbus 330 (and, to a degree, the Airbus 350, which is also still in development). The 787 is built entirely out of composites, which makes it far more fuel efficient than it’s competitors. There’s already a huge market demand (677 sold by July 2007) for it, and the consumer demand will follow (it’s a very “green” aircraft for its size.
We haven’t heard much from the Airbus 350 in a while, so it will be interesting to see how Airbus responds to this initial flight test.
The 787 is designed largely to be a replacement for the 767 and a competitor for the Airbus 330 (and, to a degree, the Airbus 350, which is also still in development). The 787 is built entirely out of composites, which makes it far more fuel efficient than it’s competitors. There’s already a huge market demand (677 sold by July 2007) for it, and the consumer demand will follow (it’s a very “green” aircraft for its size.
We haven’t heard much from the Airbus 350 in a while, so it will be interesting to see how Airbus responds to this initial flight test.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
That Silly Northwest Flight
You've probably heard about that silly Northwest flight that went out of radar contact for 77 minutes and overshot their intended landing field by 150 miles. They claim they went "NORDO" (FAA speak for no radio contact) because they were on their laptops at the time (whether or not that's true, we'll probably never know). Now, as part of their efforts to reclaim their revoked pilots licenses, they've accused ATC of being at fault for not coordinating properly with Northwest Dispatch (for those not in the know: commercial planes tend to have two or more radio frequencies open at all times, one on their local ATC and one to their company's private dispatch line; generally they'll also have two or three other open frequencies as situations require).
There may be a certain degree of merit to their assertions here since the 7110.65 (ATC Bible) is a bit fuzzy on coordinating with air carrier operation HQs. In the world of ATC even minor deviations from the 7110 can result in serious repercussions for the controllers involved, so this is a very serious accusation these pilots are making. But, setting that aside, let's look at this logically for a moment. The pilots were NORDO not just with ATC, but also with their own company. No amount of ATC/NWA cooperation was going to change who these pilots were or were not listening to. It was a flight attendant, making her own observations, who finally got through to the pilots, not somebody on the ground.
The FAA, unfortunately, does not have a good track record for backing up their controllers though, and tend to be very fast to point the finger of blame at anyone who is not an FAA executive. Of course, in this case the FAA has almost no role to play at all, but you can bet they'll still do everything they can to shift even the slightest hint of blame from themselves to the most convenient target. Fortunately, the most obvious target is the pilots for being nimrods, but it will be interesting to see if ATC comes out of this unscathed now that the finger has been pointed.
There may be a certain degree of merit to their assertions here since the 7110.65 (ATC Bible) is a bit fuzzy on coordinating with air carrier operation HQs. In the world of ATC even minor deviations from the 7110 can result in serious repercussions for the controllers involved, so this is a very serious accusation these pilots are making. But, setting that aside, let's look at this logically for a moment. The pilots were NORDO not just with ATC, but also with their own company. No amount of ATC/NWA cooperation was going to change who these pilots were or were not listening to. It was a flight attendant, making her own observations, who finally got through to the pilots, not somebody on the ground.
The FAA, unfortunately, does not have a good track record for backing up their controllers though, and tend to be very fast to point the finger of blame at anyone who is not an FAA executive. Of course, in this case the FAA has almost no role to play at all, but you can bet they'll still do everything they can to shift even the slightest hint of blame from themselves to the most convenient target. Fortunately, the most obvious target is the pilots for being nimrods, but it will be interesting to see if ATC comes out of this unscathed now that the finger has been pointed.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Brief Update: No Update
Visited a school in Beaver County, PA, which has good potential. Speaking with one in Baltimore, MD which also has good potential. If I hear back positive from Baltimore that is where I will be, if I don't then I will apply to Beaver County. Actually I'm applying anyway, but that's because space is limited. I'll lose my deposit if I don't go there, but that's okay by me simply to ensure that I have somewhere to go.
I should know later this week.
There's always the chance that DWC will wake up, too, but I find that to be unlikely at this point.
I should know later this week.
There's always the chance that DWC will wake up, too, but I find that to be unlikely at this point.
Friday, November 6, 2009
King Cranky Ping-Pong Ball
Birth - 2002: Arlington, VA
2002 - 2004: Falls Church, VA
2004 - 2007: Fairfax, VA
2007 - 2008: Richmond, VA
2009 - today: Nashua, NH
2010+: Denver?
So, as you may or may not know, I am currently enrolled in Daniel Webster College as an Air Traffic Control student. I started here in January this year on the understanding that I would be done by Spring 2011 (or possibly earlier). Today, that was dashed. How? They added 40(!) credits to my requirements. Yesterday I needed 20 credits, today I need 60 (2 full years for those of you who haven't been in College for a bit...) That puts graduation in Fall 2012, a full year and a half later than anticipated.
On Monday I will meet with my professor and dean to hopefully sort this out, but no idea how this will work out just yet, and I'm not horribly hopeful. Though I do have a couple trump cards (including an email trail of promises and full access to some damn scary lawyers). However, since this is my future career we're talking about here, clearly I do not wish to burn any bridges that I can possibly avoid burning -- and I dislike using the litigation method since it feels so damn childish... but sometimes we have no other choices.
Because, honestly, the other choice is to transfer schools and finish somewhere else, and in this case that "somewhere else" is Denver. 2000 miles from here. I love Denver, but that's a MASSIVE move... not looking forward to that.
2002 - 2004: Falls Church, VA
2004 - 2007: Fairfax, VA
2007 - 2008: Richmond, VA
2009 - today: Nashua, NH
2010+: Denver?
So, as you may or may not know, I am currently enrolled in Daniel Webster College as an Air Traffic Control student. I started here in January this year on the understanding that I would be done by Spring 2011 (or possibly earlier). Today, that was dashed. How? They added 40(!) credits to my requirements. Yesterday I needed 20 credits, today I need 60 (2 full years for those of you who haven't been in College for a bit...) That puts graduation in Fall 2012, a full year and a half later than anticipated.
On Monday I will meet with my professor and dean to hopefully sort this out, but no idea how this will work out just yet, and I'm not horribly hopeful. Though I do have a couple trump cards (including an email trail of promises and full access to some damn scary lawyers). However, since this is my future career we're talking about here, clearly I do not wish to burn any bridges that I can possibly avoid burning -- and I dislike using the litigation method since it feels so damn childish... but sometimes we have no other choices.
Because, honestly, the other choice is to transfer schools and finish somewhere else, and in this case that "somewhere else" is Denver. 2000 miles from here. I love Denver, but that's a MASSIVE move... not looking forward to that.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
King Sickly Kitty
Woke up this morning with minor sniffles, which is nothing really new, so I didn't really think of it except to take some decongestant. A few weeks back I had some severe congestion, probably from pollen related allergies. Went to class and about half way through my first period I'm just floored. Aching joints, a pulse behind my eye tapping out an Indian war beat, sudden exhaustion... the whole nine. I ultimately decided to stick it out, and probably infect all my schoolmates (woo!), so I haven't made an official temperature check or anything, but I don't seem feverish. My suspicions are that it is a cold and will be gone soon enough, but this does mean I need to seriously reconsider my weekend plans (which originally involved flying to Virginia to go to a halloween party and seeing friends). That will probably get pushed back to the weekend of the 8th, which is a friend's birthday so it still works out in the end.
Still, being under the weather, whether it be hamthrax or the common cold, sucks hard.
Still, being under the weather, whether it be hamthrax or the common cold, sucks hard.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Inglorious Bastards
Tarantino is one of those directors whose work generally interests me, even if I can't stand to listen to him outside of his works. His movies are generally worth at least one watch on the simple basis that, no matter the genre, you never really know what is going to happen. Generally speaking there are very few surprises left in movies, but Tarantino is still able to routinely craft stories with unexpected twists and turns. You never really know who will live, who will die and who will shoot a random person completely by accident. His characters tend to not die nobly... they just die, often after very bloody, very short battles. He also has a knack for writing some of the finest dialogue you'll find -- which makes his inability to speak coherently outside of his movies all the more perplexing (a trait also shared by a one J.K. Rowling, incidentally).
His latest film, Inglorious Bastards, takes Tarantino out of his gangster lineage -- although not far -- and into Nazi-occupied France. A band of pissed off Jewish-American soldiers, led by Brad Pitt, is dropped behind enemy lines and wrecks unholy havoc on the Nazis. Pitt is an actor who, despite my better judgment, has actually grown on me over the years -- ever since I saw him in Fight Club and Snatch. He works best in quirky roles, and this is about as quirky as they come this side of Guy Ritchie.
Like most Tarantino movies, though, the real star is the villain -- in this case Christopher Waltz as Hans Landa, an SS officer. He gets most of the best lines, and his delivery is so silky perfect that you can't stop loving and hating him all at the same time. He is very much the calm, sophisticated predator who traps his opponents before they even know that they're in a fight. It is brilliantly done, and his monologue about rats and squirrels is one of the best in the movie (just a few steps down from Carradine's Superman monologue in Kill Bill).
My major complaint with Bastards, as it is with most Tarantino films, is that he is in dire need of an editor willing to slice away the run time. Two hours and thirty minutes is a long time to be sitting in a theater doing nothing, even for a very good movie. This is not a complain I level strictly at Tarantino, of course, as I can name several other directors off hand who suffer from the same affliction, but with Taratino it's a bit more pronounces since he does such a good job of building details through reaction rather than action (for instance, we only ever see the Bastards at work once or twice, but we know from the German reactions just how effective their campaign has been).
There's also the rather strange throwbacks he tosses into his movies -- one of the Bastards gets an introduction with giant, 70's groovy-stylized yellow text across the entire screen. For certain projects, like Kill Bill and Grindhouse, this works perfectly, for Bastards it's just strange. I know he's doing it as a mock tribute to the films of yester-year, but there's a time and place for them -- I honestly don't think Bastards was one of those times or places.
Ultimately those are minor things compared to all the things that he does right in his movies. Inglorious Bastards is fun, quirky, and it provides you with what it claims on the label: Jewish soldiers getting revenge against the Nazis. Don't go looking for brutally accurate historical details, since Tarantino gleefully tosses the history books out the windows and just does what he wants. There are enough fact-based (or revisionist fact-based, if you prefer) movies set in World War 2 out there... it is sometimes nice to see a writer just do his own thing every once in a while.
You might have noticed that I refer to the movie as Inglorious Bastards, when the title is officially Inglourious Basterds. The reason for this is simple: when he was asked by a reporter about the misspelling in the title, Tarantino's reply was "Here's the thing. I'm never going to explain that. You do an artistic flourish like that, and to explain it would just take the piss out of it and invalidate the whole stroke in the first place." As far as I'm concerned that's a bloody moronic thing to say (see my first paragraph), and is frankly kind of insulting. On David Letterman he admitted he had no purpose to it except to make people wonder about it. I'm fine with artists who ask "what does it say to you?" so long as they have a clearly defined idea of what it means to them; in this case, though, it's very much a situation of him being a prat and then claiming it's artistry. Please, Mr. Tarantino, keep making your movies, but keep your yap shut while you're making them.
His latest film, Inglorious Bastards, takes Tarantino out of his gangster lineage -- although not far -- and into Nazi-occupied France. A band of pissed off Jewish-American soldiers, led by Brad Pitt, is dropped behind enemy lines and wrecks unholy havoc on the Nazis. Pitt is an actor who, despite my better judgment, has actually grown on me over the years -- ever since I saw him in Fight Club and Snatch. He works best in quirky roles, and this is about as quirky as they come this side of Guy Ritchie.
Like most Tarantino movies, though, the real star is the villain -- in this case Christopher Waltz as Hans Landa, an SS officer. He gets most of the best lines, and his delivery is so silky perfect that you can't stop loving and hating him all at the same time. He is very much the calm, sophisticated predator who traps his opponents before they even know that they're in a fight. It is brilliantly done, and his monologue about rats and squirrels is one of the best in the movie (just a few steps down from Carradine's Superman monologue in Kill Bill).
My major complaint with Bastards, as it is with most Tarantino films, is that he is in dire need of an editor willing to slice away the run time. Two hours and thirty minutes is a long time to be sitting in a theater doing nothing, even for a very good movie. This is not a complain I level strictly at Tarantino, of course, as I can name several other directors off hand who suffer from the same affliction, but with Taratino it's a bit more pronounces since he does such a good job of building details through reaction rather than action (for instance, we only ever see the Bastards at work once or twice, but we know from the German reactions just how effective their campaign has been).
There's also the rather strange throwbacks he tosses into his movies -- one of the Bastards gets an introduction with giant, 70's groovy-stylized yellow text across the entire screen. For certain projects, like Kill Bill and Grindhouse, this works perfectly, for Bastards it's just strange. I know he's doing it as a mock tribute to the films of yester-year, but there's a time and place for them -- I honestly don't think Bastards was one of those times or places.
Ultimately those are minor things compared to all the things that he does right in his movies. Inglorious Bastards is fun, quirky, and it provides you with what it claims on the label: Jewish soldiers getting revenge against the Nazis. Don't go looking for brutally accurate historical details, since Tarantino gleefully tosses the history books out the windows and just does what he wants. There are enough fact-based (or revisionist fact-based, if you prefer) movies set in World War 2 out there... it is sometimes nice to see a writer just do his own thing every once in a while.
You might have noticed that I refer to the movie as Inglorious Bastards, when the title is officially Inglourious Basterds. The reason for this is simple: when he was asked by a reporter about the misspelling in the title, Tarantino's reply was "Here's the thing. I'm never going to explain that. You do an artistic flourish like that, and to explain it would just take the piss out of it and invalidate the whole stroke in the first place." As far as I'm concerned that's a bloody moronic thing to say (see my first paragraph), and is frankly kind of insulting. On David Letterman he admitted he had no purpose to it except to make people wonder about it. I'm fine with artists who ask "what does it say to you?" so long as they have a clearly defined idea of what it means to them; in this case, though, it's very much a situation of him being a prat and then claiming it's artistry. Please, Mr. Tarantino, keep making your movies, but keep your yap shut while you're making them.
Friday, August 21, 2009
The FAA & Boeing
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that they are giving Boeing, the makers of the famous 7X7 (x=0...7) series of planes greater autonomy in self-certifying their own planes. This gives Boeing the ability to qualify their own new designs and technologies with less bureaucratic interference from the powers-that-be in the FAA.
Setting aside the obvious issues of having a company safety test their own equipment (which is probably the largest function the FAA serves), this brings up the very troubling issue of the Boeing 787, which has seen numerous safety delays ever since it's 2007 rollout. Originally planned to launch in 2010 to compete with the Airbus 380 superjet, the 787 hasn't even successfully completed *preliminary* safety checks, let alone final certification checks. This is a plane that has never flown, even in tests. Certainly sucks for Boeing and the money they have to be losing hand-over-fist at this point, but safety checks are there for a reason and I certainly don't want to be put into a situation -- as a pilot, passenger or controller -- where my life at risk because checks got bypassed.
Generally speaking I have faith in Boeing, they have a solid track record for safety and the 7X7 planes are simply legendary birds worthy of all the praise they receive. However, anytime any company is given authority over its own certification process, questions arise. The entire point of having an outside certification process is to (in theory) not give the contracting company any leverage over the safety inspection personnel. Obviously having the the inspectors directly on your payroll is counter to that purpose.
Now I'm not saying that the 787 will be a dangerous plane to fly, as I'm sure Boeing does NOT want to be associated with an unreliable plane by any stretch of the imagination... but all the same I think I'll avoid flying on them for a while and stick to more proven planes.
Source: http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/faa_boeing_certification_201034-1.html
Setting aside the obvious issues of having a company safety test their own equipment (which is probably the largest function the FAA serves), this brings up the very troubling issue of the Boeing 787, which has seen numerous safety delays ever since it's 2007 rollout. Originally planned to launch in 2010 to compete with the Airbus 380 superjet, the 787 hasn't even successfully completed *preliminary* safety checks, let alone final certification checks. This is a plane that has never flown, even in tests. Certainly sucks for Boeing and the money they have to be losing hand-over-fist at this point, but safety checks are there for a reason and I certainly don't want to be put into a situation -- as a pilot, passenger or controller -- where my life at risk because checks got bypassed.
Generally speaking I have faith in Boeing, they have a solid track record for safety and the 7X7 planes are simply legendary birds worthy of all the praise they receive. However, anytime any company is given authority over its own certification process, questions arise. The entire point of having an outside certification process is to (in theory) not give the contracting company any leverage over the safety inspection personnel. Obviously having the the inspectors directly on your payroll is counter to that purpose.
Now I'm not saying that the 787 will be a dangerous plane to fly, as I'm sure Boeing does NOT want to be associated with an unreliable plane by any stretch of the imagination... but all the same I think I'll avoid flying on them for a while and stick to more proven planes.
Source: http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/faa_boeing_certification_201034-1.html
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Blah
It's 5:45 AM, I got home from work at 2:30 AM. I slept for maybe an hour before I ended up tossing and turning myself awake, and now I can't get back to sleep. I haven't done that in ages... I'd forgotten how much it sucks.
And there's no damn dawn today to at least make me feel better, stupid fog.
And there's no damn dawn today to at least make me feel better, stupid fog.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Book Review: "City of Pearl" by Karen Traviss
“City of Pearl” by Karen Traviss is the first book of the six part Wess’Har series. Given that I learned about Ms. Traviss through her Republic Commando series of Star Wars novels – which are supposed to be quite good, though heavy on the action and light on the plot – this was not all what I was expecting from her.
The story begins with the first human colonists – a community of Christians, not unlike the Plymouth pilgrims – landing on an alien world in 2198, where they make first contact with an alien named Aras. The story then jumps forward to 2374 and introduces the primary protagonist, Shan Frankland, as she commands the second mission to this new planet with orders that even she is unaware of (the orders themselves are rather mundane, and why they are kept from Shan (and the reader) is never really explained). They make contact with the colonists’ descendants and, eventually, with Aras.
Shan is the kind of character that I really enjoy following. She’s practical, confident and smart, but ideological as well. She knows full well the nature of humanity – she’s essentially a cop – and is generally very good at predicting what other people will do or say given a particular situation. Of course that doesn’t help her all that much with Aras, who is a Wess’Har c’nataat soldier. The c’nataat parasite that he houses makes him functionally immortal (think Wolverine from the X-Men), which gives him a rather unique view on life – even among Wess’Har.
Ms. Traviss has made sure that her aliens are suitably alien and mysterious – the Wess’Har thought process only really works so long as you’re willing to accept that it may not make sense. They address all animals, right on down to rats (and probably farther down the pecking order), as ‘people’ and will not tolerate any activity that compromises the natural order of things. Think vegans with very, very big guns. They’re also brutally straight forward and don’t even really understand the concept of lying (except Aras, who has lived with humans ever since the colonists first arrived). Of course, things are a bit different when you can smell when someone is lying…
There are a few other aliens scattered here and there, from the aquatic Bezeri to the expansionist Isenj (the corporate spiders to the Wess’har’s vegan lions). They make brief appearances here and there, but the important parts are that the Bezeri become involved in a critical plot point halfway through the book, and the Isenj are a looming specter through most of the story. They had once landed on the planet and claimed it as their own. Their massive industrial ways caused significant damage to the planet, and virtually annihilated the bezeri. So the Wess’har wiped out the Isenj colonists on the planet. Completely and utterly gone; they even went so far as to destroy all the buildings the Isenj created down to the foundations.
Although there is very much a feeling of nature versus technology to the series, I never felt like Ms. Traviss was lecturing the reader on what is Right and what is Wrong. While the Wess’har are generally presented as holding the moral high ground on the issue, they are also a no-compromise, brutal race that will readily wipe out an entire colony or city over the death of a single indigenous life form in a way that is not natural. Indeed, it’s clear that the only reason we’re meant to view the Isenj as the bad guys is because the primary protagonists are Aras and Shan (who become close friends). It’s certainly implied that the Wess’har are the good guys, and thus the Isenj must be the bad guys, but even Aras is forced to acknowledge by the end that Wess’har way is not necessarily the right way.
Religion is always tricky to write in sci-fi, since throwing aliens into the mix kind of makes things difficult – especially when those aliens don’t even understand the concept of religion or an afterlife. Ms. Traviss, however, manages to handle it quite well and, again, avoids being preachy while still pushing across a positive tone to Christian faith (although readily pointing out its inherent contradictions). Shan herself is a pagan (which is really an atheist in this case, rather than the traditional definition) and tends to stand by her non-belief, but the colonists are Christians, and they’re the kind of Christians that I really wish we would see more of in the world (live a life of peace, and convert by example, rather than by beating your head into the floor with a Bible). They are a good example of good Christians, and it’s very hard not to sympathize with their wish for a simple life on this alien world. (Although they do provide some amusing humor, such as when a Bezeri muses, upon watching an adult baptism, about whether or not their ‘soul-dirt’ will damage the ecosystem). On the other hand, Ms. Traviss is quick to point out that these are not prototypical Christians, and that their view is not necessarily the right one.
If I have a complaint with the story, it’s that this is clearly a setup novel for a series of books, rather than a story that can be read on its own. There is a distinct beginning, middle and end here, but the end is rather unsatisfying taken on its own (and does come a bit out of left field). When taken with book 2, I’m sure it works quite well, but it would have been nice to have an actual, hard-and-fast ending.
“City of Pearl” is, all around, a very enjoyable package. It tends to muse about various subjects like immortality, the natural order, and corporation control of agriculture, but never feels preachy. I went expecting an action fest, but found a nice, mellow read instead, and I’m not the least bit disappointed.
The story begins with the first human colonists – a community of Christians, not unlike the Plymouth pilgrims – landing on an alien world in 2198, where they make first contact with an alien named Aras. The story then jumps forward to 2374 and introduces the primary protagonist, Shan Frankland, as she commands the second mission to this new planet with orders that even she is unaware of (the orders themselves are rather mundane, and why they are kept from Shan (and the reader) is never really explained). They make contact with the colonists’ descendants and, eventually, with Aras.
Shan is the kind of character that I really enjoy following. She’s practical, confident and smart, but ideological as well. She knows full well the nature of humanity – she’s essentially a cop – and is generally very good at predicting what other people will do or say given a particular situation. Of course that doesn’t help her all that much with Aras, who is a Wess’Har c’nataat soldier. The c’nataat parasite that he houses makes him functionally immortal (think Wolverine from the X-Men), which gives him a rather unique view on life – even among Wess’Har.
Ms. Traviss has made sure that her aliens are suitably alien and mysterious – the Wess’Har thought process only really works so long as you’re willing to accept that it may not make sense. They address all animals, right on down to rats (and probably farther down the pecking order), as ‘people’ and will not tolerate any activity that compromises the natural order of things. Think vegans with very, very big guns. They’re also brutally straight forward and don’t even really understand the concept of lying (except Aras, who has lived with humans ever since the colonists first arrived). Of course, things are a bit different when you can smell when someone is lying…
There are a few other aliens scattered here and there, from the aquatic Bezeri to the expansionist Isenj (the corporate spiders to the Wess’har’s vegan lions). They make brief appearances here and there, but the important parts are that the Bezeri become involved in a critical plot point halfway through the book, and the Isenj are a looming specter through most of the story. They had once landed on the planet and claimed it as their own. Their massive industrial ways caused significant damage to the planet, and virtually annihilated the bezeri. So the Wess’har wiped out the Isenj colonists on the planet. Completely and utterly gone; they even went so far as to destroy all the buildings the Isenj created down to the foundations.
Although there is very much a feeling of nature versus technology to the series, I never felt like Ms. Traviss was lecturing the reader on what is Right and what is Wrong. While the Wess’har are generally presented as holding the moral high ground on the issue, they are also a no-compromise, brutal race that will readily wipe out an entire colony or city over the death of a single indigenous life form in a way that is not natural. Indeed, it’s clear that the only reason we’re meant to view the Isenj as the bad guys is because the primary protagonists are Aras and Shan (who become close friends). It’s certainly implied that the Wess’har are the good guys, and thus the Isenj must be the bad guys, but even Aras is forced to acknowledge by the end that Wess’har way is not necessarily the right way.
Religion is always tricky to write in sci-fi, since throwing aliens into the mix kind of makes things difficult – especially when those aliens don’t even understand the concept of religion or an afterlife. Ms. Traviss, however, manages to handle it quite well and, again, avoids being preachy while still pushing across a positive tone to Christian faith (although readily pointing out its inherent contradictions). Shan herself is a pagan (which is really an atheist in this case, rather than the traditional definition) and tends to stand by her non-belief, but the colonists are Christians, and they’re the kind of Christians that I really wish we would see more of in the world (live a life of peace, and convert by example, rather than by beating your head into the floor with a Bible). They are a good example of good Christians, and it’s very hard not to sympathize with their wish for a simple life on this alien world. (Although they do provide some amusing humor, such as when a Bezeri muses, upon watching an adult baptism, about whether or not their ‘soul-dirt’ will damage the ecosystem). On the other hand, Ms. Traviss is quick to point out that these are not prototypical Christians, and that their view is not necessarily the right one.
If I have a complaint with the story, it’s that this is clearly a setup novel for a series of books, rather than a story that can be read on its own. There is a distinct beginning, middle and end here, but the end is rather unsatisfying taken on its own (and does come a bit out of left field). When taken with book 2, I’m sure it works quite well, but it would have been nice to have an actual, hard-and-fast ending.
“City of Pearl” is, all around, a very enjoyable package. It tends to muse about various subjects like immortality, the natural order, and corporation control of agriculture, but never feels preachy. I went expecting an action fest, but found a nice, mellow read instead, and I’m not the least bit disappointed.
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