posted
You're writing a novel and your biggest problem is calculating tonnage? Really?
Just make a guestimate, it's not like anyone will bother to check up on it. And if some sad freak does whine about it being to heavy, well then that's the super dense core shielding! To light? Well that'd be the ultra thin carbon lattice mesh bulkheads.
posted
Well, there was a "Great Resizing" of all of the Honorverse ships recently (by Weber himself) because of an error in the size/weight originally stated.
quote:Originally posted by Reverend: You're writing a novel and your biggest problem is calculating tonnage? Really?
Just make a guestimate, it's not like anyone will bother to check up on it. And if some sad freak does whine about it being to heavy, well then that's the super dense core shielding! To light? Well that'd be the ultra thin carbon lattice mesh bulkheads.
It's science fiction mate!
LMAO Reverend, that made me laugh...which I very much needed after reading about poor Jay.
Well it's not my biggest problem but it is a problem, especially as I want to get as close to being realistic as possible without going OTT or putting too much thought and effort into it. Like I said, I can calculate tonnage based on the GT formula found on Wiki, but I was hoping for something more precise as my destroyers are roughly 44 million tons! Which is far more massive than the superdreadnoughts in HH.
And as for "guestimate"... I HATE that word - it's so...made up! "Estimate" or "take your best guess" is what should be used - damn whoever first started using it...gets right on me tits it does.
Oh and B.J. - yeah I grabbed that page as soon as I found it...but it's still not "accurate" enough for me. What can I say, I'm a tech freak/perfectionist and just love to dabble with spreadsheets and specs...maybe that's why the novel isn't getting written very fast...hmm...
-------------------- If you cant convince them, confuse them.
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Haha, this was a funny thread resurrection. I remember the summers of the early 2000's, I went through about four Harrington-novels per season.
Weber's gotten increasingly formulaic in the last books, though. People talk the same regardless of planet, cultural background or social standing. Everyone makes the same metaphors, "Stop moping, you look like a treecat who lost his celery!" or "The nuns of Grayson will fight fiercer than cornered treecats!", also "Damn, I can't find my treecat, can I borrow yours for a sec?!". Harrington and friends always drink the same "Old Tillman" beer and, when not drinking, keep "nursing" their beer as they talk. And if someone misbehaves they are referred to as needing a "kick in the posterior!". Oh but you are coy, girl.
Say what you want, but the Harrington-series is the only place where you can enjoy such eloquent poetry as "With it's hull pierced and trailing atmosphere, the final fleeing pirate-pinnace was deposited into the afterlife, swept away in a furious, crimson tsunami of bomb-pumped lasers."
The fleet battles and moderate technophilia is still somewhat entertaining when you suspend disbelief (and trekkies know a thing or two about that), but Weber's increasingly anti-liberal and pro-"single-party state" tone is a bit fucky, for lack of a better word; peace-advocating diplomats are all snivelling fools and Weber dresses things up so that readers wish Manticore's narrowminded opposition party (Queen Elisabeth Winton's detractors) would all die in a space-traffic accident.
I also remember the time Weber mentioned Scientology in the year 4000 AD as a religion enjoying the same viability and merit as christian protestantism, when discussing Manticore's religious stance.
But, if Weber releases another book of Zap-Boom-Purr-Stab I may just check it out, if the cover art has enough explosions and dramatic font on it. After all, you must allow yourself some guilty pleasures now and then. (hmm, I wonder if Starship Troopers will be available on Bluray)
Registered: Aug 1999
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I HATE that word - it's so...made up! "Estimate" or "take your best guess" is what should be used - damn whoever first started using it...gets right on me tits it does. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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