This page is set aside for people to post speculation on my books. I will not respond to posts here and, aside from checking for inappropriate behaviour, I don’t intend to read the comments in any detail. This page is for you guys.
Rules:
- Keep your posts civil. I will not hesitate to delete offensive material and, potentially, block the person(s) involved.
- THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!! Do not come to this page unless you are happy to have books spoiled, or have read the books already.
- Everyone has their own opinions. If you don’t agree with someone’s opinion and can’t articulate your concerns in a reasonable manner, don’t post.
- Please scan the comments before posting a new one to see whether your point is already being considered. Otherwise we just end up with pages and pages of the same thing.
- Remember: keep your posts civil and here will be spoilers. Yes, I know I’m repeating myself.
- Final reminder: Overwatch is recording everything you do, and I don’t mean the one with that talking monkey and the girl with the fake Cockney accent.
Right. Have at it.
Witches and Ray-Guns 
Thank you very much, Neill, to take my idea so seriously.
I think that this sentence is a brilliantly misleading one: “With a sigh, Krystal followed, wishing that she could shift too.” I was already suspecting that she was the royal in the club, but this sentence made me doubt it again.
Turn about to be the difference between “can’t” and “won’t”. Most of use assume “can’t”.
I have been speculating for a while about the Xinti, so this page is a godsend.
We know there were three castes. The warriors got themselves killed in the war, and the scientists at Negral eventually died out.
What about the bureaucrats? My theory is that they made themselves organic bodies and hid. More specifically, I think they disguised themselves as humans and hid outside what is now Jenlay space. Maybe just a single village of them, hidden in an otherwise human world. Without either the warriors or the scientiststo drive them they are doomed to stagnation … unless another Xinti from the warrior caste that ruled the last they heard should show up to lead them …
Of course, should the Negral AIs come across indications of survivors on a planet somewhere they will be conflicted. Almost certainly they will be unwilling to turn their superweapons on such a planet should it, for example, be a Pinnacle stronghold and will need to arrange for more subtle investigation.
(I have not yet figured out how the weird emails about Annika’s kidnapping fit into this. Give me time.)
Also, has anyone else noticed some weird similarities cropping up between Niall’s books and Grrl Power? For example, Maxima’s origin seems very similar to Adamantium’s, and there’s a certain basic concept in common between Krona the reality hacker and Nia, even if the actual implementation seems different.
Regarding Admantium and Maxima, I suspect it was just a case of it being an obvious way to get metallic skin, if not born with it. The origin similarity didn’t really occur to me while reading. Style-wise Admantium reminded me more of Colossus from the X-Men than anyone else.
As for Krona and Nia, aren’t both Niall and Dave Barrack current or former IT professionals? If so, I’m sure they have both wished for that power at one time or another.
Imagine the fun if Niall did a crossover like Dave did with Marion Harmon (Wearing the Cape series). Just how workplace-inappropriate could the banter get with Svetilo, Dabbler, and Chakra all present?
I SHUDDER to contemplate Kitsune or worse, ARTEMIS! loose in Cygnus’ world. The mayhem would be eternal.
Is Misfits in a separate universe from your other series? Seems related to the Thaumatology series.
There are some parallels. I already mentioned similarities between Baltzman’s and Cragscales’ and of course there are a lot between Krystal and Ceridwyn. But the Thaumatology dragons are a “little” different from the Misfit ones.
OTOH I’d really like to see if there are any Demons like Lily.
From what we’ve learned of the mating habits of Draconians, succubi do not appear to be necessary.
I Still think there is a way to link the timelines of Fox and Aneka. Since the tech in Fox is headed to where Aneka woke up… just saying… This is fiction so to hell with the holes I poked in it before…… 😉
OK.. so here’s a real idea?
The core planet for the Pinnacle is actually a self-aware organic super computer and those “bushes” are actually like antenna that has been listening and collecting any form of electro pulses for several millennia. Since the settlement of the Pinnacle the planet has been sending out signals for help, but no one was able to detect the language until the AIs entered the space. Now, Aneka and Ella (plus science team) are sent to try and communicate with the planet to see what can be done to repair the damage and to research the riches of information the planet has been storing for millennia. At first the Pinnacle were blasé (not believing it’s true obviously) about the whole thing. As it becomes more evident that the planet is alive, and they are going to lose their home world, the tension builds until something tragic happens to some of the science crew and innocent civilians. It is now past the point of détente and the Pinnacle leadership must be taught a severe lesson….etc. Then the discovery within the planets memory of vast areas of space inhabited by intelligent life…etc.
Ah, I missed that comment. Yes, that’s a possible future development. On the other hand, the ending in “Hope” was kind of “riding into the sunset” and there are many more and bigger loose ends in the other series.
One of the things I have been wondering about while reading the thaumatology series is how Ceri or Lily would age.
Demons obviously have a childhood in the books and some have been described as eldery, but some of them are also incredibly old (case in point Moloch) and while there have not been any sign that draconic blood gives age advantages, in fact Gwyn indicated that she would die long before seeing her mate again, the dragons themselves were immortal (I presume?) and Ceri manifesting as a black fur werewolf and their slow ageing seems to me to indicate that she might have similar advantages.
There is an potentially interesting internal conflict here that reminds me of a line in the Girl out of the Box series where the main character reflects on being practically immortal while living a high risk life by saying (and I am paraphrashing here) “I will either go out in a blaze long before my time or I will live to see everyone I care about turn to dust”.
This would be especially poignant with Micheal since Ceri has been accused humerously of robbing the cradle, but what happens when he becommes outwardly much older then her and it becommes apparent that he will die while she might still be youngish? What if Lilys/Ceris non-human side do not give age benefits and they have to live to see the other turn old and grey?
One does not really have to write about this happening, I can assume that there might be plenty anguish about just the prospect that Ceri might have to bury Michael when he dies of old age, and that is if they get lucky.
Considering that each of the books up to now covered less than a year of time I don’t see any chance to read a book in this series set into at least 2080 or so. OTOH with Ceri’s rather unlimited power and creativity she might find a way to at least give Michael the longevity of a black fur, so they can have another century together.
since black moon is set 16 years after the end of the main series I can presume that (if nothing horrible happens to the character) we will see older and a possibly aged cast
Is it not kind of hinted that merlin got realy realy old too?
I have the distinct impression that aging isn’t really a thing for sorcerers or their familiars, or anyone with high levels of magic. Demons lords live a long time because they use some of their immense power to that end, etc.
Ceri’s already demonstrated the power and knowledge to completely rebuild a person’s body (her and Lily’s werewolf transformations, for example). Nobody she cares about is going to get old unless they tell her to let it happen.
Time to speculate who might be the main villain behind the attacks in the misfits books.
I was suspecting Marin even in Vol 1, but now there are more hints. What do you think?
Marin is so obvious that I hope it is not him. “He” has been used, so let us assume that the villain is male. If we have already met him or at least seen mention of him, there are not that many significant male characters from which to choose: Marin, Cragscales, various family members, the groundskeeper, and a couple Scarlins that I can recall. The Scarlins can probably be eliminated since they were not around before Ramona.
Considering the remainder, Marin or Charity Darkmoon’s father seems the most likely. The author has hinted that something is off about Marin with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but the Darkmoons are the ones who benefited from the set up of Felicity’s mother. Of course, I could be completely mistaken and it is really the sausage-on-a-bun vendor. 🙂
I have to agree with both of you, Neil has been setting up a massive ‘Its Me’ in flashing lights over Marin’s head. But we now know that the main villain isn’t a who but an evil soul in an object that can posses people at a distance.
So are we thinking Marin is a puppet or more of a high priest in the cult of Shastin Nightsky? I get the feeling its more than likely the second option.
Marin might be a true bad guy, or he could be a “Snape” character. We do not have enough information to tell. Personally, I hope his odd behavior is for a more interesting reason than being allied to the old Nightsky lich.
you may be right Ben, but thinking through Neil’s other stories he’s not one for Snape type characters, also Marin conveniently avoided the mass possession in the end of year party from misfit magic. I will be fun to see how it all works out in the coming books.
Craig: Not only that; he also lured the principal (who is most likely the most able magician) away from the scene.
But did he do it prevent her from trying to stop it or to save her? One would assume that such a school has quite a few capable magic users on staff, some of whom were likely present. As for the dean being the best at magic, why would that be? More likely, she is better at administration, independent of her magic aptitude. Perhaps, she just didn’t run fast enough.
is there a chance of getting another Gunwitch book in the near future? I really loved the book and had hoped for a quick second to follow.
Thanks
I don’t normally reply here, but… Yes, there’ll likely be another Gunwitch book. It won’t be quick, however. I’ve no planned date for one at this time.
What I think would be cool (it is an opinion and we all know what they are worth), and I think might actually help out, is if the next Aneka novel was an anthology. Figure 4 or 5 short stories as they come to mind, then edited into an ark. You’ve already got the groundwork done in the discription. I would think 4 or 5 short stories would be easier to write and allow you to have some fun with ideas you’ve had but couldn’t use because you didn’t feel you could give us the great stories we’ve all come to love. Just my unnecessary and unneeded suggestion (and maybe a small attempt to get more books out of you faster out of pure greed and impatience, LOL)
Any chance of another safari book soon
Safari?
Sydney is probably thinking about “Kate on a. Hot tin roof”
I would be interested in that as well. I have read most of your books and have enjoyed all of them!!
Sorry this isn’t exactly speculation but I thought it was a very amusing coincidence and thought I’d share. While re-reading Thaumology I got the urge to watch The Adams Family (the original series). Amazon video had it and while watching the first episode I noticed they have a replica of the Capitoline Wolf (aka Luprica) in their lounge. Niall tell me you knew that.
I haven’t seen the Adams Family in a few decades. So, no, I did not know that. 🙂
…or
Luperca, depending on how annoying your spell check is being
I was thinking about the sniper rifle Aneka got from the Xinti AIs* after reading one of the “what if” pieces from Randall Munroe, the author of the xkcd web comic. It seems that the “significant fraction of the speed of light” for the the projectile velocity is probably enough to cause nuclear fusion when it hits the target. That might not be quite as precise as Aneka wanted.
Here is the link. The near-lightspeed part is about half way down.
https://what-if.xkcd.com/20/
* The Cold Steel Mind, if I recall correctly
Going to stick my oar in here. You’re right, but only if the projectile is passing through air. This is why there’s a dual pulse, one to clear a channel, a second to propel the ‘bullet.’ If you want to go hyper-tech, you clear the channel with a force field. (You need ‘field jacketing’ for a lot of energy weapons. X- and gamma-ray beams in standard atmosphere would have painfully short range.)
It’s treading heavily into space opera territory, but a lot of the stuff in the Aneka books does.
I remembered the dual pulse, but was thinking about what happens at the target location.
Ah. I guess it depends upon the definition of ‘respectable percentage of the speed of light.’ 🙂
I usually interpret that as about 5% or more, but that’s just me. At that level you are getting into particle collider speeds, at least older ones. They were called atom-smashers, after all. The LHC is much faster, but not very portable and hard to aim. 🙂
Unless you’re a Ghostbuster. Though, I suppose, the ‘hard to aim’ still applies.
Alrighty so my two plot holeish peeves with True dark is this:
1. When Mink talked to Belphegor why did he not try to mindcontrol her? Why would someone like Mink put herself in a situation where she might be mindcontrolled? I might be forgetting something from a earlier book that gives her some sort of immunity to it, but I cannot remmmeber that off the top of my head.
2. The conclusion with Captain Freedom felt a little strange. He was basically felled by his own monologuing. I don’t see how Astrea could reliably plan that he was going to monologue unless she used her guilt inducing powers to make him confess, but that was never explicitly stated nor did he seem particularly remorsefull which other targets of her powers were. It seemed from their exchange that she just tricked him into revealing his true plan which just seems uncharacteristic for someone who has been maintaining a persona for basically the whole book and from the buildup it seemed like she was sure she could make him do it.
1. He didn’t try because he couldn’t. I don’t want to go into that more because it’ll spoil future elements of the story. Mink took a calculated risk and it turned out she was right.
2. You may be right. You are right about him feeling no guilt so her ability to read such wouldn’t work. She did, however, have the ability to pick up on his emotions and lies. She knew he had some reason he was not revealing for wanting Cygnus out of the way. She bet on his attraction to her not being entirely faked to slow him down, and specifically told him he couldn’t leave her alive to release him from his need to keep his plans secret. She assumed that he would want someone to know what he had been through. She gave him an opportunity to open up without apparent consequences. But, ultimately, yes: he monologued himself into failure. That has to be the ultimate superhero trope and I don’t think I’ve ever used it before, so I think I can get a pass this once.
1. Alright. I guess the disconnect for me was also partly that I expected Mink to place a ton of cameras and microphones in his house then use some hacker magic to basically skype him the info through whatever screen he was watching at the time, but if she was reasonably sure that she is immune to his mindcontrol then it makes sense that she would do it in person.
2. As someone who can get into someone elses head in at least some capacity I agree she would be ideal to make something like that happen. But it just seemed like she was sure of the outcome beforehand while from my perspective the chance that he was gonna monolouge seemed fringe.
I guess that my bigger problem with the scene was that it was just not that satisfying of a conclusion. Same with the Kaiju and the warlord really. There was a lot of buildup in the book but it happened in a lot of diffrent sort of directions so the conclusion at the end did not really feel like it payed off, but it sets the series up for the next book I presume with it being called Liberty.
I might be expecting too much of a standard format of the story though as there were like 5 seperate stories running throughout the book (The political side, the abduction story, the LA angle, Cap Freedom, Midnight, The chinese warlord etc…) and some of the storylines seemed to conclude in the middle of the book while others are carrying into the next. The conclusion at the end was something of a let down since there was a lot of smaller conclusions throughout the book instead of one massive one at the end like most books do.
I couldn’t leave everything until the end. Just practically. And some of this stuff isn’t just setting up the next book, it’s setting up the one after! Not as bad as the Thaumatology series where I unconsciously set up things in book 1 that didn’t pay off until book 10.
As a side note, the original conception for this part of the sequence was to have June become Miss Liberty. The public perception of her revealing Captain Freedom’s duplicity would cause people to latch onto her as the new national hero. Maybe I should’ve gone that way, but I like the Miss Liberty character I’ve got and having June get powers from the reactor explosion highlighted the results of that event.
Hopefully, this didn’t spoil the book too much for you, and the next one will be more to your tastes.
You wrote “Not as bad as the Thaumatology series where I unconsciously set up things in book 1 that didn’t pay off until book 10.”
In my personal opinion, this IS the greatest strength of the Thaumatology series. I just finished rereading the whole series. There you do have the big story arc which only slightly influences most earlier books, but makes rereading a real fun.
I got to reiterate that I enjoyed the book a lot throughout it, just that the conclusion felt underwhelming. Might also have something to do with the book being over and me being deppresed about that though
Happy 32nd birthday, Ceri!
yahr congats
In Liberty I’m curious about why the creation of exploding energy projectiles was worthy of comment about the unlikely physics. It seems fairly mild compared to some of the other ultra abilities. “Photon torpedoes” are far from the weirdest thing in sci-fi and superhero fiction.
Random thought: could Frostburn have contained the blob with ice walls? It didn’t appear to react with water in Puget Sound and ice is frozen water.
My take on the worthiness of the unlikely physics getting mentioned is that its worth of mentioning because what happened, simply isnt supposed to happen. Radiation doesnt like to be contained, even by energy fields, but is relatively easier to direct so you get Ultras shooting energy beams. The fact that Cygnus just wrapped up some of the highest energy particles known to science in a ball off cosmic energy and threw it at something is pretty out there by the rules of the Ultrahuman universe. Other Ultras seem to be able to shoot an energy beam, but not an energy projectile.
And this may be a bit of a pedantic point, but if you were referring to photon torpedos in the Star Trek sense, they are matter/antimatter weapons and not an energy projectile.
Re: Human mind in robot body.
I like the new Fox-book very much, so I can’t say I’m disappointed. But I’d really like to see more issues about the difference of being in an artificial body than only “I don’t need to eat” or “I don’t need to breathe” or “I’m basically indestructible.”
What if Fox would be killed with her newest backup one week old? What if there was real damage to her “brain”? Damage to her sensors? What if Kit would have been hacked like Misaki?
“What if Fox would be killed with her newest backup one week old? ”
You could end up with an interesting situation where Fox has to investigate her own murder. That would be a pretty cool premise.
Knowing Niall, that would be a serial murder, killing Fox over and over again, until she stops him…
Got a new toaster today. It has a few settings that made me realize it has a computer in it. For some reason I got the feeling I should name it. *facepalm* I blame you for this.
My work here is done. 🙂
Sorry just had to share this. https://www.amazon.com/Soylent-Replacement-Shake-Flavor-Variety/dp/B07C6586KM. I’m sure this is a perfectly legitimate product, but for those of you over 50 it may give you a bit of a chill. If they come up with a green “flavor” I’m going to run away screaming
I am over 50, and DEFINITELY got chills and a “HUH?” moment. Harry Harrison was an excellent author, and I will always love the Stainless Steel Rat Series!!!
Hope it’s ok to post this in here if not feel free to remove it. Another inde author I follow is currently in a legal battle against a ebook piracy site and has started a go fund me campaign, Bring ebook.bike to Justice I don’t know if any of your books are on there but here is a link to it (I hope)
gf.me/u/rv6srh
Not so much a speculation as an observation. The anti-vaccination crowd has been getting a lot of play on my side of the pond and seems to be gaining traction. A Texas state legislator got some press for calling vaccines sorcery. Idiocy aside, the way this is playing reminded me a lot of the way memetics campaigns get used in the Foxverse. I think of memes as being funny pictures or what not, and we’re seeing what amounts to a mix of intentional and unintentional social engineering taking place. I’ve never looked into whether this sort of thing is a codified field of study, but it’s interesting and scary to watch it spook out in real time.
Some speculations about Fox Meridian.
I think it would be a great plot if Fox wakes up and Terri tells her that she was restored from a backup, since her original copy has disappeared. She now has to find out what happened to her first self. It would also be a great ending if she rescues her original self and now there are two Foxes with different memories. Will she be able to learn from Kit how to re-integrate her copies? What is the legal status of a digitized human with two different minds?
If you really want to drive the lawyers crazy: One divergent infomorph personality commits a murder. When they reintegrate: is the merged one, horrified by the action, responsible?
Or what if they were restored from a backup from a point BEFORE the murder. That would seem a pretty big loophole. Opens the door to a lot of low consequence crime if you can afford a frame replacement. Found out you wife was cheating since your last backup: Kill them both and short out your comp. You get restored to before you even knew! Is it then right to punish the you that never had a hateful thought for either victim? It was the later you that thought up the scheme.
Hey I was just reading something and discovered there is a place on Mars called Terra Meridiani. Was that your inspiration for Fox’s name?
Don’t think so. I believe it was just ‘that’s a cool name.’
Are you ever going to do more in the Misfits series?
Yes.
Least verbose author EVER 😉
Unanswered Questions from Deaths Handmaiden.
Why would rigging the election for student president be an important target, and why would the assassin have a connection with Nava?
Why would clan Sonkei willingly go without extra bodyguards, relying on an amateur student force and a powerful stranger? Especially when they had a standing group of ninja warriors?
The ‘evil human experimentation group’ on earth was clearly backed by someone using the redwings as a fall guy, providing money and specialists in exchange for facilities and manpower. Terrorists don’t have science teams. Somebody with seriously large resources fed them research material and some money and let them do some off the books experimentation. Somebody who was clearly very concerned that they would not risk exposing themselves.
But who? Well, who gained? Who came along to pick up the stray? Who arranged to allow this unstable, living weapon into a school for the sons and daughters of the elite? And who arranged for Misuko Sonkei to accidentally meet her, so far away from her flat on campus? Some subtle pushing? A mention of a favoured spot, from a family member? How Very Convenient.
And then this attack, by an assassin from the same program, on the election of a school student president. One that threatened Misuko but never came close to hurting her.
Of course, none of these events are evidence of her parents direct involvement. They may well have been simply given directions to encourage their daughter. But clearly, the Sonkei clan have benefited from this.
My theory is the Sokei clan paid for speculative research into genetically improved sorcerers, or at least knew of the program and brought Maya from them as a sample. She clearly felt no loyalty to the terrorists cause. I think the point of the student election assassinations was to push Nava and Mitsuko together while providing the same obvious alibi that Tracey Spears Cook got from being shot at to the Sonkei clan – clearly since they were targeted, they cannot have been part of this.
Next question
I find it suspicious that so little effort was put into assuring Nava’s loyalty. Psychopathic behavioural training may have suppressed her emotions but it also eliminated any capacity for loyalty. A disloyal soldier is no asset, just a dangerous prisoner.
So, if we assume they intended her to be deployable they must have had something in mind to keep her loyal enough to use. A kill-switch would be simply, but why wasn’t it used when she did rebel? Implies something else.
The other factor, the disappearing sisters and their apparently limited funds, implies they were selling off the rejected phenotypes to unknown buyers. This again presents a loyalty problem, because if they were planning on selling her and her sisters off they wouldn’t know whom exactly they were supposed to be loyal towards before they were sold.
Answer? Somehow, they have a system that can mind control a psychopath and almost instantly turn them into a fanatic for any cause willing to pay. Fast and effective brainwashing.
My personal speculation would be a deliberate addition to the subject’s brains to allow a trigger, delivered at any time, to allow them to be brainwashed. Say a code phase or inject a syringe that can let them be reprogrammed before they were sold. Ideally, it could only be done once, afterwards that loyalty would be hardwired into them.
Which would be a pretty cool plot point, if all Nava’s hard won personality and friendships could be erased to turn her back into a killing machine by some Macguffin device. Or if Nava got her loyalty implant triggered but instead ended up loyal to Mitsuko, only to find out afterwards that her clan was the secret backer of her creators, and now-
Ok, that’s going too far, but still, wild mad guessing is what this is for. I mean, I like the clan worlds as a universe concept but, jesus, the United Federation of Planets has more internal conflict and dark secrets than we saw out of the Clan Worlds in these books! Come on, I want feuds and civil wars, vengeful families and bitter rivalries!
Stopping now, fingers tired.
Since Niall explicitly pointed to that thread …
I’d really like to see Jenna return in DH5. Maybe some development to make her a better sister for Nava and not the “only female villain” like Maya was.
I am rerereading your thumolagy ( hope that’s spelt right) books and there’s a coment about dessert island disks in book2 and it got me thinking now she is liars of all demons what would be her 8 tracks book and luxury???
She was into rock, as I remember. I’m not sure what she’d pick, aside from that song written about her by the werewolf band.
Her luxury… Lily, obviously.
While reading a local news item recently, I was reminded of the Eldritch-03 from _Liberty_. It looks like we only eldritch flatulence rising from the depths of the Sound, not the creature itself.
https://www.washington.edu/news/2022/01/19/bubbles-of-methane-rising-from-seafloor-in-puget-sound/
Yes, it’s old news, but…Are you entertained by the fact that the U. S. Space Force decided to name it’s people “Guardians”?
I had not heard that, but it is amusing.
So, I have not found any comments about The Empress’ Mage. It really is a fantastic book. Are there any plans for a sequel? City of Magic awaits! Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Yes. When I get the plot worked out, there’ll be a sequel.
I also want to see a sequel to the Empress’s Mage, but i want to see a sequel to Fallen just as much.
I also would like to know when you plan on writing the next Misfits book. I have been waiting on the 3rd one for yrs.
Alright, I am rereading hammer of witches again, btw still enjoying it 😃 and at the beginning of part 3 you mention The lady killers. So that means Alec Guinness is alive in this universe.
With all the problems in the not USA did star wars get made. I only care about parts 4,5&6 oh and rogue one?????
🤣🤣🤣
Well, he was alive. It’s an old movie.
As for Star Wars… Sorry, I don’t think that’s happening.
Minor typos for Elementary:
too close to considerable
too close, to considerable
it back which was
it back, which was
stone around which suggested
stone around, which suggested
Silently aside from
Silently, aside from
I marked these because I misread, and had to go back and figure out there was supposed to be a pause there.
Liked it, hope you hurry with a sequel! 🙂
Respectfully those aren’t typos. You’re nitpicking usage which isn’t incorrect. You wanted a pause Niall didn’t. I could have also written you wanted a pause, Niall didn’t. Both are correct even if one isn’t to your liking.
About four weeks ago I started on the Aneka Jansen series, and it has proved so addictive that I’m already well into the last book in the series. Both the other long series that I’ve read so far – Thaumatology and God’s Handmaiden – are superb, but I think this one might be even better. The characterisation seems to have just a bit greater depth.
OK, so I was re-reading Inspector Fox’s stories for the fith or sixth time when I came across a line that Fox tells Kit. It happens after Fox leaves Captain Deveraux’s office. They were talking about how Fox thinks its bad that she could sell or give away Kit. And that she believes that Terri would do ‘brain surgery with a rusted spoon on her’. Kit replies with:
‘Quite an image, but I suspect that that is medically unsound. An internet search does not show any instances where brain surgery with a rusty spoon resulted in death, but I still think it’s not recommended.’
I just had to find out what Google would say about it. So I asked Google: Would brain surgery with a rusty spoon result in death?
Google responded with: Brain surgery performed with an unsterilized, rusty spoon would almost certainly result in death. This is not due to the rust itself, but because it introduces massive trauma, infection, and contamination into the highly sensitive brain. The risk of death is virtually guaranteed due to the combination of severe brain damage and infection.
And then listed ten reasons why brain surgery with a rusty spoon would be “Bad” tm. I just had to laugh at how Kit says she can’t find any instances of rusty spoon surgery resulting in death, but Google still doesn’t recommended it.
I just had share my weird sense of humor about a book series that I enjoy.
C.R.Adams
I don’t think I actually looked it up at the time. I’m not entirely sure that Kit actually did (bit a Miss Sarky Pants, that Kit).
I’m tempted to try it now to see what I get.
(Also, ROFLMAO)
i Just did a bit of googling and some other search engines and i could not find any documented cases of any one attempting brain surgery with a Rusty spoon and ther for also nobody dieing from sutch an attempt. Kit is correct in that regard as far as i could find out.
now it maybe tat my googling skills ar lacking and i just did not find the results i was looking for.
I really hope your skills are on point. I hate to think someone’s actually tried it.
Of course, this leads to the question: “Why a spoon?” And the only answer I have ever found was from one of the Robin Hood movies, where the Sheriff of Nottingham is asked this very question after saying “I will cut out their hart with a spoon!” And the answer has always been: “Because it would hurt more, you twit!”
C.R.Adams
There’s also the “Valley girl” phrase “Gag me with a spoon!”
I’m not actually sure I was thinking of that when I wrote it. I may have just been thinking of a “bad thing to do brain surgery with.” But it might have ben the Costner “Robin Hood.” Well, the Rickman “Robin Hood” since he totally stole the entire film.
I do have a question, now that I’ve reached that spot again, and I don’t think it is ever fully answered. Is Vali an infomormph? Our only interactions with him are in Niflhim. I know that Kit suspects him of being an infomorph after her birthday celebration with him. I always figured he was part of Overwatch. I always imagined Overwatch as multiple class four AIs working together under a AI director. But the only things we know about Vali is that he runs Niflhem, is very good at hacking and counter hacking, is obsessed with vikings and the lore around vikings and that he is somewhere on earth near or in a major city. The internet is too spotty away from the metros. And there is no light speed delay.
C.R.Adams
Okay, I don’t want to entirely give the game away because I still have some hopes of writing a final Fox book which would be called Overwatch and would clear up all of those questions.
You are correct that Overwatch is a collection of class 4 AIs with various different specialities. At least, that’s the current state of play, but someone is having a bright idea…
Vali is not part of Overwatch. He does, however, have a connection to Overwatch. You may recall that he gets information from a mysterious source he has never been able to trace… I think it’s kind of obvious, though I’m the one who wrote it, so I might be wrong.
And I’m going to say that, yes, he is an infomorph. I think enough hints were dropped, and Kit certainly has her suspicions. Now, where he came from… That’s another question.
Perfect, I love it. Reading Fox’s stories is what got me into reading your books. I always felt that there needed to be more to her stories. Maybe a different character in the same world. I could see a detective from Ireland or Australia with her own set of criminal activities she has to solve, or maybe flip the script and we have an anti-heroin who is a master criminal and cyber hacker who ends up in love with the cop chasing her… Anyway thanks for the insider info on Vali.
C.R.Adams
So, I have just finished the last book in Fox’s story so far. And it has got me thinking about a story. A ‘Carmen Sandieago’ in a ‘Gothem City’ setting or in a ‘Star Trek’ like setting. A story about a Master Thef and tactician and how she became so good at taking things. What her motives might be, how she sees the world, and how her career and nomad lifestyle effects her ability to have relationships. I grew up watching ‘Where in the World is Carmen Sandieago’ both the game show for kids and the cartoon. I’ve even played some of the educational games. And of course comics and sci-fi has always been part of my life.
How would someone who is basically a really smart and flexible human steal from meta humans or advanced tec like AIs? Is she doing it because of the thrill of getting past the challenges, or because of something deeper. One could almost see a bit of Carmen in Diamond from the ‘Guardians’ series, but Diamond went straight into psychopathy for hrr motive. She stole because it helped fuel her lifestyle and need to torture people to death. The Carmen from the cartoons and game show seemed to have a deeper reason to steal and tease the A.C.M.E. agents who were after her.
I think it would be both easier and harder in a sci-fi setting. You set her up with her own ship, maybe with a small crew, and each story is on a different planet. The ship becomes one of the characters, needing repairs and fuel. In this case, does our Carmen steal because of need? Her ship is her life, the ability to see it all, to go to new places, and trade is not always an option.
What if our Carmen was working for some group she just couldn’t get away from. She steals because she has no choice but to steal. However, she is so good at it that even when she is leaving clues and staying just ahead of the agents after her, that they can’t catch her, even as she is practically begging for them to?
Just some thoughts running through my brain to fast after reading a good book.