posted
And I'm trying to figure out how much OSC set up in that book for the next book deliberately or coincidentaly. (edit:I guess it was mostly coincidentally, though I bet his subconscious knew.)
My questions... I've considered asking at the Q&A at the signing, but they are really too technical:
1) Which one of Ender's Jeesh or will it be Ender himself dealing with Baby Achilles? And yeah Ender and Valentine should get involved but it might be interesting to have Baby Achille outmaneuver one of the other battle schoolers first.
2)Will Bean have to kill his own son that has become a monster to somehow save the others?
3)A future continuity issue: It appears that all of the Battle School generals, are now either back at the Battle school space station or on the asteroid waiting for Colony ships. How long do they wait? Graff only had 2 available via American funding, and it is pretty clear that even though Peter was on his way to consolidating everything it didn't seem like he got the monetary funds freed up to do more ships, instantanously, even with the Investment Counselor helping.
There needs to be quasi reasonble, sci-fi premise to make this work, with the timeline that already exists, it will be tricky, given the age constraints on Baby Achilles and the age of Ender when he leaves the first colony planet. Ender turns 21, way down the road as far as his subjective age. He's what, 10 or 12, at the time of departure on the colony ship? So, Ender can only live to maybe 10 subjective years maximum. Baby Achilles is concieved after Ender leaves planet earth. Space flight makes people younger, not older. Bean of course was a child general even younger than Ender, so there is wiggle room. But if Achilles travels to the same colony planet as Ender, Ender will have to leave before Achilles is 9 at most.
If OSC decides to follow the off-word battle schoolers in more depth, before he focuses on Ender (because it's possible they'll all have to work together to get rid of Baby Achilles) I'd propose Ender's Jeesh as a name, though it's probably already been proposed, on the name thread. I honestly think a "Giant" title might be more appropriate.
posted
Need to work out ages even more, but having Baby Achilles at age 9 when Ender leaves the first bugger world, is stretching it, I suspect 5 or 6 might be more reasonable.
Not that the genuis kid, with bean's gifts can't cause a lot of trouble at those ages, but OSC does have his characters develop in emotional maturity at a different rate from intellectual maturity.
Baby Achilles appears to be heading off planet quite rapidly. The logistical problems of creating enough colony ships in a short time need a convincing reason for suspension of disbelief.
It was implied that with each inital colony ship, would go a Battle Schooler, and they'd each get their own world. I can't remember the exact count of the battle schoolers to get off planet but I'm thinking 6-10 in the final count. So, either Baby Achilles is on a colony ship with a battle schooler at the helm, or he has to be in a second wave of colonists going to Ender's planet. If he's in a "second wave" this makes him even younger and drops the maximum age gap further.
Trying to figure this out cause it is bugging me.
Would there be a way to age Achilles on Earth, and then using some technology explanation, get him to Ender's planet, when he's 10 and Ender's 19?
posted
Good, I realize he's explained some stuff here on Hatrack that I missed, due to having a chaotic life. But from what I've found the gaps are still bothering me.
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posted
OSC's mentioned working on an Ender/Achilles II novel (working title Ender in Exile). I don't know if he's decided what world it will be set on, but it's possible that a former Battle Schooler gets involved--I believe he was thinking about having Virlomi be the one.
Right now, it appears we've seen the last of Bean himself, alive. Shadows in Flight is supposed to take place after Children of the Mind, with the living Delphiki crew and probably some characters from the Speaker trilogy, likely Ender-as-Peter and some others.
As for the ages of Ender and Achilles Jr., I have no idea. But Bean's kid can't be very old--he kinda has that approaching deadline of how big he can get, like his dad. Definitely before he turns sixteen, maybe at an age where Ender can recognize him.
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quote: What came to me in Tom Doherty's office was: She's going to be on a colony world after a time-dilated FTL voyage. Therefore it is quite possible that when Ender is done with his first colony experience (and has written The Hive Queen and The Hegemon), I could have him voyage first to that very same colony at about the time that this woman's child has come to adulthood.
It's still going to take some explaining and manuvering, to get the FTL travel to jive, with the age of Baby Achilees, since baby Achilles will also have been in FTL travel also.
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Megan and I were discussing it at the signing. I need to re-read Investment Counselor. Because that locks in the time brackets for Ender the most.
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As soon as I heard that there were going to be more sequals I realized that Beans condition, minus the gigantism, was very similar to the godspoken "condition" minus the OCD. Of course, that immedaitely led me to speculate whether Han Fei Tsu could be descended from Han Tsu and that maybe Achilles Jr. would be travelling on Han Tsu's colony ship to (what will become) Path.
Posts: 70 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by BannaOj: More on the Battle School tie in.
Baby Achilles appears to be heading off planet quite rapidly. The logistical problems of creating enough colony ships in a short time need a convincing reason for suspension of disbelief.
It was implied that with each inital colony ship, would go a Battle Schooler, and they'd each get their own world. I can't remember the exact count of the battle schoolers to get off planet but I'm thinking 6-10 in the final count. So, either Baby Achilles is on a colony ship with a battle schooler at the helm, or he has to be in a second wave of colonists going to Ender's planet. If he's in a "second wave" this makes him even younger and drops the maximum age gap further.
You went the wrong way. Consider: Achilles2 and his mother get sidelined for 10 years, then ship off on a FTL ship. If the planet is approximately 5-6 years (subjective) off, then they'll get there when A2 is 15-16 years old, plenty old enough to be dangerous (obviously).
The other problem folks appear to be having here is equating all FTL speeds. Given reasonable technical advances, it is highly probable that a ship launched at year X=0 to take 400 years (objective) to reach its destination, and another ship (faster) launched at year X=10 to take 350 years to reach its destination, Beating the first ship!
Ender's travels give OSC quite a "wide target" to have Achilles pop in, given a reasonable technological advance in FTL travel speeds and enough stationary delays for the younger (which, btw, could mean on the destination plnet too!).
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posted
A2 has the Anthon's Key, doesn't he? Bean looked 2 when he was 4, when to Battle School at 5. I'm a little fuzzy on the timelines, but is probably 6 when Dragon Army is formed, 7 when the Buggers are defeated. I think he's 8 during Shadow of the Hegemon, but passes for an adolescent by the time he and Petra are reunited. I'll guess he's nine. He's probably 11 or 12 when he and Petra are married, and she is probably just 18. I mean, we know she's 14 at the start of SotH, so I don't know. The passage of time between SotH and SP is a little vague, if we're generous we could stretch it out that far.
Though this discussion makes it seem likely to me that the descaladores may be Achilles 2 in particular and not Bean's children in general. Or maybe he is more involved in the modifications done to the Godspoken of Path.
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posted
I don't think that the descalores will have anything to do with humans. Just remember that they've been trial and erroring with the virus for a while and the piggies remember an ancient time with descalado.
I think that what's very likely is that Volescu's research/the research for helping Bean was spun into this mass intelligence project and became Path.
As for Ender/Achilles 2; I expect we'll see Ender reunited wih an old Battleschooler, and on that world, the two of them (plus Valentine) will have to defeat Achilles Jr. probably Ender will be hidden and his identity will be top secret because people will already hate him as "the Xenocide".
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posted
I don't have a copy, and it's been years. Didn't Alai go on the ship with A2 or am I crazy? Or I can see Randi deciding Crazy Tom is the man of her dreams.
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posted
Hmm...OSC mentioned that he might be shipping Achilles 2.0 to Virlomi's colony, but that could have changed.
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quote:Originally posted by Magus04: Maybe Abra = Bean's child?
Abra, as in the kid at the end of Ender's Game? I could swear that it says he was born on the colony ship....
Posts: 1006 | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
None of the ships are FTL. FTL doesn't happen until Jane powers it in Xenocide/CoTM.
The whole reasoning for time-dialation is that they get near to, but do not suprass light. If OSC intones that these are FTL ships, it's the largest continuity error I have ever seen in his writing
As to "that doesn't jive up".. well, not really. Ender's voyage to his first planet, where he stayed a few years, could be a planet much farther away - or in a completely different direction, then where Baby Achille goes.
So, let's say baby Achille goes to planet B. He gets there after Ender leaves his first governorship. Fine. The distance between Planet A and B is 21 light years. Bammo. Answer resolved.
Space is not a straight line. Resolving this issue is almost self evident.
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