I consider RUNNERS to be a “space adventure” or “space opera” like Star Wars, that focuses more on the adventure, and less on the actual science of some other hard-core sci-fi stories, like 2001 and certain Star Trek episodes. I’m just more of an “adventure” guy than a “science” guy. So I don’t have much interest in heavily plotting my stories around the science and technology of how certain things actually work (IE inverse tachyon beams, chronoton particles, ship explosions actually not making sounds in the vaccuum of space, etc).
That being said, I do like to know how things work in my universe, without getting super-technical about it. So with Hamron’s body shells, it made sense to have the force fields work in a certain way and have certain limitations and “rules” to them.
Exactly – being overly technical can take the fun out of it I agree. But it’s nice to know there at least a little thinking behind it. Very fun story – loving it.
Oddly, I went to MIT for undergrad, so the science and tech should be a snap. But I often joke that I’m probably the most technologically-illiterate person to ever graduate from MIT. At the very least, I’ll try to remember that parsecs are a unit of distance, not time. Ha ha. Extra points to whoever gets that reference.
Star Wars…Kessel Run
BUT they later back filled the story:
The Kessel Run is a section of space that runs from Kessel to another world through an are with a black hole (or some other gravity distortions) and Han was actually giving how close he could cut the distance….and for some reason that had to do with speed.
Sorry….wife is a HUGE Star Wars geek…..
Wow. Blaming the WIFE for being the geek. That’s a new one! 🙂
I had heard that some writer had come up with an explanation for the whole Kessel Run/parsecs thing and found a way to finagle Han’s boast into an actual measurement of distance instead of time. But I think most people will agree that the original line was a gaffe on Lucas’s part. Not a huge one, or at least not big enough to detract in any way from the awesomeness of the entire first trilogy. Midichlorians, on the other hand…
I distinctly remember my parents explaining midichlorians to me when they showed me the trilogy. So for me they were always a part of Star Wars.
Hi Dranorter and thanks for all the new comments. Sorry for the delay in posting responses but it has been a super-crazy month.
Anyway, speaking of people growing up on the new Star Wars material, I have a friend who was watching Episode IV with his nephew, who was watching that for the first time. As the stormtroopers burst into the Blockade Runner and gunned down the rebels, the nephew was cheering for those stormtroopers! Suddenly it became quite clear that kids growing up on Clone Wars would be very confused that the guys in white armor are NOT the good guys in the original movies. 🙂
actually, it seems to me that the whole issue may well be moot. Why does the gun have to be inside the ‘shell’? Or, at least, the end of the muzzle?
just a thought
if the body shell is all one field then i think its unlikly that any thing could shoot out just give your character body armor it’ll make more sense
To be fair to Ril, his gun looks like some sort of hand cannon that probably shoots something wider than the force field’s window..