Emissaries from the Review

Hi,

So last night I finished reading Emissaries from the Dead by Adam-Troy Casto. As an aside, a hyphenated first name? Dude, I'm sorry about your folks. You're a pretty good writer though.

So, yeah, in this book, Andrea Cort, investigator for Humanity's Diplomatic Corp has been sent to One One One -- a vast cylindrical habitat maintained by AIs. The habitat is different than most. Rather than having everyone live on the inner surface of the cylinder, people must cling to a dense plant life that grows out from the hub. The AIs have engineered a sentient species in the Uppergrowth which has started a diplomatic firestorm.

The AIs invited a team of humans out to observe the creatures and one of the team members has just perished in a suspicious accident. Given the restrictions placed on humans entering the habitat, only the AIs could've caused the death. But AI technology is vital to the well-being of every other civilization in the galaxy. If the AI's reputation as a neutral party is compromised, the results will be catastrophic. So Andrea is sent to One One One to solve the mystery...by finding a scapegoat among the human researchers and pinning it all on them.

So it's mostly a murder mystery set in space, but it does do a better job at grappling with advanced AI in a sci-fi setting than a lot of other books I've read. The mystery is well-done and I wasn't entirely sure who the culprit was until the end, so full marks for that. Additionally, the solution didn't really depend on technobabble, but it did make full use of the exotic environment and implications of the technology on display -- none of it was pure window dressing.

So a fun read.

later
Tom

Emissaries from the Review

Hi,

So last night I finished reading Emissaries from the Dead by Adam-Troy Casto. As an aside, a hyphenated first name? Dude, I'm sorry about your folks. You're a pretty good writer though.

So, yeah, in this book, Andrea Cort, investigator for Humanity's Diplomatic Corp has been sent to One One One -- a vast cylindrical habitat maintained by AIs. The habitat is different than most. Rather than having everyone live on the inner surface of the cylinder, people must cling to a dense plant life that grows out from the hub. The AIs have engineered a sentient species in the Uppergrowth which has started a diplomatic firestorm.

The AIs invited a team of humans out to observe the creatures and one of the team members has just perished in a suspicious accident. Given the restrictions placed on humans entering the habitat, only the AIs could've caused the death. But AI technology is vital to the well-being of every other civilization in the galaxy. If the AI's reputation as a neutral party is compromised, the results will be catastrophic. So Andrea is sent to One One One to solve the mystery...by finding a scapegoat among the human researchers and pinning it all on them.

So it's mostly a murder mystery set in space, but it does do a better job at grappling with advanced AI in a sci-fi setting than a lot of other books I've read. The mystery is well-done and I wasn't entirely sure who the culprit was until the end, so full marks for that. Additionally, the solution didn't really depend on technobabble, but it did make full use of the exotic environment and implications of the technology on display -- none of it was pure window dressing.

So a fun read.

later
Tom

It's no Flintloque...

Hi,

I've also finished reading through Paddy Griffith's Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun.

...and now only invader_haywire is still reading this.

This is a reprint of a book that came out in 1980 in the UK. And the title pretty much explains it all. The interesting twist here is that Mr. Griffith addresses the issues of realism vs. playability in an interesting way. He suggests that no one game can account for every possible variable and that different games should instead focus on different aspects of combat.

To that end, this slim volume contains seven separate types of wargames. It starts with Skirmish level wargames and then moves up the chain of command to Division, Brigade and Army level games. In each case the underlying system remains relatively fixed, but more and more emphasis is placed on Command and Control and the player's ability to understand what's going on at a macro level vs. the more intimate view of a Lieutenant or Major.

Eventually, the miniatures are dispensed with altogether and a couple of map games are introduced. In particular, the Generalship game looks really neat. The players basically make up a "to-do" list for that game day. Aside from writing orders, they have to spend time maintaining communication/supply lines, maintain correspondence back to their home country, sleep, and move about the countryside. An umpire coordinates the various orders and gives feedback to the players. The combat system is extremely abstracted but sufficient so that a general who has been the most efficient will probably be able to win, although the double-blind nature of the conflict means that there could be any number of unexpected surprises.

Finally, the set concludes with a discussion on "Tactical Exercises Without Troops" (TEWT). Here, the author expects pasty white gamers to actually go out into the woods and conduct imaginary battles. This was an actual training method for Napoleonic officers, but while it sounds interesting, I'm not sure it's a level of authenticity I'm actually striving for.

Overall a fun book if you're interested in wargaming of any stripe and want to dig into our illustrious wargaming past.

later
Tom

It's no Flintloque...

Hi,

I've also finished reading through Paddy Griffith's Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun.

...and now only invader_haywire is still reading this.

This is a reprint of a book that came out in 1980 in the UK. And the title pretty much explains it all. The interesting twist here is that Mr. Griffith addresses the issues of realism vs. playability in an interesting way. He suggests that no one game can account for every possible variable and that different games should instead focus on different aspects of combat.

To that end, this slim volume contains seven separate types of wargames. It starts with Skirmish level wargames and then moves up the chain of command to Division, Brigade and Army level games. In each case the underlying system remains relatively fixed, but more and more emphasis is placed on Command and Control and the player's ability to understand what's going on at a macro level vs. the more intimate view of a Lieutenant or Major.

Eventually, the miniatures are dispensed with altogether and a couple of map games are introduced. In particular, the Generalship game looks really neat. The players basically make up a "to-do" list for that game day. Aside from writing orders, they have to spend time maintaining communication/supply lines, maintain correspondence back to their home country, sleep, and move about the countryside. An umpire coordinates the various orders and gives feedback to the players. The combat system is extremely abstracted but sufficient so that a general who has been the most efficient will probably be able to win, although the double-blind nature of the conflict means that there could be any number of unexpected surprises.

Finally, the set concludes with a discussion on "Tactical Exercises Without Troops" (TEWT). Here, the author expects pasty white gamers to actually go out into the woods and conduct imaginary battles. This was an actual training method for Napoleonic officers, but while it sounds interesting, I'm not sure it's a level of authenticity I'm actually striving for.

Overall a fun book if you're interested in wargaming of any stripe and want to dig into our illustrious wargaming past.

later
Tom

Disapora -- Ajeet/Sejal

Hi,

Another Diaspora character.

( Doctor )

later
Tom

Disapora -- Ajeet/Sejal

Hi,

Another Diaspora character.

( Doctor )

later
Tom