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So a free excerpt from Calamity came out today, showing us a rough draft of what may be the first couple of pages in the book. What did you guys think?

 

I was excited to see the Knighthawk Foundry, apparently based in "Shrewbent Castle" in West Virginia. I'm intrigued by how the castle is apparently defended by drones, though regrettably we did not receive a good description of the machines.

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A spoiler board already.

SO IT BEGINS

As for the actual excerpt:

I found the mention that the Foundry wasn't speaking to them intriguing. Did they shut down because of the unrest in Newcago, which is probably the biggest market for their mobiles? Or was it because of some ties Prof had with them that have yet to be elaborated? And where is Tia in all this?

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A spoiler board already.

SO IT BEGINS

As for the actual excerpt:

I found the mention that the Foundry wasn't speaking to them intriguing. Did they shut down because of the unrest in Newcago, which is probably the biggest market for their mobiles? Or was it because of some ties Prof had with them that have yet to be elaborated? And where is Tia in all this?

 

That part leaped out at me too. While reading it I kind of assumed that they were turned away because they were the Reckoners (the way "Knighthawk" is referenced makes me suspect that Knighthawk is indeed the Epic who runs the place.)

 

Another thing--Cody and Abraham had to escape Newcago in a helicopter. Can we assume that Phaedrus went after them in Newcago after he failed to kill David in Babilar? Is Tia missing-in-action?

 

In a lot of ways the excerpt opened up more questions than it answered. On the bright side, Mizzy is the grooviest of Reckoners. B)

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That part leaped out at me too. While reading it I kind of assumed that they were turned away because they were the Reckoners (the way "Knighthawk" is referenced makes me suspect that Knighthawk is indeed the Epic who runs the place.)

Another thing--Cody and Abraham had to escape Newcago in a helicopter. Can we assume that Phaedrus went after them in Newcago after he failed to kill David in Babilar? Is Tia missing-in-action?

In a lot of ways the excerpt opened up more questions than it answered. On the bright side, Mizzy is the grooviest of Reckoners. B)

It looks that way, meaning Regalia seriously undersold the "High Epics usually go after those who knew them best" bit. What she should've said was "Prof will go after those he knew best, and he will commit to killing them. Silly David, thinking he'll let something like him being in Babilar and Cody and Abraham being in Newcago slow him down."

It also seems like Prof will indeed be worse than Steelheart. Steelheart seemed to stay in one city once he took over; Prof seems far more erratic. Or perhaps that's the wrong word; he seems committed to ensuring his own safety, and if that means hopping from city to city, then that's what it means.

Also, Mizzy and Megan on the same team? I really hope this means they've reached a truce. :D

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Given that we are in the Calamity subforum, I see no reason for spoiler tags.

 

A few assorted thoughts:

  • Knighthawk Foundry has a nice ring to it. I like the way it sounds.
  • We, of this age, are officially awesome. David says so.
  • "If there was one thing I’d learned in Babilar, however, it was that I needed to rein in my hotheadedness. I needed to be like . . . half a hothead instead. A hot chin?"
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It looks that way, meaning Regalia seriously undersold the "High Epics usually go after those who knew them best" bit. What she should've said was "Prof will go after those he knew best, and he will commit to killing them. Silly David, thinking he'll let something like him being in Babilar and Cody and Abraham being in Newcago slow him down."

It also seems like Prof will indeed be worse than Steelheart. Steelheart seemed to stay in one city once he took over; Prof seems far more erratic. Or perhaps that's the wrong word; he seems committed to ensuring his own safety, and if that means hopping from city to city, then that's what it means.

Also, Mizzy and Megan on the same team? I really hope this means they've reached a truce. :D

 

I'm still wondering what Phaedrus' long-term plans are. Once he's done tracking down and murdering the Reckoners, does he intend to carve out a fiefdom for himself? Will he continue assassinating other High Epics, but on the side of Evil this time?

 

Also, David claims to be one of the very last Reckoners--has Phaedrus killed all of the others already? :o

 

(I doubt we've seen the last of the Mizzy/Megan conflict, but I hope it doesn't take up much of the next book.)

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I loved when David talked about how strange old words were compared to sparks and I hope Prof shows up when they attack the castle.

Unless there's a Deus Ex Machina-inator hiding in the castle, Prof's arrival would almost certainly mean the end of the book. Or the Reckoners, at the very least. He's more powerful (and corrupt) than Steelheart; they have no resources and no idea what his weakness is. If Prof shows up, the rest of the book would have to be about Prof being corrupt because Megan is the only one with a chance of survival.

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Am I the only one then who didn't get the full excerpt?

 

For some reason, mine stops, mid sentence, a few paragraphs in.

 

 

Pre-Calamity pe

 

It stops after that. I have everything before that, I just haven't posted it.

 

Any help as to the cause and/ or solution?

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Thanks. I didn't notice that there before.

 

In response to the story, I agree that the ambiguity about Tia is intriguing. Especially so seeing that Prof was a careful man and trying not to turn evil. Knowing how far back Prof and Tia go, I imagine that he would have some last fail-safe to turn to: I think he would have told Tia his weakness (I think I read somewhere that Brandon RAFO'ed someone who asked this), in case of him turning into Super Evil Armageddon Bringer (as opposed to Super Nice Armageddon Bringer, his long lost twin).

 

Given this, I think it likely that Prof, once becoming SEAB (see above), would almost immediately attempt to get rid of Tia. I would be extremely interested in knowing what exactly happened in Newcago.

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I'm very interested if Brandon will explain why the Knighthawk Foundry had such a strong position with all the Epics around. Super-advanced epic-based technology seems like on of the things that the Epics wouldn't want near them, but still the Foundry is all well and safe.

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My biggest concerns stem from Firefight, bleeding into this excerpt.

 

First and foremost is Tia. When the ending of Firefight rolled around, Tia was abnormally absent. She disappears and never comes back, and we get nothing about her at the end, particularly during the epilogue, when David offers no passing thoughts to her whereabouts. Second is the Reckoners. Abraham and Cody returning is welcome, but what happened to the St. Louis crew that moved to Newcago? The excerpt implies they're all dead, which makes me very sad. It makes sense though, for Prof to target the one group that could stop him. I just wish the excerpt was more clear about what happened.

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Yeah, the absence of Tia is the big question to me.  As long as she's not dead, I think she'll factor in significantly into the conclusion of the book.  She might pretty much disappear until that time, actually.

 

And that's a very interesting theory about the foundry being run by an Epic named Knighthawk.  I like that theory.  Makes sense.

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My initial thoughts also involved "Where's Tia", but secondly were about the Knighthawk Foundry and corporation in general.

 

If Knighthawk's location is known, why don't more Epics try to destroy it? I feel like if I were an Epic and knew that there were humans making weapons specifically designed to kill Epics, I'd try to destroy their factory. Also, the Foundry's defenses seem rather weak to stop Epics; drones can't possibly be good enough to fight off Epics. That makes me conclude that Knighthawk is RUN my an Epic, as Kobold speculated. Only another High Epic could possibly keep the Foundry so well defended...and I think David is in for a big surprise once he enters.

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Also, where's Conflux?  His comment from Firefight when he said something to the effect of, "I'll always be controlled by a high epic, whether it's Steelheart or Limelight" makes me suspect that Conflux stayed in Newcago and is working for Prof now.  

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Also, where's Conflux?  His comment from Firefight when he said something to the effect of, "I'll always be controlled by a high epic, whether it's Steelheart or Limelight" makes me suspect that Conflux stayed in Newcago and is working for Prof now.  

 

I rather doubt he's in Newcago. The reckoners knew where he was and how valuable he is. Phaedrus would have moved him as quickly as possible.

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I rather doubt he's in Newcago. The reckoners knew where he was and how valuable he is. Phaedrus would have moved him as quickly as possible.

 

No matter the case, I'm fairly certain his telling David in Firefight that he "would always be enslaved by another Epic" was less evidence of his lack of fear and more ominous foreshadowing. :mellow: 

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I was hoping for some answers, especially about tia and prof's past, but it actually raises more questions. tia's whereabouts are not mentioned, obviously prof will try to kill her as  the person who likely knows more about him, but she's too important to die off  panel in the pause between one book and the other. seems prof has been hunting down the reckoners, something some epic should have done long since. his former group is the last surviving. also there is no mention of conflux.

II wonder how the foundry can exist in the first place. no matter how good its defences, they are no more than speed bumps for an high epic - for some, not even that. and epics have an interest in not letting that kind of technology be available to everyone, so one of them should have destroied  the complex. I suppose there is actually at least one epic ruling it, maybe a whole gang. I further predict that one of them has some power allowing him to manipulate other epics; it is fairly reasonable to assume that the "epic technology" is actually the power of an epic who can transfer the power of  another dead epic into a piece of machinery. If this gguy had negating powers, it woulld also explain why other epics leave him alone. could be the key to defeating prof, if they could recruit him.

 

I'm also curious on what happened to the rest of the word. countires outside of north america are never mentioned, and everything important is happening on the terrain of the former united states. i doubt transoceanic travel is still available, so does it mean that in europe there are no epic-based technology? are there reckoners too? did society fared better, or even worse? are there isolated towns in siberia or tibet where simply no epic showed up and life continues mostly as before?

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I'm also curious on what happened to the rest of the word. countires outside of north america are never mentioned, and everything important is happening on the terrain of the former united states. i doubt transoceanic travel is still available, so does it mean that in europe there are no epic-based technology? are there reckoners too? did society fared better, or even worse? are there isolated towns in siberia or tibet where simply no epic showed up and life continues mostly as before?

 

Rick O'Shea is an Epic mentioned as living in Ireland, and I'm pretty sure a German Epic is mentioned at one point. Just FYI.

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I think Tia is off the grid hiding somewhere. Even if he was overconfident that he could control his powers, Prof would have known there was at least a risk that he would be corrupted, and I think he would have taken counter-measures. My guess, is he and Tia created a figurative wall between them, where Tia, on Prof's orders, kept things from him. He would know what she would be doing, but perhaps not exactly where. My guess is that Tia had an exit plan in place ready to go, and that she made it out okay, and is likely rallying some Reckoners, or otherwise preparing to bring down Prof if she has to. Now, Prof likely knows this, but he also knows Tia very well. She's the smartest of the group, so she'd likely be the toughest to track down. He tracks down the others first before they can scatter and go underground, and THEN goes after Tia when he can afford to spend time analyzing her actions and her history, guessing where she might be hiding. The one hole is that this leaves the one person most likely to know his weakness free. I mean, how much of a threat are David and the gang to Prof really, especially compared to Tia? Maybe they set up a trap or weapon to use against him together, and Prof is afraid of confronting Tia before she's ready, lest she use he weakness against him. In that scenario, it might make sense for him to track down the other Reckoners first, demolishing any potential support base Tia might try to recruit, before taking her on.

Honestly, it could go any way. I agree that there is no way that Tia is dead. My guess is what happened to her remains a mystery until she shows up part way through the book with some serious answers :).

It's also interesting to me that this book is called Calamity. That makes me think that Prof will not be the main villain, and that by the end of the book, the focus will be on Calamity him/her/itself. Perhaps there is potential for Prof to be redeemed midway through the book...

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