Thoughts on the Starsight Excerpt

[+Invocation]

So what did y'all think about the excerpt from Starsight in the newsletter today? I loved it.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Invocation

[Karger]

I found it interesting but I hope she gets over the inhuman plot line.

[king of nowhere]

I'm a bit disappointed in spensa, really. she seemed to value cooperation and teamplay, and now she's trying to go solo. Hurl died like that.

This all raises more questions, really.

what are the humans doing into space? they were already short on pilots, they were getting less and less new cadets to graduate, and they just lost a depressingly large chunk of their pilots and ships in the battle at the end of the last book. While the aliens could always make more drones; they literally have the resources of an entire galaxy.

How the hell are the humans managing that? are the aliens letting them? where did they find enough pilots and ships?

I'm confident we'll get the answers along the book.

[Angsos]

As to pilots, my guess is Spensa gave them a huge recruiting boost which could also explain her solo flight. If she were stuck on the ground for a while, she might want to kill something, anything. Also Spensa has probably been told be Everyone, or at least ordinary people, that she's the greatest thing since sliced bread so she'll need something or someone(Jorgen or Rig) to scare the crap out of her and/or remind her she's not as immortal as she thinks she is.

[+Invocation]

3 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

what are the humans doing into space? they were already short on pilots, they were getting less and less new cadets to graduate, and they just lost a depressingly large chunk of their pilots and ships in the battle at the end of the last book. While the aliens could always make more drones; they literally have the resources of an entire galaxy.

Spoiler

They don't have to worry about it as much now that M-Bot has figured out how to hack into the platforms and they have control of some. Extra resources right there, mainly for acclivity rings and probably more ship fabricators as well.

 

[equinox]

I really enjoyed the whole newsletter (including incredible cute closet kitty ). Oh except that we have to wait longer for Starsight.

But I agree with @king of nowhere. More questions than answers. Also I didn't expect that Spensa is not able to replicate the FTL jump. But in retrospect,  I guess it's necessary for storytelling reasons.

I am really looking forward to December. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by equinox

[Angsos]

Spensa did the FTL jump once under stress, subconsciously she probably remembers how but can't bring it to the surface yet.

[king of nowhere]

14 hours ago, Angsos said:

As to pilots, my guess is Spensa gave them a huge recruiting boost

I don't think so. everyone already wanted to be a pilot. it was the only path to fame and glory, and it was a requirment to get into the best jobs.

they could have boosted recruitment, but only by lowering their standards.

actually, there were other populations in other caverns, they could have boosted recruitment by tappping into those populations. time is the issue, though. they take 6 months to train a pilot; and that's for youths who studied hard to pass the test. they can't take a random guy from another cavern and train him in 6 months. so I'd exclude that avenue.

they also don't have enough training facilities and teachers. all problems that can be solved, but they all require time. I'm sure they could build another training room with holoprojectors, but it will take some time. I'm sure they could get some elder pilots to retire and go into teaching, but being goood at something and being good at teaching something are fairly unrelated skills; those new instructors probably won't be good at it. And if they have more fighters, they also need more mechanics, and those also cannot be trained in six months.

@Invocation gives a good rationale for increased fighter production, so they no longer have issues with their ships. I am sure they can increase their pilots too, now that they don't have such a strict limitation on acclivity rings.

Getting plenty of pilots in six months? that, I don't think they can do.

Maybe they are all cadets?

[Philomath]

19 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

I'm a bit disappointed in spensa, really. she seemed to value cooperation and teamplay, and now she's trying to go solo. Hurl died like that.

5 hours ago, Angsos said:

Spensa did the FTL jump once under stress, subconsciously she probably remembers how but can't bring it to the surface yet.

 

I think this is probably why Spensa is doing the solo thing. She is trying to pressure herself into using the FTL ability. Not necessarily that she doesn’t value teamwork or trust others. 

[equinox]

I'd rather she seeks help from her grandmother than doing reckless things. But I am sure we will get more information on what's happened since the end of book 1 and judging from Brandon Sanderson's other books, I'm confident it will be satisfying. 

Regarding the pilots.. Shouldn't there be lots of higher born pilots that washed out due to their families interests? Like Spensa's teammate (I forgot the name) that got promoted just to drop out? Or as Jerkface would have after a year or so flying to gain a certain reputation. Maybe some of those people came back?

[Angsos]

@equinoxI didn't think of that but Jorgen and Spensa are more than likely an item by now and heroes, that might also lead to some tension in books 2&3. If highborn pilots are reenlisting over the objections of their families, those families are probably less than thrilled as they see their topheavy system collapsing. I'd look for a rebellion in book 3 since I don't see Ironsides as an Eisenhower who could keep everyone pointed at the enemy, despite eachother.

[Scion of the Mists]

On 4/6/2019 at 3:41 PM, Philomath said:

I think this is probably why Spensa is doing the solo thing. She is trying to pressure herself into using the FTL ability. Not necessarily that she doesn’t value teamwork or trust others. 

She pretty much comes right out and says that's why she's doing it:

Quote

I could still distinctly remember how I’d felt when I’d used it. I’d been on the brink of death, being enveloped by a cataclysmic explosion. In that moment, somehow I’d activated something called a cytonic hyperdrive.

If I could master that ability to teleport, I could help free my people from Detritus. With that power, we could escape the Krell forever. And so, I pushed myself.

Last time I’d jumped, I’d been fighting for my life. If I could only recreate those same emotions . . .

[king of nowhere]

11 hours ago, Scion of the Mists said:

She pretty much comes right out and says that's why she's doing it:

yes, and that's a completely sane plan. What could possibly go wrong?

it's a nice comparison to vin, who also tried something similar regarding burning the mists. however, vin was truly desperate, it was a last resort for her. spensa? she's still got plenty of options. and her whole inner thought are not those of someone who is taking a great risk knowing the stakes.

[Seon Are]

13 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

yes, and that's a completely sane plan. What could possibly go wrong?

You're assuming that Spensa is completely sane.

[Mason Wheeler]

Anyone else reading M-Bot's voice as an Elcor from Mass Effect now? 

[king of nowhere]

2 hours ago, Mason Wheeler said:

Anyone else reading M-Bot's voice as an Elcor from Mass Effect now? 

no, but now i can totally picture it

[Wander89]

 

19 hours ago, Mason Wheeler said:

Anyone else reading M-Bot's voice as an Elcor from Mass Effect now? 

I wasn't but now....

[Iarwainiel I]

RE: the number of pilots - What about people who were dismissed from flight school because they ejected? Maybe there are a bunch of those. Or people who crashed their ships when they were pretty far along in their training. Then there are the private pilots employed by the First Citizens and other wealthy families. And as others have mentioned, there are at least a few pilots who aren't flying because powerful families demand that their children be kept out of danger. Oh, I just thought of another group: commercial pilots for shipping transports (sorry, I forget what they're called in the book) - those pilots must have gone through flight school too, since it was presented as a career option for our heroes post-graduation. It seems like there might be enough of a backlog of qualified/nearly-qualified pilots to handle the load till new cadets can be trained. Plus, the training is only, what - 6 months long? Dozens of new pilots could be graduating twice a year, and with the safer ships Roger is designing, more will do so.

I'm hoping we learn more about Doomslug in this book, and about that writing that Spensa notices in the caverns and in the space junk - maybe some technological innovations will be developed from that?

Very much looking forward to this book!

[Karger]

On 4/7/2019 at 2:42 PM, Angsos said:

didn't think of that but Jorgen and Spensa are more than likely an item by now and heroes

Ew.  Look I recognise that some people ship these two but their relationship is nothing like that at all and I for one appreciate a young man and woman having an important, intimate, exclusive relationship that is not romantic.  Putting them together just feels wrong not to mention cliche. 

11 hours ago, Lump-wing said:

- What about people who were dismissed from flight school because they ejected? Maybe there are a bunch of those. Or people who crashed their ships when they were pretty far along in their training

Agreed.  Remember they won that battle.  Their ship numbers are now higher so their is probably less stigma around ejecting+ Spensa ejected and it saved the world.

[king of nowhere]

12 hours ago, Lump-wing said:

RE: the number of pilots - What about people who were dismissed from flight school because they ejected? Maybe there are a bunch of those.

the second chapter shows kymmalin is among the pilots, so perhaps they are re-enlisting some of the more promising drop-outs

21 minutes ago, Karger said:

Ew.  Look I recognise that some people ship these two but their relationship is nothing like that at all and I for one appreciate a young man and woman having an important, intimate, exclusive relationship that is not romantic.  Putting them together just feels wrong not to mention cliche.

absolutely true.

on the other hand, such a relationship can easily evolve towards romantic over time. So it's not impossible that it will eventually move in that direction, and it would not feel wrong to me if that was the case. But i doubt brandon is going to have it happen offscreen

[Angsos]

Most important families children are yanked so they might be back because along with Jorgen isn't FM from a first citizen family even though she's a rebel?

Something that just occured to me, I hope they have accurate records on cytonics and not letting any other sensitives fly. For right now, M-bot is the only one who can block so no other sensitive can fly.

[Fractalfire]

On 4/5/2019 at 5:44 PM, king of nowhere said:

I'm a bit disappointed in spensa, really. she seemed to value cooperation and teamplay, and now she's trying to go solo. Hurl died like that.

This all raises more questions, really.

what are the humans doing into space? they were already short on pilots, they were getting less and less new cadets to graduate, and they just lost a depressingly large chunk of their pilots and ships in the battle at the end of the last book. While the aliens could always make more drones; they literally have the resources of an entire galaxy.

How the hell are the humans managing that? are the aliens letting them? where did they find enough pilots and ships?

I'm confident we'll get the answers along the book.

Maybe they captured technology that allows drone production? It's one thing to train people to fly when they could potentially be killed, but if the trainees can't actually be killed while practicing...?

Then again, if they had drones, they probably wouldn't risk pilots on manned missions either. 

[Karger]

21 hours ago, Angsos said:

, I hope they have accurate records on cytonics and not letting any other sensitives fly. For right now, M-bot is the only one who can block so no other sensitive can fly.

Ironsides claims they can detect it now.  Also they might be able to duplicate the tec.

[1stBondsmith]

When asked about the craziness of Spensa trying to have her life in danger to use the cytonic drive, I was reminded of the White Sands sandmasters approaching death by dehydration to be able to get more ribbons of sand in their control; killing vast armies with Nightblood but draining your life to death... not a first for Sanderson.

[King Aragorn of Gondor]

I need MORE!!!!!!!