You're comparing apples and oranges. Look at the relative difference in mass-to-engine ratios. The Sagittarius is almost one-third engine, and most of her power goes to propulsion systems. She's a hot-rod. It's the same reason a well-made, high-end motorcycle can out-accelerate, out-maneuver, and on straightaways simply outrun all but the most powerful cars.
Well, sure, but that would correspond to being able to handle warp 9 on the TOS scale, say. A high-end motorcycle can manage maybe close to 200 MPH, which is maybe 20-30% above a typical car's top speed as far as I can tell. Warp 12 compared to the Enterprise's warp 8 is like having that same motorcycle go at 500 MPH or better.
I suspect David is aware of what he is on about, So essentially it can go really rather fast then. Oh and the new SFX had a full print advert in the magazine and reading it for nigh on fifteen years, I can't ever recall seeing an advert for Trek Lit in there (there may have been for the DS9 relaunch) and they don't even review the novels anymore.
Is it basically a smaller version of the Connie bridge then - as I always saw something more like the Danube mixed with the Defiant, with TOS design ethics.
The Sagittarius bridge is a much more confined space. I'd need to have someone work up detailed plans to know for sure, but my guess is the deck area would likely be about half what's found on the Endeavour. As far as the ship's speed, if it pleases the fannish mind to think that her top speed is Warp 9.4 on the TOS scale, so be it. Everything moves at the speed of plot, anyway, so it's not as if it makes any real difference.
I shall now be picturing the Sagittarius crew in racing leathers. This may be an improvement over green jumpsuits.
^ Not to mention Salagho Threx. *shudders* For those who don't remember who these folks are, I'll try to post a list of Seekers' dramatis personae later today.
^^ You seem to love describing these men eating and/or touching themselves. This kinaesthetic treatment always feels like the more uncomfortable parts of 1960s avant-garde carnal film...
I keep forgetting this is the first new TrekLit novel scheduled!! So happy. Not sure why I'm more excited, that a new Mack novel is coming, or that it's Seekers finally happening.
Meet the crew of the Sagittarius, who will be the stars of Book 1, Second Nature, due for publication in just three weeks on July 22, 2014! Be warned, the following contains some SPOILERS for the Vanguard novels, especially REAP THE WHIRLWIND and STORMING HEAVEN. Also note that these are the shorthand descriptions from the series bible, and some of these details will change as needed to make individual stories work. They are presented here to give you an idea of where we'll be starting from with regard to this merry band of misfits. CAPTAIN CLARK TERRELL, commanding officer Has the fists of a prizefighter and the mind of a scientist. Inherited command after his mentor, Captain Nassir, was killed in action. Has never met the infamous James T. Kirk. He shakes the bulkheads when he laughs and trembles the decks when he roars (which isn't often). LT. COMMANDER VANESSA THERIAULT, first officer Human from Mars. Kooky. Cruelly witty, droll, sarcastic. Courageous and irreverent. Knits to pass the time. Has a soft spot for "broken" people, pets, and things. Her shipmates say she could "charm the ridges off a Klingon" or "talk a dog off a meat wagon." DOCTOR LISA BABITZ, M.D., chief surgeon Neurotic. High energy. Nervous about anything and everything. Can be a bit of a nag. Obsessed with disinfecting the ship. Talks faster than anyone the rest of the crew has ever met. When she slows down for a minute, she's really a sweetheart. A phenomenal emergency surgeon and pathologist. LIEUTENANT (j.g.) NGUYEN TAN BAO, R.N., nurse Handles triage during medical emergencies, performs basic first aid, assists during surgery. Trained in wilderness survival, zero g ops, spelunking, mountaineering, diving. Can accompany field scouts on hazardous landing missions. Taught himself to play the harmonica. Popular with the ladies. LIEUTENANT COMMANDER SORAK, second officer/tactical officer Excels at stealthy observation. Wilderness survival expert. Trained in medicine, archaeology, xenobotany. Completed the Kolinahr on Vulcan. Born in 2148, joined Starfleet in 2210. Tri-level chess grand master. Best vegan cook on the ship. Married with four children. Rarely speaks. Has an unnerving stare. Holds an M.D. and two Ph.D.s. MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER MIKE "MAD MAN" ILUCCI, chief engineer Strong believer in "percussive maintenance" (hit it until it works again). Knows how to curse in five non-human languages (Klingon, Romulan, Tellarite, Andorian, and Orion). Can start a bar fight even with people whose language he doesn't know. Has a rant about almost any topic one can think of. Call him "Master Chief." Or else. No, seriously. ENSIGN NIZSK, helm officer/navigator Kaferian drone (neuter). Prefers to use and be referred to by female pronouns. Native culture friendly to but not part of the Federation. Can spin silklike substance to build structures, fix hull breaches, restrain prisoners. Sleeps in a self-made cocoon. Looks scrawny but is very strong; carapace can deflect energy blasts below heavy stun. LIEUTENANT (j.g.) SENGAR HESH, science officer Arkenite male. Expert in geology, astronomy, physics. Limited psionic abilities (minor telekinesis, can resist being read by telepaths). His word is his bond. Misses his Sia Lenthar (group bond), adopts his shipmates as surrogates; takes great pride in their diversity and vast collective expertise. Solid green eyes with no pupils; bronze skin. Three-lobed brain. PETTY OFFICER FIRST CLASS SALAGHO THREX, senior engineer's mate Like most Denobulans, he doesn't sleep much. Works long shifts repairing and upgrading systems throughout the ship. Boasts he could take the ship apart in an afternoon and have it back together and flying that night. Big, beefy, and hairy, he's from a subculture with no nudity taboo—much to his crewmates' chagrin. Sings in his native language; his voice sounds beautiful, but the translated lyrics are crude and pornographic. PETTY OFFICER SECOND CLASS KAREN CAHOW, engineer's mate Know-it-all. Grew up on merchant ships. Has a knack for fixing things, but never the way the manuals suggest. Trained as a shuttle pilot, a medic, and a computer technician before becoming a starship mechanic. Specializes in transporter systems. Is an only child; hates sharing quarters, but has learned to cope. Has a phobia about being on planets; has spent most of her life in space. Has never fired a phaser in combat, only in basic training. CREWMAN SPECIALIST TORVIN, engineer's mate Superior hearing enables him to detect minuscule malfunctions in a variety of onboard systems, sometimes more quickly and with greater specificity than his colleagues using tricorders. Young, nerdy, enthusiastic, harboring a desperate and ultimately futile crush on Taryl. Commiserates during shore leaves with Chief Ilucci, whose own crush on Theriault is equally doomed. SENIOR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER RAZKA, lead scout Forty years old, young for a Saurian. He's been in Starfleet 23 years, and his courage, ingenuity, and leadership skills enabled him to rise quickly through the ranks of non-commissioned officers. Can see in the "normal" and infrared spectrums. Has gills and can breathe underwater. An expert marksman and martial-artist, he has medical training equivalent to a paramedic and a master's degree in physics. LIEUTENANT FARO DASTIN, field scout Male Trill, unjoined. Homosexual. Born practical joker. Good at sleight-of-hand, lousy at gambling. Digs music but can't dance. Never met a drink he didn't like. Won't throw a first punch, but has a knack for getting into fights. Loves to try new foods, activities. A bit too proud of his new beard. ENSIGN TARYL, field scout Female Orion. Spiky, pixie-cut black hair. Lacks the pheromone for seduction and control, so she left Orion to make a better life in a more egalitarian society. Prefers the outdoors; likes animals more than people. A good survivalist, medic, and mechanical engineer. Bisexual but trying celibacy for a while. And that's our scout-ship crew! The key personnel of the Endeavour will follow in another post at a date TBD, probably a bit closer to the release of Book 2, Point of Divergence, by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore.
Interesting - though there does seem to be a predisposition towards gay characters in TrekLit having beards. First Bart Faulwell, then Commander Keru and now Lieutenant Dastin - the latter two coincidentally both unjoined Trills.
Beards are sexy--at least before they reach the Duck Dynasty stage, but even those can be cute depending on the person wearing it, I guess. Truly love those character descriptions.
Ooh, a Kaferian, interesting. I've touched on that species a bit in Watching the Clock and Tower of Babel -- insectoids with the opposite of the stereotypical hive society, fierce individualists and near-anarchists. How a Kaferian would deal with the discipline of Starfleet is an interesting question. And I always figured the achievement of Kolinahr meant a retreat into an ascetic life, like becoming a monk. Why a Vulcan would achieve Kolinahr and then go into Starfleet, surrounded by emotional aliens, is another interesting question. Have Arkenites been established to have psi abilities before? (Checks Memory Beta) Oh, I see. It's mentioned in the FASA material as a trait possessed by only a few Arkenites. That would explain why Eviku on Titan doesn't have psi abilities as far as I can recall. Razka has gills? I don't think that's ever been established about Saurians before. I've always treated them as reptilian, not amphibian. What species is Torvin? The superior hearing and lack of a second name suggest a nonhuman.
Did Razka use his gills/submersion skills in A Time to Kill? Mr Mack, I'm so glad you brought him back for Vanguard - he was one extra fascinating touch of alien-ness in ATtK. Could we have a cast list for the Endeavour also, pretty please? It'd be nice to see in advance who has replaced Mog, and how the rest of the cast are described
"Nguyen Tan Bao"? Has it been previously established that post-warp humans can legally register with their surnames going first? I don't have anything against this practice; I'm of Asian descent myself.