Either it's a case the authors are relying on the readers to know the difference between the characters or that the appearance of the characters aren't that terribly important unless it's made a point in the story.
Did they overdo the amount of aliens in Titan?
- Thread starter Mage
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Perhaps you and C.E. Evans should read the books together. You can skip the alien descriptions, and he can read them twice.
Peanut gallery.
Not to be nitpicky, but Torvig is supposed to look kinda like a deer or similar herbivore, not a dinosaur.
Here's Christopher Bennett's page with an illustration of the character.
He's one of my favorite characters from the series, so I have a very clear image of him in my head.
I did feel like there was a bit of character overload in the first few books, but I think I would have felt the same even if all the characters were of familiar races. I also don't think there is a way around an introductory period with any new group. For me it did not detract from my enjoyment of any of the books.
The only remaining character that grates on me is that matronizing bug lady with the clownfish gender-cycle (male transitioning to female). It seem like she is the only one on the crew that does not have to be accountable for what she says or to make an effort to shift her thinking.
The only remaining character that grates on me is that matronizing bug lady with the clownfish gender-cycle (male transitioning to female). It seem like she is the only one on the crew that does not have to be accountable for what she says or to make an effort to shift her thinking.
Yeah, it varies because that never happened in any of the books.
PS-
Andy and James (and David), I know I'm WAY behind on the art. More IS coming. I just need the brain space to do it.
So, kind of a cross between a giant apple core and the severed head of "The Thing" from the John Carpenter movie of the same name?
What's next, folks; the Worm Guys from "Men In Black" or Mister Snuffleupaguss?
Is there something wrong with having some aliens that are truly alien? I for one get tired sometimes of Humans-with-slightly-altered-body-parts or anthropomorphic animals. Let's have the occasional alien who's truly different, who really does represent some IDIC.
If you think his existence as a character is in any way questionable, his descent into the ocean in Over A Torrent Sea should fix that.
I find the books over-reliant on character descriptions.
I'll get over your stinging rebuke... somehow.
So, you don't believe in the idea of depicting a diverse Federation of many different kinds of aliens who co-operate as equals. Gotcha.
I find the books over-reliant on character descriptions.
I'll get over your stinging rebuke... somehow.
"over-reliant?"
Characters, old and new, get described in books. It's part of how they work.
It wasn't a "rebuke;" It was a correction. Your description doesn't match the material.
I can see the points of both commenters, here. Yes, the descriptions of individuals belonging to species never before shown in any detail on televised Star Trek--or never shown at all--is essential for new readers. Yes, the reiteration of what has already been described can be aggravating for old readers, too.
Actually, no. Titan is merely one representative of the Luna class. All its ships are part of the same program to increase the species integration of Starfleet crews.
Designers today have to deal with similar issues to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and design new buildings to accommodate people with differing mobility issues. There's no reason the same can't be done for different species, especially when you have far more advanced materials technology at your disposal.
People seem to ask this question a lot, and it surprises me, because they're apparently making the unexamined assumption that Titan is a standard, run-of-the-mill Starfleet vessel that was designed for humanoids just like the ones we saw onscreen and then subsequently had a largely nonhumanoid crew thrown aboard it. It was made clear in the books that the Luna class was designed with multispecies access and adaptability in mind. All its facilities were specifically engineered to be easily modified for different species as needed.
Heck, even on the humanoid-only ships onscreen, we know that the consoles have programmable layouts. That's the whole idea behind the flat panels. The buttons can go anywhere. Any panel can be reprogrammed to any configuration, to serve as any station as necessary. So it's simplicity itself to use that same well-established technology to reprogram the button layouts for differently shaped hands, tentacles, etc.
That's why she has quarters with an aquatic environment within them. The very first shipboard chapter of the first novel called attention to Lavena's quarters specifically, so you should know this already.
A duty shift aboard a Starfleet vessel is typically no more than eight hours. Present-day astronauts often have to spend more time than that suited up for spacewalks or launch/landing operations.
That's misrepresenting the intent of Titan's crew policies. See, we know that the Federation has hundreds of races within it, yet the ships we've seen onscreen have been dominated by humans. There's a clear discrepancy there. Logically, there must be members of most of these species serving in Starfleet already, but most of them don't serve on the ships we see onscreen, the ones that are human-dominated. That suggests there must be different ships adapted for different environmental needs. Perhaps there's a valid reason for it, like the logistical difficulties of working out the life support, or the challenge of balancing such diverse psychologies. But that's got to get in the way of getting these highly qualified personnel of all species onto whatever ships and crews they're best suited for. Hence the Luna-class pilot program to test ways of resolving those problems, so the solutions can be instituted fleetwide.
So it's not about a quota system. It's about improving the ability of Starfleet as a whole to make the best use of all the diverse beings who are already in it.
Exactly. The exclamation point is used in the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent a tongue click sound, specifically a postalveolar click -- notably in the name of the !Kung people (and language) of the Kalahari Desert region.
Well, no, he's a deerlike herbivore with an ostrichlike body shape.
Not just like -- same species, same long white hair, but younger and handsomer than President Ra-ghoratreii.
Now, he looks like a raptor dinosaur. Albeit with a Komodo dragon head.
No, she is not. She's described that way in a couple of Mangels/Martin or just Martin books, but that's really misleading. She's much more like a beetle in shape (and a Beetle -- the Volkswagen kind -- in size), and anatomically speaking is more like a crustacean with cephalopod-like tentacles. She's got four body segments, one of which is a head with twelve tentacles, three of which are body segments with two legs each, for six legs in all. There's nothing spiderlike about that at all.
http://home.fuse.net/ChristopherLBennett/Chaka.jpg
Not exactly human.
http://th06.deviantart.net/fs43/300W/i/2009/154/5/e/Star_Trek__Titan__Modan_by_Winterjack.jpg
Now that I have a working scanner, I keep meaning to replace that fuzzy image with a better one. Hopefully I'll remember when I get home from Seattle.
We've already had a Snuffleupagus of sorts:
http://home.fuse.net/ChristopherLBennett/Orilly.jpg
Whatcha' doin is Seattle?
Part of the problem is that even though that is an adequate description, without the linked picture I can't turn the description into a picture in my head. I think that's what is annoying people.
Attending my sister's wedding, visiting with family, etc. Also doing all the touristy things, the Space Needle and museums and aquarium and a ferry ride and such. We had amazingly good weather for Seattle all weekend, with the first significant rain and gloom not arriving until today.
Very cool. The weather here has been nothing but wet and gloom until this weekend, so you timed it perfectly. The Space Needle is nothing but a $20 elevator ride to a gift shop with a view, but when you get good weather, such as you did, the view is worth it. I take it you saw the sci-fi museum? What about the "underground city"? (I've lived here 10 years, and haven't seen that yet myself, although I'd still like to.)
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