Ever had a "There's something in my eye" moment with Trek Lit?

[Dayton Ward]

Huh. I'm kind of surprised about that -- I would have thought that the eyewitnesses who survived the sinking would have reported it breaking in half.

Actually, eyewitness accounts were provided both for the ship sinking intact as well as breaking up before going down (I have a book at home with transcripts from the hearings, which includes the varying reports). Walter Lord's book A Night to Remember also touches on this. The debate raged for decades until Ballard found the wreck and "closed the case."

Anyway, I was inspired by the notion as relayed in Cussler's novel, with the Titanic making port in NY Harbor with gobs of people watching and cheering as it was towed in, firefighter boats shooting water all over the place, and so on. I just changed things a bit so that the Defiant could make the trip through the Sol system to Earth under its own power

 

[Sci]

Huh. I'm kind of surprised about that -- I would have thought that the eyewitnesses who survived the sinking would have reported it breaking in half.

Actually, eyewitness accounts were provided both for the ship sinking intact as well as breaking up before going down (I have a book at home with transcripts from the hearings, which includes the varying reports). Walter Lord's book A Night to Remember also touches on this. The debate raged for decades until Ballard found the wreck and "closed the case."

Fascinating. I'm really surprised there would have been such a lack of solid information -- I mean, heck, they were able to pin down the precise time the ship went under, weren't they?

Anyway, I was inspired by the notion as relayed in Cussler's novel, with the Titanic making port in NY Harbor with gobs of people watching and cheering as it was towed in, firefighter boats shooting water all over the place, and so on. I just changed things a bit so that the Defiant could make the trip through the Sol system to Earth under its own power

Gotcha. And that, to get back to the topic, was a wonderful scene.

 

[greenmystik]

Duffy's death in SCE: Wildfire.

When he has that final talk with Capt. Gold, "don't tell Sonny"

And then when the aliens send him back to the da Vinci in their stilted language... "duffy...sacrifice...thank you."

I think that's Mack's best work and my second favourite overall.

I was a mess with that one too.

I also remember "something getting in my eye" while reading the end of The Preservers. I totally didn't see that coming.

 

[Christopher]

Fascinating. I'm really surprised there would have been such a lack of solid information -- I mean, heck, they were able to pin down the precise time the ship went under, weren't they?

I'm not at all surprised that there would've been conflicting accounts from the survivors, who after all would've had other priorities than gathering precise information, like, ohh, I dunno, not dying. Also, it would've been a chaotic event, and the breakup would've happened mostly underwater, and different people would've seen it from different vantage points, and it would've been difficult for the mind to interpret the sight of something so huge breaking up.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Gotcha. And that, to get back to the topic, was a wonderful scene.

Thanks very much. I hadn't really thought about that story for quite a while, so seeing it discussed here and in the SCE review thread gives me a little fanboy tingle

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

Anyway, I was inspired by the notion as relayed in Cussler's novel, with the Titanic making port in NY Harbor with gobs of people watching and cheering as it was towed in, firefighter boats shooting water all over the place, and so on. I just changed things a bit so that the Defiant could make the trip through the Sol system to Earth under its own power

Phew, at least you weren't inspired by the movie that killed ITC!

As Lew Grade said, "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic"

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ Yeah, that movie was a turd, wasn't it? I give it a small...very small...break simply because of Richard Jordan and Jason Robards, but they were utterly wasted in that flick.

 

[Sci]

Fascinating. I'm really surprised there would have been such a lack of solid information -- I mean, heck, they were able to pin down the precise time the ship went under, weren't they?

I'm not at all surprised that there would've been conflicting accounts from the survivors, who after all would've had other priorities than gathering precise information, like, ohh, I dunno, not dying.

Actually, that was one of the reasons I would have presumed that the survivors would have noticed the ship breaking up -- to avoid getting crushed when the stern slammed back down into the water. But this is obviously not something that I've researched at all.

Also, it would've been a chaotic event, and the breakup would've happened mostly underwater,

Oh, James Cameron. You have lied to me.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I would have thought that the eyewitnesses who survived the sinking would have reported it breaking in half.

Their teeth were chattering too much to notice anything that night...

But yeah, public perception before Ballard located the actual wreck was that the ship went down in one large piece.

 

[Christopher]

Actually, that was one of the reasons I would have presumed that the survivors would have noticed the ship breaking up -- to avoid getting crushed when the stern slammed back down into the water.

Remember how huge the ship was. A lot of people wouldn't have been at an angle that would've let them see any such thing was happening. Many more would've been scrambling onto lifeboats, swimming away at top speed, closing their eyes and praying, you name it. Also, many of the people who would've been in a position to see the event you describe would probably have been killed by it.

On top of which, it was the middle of the night in the middle of the Atlantic, and two days before a new Moon. It would've been very dark.

Also, it would've been a chaotic event, and the breakup would've happened mostly underwater,

Oh, James Cameron. You have lied to me.

Well, I may have spoken inaccurately, but the version depicted in the movie isn't wholly accurate. It was believed to be at the time, but the theory on which the film was based has been supplanted by more recent findings, at least according to something I saw on the History Channel. I'm a bit fuzzy on the specifics, but I think the film postulated that the break went from the top down, driven by the stresses of the stern section suspended in the air, whereas more recent evidence has shown that the break started at the bottom and proceeded upward (since the steel on the bottom has been stretched out rather than snapped). So that would've bent the two sections out and upward at first, but as they flooded more, I think they levelled out again and crunched together, and that's when the top snapped apart. Something like that.

 

[Corran Horn]

When Janos seemingly lost his intelligence in 'Stone and Anvil', and Calhoun and Shelby watch him join the other Mugato, I got a little misty.

 

[Csalem]

Thanks! For the record, I totally cribbed that notion from the novel Raise the Titanic!

Really? How could the Titanic come in under its own power when it was broken in half during the sinking?

I believe Dayton is referring to Clive Cussler's novel (which also features and ageing James Bond as well). I don't remember much about that novel (tried to block it out) but in that version of events, I don't think it broke up. It sank in one piece, IIRC.

I do believe Bond appeared in the story about the break up of Canada and not Raise the Titanic.

I seem to recall I nearly cried at the end of one story but I cannot remember which one right now.

 

[David R. George III]

I believe Dayton is referring to Clive Cussler's novel (which also features and ageing James Bond as well).

Actually, the older, retired (and then reactivated) James Bond character--who goes by the name of Shaw...Brian Shaw--appeared not in Clive Cussler's Raise the Titanic!, but in his wonderful Night Probe! (probably my favorite of his novels).

(And really, how can you not love novels that have exclamation points in their titles?)

 

[BrotherBenny]

I believe Dayton is referring to Clive Cussler's novel (which also features and ageing James Bond as well).

Actually, the older, retired (and then reactivated) James Bond character--who goes by the name of Shaw...Brian Shaw--appeared not in Clive Cussler's Raise the Titanic!, but in his wonderful Night Probe! (probably my favorite of his novels).

(And really, how can you not love novels that have exclamation points in their titles?)

I stand corrected, mea culpa

 

[Christopher]

(And really, how can you not love novels that have exclamation points in their titles?)

Two words: Spock, Messiah!

 

[Dayton Ward]

(And really, how can you not love novels that have exclamation points in their titles?)

I personally think it would've been much cooler for your books to have been titled Crucible!

 

[Scott Pearson]

(And really, how can you not love novels that have exclamation points in their titles?)

I personally think it would've been much cooler for your books to have been titled Crucible!

Hey, the more punctuation the better. I'm thinking: Crucible? Damn! Now that's a title that puts asses in seats.

 

[Sci]

(And really, how can you not love novels that have exclamation points in their titles?)

I personally think it would've been much cooler for your books to have been titled Crucible!

Hey, the more punctuation the better. I'm thinking: Crucible? Damn! Now that's a title that puts asses in seats.

Nah. It should have been Star Trek: Crucible - Buy My Book, Bitch!!1: Provenance of Shadows.

 

[David cgc]

(And really, how can you not love novels that have exclamation points in their titles?)

Which, of course, immediately brings to mind The Hunt For Taran'atar!

 

[Smiley]

(And really, how can you not love novels that have exclamation points in their titles?)

Two words: Spock, Messiah!

Two more words: Dreadnought! Battlestations!

I'm struggling to think of any book with an exclamation mark in its title that I've enjoyed.