Monday, January 10, 2005
Wicked ship names!
A new addition to my list of favourite authors is Iain M. Banks and his Culture series.
His form of science fiction is quite different from what I'm accustomed to. I consider this element in sci-fi necessary: Asking "What if... (so and so is invented or such a situation occurs in the immediate/far-away future?" and spinning a story around it. Take Asimov; robots and the technology behind them formed the crux of his stories. The explanation of some technology and its possible consequences always takes up a sizeable portion of science fiction. But with Banks, this is actually played down. There is no technology but this world that is never fully explained. More importantly, the human drama is handled beautifully.
But more, much more than that. Check out his wackiness! These are names of intelligent, sentient ships. Read them as names of warships and you'll know what I mean.
His form of science fiction is quite different from what I'm accustomed to. I consider this element in sci-fi necessary: Asking "What if... (so and so is invented or such a situation occurs in the immediate/far-away future?" and spinning a story around it. Take Asimov; robots and the technology behind them formed the crux of his stories. The explanation of some technology and its possible consequences always takes up a sizeable portion of science fiction. But with Banks, this is actually played down. There is no technology but this world that is never fully explained. More importantly, the human drama is handled beautifully.
But more, much more than that. Check out his wackiness! These are names of intelligent, sentient ships. Read them as names of warships and you'll know what I mean.
- All Through With This Niceness And Negotiation Stuff ROU
- Someone Else's Problem
- Lacking That Small Match Temperament
- Poke It With A Stick GCU
- I Said, I've Got A Big Stick ROU
- Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again
- But Who's Counting?
- Germane Riposte
- We Haven't Met But You're A Great Fan Of Mine
- All The Same, I Saw It First
- Ravished By The Sheer Implausibility Of That Last Statement
- Zero Credibility
- Charming But Irrational
- Demented But Determined
- You May Not Be The Coolest Person Here
- Lucid Nonsense
- Awkward Customer
- Thorough But ... Unreliable
- Advanced Case Of Chronic Patheticism
- Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory
- Conventional Wisdom
- In One Ear
- Fine Till You Came Along
- I Blame The Parents
- Inappropriate Response
- A Momentary Lapse Of Sanity
- Lapsed Pacifist
- Reformed Nice Guy
- Pride Comes Before A Fall
- Injury Time
- Now Look What You've Made Me Do!
- Kiss This Then
 | ROU = Rapid Offensive Unit GCU = General Contact Unit GSV = General Service Vehicle LSV = Limited Service Vehicle VFP = Very Fast Picket (also dROU - demilitaraized ROU) Superlifter = Very very fast These are from a throw-away conversation from Look to Windward which consists entirely of ship-names being tossed around... |
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YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!! that ship name almost hit me!!!!!
Well.... Hi! Me name Haryon Kazarelth!!! Ha ha, i am a calcuttan and was looking for some friends, your Blog is quite good, only that there is a little extra pink.
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Well.... Hi! Me name Haryon Kazarelth!!! Ha ha, i am a calcuttan and was looking for some friends, your Blog is quite good, only that there is a little extra pink.
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