@robject asked a small group of us had we read any good Traveller(-esk) fiction recently. I thought this might be interesting enough to share with everyone.
From the cover this is graphic novel set in the DC super-hero universe. While it's helpful to know the DC universe and the history of the Green Lantern corps, its not essential.
There is some recent politics in the story. The protagonist is a black woman recently recruited to be a Green Lantern corps and the Oa. The book includes her back story dealing with her recent experiences on Earth (9-11, the Afghanistan war, and police brutality).
Our protagonist is sent to a far away world, by the request of the inhabitants, to deal with a problem (or problems). There are three species here
The Nah are evolved from a flying carnivore/pouncer stock with venomous spines along their wings. They look too human for may tastes, but still an interesting group.
The Keh-topli are a mobile carnivorous plant with a taste for sophonts. As they consume and digest their prey, they have a psychic link to relive the experiences of the creature as well.
Since these two evolved on two different worlds in the same system, they ended up going to war and destroying both planets. So now the whole population lives in a number of large space habitats orbiting in the system. With good views of the two dead worlds as a reminder of their distant past.
The third are the "@at" (pronounced at-at). These are an evolved cybernetic AI. Like the cymberline they are largely a software AI, able to move between systems. They, most of them, exist in the spare cycles in the computer networks on the habitats. They can manifest in robots or as avatars in the holographic systems. They live on memes and secrets, which serve as both currency and food.
The overall story deals with how a society evolves while dealing with unpleasant elements of their past and how people, even ones with alien thought patterns, deal with change.
There are a whole bunch of interesting visuals which could be translated directly into Traveller. As I work on the Milieu 1900 material I will be constantly referencing the @at for ideas about how the Cymberline now live and interact in the Republic.
The book is well worth the effort to track down and read. Highly recommended.
From the cover this is graphic novel set in the DC super-hero universe. While it's helpful to know the DC universe and the history of the Green Lantern corps, its not essential.
There is some recent politics in the story. The protagonist is a black woman recently recruited to be a Green Lantern corps and the Oa. The book includes her back story dealing with her recent experiences on Earth (9-11, the Afghanistan war, and police brutality).
Our protagonist is sent to a far away world, by the request of the inhabitants, to deal with a problem (or problems). There are three species here
The Nah are evolved from a flying carnivore/pouncer stock with venomous spines along their wings. They look too human for may tastes, but still an interesting group.
The Keh-topli are a mobile carnivorous plant with a taste for sophonts. As they consume and digest their prey, they have a psychic link to relive the experiences of the creature as well.
Since these two evolved on two different worlds in the same system, they ended up going to war and destroying both planets. So now the whole population lives in a number of large space habitats orbiting in the system. With good views of the two dead worlds as a reminder of their distant past.
The third are the "@at" (pronounced at-at). These are an evolved cybernetic AI. Like the cymberline they are largely a software AI, able to move between systems. They, most of them, exist in the spare cycles in the computer networks on the habitats. They can manifest in robots or as avatars in the holographic systems. They live on memes and secrets, which serve as both currency and food.
The overall story deals with how a society evolves while dealing with unpleasant elements of their past and how people, even ones with alien thought patterns, deal with change.
There are a whole bunch of interesting visuals which could be translated directly into Traveller. As I work on the Milieu 1900 material I will be constantly referencing the @at for ideas about how the Cymberline now live and interact in the Republic.
The book is well worth the effort to track down and read. Highly recommended.
