The Big One

[TimothyC]

Winter Warriors Six

[K. A. Pital]

Great chapter.

I sent some exclusive Russian stuff to you Stuart which you might find very interesting, documents and memories of contemporaries of the Winter operations in Zapolarie hope you find it useful when writing about the Unit's operations, too.

[TimothyC]

Winter Warriors Seven

[TimothyC]

TBO'verse transport aircraft

[GuppyShark]

I just finished reading the copy I ordered from Amazon.

My thoughts:

Technical

Sorry to say, it really needed proofing. There's lots of instances of the wrong word being used as a result of a typo (which spellchecker software won't pick up), and missing punctuation. There's an example on the very first page of prose.

... and became seriously snowed up in winter, So, all the base buildings were connected....

Also, emphasis is inconsistent - sometimes bold is used, at one point triple-asterisk is used, previously mentioned !!!!!!. etc.

Most of this happens in the first few chapters. I'd guess this material was written first, as Stuart's writing becomes much tighter after that.

I'm going to presume this was the publisher printing a draft - I've had that happen to me before.

Story

Holy crap.

Once the sadly necessary "How this timeline differs from ours" exposition was out of the way the story was really gripping.

The sections about the effects of the bombs was also really evocative, far moreso than I was expecting.

Now that I've read the whole book, I shouldn't have expected anything less. The point of the book seems to be to ram home just how ugly the conflict was, not to glorify it.

I'd never have suspected that much of the story would be about the struggle to save the crew of a damaged carrier. By the end of the book you've practically forgotten about the bombing run that put her in trouble in the first place... but you'll not forget the damage in a hurry.

A nice divergence from the usual dramatic style - usually it's all about the thrill of the attack, some pretty explosions go off, then the hero zooms off to his next fight scene.

If I was still in Uni, this would be an interesting book to analyse, though good luck finding the professor to read it.

[Stuart]

Sorry to say, it really needed proofing. There's lots of instances of the wrong word being used as a result of a typo (which spellchecker software won't pick up), and missing punctuation. There's an example on the very first page of prose. I'm going to presume this was the publisher printing a draft - I've had that happen to me before.

That does appear to be what happened; a lot of people have commented on the editing problems and it will be addressed with the next book to be published (Anvil of Necessity). What seems to have happened this time is that the penultimate copy was used and a lot of corrections didn;t get made. Apologies all around.

The sections about the effects of the bombs was also really evocative, far moreso than I was expecting. Now that I've read the whole book, I shouldn't have expected anything less. The point of the book seems to be to ram home just how ugly the conflict was, not to glorify it.

One of the motivations behind writing TBO was to stress just what nuclear bombing actually means in human terms. At the time it was written, there was a lot of talk about the desirability of going back to the "Mutual Assured Destruction" concept without people realizing what "Assured Destruction" for the people on the receiving end. Nuclear weapons are horrifying things, their primary virtue is that they are so dreadful that they make people fear using them. The devices used in TBO are small, very small by modern standards. In some ways, TBO is an anti-nuclear tract; it was a conscious effort to shock people into realizing the consequences of letting a nuclear device hit a city.

I'd never have suspected that much of the story would be about the struggle to save the crew of a damaged carrier. By the end of the book you've practically forgotten about the bombing run that put her in trouble in the first place... but you'll not forget the damage in a hurry. A nice divergence from the usual dramatic style - usually it's all about the thrill of the attack, some pretty explosions go off, then the hero zooms off to his next fight scene.

This is one of my pet hobby-horses, television and cinema so rarely show the consequences of an act of violence. It's all sanitized and trivialized, and the effects on the victims are marginalized. Somebody gets hit on the head with a baseball bat and they shake their head and carry on like nothing has happened. In reality, they're a good candidate for serious brain damage and may well die. I note that in a few recent shows (especially the CSIs), they have started making that point - a severe blow to the head, even one that's apparently not immediately fatal, can kill.

So, I wanted to show what the consequences of torpedoing a ship or bombing a city are likely to be. If I had my way with the world, I'd resume atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons and every six months, every political leader in the world would be assembled at the test range and made to watch the initiation of a nuclear device. Reading about it or seeing pictures or film is nothing like hearing that roar that seems to fill the whole world or the ground shaking under one's feet (and that's just an underground test - actually being able to see the fireball would be a big bonus).

If I was still in Uni, this would be an interesting book to analyse, though good luck finding the professor to read it.

Good luck indeed Thank you very much for your kind and much-appreciated words.

[MKSheppard]

In some ways, TBO is an anti-nuclear tract; it was a conscious effort to shock people into realizing the consequences of letting a nuclear device hit a city.

At first, I was in horror of it; but as time went on, and the other stories came out; and I read more about the Sainted General through his autobiography and "Iron Eagle", I began to gravitate more to the Curtis E. LeMay school of international relations as exemplified by (paraphrased):

"Today, we put the fear of War back into the princes and potentates. After today, the world shall know that if you chose to go to War with the US, you and your country will be destroyed. Totally. And that the bombers of SAC will be coming for you, and SAC does not turn back!

Good Luck! Fly High!

And let us beeseech almighty god's blessing on this undertaking!

Curtis E. LeMay"

[Alan Bolte]

That's really too bad about the publishing. Having already read it twice, I guess I'll hold off on the purchase and see if there's ever a second printing.

[Ace Pace]

Got my two copies today.
1) yes, it picks up fingerprints fast, it still looks pretty as heck.

2) It's just a personal dislike, but I really don't like the large space between paragraphs. You already have breaks between POV changes, no need for large spaces between paragraphs.


I'm just in the start, thinking about comparing this line by line to the original copy to see what changes have occured.

[Stormbringer]

Stuart, is there any possibility of a hard cover edition instead of paper backs? I know you mentioned it as being possible if enough people are interested and I must say I'd be very interested in a hardcover copy instead of a paper back.

[Ace Pace]

More typoes, though so far, no actual data changes to the book from TBO online version, but it feels tighter.
The THAT??? quote comes from page 160, rather further on in the book. However, incidence of typoes is lower then I expected.

[TimothyC]

Winter Warriors 8

“Radio message sir, from the C-94 in front. He asks what our plans are.”

Dedmon snorted, viewed from the perspective of the tiny utility aircraft, the C-99 must look like a massive monster towering high in the sky. The thought gave him an idea. “Cargo deck, start opening the clamshell doors, radio patch me though to the C-94. Dedmon waited until the connection was made and the rumble of the nose doors showed they were opening. Then he spoke to the C-94 pilot, “I am going to eat you!”

I can't stop laughing!

[Sea Skimmer]

Funny, but it isn’t original, that bit comes from a story out of IIRC Ramstein airbase involving a C-5 Galaxy

[TimothyC]

Funny, but it isn’t original, that bit comes from a story out of IIRC Ramstein airbase involving a C-5 Galaxy

Oh I know it wasn't original (it was a C-5 to an F-4 IIRC), but I still liked it.

[TimothyC]

Winter Warriors Nine

[Black Admiral]

SI 12

[Black Admiral]

The Grey Funnel Line

Winter Warriors 10

[Stuart]

Part 11 of Winter Warriors is up.

Here

[That NOS Guy]

Stuart, I saw you mention that the CVEs are of the Commencement Bay type. IIRC, the Jeep carriers converted from oilers were the Sangamon-class.

[Stuart]

Stuart, I saw you mention that the CVEs are of the Commencement Bay type. IIRC, the Jeep carriers converted from oilers were the Sangamon-class.

That's right, the Sangamons were the first batch of conversions, being built from the hulls of Cimmaron class fleet oilers. They were so sucessful that the design was used as the basis for the Commencement Bay class, the primary difference being that the Commencement Bays were twin-screwed. Norman Friedman's "US Aircraft Carriers, an Illustrated Design History" has a good account of CVE development.

By the way, I need lots of names for Corsair and Skyraider pilots. Who wants in?

[Alan Bolte]

...I think my name is German.

[Mr. Coffee]

Feel free to use mine, Mr. Slade. Loving the new story, the war in Russia give a bit of depth to why the US felt the need to go for the Big One later in the timeline.

Edit: Might help if I gave you my name... D.E. Webb.

[That NOS Guy]

That's right, the Sangamons were the first batch of conversions, being built from the hulls of Cimmaron class fleet oilers. They were so sucessful that the design was used as the basis for the Commencement Bay class, the primary difference being that the Commencement Bays were twin-screwed. Norman Friedman's "US Aircraft Carriers, an Illustrated Design History" has a good account of CVE development.

By the way, I need lots of names for Corsair and Skyraider pilots. Who wants in?

Ah, further inspection of my guide to aircraft carriers confirms that. Thanks for clearing that up.

I also wouldn't mind being a bent wing bird pilot if you could be so kind.

[Agent Fisher]

How about me? McPherson

[darthbob88]

The Price family has some naval tradition behind it, and would happily serve in naval aviation.