Yes.
Now that we got that over with, yes, it’s the end of the Shares. It’s probably not the end of Ishmael Wang. I’ve had a couple of emails about not ending the series and I want to assure you that this series *must* end. It’s the last of the share levels. I can’t write another Share book.
What I can do is start another series. I can fill in the places where there are gaps. I have a whole universe of other stories to tell, some of which will have Ishmael Wang in them, I’m pretty sure.
I’d like to ask you to wait until you see what the ending of this series actually is before getting too upset.
After it’s over, you’ll have plenty of time to be peeved with me. :)
Now, fresh comment thread available. 26 should be up in the morning. Some of you will be cheering when it’s over.
@lars – Ishmael told you who the wanderer was on that trip. Remember this is an anonymous byline and may/may not be the same person each time.
I’m with Mycroft. Definitely Mr. Tharp. *waits longingly for episode 27* Any chance we’ll see it today?
No. Evo only updates once a day.
@Nate — subtle hint there Sar! Had to go back to ramp to confirm beyond a shadow of any doubt.
Our Evo needs an upgrade, quick someone buy him a sports car then he can update twice a day. :)
@Nate, re:evo generally correct, however I have seen a morning load and evening load if the previous day didn’t have any but there was stuff in the queue (ie nothing posted yesterday) he did it once last week before The Crash.(thursday I think…)
*sigh* thanks Nate now i have to listen to that episode again.Must have been sipping my coffee at the time the hint came or maybe i was still angry at the chief lol
Its ok though :D
if he does, then it might come out .. i’m in the middle of editing ATM but where he didn’t update until mid day, i wouldn’t count on him running another before tomorrow.
Okay, anyone else think Maloney isn’t really dead? Since we never heard from his bodyguard, Kirk, and Maloney supposedly died alone. What if he’s established this elaborate ruse as a way of testing the succession waters?
Then again, perhaps my tinfoil hat is slipping. :)
@ Nate and Laith – You don’t think a Sports Car is enough of an upgrade for Evo? How about a small executive jet service?
@Jamming. Great idea. An executive jet service with a view—
PS I have to start over listening as I probably won’t get my fix ’til tomorrow. Executive jet service with a view and a washer and dryer and all his servers with him?
I admit it sad it see it go: but the anticipation of a new series is just as great as the anticipation of another book!
Thank you for giving us all you have, and for trying to keep going with the whole process even after your first go is done. It can’t be easy for you to devote all the time it takes to put out episodes (to say nothing of the bonus content on the site!), and both my husband and I really enjoy listening to your work.
Can’t wait to hear whats next! :-)
Maybe we fans should start working on a fancast Series to solve all of our wants and desires to Ish’s life and world. Maybe even several different ones like all of the TREK Podcasts…….
Peeved? Nah! Just jonesing for more TT universe stories…but I suppose a RAVENWOOD sequel will do, too. :D Thank you, Nate, for your entire volume of work. Your stories definitely resonate with me, and apparently a LOT of other folks, too! Loving OS, looking forward to see what’s to come, in both the short and long run!
I have certainly enjoyed the Share series, almost as much as South Coast and in fact the parts of Ishmael I like best are crossovers to South Coast. I can see how it would be time to end the Share Series now though no doubt you’ll leave the paths of the characters lives open to our imagination. Of course, you could continue the concept by having Ishmael become a Fleet owner, go into government or pick up on his levels of awareness (that was an earlier element with the Welkies or when he figuratively learned how to dance like a Dolphin) having him at some point ascend bodily into the heavens without need of a ship. However, I’d say that the way I figure you are going to end it in another episode or two with one more level in personal growth and open prospects for all would probably be best. Thanks for the Share Series, Ravenwood and especially South Coast!
@RussellB – Over on the Durandus forums, there’s a section allocated to fanfics – http://durandus.org/fans/index.php?board=2.0, though Dr. Lowell (I just got around to reading his bio on nathanlowell.org ! I feel ashamed to have been dis-respecting him all this time!) has asked that they be placed in the Kufiri Quadrant, and there’s some outlines of established planets that has been laid out. So far, though, there’s just a very small amount of fiction actually written. There’s also a Kufiri Wiki, with maps generated from said data – http://sites.google.com/site/thekufiriproject/ .
Waiting is hard… very hard… I LOVED the TT serie and am a bit sad it ends. Still any story in the same environment, and read by you, will be but enjoyed very much. I also really liked Ravenwood and South Coast. Those are environments which could also be developed quite a bit. These last two make me think of Marion Zimmer Bradley. And indeed, and E&D story in the like of Red Mars from Kim Stanley Robinson would also plug a couple of holes in the great diaspora story. All in all, any of your sequels will most likely be followed by a faithful crowd. Damn I wished I lived in those days…
With the barbarians: twenty-seven, twenty-seven!!
27 drops on Sunday.
OT Question: When did the recording industry stop releasing things and start dropping them instead?
@Richard – I think it more comes from the retail side, where “drops” means that the package delivery containing the records and videos is dropped off at the stores (in theory – in practice, the stores get it several days earlier, and have to wait to put it out until the official release date, when the barriers drop).
@Kese: I think the “old man Maloney might still be alive and has orchestrated this from the beginning” angle has been ignored. (I hinted in a post on ep. 24 and only 1 person picked up on it) I wonder why? Hmmm… Anybody? Food for thought.
@Dana – I wouldn’t say it’s been ignored. Remember that conversation and speculation on this story is under way on three separate sites – here, podiobooks.com, and durandus.org . Much has been made of Kurt’s failure to appear, and the initial hint dropped about the unusualness of heart attacks actually killing people… For that matter, I haven’t gone back to listen to Captain’s Share, to determine if Jarvis actually presented himself somewhat incorrectly to Ishmael.
@Richard well sort of the same as a bomb, instead of release a bomb its drop a bomb. Which is what results from those DRM boys and girls, they usually produce bombs today.
@Russell B
Honestly, while I appreciate Nathan’s universe, and that he allows it to be used non-commercially. I think you, and pretty much all fans, would be doing Nathan a huge disservice by re-writing or expanding upon Ish’s (Or really any of the characters he has created, big or small in this universe) life when he’s given you the opportunity to tell your own tale within his universe.
They’re his creation, his story, and to alter that to fit your desires is disrespectful to the creative process he has gone through.
Obviously he may or may not mind, but that’s just my take and feelings about fanfic. If you like the universe, why would you bastardize the artist’s characters in a way that isn’t true to his vision?
Nate – The Share series surprised me in how quickly and completely it drew me in. Wonderful story and great characters. I too wish it could go on and on. Makes me want to go sign on as a quarter-share myself!
Jason, my sarcasm did not come across for you, sorry! We don’t even know the ending yet and the speculation is going overboard. (Old man Malone is not dead… the ship blow up and they all die.. the year does not finish out by the last episode… Christine stays with the ship….) Please people, get a grip. i still think ish wakes up from a dream and the past 20 stanyars did not happen ha ha.
We got any super-aspiring programmers in our midst? Maybe rather than trying to cook up some Solar Clipper fan-fiction in the Kufiri sector, somebody can play around with this old game:
http://spacetraderwin.sourceforge.net/home.php
The source code is available for download there, and as long as they could get credit for the majority of the code it could be re-worked into the Solar Clipper’s universe…
There’s an idea… if not a TV series or Movie…. maybe a Golden Age of the Solar Clipper MMORPG? :)
Will the new Chief be Greta? Will something blossom between Ms. Maloney and Ish? Could she decide to fore go her inheritance and open her restaurant on the Iris? Is Mr. Maloney really dead? Is Kristin moonlighting as the wanderer?
Stay Tuned for the next episode.
There may be a small discrepancy at the end of 26 – not sure.
Ms. Maloney say to the Captain, all spares will be up to snuff by ….
should that not be stores?
Could be wrong, just checking.
GearhearxWang or Gearwang
…
Someone kill me now…
Seriously though; Nate, ever since my dad introduced me and my brother to these books, we’ve been hooked. It’s something to look foward to at the end of the day, and it gives us a good reason to finish our homework. Thanks.
@ Jonathan – Would it not be more real if you use something like Vegastrike that is full 3d and mod ready using real physics and jump points?
Doesn’t Chief’s tablet Belong To The Ship?
@ Russell B- So sorry to have disturbed you. By all means, let’s wait for the end of the book and not discuss it at all until said ending arrives.
@ Dana- I just started checking the episode comments and so must have missed yours on episode 24. Good to know there’s fellow conspiracist amongst us! :)
@ Jamey- thanks for pointing out the other two sites. I’ve only visited Podiobooks to set up the iTunes subscription for this and didn’t realize discussions were taking place there or the durandus site. Good info to have.
sorry, I forgot to include the exact timing: at 26:45
Thanks, BigMac – she does say spares and that’s what the text says. It probably SHOULD be stores.
@Devin – Personally I’d rather see a Trader’s Tales tabletop/boardgame. :)
@Jonathan good point on that link, I will mention it over on the Kufiri boards there has been chatter about a TT game.
@Jason R. that would be nice but to really get into it you need others to play it, not all of us have a known group of locals to play with. the only one I know about here is my brother. We are in a fairly decent sized metro so we may have other locals. didn’t there used to be some sort of social network mapping thing for fans of something.
@Lainth, if TT, would you use Traveller, Stars Without Number, Diaspora or some other?
Nate, when you said “26 should be up in the morning. Some of you will be cheering when it’s over.” did you mean to say 27? 26 was up yesterday and I hope didn’t end the series. I could see you could end it in one more podcast episode but ending it on 26 would be like how “Stuart Little” ended with blank pages for us to fill in….
Dan. I *thought* that when I posted that, it was Friday night – so “in the morning” would be, like, yesterday. Some of those who listened to 26 did, in fact, cheer when it was over. The book itself has 30 episodes and I’ll announce in the episode that it’s the end so you don’t have to worry that there’s more coming you might miss.
You may THINK there should be more. There isn’t. I’ll tell you.
Thanks Nate, I’ll be looking forwards to 4 more episodes perhaps with an open ending which I believe is a hallmark of yours though I’ve never been sure about that as until now you’ve always intended to continue every story you have released. It isn’t a bad way to leave things and can even illicit some personal growth in your readers if they aren’t permanently traumatized….
I haven’t quite got over the shock from 45 years ago when our Mother finished reading us “Stuart Little” and clearly the story hadn’t ended. Eventually our she convinced my little sister and I that there were no more words in the book — we couldn’t read yet so we had to take her word on what the last words on the page said but we trusted her… of course she needed to carefully leaf through the end pages for us to be sure there wasn’t more story hiding there….
Finally, seeing that we were still stunned, she pointed out that most books don’t have that many blank end pages so Mr. E. B. White must have intended us to finish the story ourselves. Still wide eyed, we accepted that and between the three of us came up with a just and fair ending which may have been the only way we would get that as back then even many writers of children’s stories were made of sterner, non Hollywood, stuff and this was after all Mr. White’s first children’s book.
I’d like to find that 45 year old copy of “Stuart Little” and get the family together to read our ending :-)
@Laith – I’ve found places like Meetup.com to be good for finding folk to play board games with. As long as you can find one that has a “no freaks” policy. You know, anti-social folk that go to cons and refuse to bathe or at least fabreeze their chainmail from time to time.
Thanks Nate, I’m writing this after Episode 26 and am thinking “Please, please, don’t send Ish over Reichenbach falls!”
@Rob – I have already promised that Ishmael does not die in the end of this book. Or even near the end. :)
@Nate: I’ve finished 27 now, and I wonder what’s left… because the ending had a rock solid “we’re done” feel to it. But that’s ok, I figure that the worst that can happen (besides never finishing) is a “Ferris Bueller” ending, where the story ends, and we have to be told to quit listening.
@Richard – The only thing left is [ … Article 37 …] and then we have to find out [ … Article 37 … ]. After that he gives [… Article 37 …] to [ … Article 37 …] and they [ … Article 37 … ] with [ … Article 37 … ].
Just a couple things left to wrap up, as you can see.
@ Nate: This ART. 37 (UNLAWFULLY INFLUENCING) or a different one?
@Richard – Article 37
It’s not the UCMJ.