Ok, folks.
The suggestion has been floated for a “jibber jab” after the show session. If you post the questions you want answered in the comments here, I’ll put together a file on the Golden Age for you.
Ask and I’ll answer, if I can.
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Please don't feel obligated but a week doesn't go by without somebody writing to ask where this button is.
Thank you to everybody who supports my work whether it's through donation, reviews, or fan mail. Knowing that I've added something to your life is immensely gratifying.
First of all let me say Thank You for a wonderful story. My question is how did you come up with the idea of The Trader’s Diary.
You mean the design? Or why did I make a website?
Okay, now that I know my name, etc., is already filled in my post won’t be so messy! A fun question would be: Are there stories behind the names of the stations? A more thoughtful question would be, do you know about the universe in which the story takes place? There are company worlds which sound unpleasant. Ishmel has no safety net until he gets aboard the Lois. A piece that is hanging out there for me is his father. It sounds totally plausible to me that Ishmael could encounter him somewhere. I hope we can pick up the tale several years later. I don’t think I want to attend the academy. The detail can be overwhelming. A another question: Has this story been in your head for a while or did it pop out like Athena from Zeus’s head–fully formed?
Are there intelligent non-humans in the world of the golden age? I got the impression that the company worlds were terraformed, but still. Any other intelligent life out there?
Thanks again for a great series. I eagerly await the next book.
Will Sara(Sarah?) progress in her role as lois’ shaman(since shes most likely out of the story now id LOVE to know). Is the academy on a station, or is it planetside(minor point of intrest). Even though “lois is done with ish” ive got the feeling that ish is not done with lois. will he have the chance to do something for lois in the future? and finally a question i fear to ask. The only thing i have yet to see in your story is an outward protagonist. will ish have some sort of rival to face at the academy? id be happy either way, just curious.
also wondered what sarah was “sorting out” in her head after she realized her bunk used to be ish’s. very unimportant to the story, but cant help but wonder.
good work, carry on…
thank you
Nate,
I echo the aforementioned thanksgiving for your hard work and stories. How appropriate that we can refer to these tales as the “Share” series, hmmm?
Your characters and environs are real and at times even lush – something I enjoy, especially in Science Fiction. And I do think that you found a better expression for that first person POV – improving over QS and HS.
My question is a repeat from an earlier post and picks up on comment #5 here. Ish is a good guy, no doubt, and part of the fun in the series is watching him grow and learn and succeed. Its almost like having an RPG in audio format. Your character, Ish, acquires new skills and comrades and even new clothes and armor! Its great.
However, as I bemoaned before, Ish often does this 1) because of the assistance – sometimes the unknown assistance, of his friends and/or officers, and 2) through no great feats of his own; his actions are natural and automatic and he rarely tries to do anything – he merely does. Perhaps a protagonist would help – but that doesn’t seem to fit into the cosmos you have created – unless, indeed, we meet up with his astranged father and the conflict there is useful.
My questions are: how can Ish be a hero – in the classical sense – when he never overcomes obstacles that actually test him? Do you have any hardships planned for Ish? Is the transformation from Ish the child to Ish the man merely climbing a comfortable ladder of promotion or will we see Ish suffer to grow?
Unrelated Qs: obviously this is a bit of an homage to Horatio Hornblower – how often to you think/refer to those stories as you write these? Is Ish’s advancement intentionally correlated to that of Hornblower’s?
Looking forward to more – you have dedicated fanbase.
Fare thee well!
Thanks for all the work you’ve put into writing the stories and producing the podcasts. The production quality was very good. I’m glad you’re working on the rest of the series, as Ishmael’s story still has more life in it. The universe in which he lives is interesting, and I hope you have the opportunity to develop the bigger picture.
Two questions for you.
As someone mentioned earlier, Ish did not seem to encounter much hardship beyond the initial tragedy that started the story, and he himself seemed to be almost superhuman. He was a teacher’s pet, a lady’s man, a near-genius, and an excellent physical specimen, not to mention incredibly humble, perceptive, lucky, and just plain nice. So, one question is, why did you make him so nearly perfect? I agree that he needs obstacles that really test him, that pry open a chink in that near-flawless armor – both to make him a true hero, and to make the story more interesting.
Why did you have Ish end up with Bev, and only Bev? I felt bad for Bril and Diane. He did have three nights in port at the end, didn’t he? I had the feeling that he never really made a choice among them, that he would have been happy with whoever showed up in his room, and that if they’d traded him off the last few nights, he wouldn’t have cared a bit.
Thanks again for an interesting tale.
Great job with the stories! I am almost finished with Quarter Share and I already downloaded all of the episodes in Half Share and Full Share. You are an excellent author and a fairly good reader. Keep up all of the hard work and keep the stories coming!
My question echos BookRat, You made it clear that Ish favored Bev when he imagined her in the little flying living room and tried to imagine how to fit Pip and Bril would fit in there, and it was clear how much Bev cared about Ish. But why did Ish favor Bev over Bril & Dianne?
My next question concerns the death of Ish’s mother. Was it really a flitter accident? The crewman who was left behind on Neris got a job that could have been given to Ish because it didn’t require a lot of skill. Did the company want to get rid of Ish because of what he had been doing with his mother’s computer? That is, by getting rid of his mother, they could get rid of Ish the hacker)?
Great series. My favorite audio book/series. Tho I dread to bring any negativity to a conversation given that the series has very little.
Please don’t heed the flappings of a “protagonist”. While quite formulaic and easily consumable, I really don’t feel your style of writing needs the dumbed down plot gimmick of good vs evil.
Well enough with my dribblings on to the questions:
– Will Lois ever use those sludge cakes for mushrooms?
– What kind a whelky(sp?) would “come to you”?
My understanding from book one was that Pip was not allowing himself to be noticed too much because he was a descendant of an ‘Indie-trader’ family, and corporate employees frown on that. Then in the third book, it turns out pretty much everyone – including most of the crew of a corporate ship like the Lois – is a part of an ‘Indie-trader’ family.
How do we put those two together? What am I missing? I spent the last third of Full Share racking my brain, but got nothing.
GG, BTW :)
A comment to those who are concerned about the “luck” and “help” Ish seems to have. Actually, Ish achieved what he does, not by luck, but by hard work. First, he is obviously well-read, and well educated. He has trained his mind (or had it trained) to not only learn the information but to access it. And like all students who can do that, he was ostricized for it when young.
Secondly, he is willing to work. He doesn’t take the easy route (remember the coffee urns and sludge?) He accepts whatever job is given him, and does his very best. As a manager, I can tell you, that is the fastest way to promotion!
And finally, his attitude. He doesn’t blame others for his problems. He enjoys the good times, accepts the bad, and prepares himself for anything that might come. And like most teenagers, he has an unlimited supply of hope!
As far as his “skill” with women… he listened to his mother and learned to understand what a woman wants. Understanding is all any woman wants ;)
As Nate has said, Ish isn’t some superman… he is an ordinary person, doing ordinary things, in an amazing universe. Actually… anyone — willing to do the work and preparation — could do what he did.
“Flappings for a protagonist[sic]”? Interesting, if not defensive, response. Actually, what we want is some device fulfilling more of an antagonist…and why does this necessitate a formulaic hack for writing and stories? Not needed and not desired here.
I am liking Ish less and less and finding that I am jumping ahead to his accomplishments more and more. The ends are getting more interesting and the means (Ish) is getting less interesting. This is solely – to me – the outcome of his easy life. Again – maybe Nate doesn’t intend for radical hardships to happen and maybe his cosmology restricts certain types of conflict.
@13 – its not a matter of taking an “easy route” for Ish – its a matter that all things are easy to him. Yes, for anybody else the coffee test was about extra effort – but Ish made no extra effort – he simply did what he would have done anyway. I find this to be true in all his decision making: yes its the right thing to do, yes it incurs work – but for Ish there is no difficulty. I could come closer to agreeing with your point of view if Ish occasionally failed, or demonstrated a real concerted effort.
Followup to ward against potential accusations that I am an Ish-hater –
Pip – to me – has been groomed for some time as the real hero in this story. He has the personal dynamics that we look for. Family and personal difficulties, is a hard worker, finds creative solutions, interacts well with other characters, is as attractive – apparently – as Ish is to the opposite sex, is regarded nearly as well by the officers (although notice how they don’t rally behind him as forcibly as they do Ish). Is this Pip’s story told from Ish’s point of view? Because more than not, as of late, I find Pip to have the edge on the interesting meter.
I want Ish to succeed and I want to continue to like him as a character. I have every hope that Nate understands his universe better than I and will trust it will all work out.
This is an interesting line of thought — I’m not answering here because it’s going to appear in the Afterword file. Please don’t let my lack of response discourage you from asking more questions and following up with this.
Post-follow-up ward:
The Easy Ish comments in no way suggest that I dislike the story nor find fault with Ish as a character. It is a relatively minor notion which continues to tap at me inside my head. Part of the enjoyment in the story – as I have commented previously – is watching Ish continue to grow into a more dynamic person/character. He acquires new skills, friends and allies, achievements, and options. For example, the story arc of Ish achieving rank in all 4 specs was fantastic. Couldn’t wait for the outcome of each exam!
The Easy Ish problem is more of a “what happens at the end of the story” issue for me and what it means for the Share series. Will this wrap up as a kind of diary of my life as a spacer? This would be disappointing to me – because the Share series is so ripe with SF potential – something we don’t see so often. If Nate is slowly compiling the best and brightest crew for space I for one would like to some adventures.
I don’t need Ish battling space mutants while singlehandedly saving a race of aliens from the effects of their sun going supernova (even though it would be fun to see how he solves those problems) – but it would be nice to see some of this potential carried out; Ish’s true nature revealed in some kind of dramatic tension. Even Hornblower had to face the music and raise his spadroon once in a while.
Pip and Ish appear destined to play off of one another – which is great. Pip is agreat character and we have many reasons to sympathize with Pip. Do we have more reasons for Pip than for Ish? This is kind of what I think lately. Again, I don’t want Ish to turn into the man who has everything. Why – I have no idea.
Yes, please, some interaction with you on the podcasts would be great. – I’m not sure how much of a distraction it would be for you, but at least some kind of wrap up episode, and maybe if we could get Big O to do an interview thing with you like what happened with Crescent, and those other novelist.
Interaction is a fun thing with these, as I’m sure it seems sorta “lonely” recording these things. In any event, I’m going to have to make sure that I subscribe to the RSS feed here.
I’m open to anybody who wants to interview me :)
With the new book in the works, I’ve kinda lost track of this podcast, but I’ll add it to the list!
Yes, would love to hear an Afterword episode.
Soooo, are you in “print” yet?
Holy Mother of Mohair! I’m going to miss the Co-ed Crochet Crew :(
Not yet. It’s in the works.
I loved the afterward that you made. I had a question, which may be to late now but, what happened to the other seven whelkies? Why did Cassandra not get one? Does Ish still have them and intends to use them in his future adventures? Just curious.
Yes, Ish still has them … they’re saved for later adventures. :)
Cassandra didn’t get one because she didn’t need one.
I’m in the middle of the afterward episode, and thought that I’d throw this out there, as it’s been mulling in my head… I can see, where Lois will take care of Ish, when his funds run low in school, as the company had some kind of restitution for saving them money with the backup computer, or the software that was used paid some kind of royalty that no one told him about.
– Also, back to the interview thing, as I’m not able to spend much time online (drive truck, 400-600 miles most days etc) – Might a little promo of your books be in order to give out to some of the other pod casters? Siglar is usually good about promo’s as are some other pod casts, but, I think the deal is to reciprocate, and put some at the end of your episode, but, your that’s not your standard style. – Nuttun` wrong with that, it makes for sort downloads, and you get right into the story.
Tooting one’s own horn does feel sorta cheesy.
– Dang, 3:30 am, I’d better hit the rack!
No, Ish is on his own when he goes to school, just like the rest of us. He has to find his way there. But it’s boring.
I have a video promo up on YouTube, and I’ve tried to do a couple of audio promo’s … which Podiobooks will make available as part of the normal processing. So far, I haven’t gotten one I like. And you’re right. They do imply a kind of quid-pro-quo that I don’t necessarily want to add to my files.
One thing I’m considering is a short “episode by episode” podcast that would be available here as a separate download for peeps to grab or not as they want. The problem, as ever, is time.
– Do I take the time to produce the extra, non-story content and delay the story? Or do I just cruise through the story to get it done as soon as possible?
Dunno.
Speaking of Scott Sigler, I’m getting a chance to plug my books on Episode 6 of his new podcast novel — Nocturnal! You can find it over on http://scottsigler.net … If you don’t know about “chicken scissors” then be a little careful.
Hmm.. I wonder if I can get J.C. Hutchins, too… ;)
You are way to modest! Will you kindly toot your own horn and give us the link to your Youtube video? Please!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V53lzwnIbPI
There ya go.
My thoughts? I’d like the whole book, and if you do a secondary show, here, GREAT, But make sure that you mention it, and include a link to it via show notes. – My two half credits worth. Pretty much like you did the last time. Mention your Q&A the last couple of posts, with a link in the show notes over on podiobooks, etc, to where the questions are.
But basically, the way you’re doing things are fabulous. Short sweet and to the point.
You have a knack to stay focused on the right things.
So, do it just like you did last time. :) And I’ll do my best to spread the “golden age” gospel.
Now if I can just find some whelkies over on eBay, and a shaman book…
Any chance of getting access to the alternate ending of Full Share. Trying to satisfy my thirst for the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper universe? ;)
The original ending was when he crossed the docks heading for the lift … so … you have it.
If you’re looking for more Golden Age goodness, you should subscribe to South Coast. It’s the backstory on the South Coast shamans, and you meet somebody you’ve only heard about second hand.
I would love to hear the back story of Pip’s Aunt Annie. Just a thought.
Double Share next … Ishmael misses you guys.
We too miss Ish.
But now we listen to
stories about fish.
And that’s fine and dandy
as stories by Nathen
are like candy.
We pop them into our players
like a pez dispenser,
they are purveyors.
They are music to our ears,
and sometimes they make us
laugh so hard that they bring us to
tears….
w00t!
word of the year…LOL
I miss Ish too! Looking forward to Double Share.