01-20-2013, 03:07 PM | #21 |
Computer Scientist
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dallas, Texas
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Re: The Draka Suoersoldiers in GURPS
I don't get this. It's the story of a terrible culture that arises and takes over the world, of course it's going to win most of the time. But in DRAKON, Gwen dies and the Samothracians are seen successfully snooping the Draka's deepest darkest black project undetectably. If anything, they were being set up to lose.
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01-20-2013, 05:16 PM | #22 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: The Draka Supersoldiers in GURPS
The Draka were nearly insufferable in Stone Dogs (and I liked the previous two books). Stirling deserves some criticism for how they appeared to be creepy reflections of his idea of a perfect society (yes, I read his foreword in The Domination).
But yeah, the ending of Drakon implies that the Draka just had their main molehole (wormhole) facility destroyed along with an entire assembled invasion army and their head servus researcher, Tolya. |
01-20-2013, 05:32 PM | #23 |
Computer Scientist
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dallas, Texas
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Re: The Draka Supersoldiers in GURPS
This reminds me of the way Jack Willimson's THE HUMANOIDS was taken by some critics to be promoting paternalism because the hero comes to realize that the machines really are incorruptible and that after his integration in their society his freedoms are better preserved under their stewardship than the human government that had abused him....overlooking that the integration included psychosurgery, drug therapy, and panopticon supervision.
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01-20-2013, 07:10 PM | #24 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
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Re: The Draka Supersoldiers in GURPS
Quote:
He was playing with ideas, and that's it. That's what authors do. As far as ideas go, the Draka weren't his best. As noted, he had to use author intervention to get that society in place, and the things he had to do in his alt-history were obviously contrived. Where does this notion come from, that "they appeared to be creepy reflections of his idea of a perfect society," when he's gone out of his way to say that simply is not so?
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01-20-2013, 08:25 PM | #25 |
Computer Scientist
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dallas, Texas
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Re: The Draka Supersoldiers in GURPS
The way everything seems to work out not just in their favor but in the best possible way, and even sometimes better than seems possible, in the earlier books doesn't help. Also, the Draka do implement a number of social and technical reforms that the author personally advocated, which makes "human history went as nearly perfectly badly as possible" hyperbole.
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01-20-2013, 08:32 PM | #26 | |
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Re: The Draka Supersoldiers in GURPS
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01-20-2013, 09:11 PM | #27 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Re: The Draka Suoersoldiers in GURPS
Quote:
William Shattners' ego is the only thing that can stop them .
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01-20-2013, 09:14 PM | #28 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
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Re: The Draka Supersoldiers in GURPS
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I'd argue that he's totally wrong about that; the Draka society would never have made it past 50 years, let alone conquered a continent. |
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01-21-2013, 12:29 AM | #29 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: The Draka Supersoldiers in GURPS
He can claim whatever he wants. Stone Dogs was one giant contrivance to lead to a victorious Draka, and required the entire opposition faction to be carrying idiot balls from the 1950s onward. He's simply being disingenuous if he claims to not understand where this idea comes from.
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01-21-2013, 09:01 AM | #30 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
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Re: The Draka Supersoldiers in GURPS
Quote:
So, to get them to exist, at all, he had to come up with some pretty unrealistic contrivances, and Sterling said as much.
__________________
-- MXLP:9 [JD=1, DK=1, DM-M=1, M(FAW)=1, SS=2, Nym=1 (nose coffee), sj=1 (nose cocoa), Maz=1] "Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon. Last edited by tshiggins; 01-22-2013 at 12:19 AM. |
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