Westie

What type of message we talkin' here?

So, I make no secret of the fact that Mark Arbour's writing is what brought me here to GA. I started by reading the (as yet unfinished) "On the Mark" which as a matter of fact I still rate as one of Mark's better works. But then I moved on to Mark's "Nessun Dorma"... the series "Chronicles of an Academic Predator". It is by far the highest quality of writing that I have read on this site. When you consider how many other awesome authors we have here - you realise that being the creme de la creme is no average achievement. Mark is the sites most prolific author, with over 4.5 million words to his name. And its obviously not just me who is a fan, because of the 10 most reviewed stories at GA, 3 belong either to CAP, or to the Bridgemont Saga - Mark's other work. Now, I'm not just writing this to blow smoke up his ass (you never know, he might be into it...). I'm noting this now because his most recent entry into the CAP series has blown me away. It is particularly poignant because it coincides with an anniversary that is marked around the world, but has particular significance in the US. I am of course talking about the terrorist atrocity of September 11th 2001. The latest book - 9.11 - hit me like a sledgehammer. Not only was the writing particularly excellent, but the way it was written brought the event home to me in a way that nothing else has. As a Brit living in a northern backwater in 2001, the events of 9.11 were something I watched and experienced from a distance. While I had a basic human sympathy for those who were killed or injured, if I am entirely honest I have never felt an emotional connection to the event in the way I did for the 7/7 London Bombings. When I first read the events unfolding in CAP, the first inkling of "something different" was on reading that certain characters would be at the World Trade Centre.... my heart literally skipped a beat. 5 years ago, my dad had a heart attack and I was called at my office to tell me to come to the hospital. It was, I swear - a very similar feeling. I'm not going to give away plot details here, but the next chapters had me in tears. I do not show emotion easily - Paya is one of the few who has seen me at my weakest. But the quality of the writing was such that i had grown to care for some characters more than I would have ever expected. I suppose this should be in a review, but reviews tend to be read largely by those who have an interest in the story already. My purpose for writing here is to encourage everyone else - read the stories. Start at the beginning. Learn to love the characters. There is no more fitting tribute on this site than the culmination of the story (so far) in September 2001. Honestly, you wont regret it.... Anyway - I'm ending my sycophantic ramble here because I don't want anyone's ego to explode However, its rare that we read something and think that it's a privilege to have been part of it. And that, I think, is something that should be celebrated. West

We mourn Robbie so much because in his imperfection we see ourselves and our own loved ones. That's why this hits us so hard.

Yeah.... JP is in a coma from the car crash in 1963 and Andre, Jeff and everyone else are all still alive too.... Nahhhh.... writings got to move us forward. Sorry guys, but Robbie is like Jeff, someone to add to the CAP hall of fame. You can always revisit him by re-reading the older stories.

I think that if, as a writer, you are going to put your characters into situations where there is danger, if they were to come out miraculously unscathed every time it would become unbelievable...

Is she technically his Widow, when the divorce had already gone through??

Like you hadn't taken the opportunity to do that already... any excuse to geek out...

I was at our college, by the boating lake, smoking weed. I can honestly say that the event itself didn't immediately hit home until much later. I remember walking through the library and seeing the pictures and being horrified later... I also remember being in Latin class at the end of the afternoon and there being a heated debate as to whether the exploitative capitalists had finally gotten what they deserved (we had the odd anarchist in the class). Thankfully the majority disagreed.

Sorry, I've been AWOL, and then I needed to catch up with which chapters had been posted etc The answer is yes, technically, Wrinkler could be reassigned. However there is a few reasons why it would never happen: Re-assigning another officer's personal servant without their being "released" would be an extremely dishonourable act. It would attract the very worst of criticisms.... "Well, that's dash bad form..." While exceptionally useful to Granger, Wrinkler is not actually very useful at all elsewhere on a ship. As the captain's steward, he would know less about the technicalities of running a ship than a ships boy. Of course, being around Granger and on board, he would know "conceptually" - but in terms of practicality I don't know that he would be able to man the braces or stow the yardarm etc. Wrinkler is technically under admiralty orders (stemming from Granger being under such orders). Lord St Vincent wouldn't want the hassle of the legalities of breaking admiralty orders. there are 3 people you do not want to upset. Lord Granger, Lady Granger and the Earl of Bridgemont. Can you imagine the storm of holy hell that would rein down on you if you ever truly offended all three?7 Anyway, one more thing I wanted to mention. The time we are seeing Paris in is utterly fascinating. You have a nation that is struggling with its identity, and for the fact that it has just got rid of a big chunk of aristocracy - the social order is discretely reasserting itself. Being now rarefied, exiled aristocrats returning home, and foreign lords and princes are objects of fascination. The other thing the French loved was a scandal and gossip - I would expect Granger's star to be at its zenith in Paris. For me, the next chapters will be more interesting than any other. West

J, you seem to be totally obsessed with this idea of so many people joining up. Mark has provided you with evidence before of how there was no actual uptick in enlistments (see this thread, past comments). It might just be that - shock, horror - we do not see this War Veteran outbreak that you keep harping on about

Mark and I had a bit of a disagreement about the Leander; I of course being a true Patriot am utterly convinced that the British version is completely accurate because we British would never lie about such things against the French In all seriousness, it is VERY interesting to note that no mention of this ill treatment is recorded in what I consider the two most reliable of contemporary sources. The first is the Court Martial of Captain Thomas Thompson - at which no testament records any such behaviour by th French. The second is a pamphlet written by Captain Edward Berry called "Authentic Narrative of the proceedings of his Majesty's squadron under the command of the Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson" which is an account of the Nile and contains a copy of Thompson's letter to Nelson informing him of their capture. In the first example, you might be forgiven for saying that since a court-martial is interested only in the capture of a ship and not subsequent events, then this detail would not be included in the record. However the second example was for publication in common newspapers; detail such as that would have been like ambrosia to a newspaper editor. If anyone is interested, a digitised version of "Authentic Narrative of the proceedings of his Majesty's squadron under the command of the Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson" by Sir Edward Berry can be found here and contains a clinical interpretation of the battle as it happened. West

I think they would have problems with anti trust in parts of your scenario....

Parole of an officer was a matter of honour, and it was done on both sides. Officers were paroled as soon as it was convenient for the capturing side.... i.e. after they had either extracted maximum propaganda from it, or had the officers placed for maximum inconvenience. They could and would impose conditions such as banning the prisoner from baring arms until a suitable prisoner exchange or treaty had taken place. To execute a prisoner of war outside of battle was considered a grave offence. However it should be noted that the first instance of a prisoner of war camp took place concurrently with the story, with around 4000 prisoners being held for extraordinary lengths of time (by the standard of the day) at Norman Cross. This was made necessary in part by the unprecedented number of prisoners held, and also by Bonaparte's habit of refusing to recognise parole terms.

UK law has never recognised the definition of "freedom" that the united states liked to pretend they had. I remember someone in soapbox claiming the right of free speech as "god given". It isn't. No rights are. You surrender your rights to the needs of your nation (not society Zombie - there is no such thing ) as judged by your representatives from time to time.

He was carrying journalistic work product based on raw information - stolen information - from Edward Snowdon. The fact that this information could have been useful to a terrorist caused the detention. He was carrying stolen goods information, and was not merely a passive "partner" of a journalist.

I too, would hate it when Sharon is wrong. In theory. To my knowledge it has not yet happened

That might have something to do with Matt not narrating since bloodlines though.... focus sits with the narrator. We might see mor of them if Mark bows to unprecedented public demand (i.e. ME), and returns to matt as narrator

I was torn between the Land Whore and Bloodlines for the CAP story. Land Whore won out. Congratulations on 5 years. More importantly, Congrats to Sharon on Editing for 5 years. I would imagine it's as much a labour of love for her as it is for you.

I wouldn't call it a troika.... more a Manage á trois....

OK, so Claire was never "actively" good. She was passive. She had her own world to live in. When someone was brought to her attention, she drew them into her world the only way she knew how. We all do that. Doesn't make anyone a bad person.

See... I happen to agree here with the part about Westie being right....

I think Granger remaining captain of a Frigate is a remote chance at best. They are running out of ways to reward Granger. He is already a Knight of the Bath. His is a Viscount.... Promotion to Earl is unlikely without promoting his father also, for which achievement his father has done nothing. The King would almost certainly grant some kind of Royal Sinecure either within the Royal Household or Crown Estate. He is 15 years away from promotion to admiral, and given that he is already unbelievably wealthy (and heir to the Lammert fortune also in fact) he is one of the few young captains for whom prize money is no longer such a lure. I would bet that the admiralty is almost forced to give him a larger and more prestigious ship. Probably a second rate, but either a third rate or first rate are also possible. This would normally confine Granger to a fleet, but I suspect Mr. Arbour can find some reason for greater adventures

So, I can join the debate here since someone else has raised the eventual fate of the Leander. Personally, from both a literary point of view and from the story point of view, I really hope Granger DOES get onto the Leander. In literary terms, If you have a hero whom you constantly place in danger, at some point on the scale you have to reach a tipping point where that hero is captured, injured or (if you were reading something from George Martin...) Killed. I think that Granger's capture would tell an awesome story in a totally new setting. I also think that Mark has made plenty of effort to resolve the Maidstone situation in other ways (via Winkler, not forgetting that we do not know what is happening on board the the Ship). My personal opinion also is that the Maidstone situation was only ever going to be a sideshow in this story. Yes, Granger being captured will extend the length of the story by 6 months... how many chapters that pans out to remains to be seen. However, the title of the story.... Odyssey... does imply a longer and more varied adventure than past books. It also raises questions about the setting of the NEXT book.... but I guess I'm getting ahead of myself there West

I am neither too tall nor too short, too loud nor too quiet, too meek or too mild. I am exactly what I need to be. Plus a few pounds for padding....

Nah. I'm a nice guy. Arbour's the hot headed one .... And in fairness, you were using what you would have expected to be reliable source material. It's just that I happen to know of (and be a big fan of) this particular expert that I know that in this arena, his opinion is bunkum.... Anyway, it demonstrates what I keep telling you..... history is a rich tapestry that only develops through conversation.... so keep talking !