"Warriors for the working-day."

I was saddened to discover that talented science fiction and fantasy author David Drake had passed away on December 10th of last year at the age of 78 - saddened and a bit surprised that, in spite of his prolific and noteworthy career, it had taken almost a month for me to hear about his passing. 

Drake was one of my favourite authors. His books were eminently readable - they may not have explored great philosophical issues, but their strong foundation in realism and historical research gave them a weight and believability that appealed to me.

I always felt that Drake was a guilty pleasure - so many of his books were set in a military framework, and by and large the science fiction community tends toward the pacifist. This viewpoint was reflected in his early struggles to sell short stories that were rooted in his personal experience of combat while serving in Vietnam. Eventually he was able to find a market for the gritty realism of his Hammer's Slammers series, which told the story of a far-future mercenary regiment from a wide range of perspectives. 

After he gained a foothold in the market with the Slammers stories and novels, he demonstrated his range as a writer by creating a multitude of fictional worlds: the Northworld Trilogy, the Reaches books, the Tom Kelly and Venus novels, and his fantasy series Lord of the Isles, and The Books of the Elements, along with a variety of one-off novels, such as The Forlorn Hope, Redliners, Old Nathan and The Dragon Lord. 

Drake also collaborated on the General series with S. M. Stirling, providing a plot outline for the original five books that Stirling then completed, an approach which he repeated with Eric Fint and the Belisarius novels.

In addition, Drake created what I would consider to be his own subgenre of science fiction: Romans encountering aliens. Although this has an unfortunate Cowboys Vs. Aliens feel to it, the three novels that used this concept - Ranks of Bronze, Birds of Prey and Killer, along with the short story collection Vettius and His Friends - convincingly created storylines in which the Romans come out on top when confronted with extraterrestrial opposition, proving that technology doesn't necessarily provide superiority. 

At the time of his retirement from writing due to health issues in November of 2021, Drake had completed 13 novels in his Republic of Cinnabar Navy (RCN) series, which featured the adventures of Daniel Leary, an officer in the RCN, and his companion Adele Mundy, who goes from being a librarian to a member of the espionage branch of the Republic.  Leary is Drake's Horatio Hornblower, a young officer who advances his naval career through a combination of cleverness, bravery, aggression and charm, in spite of his estrangement from his highly placed father, Speaker Leary of the Republic.  

The RCN books are well-written, well researched stories, rooted in actual historical events that Drake cleverly translates into the world of the Cinnabar Navy and its interstellar encounters with the Alliance of Free Stars.  I sincerely hope that no one decides to find another writer to finish the series - or add to any of Drake's other stories, for that matter.  They could try, but it would be impossible to find a match for the talent, experience and intellect that made David Drake such a great author - and a great loss. 

- Sid

Chef Who.

Idris: Are all people like this?
The Doctor: Like what?
Idris: So much bigger on the inside.

The Doctor's Wife, Doctor Who

I just received  the above late-arriving Christmas from my sister-in-laws Lisa and Stefanie - I am always touched that anyone would care enough to find something that so perfectly matches my interests in life.  Thank you so very much!

- Sid

Virtually Infinite.

As part of my selection of Christmas gifts from Karli, she cleverly picked up a pair of tickets for the award-winning Space Explorers: The Infinite virtual reality event currently being presented in Vancouver. Located at the Rocky Mountaineer Station, The Infinite presents an immersive experience of the International Space Station from a wide range of perspectives and viewpoints. 

Arriving at the location at our appointed time, the event staff set us up with what's essentially the same Quest 2 VR headset that I have at home, with a networked sensor add-on to the front of the unit, a bar code (presumably for the tracking ID) and enhanced earphones.  The experience uses a simple system - the rest of your group appears in VR as a yellow avatar, other guests are blue, and cast members are green.

Once equipped with a headset, you are introduced to a shadowy ghost of the ISS, populated with glowing spheres.  

By touching a sphere, you can activate a virtual reality movie clip showing various aspects of life on the space station, such as donning space suits and working on the outside of the station, along with commentary from the astronauts on the station*.  There are also periodic changes of setting, displaying breathtaking orbital views of and from the station in the overhead area.

To transit the guests out of the VR space, the experience ends with a seated panoramic view of the ISS in space, after which the headsets are returned and you exit the VR environment.

I enjoyed the freedom of being able to actually walk around in VR, something that my home usage hasn't permitted. That being said, it was surprisingly crowded, to the point that it was a bit challenging to avoid other avatars.  I suppose that logically, dumping a couple of dozen people into the actual ISS wouldn't leave that much extra space either.

Sadly, I fell prey to a couple of technical issues that shut my headset down due to heating problems, so I did miss a few minutes of the show.  In both cases I was quickly assisted by staff members, full points for rapid response in a time-sensitive situation.

Although I found The Infinite to be an amazing experience, I would liked to have interacted with a more fully rendered version of the ISS interior.  (Which certainly exists, as per the ISS program that I have loaded on my personal headset.)  However, I can appreciate that the star of the show is the actual VR footage of astronauts on the ISS, both inside and outside - better to see the real thing than a simplified rendering.

Minor issues aside, The Infinite offers a spectacular perspective on the ISS and its daily activities.  If you're looking for a unique opportunity to experience life in space, I would fully recommend picking up tickets to the show - but don't wait too long, it's a popular event, and it's only available until March 19th.   

- Sid

* In one of the clips, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques comments that the ISS is "like camping in your backyard.  Mars is our Everest."  I'm sorry, David, but at best Mars is a week at a provincial park - let's save Everest analogies for when we eventually get out of our own solar system.