EPBOT Readers discussion

Hi all, sorry for the delay for the next section. Lots of computer troubles eating my time.

How do you feel about Ohan's condition, both with the relationship of their species and the virus, and how it affects their lifespan. Do you think the trade off is worth it?

During the pirate attack, how do you think things would have changed if they had been a battleship or had weapons of any kind? What do you think would have happened if Rosemary hadn't spoken a language the pirates spoke? What does the interaction between everyone say about how communication, nonverbal or otherwise affect our lives as a whole?


What do you think about the crew division of wanting weapons or defense vs wanting to stay as usual? Where do you think the line is drawn between being prepared and anticipating bad things happening? How does that apply to real life, besides in this fictional setting?

How did you feel about Rosemary's revelation about her past? Is it understandable that she ran from it? Was she right to hide it from her new crew?

How did you feel about Rosemary's talk with Dr Chef, and the knowledge of his species? How did it compare with humanity and our history with conflict? How about their decision to allow themselves to die out rather than attempting to start over?

Sheri, you have no need to apologize - I am so impressed with how quickly you are coming up with these!

I was really intrigued by Ohan's situation - I can't think of a really good parallel in human physiology, but it really made me think about how I would live in that kind of body. I really sympathize with Ohan, in that he spent his whole life thinking that he had to just accept this decline and death because it was preordained, and being afraid to find out more about the alternative. But I also sympathize with the colonists, since they can't get anyone who hasn't actually been through what they have to understand that it's not what they've been led to believe. I really wasn't sure up to the end how Ohan's story was going to go.

I would be interested to see how an Akarak attack on a battleship would go if there was no language barrier, since they seem so practical and only want stuff they can use. They could use weapons for their piracy, but would they actually take the ship itself it is the weapon? I got the sense from the interaction here that it's not terribly common for people to speak their language, so I wonder if some of the things they do wouldn't happen if they were better able to communicate. Which is on them, because they're the ones attacking, and they could have crew members learn more languages if they really wanted to communicate. I thought for a minute there that they were going to conscript Rosemary into going with them. I think if she hadn't been there, there would have been a lot more violence. The idea that communication is important isn't exactly a groundbreaking revelation, but it's always nice to see it play a role in this kind of story.

I really enjoyed the visit to Kizzy's friends for the shields - I thought they fit the tone of the book by not being actual weapons dealers and more DIY/salvagers, so the conversation about how much people should arm themselves did not get as contentious as it could have. This is definitely a conversation that I've had and seen with all kinds of people in real life, and just like in the book, everyone's perspective is shaped by their experiences and upbringing and is difficult to change.

I LOVED the reaction to Rosemary's "big reveal" being so understated - it always annoys me in books when someone reveals something that might be mildly surprising or interesting in real life and doesn't really affect their relationship with the person they're telling and it suddenly is this huge deal, completely out of proportion to the impact of what was revealed. As Jenks pointed out, there's nothing about Rosemary's family situation that affects her work or qualifications, and it wasn't really surprising that she didn't want to lead off introducing herself to her new crew by telling them her family's issues. I do get that it's a different type of relationship since they're all living together 24/7, but the general theory that your coworkers do not need to know every detail of your life still applies.

I also really enjoyed the conversation between Rosemary and Dr. Chef - his story was sad, but it's kind of amazing that he can see the big picture enough to think more about the galaxy as a whole being better off without trying to bring back non-sustainable aggression than his own personal loss.

All of the chapters in this section had really great interactions between the characters - I love that they are all fleshed out enough that it is believable to read about different combinations of them interacting.