Abaddon’s Gate

by on May 17, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

It does seem like every well-written Expanse novel comes with a problem of its own.

This time, the problem is physics instead of plot structure. So, there’s now a new, alien made, structure in the outer solar system (maybe 21 AU from the Sun). It’s in the shape of a ring, and the prologue has a daredevil try to ballistically send his small ship through the ring, and dies.

What exactly is going on with the ring is left extremely unclear until about a quarter of the way through the novel. The briefing that tells you most everything isn’t very clear and brings up a number of questions that never get properly addressed. I was picturing your normal group of RPG players making a hash of the entire scene as they try to game the “rules” being set down by the GM. Rereading it helps, but a few things go by fast enough that it’s hard to bridge from the initial description to what you get later.

But, the object is a gate, to an unknown part of space, which has thousands of other gates, and a large automated hub station in the center of it all. Inside this area there is a “speed limit” of about 600 m/s. I assume that the hub and all the gates are static in relationship to each other (making them one simple frame of reference), but that’s not explicitly stated; neither is the fact that the speed limit would be in reference to that frame of reference, which also applies to the gate structure in the Solar System. And what it’s doing relation to the Sun is not stated. Given the “inertia is a suggestion” tech of the protomolecule, it might be hanging motionless with relation to the Sun (but not anything else…), or it might be orbiting the Sun. It’s not said, though the latter seems to be true.

(Now the speed limit happens as you go through the gate. But if an asteroid approaches on a collision course with the structure itself, what happens then? Presumably there’s some sort of inertial defense system on this side for such problems, but nothing is established on that either.)

Unfortunately for all the squishy humans inside a vessel, the inertial system that does all this seems to be able to affect all solid items connected to the outer hull as a unit, but doesn’t bother with anything else. It’s neat as a narrative hazard, but one does wonder about definitions. It seems to include, say, two solid items bolted together getting affected as a unit, as there’s no descriptions of doors, hatches, and access panels popping off, but people and loose objects go sailing. …I don’t even think they considered the transient pressure effects of all the air trying to go the old speed during forced deceleration.

With all that out of the way, the book is in much better shape. It is a slower burn than the first two, but I found it satisfying. We do seem to be sticking with a four character switching viewpoint structure now. Sadly, only one of them, Bull, really measures up to Bobbie or Avasarala in interest. Both Melba and Anna are interesting characters, and the former really is one of the spines holding the book together, but Anna is a tougher sell. I generally like her, but found her expressions of faith not up to thematic job needed.

We get one early chapter giving us real plot tension while the ostensible Big Dumb Object main plot gets going. As other bits pick up and tension ratchets up, the human drama is the real main driver here. The BDO is really the B-plot, though it certainly is also a big deal. To a certain extent, this is a good call. But it does undercut wonder side of SF that this series could support, but generally just doesn’t. We do get a nice bit with it in the middle, but after some aborted exploration of the hub, it’s all shunted off-screen.

The A-plot is about three different pieces that come together for another action-packed ending section that is well done, though it does go on long enough to start wearing thin the ever-mounting outpouring of adrenaline. Overall, the series is written with modern action-movie sensibilities in mind, and I’d like at least some pretense to something a bit more deliberate.

Still, it’s another good, if flawed book that so far has all been good but flawed books. However, this time the flaw is smaller, which helps it come together better. It’s also a transition book. We started with a pure STL setting, and now humanity is getting a chance at some (okay, a lot, but not on the scale of the sum total possibilities) stars, and bigger mysteries await. How well those are pulled off will determine the fate of the series.

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Game Projects

by on May 13, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Gaming

I’ve written on this elsewhere, but I have a number of game design ideas that I hope to turn into something a bit more fleshed out. This post is meant to be a bit more comprehensive to serve as a place I can to to remind myself what needs doing:

JumpWar: This is a new game based off of Metagaming’s Warp War. It’s extensively re-cast, but the skeleton of the ship construction system is still there. I’ve got a full rule set written, and a Vassal module put together. I want to get some testing done, and then put together a physical copy, and finally get to a GMT Warehouse Weekend to show it off.

UR1 “The Admiral’s Game”: This is an extensive rework of SFB campaign “The Admiral’s Game” from Advanced Missions, inspired by reporting on “Day of the Eagle Comes Early” twenty years ago. It’s complete and has had some use. I’m still trying to decide what a good submission format to ADB would be, since it is still an existing campaign structure.

The Commodore’s Game: The initial idea was a SFB campaign where actually move ships around at a higher level. This is effectively the never-done Chapter V, and therefore an auto-reject from ADB. However, I’ve been thinking of turning it into it’s own game (which needs a new title). The general idea is to use the task force concept from Great War at Sea, and form groups which then go interact on the main board. That part is half-written; I need to rework away from SFB and come up with a battle resolution system; presumably a simple one.

6R1 “Federation vs Empire”: This is a Federation & Empire scenario for a big war between the Federation and Klingons. Annoyingly, the war from “Errand of Mercy” has a (poor) scenario already, but this is plotted to be Federation wargames over the next decade so it can bridge the era from the Four Powers War to the General War with odd experiments. I have an OOB that needs clean up, and I need some way to give the Klingons a chance against the Fed economy.

To Boldly Go: This is the design I most need to do some real work on. I’ve got initial notes, but need to figure out the main activity systems. At any rate, it is a space exploration game. Grid of large hexes, random tiles on them. They tell you what you can look for, and you pull random chits for resources which you claim to sell off or develop.

Tactical Game 4: I’ve got a page of notes on the main system. The idea is WWII tactical using cards (representing elements of your force) and tokens so that things take time to happen, and it’s not everything at once, and it’s not random order (chit pull). I don’t have any plans/ideas for the rest of it, so I don’t have a path to a complete system.

NSFB: I’m starting to gather ideas for a Star Fleet Battles-like game. In the long run, I’ll want to figure out my own setting (going away from Trek means it probably won’t sell, alas), but I also need to start figuring out the main points. Tactically, the job is to keep the constant impulse movement and weapons angles intact as the main source of tension. Some less combat-oriented activities would be good, but I doubt I can do much about that. Right now, have better weapons evolution, somewhat more stately maneuvering, and an acceleration system are the working ideas.

GATR: This is the concept of a points-based RPG. I like GURPS, but combat is too detailed, and I’m not a big fan of 3d6 resolution. I figure to go to the TSR Action Table concept, and do everything through that. Try to get combat to ~3 seconds per turn, ditch defensive rolls for just modifying the attack roll downward. There’s a number of places the abilities need major re-writes. The question is how to get through the mass of stuff I don’t want to rewrite. But, RPG desire has been rock bottom for the last couple of years.

Down In History: I just came up with the title. Vague idea stage. Grand strategy medieval history game. The main thing is you draw random cards to represent the king of your country, and that tells you what you can gain VPs for right now. Conquering someone? Building a good economy? Useful, but getting points is likely to require throwing it all away. Generally, play is to be aligned behind personal motivations and not long-term logical ones.

Fox-Kin Tactics: Way back when I discovered Final Fantasy Tactics, I did get some thoughts for a game like it. I never got to a point of worrying about a system, but it was going to deal with the Fox-Kin city states about a generation before Orither. A shipwreck lands a human in the area, and contact is established with the outside world as they suddenly become a good way stop for trade, and money starts flowing through….

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Inventing the Renaissance

by on May 9, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

Ada Palmer’s title doesn’t cover everything that’s in this book. In fact, what the book covers is probably too large for any one title, and it is to her credit that it isn’t too large for any one book.

First note: this book is written in a very atypical tone. Instead of just laying things out, describing events, sources, relationships, with a third-person voice that minimizes the author, Palmer takes a very personal, first person voice here. This annoyed me at first, but does allow some very useful bits. Notably, she talks about the work of history, and how theories are established and rejected over time. You know, just like in ‘hard’ science. Also, she talks about her own experiences in academia; a notable early bit is about going to a symposium and noting the different populations in different panels. This also leads into a discussion of how the questions we start with determine a lot of the research and writing done, and how gender segregated various parts have been (though it is getting better).

She also leverages the first person to make all sorts of current “meme” comparisons, which may end up “dating” this book well before its time. But, she also works in an apt comparisons, like the boardgame Siena which she rates as the best Renaissance-themed game she knows of for its depiction of Fourteenth Century social climbing. I’m afraid I’ve not played it, but I know I’ve heard the name before, and it sounds like the goals are properly aligned with the history it wants to show.

This is after some early admonitions to not trust the author, at least not too much. Palmer is very up front about the fact that there will be other books on the same shelf as hers that have different conclusions, and the bulk of them will be just as valid as hers. This was a nice early bit of expectation management, and does get a lot of follow up, for the first half of the book at least, about the different answers that can be found on a number of subjects or people.

This flows back into the talk of theories, namely, “just what is the Renaissance?” There’s some time spent with various definitions in the middle and just how they aren’t satisfying for various reasons. However, there’s the seed of an answer all along: the Renaissance was a self-conscious attempt to create a golden age. A lot of our current thoughts actually go back good advertising that started at that time. And the eventual definitions late in the book do relate to that bit of propaganda and its goals.

The longest part of the book is a series of fifteen mini-biographies (some famous, some quite obscure) that all intersect and deal with Florence. The latter is almost an odd choice, as she’s already shown that the association of the Renaissance with Florence is more self-fulfilling prophecy than actuality; but there’s a reason why it happened in the first place. But the real point is to move back and forth over a few decades, coming at some of the same events from different angles. I don’t think this works out as well as hoped, and it is decidedly the densest part of the book.

It’s not bad, mind you, just not as good as the rest.

Then we get into some of the current (or close to) historical thought on the Renaissance, and current definitions. This leads us back to exclusions, and figuring it out by what did it turn into and how. Eleventh Century philosopher Peter Abelard shows up early, and then becomes a recurrent figure here; so much so that his presence is verbed for the last parts of the book. Not only was the Renaissance a self-proclaimed effort to create a golden age, but the major (intellectual) project was to find forgotten and mistranslated wisdom from prior ages and integrate it all into one syncretic world view that would naturally solve the world’s ills. What could go wrong?

Well, it didn’t work, for one. The advice the umanisti gave didn’t help, the better known the ancient writers became, the more evident their contradictions became, and the more obvious their lacks in the face of all the new things coming from across the Atlantic became. From there we get a whirlwind tour of philosophical thought that could become a new Connections miniseries.

The book largely ends with a discussion her own classroom exercise dealing with the crisis year (in Italy) of 1492. It’s the type of thing that more classes really should have, as a practical demonstration that, among other things, people haven’t changed that much. The various members of the class all have roles of people around the papal election that year, and it’s aftermath, the First Italian War. There’s plenty of room for things to be different, but the pressures are such that someone invades Italy in the aftermath. Further philosophical discussion brings all of this to a relation with current events.

It’s an amazingly wide-ranging book. Just looking at the table of contents (“19. Rome: The Eternal Problem City”) will give you some idea of the ride you’re in for. And it leverages being unusual to very good effect.

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Thirteen (Plus) Histories

by on May 5, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

I’ve read a good number of history books over the years, and I thought I’d take the time to list my recommendations of some of the best of the best I’ve come across, with links to my fuller reviews. I mostly look at military history, so there’s a decided weight here, and not being in academic circles, these are mostly ‘general reader’ books, but there’s plenty of very good ‘period pieces’, and some very good more detailed studies.

Song of Wrath by J.E. Lendon — This is a good look at the first of the four “Peloponnesian Wars”, trying to reconstruct the societal meaning around it all. It’s impossible to say he’s right, but it’s still a worthy theory.

Empires and Barbarians by Peter Heather — This one of my favorites even on this list. Peter Heather takes a look at the “Age of Migrations” using modern migration studies to inform his view. It’s also something of a sequel to his The Fall of the Roman Empire, which I’ve yet to read, and I have Rome Resurgent on my ‘to read’ list, though I wasn’t nearly as happy with The Restoration of Rome, it is still worth a look.

Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland — Another of my favorite of favorites. Holland does an excellent job with the start of Islam, and has enough to say that he circles around the subject a few times, easing you into the view he gives of events. His Persian Fire isn’t this good, but is well worth reading too.

The Norman Conquest by Mark Morris — Morris presents nearly a century of history to show just various factions came to be pushing the English throne in different directions in 1066. It continues through Domesday, but the value is all the background given. His later The Anglo-Saxons is also recommended, though part of it is covered here, and I think better done in this version.

The Hundred Years War by Johnathan Sumption — Be ready before starting this, because we’re talking nearly 3,600 pages of text on the Hundred Years War (not including indexes, notes, bibliographies, etc). However, it is very much worth it, and a clear, detailed, look at a subject that you often just get a couple “exciting” corners of. His earlier book on The Albegensian Crusade is also good, but this is the main event.

Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer — I’m actually still in the ending sections of this book. It’s very unusual, with a very personal tone as Palmer talks to us about various subjects. It was a little off-putting at first, but she uses this change up well, as she guides us through the historiography of the Renaissance and her own experiences with research and symposiums. It’s worth it for the latter, and that’s still the least of what it’s got to say.

Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley — A well written and paced account of the sieges of Rhodes, and Malta, and the battle of Lepanto, showing warfare in the sixteenth-century Mediterranean. Crowley is an engaging writer, and is always worth reading, and I especially recommend City of Fortune. Ernle Bradford’s The Great Siege is also good for Malta, but most of it is in here already.

A Dragon’s Head and a Serpent’s Tail by Kenneth M. Swope — You don’t get to hear much of the 1592 Japanese invasion of Korea, and Swope has a good book looking at it from the Chinese point of view. There’s a sequel, but it’s locked behind scholarly low-volume high prices so I haven’t read it yet.

Crucible of War by Fred Anderson — This is a surprisingly wide-ranging book on the French and Indian War. Even if you think you know enough, there’s plenty in here, and its all well put together.

A Country of Vast Designs by Robert W. Merry — The Mexican-American War is under-discussed, and this book is really more about Polk’s political career. So, you see how it ties into Oregon and his tariffs, but the war is seen distantly. A Wicked War takes a (deservedly) much more negative view of events (Vast Designs is too close to Polk for proper perspective), but has problems. The Training Ground has good views of the combat, but I spotted some big errors, and worry about what I didn’t spot, and only Vast Designs even begins to have any Mexican viewpoint in it.

Centennial History of the ACW by Bruce Catton — Catton is one of the best writers the American Civil War has had, and I recommend any of his books, but the Centennial Trilogy of The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword, and Never Call Retreat are overall his best. (My absolute favorite passage is the final chapter of Glory Road.)

Dreadnought by Robert Massie — A massive book covering about sixty years of European political history. The main thesis is that in around 1850 Britain and the Germanies were fairly close. In 1914, Britain and unified Germany went to war. Massie does an amazing job navigating the personalities and events that lead to the collision. All his books are very good, but this is by far his best.

Playing at the World by Jon Peterson — There’s now an expanded two-book set, but I’ve just read the original massive tome. Pop culture is somewhat ignored in more academic circles, leaving it to write its own histories. Peterson has applied a lot of rigor and detective work to a history of the start of RPGs, and spends time to go into some theoretical thoughts why the first was inevitably a fantasy RPG, and background on the history of wargaming. He’s gone on to a couple of other books around the same subject since, but I haven’t gotten to them yet. Shannon Applecline’s Designers & Dragons is also a good overall history of RPGs, and worth finding their own details in.

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Pylos and Sphacteria 425 BC

by on May 1, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

Thucydides’ classic account of the Peloponnesian War(s) hits one of its dramatic moments (of many) with the siege of Sphacteria. It gets a lot of attention in his history, and William Shepherd spends a lot of time quoting it in this book.

But, there is much more here. First of all, he takes time on occasion to get into the weeds of translation, giving the original Ancient Greek term, and its fuller definition so that we have much better context for that passage. This is in addition to good old fashioned expanding on the text and trying to get at some of the things Thucydides glosses over.

First, we get a fifteen-page background to the actual campaign, which is then followed by the Campaign formula of looks at the armies, leaders, and plans (another fourteen pages). This starts feeling a little excessive in a 96-page book, but does mean it stands alone, and you don’t already need any grounding in the period to understand; it is all laid out for you, and it is well written and presented.

As always, there are maps, starting with one showing the theater of the wars and major battles in the lead up to this campaign, and then one focused on the Peloponnese for the last few years. Then the campaigning along the eastern Adriatic, and finally one of the focus of the book: Pylos, the harbor there, and the island of Sphacteria. This last is essential, and what you will have the most trouble finding elsewhere. There’s then two even more focused maps, one of the main naval battle, and showing the locations of fortifications during the siege (this one feels primitive compared to the others), and then one isometric “showpiece” map for the final battle on Sphacteria.

In addition to the maps, you get all the usual Osprey visual reference. Much, especially at the start is the usual pictures illustrating arms and armor, including some full color pictures of Olympias, the Hellenic Navy’s reconstructed trireme. The real value is in a large number of photos of the area, particularly of Sphacteria, taken by the author. It has to be treated with some caution, as the landscape, and especially the shores have changed a lot in nearly 2500 years, but generally it seems things haven’t changed a lot, and it really helps to get a sense of what the Athenians and Spartans were dealing with.

The part that always gets me is that the Athenians sail around to aid Corcyra, leaving a contingent at a corner of Pylos. The Spartans notice and attack, and are beaten off, and then the Athenian navy returns, and takes control of the waters around Pylos. And suddenly there’s this Spartan force trapped on Sphacteria. The rest of this has been on the mainland, but now we have Spartans on a just-offshore island.

The blink-and-you-miss-it moment is that the Spartans decided they needed to occupy Sphacteria, for a number of good reasons: The channel between it and the Athenian camp on Pylos is very narrow, so it might control access to the Spartan camp and the fleet drawn up in the harbor. If the Athenians were driven away from the fresh water on the mainland, there was a spring on Sphacteria. And it’s a good lookout point.

But the Athenian fleet largely goes south around the island into the harbor and defeats the Spartans, and suddenly this force is cut off. It’s too big to feed easily, even sneaking supplies over at night. Too big to pull off the island. And too big for the Athenians to easily defeat on land.

So we get negotiations; no one wants to let go of an advantage once gained, so that goes nowhere. Reinforcements get sent, and the Athenians finally assault the Spartan camp. Shepherd shows this wasn’t easy either, and the battle was only won by a combination of good tactics (using light troops to harass the enemy, keep him off balance, and unable to get any telling blows in), and getting another force up a cliff side unexpectedly. The Spartans had a good reputation at the time as well as today, and the only thing more surprising to the Greek world than the Athenians defeating them on land, was the Spartans surrendering.

Shepherd does a very good job with all of this, showing how the campaign fits into other events, and demonstrating just how all the events worked. There’s the usual studied look at possible numbers and basic logistics, though it is impossible to go into any detail here.

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