The Archangel Syndrome (Page 12 of 13)

Wouldn't wattstones be just as overly accurate as joulestones?. These stones not only have a maximum energy storage capacity (expressed in joules), but also a rate at which energy can flow in/out of a given stone (in watts). You need both to fully specify the two properties of these stones.

Also, only joulestones have the play on words (jewel). My assumption is these minerals have to be processed to change them from gemstones into gems (jewels) to maximize their effectiveness as batteries.

Or joulestones may become a permanent part of the English language.   I could organize rock-hunting parties, where I send people out to hunt for those incredibly valuable energy stones, with a substantial reward for anyone who finds one. Put that on Facebook, and watch the fun.   Better yet, hold the rock hunt on April 1.

I fooled around with Gemini, hunting for names that *do* suggest interstellar travel, the revised assumption being that these mineral stones have a formal name (atreidite? trirarium?), but are commonly known as (one of) galaxy grains, cosmic shards, nova nuggets, starstuff, or stellar stones, a name that evolved once they began to be used for powering stardrives. All five of those names have been used, of course. Galaxy grains are a snack in the Star Wars universe. Starstuff (star stuff) is typically associated with Carl Sagan, which could be a nice tribute.

In descending order, I like starstuff, nova nuggets, and galaxy grains. I just have to pick one and stop wasting time.

EDIT: I went with trirarium and nova nuggets. Although I prefer starstuff, it would make for too many repetitive references to stars in the names (e.g., stardrives powered by starstuff - nyet). Nova nuggets are formed during supernovas, hence their nova name.

Thanks for everyone's help. Now go out and see if you can find any deposits of the mineral. The galaxy awaits!

Do you mean Tritarium?

Nailed it! Inspired by my original typo. Go figure.

...Since the lay public could barely pronounce tritrarium, much less spell it, some fool geologist with a poor understanding of human nature, suggested holding a contest to rename it. The winning entry was Starry McStarface. Horrified, geologists refused to accept the result. After considerable public outrage and endless lawsuits, the judge overseeing the matter, caught on a bad day and fed up with the stupidity of it all, unilaterally imposed a compromise: McRock.

I'm truly McDemented. Total waste of a day, but I love the result.

I added an android sports commentator for the combat pit, which I've renamed the rumble pit. Unfortunately, the android grew sentient and went off the deep end as Lo Bidda androids like to do and began making ludicrous British-slang comments in an English accent. Rather than replace it, the kids renamed it Sir Reginald "Rumbly" Rumblebottom IV (Sir Rumbly). Part of the credit for the slang goes to Gemini.

I'll probably do a full repost of chapters 8 and 9 once the cleanup is done. In the meantime, I highlighted the new nonsense in bold.

I have to admit I laughed my ass off writing Sir Rumbly's dialogue.

Thanks for checking that. Didn't even occur to me. I had a look at it. Although you can use copyright to try to prevent anyone from using a unique name (Harry Potter?), if its important enough to protect all uses of that name in any fictional work (Harry Potter?), they'd almost certainly have to go for a trademark (eg droid). The example you found doesn't appear important enough that anyone would bother. Also, I only use the name once (I use Sir Rumbly everywhere else), and mine is Sir Reginald Rumblebottom IV whereas they use Lord Reginald Rumblebottom. Also, mine is the name of a relatively unimportant android in one chapter of a sci-fi novel, whereas theirs is something totally different.

I'm pretty sure I'm safe.

Funny thing. I forgot that, in American English, a rumble usually involves gangs/groups. So now I'm trying to decide if I should keep the rumble/rumbly terminology. I'm leaning toward keeping it.

I'll go with Sir Remington (Rummy) Rumblebottom IV. It's unused. And that gives me Sir Rummy, which is perfect.

A collective gasp and a low "ooh" rippled through the crowd.

Better?

It didn't previously, but I'll add it to the list of things it could be.
He's actually called that because I renamed the combat pit to rumble pit.

Michael said, "Your destiny is to create a new ultraliberal paradise across the stars called the Garden of Eden — Take Two."
Joseph scrunched up his nose. "Sounds like a movie set. How about ... the Garden of Eden — Sans Pommes or maybe just the Garden Sans Pommes? The Ancient French adds a certain elegance, don't you think?"
"The garden without apples?" Michael considered. "I like it."