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Amy, tsk, tsk. Shouldn't you be writing?

I'm still considering Swarm as the Realm's roaming equivalent of the Praetorian Fleet.

Besides that, I want it very simple. I'll either go with Fleet/fleet or Fleet/force to distinguish the whole fleet from a subset of the fleet. Hopefully, I won't find it necessary to name battle groups.

Most readers probably won't give a damn about Fleet/fleet, but it eases my OCD. :-)

Gracias to all.
Dirk

Nice! So there is a potential cascade effect.
Good to know.

Thanks
Dirk

The character, Apollo, experiences tremors in his left hand and forearm, especially when he is under stress. Tentatively, it's called Trembler's disease. There's no known cure and the only way to control it is with narcotics. By the time the story gets rolling, Apollo is already an addict.

The mental disease plays into a larger theme in the story about Apollo and his cousin, Joseph, both secretly hearing the voice of God, their reactions to him, and the consequences for the galaxy.

There are two answers:
a) I have more named entities in my spreadsheet than I will probably ever use. For example, I have ten classes of warships, ten classes of weapons, etc., but I ony sprinkle some of those names in here and there to add a little realism. So far, I've only ever mentioned one ship class by name in the book. Similarly I have ship names (only three in book one), and ship types that are easy to understand (e.g., starfighter, troop carrier, civilian transport, etc.).
b) I remind the reader what the named entity is. For example, rather than saying Dawn, I refer to it as the planet Dawn or the rebel planet, etc. Similarly, rather than saying General Equitius, I say General Equitius, the Imperial physician. In my case, it's especially important because those planets and characters generally only appear once every two chapters (I alternate back and forth between two interwoven stories.

One of my favorite surprises while writing my space opera is when I realize that I can use an experience out of my own life, put it on steroids, and insert it into the story. Happens over and over.

I plugged those four sentences into Google for the hell of it. I got porn.

NJC, I recognize a 9-volt Energizer battery in your pictures. If I put that on my tongue it hurts. Besides that, is there anything else I need to know for tomorrow's exam? :-)

Dirk

Thanks, Amy. I have a better understanding, but far from perfect. I find it very complex, even without the concept of the matrix. Why did you go with something so hard to understand? For example, mages draw power from the ground with their staffs into their reserve in order to cast spells. Yet, new mages have to ground in order to keep their overloaded reserve from blowing them up. These seem contradictory to me. The first case draws power, while the other sends it back, both by grounding.

I doubt you can simplify it at this point without a major rewrite of the books, but I look forward to reading the first book, which I accidentally skipped, to see how much I understand your explanation there.

Thanks.
Dirk

You're talking to a guy who's knowledge of electricity is limited to getting zapped by a handmixer and melting a screwdriver. That's probably true of your target audience, too. I had to read your explanation several times just to figure out what questions to ask:

So casting always comes from the reserve? You're not simply routing power from the ground directly at the target (which would be a much easier explanation, BTW)? You have to absorb it into your reserve first? Yes?

If any of that is correct (doubtful), why then do new mages need to learn how to ground quickly to avoid blowing up? If their reserve is limited, why doesn't that simply limit the amount of power they can wield? I'm missing something. I thought the ground (earth) is where the power comes from.

Aside from that, is matrix the same as reserve?

How should I visualize the matrix? When you say reserve, by default, I visualize a star-like place in the chest or mind that glows brighter/hotter (for those who can see it) as the reserve builds. Or power that makes their entire bodies glow brighter/hotter (again, for those who can see it) as the reserve builds.

I'm going to pass on the explanation about Alina and Katerin. She's now a mage, the same as exeryone else, which I understand. Let's leave it at that. :-)

Thanks, NJC. I appreciate the time you took for this.

I couldn't follow all of it, so let me try with a simple example. A good old-fashioned Shoddy-brand hand mixer plugged into an old-fashioned NON-grounded outlet. Those were fun! Based on what I remember, the mixer is tapping into the electrical circuit that flows through the house, fed from the utility lines outside. If a part of the insulated wiring inside the mixer becomes exposed/worn, the current can flow/leak out from the wiring into other parts of the mixer (e.g.,  the spinning metal egg beaters or the on/off switch), leading to a potentially painful zap, if touched. Good so far?

When it zaps me, does that have anything to do with me standing on the Earth, or would it jolt me even if I were floating with some of Amy's magic?

Now, let's extend that to grounded outlets. Once again, the wiring inside the mixer is worn. I assume some or all of the leaking current flows through the ground wire into the outlet and down to the Earth. Yes? Is it just some of the leaking current that's diverted? So I can still get zapped, just less so?

If my basic assumptions here are wrong, then I'm a hopeless case.

Thanks.
Dirk

P.S. Amy, don't go far. When/if I understand this, you're next.