The Human Division, Episode Five: Tales From The Clarke is Now Live!
Posted on February 12, 2013 Posted by Kate Baker 30 Comments
It’s Tuesday and by now, you know what that means! The Human Division, Episode Five: “Tales from the Clarke” is now live. (Oh, a rhyme!) Links to this week’s piece are below and the description blurb is as follows:
Captain Sophia Coloma of the Clarke has a simple task: Ferry around representatives from Earth in an aging spaceship that the Colonial Union hopes to sell to them. But nothing is as simple as it seems, and Coloma discovers the ship she’s showing off holds surprises of its own…and it’s not the only one with secrets.
You can also continue to read along with Ron Hogan over at Tor.com. As Ron cleverly teases for the future installment:
Join us next week, when we meet a familiar face from The Last Colony, and get to see a character from Zoe’s Tale in a whole new light, in Episode 6, “The Back Channel.”
Reviews are always appreciated, so if you do like the episode (or even if you don’t),hit your favorite social media or online bookstore to leave your thoughts and stars. Above all else, thank you for riding along on the journey thus far.
Tales from the Clarke: Amazon|Barnes & Noble |iBookstore | Google Play |Kobo|Audible (Audio) (all links US)
Yay! It’s Tuesday!
(Now, I’m wondering how this will read in toto. There’s a certain amount of explanatory info dumping that seems tailored for the serialization, but might seem repetitive in the collected work),
That was the problem with Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. You would be reading along nicely and suddenly there is a huge infodump intruding. I am hoping, given our host’s ability with words, that the combined edition will have those removed.
Just finished and I am liking this format more and more. The multiple POVs of the same chain of events is racking up the tension.
I’m loving this. Just enough time between installments to builds anticipation, not enough to run out of fingernails…
Oh, and I can pre-order all the episodes on Audible.com? Thank you very much, saving me a lot of time there…..
By the way, your marketing minions (I’m just assuming you have lots of different minions…) might be interested to know that I would hesitate to buy this as an audio book in one go – I’m still holding off on “The Last Colony” and “Fuzzy Nation” since I have to justify the cost in the household budget, but the individual episodes are pocket money. Does that make sense?
Oh, man, I’m not reading along–waiting for the book, here–but I just have to intrude to say: what a terrific name for a ship!
It was intriguing, in both senses of the word.
There was that one paragraph that was a bit overly recappy. In a TV show, it would have been the “Previously on ‘The Human Division'” part at the beginning, for those who missed the earlier episodes. But no one should have missed the earlier episodes anyway, c’mon!
Solid science fiction, although one of the important plot points is clearly either fantasy, or totally shows how different the future is. ;)
This is how I judge the other books I’m reading these days – do I continue reading until I finish the book, saving the latest episode of The Human Division until later in the week ? Or do I toss them carelessly aside on Tuesday morning, grab my e-reader and fire it up??
The book is great so far, but I’m having problems with my own personal pacing. I read the episodes immediately upon discovering they have been sent to the Kindle, then I have an ENTIRE WEEK to wait before the next one. It kind of disrupts the groove for me so I may try skipping a few weeks just to be able to get a more concentrated dose.
OK, not to give anything away, just a question, why doesn’t Captain Coloma have a BrainPal? In an earlier chapter, the bridge was silent, as the crew communicated via BrainPal. But Captain Coloma gt her message via PDA?
Loving the story so far, I look forward to giving you a buck a week (or whatever portion of .99 cents you get to keep)!
Just an aside, are Navy CDF (volunteers) or are they recruited from the Colonies?
Now I feel stupid, Capt. Coloma is a civilian not CDF, I hadn’t read that far. My bad, but I’m still interested in the Navy question.
“If you want the ship, it’s yours. If you don’t want the ship, it’s still yours.”
Best. Lines. Ever.
I loved it. Harkens back to old spy movies. Tuesday has become my new favorite day of the week, and yes, Damian Trasler, you can pre-order on Audible.
Worst thing about losing my credit card earlier this week and waiting for a replacement: Have to wait to read the new episode!
So where did John go, anyway?
@Bruce: Away. ;)
Silly, I gathered that much. I hope he fills us in when he returns. :)
Tom B: as I recall, the “crew talking via BrainPal” scene was the first episode opener on the Polk, which was explicitly a CDF-staffed frigate. I don’t think we’ve seen that on the Clarke, and Coloma discusses being a civilian, and the Clarke‘s hull number starts “CUDS”: CU Dept of State. Not specifically answered, AFAIK, is why that initial mission is being conducted by a CDF ship instead of a CUDS ship (defense just in case, I’d guess).
I would assume that the Navy (CDF Fleet? Not sure of the in-universe terminology) is 99% Earthborn just like the rest of the CDF.
I too had thought the non diplomat crew of the Clarke were CDF, mainly because the crew of the Polk was though, so I just wrongly assumed.
Okay, so I’m into episode 5 of this title of John’s. I have to say I’m liking Human Division a lot. What I’m more on the fence about is this method of media delivery: ie, the episodes. Judgement is starting to settle in the ‘not enough’ end of things. Possibly a double up on the segments would be ‘meatier’ as it were. Possibly it’s just me, someone who wasn’t born into the internet era, but watched it change my world instead. But, bottom line, great story and looking forward to the next installment–however ‘wafer thin’ that may be.
Possibly it’s just me, someone who wasn’t born into the internet era, but watched it change my world instead.
More like, you probably haven’t bought recent comic books. “Not enough” is pretty rampant there….
For me, this is the first ‘thin’ episode; having said that, it is still a jolly good read and I am looking forward to next Tuesday. (Sigh – I had to buy ‘Fuzzy Nation’ late last week to fill the ‘Scalzi’ gap!) I think the thinness actually arises from the episodic nature of the story, or maybe it was a slightly weak link? Only another eight weeks to find out :).
More like, you probably haven’t bought recent comic books. “Not enough” is pretty rampant there….
What gets me most about comics these days is the price. I can remember when comics were 12 cents a copy (i don’t ever recall walking through a high, snowy mountain pass to get to the store though–just so you know). Nowadays, if I’m going to dish out cash for comics it’s usually via a ‘graphic novel’ with everything tossed together.
[Slightly Spoilerific]
John, the Cubs bit was brilliant. 101 games and a perfect game in the Series? I see you’re branching out into fantasy now. :)
I don’t understand this format…are you writing episodes, or are you writing short stories, or are you writing essays? Don’t plan to pay for this kind of stuff (I’ve read ali your novels, loved them!) until I understand what you’re selling! That “Redshirt” teaser was a disappointment (even after I bought “the rest of the story”).
Arthur J. White:
That’s fine. There’ll be a hardcover edition in May; you may find that more to your liking.
Wow…my first comment, and my first response from the “atheist/agnostic” (guess what I’m reading now…again?) Thank you John…but is there somewhere that describes your present format for these works?
I was a bit disappointed in how the cliffhanger with the Dura and Harry got resolved off-screen. It felt like I missed a week.