amulder posted a comment on Sunday 6th January 2008 1:28pm for Contact

Fun premise. thanks for writing.

Now I have a new author to pursue. I've never read any of Banks' work, but from what you've written here, it seems to be worth checking out.

The "It's not my fault" name is presumably a subtle homage to star wars? In which case, perhaps a name/homage out of Star Trek would suit for one of the other ships. Perhaps the "Fool me twice, shame on me", or maybe the "can't change the laws of Physics".

Or maybe the "By his bootstraps", if you want to give an homage to the grand master Heinlein?

Curious about having him show up around Nov 2 -- if this follows the original timeline, will he show up in the middle of Hermione's funeral? Not only that, with the amount of intelligence being shown here, just how quickly might Harry skip into an older class? I can see him associating with folks more of Woods or Percy's year in terms of maturity, even if he is stuck in first year for the schoolwork.

And I am very curious to see just how all this technology will function in proximity to Hogwarts. It does seem established in canon, after all, that magic seems to inhibit electricity and other technologies.

Thanks again, it's a fun read!

forbin posted a comment on Sunday 6th January 2008 1:17pm for Contact

Man.. I haven't read Banks in a long time. I've always found the naming convention of the Culture for it's ships highly amusing too, so I really like this chapter. Please keep up the good work, it's good to see you writing again!