"Swycaffer" books....

[theSea]

Hi Folks--

From time to time I see people referring to the 'Traveller inspired' books by Jefferson P. Swycaffer. Amazon has some of his books used for very cheap, but I'd like a little more information.

If someone could post a short review of these I'd most appreciate it. Please avoid spoiles if possible/reasonable.

I'm specifically interested in:

1) Are they a good read? I don't care how 'Traveller inspired' they might be if they bite...
2) How do they relate to Traveller - theme? Setting? Tech?
3) Which books are traveller related?


In return I'd like to recommend the 'Laiden' books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller . In addition to having a Traveller 'feel' (The main characters include an active duty Scout/Agent, a Merchant Capitan and crew and an ex-Merc) they are most defitintely a rousing good read. Not deeply intellectual, mind, but very fun.

Start with Partners in Necessity.


TIA

--michael

 

[Secrect Cow Level]

I read about half of the first book several years ago, but stoped because I found it boring and the characters very cliche. I can't really remember much else about it. I hope this helps a little.

 

[Richard]

I own all seven of the Swycaffer 'Traveller' novels. 'Not in Our Stars' is the best by quite a bit - a good look at massed fleet action. The other one well worth reading is 'Voyage of the Planetslayer'. They are all worth looking at if you want some Classic Traveller fiction - but I'd only make a real effort to pick up the two I mentioned.

Swycaffer wrote some articles for Dragon back in the early 80s - as I remember, one of the larger ones 'Exonidas Spaceport' was a direct tie-in to one of the novels.

Richard Tongue

 

[jappel]

Now, I remember the Exonidas Spaceport article fondly. That was an excellent write-up of a good-sized Class A downport if memory serves. The key feature I recall is the automatic grav-assisted landing and take-off system (all ships submit themselves to ground control and are "flown" to and from the landing grid via anti-grav). There was a full-page map of the port and a detailed write-up of the various port facilities, including a number of the port-based businesses.

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to look for the books.

John

 

[Lord Iron Wolf]

FYI for some good traveller reading I might suggest books that inspired Traveller:

*Dumarest of Terra series by EC Tubb
*The Demon Prince Novels by Jack Vance

--and they are much more competently written than the ones written by JS

LIW

 

[kafka47]

I ahve read all the books and I found them excellent, save "Not in our Stars" (first book of the first trilogy) & "Presidium of Archive" (last book of the second trilogy)** By far the best for a small group of players is "Become the Hunted", in fact, I modelled my first character after Sten. The second trilogy is more geared toward a group of players and is a kinda Dungeon crawl with some extra Ancient artifacts thrown in.

I actually liked his characterizations, particularly, in giving women an equal or superior footing to men. As these characters were based on his own Traveller campaigns, the descriptions of his fellow players don't leave much for the imagination.

While it is true the Concordant is not the Imperium but as there is a deep buried HWIG document (I will let you know where...when I get the CD ROM) that mentions the Concordant as an officially recognized alternate. Now with T20 allowing Traveller to flower into a thousand and one universes, surely the Concordant is worth a revisit?

 

[Ishtar]

Originally posted by kafka47:
I actually liked his characterizations, particularly, in giving women an equal or superior footing to men.

I totally agree
Of course, I wouldn't be biased, now, would I?
--Courtney P.

 

[Despasian]

Don't know if it falls into the "Traveller inspired" model or not;

But I've become a big fan of Vorkosigan Saga books by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Besides being an exciting read with great characters, there's just tons of ideas to had from multiple spacefaring empires, and lots of Imperial political intrigue.

Highly recommended for any who haven't read them.

-Despasian

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Don't know if it falls into the "Traveller inspired" model or not;

But I've become a big fan of Vorkosigan Saga books by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Anyone here who hasn't read them yet should do so immediately. If you don't like them, you're wrong. Read them again until you do.

I was introduced to them by one of my players, who gave me a copy of The Warrior's Apprentice and said, "You'll like this, it's just like your game!"

 

[Murph]

Read them all and came away dissatisfied with the quality of the books.

While not Traveller, the Robert Frezza books on the 1/35th Imperial Infantry- A SMALL COLONIAL WAR, FIRE IN A FARAWAY PLACE, and CAIN'S LAND are excellent. Highly recommended.

 

[theSea]

Originally posted by Murph:
While not Traveller, the Robert Frezza books on the 1/35th Imperial Infantry- A SMALL COLONIAL WAR, FIRE IN A FARAWAY PLACE, and CAIN'S LAND are excellent. Highly recommended.

Damn! there's *more* of those?! - I'd only read the first.... off to Amazon we go!

Can anyone recommend a good reading order for the Bujold?

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Can anyone recommend a good reading order for the Bujold?

Internal chronological order is best (some were written out of sequence):

Shards of Honor
Barrayar
The Warrior's Apprentice
The Vor Game
Cetaganda
Brothers In Arms
Ethan of Athos
Borders Of Infinity
Mirror Dance
Memory
Komarr
A Civil Campaign
Diplomatic Immunity

 

[jappel]

Ah, we've devolved into a Reading List thread... not a bad thing, mind you...

Out of print but available via your "Used & Secondhand" book dealer of choice is the excellent and VERY Travelleresque trilogy from Joe Clifford Faust: the Angel's Luck series:
- Desperate Measueres
- Precious Cargo
- The Essence of Evil

Get these. Read them. You won't be disappointed.

John

 

[Whipsnade]

Gents,

Read Mr. Boulton's recommendation of Bujold's Vorkosigan series and believe what he writes! Read those books!

I especially liked 'A Civil Campaign'. it showed how you can have adventures without starships, big guns, lots of explosions, etc.


Sincerely,
Larsen

 

[Despasian]

Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga is also now being printed in some Omnibus editions.

Cordelia's Honor
Young Miles
Miles, Mystery & Mayhem
Miles Errant
-these bring you from 'Shards of Honor' up to 'Memory'

jappel-
Ah, we've devolved into a Reading List thread... not a bad thing, mind you...

Reading List thread...Hmm not a bad idea. Let's move it over to Random Static.
Anyone feel free to repeat the great recommendations already made here, too.


Despasian

 

[Finarvyn]

Big necro here. Seven years or so. Hope it's okay....

One of my favorite scifi books is the Traveller book Not in Our Stars by Jeff Swycaffer, and until I ran into this thread I thought it was the only book that he had ever done. Now I realize there are seven books, plus he wrote Traveller stuff for Dragon magazine.

I think that this is the series order:
1. Not in Our Stars (1984)
2. Become the Hunted (1985)
3. The Universal Prey (1985)
4. The Praesidium of Archive (1986)

5. The Empire's Legacy (1988)
6. Voyage of the Planetslayer (1988)
7. Revolt and Rebirth (1988)

I did some web searching and I get the impression that books 2-4 have some minor characters from NiOS, that 5-7 are a totally different ship, and don't know anything about #8.

Questions:
1. Are these worth tracking down if I liked Not in Our Stars?

2. Which "era" of the game do these correspond to? (I mostly have 1977 LBB Traveller, but also own a later starter set, GURPS, and MT, but don't know the difference between them all yet. I'm mostly looking for something LBB Traveller-like, but I'm not too picky...)


EDIT: Removed "8. The Death of Wisdom (1995)", which I am told is NOT part of the series.

 

[aramis]

Big necro here. Seven years or so. Hope it's okay....

'sallright... just so long as you realize some of the posters in the thread no longer post...

 

[kafka47]

Big necro here. Seven years or so. Hope it's okay....

One of my favorite scifi books is the Traveller book Not in Our Stars by Jeff Swycaffer, and until I ran into this thread I thought it was the only book that he had ever done. Now I realize there are seven books, plus he wrote Traveller stuff for Dragon magazine.

I think that this is the series order:
1. Not in Our Stars (1984)
2. Become the Hunted (1985)
3. The Universal Prey (1985)
4. The Praesidium of Archive (1986)

5. The Empire's Legacy (1988)
6. Voyage of the Planetslayer (1988)
7. Revolt and Rebirth (1988)

8. The Death of Wisdom (1995)

I did some web searching and I get the impression that books 2-4 have some minor characters from NiOS, that 5-7 are a totally different ship, and don't know anything about #8.

Questions:
1. Are these worth tracking down if I liked Not in Our Stars?

2. Which "era" of the game do these correspond to? (I mostly have 1977 LBB Traveller, but also own a later starter set, GURPS, and MT, but don't know the difference between them all yet. I'm mostly looking for something LBB Traveller-like, but I'm not too picky...)

Answers:

1. Well, if you liked Not in Our Stars you will probably like the others...Swycaffer's later work seems to be more related to his Traveller adventures escape for The Praesidium of Archive which was more a Referee's exercise of getting facts about his major polity down. So, if you like fiction based upon an adventuring party ie gamer fiction then you will like these all.
2. They are non-OTU setting so all and none. But, I think Swycaffer is more clearly getting the vibe from the CT era especially JTAS+Alien Modules. But, I would hate to box him in. I wish he would write more (believe me, I have tried to convince him) and that MgT would put out a sourcebook that he could pen to let on all the secrets of the Praesidium...

 

[inexorabletash]

1. Not in Our Stars (1984)
2. Become the Hunted (1985)
3. The Universal Prey (1985)
4. The Praesidium of Archive (1986)

5. The Empire's Legacy (1988)
6. Voyage of the Planetslayer (1988)
7. Revolt and Rebirth (1988)

I have the full set of these... and they need a new home. They're pretty beat up, but perfectly readable. Just pay shipping (from California) and they're yours. First one to ask (by timestamp) gets 'em.

8. The Death of Wisdom (1995)

Unrelated - this is the first book in a 3-and-a-half part TNE trilogy. (Book 3 was never published and lost, a new Book 3 was authored, then the original Book 3 was found so there are two different endings.) See the last page of the TNE CD-ROM #2 contents: http://farfuture.net/Contents CDROM TNE-2.pdf

 

[Finarvyn]

I have the full set of these... and they need a new home. They're pretty beat up, but perfectly readable. Just pay shipping (from California) and they're yours. First one to ask (by timestamp) gets 'em.

I'd like them. I'll see if I can find a way to PM you to set up the details!