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readingontheredcouch · 4 years

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Leviathan Falls speculations: How is the Expanse book series going to end?

Spoilers ahead, read at your own risk if you haven’t finished all the 8 books of the Expanse series yet!

With the title of the final instalment revealed at long last, we have received quite a substantial clue as to the possible ending of the Expanse series.

In order to understand the above statement better we need to step back and examine what one of my favourite writers, Kurt Vonnegut, considered his prettiest contribution to culture (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/02/09/kurt-vonnegut-graphed-the-worlds-most-popular-stories/). In a largely forgotten master’s thesis he wrote, while studying anthropology, he identified a hand full of core patterns in storytelling. The patterns are summarized as follows:

Man in a Hole

The main character gets into trouble then gets out of it again and ends up better of for the experience. Book example: Arsenic and Old Lace

Movie example: Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

Boy Meets Girl

The main character comes across something wonderful, gets it, loses it, then gets it back forever.

Book example: Jane Eyre

Movie example: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Creation Story

In many cultures’ creation stories, humankind receives incremental gifts from a deity. First major staples like the earth and sky, then smaller things like sparrows and cell phones. Not a common shape for Western stories, however.

Old Testament

Humankind receives incremental gifts from a deity, but is suddenly ousted from good standing in a fall of enormous proportions.

Book example: Great Expectations, Flowers for Algernon

New Testament

Humankind receives incremental gifts from a deity, is suddenly ousted from good standing, but then receives off the charts bliss.

Book example: Great Expectations with Dickens’ alternate ending

Cinderella

It was the similarity between the shapes of Cinderella and the New Testament that thrilled Vonnegut for the first time in 1947 and then over the course of his life as he continued to write essays and give lectures on the shapes of stories.

From Bad to Worse

The main character starts off poorly then gets continuously worse with no hope for improvement

Book example: The Metamorphosis

TV example: The Twilight Zone

Which Way is Up?

The story has a lifelike ambiguity that keeps us from knowing if new developments are good or bad.

Book example: Hamlet

TV Example: The Sopranos

So let’s look at the Expanse series from this point of view. Apart from some impressively creative sci-fi and blasting off the page in space action, what did actually happen in the eight books so far?

Well, not much actually. In the beginning of the first book humanity comes in contact with the technology of a long gone far superior alien race. Over the course of the next eight books humanity tries to deal with the new reality. Immense possibilities literally open up through the ring-gates, science is advanced hundreds of years in a very short period of time. Sure, politics, logistics, law and regulatory affairs, all need to adjust. And the way humanity once again copes with change and uncertainty through the tried and true mechanism of crime, war and terrorist attacks, in the end amounts to a brilliant thought experiment and a truly enjoyable read. However, as the main theme of the Expanse series, I think we can agree that ‘humankind receives incremental gifts from a deity’ is the most fitting main theme.

So where do we go from here? Well, the destruction of the Earth by Marco Inaros and the Free Navy has caused a downwards slope in the pattern eliminating the Creation Story outcome, which in any case wasn’t a very likely scenario. So now only the Old and New Testament patterns remain. Is it going to be off the charts bliss for humanity and the crew of the Rocinante or a fall of enormous proportions? As much as I would like for the series to have a happy ending, I don’t think that off the charts bliss is a likely outcome here. Let me explain why I think that the Old Testament pattern is probably the most fitting for the Expanse series. First of all I think that he destruction of the Earth in Nemesis Games sealed the deal on the possibility of a positive outcome and marked a distinctive downward spiral in the story pattern development. There is just no coming back from the destruction of the home world for any species, and in particular such a vulnerable and pampered carbon life form as we are. But any hope for a positive outcome that still remained was shattered by the reveal of the title of the final installment: Leviathan Falls. Here we see a distinctive and downward pattern compared to the Leviathan Wakes of the first book. Not to mention the fact that Leviathan is a primordial sea snake of the Old Testament. I am actually beginning to wonder whether the James S.A. Corey writers didn’t give away too much at this point in time. Finally, looking at the cultural context wherein the Expanse series have been created, for as many of my favourite writers have said before, science fiction is a representation of the present and not the future, and without going into too much details, I don’t think a truly happy ending is possible considering the current state of the world we are living in. The writers will probably want to caution us against hubris and discord and will want to provide a silver lining, while mirroring the bleak state of affairs nowadays.

So what plot developments are possible within the Old Testament, or as I like to think about it, the Flowers for Algernon story pattern framework?

I think the most likely scenario is that the gates are going to close for good, cutting the Solar System off from the colonised worlds. The gates have been malfunctioning ever since they first opened, so that definitely isn’t that far of a plot stretch. What is left of humanity will have to rebuild the Solar System in dreadful conditions and without the resources of the home planet. This is going to be a daunting and dangerous task, but the silver lining in this outcome is that due to the loss of the Earth humanity will become more tolerant and more equal than ever before in its history. The Earther, Martian and Belter division is going to disappear and humans will resemble a classless society for the first time in history. So that is definitely a change for the better. And what about our crew? Wherever they are going to end up, if alive, they are going to learn to live with their own renewed insignificance. Not a very appealing end for a bunch of already old heroes. That is why I think that we will have to say good bye to at least some additional members of our beloved crew in a similar fashion we already did to Bobbi Draper.

And what about the colonies? As we have learned time and time again, most of the colonies weren’t self-sufficient enough to survive without the commodity influx of the Solar System yet. So most of the colonies will probably die, with a very few colonists surviving in extremely primitive conditions. Now I am merely speculating, but the evolution will probably run its course until in a million years the new humans will find a remainder of the alien technology, will discover the ruined Earth, the extinct Solar System and will wonder what unknown enemy could have ever conquered such a superior species. And just like that looking forward has provided us with a possible explanation of how the alien technology ever came to be in the Solar System in the first place and what unknown enemy has tempered with the ring-gates and caused the extinction of the alien race. For if we know how the Free Navy has demolished the Earth, is it such a stretch to imagine that the superior alien race has destroyed itself from within as well? And that the superior alien race was no more and no less than a previous installment of humanity itself?

in any case I can’t wait for the book to come out in 2021! I have already made some space on my shelf :)

#the expanse #leviathan falls #story pattern #kurt vonnegut #series ending #the expanse books #shelfie #sundayshelfie

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somewherecold16 · 4 years

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A Journey of Giraffes‘ third release on the label, Armenia brings us a 44 track of experimental brilliance. If you haven’t been listening to A Journey of Giraffes, you have been depriving yourself of the brilliant, thoughtful, and engaging work of John Lane. A more challenging listen than Hour Club and Kona, Armenia stretches boundaries and is musically more challenging in a good way of course. The physical copy comes with gorgeous artwork evoking an ancient feel.

From the press release: “Everything to be found on this album can be traced back, through each fragmentary track, to Sergei Parajanov’s “The Color of Pomegranates” (1969). In his most precious film, Parajanov provided a new/old language, a new/old series of life codes, and a dual mirror which manages to reflect an ancient imagined past and yet also distorted images of perhaps aspects of our own lives. “Armenia”, this 3rd album for Somewherecold Records by A Journey of Giraffes, is an attempt by the artist to occupy, dwell in, and extend the world of “The Color of Pomegranates”. Parajanov’s film plays with what we learn, what we anticipate, what we cling to, what we believe in so fiercely, and then everything that we have to let go of — in short, it’s not just Sayat Nova’s abstracted life represented on the screen, but everyone’s. A Journey of Giraffe’s “Armenia” – through tape manipulations, loops, metallic cracklings, drowned organs, burbled chants, and more – greets Parajanov’s playful spirit on the roof of the Sanahin Monstery with arms outstretched and eyes cast heavenward.”

If you haven’t heard any of A Journey of Giraffe’s work on the label, I highly recommend you do. Buy all three albums and then thank me later. The pre-order for Armenia starts today with two pre-order tracks available when ordered and the album comes out on February 21st.

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FOR IMMEDIATE PRE-ORDER - A Journey of Giraffes: Armenia (Somewherecold Records, 2020) "A Journey of Giraffes' third release on the label, Armenia brings us a 44 track of experimental brilliance. If you haven't been listening to A Journey of Giraffes, you have been depriving yourself of the brilliant, thoughtful, and engaging work of John Lane. A more challenging listen than Hour Club and Kona, Armenia stretches boundaries and is musically more challenging in a good way of course. The physical copy comes with gorgeous artwork evoking an ancient feel." A Journey of Giraffes' third release on the label, Armenia brings us a 44 track of experimental brilliance.

#Experimental

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robertkstone · 6 years

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2019 BMW 330i Prototype Review: The Ultimat3?

Our incessant bleating about BMW’s lamentable deviation from its “ultimate driving machine” ethos appears to have at long last spurred some action. The niche M5 drives pretty ultimately, and now the chassis development team for the crucial G20-generation 3 Series sedan seems equally determined to return the iconic Dreier to the top of its highly competitive heap.

So eager is the team to get this right and shut down the haters that a select few of the loudest complainers were invited to the Nurburgring for an intense day of public road and closed ’Ring driving of early 2.0-liter turbo prototype cars. Note, these versions were equipped with the M Sport package, and there’s still time to tune and tweak some of the final calibrations before the new 330i goes on sale early next year.

A quick summary of the key changes: Examine the undercarriage, and you won’t notice anything radically new, and yet every part is significantly revised—geometry, elastokinematics (bushings and bump-stops), spring and damping rates, and damper internals. Of course, the most crucial chassis component is the body structure itself; it’s stiffened by 25 percent in overall torsion, and the areas where the front and rear suspensions mount are about 50 percent more rigid.

The switch to aluminum for most of the front body structure contributes to an overall weight reduction of 120 pounds, which improves agility by lowering the polar moment of inertia, and helps deliver a 50:50 weight distribution (measured with full fluids, 300 pounds of front-seat passengers, and 31 pounds in the trunk). The center of gravity on all 3 Series models drops by 0.4 inch (the sport suspension drops the body another 0.4 inch), and the track widens by 1.2 inch.

That added rigidity around the suspension mounts better resists vibration, so the suspension bushings can be stiffened to deliver more road-feel to the steering rack (for the first time on a BMW, the sport suspension gets unique bushings). Front and rear suspension geometry is revised to lower the roll centers slightly and to make the rear more neutral. With improved front grip, we’re promised, the result is reduced understeer and increased agility.

The front struts feature new internal hydraulic rebound stops that dramatically increase the damping force in both directions near the top of the travel (the old internal rebound springs stored energy as the body rose and released it on the way back down, skewing the effective damping rates). The rear shocks include a similar function operating at the bottom end of travel, where a second, smaller piston enters a narrower cylinder that increases the damping rate by 50 percent. This improves body-motion control when the vehicle is heavily loaded and when it traverses bigger dips and bumps. The base and sport suspensions both utilize this technology, using different damping rates. (The optional adaptive sport dampers do this and more using external bypass spool valves.)

The base steering rack uses a fixed ratio, and sport suspensions get a variable rate with a more gradual (less noticeable) quickening of the ratio at higher steering angles. And—hallelujah!—the utterly unpredictable and truly hateful Active Steering has been banished to a special circle of hell (at least for the G20).

BMW did not share the specific spring and damping figures with us, but base car tuning is very slightly stiffer, and the sport suspenders are about 12 percent stiffer than the outgoing sport setup, meaning the gap between base and sport roughly doubles in this generation. The anti-roll bars have been tweaked very slightly to maintain similar control working in conjunction with the new spring rates and geometric roll axis. Tires remain the same size but are re-engineered for less rolling resistance and noise transmission.

In the braking department, both base and sport models get four-piston front and two-piston rear fixed calipers, but the sport models boast larger-diameter discs and caliper pistons front and rear, with a unique booster and proportioning valves to match. The last piece of the dynamic handling puzzle is the sport suspension’s electronically controlled limited-slip diff, which is entirely controlled by the chassis computers and works just like the ones in M cars, but with two fewer clutch plates.

My first drive is in an electric power steering–equipped development prototype with BMW steering guru Mischa Bachmann riding shotgun. As I steer through the twisty lanes, he taps away on a laptop altering various parameters, like an optometrist working a refractor. “Do you like this one, or is this better?”

Bachmann starts me out with his leading calibration for “comfort” steering,—light on center, effort builds naturally off center, and there’s never any sensation of effort being added for sportiness’ sake. I like it. He lets me sample higher steering effort levels and various damping rate profiles (these affect how quickly you can steer the car and how it returns to center). By comparison with the baseline’s low, natural effort, all seem worse. Other journalists at the event preferred some of Mischa’s tweaks. But what do they know? Do any emulate the feel of a Porsche Boxster or E39 5 Series? No. Mischa’s setup is superbly precise, utterly predictable, and makes the car do exactly what I ask of it. Bravo. It still lacks the feel of those benchmark cars—because it’s so darned hard for road forces to fight their way past the torque of an electric motor twisting a second pinion on the steering rack, which then flows up the main pinion and shaft to the steering wheel rim.

Next we set out on an hour-plus route used by the development team. It offers a brilliant mix of twisty, hilly, and straight country roads with widely varying surfaces, village roads, and unrestricted autobahn stretches. Application driving dynamics boss Jos van As notes that the test cars are the “worst case for ride”—sport suspension and lowest-profile run-flat tires. Yet body motion control is impeccable, and the vehicle absorbs the sharpest impacts with trademark vintage-BMW suppleness. I can only imagine how cosseting the base car on taller sidewalls will feel. Even when those bumps occur in the tightest of corners, they’re absorbed without deviating from the driving line. The e-LSD axle can be felt helping dig the car out of the tightest corners when the throttle is open. In a few hard hairpin corners that clearly involve steering-ratio variation, the effort and motion feel entirely natural. And at 155 mph on the autobahn, the solid on-center feel inspires confidence.

The time arrives for two hot laps of the Nurburgring behind van As in an M2 serving as my driving-line coach. The new 3 feels right at home here—no surprise, given that it’s logged thousands of miles, 12.9 of them at a time, on this 73-turn circuit. A bit more surprising is how quickly this chassis makes a ’Ring virgin like myself feel comfortable probing eight- and nine-tenths of this chassis’ limits, maintaining small-slip-angle drifts and trusting the brakes to do their thing harder and later in the turns. (I did detect a bit of brake vibration at the end of one long braking zone, however.) The steering totally disappears here, drawing no attention to itself.

The session ends. I struggle to think of constructive feedback for the chassis team. My criticisms are all for other 3 Series engineers. The transmission’s sport-mode tuning needs a lot of work. It was forever grabbing high gears at the wrong time and it too seldom downshifted appropriately while slowing for a corner. The shift paddles and manual-gate shifter work great, except the thin red line in the cluster that blinks at redline is too faint to get my attention. I’d also love to see some improvement in the sound of the engine/exhaust at lower revs. It sounds great at full boil, but it’s still plagued by that dieselish clatter at idle and low cruising speeds. (The only other news we received during this chassis-focused trip about the 2.0-liter turbo engine is that it will gain about 7 hp and 37 lb-ft of torque.)

Over dinner we chat about benchmarks, and I ask whether the Alfa Romeo Giulia warranted special attention. “It is a great car, but it is not a BMW,” says chassis integration guy Robert Rothmiller. In his team’s experience, Rothmiller finds that although the Alfa’s ultimate capabilities may be impressive, that car makes its driver work harder than a BMW driver should have to in achieving them. So will this be the ultimate-driving 3 Series? The essential elements seem to be here—provided Mischa doesn’t act on those other journalists’ steering recommendations and ruin his years of development work.

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