tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post3824473551282675211..comments2024-03-26T14:48:15.857-07:00Comments on Rocket Stack Rank: The Mark, by Abi HynesGreg Hullenderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post-31047132098439774822018-09-07T14:44:20.526-07:002018-09-07T14:44:20.526-07:00It will all be moved over. That's part of what...It will all be moved over. That's part of what's making it take so long to do: being sure nothing is lost in the conversion.Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post-76462827094866187222018-09-07T12:00:43.419-07:002018-09-07T12:00:43.419-07:00If you move away from Blogger, what will happen wi...If you move away from Blogger, what will happen with comments and saved ratings?Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16119082365881285289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post-8665504700749135802018-09-07T09:07:47.846-07:002018-09-07T09:07:47.846-07:00Substantially revised and raised to 4 stars based ...Substantially revised and raised to 4 stars based on my reread and feedback from readers. Thanks everyone!Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post-61918353169813500712018-08-29T12:28:35.994-07:002018-08-29T12:28:35.994-07:00So, reading the story again, it seems obvious that...So, reading the story again, it seems obvious that the narrator isn't human; she's some other primate. It talks about "hairless men" but also about "the fine, dark hair on my body" and how "we are born to climb." We also learned that her uncle "made" all the young ones and that after he was gone, there would be no more. <br /><br />I had assumed they were descended from a lost colony, what with "huts where machines still flickered and buzzed."<br /><br />It also talks about the Silencers, whose raids started with a hissing sound that started as loud as crickets but grew into "the furious shaking of a hundred rattlesnakes." If we believe Uncle when he said they were just men--no forked tongues or tails--then it does sound a lot like a human research team that drops in on a flying vehicle to take specimens from time to time. And this is the same description at the end, so that's clearly who picked her up.<br /><br />My mistake was that I dismissed the descriptions of the Crab Men and the Silencers as children's tales. However, I find myself thinking now that this is a description of an experiment of some kind. And, presumably, the Crab Men were a different experiment (men with shells instead of fur). More thoughts?Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post-53537491693120229162018-08-29T12:08:24.911-07:002018-08-29T12:08:24.911-07:00We're hoping to get off of Blogger by the end ...We're hoping to get off of Blogger by the end of the year. There's no point reporting bugs in it to Google; they just explain that it has the bug because that's how it works. I gather they've got few or no developers working on it anymore.Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post-21239166912654226702018-08-29T08:17:46.203-07:002018-08-29T08:17:46.203-07:00"Soft, slow, furless men who carried flashing..."Soft, slow, furless men who carried flashing tools" are obviously humans. I assumed the Crab Men and Silencers of Isi's stories are also humans, using different kinds of tech support.<br /><br />On the last page, there's a sound ... "A low hiss, growing louder, growing nearer." That's a vehicle, an aerial one from the context, which "doesn't feel so loud" later, presumably having landed, before she feels hands on her arm.<br /><br />(by the way, it says Select profile but it'll only let me pick my Blogger profile which I refuse to fill in because dammit, stop connecting everything, Google. If I sign out I don't know what else, that I actually use, it'll sign me out of. I'd use OpenID if this plugin offered it)Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16904503006541490228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post-56929532920022730812018-08-29T07:07:24.513-07:002018-08-29T07:07:24.513-07:00That's a much happier interpretation! :-) But ...That's a much happier interpretation! :-) But how do you get that? Can you cite a passage or two?Greg Hullenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16720604327299886491noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1390876285955310032.post-16871413415778733742018-08-28T08:23:29.286-07:002018-08-28T08:23:29.286-07:00I'm sure that's not what we're meant t...I'm sure that's not what we're meant to take from it! Notice how small her world is, as she can see when she climbs high enough. It's not the whole world.<br />It was obvious to me that the other kinds of "men" the villagers have encountered are humans, probably still mortal and still using technology for something other than reproduction. The villagers kill them efficiently enough that they've given up trying to take back the valley, but they can rescue anyone who gets out. Perhaps it's a reserve for the Wild Men.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16904503006541490228noreply@blogger.com