 May 15, 2014 - 12:33pm | I'm still in the beginning of the book but it seems to me that the Majat of this novel by CJ Cherryh would make a great model for the klikk and or understanding a hive consciousness.  It explores the dynamics of a human and hive society's somewhat uneasy truce at a time when change if forced upon the situation. Hive centered around the hive mother who is the true consciousness but individual workers, warriors, and drones do have a sense of self it seems. The whole hive can sense the emotional state of the queen almost instantly and all the individuals of the hive touch their mouths to other mouths almost continually to read the mind of the next individual thus the queen's will can be transmitted throughout the hive rather fast. Memories of the hive stretch back millenia and for the most part are stored within the drones who wait upon the queen directly. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 May 17, 2014 - 9:32am | Where is it stated that the Klikks have a hive-based society? I know that there's reference to their being similar to Vrusks... |
May 17, 2014 - 12:12pm | Where is it stated that the Klikks have a hive-based society? I know that there's reference to their being similar to Vrusks... Its not explicitly stated, The alternity module Klick Klakk does present them some what tht way but that's hardly not cannon. There was a an excellent story involving klikks in the SFman that did so as well. You are free to do with the clikks what you like. The more I read of the CJ Cherryh's novel though the more impressed I am with here work in portraying a sapient hive mind and though I'd share with the community. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 May 17, 2014 - 12:25pm | Hive mind in Sci-Fi usually means some kind of telepathy. Real insects use pheromones and a built in instinct for cooperation to collaborate on what is a limited goal of survival: food, shelter, breeding, temperature control. One question that should be answered is how far is the reach of the hive mind? The Hive, The Planet, the Solar System, The Galaxy? Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
May 17, 2014 - 7:11pm | In the book the song and tastes of each member carrys meaning and message and when new hives of the same color are planted on other planets the queens cannot sense each other. In fact due to the particulars of their eyesight they never saw stars nor new that other planets existed. Cherryh didn't go in for the telepathy angle but rather the chemistry angle where they could "tastes" a dead individual and know some of what it was about at the time of death. Hive members that could not touch other individuals became nervous because to touch was to know and naturally humans were edgy around giant "bugs' that could outrun them and kill without a thought and this lead to the main character having to manage the warrior assigned to her lest it became to edgy from being around humans it couldn't touch. Cherryh's put a lot of thought into the story with the only thing that seems ill thought out to me is the reason why the Serpent's Reach sector is under quarrentine even though the rest of humanity can send traders in to trade for the very special riches of the Majat industry. but otherwise its a good story I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
May 18, 2014 - 3:08pm | [quote=Cherryh's put a lot of thought into the story with the only thing that seems ill thought out to me is the reason why the Serpent's Reach sector is under quarrentine even though the rest of humanity can send traders in to trade for the very special riches of the Majat industry. but otherwise its a good story
Your right Jed I have NEVER heard of giving exceptions to certain people so they can make lots and lots of money at the expense of others. That is just so unhumane and completely alien. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
May 19, 2014 - 3:51am | I had read "The Pride of Channur", which was possibly on every library shelf in every library I visited on two continents back in my high school days. I remember enjoying it even though it wasn't a Stalone style action adventure sci fi this 100s or ships being blown out of space but I did not become a huge fan of her then. During a couple of recent visits to used book stores I picked up some more of her novels that looked to be in the spirit of STar Frontiers and I'm becoming a huge fan. She writes compeling characters, something I appreciate more at this stage of my life, and they are not the same character novel to novel - in one the main is an orphaned member of a family of merchanters who has grown to manhood cheating a lying his way across space, in another the main is a engineer stranded on a desperate colony and forced to save the colony despite the colonist, and in this novel the main is a wealthy scion of the family of oligarchs controlling this section of space. On top of that she is not half bad at political intrigue. I may have to actually join her fan club. This one thing about the setting that has bothered me but the story kept me interested, much like one or two things about the Star Frontiers setting nag at my logical side yet I'm compelled to still like it. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
May 19, 2014 - 3:59am | To date I've identified queens, drones, workers, warriors and foragers, scouts as types of Majat Scouts are a fast model of warriors, they like foragers have not made an appearence in the book and I'm beginning to suspect that she designs her setting in great detail before she ever commenses to write and thus in the writing you sense a depth of detail only hinted at. She certainly doesn't feel the need to trot out every shiny sci fi element to show off the sci fi elements if it does not advance the story. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
