Post by rvm45 on Nov 11, 2011 13:06:04 GMT -6
Has anyone read any of the "Traveler" Books?
The first chapter of the first book contains one of the best examples of PAW Fiction that I've ever seen.
Traveller is a man with a Van, in a very bleak, Road Warrior style post apocalyptic wasteland.
He has an AR-180, A Remington 870, and a .308 Main Battle Rifle in his van, but no ammo for any of them. When he's ambushed by four brigands, he reaches for his very expensive Colt Combat Commander--and then he realizes that it too, is empty.
He surrenders, and waits for his opportunity. The "Colonel" has a .45. The others have M-16s. One dude seems to be holding his Weapon together with a huge amount of Duct Tape.
He manages to kill all four of the Para-Military with a boot knife and throwing stars.
Okay! Tilt!!!
I don't know that its categorically impossible to throw a Shaken hard enough to penetrate a man's skull--particularly with the heavier stars like Cold Steel sells.....
But its highly unlikely. It is not what the Stars were intended for and if you wanted to have any chance at all of penetrating a skull, you'd need a wind-up like a major league baseball pitcher.
Traveler starts to go into vapor-lock of the brain shortly after killing the last dude. He has some sort of Post Stress Disorder, and he finds being around people very disconcerting. Four people are way too many for him to deal with.
It turns out that Traveler was exposed to an experimental Nerve Agent in Central America. He barely survived, and was still in a military hospital when the Atomic War started.
He can function, after a fashion--but the after effects of the toxin has scraped his nerves raw. He sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels everything with extraordinary intensity. Makes him hard to sneak up on, but it also turns him into a quivering bundle of nerves.
Sometimes he has almost Borderline Telepath or Precognition. He has jacked-up reflexes like an alley cat on Crystal Meth, and the strength of a hysterical Berserker.
He needs the occasional dose of a sort of experimental narcotic that he liberated from the hospital--and keeps in a small refrigerator, in his van. (Later they reveal that he also can manufacture more. They also reveal that he really doesn't need the drug anymore--he's just gotten hooked on it.)
His van is something else. He stole it from a dealer's showroom, within hours of the nuclear war. It is a Four-wheel drive. It has an experimental version of the Wankel Rotary engine--and it will run on anything: Gasoline,high proof liquor, perfume, old french fry grease, motor oil.....
The van is like the Honey Badger--it just don't give a shit!
Plus, he mounts two remote controlled .30 caliber Machine Guns on the roof, at some point.
Back to chapter one: He ends up with a bunch of .223 and .45--and I think, a few rounds of twelve gauge.
He reflects that at least he will meet his next crisis suitably armed.
Loved that first chapter--But right at the outset of chapter two, the plot starts sounding ridiculous.
Eventually, the series included a Giant Siamese Cat as big as a Semi Trailer, ridden by a Zen Priest. Artificially created creatues that are like Centaurs--only they are a small sports car in their lower half, and giant humanoids in the front. You guessed it, "Cencars".
Traveller even strays into Dante's Inferno after eating some bad peyote or something.
#1} Why did the author switch into a whole other gear, after the first chapter?
Its really hard to sustain a good adventure story in a really bleak environment--and keep it somewhat realistic.
You can "Road Warrior" it.
In Road Warrior's World, there is a disastrous shortage of fuel and food--yet there are large numbers of Punk-Rock Bikers who can afford to drive around and around the compound every day like teenagers dragging main.
And what about the Mohawk Man? Does wearing ass-less leather chaps and having a mohawk somehow give you the ability to leap 30 or 40 feet, and head-butt people hard enough to crush their skull and kill them?
Gonna take a break from this momentarily, and come back later with Part 2.
.....RVM45
The first chapter of the first book contains one of the best examples of PAW Fiction that I've ever seen.
Traveller is a man with a Van, in a very bleak, Road Warrior style post apocalyptic wasteland.
He has an AR-180, A Remington 870, and a .308 Main Battle Rifle in his van, but no ammo for any of them. When he's ambushed by four brigands, he reaches for his very expensive Colt Combat Commander--and then he realizes that it too, is empty.
He surrenders, and waits for his opportunity. The "Colonel" has a .45. The others have M-16s. One dude seems to be holding his Weapon together with a huge amount of Duct Tape.
He manages to kill all four of the Para-Military with a boot knife and throwing stars.
Okay! Tilt!!!
I don't know that its categorically impossible to throw a Shaken hard enough to penetrate a man's skull--particularly with the heavier stars like Cold Steel sells.....
But its highly unlikely. It is not what the Stars were intended for and if you wanted to have any chance at all of penetrating a skull, you'd need a wind-up like a major league baseball pitcher.
Traveler starts to go into vapor-lock of the brain shortly after killing the last dude. He has some sort of Post Stress Disorder, and he finds being around people very disconcerting. Four people are way too many for him to deal with.
It turns out that Traveler was exposed to an experimental Nerve Agent in Central America. He barely survived, and was still in a military hospital when the Atomic War started.
He can function, after a fashion--but the after effects of the toxin has scraped his nerves raw. He sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels everything with extraordinary intensity. Makes him hard to sneak up on, but it also turns him into a quivering bundle of nerves.
Sometimes he has almost Borderline Telepath or Precognition. He has jacked-up reflexes like an alley cat on Crystal Meth, and the strength of a hysterical Berserker.
He needs the occasional dose of a sort of experimental narcotic that he liberated from the hospital--and keeps in a small refrigerator, in his van. (Later they reveal that he also can manufacture more. They also reveal that he really doesn't need the drug anymore--he's just gotten hooked on it.)
His van is something else. He stole it from a dealer's showroom, within hours of the nuclear war. It is a Four-wheel drive. It has an experimental version of the Wankel Rotary engine--and it will run on anything: Gasoline,high proof liquor, perfume, old french fry grease, motor oil.....
The van is like the Honey Badger--it just don't give a shit!
Plus, he mounts two remote controlled .30 caliber Machine Guns on the roof, at some point.
Back to chapter one: He ends up with a bunch of .223 and .45--and I think, a few rounds of twelve gauge.
He reflects that at least he will meet his next crisis suitably armed.
Loved that first chapter--But right at the outset of chapter two, the plot starts sounding ridiculous.
Eventually, the series included a Giant Siamese Cat as big as a Semi Trailer, ridden by a Zen Priest. Artificially created creatues that are like Centaurs--only they are a small sports car in their lower half, and giant humanoids in the front. You guessed it, "Cencars".
Traveller even strays into Dante's Inferno after eating some bad peyote or something.
#1} Why did the author switch into a whole other gear, after the first chapter?
Its really hard to sustain a good adventure story in a really bleak environment--and keep it somewhat realistic.
You can "Road Warrior" it.
In Road Warrior's World, there is a disastrous shortage of fuel and food--yet there are large numbers of Punk-Rock Bikers who can afford to drive around and around the compound every day like teenagers dragging main.
And what about the Mohawk Man? Does wearing ass-less leather chaps and having a mohawk somehow give you the ability to leap 30 or 40 feet, and head-butt people hard enough to crush their skull and kill them?
Gonna take a break from this momentarily, and come back later with Part 2.
.....RVM45
