POINTS OF IMPACT is out and doing well. As always, some oopsies made it through the entire editorial process past a dozen sets of eyeballs. And as always, I started getting Tweets and emails about continuity bloopers not 24 hours after the book hit the virtual shelves. Thanks to all to took the time to write and point them out. I shall now address them so they’re all in one spot for easy future reference.
MINOR SPOILERS FOR “POINTS OF IMPACT” FOLLOW:
—Ottawa’s hull number is BCV-60. (One mention of her hull number has the letters transposed and incorrectly says she’s CVB-60.)
–When he’s on leave, Andrew takes the maglev from Boston to the west, not the east, of course. Because if he takes it east, he’ll be getting wet feet in very short order.
–Andrew’s personal sidearm gets confiscated by the master-at-arms and ends up on the shelf in the CO’s office, yet he retrieves it from his locker again prior to the final battle. That continuity error snuck in because I inserted the dressing-down scene during the developmental edits and forgot to remove the later mention of the pistol. If you want, we can pretend that his sympathetic CO arranged to return the gun on the quiet because of its sentimental value (and/or because she thinks he made a fair point in his defense.)
–At one point early in the opening chapters, Andrew is addressed as “Lieutenant” once when his actual rank is Captain. Again, I made a change in the middle of the book and bumped him up in rank to match the proper rank of someone in his assignment as STO, and when I retroactively corrected his rank throughout the manuscript, one mention of the old rank slipped through. Mea culpa.
Some people asked about the definitive physical size of the Lankies. The answer is a firm “it depends”. When we meet them on Willoughby in TERMS OF ENLISTMENT, they are a hundred feet tall (30 meters), but the size of individuals varies just like with humans. The average size (mentioned in later books) is about 25 meters. The scientific estimates in the beginning of the second book have them pegged at a thousand metric tons, but that was before they had battlefield samples of intact dead ones, and it turns out that they’re not nearly as heavy as that estimate, more like a few hundred tons. But their size and weight can vary quite considerably, from 20-30m in height depending on local conditions. On the same note, the Lanky seed ships can have a corresponding 30% size variance as well.
–The orange-and-white paint scheme of the new ships is for visual recognition with high-powered optical gear to minimize active radiation output. As Ottawa is pressed into combat service earlier than expected, the tactics of the close-air support wings haven’t been updated to the new doctrine yet (remember, it was a shakedown and training cruise, to give the crews time to get to know the ship and have the combat aviation wings train with their new birds.)
Hope that clears a few things up, and feel free to email me if you have further items to add to the list.
I’d like to echo what Brandon Wilks said, about the “CO” at the beginning of the speech and “XO” at the end.
Also, there’s a continuity break after the drop ship crashes at the greenhouses when Grayson wonders about the pilots after he’s already queried to find out who they were and learns about Beals’ death.
Loved Points of Impact, Marko. I don’t really understand how COL. Yamin is now the CO of the Ottawa when she was part of the band of rogue NAC personnel, especially after it explicitly states they will never get promoted. She might still be a COL but that definitely seems like a promotion of position. Thoughts?
Also I know you said that future Frontlines books depend on your publisher wanting more…well…have they said anything yet? I could read $100 more frontlines books. I have them all on audiobook, kindle, and a hard copy. You could say I’m obsessed. Also they would make AMAZING movies. Side note; if you know Patrick Rothfuss by any change, please tell him to hurry up on Doors of Stone. Thank you.
But wait, there is more!
At the beginning of “Points of Impact” is is suggested that Andrew recently came back from serving a tour with the “Lazarus Brigade” on Earth; is there a story there that we can expect to see?
Finally, I admire the header artwork for your website, with the, dedicated, but almost demented-looking Dachshunds in the flying saucer; can we expect to have that artwork offered on, say, black T-shirts?
I’m saving the stories told from other characters’ POV for future novellas and short stories. (Measures of Absolution told some of Corporal Jackson’s backstory, and Lucky Thirteen is from Halley’s POV, for example.) Let’s just say I made the time gaps in between the novels for a reason.
Hey Marko,
So What has Halley been doing all this time?
In your books you seem to indicate that Andrew is pretty much suffering from PTSD — and you have given some hints as to how he is sort-of not dealing with that all that well.
Still, can we we have some more of Halley’s story/stories — if not as a novel, then maybe in short form? (note that John Scalzi was able to do something similar with “Zoe’s Tale” as an alternate telling of “The Last Colony”)
And please, get better copy editors so we don’t have to endure the annoyance all of the inconsistencies that were present in “Points of Impact” (or find a way for your loyal readers to offer pre-publication comments with regards to consistency checks).
I found your books last year. I’ve read the first 5 in 3 days. It is really good. I read lot of books from amazon and i have to say. You book is the best written, best plot of them all. The only bad thing i can say that the 7th book is not out yet. 🙂
Just finished… and enjoyed it immensely! Loved the part where Andrew was about to beat BEALS bloody with a serving tray. Laughed when I realized the real-world cognate behind that scene. So many would love to beat that little shit about the head and ears, especially when the Hugos roll around.
In my edition of the book, on page 56, Halley says “Three hundred billion of us, and I think the two of us are so special that we need to add to that number.” Where does that 300 billion come from? Earlier books referred to a population on earth of over 30 billion people. The colonies totalled a few million more, with Mars was the biggest with 89m, so an extra zero appears to have snuck in there.
I’m enjoying the book, but the timeline errors tend to really stick out.
Yeah, mine has a similar issue, Halley mentions that there was 50 bil on Earth. And I’m rereading the second book in the series and they say that Mars has 25 mil when the lankies conquer it. Great book but I’m not sure what to believe on the numbers.
That’s got all of my “hey, wait, what?” taken care of, then. 🙂 Thank you.
Just reached the reappearance of the firearm and glad to read that I’ve not missed something fundamental. I can read late into the night and often find myself with little recollection of the last few pages when I restart. Happier with you having made a small editorial error than me having to face up to my inability to read a book competently. Loving it, obviously. My sister and I both look forward to “Marko Kloos day”.
Whether the war is resolved or not, we (hubby and I listen to the audio together in the car) are up to Chapter 9, and I’m already looking forward to the next book, whether it continues this series or starts a new one. Please keep writing! In fact, I would appreciate it if you could write faster!
I agree. Type faster!
Was there a change in the time after Mars during the editing process? The Prologue says
“Three years ago, we tried to take it back from the Lankies, and they tried to hang on to it.”
In chapter 5 Andrew asks Haley if he remembers what she told her mother last year, which took place right before the battle for Mars.
Also, is this the last book or will we get to find out how the war ends? I’m anxious to see how it all plays out and if there is ever any type of dialogue opened up between species or not.
I find it highly unlikely Grayson’s CO would return his confiscated sidearm unless plot dictated it. Even if she agreed with his point that it was a ridiculous rule, regs are regs (and she gets way more scrutiny from her superiors than anyone else on the ship). Once she had it, she would not have returned it. (Okay, maybe when his orders took him off the ship.) When he armored up for the assault he should have strapped on an issued sidearm. (Especially since he didn’t use it. This wasn’t Chekhov’s Gun here.)
Agreed, that makes even less sense, considering the fact, that even if by some miracle the CO would allow him to access that weapon againt, there would be no way he could store his personal sidearm in his locker, when this was the whole reason for the whole trouble from the start.
He at the most could get the gun at the armory together with the rest of his weaponery.
What I will say is despite the errors – which led to a little distraction , you did a good job of describing some of the internal conflicts those experiencing PTSD deal with – and how different people deal with it in various ways. Glad to see our protagonist has flaws.
Looking over all the remarks I realized I to saw the errors. But Hell I was enjoying the story to much worry to much about it. Keep on writing.
I’m gravely disappointed that you’ve proven to be human after all.
Enjoying the book though!
Okay, I’m glad it wasn’t me missing something or being nitpicky. I enjoyed the book, like the rest in the series and seeing those little mistakes stood out to me, especially the lieutenant Grayson line. I had to stop my reading and do a double take. There is also one that might have been missed. When Col. Yamin addresses the crew at one point, she begins with “This is the CO” and ends with “XO out.” And does someone say that there are 50 billion people on Earth? That seems unlikely in a hundred years.
What’s the deal with Luke Daniels reading at 500 words per second on the audiobook?
Just starting it and excited!! Why don’t you just make updates in the book and we can redownload it with the latest edits?
My publisher has to make the changes and upload a new version. I’ll approach them with the changes on Monday.
Meh, I understand. Here’s what’s worse: I published a book about grammar on amazon, and got a very stern email from a grammar nazi who rightfully pointed out an error I’d made. I had to rush to get that fixed before the pitchforks came out!
I was wondering about the vid-chat with Halley in chapter 2: It’s between Mars and Earth and seems instantaneous, but humans don’t have FTL-comms…
Assume a 17-minute comms delay between replies. It would just be super boring if I included the wait time too. 🙂