BAEN BOOKS

READING GUIDES 2011

Copyright © 2011 by Baen Books

A Baen Book Original

Baen Publishing Enterprises

P.O. Box 1403

Riverdale, NY 10471

www.baen.com

ISBN: 978-1-4516-3776-2

INTRODUCTION

Many students love science fiction stories. Even students who don’t ordinarily like to read find themselves drawn to speculative fiction. We at Baen Books believe that science fiction, fantasy, and other works of speculative fiction have many advantages for inclusion in the middle and high-school curriculum. This type of fiction can foster a love of reading among students, provide the basis for writing assignments that will motivate and intrigue them, spark lively discussions, and lead students to productive explorations of questions in history, science, sociology, religion and ethics. Baen Teachers’ Guides are designed to provide instructors with resources for using Baen books as foundations for this sort of exploration.

We hope these guides will make it productive and interesting for you to include Baen titles in your curriculum. Our first guide is to a classic young adult title by Robert A. Heinlein: The Rolling Stones. We welcome your comments on this guide and your suggestions for future guides. Let us know how we can improve the guides for classroom use as well as any other ideas you have for using Baen books in your classroom.

Copyright 2010 by Baen Books.

TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE ROLLING STONES BY ROBERT A. HEINLEIN

Contents:

- recommended reading levels

- Heinlein biographical material and links

- background of the book and plot summary

- character sketches

- chapter guides include a more detailed plot summary and may also include some of the following:

- prepare to read…

- vocabulary

- focus questions or initiating activity

- plot summary

- quiz/reading comprehension questions—multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension

- reflection and discussion questions—may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration—suggestions for activities and projects

Recommended reading levels: Heinlein’s young adult or “juvenile” fiction appeals to readers of many ages, from early middle-school readers to adults. For use in the classroom, Rolling Stones is probably most appropriate for readers in grades 5-10. Rolling Stones has been listed on several recommended reading lists for children and young adults, including those of The Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (“Recommended Reading for Children and Young Adults” by the staff of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, revised December 2007, http://www.lasfsinc.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=95&Itemid=260#RRList) and The Golden Duck Awards for Excellence in Children’s Science Fiction recommended reading list (http://www.sff.net/rff/readlist/goldduckrl.htm).

Biographical information on Robert Heinlein:

Robert Anson Heinlein is known as one of the “founding fathers” of modern science fiction. He was a prolific, successful, and at times controversial, contributor to the development of the genre. Born in Butler, Missouri on July 7, 1907, Heinlein graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1929 and served in the Navy during the 1930’s. Forced to retire from the Navy because of tuberculosis, he soon found another career in writing. He first published a short story in late 1939 in Astounding Science Fiction, one of the “pulps,” magazines published on cheap (pulp) paper that catered to popular tastes for genre fiction (mystery, romance, detective, adventure, horror and science fiction stories, among others). He was a regular contributor to science fiction pulp magazines for the first several years of his career. He hit his stride as a novelist after World War II, publishing fourteen “juvenile” novels aimed at the young adult market as well as many novels for adults. Some of his most popular works are The Puppet Masters (1951), Double Star (1956), The Door into Summer (1957), Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966), and Time Enough for Love (1973). Heinlein died in Carmel, California on May 8, 1988. For more biographical details, see the following articles:

- The Robert Heinlein Society offers a biographical essay by William H. Patterson, Jr. (The Heinlein Society, http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/biographies.html) and further information about Heinlein’s life and work (The Heinlein Society, http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/FAQrah.html).

- "Robert (Anson) Heinlein," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/articles/Robert-Anson-Heinlein-9333817

- Carlos Angelo, “Heinlein,” Robert A. Heinlein: Dean of Science Fiction Writers, http://www.wegrokit.com/bio.htm

Suggested class activity:

Have your students read the information on Heinlein above before they begin the book. There are many parallels between Heinlein and Roger Stone, the father of the clan in The Rolling Stones. Ask them to make notes of similarities as they read and, when they finish, write an essay on how Heinlein put his own history, interests, and attitudes into the character of Roger.

For further information on Heinlein and his work:

- The most current and extensive website dedicated to Heinlein is that of The Robert Heinlein Society (http://www.heinleinsociety.org/). In addition to the biographical information linked above, the Society website includes news, essays, forums and many other interesting areas to explore.

- Another useful website is RAH: The Robert A. Heinlein homepage by James Gifford (http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/). Although this web site is not currently being updated, it contains useful FAQs, essays and links on Heinlein’s life and work.

- Another website that is not currently being updated, but which provides some interesting essays and biographical information is Robert A. Heinlein, Dean of Science Fiction Writers (http://www.wegrokit.com/).

Background: Scribner’s first published The Rolling Stones in 1952. As William H. Patterson, Jr. points out in his introduction to the Baen edition, Heinlein’s book taps into a particular strain in the American psyche which expressed itself after World War II in the desire of families to pick up, pack up and set out to explore America together. Although Heinlein projected this restlessness and spirit of adventure out into the solar system, its roots are deeply embedded in America’s pioneer past. Steve A. Hughes, in his afterword to the Baen edition, “The Endless Frontier,” provides a rich analysis of the story’s roots in the mythos and sociology of the American Frontier.

Plot Summary: The lively Stone family—grandmother Hazel, father Roger, mother Edith, teenage twins Castor and Pollux, older sister Meade and younger brother Lowell (“Buster”)—live in Luna City, an established human colony on the Moon. The twins, budding entrepreneurs, want to buy a used spaceship and become space traders. Their father refuses to let them pursue this scheme. Instead, the whole family sets out for Mars. The twins try another business and run up against Martian bureaucracy. Jailed for fraud, they are successfully defended by their Grandmother Hazel, one of the founders of Luna Colony. The family acquires a Martian life form called a “flat cat,” which multiplies so rapidly that its progeny almost take over the ship and eat up all their supplies. Still thinking like businessmen, Castor and Pollux manage to make a profit off what could have been a disaster. Driven by the desire for more freedom and “elbow room,” the family continues their adventures in the Asteroid belt before heading off to see Saturn’s rings.

Characters:

- Roger Stone is the father of the Stone family as well as Heinlein’s “stand-in” in the story. As a trained engineer and a working writer, Roger’s skills and opinions reflect Heinlein’s in many ways. Roger started writing on a bet that he could write better stuff than what was being channeled up from Earth. As the story opens he is writing a series called The Scourge of the Spaceways. He was Mayor of Luna City at one time.

- Edith Stone is Roger’s wife and mother of the children. She is also a medical doctor and the eye of calm in the maelstrom that is the Stone household. She is probably modeled, at least in part, on Heinlein’s wife Virginia.

- Castor and Pollux Stone are fifteen-year-old twins. Like their mythological namesakes, they are inseparable. They are smart (and sometimes smart-alecks) who are brimming with energy, enthusiasm for life, and the desire to make a buck.

- Meade Stone is the oldest Stone sibling, just turning 18 as the book opens.

- Lowell Stone, a/k/a “Buster” is, at four years old, the youngest of the Stone siblings. He is a prodigy who can use a slide rule and beat his Grandmother at chess repeatedly. He is also telepathic, which may explain his chess victories.

- Hazel Stone, Roger’s mother and grandmother to the kids is ninety-five years old and going strong. Hazel was one of the founders of the Lunar Colony. As she tells it, she was an engineer for the Atomic Energy Commission, but ran into bias against women, hit the glass ceiling and became a blackjack dealer instead. She successfully takes over Roger’s job of writing serials for an interplanetary broadcast adventure series.

- Captain Vandenberg is captain of the spaceship War God. The Stones encounter the captain when illness breaks out on board his ship, and Edith goes on board to figure out a cure for the epidemic.

- “Dealer Dan” Ekizian owns the used shipyard on Luna City where the Stones buy their ship.

- Tony Angelo runs a shop on Mars where the twins go to peddle their bicycles.

- Joe Pappalopoulis is the proprietor of the Old Southern Dining Room on Mars. He buys bicycles from the twins to start a bike touring business.

- Fuzzy Britches is a “flat cat,” a mammalian life form indigenous to Mars. The boys buy him (her? it?) from Tony Angelo and give him to Buster. Flat cats are “pie-shaped masses of sleek fur,” friendly little creatures that have three eyes, no bones to speak of, an ingratiating purr, a soothing effect on humans and other hidden talents.

- Shorty Devine is a miner the family encounters in the Asteroid belt. Dr. Stone sets his partner’s broken leg.

- Mayor Fries is mayor of Asteroids. He wants to recruit Roger to serve on the Citizen’s Committee and talks Dr. Stone into serving as their doctor.

- Judge Warburton presides over the trial of Castor and Pollux for fraud. Luckily, Hazel knew his grandfather.

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

Chapter I—The Unheavenly Twins

- prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- superannuated

- pogo stick

- ballistic

- astrogation

- thorium

- asteroid

- Jovian

- Dantesque

- trajectory

- scourge

- gyros

- focus question/initiating activity: What is the significance of the names of the twins? Have your students explore two layers of meaning: the mythological (see “Castor and Pollux,” Myths Encyclopedia: Myths and Legends of the World at http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ca-Cr/Castor-and-Pollux.html) and the astronomical (Tami Plotner, “Astronomy for Kids: Gemini—Twins Everywhere! Astronomy for Kids, http://www.universetoday.com/2010/03/14/gemini-twins-everywhere/)

- chapter summary: In this chapter, we are introduced to the Stone family, who live in an apartment in Luna City on the Moon. The lively family consists of parents Edith and Roger, grandmother Hazel, older sister Meade, twins Castor and Pollux, and younger brother Lowell (a/k/a “Buster”). As the story opens, the fifteen-year-old twins are visiting used space ship lots, dickering for a deep-space ship. Budding entrepreneurs, they plan to become traders and get rich by taking goods out to the Asteroids and bringing back high-grade rocket fuel. Their father flatly opposes the plan. He doesn’t want them to waste their savings, and he wants them to go to college on Earth. Hazel suggests that he go in with the twins on a ship. Roger, an engineer-turned-author, tries to get out of the conversation by pointing out that he has to write an episode of his “space cast” serial Scourge of the Spaceways. Hazel bets she can take over writing the Scourge episodes.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions:

1. The twins want to buy a space ship

(a) for sightseeing

(b) to run away from home

(c) for interplanetary trade

(d) to get to school on Earth

2. When the reader first meets four-year-old Lowell, he is

(a) taking a nap

(b) beating his grandmother at chess

(c) at nursery school

(d) watching space-vision

3. Roger Stone makes his living as

(a) a writer

(b) a doctor

(c) an engineer

(d) a shuttle pilot

4. When the twins first tell him of their plan to buy a spaceship, their father

(a) is proud and enthusiastic

(b) says he’ll lend them the money

(c) vetoes the plan

Answers: 1-c, 2-b, 3-a, 4-c

- suggestion for reflection and discussion: Heinlein’s female characters are unusually strong for the time in which he wrote (1951). What do you notice about Heinlein’s depiction of the female characters in this first chapter?

Chapter II—The Second-Hand Market

- prepare to read:

- focus questions or initiating activity

- Have you students research the Marquis of Queensbury. What does he have to do with the dispute between Hazel and Roger?

- chapter summary: Relieving Roger of the burden of writing the Scourge of the Spaceways episodes, and getting rid of his excuses for the family to go adventuring, Hazel has an episode ready by morning. She announces her plan to kill off all his characters to set him free from the “golden treadmill” of royalties he has created for himself. Resentful but defeated, Roger capitulates and goes with the twins to shop for ships. We learn that a bit more about the youngest child, Lowell (a/k/a “Buster”). He is a chess whiz who regularly beats his grandmother at chess by reading minds. He can also use a slide rule at the age of four.

- Quiz/reading comprehension questions:

1. What new character does Grandmother Hazel invent when she takes over writing the Scourge of the Spaceways serial?

(a) a female captain

(b) an alien science officer

(c) Doc Ellen, a no-nonsense ship’s doctor modeled after her daughter-in-law

(d) a new villain, the Galactic Overlord

2. Who or what is the Marquis of Queensbury?

(a) British nobleman who invented the modern rules of boxing

(b) the head of RCA in New York

(c) the name of the hero’s ship in Scourge

(c) the villain in Scourge

3. What does Roger offer to do with the twins?

(a) help them with their math homework

(b) go shopping for spaceships

(c) play chess

(d)help them with their college applications to Harvard

Answers: 1-d, 2-a, 3-b

- Suggestion for reflection and discussion: Heinlein started his writing career with short stories for “pulp magazines.” Have your students research the “pulps” and, as they read, reflect on what this chapter says about Heinlein’s attitude toward writing.

Chapter III—The Second-Hand Market

- prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- salvage

- centrifugal force

- conjecture

- syndicate

- incoherent

- focus question/initiating activity: In this chapter, Hazel carries a gun with her on their trip into Luna City. When Castor asks her why she bothers to take a gun, she refers to the reason the White Knight gave Alice for keeping a mouse trap on his horse. When Castor doesn’t understand the allusion, she tells him to look it up. Have your students find the passage in Alice and figure out the connection. See: Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland Site, Alice In Wonderland, Chapter 8 (http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/books/2chpt8.html)

- chapter summary: Roger, Hazel, Castor and Pollux go to find a ship. Roger insists that he’s simply looking for a vessel in which the family can “take an occasional pleasure trip.” We find out more about Grandma Hazel’s character and background. She carries a gun into Luna City, which causes comment among arriving tourists. She snorts in disgust that Luna is “just like any other ant hill” and expresses the desire for more elbow room. She was one of the founding figures of the original lunar colony, and Luna is getting too civilized, bureaucratic and crowded for her independent tastes. She also proves to be a shrewd bargainer, and proposes to “Dealer Dan” Ekesian, the owner of the shipyard, that they form a syndicate. He gives her the ship they want, she provides the cargo, and she and the twins take the cargo to the Asteroids for profit. Roger recognizes this for the blackmail that it is, gives in and buys the ship outright to put an end to this scheme.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions:

1. When explaining why she carries a gun, Hazel alludes to the White Knight’s reason for keeping a mouse trap on his horse. Alice says that it’s unlikely that there will be mice on the horse. The White Knight

(a) agrees, but says “if they do come, I don't choose to have them running all about.”

(b) agrees and throws away the mouse trap

(c) disagrees and points to a mouse on the horse’s mane

2. When they go to the shipyards, Roger Stone says he is in the market for

(a) a jumpbug

(b) a Detroiter

(c) a conservative family ship

(d) a commercial freighter

3. At one point, Hazel says “this city life is getting us covered with moss.” How does her statement relate to the book’s title and the family’s name?

Answers: 1-a; 2-c; 3—The old saying “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”

- suggestion for reflection and discussion: How do Hazel’s attitude toward guns, her reference to Luna City as an “ant hill” and her desire for “elbow room” reveal her background and character? How does she serve as a catalyst for the family’s adventures to come?

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration: Hazel’s attitude toward guns reflect her experiences as one of the “frontier settlers” of Luna Colony. Have your students explore the role of guns in the founding of the American colonies and/or in frontier life in the Western United States.

Chapter IV—Aspects of Domestic Engineering

- prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- anarchistic

- reciprocating

- metallurgical

- orthodox

- culmination

- tensor calculus

- quantum theory

- focus question/initiating activity: What life-lesson do the twins learn in this chapter? Do you think their father was too strict? Why or why not?

- chapter summary: The family overhauls the ship to get her ready for space, with most of the work done by Castor, Pollux, and Grandmother Hazel. Even though the twins are brilliant and have a natural talent for mechanics, their inexperience and eagerness to save time get them in hot water with their father. Roger finds out that, contrary to his specific instructions, they used the old, original gaskets on the ship. He considers this both dangerous and insubordinate. They learn a valuable lesson when their poor decision puts them days behind in the overhaul. Captain’s orders are always to be obeyed! Although Roger originally had planned to leave the twins behind to continue their schooling, this incident convinces him that they need to come along so that they can get used to real ship’s discipline. The family debates a new name for the ship and finally settles on The Rolling Stone (from the old saying, “A rolling stone gathers no moss”).

- quiz/reading comprehension questions:

1. Who does most of the work to get the ship ready?

(a) Castor and Pollux

(b) Hazel

(c) Roger

(d) mechanics from Luna City

2. The new ship needs a name. The family finally decides on

(a) The Clunker

(b) Viking

(c) H.M.S. Pinafore

(d) The Rolling Stone

3. Roger decides that the first stop in their family trip will be

(a) Venus

(b) Saturn

(c) Mars

(d) Earth

Answers: 1-a, 2-d, 3-c

- suggestion for reflection and discussion: Discuss the three stages of technology Heinlein lays out in this chapter. What are the characteristics of each stage? Which stage does the automobile represent? Do you agree with his opinions of cars?

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration: Hazel and Roger both have somewhat unusual views of education. Discuss their views—do you agree or disagree with each of them? If you had to leave school to go on a space voyage with your family, and could only learn from tapes, DVDs, books, “space casts,” and the members of your family, what curriculum would you set up to keep learning? What do you think are the most important things to learn for your future?

Chapter V—Bicycles and Blast Off

Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- lateral

- hydraulic

- esoteric

- hydroponics

- gravity well

- cadmium

- focus questions/initiating activity: As you read, make notes for discussion on the ways that recycling is important for space travel and how the environment of a space ship mimics the larger environmental cycles of Earth.

- chapter summary: The Rolling Stone is moved to the space port. The reader learns more about how Heinlein envisions the technology of space travel, including rockets and recycling. Castor and Pollux have brought cargo on board that they hope to sell to the miners on Mars. When Roger looks over the cargo, he realizes that they have included all the grain and equipment necessary to make moonshine. When Roger refuses to allow them to become whiskey distillers, they are forced to come up with another business. They settle on the idea of exporting bicycles, a common form of transportation for the miners. With that settled, the Family Stone blasts off for Mars.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. What is Castor and Pollux’s first idea for a business on Mars? Why does their father forbid it?

2. What is their default idea for a business?

Answers: 1-The twins plan to make grain alcohol (moonshine) to sell to the miners. Roger vetoes this because it is illegal. 2—rehabbing used bicycles (a common form of transportation on Mars) and selling them to the miners.

- suggestion for reflection and discussion: Split the class into teams and have them come up with an idea and a plan for what they think would be a successful business on Mars (given what they know from their reading about its stage of development).

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration: How do Heinlein’s predictions about the technology in this future world play out? Recycling? Rockets? Film spools? Ask students to pick one of his technological predictions and do research to find out how close he was (or wasn’t). See Steve A. Hughes afterword to the Baen edition for ideas.

Chapter VI—Ballistics and Buster

- prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- brennschluss (see: Wordnik, “Brennschluss,” http://www.wordnik.com/words/brennschluss)

- doppler-radar

- free fall

- perigee

- hyperboloid

- ellipsoid

- salubrious

- initiating activity: Ask your students to try one or more of the activities in the interactive lesson “Free Fall: Activities You Can Do At Home” at the website of National Air and Space Museum's Educational Services Department and be prepared to discuss their results. http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal109/lessons/text/freefall.htm

- chapter summary: Free fall is hard on everyone, but especially those who have never experienced it before. During free fall, Buster throws up and passes out. Unfortunately, some people are never able to adjust to free fall. If Buster isn’t able to tolerate it, they will have to go back to Luna, aborting their trip to Mars. After an anxious time, they discover that Buster wasn’t having a reaction to free ball but to the sedative his mother gave him to help him through it. The twins surprise their parents by voting to abort their trip and go back to Luna so as not to risk their brother’s health further. Although he is touched by the “family solidarity,” their father assures them that Buster is fine.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions:

1. A sudden crisis almost makes the family turn back. What happened?

2. Why are collisions between spaceships almost unheard of?

Answers: 1—Buster gets very sick during free fall, and it turned out that he was allergic to the sedative his mother had given him to help him through the trauma of free fall. 2—“Space is very large and ships are very tiny.”

Chapter VII—In the Gravity Well

- prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- kinetic energy

- focus question: What are some of the things Heinlein points to that make space navigation so tricky?

- chapter summary: The Stones plan to use a maneuver to gain kinetic energy from the Earth’s gravity well, a very tricky bit of navigation, to save energy on their trip to Mars. Suddenly, the blip of a radar beacon appears on their radar screen. They appear to be on a collision course with the vessel indicated by the blip, but it veers off at the last minute. It turns out to be an experimental rocket satellite from Harvard Radiation lab. With the maneuver accomplished, they are on their way to Mars.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions:

1. When they leave the Moon on route for Mars, the Stones make their ship go faster with less fuel by

(a) heading straight for Mars

(b) dropping first toward Earth

(c) taking an elliptical trajectory toward the Sun

2. They see an unexpected radar-beacon blip on the screen and come close to colliding with it. It turns out to be

(a) a spaceship traveling to the Moon

(b) a bomb rocket from Mars

(c) an experimental rocket satellite of Harvard Radiation Laboratory

Answers: 1-b, 2-c

- suggested activity/inquiry-based exploration: Discuss Heinlein’s explanation of why a ship leaving the Moon for a distant planet can go faster on less fuel by dropping first toward Earth. Explore kinetic energy through some of the activities suggested at the website for the state of Wisconsin’s K-12 Energy Education program: “What is Energy? Activities and Experiments,” http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wcee/keep/Mod1/Whatis/experiments.htm

Chapter VIII—The Mighty Room

Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- Procrustean

- Arcturus

- Hippocratic Oath

- focus question/initiating activity: When she reads the ship’s schedule Roger has put together, Hazel asks whether they are headed to Botany Bay. Have your students find the historical background for this allusion.

- chapter summary: Now that they’re safely headed to Mars, Roger posts a “Ship’s Routine,” which includes several hours of school. Hazel spends part of her time working on more episodes of Scourge of the Galaxy, since she picked up Roger’s option to do several more episodes. In addition to starting intensive math study, the twins start working on their trade bicycles, using spacesuits to work outside the ship. They encounter another ship, the War God, and find that there is sickness on board. Dr. Stone agrees to do what she can for the sick, and the ships “match” so that she can make the transition. The Stones are forced to jettison much of their cargo, including the boys’ bicycles. They wire all the jettisoned cargo together and rig a radar reflector, hoping they will be able to come back and pick it up later. Edith says goodbye to her family, telling them that she’ll see them on Mars. She can’t risk bringing a disease back to The Rolling Stone.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. Roger finds out that the twins cheated at school. How did they do it and what effect does it have?

2. When they encounter another ship called the War God, what problem does it bring with it and what is the consequence for the Stone family?

Answers: 1- Castor took both courses in analytical geometry and Pollux took both courses in history. The effect, as Roger says, is that “such offenses carry their own punishments. When you need it, you don’t know it worth a hoot.” 2—There is an epidemic spreading on the ship, and Dr. Edith goes to the War God to see what help she can give them.

- suggestion for reflection and discussion: When the twins are outside the ship, Heinlein says, “They had forgotten how cold and unfriendly the black depths around them had seemed only a short time before. Now it was an enormous room, furnished in splendor, they not yet fully inhabited. It was their own room, to live in, to do with as they liked.” Discuss the idea of humanity “moving out” and inhabiting space. Do you find the idea frightening or exciting? Why do you think we as a species haven’t moved out and inhabited more of space?

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration: Since the advent of the Space Shuttle Program, we have seen many instances of astronauts going outside the shuttle to do experiments or repairs. Show your class some of the videos of these space walks and have them compare the equipment with that worn and used by the twins when they go outside the Rolling Stone. How accurate were Heinlein’s speculations?

Chapter IX—Assets Recoverable

- prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- epidemic

- quarantine

- jettison

- rendezvous

- chapter summary: The family finds it difficult to cope with Dr. Stone’s absence. Lowell has temper tantrums, and Roger has difficulty keeping his own temper in check. When Edith is able to communicate with them, she tells them that the problem on the War God may be a mutant strain of measles. Since Roger and the children have never had measles, this further confirms her decision not to return to the Rolling Stone. When she refuses to return calls from them the next day, they deduce that she has caught the disease. Even though she continues to refuse to talk to them, they get second-hand reassurance that she has made enough progress on a treatment that all of the new cases are “doing nicely.” Since the ship is under quarantine, Roger decides that he can’t abandon the rest of his family to go to her, since most of them are too inexperienced to bring the Rolling Stone safely to port on their own. The captain of the War God survives the epidemic and offers to link up with the Rolling Stone to give them Super-H fuel. With the new fuel, they can make the detour to pick up their jettisoned cargo.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. The disease that has infected the crew of the War God was probably

(a) small pox

(b) space fever

(c) a type of encephalitis

(d) a mutant strain of measles

2. What happened to the bicycles the twins had to jettison?

(a) The captain of the War God gives them enough extra fuel to go back and recover them.

(b) They had to abandon the cargo and get Dr. Stone, who is still very ill, to Mars for treatment.

(c) Unscrupulous space traders steal the bikes.

Answers: 1-d, 2-a

Chapter X—Phobos Port

- Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- slag

- incredulous

- escape velocity

- winch

- focus question: Mars has two tiny moons—Phobos and Deimos. What is the significance of their names?

- chapter summary: When they land on Phobos, the family finds out the Dr. Edith and the War God are already in port, but still under quarantine. Roger goes to try to get in to see his wife, but is only able to see her through a porthole. Since he has brought the rest of the family into port safely, Roger decides to go into quarantine with Edith. He leaves Hazel in command.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. What are the two moons of Mars?

2. Why is the force of gravity less on Phobos than on Earth?

3. What decision does Roger make at the end of the chapter?

Answers: 1—Phobos and Deimos; 2—less mass; 3—to go into quarantine with his wife on the War God.

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration:

- One way that planets and moons differ is in force of gravity. Explore the phenomenon of planetary gravity. See this lesson plan for younger students on planetary gravity: “Gravity and Weight on Other Planets,” Teachervision, http://www.teachervision.fen.com/planets/lesson-plan/353.html. See also: Abby Cessna, “Gravity on Other Planets,” Universe Today, http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/the-solar-system/gravity-on-other-planets/.

- Have groups of student invent a low-G sport or modify a sport to the gravity on Phobos.

- Let students figure out what their weight would be on Mars and the other planets of the solar system at this website: “Your Weight on Other Worlds,” Exploratorium—the Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception, http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/

Chapter XI—Welcome to Mars!

- Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- truncated

- terrestrial

- extortionate

- focus questions/initiating activity: Have your students do some research on Mars. What conditions on Mars would make it possible to have a colony there? What conditions would cause difficulties for human habitation?

- chapter summary: Roger, of course, catches the disease that has plagued the War God, extending the quarantine for everyone. The rest of the family takes the shuttle from Phobos to Mars Port, a very expensive trip. They immediately run into Martian bureaucracy. The find they all have to pay an entry fee for off-worlders, and Hazel is outraged to discover that her gun is banned in the city limits. Rejecting hotels as much too expensive, they look for an apartment. They finally find one at Casa Mañana.

- suggestions for reflection and discussion:

- Why are things so expensive on Mars? How does this fit in with the twins’ plans to sell used bicycles?

- Discuss Heinlein’s attitude toward bureaucracy and government interference as reflected in this chapter.

Chapter XII—Free Enterprise

- Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- capital crime

- Greenwich time

- chapter summary: Castor and Pollux go out to peddle their bikes. They visit the shop of Tony Angelo. They try to sell him on the idea of their used bikes. In the process, he sells them a creature called a flat cat. Their little brother has been disappointed at not seeing any “real Martians,” so they buy this indigenous creature for him. The flat cat is a pie-shaped, boneless being with sleek fur and a talent for purring and snuggling. They name their new acquisition “Fuzzy Britches.” Mr. Angelo isn’t interested in their used bikes, since he already has an oversupply. It turns out that miners are moving out of Mars and on to the Hallelujah Node, a rich strike of uranium and core metals out in the Asteroid belt. Since their bike scheme is a bust, they try to figure another way to make money. They get the idea to enter Buster in the Mars chess championship contest next month and bet on him. Since Buster is telepathic and wins by reading people’s minds, they reluctantly conclude that this scheme would be unethical. They talk about at least using the bikes to get around themselves, then Pollux has a brainstorm—start a bike rental service for tourists! Since they are at the Old Southern Dining Room having lunch when they have this brilliant idea, they pitch the idea to the owner Joe Pappalopoulis. Since his restaurant is a natural gathering place for tourists, they sell him on the idea of buying their bikes and getting tour guides to operate in front of the restaurant.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions:

1. What goes wrong with Castor and Pollux’s plan to sell used bikes to miners?

2. What is the Hallelujah Node?

3. What is a flat cat?

4. What new scheme do they come up with to make a profit on the bikes?

Answers: 1—many of the miners are leaving Mars and going out to the Asteroids where there has been a “strike”; 2—the “strike” that is attracting miners, a rich source of metals out in the Asteroids; 3—a native Martian animal, a pie-shaped, boneless creature with sleek fur and a talent for purring and snuggling; 4—they sell a local restaurant owner on the idea of buying the bikes and setting up a tourist operation.

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration: Have your students do research on the Gold Rush and compare what they find with the situation in this chapter.

Chapter XIII—Caveat Vendor

- Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- impassively

- fraud

- sovereignty

- tariff

- embargo

- confiscation

- nefarious

- Machiavellian

- hellions

- multifarious

- ramifications

- focus question/initiating activity: Ask your students to look up the phrase caveat emptor. How does it relate to the chapter title and the plot of this chapter? See: “Caveat Emptor,” Answers.com, http://www.answers.com/topic/caveat-emptor

- chapter summary: As an unfortunate side effect of their brilliant deal with Pappalopoulis, the twins are thrown in jail for fraud and conspiracy to evade custom duties. Mars has a strong selective tariff, since they are forced to import many things but have little to export. Bikes used for pleasure are classified as luxury items. Since the twins didn’t pay the tariff, they are subject to the 40% tax, plus 40% penalties and confiscation of the bikes. “Poppa” is suing for fraud because the bikes were impounded for unpaid duty penalties. Hazel acts as the twins’ defense counsel. It turns out that the judge, like Hazel, is from one of the founding families of Luna. She gets the twins off the hook by persuading the judge that the bikes are “articles of production” instead of luxury goods, since they produce valuable credits needed on Mars. To teach the twins a lesson, she takes two-thirds of their profits as her fee for defending them. They also find out that their bikes are subject to a “profit tax.” Once they give Hazel her cut and figure the taxes, their whole bike moneymaking scheme only nets them a few cents.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. The twins are thrown in jail for

(a) buying the flat cat—it’s an endangered species

(b) disorderly conduct

(c) fraud and conspiracy to evade custom duties

2. Who acts as the boys’ defense counsel?

(a) Hazel

(b) Roger

(c) Lowell

(d) Edith

3. Approximately how much profit do the twins end up making on their bike enterprise?

(a) 50,000 credits

(b) $1,000 dollars

(c) $50 dollars

(d) $.05 dollars

Answers: 1-c; 2-a; 3-d

- suggestions for reflection and discussion: Do you think the taxes on the twins’ bikes are fair? Why or why not? How do you think Heinlein feels about taxes? Support your position.

Chapter XIV—Flat Cats Factorial

- Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- factorial

- predestination

- determinist

- exponential

- initiating activity: Have your students explore the concept of exponential growth. Older students may want to look at this lesson, “Exponential Functions: Introduction,” Purple Math, http://www.purplemath.com/modules/expofcns.htm. You may want to use one of these images from Google.com to illustrate the problem with the flat cats: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS256&q=exponential+growth&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=3H5ITJybKsTflgfAydjYCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=11&ved=0CGcQsAQwCg&biw=1024&bih=580

- chapter summary: Since Buster remains disappointed at not meeting the “real Martians,” Captain Vandenberg offers to arrange a meeting. He and Buster visit the treaty town of Richardson for three days. The “real Martians,” are reclusive and secretive, so Buster has to promise not to discuss this meeting with anyone. The Stones are fed up with the crowded conditions in their apartment, and the owner reneges on a promise to find them more spacious quarters. At first, they decide not to remain on Mars but to go on to Venus. The twins, however, aren’t enthusiastic about the Venus plan. They suggest that their parents and other siblings go on to Venus, while they head to the Hallelujah Node with Hazel as pilot. When Roger refuses to countenance this plan, the twins say that their preferred plan all along was that they all go to the Asteroids. They propose that the family pay for the trip by offering “cold sleep” space to miners going to the Node. Since only one in five people in cold sleep live through it, Roger rejects this idea. Undeterred, the twins propose that they go as miners themselves, and Grandma Hazel seconds the motion. Roger gives in to the idea of the whole family going, and they head to the Asteroids, a six-week trip. They decide to pay extra for a cometary orbit to save time, and Hazel grinds out more Galactic Overlord episodes to pay for the trip. Roger tells the twins to go ahead with their mining scheme if they really want to, but he suggests that “a man can do more productive work, and make more money if that is his object, by sitting down with his hands in his pockets than by any form of physical activity.” Hazel suggests that the way to really make money is on the things miners need: hardware, groceries, and laundry. The boys take her advice and take cargo to set up a grocery/general store, with some drugs, vitamins and “spools” for entertainment. Fuzzy Britches, the flat cat, has kittens (eight to be exact). Sixty-four days later each kitten has eight kittens of its own. Each of those kittens…. Realizing that the ship will soon be literally littered with flat cat litters, the Stones decide they have to put a stop to it. Since Martian creatures hibernate in the cold, they put the flat cats into cold storage to stop the breeding while they figure out a more permanent solution.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. What does Buster tell his family about the nature of the ‘real Martians’ he meets?

2. What is the first idea Castor and Pollux have about how to pay for the family trip to the Asteroids?

3. Why does Roger refuse to be part of this plan?

4. What business do they decide to get into instead?

5. How do they solve the immediate problem of the proliferating flat cats?

Answers: 1—nothing; 2—to transport miners in cold sleep; 3—because most of the people who go into cold sleep don’t live through it; 4—they decide to become shopkeepers (groceries, drugs, vitamins, etc.); 5—putting them in “cold storage” (since Martian creatures hibernate in the cold, it will stop them breeding until they can come up with a more permanent solution).

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration:

- Have your students research and discuss the viability and ethical implications of human cryogenics.

- Watch “The Trouble With Tribbles,” an episode from the original Star Trek television series. For a discussion of the similarities between Chapter XIV of The Rolling Stones and the Star Trek episode, see David Eversole’s article, “The Trouble With Flat Tribbles,” Orion Press, http://www.fastcopyinc.com/orionpress/articles/trouble_with_flat_tribbles.htm. Heinlein himself said he may have been influenced, at least subconsciously, by Ellis Parker Butler’s 1905 story about proliferating guinea pigs (“Pigs is Pigs,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigs_is_Pigs_)

Chapter XV—“Inter Jovem et Martem Planetam Interposui”

- prepare to read:

- focus question/initiating activity: Have your students look into Bode’s Law. See “Bode’s Law,” at Cornell University’s course website “Astronomy 2201: The History of the Universe, Fall 2010,” http://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/bodes_law.htm.

- chapter summary: On their approach to the Asteroids, the family get a call from City Hall informing them that they are going too fast on approach. This incites the usual complaints from Roger and Hazel about interfering bureaucrats. Suddenly, someone comes knocking at the “door” (hatch). The visitor is Shorty Devine, a miner. He had heard there was a doctor on board. He is seeking help for his partner, who has broken his leg. Dr. Stone and Roger go with him, leaving Hazel in charge.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. What is Bode’s Law?

2. Edith is pressed into duty as a doctor once again. What problem is she asked to help with this time?

3. What is the name of the capital city of the Asteroids?

Answers: 1—a rule for planetary distances; 2—a miner named Shorty Devine comes to their ship asking for help for his partner who has broken his leg; 3—Rock City.

Chapter XVI—Rock City

- Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- torus ring

- arbitrary

- abyss

- proclamation

- initiating activity: Ask your students to do some research into the characteristics of the Asteroid belt and some of the different ideas about its origins.

- chapter summary: The Asteroid belt is vast and very thinly populated. The fact that it has a human population at all, Heinlein implies, is testament to human ingenuity and drive. The Mayor of Rock City tries to recruit Roger for Citizen’s Committee and Dr. Stone to function as their doctor. Edith agrees to tend the sick while she is there. The twins go to Charlie’s Hole (a local shop) hoping to find a scooter to do some sightseeing. They end up trading some chocolate and a flat cat for scooter parts.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1.The Asteroid Belt is shaped like

(a) a doughnut

(b) a hemisphere

(c) a helix

(d) an elipse

2. Why does Heinlein call the three thousand inhabitants of the asteroid belt who live outside the larger planetoids the Belt’s “floating population”?

(a) because they split their time between the Belt and Earth

(b) because they are transients

(c) because they are migrants from Luna

(d) because they live and work in free fall

3. What do the twins trade the owner of Charlie’s Hole for scooter parts?

(a) one of their sister’s paintings

(b) books

(c) a flat cat and some chocolate

(d) they agree to sweep out the shop

Answers: 1—a; 2—d; 3—c

- suggestion for reflection and discussion: In spite of the harsh conditions in the Asteroid belt, Heinlein says, “Wherever there is power and mass to manipulate, Man can live.” Have your students read the transcript of a 1952 radio broadcast by Heinlein (Robert A. Heinlein, “This I Believe,” The Heinlein Society, http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/thisibelieve.html). Have them write and/or discuss Heinlein’s faith in humanity and how it is reflected specifically in this chapter and in the book so far.

Chapter XVII—“Flat Cats Financial”

- chapter summary: Castor and Pollux make a scooter. The miners set up a stand-by taxi service for Dr. Stone to enable her to go see anyone who needs her services. The twins decide to peddle their over-supply of flat cats and decide to start a “suit radio” program (the miners can receive radio signals through their helmets). The show is their advertising vehicle -- a music and chat show with lots of commercials. The show isn’t very good, but it’s free.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1.How does Dr. Stone get around the Belt to see patients?

(a) the miners set up a taxi service for her

(b) jet packs

(c) her own scooter

(d) trick question – they have to come to her

2. How do the twins peddle their oversupply of flat cats?

(a) set up a “pet shop” in Charlie’s Hole

(b) use their scooter to take flat cats to miners on a trial basis

(c) start advertising on a “suit radio” program that they create

(d) set up a stand outside City Hall

Answers: 1—a; 2—c

- suggestion for reflection and discussion: Do you think the twin’s suit radio show is a satire of television and/or advertising? Discuss.

Chapter XVIII—The Worm in the Mud

- Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- chattel

- hemispherical

- sloven

- chapter summary: Dr. Stone needs to make a house call on a patient. Buster and Grandmother Hazel decide to go with her, so they take the twins’ scooter. Since Dr. Stone needs to stay with the patient, Hazel and Buster decide to go back by themselves. On the way, they have gyro problems and can’t navigate. Adrift, they’re running out of oxygen and Hazel gives hers to Buster. The problem turns out to be the fault of the twins, since they left the scooter with faulty gyros and didn’t log it in. Castor and Pollux get Old Charlie to take them out on his scooter to search, and they find Hazel and Buster just in time to revive their grandmother.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. Why do Hazel and Buster and up by themselves in the twins’ scooter?

2. What caused the scooter problem that almost results in a tragedy for the family?

Answers: 1—they have gone with Dr. Stone to visit a parient. When the doctor decides to stay with the patient, they take the scooter and head for home; 2—the twins left the scooter with faulty gyros and didn’t log it in.

- suggestion for reflection and discussion: Write and/or discuss Hazel’s “worm that crawled up out of the mud” story. How does this story exemplify the Stone family as well as Heinlein’s attitude toward humanity. What does it have to do with space exploration?

.

Chapter XIX—The Endless Trail

- Prepare to read:

- vocabulary

- fakir

- gore

- chapter summary: When they get ready to leave for Ceres, the Stones are made honorary citizens of Rock City. Hazel decides to go on alone to Titan, since she’s always wanted to see the rings. When Roger asks her why, she says, “I’ve never seen the Rings. That’s reason enough to go anywhere. The race has been doing it for all time. The dull ones stay home—and the bright ones stir around and try to see what trouble they can dig up.” The whole family decides to join Hazel and sets out for Titan, joining the thousands of others “outward bound” to the ends of the universe.

- quiz/reading comprehension questions

1. How does Hazel survive her brush with death in the twins’ scooter?

2. Where is the Stone family heading at the end of the book?

Answers: 1—she uses the ancient fakir’s trick of breathing as shallowly as possible and going quickly into a coma to conserve oxygen; 2—Titan

Suggestions for more extended papers/projects, which allow students to reflect on major themes in the book as a whole:

- Have students read Steve A. Hughes’ “Afterword: The Endless Frontier” and write papers or do projects on the parallels between the Stone family and the three stages of development in the Westward expansion that Hughes outlines.

- Heinlein might be called a humanist, a conservative, or a libertarian (among other things). Have students explore one or more of the major themes of the book (entrepreneurship, desire for independence from government bureaucracy, family instead of government as the foundation of the good life, the interrelationship between science and human evolution, education, moral responsibility) in light of one or more of the political/philosophical positions listed above.

- Another of Heinlein’s major themes is the human need to always be “outward bound.” What frontiers (physical, spiritual, intellectual, or in any other sense) do you want to explore?

TEACHER’S GUIDE TO 1632 BY ERIC FLINT

Contents:

- recommended reading levels

- biographical material and links

- background of the book and plot summary

- character sketches

- a separate guide to each of the seven parts of the book, which includes a plot summary of each chapter and may also include some of the following:

- prepare to read…

- vocabulary

- focus questions or initiating activity

- quiz/reading comprehension questions—multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension

- reflection and discussion questions—may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions

- suggested activities / inquiry-based exploration—suggestions for activities and projects

Recommended reading levels: The reading level of 1632 has received a Lexile measure of 0650L. Because of the mature nature of some of the material included in the book, including rape, violence, and sexually explicit scenes, classroom use of the book is probably most appropriate for upper-level high school students. The book would be particularly effective for upper-level classes in history and Western civilization.

Biographical information on Eric Flint:

Eric Flint is a popular, prolific, and critically acclaimed author of alternate history, fantasy, and science fiction. He was born in Southern California in 1947, graduated from high school in Los Angeles, and went on to receive a B.A. from UCLA in 1968. He spent three years working on a Ph.D. in Southern African history, but abandoned an academic career when he became a socialist and political activist. For the next thirty years, he worked in a variety of jobs, including longshoreman, truck driver, and machinist. He had written for many years, but decided to get serious about writing professionally in 1992. Since then, as author and co-author, he has written dozens of successful novels, novellas, and short stories.

Biographical resources on the web:

- Flint has provided autobiographical information at his own website, Eric Flint’s place on the web, http://www.ericflint.net/index.php/biography/.

- The Eric Flint web page at Amazon contains a short biographical sketch: “Eric Flint,” Amazon.com, http://www.amazon.com/Eric-Flint/e/B001ITXFV8.

- “Eric Flint,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Flint.

Suggested class activity: Have your students read the autobiographical information on Flint’s website before they begin the book. Ask them to make notes as they read and, when they finish, write essays on how 1632 reflects Flint’s history as a socialist, political activist, and manual laborer.

For further information on Eric Flint and his work:

- Flint’s website contains a wealth of material that students may enjoy exploring in addition to his biographical details: photos, a bibliography, discussions, and news about current projects and upcoming appearances (http://www.ericflint.net/).

- Wikis about Flint’s life and work may be found at http://ericflint.wikia.com/wiki/Eric_Flint_Wiki and http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Eric_Flint

Bibliographies:

You can find bibliographies of Flint’s work at his own website (http://www.ericflint.net/index.php/bibliography/), at the website of the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (isfdb.org) (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Eric_Flint), and on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Flint).

1632 background:

Flint published 1632 with Baen Books in 2000. It is part of the genre known as alternate history. In 1632, a cosmic incident upsets the space/time continuum and a new version of seventeenth century European history unfolds. It was a popular book and spawned a number of sequels and spin-offs set in what has come to be known as the 163x series, the Ring of Fire series, or the Assiti Shards. The series inspired its own fan site, as well as an e-zine for works written by other authors within the 1632 universe. Students may be interested in exploring The Official 1632 Fan Site (http://1632.org/) and the e-zine, The Grantville Gazette (http://www.grantvillegazette.com/).

Plot Summary: The small mining town of Grantville is celebrating the marriage of Tim Simpson and Rita Stearns. In the middle of the wedding reception, a blinding flash and a thunderous crash startle everyone. When the shaken citizens go exploring and piece together all the evidence they can gather, they conclude that their six mile hemisphere of modern-day West Virginia has somehow been transported to seventeenth century Thuringia in Germany in the midst of the Thirty Years War. Surrounded by violence, rape, pillage and suffering, they resolve to bring American democracy, decency, justice and firepower to their part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Major Characters:

- Mike Stearns is a coal miner who led the adventurous life of a soldier, longshoreman, and professional boxer (among other things). When his father died, Mike came back to West Virginia to work in the mines and take care of his family. He is president of the local miners’ union.

- Rita Stearns is Mike’s sister, newly married to Tom Simpson as the story opens. She later becomes one of the first women in Grantville’s new army.

- Tom Simpson was a football player for West Virginia University. As the story opens, he has just married Rita. He is the son of wealthy parents from Pittsburgh, who disapprove of his choice of college, his playing football, and his choice of a wife (whom they consider “white trash”).

- John Chandler Simpson, Tom’s father, was the chief executive officer of a large petrochemical corporation. He tries to throw his weight around in the new Grantville, but gets nowhere.

- Sharon Nichols is Rita’s friend and maid of honor.

- James Nichols is Sharon’s father, a surgeon. He later becomes one of the members of the emergency committee set up to help Grantville survive.

- Ed Piazza is the principal of the local high school and another member of the emergency committee.

- Dan Frost is Grantville’s chief of police. He is shot and wounded in the citizens’ first encounter with German mercenaries.

- Harry Lefferts is a young miner who is wounded in an early encounter with German mercenaries.

- Rebecca Abrabanel is a beautiful young woman the Americans meet during their first encounter with mercenaries in Thuringia. She and her father, Balthazar, are Sephardic Jews who were on their way from Amsterdam to Badenberg. She becomes the first national security advisor of the new Grantville government.

- Balthazar Abrabanel is a Jewish philosopher and physician who was expelled by the Jewish community in Amsterdam for heresy. He is also involved in politics and has been sent as a courier to carry money from the Dutch to Gustav II Adolph, king of Sweden.

- Tilly (Johann Tserclaes, also known as Jan Tzerklas, Count von Tilly) is one of many historical figures who appears in 1632. He was a general representing the Catholic League in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War. See the article “Johann Tserclaes, count von Tilly,” in the online version of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica for details on his life. (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/595893/Johann-Tserclaes-Graf-von-Tilly).

- Morris and Judith Roth are a Grantville couple that take Rebecca and her father into their home.

- Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus) is another historical figure who plays a large role in 1632. He was the king of Sweden who, during the Thirty Years War, led Swedish troops into Germany on the side of the Protestants against the Holy Roman Empire. He was largely responsible for the success of Sweden during that war. For details on his life, see the article, “1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Gustavus II. Adolphus,” http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Gustavus_II._Adolphus.

- Axel Oxenstierna, a historical figure, is a trusted advisor to Gustav II Adolf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Oxenstierna - cite_ref-Encyclop.C3.A6dia_Britannica_4-11See Encyclopædia Britannica - eleventh edition at us.archive.org. 1910-1911, pp. 401–402. http://ia311327.us.archive.org//load_djvu_applet.cgi?file=2/items/EncyclopaediaBritannica1911HQDJVU/Encyclopedia_Britannica_20_Ode_-_Payment_of_members.djvu.

- William, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel is one of Gustav II Adolph’s few German allies.

- Wilhelm and Bernard, Dukes of Saxe-Weimar, are two of Gustav II Adolph’s German allies.

- Lennart Torstensson is commander of the King of Sweden’s artillery.

- Alexander Mackay is the illegitimate son of a minor Scots nobleman. He is the Scottish cavalry officer in command of a small garrison of the king’s men in Thuringia.

- Andrew Lennox is Mackay’s second-in-command.

- Melissa Mailey is the liberal, acerbic history teacher who becomes part of Grantville’s first emergency cabinet. In her younger days, she was part of the civil rights movement, marched against the Vietnam War, and supports the United Mine Workers of America. She is also a vociferous supporter of rights for women. She is part of the subcommittee to draft a constitution for the new American territory.

- Members of the first emergency committee in the new Grantville: Mike Stearns, Frank Jackson (miner), Ed Piazza, Melissa Mailey, Greg Ferrara (science teacher), Henry Dreeson (mayor), Dan Frost (police chief), Bill Porter (power-plant manager), Dr. James Nichols (surgeon), Quentin Underwood (farmer), Willie Rae Hudson (farmer), and Rebecca Abrabanel.

- Julie Sims is head cheerleader at the high school, a talented sharpshooter, and one of the first women in Grantville’s new army.

- Hans Richter is a young German boy who has been conscripted into Tilly’s army.

- Gretchen Richter is Hans’s beautiful older sister. Catholic mercenaries raped Gretchen. She managed to become the concubine of Ludwig, the informal leader of a small band of the soldiers. She later marries a young American and becomes a liaison between the Germans and the Americans.

- Diego the Spaniard is one of the cruelest of the mercenaries and intends to rape Gretchen’s younger sister.

- Jeff Higgins is a Grantville high school student who is one of Greg Ferrara’s “whiz kids.” He and three of his friends played a large role in designing the rockets for the first battle between the American forces and Tilly. They also serve as motorcycle couriers during the battle.

- Gayle Mason was one of the first women to work in the mine in Grantville and now serves in its army.

- Moses and Samuel Abrabanel are relatives of Rebecca’s who come to Grantville to aid in setting up a credit and banking network.

- Don Francisco Nasi is the rising star of the Turkish branch of the Abrabanel family. He comes to Grantville and quickly decides to invest with the Americans and also to advise his family to immigrate there.

- Cardinal Richelieu is a clergyman, noble and influential political minister in France. His primary goal is to maintain and enhance the power of France.

- Wallenstein (also known as Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein or Albrecht von Waldstein) is supreme commander of the Hapsburg armies during the Thirty Years War.

GUIDE TO PART 1—prologue and chapters 1—14

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- superstring

- SETI

- Thuringia

- solidarity

- matchlock

- cuirass

- camouflage

- oblivious

- hidalgo

- Galen

- arquebus

- labyrinth

- menorah

- excoriating

- veritable

- lineage

- landgrave

- acerbic

- Equal Rights Amendment

- burgher

- Anabaptists

- naphtha

- Calvinist

- inquisition

- edict

- heretic

- conversos

- auto-da-fé

- napalm

- nubile

- propriety

- anno Domini

- Holocaust

- Focus questions and initiating activities:

- Research and discuss the idea of multiple/alternative universes. What do scientists think about the plausibility of this general idea? (prologue)

- What are Marquis of Queensbury rules? (chap. 1)

- Who were the Landsknecht? (chap. 4)

- Who are the Sephardim and the Ashkenazim? (chap. 4)

- Who were the marranos? (chap. 4)

- What is the Holy Roman Empire? (chap. 5)

- Take a look at the map of the HRE at the beginning of the 30 Years War (1618) at the website of Emerson Kent.com: http://www.emersonkent.com/map_archive/holy_roman_empire_1618.htm

- Investigate the Siege of Magdeburg. (chap. 5) Helpful sources include the website Timelines (http://timelines.com/1630/11/sack-of-magdeburg) and the article on Magdeburg at the website of the online New World Encyclopedia (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Magdeburg)

- Look at the timeline of the 30 Years War provided on the website Timelines (http://timelines.com/topics/thirty-years-war). What light does this shed the book’s title? (chap. 5)

- oFind some portraits of Gustav II Adolph on the web and compare what you see to Flint’s description at the beginning of chapter 6.

- Find a short biographical sketch of Gustav II Adolph on the web and see what you can learn about the man, his character, and his accomplishments. (chap. 6)

- Why does Flint refer to Gustav II Adolph’s attack on the furniture to vent his anger as “a veritable Sicilian Vespers for the seating equipment”? (chap. 6)

- Do a thought experiment. If you and fifty other people were suddenly stranded on an island with no hope of communicating with the outside world for many years, what would you do? What would be your immediate concerns? What form of government would you set up? (chap. 8)

- Investigate the Inquisition, its inception, its relationship to Jews, and its role in this time period. (chap. 11)

- Do some research to learn about Buchenwald and the American liberation of that death camp. (chap. 14)

Chapter Summaries:

- Prologue: The Grantville disaster is the “exchange” of a perfectly circular hemisphere about six miles in diameter from medieval Thuringia in Germany to modern West Virginia. The exchange causes a new universe to split off from the old. The event resulted from the negligence of an advanced race called the Assiti, who practiced the art of sculpting space/time. A discarded fragment from one of their art works went astray, with unfortunate results.

- Chapter 1: Most of the population of the small mining town of Grantville, West Virginia is celebrating at the wedding reception of Tom Simpson and Rita Stearns in the high school cafeteria. Tom is a former West Virginia University football star, part of one of the wealthiest families in Pittsburgh. His mother comes from “old Eastern money” and his father, John Chandler Simpson, was the CEO of a large petrochemical corporation. Tom’s parents don’t approve of his choice of college, his playing football, or his choice of a wife. They consider themselves far above the “white trash” citizens of the area.

- Chapter 2: In the middle of the wedding reception, there is a blinding flash and a thunderous crash. Strangely, there seems to be no damage to the cafeteria or its surroundings. Mike Stearns, the president of the local miners’ union, and some of his fellow miners go out to explore the cause of the explosion. They see smoke to the southeast and realize that the telephones and police radio aren’t working. Several of the men head south to find the source of the smoke. They are astonished to find that the highway ends abruptly in a shiny wall about six feet high. It turns out the wall is simply dirt that has been cut so precisely that the surface is perfectly smooth. Suddenly, a body hurtles over the wall. It is a teen-age girl who runs screaming away from the men. Then, on top of the wall, they see two armed men in armor and helmets. One of them shoots Dan Frost, the police chief, who in turn blows his attacker’s head off. Coming to the conclusion that something very bad is going on over the wall, they arm themselves and head out.

- Chapter 3: When Mike and the other miners get to the top of the embankment, they discover a terrible scene. Soldiers are raping and torturing the inhabitants of a farmhouse in this strange new territory they have stumbled on. The miners immediately decide to attack and kill the mercenaries to protect the farmers. They can tell from the lay of the land and the trees that this new territory is not part of the West Virginia they knew. The attackers speak a foreign language, dress in what seems to be ancient armor, and use swords. After they kill the mercenaries and try to give aid to the wounded, the Americans see a horse-drawn coach coming down the road.

- Chapter 4: Inside the coach are Rebecca Abrabanel and her father Balthazar. Balthazar, a Jewish philosopher and physician, has been expelled by the Jewish community in Amsterdam for heresy. They are on their way to Badenburg, Germany to take shelter with a relative. Mike and his men call the coach to a halt. Rebecca looks out from the coach and confronts a scene of violence that horrifies her. When Mike approaches, she assumes he is a hidalgo, a Spanish nobleman. Balthazar is having a heart attack. James Nichols, an American doctor, steps in to try to help him. Rebecca warns Mike that they were being followed by a band of mercenaries she calls “Tilly’s men.” They soon have to confront this new band of mercenaries, who fall before superior American firepower.

- Chapter 5: Mike informs Rebecca that she and her father are now under the protection of the people of West Virginia, specifically the United Mine Workers of America. When she hears the word “America,” she feels hopeful, because there are Sephardim in the Americas. Although she understands English well, she is confused by the Americans’ strange accents and the fact that they don’t seem to be treating Mike as a nobleman. Mike, in turn, asks her where they are. She replies that they are in Thuringia. The Americans get everyone back to the high school where a triage center is set up to care for the sick and wounded. It is likely that Balthazar will survive his heart attack but will be incapacitated for some time.

- Chapter 6: Gustav II Adolf, king of Sweden, has a monumental fit of temper when he hears of the massacre of innocent civilians by Imperial forces at Magdeburg, breaking chairs in rage and cursing the German nobles who allowed it to happen. Only three German noblemen, Wilhelm and Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and William, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, have rallied to the king’s Protestant cause. The four of them discuss the prospect of preventing General Tilly, who is on the payroll of Maximillian of Bavaria, from ravaging the Thuringian countryside and laying waste to the cities. The king doesn’t have the forces to stop Tilly, but they develop a defensive plan to hold on until they can garner more Protestant support. The King and his chancellor discuss their financial problems and the fact that so far their finances depend too much on the French. They don’t consider French Cardinal Richelieu a trustworthy ally, since his motivation is to weaken the Holy Roman Empire and advance the interests of France. They are awaiting a courier from Holland with word of support from the Dutch, and they are concerned that he has been waylaid somewhere in Germany.

- Chapter 7: The entire population of the Grantville area meets in the high school gym to discuss their situation. Somehow, and nobody knows how, they and their small surrounding area have been transported to a location somewhere in Germany and to a time almost four hundred years prior to their own. Greg Ferrara, the high school science teacher, tells everyone that the “event” was most likely some sort of natural disaster that they’re lucky to have survived. There is almost no chance of reversing what has happened, so they’re here to stay. The town council puts up a proposal to elect an emergency committee to draw up a constitutional convention to figure out how to govern the new “territory.” John Simpson, a virtual stranger to Grantville, puts himself forward as chairman of the emergency committee. He argues that, as CEO of a major company and a former Navy officer, he is most qualified to lead. He also argues that the two must seal the border and stop taking in the refugees from the surrounding countryside that are starting to come into the American territory. Angered by Simpson’s desire to divide people by class and shut people out, Mike Stearns opposes him. Mike argues that since they are here to stay they can’t avoid being a part of this world. They can’t shut out the innocent civilians around them, and they can’t avoid the war. The Thirty Years War will cause terrible death and destruction. They will need the help of the surrounding population to do the work necessary for all of them to survive. Mike proposes that the best way to survive and flourish is to start the American Revolution a hundred and fifty years ahead of schedule. The town elects him as chairman of the emergency committee. Others members of his cabinet are Frank Jackson (miner), Ed Piazza (principal), Melissa Mailey (history teacher), Greg Ferrara (science teacher), Henry Dreeson (Mayor), Dan Frost (police chief), and Bill Porter (power-plant manager), and Dr. James Nichols (surgeon), Quentin Underwood (farmer), Willie Rae Hudson (farmer), and Rebecca Abrabanel.

- Chapter 8: Melissa Mailey, the liberal and acerbic history teacher, agreed to take notes for the emergency cabinet. Although offended by the sexist implications of one of the two women in the room being the “secretary,” she realizes that meticulous notes are required for the Founding Fathers and Mothers of the new. . . whatever it will be. Since they have so much emergency business to take care of, Mike suggests a small subcommittee to work on the constitution. Next they move to the most immediate problem: the power plant. As long as they have electricity, they will have an enormous advantage over everyone else in this “new world.” They can keep it running until they run out of critical spare parts in less than two years. They can use that time to build a lower-tech coal-fired plant on the principle of the steam engine. The need to create an army has to take first priority since they have to defend against plundering mercenaries.

- Chapter 9: Michael and Rebecca’s relationship develops as they explore their mutual respect and attraction. They decide that they need time to let the relationship develop naturally.

- Chapter 10: Alexander Mackay, a cavalry commander in Gustav’s army, and his second-in-command, Andrew Lennox, face the aftermath of an attack by Tilly’s men near the town of Badenburg in which they had tortured and killed some of the local farmers. Badenburg had been forced to hire its own mercenaries to protect the town, but the soldiers refuse to stop Tilly’s men. Mackay and his few hundred men have been placed in the region by Gustav II Adolph as part of an effort to stabilize his control of Germany’s Baltic provinces. On patrol, they spot the farmhouse that was the site of the miners’ first battle with Tilly’s men. They find the mass grave the miners dug for the fallen mercenaries. What they at first take to be a headstone on the grave turns out to be a warning message from the Americans that the area is now under the protection of the UMWA and that they will not tolerate further harm to the people of the region. Mackay and his men dig up the grave and are puzzled by the nature of the gunshot wounds on the bodies. Suddenly, they sense they are being watched from the woods, and the Americansconfront them. The Scots are relieved when the strangers start speaking a peculiar form of English, and they are delighted when most of them claim some sort of Scottish ancestry.

- Chapter 11: The emergency committee of Grantville realizes that their best way of surviving is to gear down to an essentially nineteenth century industrial economy, which still puts them far ahead of their seventeenth century context. Rebecca and her father are worried about the Inquisition. It is hard for Mike, used to interfaith harmony and openness, to understand the context and experiences that led to that fear. The Scottish soldiers come into town, and Mike invites them to lunch in the high school cafeteria. On the way there, Mackay is struck by the appearance of Julie Sims, head cheerleader. All the soldiers are struck by the scanty clothing worn by all the cheerleaders. Mike refuses to compromise American customs to local mores. Mike makes it clear to the soldiers that the Americans do not plan to pay tribute to any band of soldiers, mercenaries, or lords. They intend to remain independent. Mike brings in all of Grantville’s religious leaders to explain to the Scotsmen that Americans enjoy religious freedom and toleration, an idea that is difficult for the Scots to get their minds around. The Scots come to the conclusion that the Americans are not witches and that the whole Ring of Fire event must be God’s will.

- Chapter 12: The Abrabanel family have lived in London for well over a hundred years, since the expulsion of the Sephardim from Spain. Although technically banned from the British Isles, the authorities tolerated discreet Jewish communities. The Abrabanel family served England as spies since the time of Queen Elizabeth. Mackay meets with Balthazar, who brought a chest of silver for Gustav from the Dutch. Mackay offers Mike some of the money if the Americans will become part of Gustav’s army. He contemptuously replies that Americans will not fight as mercenaries. They will, however, agree to an alliance with Gustav to fight Tilly’s army.

- Chapter 13: American and Scottish leaders plan the coming campaign. Mackay contemplates the beauty of Julie Sims and the oddness of the Americans’ loose command structure. Julie gives Rebecca a summary of the women’s liberation movement. Balthazar enters a medical partnership with Dr. Nichols and Dr. Adams.

- Chapter 14: Balthazar expresses concern about his daughter’s interest in Mike to the Roths. They reassure him that Mike, in spite of being a Gentile, is a “prince.” This leads them to a discussion of the Holocaust, which Balthazar has been reading about. He discovers the Roths are in Grantville because Mike’s grandfather liberated Morris’s father from the Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II. He emigrated to West Virginia to be near the man who had saved him. A passing reference leads to a discussion of the play Henry IV, and Balthazar reveals that he was a huge fan of the author and never missed one of his plays at the Globe. The Roths are shocked to discover that, according to Balthazar, Henry IV and the other plays attributed to Shakespeare were actually written by Edward, Earl of Oxford. Since the writing of plays was considered too disreputable for the nobility, he merely used Shakespeare’s name to hide his identity.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions—multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension:

1. What is the Grantville disaster? What caused it? (prologue)

2. Why do the Simpsons disapprove of Tom’s choice of a wife? (chap. 1)

3. Why do Mike Stearns and Dr. Nichol’s hit it off immediately? (chap. 1)

4. Which of the Grantville men is the first one wounded by the foreign mercenaries?

a.Dan Frost

b.Mike Stearns

c.James Nichols

d.John Simpson

5. Why is the young girl they encounter at the “wall” running away?

a.because of the explosion they all heard

b.because the soldiers were trying to rape her

c.because she is afraid of Mike and the other miners

d.because her parents beat her

6. What language do the mercenaries seem to be speaking when the miners first encounter them?

a.Spanish

b.Dutch

c.German

d.English

7. When Mike first sees one of the Abrabanels, he concludes that the movie they all must be in is

a.Deliverance

b.Texas Chainsaw Massacre

c.The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

d.Cleopatra

8. The Jews who were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the late middle ages were called

a.the Sephardim

b.the Ashkenazim

c.the Hidalgim

d.the Orthodox

9. Marranos are

a.Spanish noblemen

b.“secret Jews”

c.long spears or pikes used by soldiers

d.a Spanish dish of rice and beans Rebecca teaches Mike to make

10. Rebecca tells Mike that she and her father left Amsterdam because

a.they are bankers traveling to do business in Germany.

b.they are fleeing Christian persecution.

c.Balthazar was expelled by the Jewish community for heresy.

d.they thought the Jews in Amsterdam had abandoned the faith of their fathers.

11. At the beginning of this chapter, something has so enraged Gustav II Adolf, the King of Sweden, that he is cursing and breaking furniture. What event has caused this rage?

a.Richelieu’s betrayal

b.The fact that the courier expected from Holland has been killed

c.The massacre of Magdeburg

d.The loss of the battle of Hesse

12. Gustav II Adolph is

a.a devout Protestant

b.a devout Catholic

c.a“secret Jew”

d.an agnostic who is using religion for political purposes

13. Why does the king think he can’t stop Tilly and his forces and save Thuringia?

a.the geography favors Tilly

b.Gustav II Adolph does not have sufficient forces

c.neither of the above

d.both (a) and (b)

14. Who becomes the chairman of the emergency committee to structure the new government?

a.John Simpson

b.Rebecca Abrabanel

c.James Nichols

d.Mike Stearns

15. What war do the Americans find themselves confronting?

a.The War of the Roses

b.The 30 Years War

c.The Revolutionary War

d.The 100 Years War

16. What harsh reality does Melissa Mailey, the liberal history teacher, have a hard time coming to terms with during the first emergency meeting of the Grantville cabinet?

17. There are several immediate problems they realize they must deal with to survive and thrive in the new world they find themselves in. What are three of them?

18. What two things do Mackay’s men and many of the Americans first find they have in common?

19. The Scots are astonished by several things during their first visit to Grantville. What are two of them?

20. Why were Puritans in England more favorably inclined to the Jews than the established Church of England?

21. Why did Morris Roth’s grandfather settle in West Virginia, even though he was the only Jew in Grantville when he arrived.

Answers:

1.The Grantville disaster is the “exchange” of a hemisphere of territory between modern day West Virginia and seventeenth century Thuringia. A shaving from an Assiti art project using space/time caused the disaster.

2.The Simpsons disapprove of Tom’s choice of a wife because they consider her, her family and the town she lives in lower class.

3.They recognize in each other men who have come up the hard way, led adventurous lives, overcome obstacles through their own initiative and become successful in their own ways.

4.a

5.b

6.c

7.d

8.a

9.b

10.c

11.c

12.a

13.d

14.d

15.b

16.That Grantville must have an army for defense, and that some of the young men from the high school will have to serve in it.

17.Several are listed in chapter 8, including the need for a new low-tech power plant; finding sources of coal, oil, and natural gas; the need for an army for defense; food production and supplies; the need to ration gasoline; and the creation of an infrastructure for finance.

18.That they speak English and have Scottish ancestry.

19.The scanty uniforms of the cheerleaders, the motorized vehicles, and the fact that people of different religious beliefs live together peacefully in the town.

20.Their scholars were interested in the Hebrew texts as part of their attempt to “purify” Christianity. Their devotion to the literal text of the Bible leads them to the conclusion that the Jews have a special place in God’s will. They have much in common with the Jews, since both peoples admire hard work and thrift, admire those who acquire wealth as favored by God, and encourage literacy.

21.Because Michael’s grandfather, Tom Stearns, was a sergeant in the American unit that liberated him from Buchenwald in WW II. Tom invited him to come to Grantville, and he wanted to be near the man who liberated him from Buchenwald. It was the safest place he could imagine.

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions—these questions may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions:

1. In exploring the conflict over Tom and Rita’s marriage, Flint raises issues of class conflict and prejudice that will unfold throughout his story. Discuss the ways in which these issues are reflected in chapter 1.

2. The citizens of Grantville are very well armed for their first encounter with the bad guys. Do you think Flint’s assumptions about gun ownership among this population are realistic? Explain your view. (chap. 2)

3. Who were Maimonodes, Karaites and Averroes? How does the fact the Balthazar studied them explain his expulsion from Amsterdam for heresy? (chap. 4)

4. Why does Rebecca assume Mike is a hidalgo? (chap. 4)

5. Why does Rebecca identify James Nichols as a Moor and associate him with Islamic medicine? (chap. 4)

6. What did you learn about Gustav II Adolph’s character and temperament from this chapter? Is it consistent with what you learned in your research on the historical King of Sweden? (chap. 6)

7. 7.One of the themes you will see running throughout 1632 is the theme of class conflict. How does that theme play out in this chapter? (chap. 6)

8. What is Mike’s argument for not shutting out refugees from the surrounding population? Do you agree or disagree? What parallels to you see with the current immigration debate in the United States, if any? (chap. 7)

9. How does Simpson’s bid for power, and Mike’s reaction to it, underscore Flint’s exploration of class issues? How does this relate to the refugee question they face? Why is Mike’s sarcastic references to “downsizing” and “pink slips” particularly relevant? (chap. 7)

10. 1What was the Inquisition, and why do Rebecca and her father fear it? (chap. 11)

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration—suggestions for class activities and projects:

1. Investigate some of the arms and armor that the German mercenaries and the miners have in the first battle—swords, single-shot muzzle loaders, matchlocks, cuirass, rifles, modern handguns, and shotguns. What advantages and disadvantages did the miners face in the fight? (chap. 2)

2. Have your students create a project on the Sephardim and/or general attitudes toward Jews during the period of the book. (chap. 4)

3. Investigate the poem Rebecca thinks of during the battle and its author, Samuel ibn Negrela (993-1056). (chap. 4) See Joseph Jacobs and Isaac Broydé, “Samuel Ha-Nagid (Samuel Haleviben Joseph Ibn Nagdela,” The Jewish Encyclopedia, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=183&letter=S&search=samuel%20ibn%20nagrela

4. The cuisine developed by Sepharic Jews reflects their adaptations to the countries of the Jewish diaspora. Ask different students and/or parents to volunteer to research and cook Sephardic dishes to bring to class for everyone to try. You might have students present projects or papers and invite others to the class. Some resources for ideas and recipes: “Kosher Food,” About.com, http://kosherfood.about.com/od/sephardiccuisine/Jewish_Sephardic_Cuisine.htm; “Cuisine of the Sephardic Jews,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_the_Sephardic_Jews; “What is Sephardic Cuisine,” The Global Gourmet,http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0497/sephardic.html#axzz148klsUtE >and Joyce Goldstein, Sephardic Flavors: Jewish Cooking of the Mediterranean, Chronicle Books, 2000.

5. Investigate the causes of the Thirty Years War. (chap. 5)

6. Research and discuss a popular problem in philosophical ethics: the life boat dilemma. What relevance does it have to the Americans’ situation? Set up a classroom debate on a “life boat” scenario. (chap. 7)

7. Investigate the history of the ideas of religious freedom and tolerance. What was the state of these ideas in 1632? How did they develop in the United States? (chap. 11 and chap. 12)

8. The debate about the Shakespeare authorship has a long and lively history. Investigate the various theories of authorship and have a classroom debate on the topic. (chap. 14)

GUIDE TO PART 2—chapters 15—33

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- peon

- Julian calendar

- Gregorian calendar

- suffrage

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Research the use of the tercio as a battle formation. What were some of its strengths and weaknesses?

- Investigate Seneca Falls and Harriet Tubman. When you have read chapter 23, discuss the reasons that Melissa Mailey thinks that Gretchen will be the “new Harriet Tubman” they need.

- Jeff Higgins, in coming to a difficult decision, will use what he considers an ancient motto: Here I stand. I can do no other. Find the origin of that statement. Why is it particularly appropriate in the context of this book? (chap. 24)

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 15: Hans Richter, an eighteen year old boy, serves as an unwilling conscript in the ranks of Tilly’s mercenaries. Mercenaries raped his beautiful older sister, Gretchen. She became the concubine of Ludwig, the leader of a small band of the mercenaries. Her status as concubine gives her some protection from the other soldiers. The mercenaries have just looted another small, pitiful German town. Gretchen is strong and calm, and some of the newly homeless have attached themselves to her, swelling the ranks of her “family.”

- Chapter 16: The Americans and their allies survey the Spanish-style tercio, part of Tilly’s army that marches to lay siege to Badenburg. This tercio is two thousand men strong, mixing pikemen, arquebusiers, and cavalry packed into a rectangle fifty files wide and forty ranks deep. Mike recruits Hoffman’s Protestant mercenaries from the town to fight on his side, since his intention is not only to turn back Tilly but to liberate Badenburg. Mike’s forces are badly outnumbered, but he is confident because his men have rifles and machine guns and thus a very high kill rate. His confidence proves to be justified. Although Tilly’s men fight courageously, they can’t stand up to modern firepower.

- Chapter 17: When Gretchen hears the fire of the modern guns, she knows the battle is lost. She believes that she must protect her family from the enemy, since she has only experienced soldiers as rapists, looters, and pillagers. Realizing that she doesn’t have time to hide them in the woods, she decides to hide them in the last place soldiers will look: the outhouse. She then faces the oncoming victors, determined to survive.

- Chapter 18: Jeff Higgins, a Grantville high school student and new member of the army, enters the camp and sees Gretchen. He is struck by her calm in the midst of chaos. Then he realizes that she is beautiful. She is surrounded by frightened, crying women and girls, who fear rape and murder. Realizing what they are afraid of, Jeff and his friends take their shotguns and fire at Hoffman’s approaching mercenaries. The “cavalry” then arrives in the form of the Americans’ coal hauling trucks. The terrified Protestant mercenaries surrender, ending Hoffman’s reign of terror over Badenburg.

- Chapter 19: Rebecca and many of the Grantville women reach the battlefield, concerned about their men. Mike goes in search of Rebecca. They embrace, touching and kissing for the first time. They realize that they are irrevocably committed to each other.

- Chapter 20: Gretchen finds Diego the Spaniard, wounded on the battlefield. Diego was one of the cruelest of the mercenaries, and Gretchen knows that he intends to rape her younger sister. Jeff has followed her onto the battlefield. She asks him to look away, because she intends to finish off Diego. Realizing her intention and the reason for it, Jeff shields her from view while she kills Diego. She also wants the pleasure of killing Ludwig, but finds that he is already dead. Ironically, Ludwig’s body screened Hans in the attack. Jeff secures a stretcher for Hans and gets him off the battlefield.

- Chapter 21: Gretchen decides to take on Jeff as her protector. There was something about his eyes that she trusts and that promises some sort of life for her and her family. Jeff is proud and happy that she has chosen him.

- Chapter 22: Jeff takes Gretchen back to Grantville, where she meets Melissa Mailey. Because of her confidence, erect carriage, and good health, Gretchen assumes she is one of the nobility. She is astonished when she encounters recognition and friendliness from Melissa. Gretchen and her family experience the wonders of Grantville, including baths, new clothing, and food. Gretchen finds herself strangely attracted to Jeff.

- Chapter 23: Melissa realizes that Gretchen needs Jeff to guarantee her family’s survival and that Jeff won’t be able to resist Gretchen’s decision that he will be their protector and provider. Urging Jeff and the other American boys to resist the blandishments of German girls who needed to survive would be the first step on the road to a caste society. Melissa goes through a difficult conversion from her modern principles about pacifism, sexual harassment and other liberal totems. Melissa also starts to consider her growing attraction to Dr. Nichols.

- Chapter 24: Jeff realizes that he must make a quick decision about a relationship with Gretchen. He is smart enough and mature enough to realize that she can’t wait long for his decision. She has people to take care of, and she doesn’t have time to understand the new world in which she finds herself. He decides that he will ask her to marry him. When he does, Gretchen immediately indicates to him that he doesn’t have to do this. He replies that he must. Gretchen’s response and his own will give them what they need to make it through the hard years ahead, without suspicion of each other.

- Chapter 25: Ed Piazza announces to the emergency committee that they need ten thousand people able and willing to work in order to build the infrastructure that will keep everybody in the area alive through the winter. Food production and shelter are the primary challenges. Jeff interrupts the meeting to announce his and Gretchen’s decision to marry.

- Chapter 26: Jeff’s announcement causes a heated argument. Rebecca points out that they face a choice between two roads. Jeff’s choice leads to a country like the old America. The other leads to a military aristocracy, a land of “pure-blood” Americans ruling over a horde of German peons. She recommends the road to assimilation and democracy. They quickly decide on assimilation, and Willie Ray Hudson offers to give the bride away. They decide to hold the wedding, the first great celebration for the new Grantville, on the Fourth of July.

- Chapter 27: Jeff, his friends, and some of the committee members go to welcome Gretchen, tell her that she and Jeff have permission to marry, and start planning the wedding.

- Chapter 28: Gretchen becomes the liaison between the captured German soldiers and the Americans. The soldiers are mightily relieved to find someone who speaks German. She finds a friend, Heinrich, who led a group of arquebusiers and survived the battle. Heinrich and his men speak English, so she introduces them to Frank Jackson. Soon, the American army has its first German recruits. Within a few weeks, most of the soldiers, camp followers, and refugees have been processed and more or less assimilated into the new American territory.

- Chapter 29: The town has a disorganized but lively parade for what may or may not be the Fourth of July (since there is a dispute between proponents of the Julian calendar and the Gregorian). Michael presents Rebecca with an engagement ring. German tavern-keepers, American farmers and a beer truck operator go into partnership to open a beer garden. Prior to the wedding, Melissa explains to Gretchen that love is important for Americans. Although, in Gretchen’s experience, love is a thing for nobles, she is determined to work hard to make Jeff happy.

- Chapter 30: Jeff and Gretchen’s wedding goes off without a hitch in front of a huge crowd. The Germans see the wedding as reassurance that they will be accepted in the new society. For the Americans, the romance of the young couple’s story allows the town to overlook class divides and embrace the future. Before the wedding, Dr. Nichols gives Jeff some words of advice, telling him that his job is to give his people a space where they can build their lives, a roof over their heads and food on the table. Other than that, he should just do his best.

- Chapter 31: Before Jeff and Gretchen make love for the first time, Jeff assures her that he can wait because of what she has been through. She is astonished that he is willing to restrain himself, and realizes that he really cares for her. She wants to keep her family happy and reassures him that she is ready to make love. For the first time in her life, she experienced love-making as pleasurable and realizes that she can love her new husband. When the children come into their room the next day, the youngest calls Jeff “Papa,” and the family is complete.

- Chapter 32: Hans, Gretchen’s brother, finally wakes up from his coma. He finds that Gretchen has married and has also set up a new job for him with the publisher of Grantville’s newspaper. Since their father was a printer, it seems the ideal job to him. One of the first things he prints is the Bill of Rights. The Americans get a television network up and running.

- Chapter 33: In the first tv broadcast, Rebecca announces that there will be enough food for everyone over the winter, although it will require tight rationing. After more public service announcements, they play an old silent movie, which will be accessible to everyone. Once the movie is under way, several of the members of the committee discuss the upcoming elections. The first plank of Mike’s platform is universal suffrage for everyone eighteen or older after three months residency. This is sure to raise opposition from some of the more reactionary elements in the town. After the movie, Rebecca goes back on air for an update of the military situation. She emphasizes the need for citizens to avoid taking sides by creed, since what is at stake is their own liberty.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions—multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension:

1. Who formed the heart of the tercio in this chapter?

a.pikemen

b.cavalry

c.arquebusiers

d.riflemen

2. Why is Mike so confident of victory even though his forces are badly outnumbered?

a.His men aren’t mercenaries

b.The Scots are more courageous than Tilly’s men

c.The Americans have rifles and machine guns

d.Hoffman’s men are fighting on his side

3. Who does Gretchen meet and think of as “The Duchess”?

a.Rebecca Abrabanel

b.Judith Roth

c.Rita Stearns

d.Melissa Mailey

4. When does the emergency committee decide to schedule Jeff and Gretchen’s wedding?

a.immediately

b.July 4th

c.Christmas

d.As a New Year celebration

Answers:

1.a

2.c

3.d

4.b

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions—these questions may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions:

1. Discuss Flint’s take on the “religious” nature of the Thirty Years War. (chap. 15)

2. Comment on this sentence: “For the first time in her life, one of the world’s mighty had gazed upon Gretchen Richter, and seen nothing but another human being.” (chap. 22)

3. Discuss Melissa Mailey’s conversion from some of her life-long liberal principles. What ideas does she give up and why? What arguments would modern conservatives make that the reasons for her conversion apply just as well today? (chap. 23)

4. What parallels do you see between the debate in chapter 26 and current immigration arguments in the United States? Discuss.

5. As a class, read the Bill of Rights. Why do you think Hans (a) found it insane and (b) fell in love with it? (chap. 32)

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration—suggestions for class activities and projects:

1. Many people involved in the Thirty Years War were convinced that the apocalypse had come. Investigate some of the apocalyptic imagery in this chapter, including the references to the “Beast” and the “Lord of Flies.” Look at some of the woodcuts from the era that refer to the apocalypse. (chap. 15)

2. In chapter 33, Mike puts forth his proposal for suffrage in the new territory. What is his proposal? What does the class think standards for suffrage should be in the U.S.?

GUIDE TO PART 3—chapters 34 - 36

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- musket

- musketeers

- caracole

- fortifications

- cuirassiers

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 34: This chapter recounts the historical battle of Breitenfeld, in which Gustavus Adolphus and his inferior Protestant forces were able to defeat Tilly’s superior Catholic forces. It was a pitched battle between two large armies, a rare thing in that period. Tilly’s army numbered somewhere between thirty-two and forty thousand men. Even though his allies broke, the Swedish king stood his ground and changed the course of history. According to Flint’s account, history pivoted on the soul of one man, Gustav II Adolph. The legacy of Gustav’s victory in this battle is enshrined in a monument which now stands on the battlefield, which proclaims: “Freedom of Belief for All the World.”

- Chapters 35 and 36: In these chapters, Flint recounts the battle from Gustav’s point of view.

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions—these questions may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions:

1. What are some of the reasons people have given for calling Gustav II Adolph the Father of Modern War?

2. How does the battlefield monument Flint refers to in chapter 34 explain the significance of the Battle of Breitenfield? Why was Gustav’s victory such a significant point in Western history?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Read Don Hollway’s article, “Thirty Years War: Battle of Breitenfeld,” from Military History, February 1996 at the website HistoryNet.com (http://www.historynet.com/thirty-years-war-battle-of-breitenfeld.htm/1). Compare his account of the battle with Flint’s. How does each of them account for the victory?

GUIDE TO PART 4—chapters 37 - 44

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- biathlon

- belligerent

- disgruntled

- hardscrabble

- fledgling

- flamboyantly

- caparisoned

- skirmishers

- conquistadores

- sagacity

- quartermasters

- Mennonites

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Investigate Jim Crow laws in the history of the U.S., especially as they relate to elections. (chap. 42)

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 37: Word of Breitenfeld reaches Grantville, and Protestants and Catholics alike celebrate. Most common Germans are indifferent to their neighbor’s religion. The German aristocracy and princes used religion as an excuse to force the issue on the Holy Roman Empire. Their true concern was their own power and privileges. A splinter group from Tilly’s army hears that Thuringia is largely unravaged by the war, so they head there seeking food and shelter for the coming winter. The university town of Jena, thirty miles from Grantville, lies unwalled and unprotected. Their leaders receive an unexpected offer of aid from Grantville. In spite of the fact that they have heard rumors that Grantville is populated by witches and sorcerers, the leaders of Jena decide it is God’s will that they accept American aid.

- Chapter 38: Jeff and his friend Larry are on reconnaissance outside Jena and spot the oncoming mercenaries. The Americans prepare their positions. Meanwhile, Gretchen has gone into Jena to form a Committee of Correspondence among the poor citizens to support the army’s efforts.

- Chapter 39: Julie Sims, a former biathlon athlete, sets up on a ridge as a sharpshooter, with a Remington Model 700. Mike asks her if she really is willing to kill long-distance. Julie assures him that she has no compunction about killing the enemy, considering what they have done and will do if they get the chance. She easily picks off enemy soldiers at 400 yards. Frightened and confused by Julie’s shooting and the American armored personnel carriers, the mercenaries surrender. While Gretchen is still talking to the women she is recruiting in Jena, Max Jungers, a local hooligan and would-be pimp, shows up. When he threatens her, she shoots him with the 9mm she had hidden in her bodice.

- Chapter 40: Mike reports to the committee that the economic situation in the province is going to be desperate soon, but the area is flush with hard currency. The Americans can keep the people in the region alive through the winter. The economic situation is promising, with electrical power guaranteed and food supplies looking adequate. Some pressing problems are the shortage of hard currency and the primitive state of banking and credit in Europe. Rebecca announces that several of her relatives will be arriving in Grantville soon, all well-connected in banking and financial affairs. Mike thinks they need to hold another election, since the “temporary emergency committee” has gone about as far as it can. The subcommittee presents its proposal for the constitutional convention, and they decide to call themselves the Fourth of July Party.

- Chapter 41: Moses and Samuel Abrabanel come to Grantville to assess the advantages to the family of becoming involved in credit and banking in the new territory. They are favorably impressed by the Americans’ military capability. They conclude that if they invest in Grantville, their fortunes will be safe enough.

- Chapter 42: Mike makes a speech defending the idea of at-large elections for the first constitutional convention of the American territory. They need to decide the crucial question of who will vote for those who decide policy. This franchise is the ultimate power. Simpson sponsors a party that wants strict control of the franchise. In order to vote under Simpson’s proposal, someone would have to have absolute command of English, satisfactory literacy, and a sound knowledge of American history. Mike’s party wants universal suffrage for adults with three months residence.

- Chapter 43: Grantville has become a classic boom town, with new businesses and industries springing up like mushrooms. Food has proved to be less of a problem than they at first feared, since there is more trade than they expected and many traders have moved their base of operations to Grantville. Game is also plentiful in the Thuringian forests. Mackay and Julie’s former boyfriend, Chip, have the first duel in Grantville’s history. Don Francisco Nasi, the Abrabanel representative in Istanbul, arrives in Grantville. The first thing the citizens want him to do is establish a coffee trade, since Grantville has long run out of that beverage. Francisco decides quickly to invest his branch of the family’s money with the Americans. He further announces that they intend to immigrate to Grantville. Since he believes in ties of blood, he advises Rebecca to wed Michael as soon as possible.

- Chapter 44: The new constitution proposed by the Fourth of July party passes with an overwhelming majority. In the political campaigning that follows, Mike comes into conflict with the older members of the UMWA. They want to pass a law requiring the unionization of all businesses employing more than 10 workers. The German citizens are opposed, since they think in terms of the oppressive guilds they are used to. Mike and the younger UMWA members take the side of the Germans. Soon, however, the Germans realize that they need the protection of unions, and the controversy is over. Mike wins the election for president with eighty-seven percent of the vote, and Rebecca becomes the sole Senator of the new United States.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions—multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension:

1. Why haven’t the American integrated their army instead of keeping Americans and Germans in separate contingents?

a.prejudice

b.language barrier

c.the Germans haven’t learned to shoot with rifles

d.the Americans don’t trust the Germans not to defect

2. The new German recruits in Grantville’s army go into the battle of Jena armed with

a.rifles

b.arquebuses

c.pikes

d.shotguns fitted with bayonets

3. Who turns out to be the best sharpshooter in the new American army?

a.Julie Sims

b.Mike Stearns

c.Jeff Higgins

d.Gretchen Higgins

4. What is Rebecca’s solution to the new territory’s need for hard currency?

a.print money

b.get a loan from the French

c.recruit her banking relatives

d.turn to barter instead of currency

5. What is the name of the political party founded by Mike and the other members of the emergency committee?

Answers:

1.c

2.d

3.a

4.c

5.The Fourth of July Party

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions—these questions may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions:

- Discuss the controversy over unionization that breaks out in chapter 44. How is it resolved?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

- Explore how the idea of who has the franchise to vote changed throughout history, including how it has changed in America since its founding. Then have a debate about one of the following: (1) should people have to pass a civics test before they qualify to vote or (2) should illegal immigrants have the right to vote in U.S. elections.

GUIDE TO PART 5—chapters 45 - 48

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- protracted

- depredations

- dispensation

- machinist

- ordnance

- armament

- decorum

- bombardment

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 45: The Saxe-Weimar brothers ask Gustav II Adolf to send an expedition to Thuringia, but he refuses. Axel Oxenstierna, the king’s adviser, is concerned that power in Thuringia has been seized by a republic (the Americans). Gustav says that power went to the Americans because the German nobles were not willing to take care of their own people as they should have. He points out that he also looks kindly upon the American effort because he is Vasa. His grandfather, Gustav Vasa, founded the dynasty and created the nation of Sweden. Gustav II Adolph shares his grandfather’s contempt for the aristocracy. He resolves to let Thuringia settle its own affairs. Gustav has received word from Mackay about the origins of the Americans. Gustav accepts his account, unlikely as it is. He decides the American presence is God’s will instead of witchcraft and resolves to use it to accomplish his goal of a north European Protestant confederation under the leadership of Sweden.

- Chapter 46: The Americans ready their first shipment of cannons to the Swedes. Julie Sims and Rebecca insist on going to meet with the Swedes over the objections of their menfolk. Rebecca emphasizes that they need to reassure the king that they are real and not witches.

- Chapter 47: The king meets with the representatives from American territory. He is soon convinced that they are not witches. He is especially interested that Rebecca is a Jewess and realizes that freedom of religion in the new territory has an expansive meaning that even he had not imagined. Rebecca offers the king financial assistance for his forces, agreeing that the Americans will serve as a conduit for supplies and the Abrabanels will offer him generous credit.

- Chapter 48: The Swedes and the Americans scope out Tilly’s positions and prepare for the next battle. Julie demonstrates her shooting prowess to Gustav’s amazement. In the battle the next day, Tilly’s forces can’t stand up to the firepower of the allies’ guns. Tilly dies two weeks later from wounds received in the battle.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions—multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension:

1. When the king says that he is “Vasa,” he is referring to

a.the line of his grandfather, Gustav Vasa

b.the Swedish word for king

c.the sect of Protestantism to which he belongs

d.the fact that he is anointed by God

2. Gustav concludes that the presence of the Americans is

a.Satan’s work

b.witchcraft

c.God’s will

d.a cosmic accident

3. What help does Rebecca offer the king of Sweden?

Answers:

1.a

2.c

3.A conduit for supplies and credit from her relatives

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions—this question may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as a short writing assignment, or as a test question:

- What are some of the reasons that Gustav II Adolph is favorably disposed toward the Americans?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

- One of the themes that appears in this section of the book is the concern about witchcraft and whether the Americans are witches. Explore the attitudes toward witchcraft and sorcery during this period of history.

GUIDE TO PART 6—chapters 49 - 58

Prepare to Read…

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- Counter Reformation

- functionaries

- proxy

- terrain

- maneuvers

- APCs

- badinage

- parapet

- blitzkrieg

- Claymore mines

- jury-rigged

- pièce de résistance

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- Find out about the life and influence of Cardinal Richelieu (chap. 49)

- Who were the Hapsburgs? (chap. 49)

- Investigate the life of Albrecht von Wallenstein and his role in the Thirty Years War. (chap. 49)

- What is the significance of the reference to Matewan? (chap. 57)

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 49: Cardinal Richelieu pays lip service to the Counter Reformation, but his true aim is to strengthen France. In order to do that, he must humble the Hapsburgs, especially the Spanish branch, since they are the strongest military power in Europe. One of Richelieu’s spies reports that he has been to Grantville and does not believe the Americans’ skills and influence result from witchcraft. Since it served the Cardinal’s purposes, he insists that it is indeed sorcery, and that Satan’s hand is over Thuringia. Richelieu agrees to a request from the Spaniards to send money to Bernard of Saxe-Weimar. Bernard has agreed to betray his alliance with the King of Sweden. Bernard will move his forces aside so that Spanish troops have a clear line of march on Thuringia. Richelieu feels he must defeat Gustav. He cannot tolerate a Sweden, made rich by association with the Americans, dominating central Europe. General Wallenstein, leader of the imperial forces, plans to draw the Americans off at Suhl and Eisenach, while Croatian mercenaries strike at Grantville itself.

- Chapter 50: Gustav is worried because Bernard of Saxe-Weimar has moved his troops far south of Cologne. There is no logical reason for it. Gustav’s forces have built large fieldworks near Nürnberg, and Wallenstein’s huge army of sixty thousand troops is moving toward the city. Another twenty thousand of Tilly’s former men are moving to meet him, as are another twenty thousand led by Pappenheim from the west. Gustav is determined that Nürnberg will not be another slaughter like Magdeburg. Wallenstein, preferring siege warfare, has refused to engage Gustav’s troops in the field. He thinks hunger and disease will do his work for him. Gustav figures out that Bernard’s betrayal is aimed toward leaving Thuringia open for attack.

- Chapter 51: Gustav decides to use a certain Captain Gars to lead a small expedition to Thuringia to investigate. They find that two thousand Croatian light cavalry troops are heading to attack Grantville and destroy it.

- Chapter 52: American forces engage the enemy near Eisenach. The Americans suffer only one casualty, but the damage they inflict on the enemy is horrendous. Claymore mines kill hundreds. The survivors retreat to Wartburg Castle. Mike decides to wait until dawn to attack the castle to give the men inside the opportunity to surrender.

- Chapter 53: Julie finds out she is pregnant and is afraid her fiancée, Captain Mackay, will be furious. Mackay is sensitive to the fact that he is a bastard, which will make him particularly upset. Rebecca is due to have her baby in a couple of months, seven months after she and Mike married. Gretchen announces to Jeff that she is pregnant.

- Chapter 54: The Americans bombard Wartburg Castle with . . . music. Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley, among others, assault the ears of the enemy, followed by Stravinsky and Wagner. Loud music and bright lights spread fear among the soldiers and priests holed up in the castle. American sharpshooters pick off many of the Spanish soldiers on the battlements. After a night of this, the Americans make a loudspeaker announcement promising good treatment if the soldiers surrender. Rebecca goes out for a morning walk alone and is spotted by Croat cavalry troops who intend to rape and kill her.

- Chapter 55: The Spaniards in the Wartburg refuse to surrender, so the Americans use napalm. The castle starts to burn, and soon dozens of unarmed Spaniards pour out of the castle to surrender. The Croat cavalry soldiers swoop down to attack Rebecca. She pulls a sawed-off shotgun from her bag and shoots the horse out from under one of them. She can’t kill all of them, however. Luckily, Jeff Barnes comes on the scene and kills the others.

- Chapter 56: With the Croat cavalry coming toward Grantville, some of the citizens surround the school cafeteria with school buses, blocking the windows and entrances. With the army away at Eisenach, they have very few guns for defense. The main part of the town is able to evacuate out of the main path of the attack. Mike and the others at Eisenach realize they’ve been suckered and that a whole army was sent to draw them away from Grantville. Most of Mike’s forces head for Grantville, but they may be too late.

- Chapter 57: Seven hundred Croats pour into the town of Grantville, hoping to kill everyone—especially the Jews. Fifteen hundred Croats surround the high school, furious that buses have blocked easy access to the building. Captain Gars and his detachment of four hundred cavalry hear the gunfire and charge toward Grantville. Dan Frost, the sheriff, goes out alone to meet the Croats coming toward the downtown area of Grantville. He manages to kill many of the horses in the front rank of the charge, so that the charge piles up like water hitting a dam. Grantville residents perched in the upper stories of the downtown buildings open fire on the cavalry as well.

- Chapter 58: The town has been saved, but the Croats are still attacking the school. A large number of the enemy has finally pushed their way into the narrow space between the buses and the front wall of the school. They are able to smash in all the windows of the cafeteria and surge into the school building. Captain Gars and his men join the fight. With Gars’ help, the Americans manage to turn the tide. Gars is wounded, and as his wounds are being tended, Julie Sims recognizes him as Gustav II Adolph. Rebecca informs everyone that the king was known for traveling in disguise and had probably scouted half of western Europe in that fashion.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions—multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension:

1. According to the book, Cardinal Richelieu’s primary motivation is

a.doing the will of God

b.building his personal wealth and power

c.love of the Church

d.advancing the interests of France

2. Which of Gustav’s allies betrays him?

a.Bernard of Saxe-Weimar

b.William of Hesse

c.the Americans

d.the Dutch

3. Who is Captain Gars?

a.the bastard son of the king of Sweden

b.Gustav II Adolph in disguise

c.Wallenstein’s best cavalry officer

d.Mackay’s second in command

4. The Americans first bombard Wartburg castle with

a.napalm

b.cannon fire

c.music

d.burning oil

5. When the Croats attack, the Americans at the high school put up a barricade of

a.school busses

b.APCs

c.burning tires

d.coal trucks

Answers:

1.d

2.a

3.b

4.c

5.a

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions—these questions may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions:

1. Do you think the Americans were morally right in their decision to use napalm on the castle? What are the pros and cons? What ethical standard did you use to make your decision? (chap. 55)

2. Do you think the book is right in its assessment of Cardinal Richelieu’s motivations?

GUIDE TO PART 7—chapters 59 - 61

Prepare to Read…

- Focus questions or initiating activities:

- What was Gustav’s idea for the Corpus Evangelicorum?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 59: Mike and his men get word that the raid on Grantville by Imperial forces has been turned back with light casualties. Harry Lefferts tries to convince Mike to set up fortresses with massive expansion of the military to prevent an attack against them from ever succeeding. Although Mike understands the logic, his vision of the new America isn’t of a massive armed camp that must continually expand in order to avoid attack. He points out that the reason Wallenstein wanted to destroy the Americans is because he feared their ideas.

- Chapter 60: Mike and King Gustav argue over whether or not there must be an established church in Europe. Mike tells the king that he has no problem with an established church in Lutheran territories, if that’s what they want. The Americans, however, control Thuringia, and they will not accept an established church. Separation of church and state is a principle they are not willing to compromise. Rebecca suggests a clever way for Gustav to get out of what he considers his duty to establish a state church throughout Europe. In his persona as Captain General Gars, Gustav II Adolph could pass the title to his heirs without being bound, as a king ruling by divine right, to enforce an established church. Mike is trying to buy the Americans breathing room as part of a larger Confederacy of Europe. The king accepts the deal.

- Chapter 61: Julie confesses her pregnancy to Alex. Gustav himself arranges their wedding for the following day. Axel Oxenstierna disapproves strongly of the king’s political plans. Gustav takes him to a place called Buchenwald and tells him that, in another universe, this will be just one of many places of slaughter. In that universe, Gustav will soon die leading a cavalry charge. His death will end any chance of rescuing Germany from the princes. He sees the American “intrusion” into his world as a chance to change that history. He believes God ordained the event called the Ring of Fire. A month after her wedding, Julie takes out General Wallenstein himself with sniper fire. He is severely wounded and will not be there to rally his men, turning the tide in favor of the allies. The book ends with the birth of Mike and Rebecca’s baby, Sepharad.

Suggestions for Reflection and Discussion Questions—these questions may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions:

1. Discuss the competing visions for the new America expressed in this part of the book. What are the arguments for each? Which vision do you think is closer to where we find ourselves in modern-day America?

2. How do the Americans and Adolph II Gustav resolve the question of the separation of church and state?

3. How does Gustav convince Axel Oxenstierna that he has made the right decision?

Suggested Activities / Inquiry-Based Exploration:

1. Have your class create a project based on the development of the idea of separation between church and state. What is its history?

2. Have each member of the class pick one of the book’s characters to analyze. How did they grow over the course of the book? What virtues did they have or develop that enabled them to survive and contribute to the new American territory?

The Wild Side Reader's Group Discussion Guide

by Laura Haywood-Cory

The stories in The Wild Side ask us to examine the liminal spaces—thresholds—in our lives: that sensation between fear and desire, the twilight minutes between day and night; even Earth itself is on the border, balanced between Heaven and Hell, angels above, demons below. In these pages, Mark L. Van Name and friends beckon us to cross over the threshold and come ... to the wild side.

Overall questions:

1. The Wild Side is full of relationships between humans and the other—werewolves, vampires, faeries, demons, angels. What makes these encounters exciting to us?

2. In your own life, what sorts of relationships are forbidden? Are the barriers put up by society, by law, by religion?

3. Have you ever defied custom and had a relationship with someone "other"? What were the consequences?

4. Which story in this collection is your favorite, and why?

5. Which one did you find the most thought-provoking?

"Song Sung Red":

1. The hunter becomes the hunted. Does seduction always require one person to be prey?

2. Why are we attracted to vampires?

3. Have you ever felt like you were cursed? What lengths would you go to in order to break a curse?

"Careless of the Night":

1. Are there times when you feel invisible? Do you enjoy it?

2. Are you dreading or looking forward to growing old? Or both?

3. At what age do you define "old"? Is it different now than it was when you where younger?

4. If you could be a were-creature, what would you be, and why?

"For a Good Time, Call…"

1. What do you think it would feel like to be surrounded by people who had a talent that you didn't share?

2. Is there such a thing as too much sex?

3. Would you date an incubus/succubus? Why or why not?

"Fine Print"

1. Have you ever wanted something so badly that you'd sell your soul to get it?

2. Do you believe that you have a soul?

"Unawares"

1. What's your image of an angel? Do you believe in them?

2. Would you be able to kill a lover just because s/he had become a vampire?

"Of Sex and Zombies"

1. How hard would you fight to save someone you loved?

2. Have you ever faced violent opposition to your romantic choices?

"Love Knot"

1. If faced with the temptation to become all-powerful, what would you do?

2. What do you think of the purloined letter trick as utilized here?

"Beauty is a Witch"

1. What's worth more to you—your life or your immortal soul? Would you make a deal with the devil to save your life?

2. Is there an up side to being in thrall to a demon?

"The Long Dark Night of Diego Chan"

1. How would you enforce the supernatural equivalent of a Do Not Resuscitate order?

2. Is vampirism—or being turned into a werewolf or zombie, for that matter—a potential cure for terminal illnesses? Is it a price you'd be willing to pay?

3. Could you stand by while a loved one made a choice—either to embrace vampirism to "cure" their cancer, or to reject immortality and die—that you disagreed with?

"Born Under a Bad Sign"

1. How do you feel about the idea of angels as sexual beings, as whores?

2. Who is the man in black?

Pre-order The Wild Side book here.

Get The Wild Side eARC here.

The Ghost Ship Reader’s Group Discussion Guide

by Laura Haywood-Cory

Welcome to the Readers' Group Guide for Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's latest Liaden universe® novel, Ghost Ship. The Liaden universe® is home to a large cast of memorable characters who interact across a vast, intricate backdrop of interstellar alliances in stories that feature star-crossed love, commerce, war, family rivalry and more, all guided by the overarching Liaden principle of melant'i (partial definition: one's honor and reputation).

1. Much of Ghost Ship revolves around Theo's new and growing relationship with Bechimo, a sentient starship. We are even now asking our machines to do more and more. Do you think machines and computers can—or will—ever become sentient? What complications might arise? What do you think of Bechimo's proposed bonding ceremony? Would you do it?

2. Theo suddenly discovers that her family is larger and more powerful than she could have possibly imagined. Have you ever met long-lost or previously unknown relatives? Was it a positive experience? What sort of adjustments did you and they have to make to each other?

3. Theo is also a child of two worlds, Delgado and Liad. As she learns more about her Liaden heritage, her life becomes more interesting and dangerous. Do you have a dual heritage? How do you reconcile your two halves? Did you discover one part of your heritage after you were an adult, or did you grow up fully aware of your multifaceted background?

4. Does your family operate its own business? Have you interned or taken a job in it? Did doing so change your familial relationships?

5. Another feature of Ghost Ship is the showcasing of various lifemate bonds. Do you believe that there is truly someone out there for everyone? Would you want to be lifemated? Why or why not?

6. Liadens live by a code of honor called melant'i, which governs everything from how one dresses for dinner to how deeply one should bow to another person to how trade negotiations are carried out. Do you have a personal code that you try to live by? What are its tenets?

7. There are several alien species in Ghost Ship. First are the Yxtrang, an aggressive, warlike bunch that some Liadens suspect share a genetic heritage with Liadens and Terrans, though the idea is repulsive to some on Liad (almost seemingly as repulsive as the idea that humans and Liadens share a common ancestry). The Clutch Turtles are another featured group; they're large, long-lived and have amazing singing abilities. A third, perhaps least well understood alien is the sentient tree at the heart of Clan Korval's home, Jelaza Kazone. How would you determine a tree's intelligence? How would you communicate with it, and it with you?

8. In the course of Ghost Ship, Theo discovers that her father is much more than she realized and that it is indeed, in her words, "complicated." Have you ever discovered secrets about your parents? How did you react? Were you disturbed? Angry? What do you think might happen if Kamele comes to Surebleak?

9. Theo's friend Win Ton needs Bechimo's "remastering unit" in order to be healed. What advances in medicine would you like to see in the future? Would you trust yourself or a loved one to an autodoc healing device or something similar?

10. Uprooting the clan and relocating to Surebleak causes a bit of chaos and confusion. Have you ever moved across country, or from one country to another? How long was it before you felt at home in your new location?

11. What do you think is the possible origin of the strange objects, like the teapot, that Bechimo has found? Is it really another universe? How might these objects end up in the Liaden universe, and who would have used them?

12. The Department of the Interior is bent on the destruction of Korval. What do you think are the DoI's motives?

13. Who are some of your favorite Liaden universe® characters, and why do you like them?

14. Ghost Ship ties together multiple different story lines: Theo Waitley's adventures from Fledgling and Saltation, and Daav and Aelliana's story from I Dare and Mouse & Dragon. Liaden is a braided universe, with many entry points to the series. What was your first Liaden novel, and what starting point would you recommend to a newcomer?

BAEN BOOKS

TEACHER’S GUIDE TO ON BASILISK STATION BY DAVID WEBER

Contents:

recommended reading levels

biographical material and links

background of the book and plot summary

character sketches

guides for segments of the book which include plot summaries of each chapter and may also include some of the following:

Prepare to Read. . .

vocabulary

focus questions or initiating activity

quiz/reading comprehension questions – multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension

reflection and discussion questions – may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions

suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration – suggestions for activities and projects

Recommended reading levels: On Basilisk Station is appropriate for a young adult audience. Classroom use of the book is probably most appropriate for high school students.

Biographical information on David Weber:

David Weber is a popular, best-selling author of science fiction and fantasy. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952. He graduated from Hillcrest High School in Simpsonville, South Carolina in 1970 and received a bachelor’s degree from Warren Wilson College. Weber also did graduate work in history at Appalachian State University.  He started writing poetry and short fiction when he was in the fifth grade. His mother was an advertising copywriter and trained him in that craft. Before becoming a full time writer of fiction, he worked in advertising, public relations and war-game design. His first novel, Insurrection, was published in 1990. This book was a collaboration with Steve White that grew out of Weber’s experience as a game designer. Since then, as author and co-author, he has written over fifty solo and collaborative novels and contributed to numerous anthologies of short fiction. He is best known as an author of science fiction with military themes, but he has also written fantasy, “space operas,” and alternate history. Weber and his wife Sharon, along with their children, cats and dogs, live in Greenville, South Carolina.

Biographical resources on the web:

Weber has provided an interesting biographical sketch on his website, David Weber, http://www.davidweber.net/biography.

“David Weber,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weber.

Suggested class activity:

Have your students read the autobiographical information on Weber’s website before they begin the book. Ask them to make notes as they read. Have the class discuss the several different influences that led Weber to become a writer. They also might want to explore some of the interviews available on YouTube and Baen’s website (http://baen.com/interview.asp) in which Weber discusses his development and interests as an author.

For further information on David Weber and his work:

Weber’s website contains a wealth of material that students may enjoy exploring in addition to his biographical details: photos, a bibliography, discussion forums (including one dedicated to the “Honorverse”), FAQs, downloads, and information about upcoming appearances (http://www.davidweber.net).

David Weber’s page at Amazon.com contains a brief biographical note, a list of books available, and a forum for reader comments (http://www.amazon.com/David-Weber/e/B000APBAFE/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1308078796).

There are several interesting interviews with Weber available at Baen’s website (http://baen.com/interview.asp) and on YouTube.

Bibliographies:

You can find bibliographies of Weber’s work at his own website (http://www.davidweber.net/books), at the website Internet Speculative Fiction Database (isfdb.org) (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?David_Weber), at the website Fantastic Fiction (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/david-weber), at the website SFBookcase (http://www.sfbookcase.com/author.asp?author=David+Weber), and on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weber).

On Basilisk Station background:

This is the first book of a popular, long-running series of novels and short stories focused on the exploits of Honor Harrington, an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, the space navy of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Baen Books first published the novel in 1993.

Weber has referred to the Honor Harrington series as “Horatio Hornblower in space,” a reference to the novels of C.S. Forester that follow the adventures of a fictional nineteenth century British naval officer. Weber further acknowledges this relationship by dedicating Basilisk Station to Forester. Students may be interested in delving into the wikis for the book (http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/On_Basilisk_Station), for Honor Harrington (http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Honor_Harrington), and for what has come to be known as the “Honorverse”(http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page).

Suggested class activity:

Watch Weber’s interview “Honor Harrington & Sci-Fi Feminism” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvgzfbfD6eE). Have them discuss or write short papers on Weber’s embrace of the title “post-feminist sci-fi writer.”

Plot Summary: Honor Harrington, an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, assumes command of her first cruiser, HMS Fearless. Much to Honor’s dismay, her ship is stripped of most of its weapons and turned into a test ship for a new grav lance technology. During war games, she has some success with the new weapon, disabling the flagship of the opposing side in a brilliant maneuver. Once the other commanders involved in the war games realize what the grav lance is, they are able to quickly counter it and sideline Honor and the new technology. Influential fleet officers decide to sweep the whole incident under the rug by exiling Honor and her ship to the Basilisk star system. The other officer on picket duty there is an old nemesis from days at the fleet Naval Academy. On the pretext that his heavy cruiser needs a refit, he leaves Honor with the only ship responsible for an entire system’s security, hoping she will fail. She is supposed to police an entire, out-of-the-way star system with one over-age, under-gunned light cruiser. Her crew is demoralized; the local system is rife with smugglers, homicidal drug users, and greedy merchant cartels. To make matters worse, the up-and-coming Republic of Haven has its hungry eyes on the system’s resources. Against all odds, Honor, her crew, and her ship prove their worth and manage to defeat all the threats to the system. Honor is promoted to Captain and given command of a new ship.

Major Characters:

• Commander Honor Harrington is the new commander of the HMS Fearless.

• Nimitz is the treecat who adopted Honor. Treecats are sentient inhabitants of the planet Sphinx. They are empaths, fiercely loyal to the humans with whom they choose to bond.

• President Harris is Hereditary President of the People’s Republic of Haven.

• Sir Edward Janacek is First Lord of the Admiralty of the Star Kingdom of Manticore.

• Lieutenant Commander Alistair McKeon is Honor’s second-in-command, the executive officer on the Fearless.

• Admiral “Red Lady” Sonja Hemphill is the leading proponent of one of the two major schools of tactical thought in the Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN). She and her followers believe that forces can rely on technology, properly used, instead of a knowledge and practice of historical military tactics.

• Captain Lord Pavel Young is the senior officer on Basilisk Station. He is eldest son and heir to the Earl of North Hollow. He and Honor were at the Academy together and hate each other’s guts.

• Lieutenant Andreas Venizelos is the member of Honor’s crew who takes over as customs and security officer at Basilisk Control.

• Captain Michel Reynaud is head of the Astro-Control Service at Basilisk Control.

• Countess Marisa is Manticore’s Minister for Medusan Affairs.

• Dame Estelle Matsuko is the Resident Commissioner for Planetary Affairs on the planet Medusa.

• Lieutenant Max Stromboli is the astrogator on the Fearless who is assigned as commander of the ground forces on Medusa.

• Ensign Scotty Tremaine is the young officer in charge of a customs detail.

• Petty Officer Harkness, assigned to Tremaine’s custom detail, is a seasoned missile tech who keeps getting busted down in rank because of his propensity for fighting and smuggling.

• Lord Hamish Alexander is admiral of the Greens for RMN and a Conservative.

• The Honorable William MacLeish Alexander is Lord Hamish’s brother and Prime Minister of the Queen’s government.

• Fleet Admiral Sir James Bowie Webster is the First Space Lord of Manticore.

• Denver Summervale, a former captain in the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps, is now head of the illegal mekoha operation on Medusa.

• Wallace Canning is consul for the People’s Republic of Haven on the planet Medusa.

• Klaus Hauptman is the rich and powerful head of the Hauptman merchant cartel.

• Lieutenant Samuel Houston Webster is communications officer on the Fearless.

The Honorverse wiki (http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) contains a helpful link with short descriptions of most of the characters in the “Honorverse” (http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Characters) as well as links for geography, political groups, and star nations that students might find useful as they navigate the book.

GUIDE TO prologue and chapters 1–6

Prepare to Read . . .

Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

dole (noun) and the idiomatic term “on the dole,” and “Dolist”

armament

wormhole

robbing Peter to pay Paul

jeune ecole

technophile

super dreadnought

enigma

• Focus question/initiating activity: Have your students research the name “Nimitz” in naval history so they will understand where Honor’s treecat got its name  (chap. 1). (Note: This article by David White and Daniel P. Murphy gives a succinct description of Admiral Chester Nimitz, his significant role in World War II, and some of the characteristics as a commander that might have led Honor Harrington to admire him. David White and Daniel P. Murphy, Ph.D., “Chester Nimitz,” Netplaces: World War II,  http://www.netplaces.com/world-war-ii/the-military-leaders/chester-nimitz.htm. Nimitz is also the name of a class of supercarriers, the largest of the current U.S. navy warships.)

Chapter Summaries:

Prologue: The People’s Republic of Haven is in economic difficulties. They must expand in order to keep up the Basic Living Stipend for their people and support a military sufficient to hold onto the planetary empire they’ve built. The President of the Republic and his advisors decide their best solution is to attack the Kingdom of Manticore. It is wealthy, it is strategically located, and it is in possession of an important trading junction, the Manticore Wormhole Junction. Defeating Manticore will greatly improve their economic and military position.

Chapter 1: Honor Harrington assumes command of her first cruiser, the light cruiser HMS Fearless. The brass at headquarters has told her that the ship is undergoing a major refit, but their deliberate lack of detail has her worried. Alistair McKeon, the executive officer, resents Honor because she is younger than he is but already a commander who has taken the position he wanted. Her earlier worries prove well-founded when she finds that the ship’s refit involves taking out much of her traditional armament to install a grav lance, a powerful but limited weapon.

Chapter 2: Honor realizes that she and the Fearless are the victims of  political maneuvering. Factions in the government who oppose military spending have allied with a group of military leaders, Admiral “Red Lady” Sonja Hemphill and her coterie. Hemphill is the leading proponent of one of the two major schools of tactical thought in the Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN). She and her followers believe that forces can rely on technology, properly used, instead of relying on the knowledge and practice of historical military tactics. Hemphill is also the up-and-coming cousin of Sir Edward Janacek, First Lord of the Admiralty. Janacek used his influence to give her Fearless as a test ship to try to justify her tactical theories. It will be Hemphill’s secret weapon in the upcoming fleet tactical maneuvers. In spite of the problems Honor sees with using the grav lance, she decides she must do her best to make it work. Her best chance is in Hemphill’s secrecy. Since the “enemy” ships won’t know that a light cruiser is equipped with a grav lance, she may be able to slip in while the enemy ships are dealing with larger vessels and get in one shot.

Chapter 3: Manticoran naval forces engage in live-fire war games. Honor is able to detach her ship from her side’s main attacking force and sneak within firing distance of the super dreadnought commanded by Admiral D’Orville of the opposing forces. She smashes his protective sidewall with her grav lance and torpedoes his hull, managing to “kill” the flagship of the opposing forces with her tiny cruiser.

Chapter 4: As Honor expected, D’Orville’s captains are intent on exacting revenge on the Fearless and pummel her during subsequent parts of the exercise. Once they know about Hemphill’s “secret” weapon, they are easily able to counter it. Hemphill blames Honor for these defeats. Honor’s new crew becomes demoralized and loses confidence in her. Lt. Commander McKeon lets his resentment of Honor undermine his ability to do an effective job. He wants to turn the situation around, but that would involve admitting that Honor deserves her command. To punish Honor for not doing the impossible, Admiral Hemphill arranges to send her and her ship to a new station, Basilisk. Honor considers this assignment exile and oblivion. The Basilisk system is important to the Kingdom both economically and strategically, but it has become a bone of contention among the various factions of Manticore’s government. The First Lord of the Admiralty looks on it as a liability instead of an asset, so he doesn’t want to waste any useful ships on it. Basilisk has become the punishment station of the RMN.

Chapter 5: Honor and the Fearless arrive at Basilisk junction. Honor notices some inefficiencies in Basilisk Control’s procedures that don’t bode well for the future. She is disturbed when she finds out that Captain Lord Pavel Young is the commander of the station. Her reaction indicates some past history that has Commander McKeon worried.

Chapter 6: Honor meets with Captain Lord Young on his flagship, the Warlock. Young is the eldest son and heir of the Earl of North Hollow, and Honor wonders what he has done to get sent to a backwater like Basilisk. He tells Honor that the arrival of the Fearless will allow him to take the Warlock back to Manticore for a badly needed refit. He is leaving Honor as the senior officer of the system for the two or three months the refit will require. He is leaving her in charge of an entire system with only one over-age cruiser for defense instead of the flotilla the job calls for. The enmity between Honor and Young went back to a reprimand he had been given for sexual harassment at the Academy when both were midshipmen and she had rebuffed his advances. The truth, which Honor thought no one would believe, was that later he had assaulted and attempted to rape her, but she settled for the lesser charge, even though she had beat him almost senseless during the attack. Young has left her with an impossible job, knowing that her inevitable failure will go on her record.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions–multiple choice/short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. Who are the “Dolists” and what problem do they pose for the Republic of Haven? (chap. 1)

2. Why is gaining control over the Junction important to Haven? (prologue)

3. Why does Honor look so much younger than her forty “T-years”? (chap. 1)

4. What static tactical situation do Hemphill and her followers hope the grav lance will break?

5. How does the Manticore Wormhole Junction explain the Kingdom’s wealth?

6. Describe the planet Medusa. (chap.6)

7. How does Honor begin to solve the problem of doing several jobs with one ship? (chap. 7)

8. Which one of the following does the Republic of Haven decide to attack first in their quest to improve the economic and strategic position of their empire? (prologue)

a. Erewhon

b. The Solarian League

c. Manticore

d. Silesia

9. What is Honor’s pet? (chap. 1)

a. treecat

b. ferret

c. p’siltrig

d. trick question – pets aren’t allowed on spaceships

10. What is the problem Honor sees with use of the grav lance? (chap. 2)

a. It hasn’t been tested, so Honor doesn’t think it will actually fire.

b. There is a high risk of gravity perturbations in the ship’s own field.

c. It will result in massive loss of life on the attacked ship.

d. A ship has to close to point-blank range to use it, and a light cruiser couldn’t survive the hostile fire of the enemy ship long enough to get that close.

11. What is the outcome of the first battle in the war games? (chap. 3)

a. Honor’s little ship is blown to smithereens

b. She manages to sneak in and “kill” the flagship of the opposing forces using the grav lance.

c. The grav lance blows up when she tries to use it and damages her ship.

d. She can’t get in range of the enemy ships because of heavy fire, so she is useless in the battle.

12. The Junction can instantaneously transfer massive ships from one point to another light-years away. What is the Junction? (chap. 5)

a. a giant gravity wave powered by the systems largest sun

b. an anomaly created by a blue star

c. a focused funnel of hyper space, like the eye of a hurricane

d. a black hole

13. What is the name of Basilisk’s single habitable planet? (chap. 5)

a. Medusa

b. Indra

c. Farside

d. Azreal

14. What is the root cause of the enmity between Honor and Captain Lord Pavel Young? (chap. 6)

a. She got better grades at the Academy than he did.

b. He cheated on the final exam and she revealed it.

c. He tried to rape her and she beat him up.

d. She was given a posting right out of the Academy that he wanted.

Answers:

1. The Dolists are the “mob,” the people who have supported Haven’s wars in order to have a better standard of living. They are “on the dole,” dependent on government support to live. The are “useless drones” who are sucking up resources without contributing. Their demands contribute to Haven’s need to conquer new territory in order to keep their economy viable.

2. Manticore could use it to strangle Haven’s trade and as an avenue into the middle of the Republic for military purposes.

3. “T-years” stands for Terran (earth standard) years. Honor is a second-generation prolong, a person who has benefited from the latest anti-aging treatment available.

4. The fact the ships are shielded on their sides by gravity sidewalls. Given current technology, it is difficult to get a clean hit without exposing the attacking ship to the same sort of hit.

5. The junction allows ships to “skip” from one place in the galaxy to another with virtually no lapse of time, saving merchant freighters months of travel time a lot of money. All the ‘termini’ became magnets for trade, all of which has to pass through Manticoran territory to take advantage of them. The tolls they charge generate enormous revenue. Because of its unique position at the end of numerous termini, Manticore had also become a central warehousing and commercial node for hundreds of worlds.

6. Medusa, the only habitable planet in the Basilisk system, has massive polar ice caps, has an extreme axial tilt and a cool primary star. These characteristics are responsible for its brutal climate. Millions of different types of moss are the only plant life that will grow on this inhospitable world.

7. Honor splits her forces, giving a lieutenant command of two of the ship’s smaller boats so that he and a small crew can take over responsibility for terminus traffic and customs. She also comes up with a plan to equip drones to do some of the security policing on the perimeter.

8. c

9. a

10. d

11. b

12. c

13. a

14. c

Suggested Activities/Inquiry-Based Exploration–suggestions for class activities and projects:

• Weber opens his book with an empire in crisis. Explore the reasons the Republic of Haven is in trouble. What are the causes of instability? Investigate some historical empires. Why did they fall? Do you see any parallels with Haven?

• Split the class into groups. Have each group assume that they are Haven’s leaders and discuss the economic and political problems raised by the Dolists. Each group is responsible for doing a presentation justifying the solution Haven chooses or coming up with an alternate political/economic strategy for solving the problem.

GUIDE TO chapters 7-13

Prepare to Read. . .

Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

o patronage

o pinnace

o astrogation

o drone aircraft

o aborigines

o liaison

o parameters

o telemetry

o esprit de corps

o binary star system

o jury-rigged

o hexapedal

• Focus question/initiating activity: Ask students to consider whether they would prefer to be a biped or a hexaped and be prepared to discuss the reasons for their preference in class.

Chapter Summaries:

Chapter 7: Honor and her crew are left with a difficult problem. The Fearless can’t be in two places at once, but all the responsibilities they are left with require it. Honor decides to detach a detail on the pinnaces, the ship’s small boats, to assume the duties of customs and security for terminus traffic. She also has all the recon drones refitted as station-keeping devices to help police their perimeter. Fearless will take up customs duty for the orbital traffic around Medusa.

Chapter 8: Honor drops the pinnaces off at Basilisk control and sets off to deploy the drones. Some of Honor’s crewmembers stop blaming her for their situation and start rising to meet the heavy demands she is placing on them. By the time they finish refitting and dropping the drones, the crew is finally working together as a team. Honor is worried about the Republic of Haven’s presence in the system. They have a consulate and trade legation on Medusa. Since the Medusans don’t really have anything much to trade, she thinks the Republic is up to something. She is especially concerned when she spots a Republic courier craft, since it has diplomatic immunity and is immune to examination regardless of anything it might be doing.

Chapter 9: Honor meets with Dame Estelle Matsuko, the Resident Commissioner for Planetary Affairs on Medusa. Honor is hoping to get more information about her support and security duties on Medusa. Dame Estelle makes it clear that Medusa hasn’t gotten the support it needed from the Navy for the last three years that Janacek had been Lord of the Admiralty. When the Kingdom claimed the star system, it specifically renounced sovereignty over Medusa. It established a protectorate over the Medusans, but made the entire planet into a reservation for the natives with the exception of specific sites designated as off-worlder enclaves. Since it is a protectorate without sovereignty, Dame Estelle can regulate enclave locations and foreign trade, but she can’t deny planetary access to other governments. There is a growing problem of exploitation of the indigenous people by interstellar merchants who have set up offices on Medusa to manage their terminus trade. Dame Estelle has several concerns:  her suspicions that some sort of illicit trade is taking place on Medusa, the growing influence and ambitions of the Republic of Haven, and increased use of mekoha, a local drug, by the Medusans. Honor and Dame Estelle decide that Fearless will take over the inspection of ship-to-surface shuttles as well as general traffic control around Medusa.

Chapter 10: Honor arranges for personnel to man the customs and inspections parties. Lt. Andreas Venizelos has his first confrontation with a Havenite merchant skipper who is outraged that the lieutenant intends to inspect his cargo, since the required inspections have never been done before.

Chapter 11: Lt. Max Stromboli, on detached duty from Fearless as commander on Medusa, examines the natives. Medusa has no birds and all the mammals are hexapedal. Off-worlders call the dominant life form Stilties. They are tall, slender, and walk on four legs, leaving the other two free for manipulation. It looks something like an extremely large praying mantis. The customs inspectors find smuggled, contraband goods in a Manticoran cargo ship. The shipment was bound for the Hauptman cartel, and the discovery is going to cause significant repercussions. McKeon tries to talk Honor out of pursuing the matter, since Hauptman has friends in high places. Honor makes it clear that she will do her duty no matter what.

Chapter 12: Fleet Admiral Sir James Bowie Webster, the First Space Lord of Manticore, has called Lord Hamish Alexander in for a meeting about Basilisk Station. Webster has received numerous official protests from the Havenite ambassador, the Havenite consul, and various Manticoran and out-kingdom merchant cartels alleging harassment and illegal searches of vessels. Webster and Alexander realize that Honor has been deliberately put in a no-win situation, but because of Young’s position and other political considerations they are looking at a possible diplomatic incident. They decide to back Honor and use the situation as the occasion to rethink the whole Basilisk situation.

Chapter 13: A month into their time at Basilisk, Honor and her crew are successfully catching smugglers and reducing contraband traffic in the system. Most of the crew has now become proud of themselves, their captain, and their ship. They are also piling up prize money from all the contraband seized. Dame Estelle calls Honor, concerned about unidentified flights in restricted areas by ships that refuse to identify themselves. She suspects they may be involved in the manufacture of a processed, highly addictive form of mekoha that they are selling to the indigenous people. The situation is complicated by the fact that the drug is an important part of the Medusan religion. The NPA is reluctant to interfere in local religious practices.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions – multiple choice/short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. How does Honor finally get her crew to work together? (chaps. 7 and 8)

2. Why does the courier craft that belongs to the Republic of Haven concern Honor? (chap. 8)

3. What are Stilties? Describe them. (chap. 11)

4. How are their successes in the Basilisk system making Honor and her crew richer? (chap. 13)

5. What are three of the possible effects of mekoha? (chap. 9)

6. What is the status of Medusa in regard to the Kingdom of Manticore? (chap. 9)

a. Manticore made it a protectorate, a sort of reservation for the Medusan natives.

b. Manticore took it over and is exploiting its resources.

c. Manticore ignored it – all they want is Basilisk Station.

d. Manticore took over and shipped the natives out to neighboring planets.

7. What does mekoha mean? (chap. 9)

a. It is the term for a priest among the Medusan people.

b. It is a weapon.

c. It is a drug used by the Medusans.

d. It is the Medusan word for treecat.

8. What contraband goods do Ensign Tremaine and PO Harkness find in the first ship they inspect? (chap. 11)

a. Gryphon kodiak max pelts

b. Silesian guara fruit

c. outlawed blasters

d. drugs

9. What do the First Space Lord and Lord Hamish Alexander decide to do about all the complaints about Honor’s actions? (chap. 12)

a. Relieve her of command.

b. Bring her in to Manticore for a briefing.

c. Send Young back to Basilisk immediately to take over customs duties.

d. Support her and let her continue her present course of action.

Answers:

1. She places very heavy demands on them and lets them know that she expects them to succeed.

2. It implies more than the trade mission the Republic is claiming. It has diplomatic immunity, so it can’t be examined regardless of what it might be up to.

3. The Stilties are the dominant life form on Medusa. They are mammals that are tall, slender, and have six legs. They walk on four legs, leaving the other two free for manipulation. They look sort of like a mammalian version of earth’s praying mantis.

4. They get prize money, a percentage of any contraband seized from smugglers. A ship engaged in illegal activities can itself be seized and may become part of the prize as well.

5. Any three of the following: it is extremely addictive, provides a short term sense of euphoria and exhilaration, and can cause hallucinations, severe respiratory and motor control damage, gradual loss of neural function, decrease in attention span and measurable IQ, adrenaline high, the shutdown of pain receptors, and psychosis.

6. a

7. c

8. a

9. d

Suggested Activities/Inquiry-Based Exploration–suggestions for class activities and projects:

• Look into the history of prize money in England’s Royal Navy. What parallels do you see with the Royal Manticoran Navy?

• Creating interesting and believable aliens is not an easy task for an author. Assign your students to groups and have them come up with a plausible alien life form. Before their groups meet, watch some of the clips from The Discovery Channel’s documentary by Stephen Hawking, Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking: Aliens. These short clips offer an appealing and effective introduction to the question of how alien life forms might evolve in response to different planetary conditions (http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/stephen-hawking-aliens/). Each group should prepare a graphic representation of their alien as well as present to the class the justification for its biological characteristics (why those characteristics evolved on its particular planet). Some further resources for alien creation are:

• Lee Masterson, “Creating New Alien Species,” at Sci-Fi Factor (http://scifi.fictionfactor.com/articles/creatingaliens.html)

• Tina Morgan, “Creating Believable Aliens,” at Sci-Fi Factor (http://scifi.fictionfactor.com/articles/creatingaliens.html)

• Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D., “How Aliens Work,” at howstuffworks (http://science.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/alien-physiology4.htm)

GUIDE TO chapters 14-20

Prepare to Read . . .

Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

o alchemist

o epaulet

o dualist

o dossier

o ramifications

o shaman

o automaton

o klicks

o flintlock

Chapter Summaries:

Chapter 14: Denver Summervale, head of the illegal mekoha operation on Medusa, receives a call from his employers warning him that the NPA and Honor are probably aware of the operation. Summervale is suspicious of his own employers, since several things have never added up. Why has the Organization gone to such lengths to sell drugs to the primitive Medusans in the first place? Why sell mekoha instead of one of many other possible drugs that don’t cause violence as a side effect? Summervale is a former captain in the Royal Manticoran Marines who was court-martialed and has a grudge against the navy and against his distant cousin, the Duke of Comarty, Lord of the Exchequer. Cromarty did nothing to help him during his court-martial.

Chapter 15: Wallace Canning, consul for the People’s Republic of Haven on Medusa, and a Manticoran admiral of the naval intelligence branch discuss a cover operation, Operation Odysseus. Honor’s actions at Basilisk have put this operation in jeopardy. Her unexpected vigilance wasn’t part of their plan, which relied in part on the customary naval inefficiency in the system. They have been tapping into Dame Estelle’s backup power collector to run the mekoha labs as part of this larger operation. Although they have backing from powerful people in both Haven and Manticore, the admiral is afraid the presence of the Fearless in Medusa orbit may be enough to derail Odysseus. They decide to distract Honor by threatening her parents’ livelihood. The Hauptman cartel owns majority interest in Duvalier Medical Associates, the medical partnership to which they belong.

Chapter 16: The crew of Fearless tries to spot unusual power flows on Medusa to pinpoint the mekoha lab. The situation between Honor and McKeon remains chilly, and Lt. Commander Santos, third in command, speaks to Honor about the problem. She assures Honor that, whatever the problem is, McKeon won’t let her down in a crunch.

Chapter 17: Tremaine and his crew find what they’ve been looking for: unexplainably high power readings on the planet that might indicate the location of the drug lab. Dame Estelle sends out a raiding party from the NPA to investigate. As the raiding party closes in, they are met by deadly fire from the lab and many of the NPA personnel are killed. It is apparent that Dame Estelle’s forces walked into a trap designed to kill as many of them as possible. Later investigators find a primitive weapon at the site – a single-shot, breech-loading flintlock rifle. Someone is arming the Medusans with weapons about 1,500 years beyond their natural capacity. One of the NPA officers was killed by a Medusan wielding that weapon and hopped up on mekoha. Estelle and Honor can think of nothing on the planet worth the investment in guns and drugs that someone has made.

Chapter 18: Summervale escaped from the drug lab before he blew it up. He realizes that he and the lab personnel had been set up by their real employers—and why. Klaus Hauptman, head of the Hauptman cartel, is on a Crown courier boat heading toward Basilisk. Honor tries to prepare for the possibility of a mass uprising among the Stilties.

Chapter 19: Ensign Tremaine and his crew track the rogue power feed back to Manticore’s power collector on the planet. Dame Estelle realizes that some of her own people must be involved. The levels of secrecy involved in the scheme they have just penetrated, the apparent scale of drug production, and the introduction of breech-loading rifles to the natives all indicate a massive covert operation. For what purpose? Klaus Hauptman arrives and arranges to come aboard the Fearless. McKeon warns Honor of his reputation for ruthlessness and advises her to have a witness to whatever is said in their meeting. He volunteers. Honor appreciates the potential trouble this may cause him, but she accepts his offer.

Chapter 20: Hauptman, immensely rich and powerful, is a self-made man and the descendant of self-made men. He objects to Honor’s harassing of his interests in Basilisk. He tells her that he wants it stopped. Honor makes it clear to him that she has simply been doing her duty and that all commerce in the system has been subject to inspection and enforcement. She points out that the incidence of contraband on Hauptman’s shipments is significantly above that of other firms trading with Medusa, so they are the subject of extra attention and will continue to be until they cease illegal activities. Hauptman is furious and threatens her with reprisals against her parents through his ownership interest in their medical firm. McKeon responds by threatening Hauptman with charges of treason and murder for possible collusion in the killing of NPA personnel in the raid on the drug lab. The power to that unauthorized lab was made through a shunt installed when the collector was manufactured by the Hauptman Cartel. Hauptman is forced to back down. As she escorts him off her ship, Honor tells Hauptman that if he harms her parents in any way she will challenge him to a duel and kill him.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions–multiple choice/short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. Denver Summervale was court-martialed for (chap. 14)

a. smuggling

b. cowardice

c. killing a fellow officer

d. rape

2. What is Operation Odysseus? (chap. 15)

a. Honor’s operation to stop the smugglers

b. a covert operation led by powerful people in both Haven and Manticore

c. Dame Estelle’s operation to find the truth about drug production on Medusa

d. McKeon’s plan to take over the Fearless from Honor

3. When Dame Estelle’s NPA forces find the hidden drug lab (chap. 17)

a. they capture the lab’s personnel

b. they leave things as they are and report back without making their presence known

c. they destroy the lab

d. they suffer devastating losses because they were lured into a trap

4. What weapon does the NPA forces find at the lab site that causes Dame Estelle the most concern? (chap. 17)

a. a flintlock rifle

b. a bronze sword

c. a pulsar blaster

d. a taser gun

5. What threat does Klaus Hauptman use to try to get Honor to back away from enforcing the anti-smuggling laws against his shipping interests? (chap. 20)

6. How do McKeon and Honor force Hauptman to back down? (chap. 20)

Answers:

1. c

2. b

3. d

4. a

5. He threatens to ruin her parents through the interest his company holds in Duvalier Medical Association, their medical firm.

6. McKeon reveals that the illegal energy tap had to have taken place in one of Hauptman’s factories. If Hauptman pursued his vendetta against Honor, McKeon will accuse him of treason based on this fact. Honor further tells Hauptman that if he harms her parents, she will challenge him to a duel and kill him.

GUIDE TO chapters 21-26

Prepare to Read. . .

Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

o adrenaline

o manipulation

o prestige

o nefarious

o holo

o sacrosanct

• Focus question/Initiating activity: Have the class watch the short clip “Fear the Aliens” from Steven Hawking’s Universe at the Discovery Channel web site (http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/stephen-hawkings-universe-fear-the-aliens.html). Discuss whether you think Hawking’s fears about the probable motivations of aliens are justified. Ask them to keep Hawking’s points in mind as they read this section.

Chapter Summaries:

Chapter 21: McKeon acknowledges that he hasn’t been much of an exec to Honor. Although she is deeply grateful for his intervention with Hauptman, she has to agree. He admits he let his personal feelings get in the way of his duty because he wanted the ship for himself. He apologizes, and they are able to go on from there on a new footing.

Chapter 22: William Alexander, Prime Minister of the Queen’s Government, calls his brother Hamish to see if he can secretly delay Pavel Young’s return to the Basilisk System. As part of Her Majesty’s government, he wants to thwart the desires of the Opposition to use the Navy’s mishandling of the Basilisk system as an excuse to end Manticore’s annexation. Unfortunately for them, Honor’s decisive improvement in Navy operations isn’t going along with that narrative, so they are trying to get Young back to Basilisk to take over and end Honor’s command. Hamish pays a visit to a friend of his, Vice Admiral Craig Warner, who happens to be in charge of Young’s ship refit. Warner figures out a way to delay the refit long enough to keep Young away from Basilisk at the crucial time.

Chapter 23: Countess Marissa, head of Manticore’s Medusan Affairs office, is putting pressure on Dame Estelle to cave in to the wishes of the Liberal Opposition and their merchant allies. Dame Estelle is furious with the interference, especially in light of the attack on her NPA troopers. Both Dame Estelle and Honor are encouraged by apparent support from at least some of their superiors in the Kingdom. They are aware, however, that in order to keep that support they have to deliver the parties responsible for the drug lab or at least stop the criminal activity in the system. The situation on Medusa doesn’t make sense to Honor, and she suspects some sort of covert operation. The Marines brief Honor on their plans to deploy troops planetside. She points out that the raid on the drug lab revealed that the opposition has informants within the NPA. Therefore, they come up with another deployment plan together that enables them to link all their forces in a single assault drop without tipping their hand to possible informants.

Chapter 24:  Honor is delighted to learn that Lord Pavel’s refit and return to Basilisk has been delayed by eight or more weeks. Dame Estelle calls Honor in the middle of the night to inform her of warnings from a friendly Medusan clan chief of rumors he has heard that the Delta region of Medusa is going to turn dangerous. The NPA also found a tribesman in the last stages of mekoha poisoning who was armed with bullets and a powder horn. Before he died, he said something about new weapons and a nomad shaman whose “hands overflow with holy mekoha.” This shaman has had a vision from the gods that tell him it’s time for the natives to drive the accursed off-worlders from the soil of Medusa, using the new, magical weapons. Honor and her colleagues realize that the covert operation they’ve been trying to understand isn’t a criminal enterprise but a deliberate attempt by someone to engineer a major native uprising and push the Kingdom off the planet.

Chapter 25: Honor and her officers hold a council of war on how to deal with the threat of some offworld power arranging an uprising among the natives. They think the logical culprit is the Republic of Haven. Ensign Tremaine points out that there hasn’t been any Havenite space-to-surface traffic at all in almost a week. They also notice that the Havenites have had one large freighter, the Sirius, in orbit for weeks. The Havenite story is that the ship is in orbit awaiting repairs, but their story doesn’t add up. They figure out a way to scan the ship to get further information on what she may be up to.

Chapter 26: On examination they find out that the Sirius’s nodes are much larger than typical for a freighter. They seem to be military-grade impeller nodes, and they are powered up on stand-by. It seems that the Sirius is a warship disguised as a freighter.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions–multiple choice/short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. How does the Opposition party plan to end Manticore’s annexation of Basilisk? (chap. 21)

a. by a vote of Manticore’s populace

b. by taking over the government

c. by appealing to the Queen’s conscience

d. by pointing to the Navy’s mishandling of the system

2. Hamish Alexander keeps Pavel Young from going back to Manticore by (chap. 22)

a. talking a friend into delaying his ship’s refit

b. bribing him

c. getting him involved in an illegal duel and thrown in jail

d. threatening him

3. Why does Honor change the Marines’ deployment plan for Medusa? (chap. 23)

a. because she knows there is an informant in the NPA

b. to avoid killing any of the Medusans

c. to space the drops so that fewer soldiers will be exposed to danger at any one time

d. because she wants to go in with them

4. Honor receives the news that a native shaman has had a vision from the gods. What does this vision tell him? (chap. 24)

a. that the gods wish them to live in peace with the off-worlders

b. that the planet will suffer massive earthquakes that will kill millions

c. that it is time for the natives to drive the accursed off-worlders from the soil of Medusa

d. that the gods will kill all off-worlders with a plague, but they will spare the Medusans

5. Honor and her crew suspect that one of the following powers is responsible for trying to arrange a native rebellion. Which one? (chap. 25)

a. Silesia

b. the Hauptman Cartel

c. the Republic of Haven

d. the Solarian League

6. Why do Honor and her crew suspect that the Havenite ship Sirius is not a typical freighter?

Answers:

1. d

2. a

3. a

4. c

5. c

6. They have military-grade impeller nodes, and they are powered up on stand-by.

Suggested Activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration:

Have your students research the history of the Ghost Dance among Native Americans. Discuss in class or have them write short papers on any parallels they see between this movement and the emerging situation with the Stilties in this section. Additional viewing: Zulu, starring Michael Caine, which is based on a historical battle in Africa between forces with uneven levels of technology.

GUIDE TO chapters 27-32

Prepare to Read. . .

Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

o frag jackets

o turret

o cumbersome

o vector

o deceleration

o jettison

o chronometer

Chapter Summaries:

Chapter 27: An NPA patrol skimmer, scanning the Delta, finds an aircar camouflaged and hidden inside a cave opening. Suddenly, Stilties run out of the cave and start firing on the skimmer with eighteen-millimeter shells. The skimmer returns fire, but too late. They send out a message to headquarters of the attack before they go down. They manage to land, but hundreds of Medusans attack and overcome them on the ground. Informed of this attack and the fact that the Havenite ship Sirius has started to move out of orbit, Honor thinks she now understands the situation. She calls her crew to battle stations and sends a message to Fleet HQ that an invasion is imminent.  Honor manages to disable a Havenite courier on its way out of the system and heads after Sirius. She realizes that they must be heading out to rendezvous with a Havenite battle squadron or task force. She assumes that the Republic intends to use the uprising, which they secretly engineered, as an excuse to come in with a large force to take over the planet to “save civilian lives.” They will use Manticore’s alleged inability to maintain order and public safety on the planet as the excuse for their takeover. The only way to stop a potential war is to stop Sirius.

Chapter 28: A contingent of Marines lands at the site where the Stilties attacked the NPA skimmer. They find that the interior of the skimmer has been splashed and daubed with blood. The natives wrecked the instruments inside and hacked up the crew. There were no survivors. The Marines then go to investigate the energy source that lured the skimmer. Thousand of drug-crazed Stilties head toward the off-worlder enclaves. Even though the Marines kill hundreds of them, they are charging so fast and so suicidally that the Marines can’t stop them. The Navy pinnaces have to kill them all from the air.

Chapter 29: The Sirius is headed toward the Tellerman wave, one of the most powerful gravity waves ever charted. If Sirius makes it to the wave, it will carry them directly toward the People’s Republic of Haven. They will reach any Havenite battle squadron standing by  at almost three thousands times the speed of light. John Coglin, captain of the Sirius, realizes that Honor has fully grasped Operation Odysseus and has taken action to neutralize Haven’s courier and the native attacks on the ground. That only leaves him to carry out his own part of the operation, which is now probably pointless. He has to carry through, however, because he can’t allow Honor to board his vessel. That would prove Haven was involved in the Stiltie uprising. Honor realizes that the Sirius is actually a Q-ship, a heavily armed vessel much larger than Fearless, but doggedly pursues her anyway.

Chapter 30: Sirius commences firing on the badly out-gunned Fearless. Honor’s crew is able to evade or disable the missiles and land the first hit on Sirius, but Sirius takes out her forward impellers.

Chapter 31: Fearless takes heavy damage and casualties, but the crew manages to get the impellers back on line. Coglin is amazed at the damage Honor inflicts on his ship in her single, over-aged, undersized light cruiser. Coglin is determined to utterly destroy the Fearless because the two ships are the only witnesses to the fact that Coglin fired the first shot, an act of war on the part of the People’s Republic. Honor allows Coglin to close on her, then brings up her grav lance and destroys his ship.

Chapter 32: Everyone on board Sirius dies. Honor loses over a hundred of her own crew, more than a third of those aboard. Because of her warning, the Manticoran Navy conducts “unscheduled war games” in the Basilisk system and is there to greet the three Havenite battle squadrons who arrive on a “routine visit” six days after the uprising on Medusa. The Havenites leave Basilisk with their tails between their legs. Although Fearless sustained too much damage in the battle to be repaired, the navy passes her name on to Honor’s new command, the Star Knight-class heavy cruiser HMS Fearless. In recognition of her exemplary service, Honor is bumped up two full grades to Captain.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions–multiple choice/short answer questions to test reading comprehension:

1. What finally sets off the native uprising? (chap. 27)

a. a signal from the Havenites

b. an NPA skimmer patrol gets too close to a cave where many of them are hidden

c. an unintended insult from Dame Estelle

d. a Manticoran officer kills a shaman

2. Honor must stop the Sirius at all costs because (chap. 27)

a. its Captain has evidence that Manticore fired the first shot and is starting a war

b. the ship is headed toward Medusa with thermo-nuclear warheads to destroy the planet

c. the ship is headed out of orbit to rendezvous with a Havenite task force to bring them back to invade the system

d. the ship has a company of trained fighters it plans to land on Medusa

3. When the native uprising final starts (chap. 28)

a. they overrun the off-worlder enclaves and kill all foreigners

b. the Marines are able to stop them

c. the shaman is killed immediately and the natives are leaderless

d. the Navy pinnaces kill them all from the air before they can reach the enclaves

4. How does Honor finally defeat the Sirius? (chap. 31)

Answers:

1. b

2. c

3. d

4. She blows it up with her grav lance.

Suggested Activities/Inquiry Based Exploration:

• On Basilisk Station makes the horrors of battle clear. In the last section of the book, Honor makes the difficult decision to go up against almost impossible odds and ends up causing the deaths of over 1,600 people on both the Sirius and her own ship. Have your class discuss the moral implications of her decision. Do they think it was the right course of action? Why or why not?

• Weber portrays Honor Harrington as an exemplary leader. Have your students discuss or write papers on the qualities that make her such an excellent leader. What are her virtues? How does she win over her crew? How does she make decisions? How does her background play into her leadership qualities?

• Have your students research the genre called “military science fiction” and develop a list of its most common characteristics. Have them discuss or write a paper that deals with the following questions: What themes are typical of the genre? What characters and values are typical? How well does On Basilisk Station fit into this sub-genre? Why? Give specific examples to support your argument.

BAEN BOOKS

TEACHER’S GUIDE TO A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP BY DAVID WEBER

Contents:

- recommended reading levels

- biographical material and links

- background of the book and plot summary

- character sketches

- guides for segments of the book which include plot summaries of each chapter and may also include some of the following:

- prepare to read . . .

- vocabulary

- focus questions or initiating activity

- quiz/reading comprehension questions—multiple choice/short answer questions to testing reading comprehension

- reflection and discussion questions—may be used to initiate classroom discussion, as short writing assignments, or as test questions

- suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration—suggestions for activities and projects

Recommended reading levels: A Beautiful Friendship is appropriate for a young adult audience. Classroom use of the book is probably most appropriate for middle school students.

Biographical information on David Weber:

David Weber is a popular, best-selling author of science fiction and fantasy. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952. He graduated from Hillcrest High School in Simpsonville, South Carolina in 1970 and received a bachelor’s degree from Warren Wilson College. Weber also did graduate work in history at Appalachian State University.  He started writing poetry and short fiction when he was in the fifth grade. His mother was an advertising copywriter and trained him in that craft. Before becoming a full time writer of fiction, he worked in advertising, public relations, and war-game design. His first novel, Insurrection, was published in 1990. This book, a collaboration with Steve White, grew out of Weber’s experience as a game designer. He has written over fifty solo and collaborative novels and contributed to numerous anthologies of short fiction. He is best known as an author of science fiction with military themes, but he has also written fantasy, “space operas,” and alternate history. Weber and his wife Sharon, along with their children, dogs and cats, live in Greenville, South Carolina.

Biographical resources on the web:

- Weber has provided an interesting biographical sketch on his website, David Weber, http://www.davidweber.net/biography.

- “David Weber,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weber.

Suggested class activity: Have your students read the autobiographical information on Weber’s website before they begin the book. Ask them to make notes as they read. Have the class discuss the several different influences that led Weber to become a writer. They also might want to explore some of the interviews available on Youtube and Baen’s website (http://baen.com/interview.asp) in which Weber discusses his development and interests as an author.

For further information on David Weber and his work:

- Weber’s website contains a wealth of material that students may enjoy exploring in addition to his biographical details: photos, a bibliography, discussion forums, FAQs, downloads, and information about upcoming appearances (http://www.davidweber.net).

- David Weber’s page at Amazon.com contains a brief biographical note, a list of books available, and a forum for reader comments (http://www.amazon.com/David-Weber/e/B000APBAFE/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1308078796).

- There are several interesting interviews with Weber available at Baen’s website (http://baen.com/interview.asp) and on YouTube.

Bibliographies:

You can find bibliographies of Weber’s work at his own website (http://www.davidweber.net/books), at the website Internet Speculative Fiction Database (isfdb.org) (http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?David_Weber), at the website Fantastic Fiction (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/david-weber), at the website SFBookcase (http://www.sfbookcase.com/author.asp?author=David+Weber), and on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weber).

Background:

Published by Baen Books in 2011, this story fills in some of the background for Weber’s best-selling Honor Harrington adult science fiction series. The protagonist, Stephanie Harrington, is one of Honor’s ancestors. It is also the first book in a planned young adult series dealing with the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Students may be interested in delving into the wiki for its heroine, Stephanie Harrington (http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Stephanie_Harrington), and exploring other facets of what has come to be called the “Honorverse” in which the book is set (http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page).

Plot Summary: Stephanie Harrington and her parents have emigrated to the frontier planet of Sphinx. Almost twelve terran years old when the story opens, Stephanie chafes at her parents’ restrictions. Restless and intelligent, she sets out to solve a mystery. Who is stealing celery, of all things, from the gardens and greenhouses of Sphinx? Her investigation leads her to an astonishing discovery: a previously unknown sentient species native to the planet. The treecats are small six-legged animals, something like a cross between a bobcat and a lemur, that use tools and live in clans in the tree canopy. Stephanie develops a strong bond with one of the treecats, Climbs Quickly. She finds that the secretive treecats are not only highly intelligent, they are telepaths as well. While the treecats debate whether to trust or flee from the humans, the humans are divided about how they should be treated. Stephanie quickly learns that there are people who want to exploit the 'cats as pets or research subjects. There are also humans who think it would be more convenient if all the treecats were destroyed, leaving the planet for human ownership. Can humans and treecats live in peace and share the planet? Can Stephanie and Climbs Quickly trust anyone to have the best interests of the 'cats at heart?

Major Characters:

- Stephanie Harrington is a young girl, almost twelve terran years old when the story opens. An intelligent, only child, she is impatient to explore her new planet, Sphinx.

- Richard Harrington is Stephanie’s father. He has degrees in both Terran and xeno-veterinary medicine.

- Marjorie Harrington is Stephanie’s mother. She is a plant geneticist.

- Climbs Quickly is the treecat, a member Sphinx’s sentient native species. He is a scout who observes the humans on the planet. Stephanie and her family call him Lionheart.

- Sanura Hobbard is a xeno-anthropologist who interviews Stephanie about her experiences with the treecats.

- Scott MacDallan is a medical doctor on Sphinx and the second person to develop a bond with a treecat.

- Irena Kisaevna is planning on marrying Dr. MacDallan.

- Karl Zivonik is Irena’s nephew.

- Swift Striker is the treecat who has bonded with Dr. MacDallan. MacDallan calls him Fisher.

- Aleksandr Zivonik is a landowner and early settler of Sphinx.

- Frank Lethbridge is a Sphinx Forestry Service ranger and a friend of MacDallan’s.

- Arvin Erhardt is cargo pilot on Sphinx who is murdered by Dr. Mariel Ubel.

- Mariel Ubel is the lead scientist of a BioNeering research group on Sphinx. She accidentally releases a deadly pathogen into the environment, poisoning and destroying the heart of a treecat clan’s home range. She tries to cover up the incident by sabotaging the air car of the only three witnesses, murdering them all.

- Gary Shelton is Chief Ranger of the Forestry Service on Sphinx.

The Honorverse wiki (http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page) contains a useful link with short descriptions of most of the characters in the “Honorverse” (http://honorverse.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Characters) as well as links for geography, political groups, and star nations that students might find useful as they navigate the book.

GUIDE TO chapters 1—7

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms:

- the prefix hexa-

- martyred

- xeno-botany

- biosystem hierarchies

- internship

- furled

- arboreal

- sentient

- Focus question/initiating activity: Investigate with your students what accounts for what we call “years” and “seasons” on earth. Ask them to think about this when reading chapter 1 and deduce how Earth and Sphinx are different.

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 1: Stephanie Harrington and her parents have emigrated from the planet Meyerdahl to Sphinx. Compared to the well-settled Meyerdahl, Sphinx is a frontier planet. The human settlers still know little about its indigenous life forms. Stephanie is almost twelve terran years old. She is intelligent, curious, and restless. She is also frustrated at her father’s attempts to protect her and keep her close to home. She is interested in xeno-botany and the biological systems of her new planet. She wants to explore the planet, but her parents want to be sure she is safe. Stephanie and her family are “genies,” humans who have been genetically engineered to adapt more efficiently to high gravity planets.

- Chapter 2: The People, an intelligent, indigenous species, are keeping watch on the human colonists. They are fascinated by the differences they find between themselves and the humans, whom they call the “two-legs.” Unlike the People, the two-legs are “mind-blind.” They cannot telepathically “hear” the thoughts and emotions of other beings. They can, however, fly, build, and kill wild animals with a strange implement. The old songs of the People tell them that the two-legs have visited their homeland before, but the information is vague.

- Chapter 3: Stephanie is trying to figure out a problem. Why have some of the settlers’ crops gone missing? And why is the only thing stolen celery? When she plots all reports about missing celery on a map, she finds that the thefts are widespread. This proves to her it’s not just one kid playing a practical joke. Most of the thefts are from the colonists’ experimental greenhouses. Since the thefts are escalating, they may prove a problem for some long-term research projects. She deduces from the fact that the thieves have been able to evade infrared alarms that they use more of the lower end of the spectrum than human eyes. She decides to set a trap using ultraviolet.

- Chapter 4: Climbs Quickly and his people are excited by the ability of the humans to grow plants in the cold season in specially located gardens as well as “transparent plant places.” Since the People need plant as well as animal food to remain healthy, many of their sick and old have died during the long winters. They have also found one plant grown by the two-legs particularly compelling. What they call “cluster stalks” sharpen the People’s mind-voices and deepen the texture of their memory songs. Climbs Quickly plans to use a coming thunderstorm as cover to explore the mystery of these cluster stalks. Stephanie plans to use it as an occasion to sneak outside to catch a celery thief. Stephanie catches Climbs Quickly on camera. Startled, he reaches out to her mind-glow to try to judge her intentions. He is astonished by the strength of her emotions at seeing him. It is the first time any of his People had ever come face-to-face with a two-leg, and it is the first time any human has made contact with a tool-using, sentient, alien race.

- Chapter 5: Climbs Quickly confesses to his clan that he let one of the two-legs see him. They find it hard to accept his impressions of the strength and clarity of Stephanie’s mind-glow. They relieve him of his responsibility to watch over the Harringtons. He understands their decision, given the danger the two-legs represent. The clan had long ago decided that their only true safety lay in avoiding the two-legs entirely. Climbs Quickly doubts the wisdom of this policy, since there are more two-legs than ever, and their flying things and long-seeing things make hiding forever impossible. He finds that he has a mind connection with the young human and is able to tell where she is through her mind-glow.

- Chapter 6: Stephanie decides to learn all she can about the species she has encountered before she lets anyone else know they exist. She is concerned with how they might be treated. He research reveals that noone has even reported a sighting, suggesting to her that they are deliberately avoiding humans, a rational action. Coordinating that sort of planet-wide avoidance also implies that they can communicate among themselves, so they must have language and some way to communicate over distances. She realizes that she has some sort of link with the treecat and can “feel” his location.

- Chapter 7: Stephanie’s mother has her suspicions aroused when Stephanie drops her sulking and complaining about the restrictions her parents have placed on her. She also notices that Stephanie no longer refers to the mysterious celery thefts. She concludes that Stephanie is Up To Something.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

- 1. The Harrington family has recently emigrated from the planet Meyerdahl to (chap. 1)

- a. Earth

- b. Mars

- c. Ceres

- d. Sphinx

- 2. Why are Stephanie and her family called “genies”? (chap. 1)

- a. It is short for “genius.” They all have extremely high IQs.

- b. They are genetically engineered humans.

- c. They come from humans who originally developed on the planet Gena.

- d. They are descendents of humans who were voluntarily interbred to preserve superior genes.

- 3. What does Climbs Quickly call humans? (chap. 2)

- a. the invaders

- b. naked-faces

- c. loud ones

- d. two-legs

- 4. Stephanie is investigating some thefts. What is being stolen? (chap. 3)

- a. celery

- b. communications equipment

- c. clothing

- d. candy

- 5. The People particularly envy what structure built by the humans? (chap. 4)

- a. heated swimming pools

- b. amphitheatres

- c. greenhouses

- d. churches

- 6. Which of the following adjectives applies best to Climbs Quickly? (chap. 4)

- a. arboreal

- b. bipedal

- c. enormous

- d. cold-blooded

- 7. What are some of the characteristics of Stephanie’s new planet? (chap. 1)

- 8. Why do the People say that humans are “mind-blind”? (chap. 2)

- 9. What is the Elysian Rule? (chap. 3)

- 10. What conclusions about the People’s intelligence does Stephanie draw from the fact that they haven’t been detected? (chap. 6)

Answers:

- 1. d

- 2. b

- 3. d

- 4. a

- 5. c

- 6. a

- 7. It has very long seasons, it snows a lot, and it is a “heavy gravity” planet.

- 8. Human beings cannot hear and read the “mind-voices” of others. They aren’t empaths or telepaths.

- 9. A rule adopted over a thousand years earlier that absolutely forbids the use of any lethal measure against a complete unknown without evidence that it poses a clear physical danger to humans.

- 10. Avoiding detection over the whole settlement area implies that they can talk to each other, have a common language, and some way to communicate over distances.

Suggested Activity/Inquiry-Based Exploration: Stephanie and her family are “genies,” genetically engineered humans. Have your students explore the problems and possibilities involved in modification of the human genome. Weber offers some glimpses of both in chapter 1: what are they? You might divide your students into teams to debate the pros and cons of genetic engineering. Some useful resources:

- A free lesson plan on genetic engineering for grades 9-12 is available at the Discovery Education website (http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/genetic-engineering.cfm)

- Paul Arnold, “Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering in Humans—Parts 1 and 2,” at brighthub.com (http://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/22210.aspx and http://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/22211.aspx)

- Danielle Simmons, “Genetic Inequality: Human Genetic Engineering,” Nature Education, at Scitable: by nature education (http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-inequality-human-genetic-engineering-768)

- Linda MacDonald Glenn, “Ethical Issues in Genetic Engineering and Transgenics,” at actionbioscience.org (http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/glenn.html)

GUIDE TO chapters 8—14

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms

- exuberance

- innate

- countermanded

- capitalize

- nodal

- quarantine

- enzymes

- struts

- fervently

- presentiment

- dynamo

- exultation

- pathetic

- unadulterated

- inextricable

- plethora

- Focus question/initiating activity: Investigate some instances of colonization in world history. How have the native people generally been treated by the colonizers? Why?

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 8: Stephanie uses her new hang glider to explore without technically breaking her word to her parents that she would not go into the countryside alone. She hopes to pinpoint a location for the treecats, then return with her father to gather further evidence of their existence. Stephanie forgets to check the weather before she sets out on her flight, and she is caught in a storm. She realizes that she has to land quickly or she will die. Climbs Quickly senses her terror and rushes to help her.

- Chapter 9: She crashes in a tree, breaking an arm and some ribs, and is caught in the remnants of her glider. Climbs Quickly finds her and is relieved that she is still alive. They both realize she needs to get on the ground. When she tries to let herself down one-handed using her counter-grav unit, it fails, and she crashes to the ground and loses consciousness.

- Chapter 10: Climbs Quickly scouts the area for dangers. He catches the scent of a death fang, the animal the two-legs call a hexapuma, in the area. He realizes that he needs help and sends out a distress call to his sister, Sings Truly. While he waits for help from his clan, Climbs Quickly is able to draw off the worst of Stephanie’s despair through their empathic link. The hexapuma finds them, and Climbs Quickly challenges it on his own, trying to buy her time. Stephanie has a high-tech vibro blade knife with her, and she struggles to her feet to try to kill the huge animal. While the hexapuma is closing in to kill the treecat, Stephanie charges it and plunges her blade deep into its flank. Before it can lunge to kill her, the treecat clan explodes from the trees and finishes it off.

- Chapter 11: Richard and Marjorie Harrington put two and two together and figure out that Stephanie is gone. Climbs Quickly is desperately hurt, his right “true-hand” mangled. Stephanie manages to make a tourniquet and get it around the limb. The other treecats can feel Stephanie’s love and concern for Climbs Quickly, and they are astonished at the strength of the link between the human and the treecat. The clan debates whether they should pursue more contact with the two-legs. Sings Truly argues that they should use contacts to learn more about the humans and enlist them as friends and allies.

- Chapter 12: Her parents find Stephanie in the small clearing surrounded by protective treecats. Climbs Quickly is near death, and Stephanie’s father vows to help him in any way he can. They take the treecat back to their home, and Richard assures his daughter that he will live, although he will probably lose a limb.

- Chapter 13: Over a year after her first encounter with a treecat, Stephanie, her parents, and Climbs Quickly meet with Chief Ranger Gary Shelton. Stephanie and her parents call the treecat Lionheart. The Sphinx Forestry Service denies Stephanie’s request for a junior internship spot. They simply don’t have the manpower to nursemaid a bunch of interns in a wilderness that is extremely dangerous and still largely unknown.

- Chapter 14: Acknowledgement of the treecats’ sentience was a slow process. The xeno-anthropologists and xeno-biologists wanted to study Stephanie and Lionheart, but her parents strictly limited their access. They also grounded Stephanie for three months after her adventure. None of the humans understand exactly how the treecats communicate or whether or not they are empaths or telepaths. The Harringtons are concerned about the fate of the treecats, since there was an infamous case where the humans on a colonized planet wiped out a sentient species of amphibians called the Amphors.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

- 1. Stephanie goes to find the treecats (chap. 8)

- a. in her family’s air car

- b. on foot

- c. by hang-glider

- d. on a stolen air-scooter

- 2. Climbs Quickly finds Stephanie (chap. 9)

- a. through their empathic link

- b. by her scent

- c. by sight

- d. because other treecats have spotted her and call him

- 3. After the crash, Stephanie is in greatest danger from (chap. 10)

- a. the storm

- b. an angry gang of treecats

- c. a falling tree

- d. a hexapuma

- 4. Which of the treecats argues that they should use contact with humans to learn more about them and enlist them as friends and allies? (chap. 11)

- a. Sings Truly

- b. Broken Tooth

- c. Song Spinner

- d. Short Tail

- 5. How does Stephanie save Climbs Quickly’s life? (chap. 11)

- 6. Who were the Amphors and what happened to them? (chap. 14)

Answers:

- 1. c

- 2. a

- 3. d

- 4. a

- 5. By stabbing the hexapuma with her vibro blade and by getting a tourniquet around his severed forelimb.

- 6. The Amphors were an intelligent species of amphibians that were native to a planet called Barstool. The colonial government didn’t want the inconvenience of an intelligent species on the planets that might have rights, so they declared them animals. The species was virtually exterminated within thirty years.

GUIDE TO chapters 15—21

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms

- proviso

- fidgety

- trepidation

- aerobatics

- marathon

- valid

- nanotechnology

- pathogen

- traipsing

- inveigling

- grimace

- laceration

- Focus question/initiating activities: Investigate the question of what the relationship between body mass and animal intelligence is, if any.

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 15: [pp. 151—174] Stephanie and Lionheart go to a meeting of the new flying club organized by her hang-gliding teachers. The club will be divided into two teams in order to set up competitions, including relay races and distance marathons. Stephanie has a confrontation with another club member, Trudy Franchetti, who questions the story of Stephanie’s meeting with Lionheart. She outrages Stephanie by referring to Lionheart as a “pet” and insisting that she is going to acquire a treecat of her own. Lionheart intervenes empathically to lessen the fury of the confrontation.

- Chapter 16: [pp. 175—187] Dr. Sanura Hobbard, a xenoanthropologist, is coming to talk to Stephanie about her experience with the treecats. Dr. Hobbard is the head of the Kingdom of Manticore’s commission charged to study the new species. Stephanie is disappointed, since she and Lionheart had planned on visiting his family that day. Stephanie isn’t sure how much she can safely share with Dr. Hobbard, since she isn’t sure who or what may pose a danger to the treecats. When Dr. Hobbard asks her whether they’ve made any progress in locating the rest of Lionheart’s clan, Stephanie evades her question.

- Chapter 17: [pp. 188—206] Stephanie tries to arrange a meeting with Dr. Scott MacDallan, who has been “adopted” by a treecat named Swift Striker, called Fisher by his human. Fisher saved Dr. MacDallen’s life when he slipped and fell in some rapids. MacDallan is a medical doctor who emigrated to Sphinx because of the dire need for doctors in the wake of the Plagues. MacDallan is engaged to Irena Kisaevna. Her nephew, Karl, was at the hang-gliding club when Stephanie had her confrontation with some of the other kids. He has told MacDallan and Irena how much he admires the way Stephanie handled it. MacDallan fears his meeting with Stephanie will trigger suspicion. MacDallan talks to his friend Frank Lethbridge, a Sphinx Forestry Service ranger. MacDallan explains why he thinks the tree cats are both intelligent and telepathic. It goes back to an incident in which the lead scientist of a BioNeering research group negligently released a deadly pathogen into the environment, poisoning and destroying the heart of a treecat clan’s home range. She tried to cover up the incident by sabotaging the air car of witnesses, murdering them. When MacDallan investigates, she almost kills him, too. A tree cat called the Stray flung himself directly onto the muzzle of her rifle just as she fired, saving the man’s life by giving up his own. From what Lethbridge heard of Stephanie’s first encounter with the treecats and the hexapuma, he assures MacDallan that he can trust Stephanie. She is intelligent, courageous, and dedicating to protecting the treecats.

- Chapter 18: [pp. 207—215] Stephanie and Climbs Quickly visit his clan. Some in the clan argue that the two-legs pose such a great danger that the People should move their range far into the forest away from them. Others are wary of encouraging bonds between the People and humans. Climbs Quickly and Sings Truly discuss the problems and opportunities of their encounter with the humans and the best way ahead. They believe the safest course is to find worthy two-legs with whom more of the People can bond.

- Chapter 19: [pp. 216—241] Irena Kisaevna and Scott MacDallan come to the Harrington’s for dinner. Climbs Quickly and Swift Striker, the treecat who has bonded with MacDallan, get acquainted. They compare notes and discover that Darkness Foe, Swift Striker’s name for MacDallan, isn’t quite as “mind-blind” as other two-legs. He has something like an echo of a mind-voice. After dinner, MacDallan and Stephanie discuss their concerns for the treecats and their frustration with people who insist on looking on them as lower animals instead of intelligent beings. MacDallan suggests that the people who have been adopted by treecats should band together to learn more about them and protect them. One of their concerns is to keep the colonists on Sphinx from thinking of the treecats as competitors for land and mineral rights on the planet. MacDallan thinks they should work to see that when the public lands are finally sold, the treecats are guaranteed enough of the planet for them and their descendants. Another concern is what might happen to the cats if anyone confirms that they are genuinely telepathic. MacDallan worries that black-ops genetic labs will try to capture and experiment on the cats to see how their telepathy works. He admits that he knows that the treecats are excellent telepaths because he himself has the “sight,” which runs in families from the Scottish Highlands.

- Chapter 20: [pp. 242—257] MacDallan is uneasy about Stephanie’s solo trips to visit the treecats, so he suggests that her parents provide her with a handgun. Frank Lethbridge has volunteered to teach her to use it. Her parents reluctantly agree and decide to get training with guns themselves. Stephanie turns out to be a natural shot.

- Chapter 21: [pp. 258—270] Tennessee Bolgeo, a distinguished xeno-anthropologist, has come to Sphinx on a grant to study the treecats. He joins Dr. Hobbard on her next visit to Stephanie and Lionheart. Lionheart is suspicious of him on sight, and Stephanie doesn’t like him either. Their feelings turn out to be justified: Bolgeo is a fraud. He is a con man working for Tamerlane Ustinov, president and CEO of Ustinov’s Exotic Pets, Inc. He also has patrons in the Star Kingdom itself and in genetic labs. He wants to capture treecats and sell them to whoever is willing to pay. Stephanie expresses her concerns about Bolgeo to MacDallan. He suggests they both need contact with him for further evaluation.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

- 1. How does Lionheart diffuse the tense situation between Stephanie and some of the kids at the hang-gliding club? (chap. 15)

- 2. Who is Mariel Ubel? Describe her involvement with the treecats. (chap. 17)

- 3. What is Climbs Quickly’s name for Stephanie? (chap. 18)

- 4. What particular gift does Scott MacDallan have that helps convince him that the treecats are telepathic? (chap. 19)

- 5. What new skill does Stephanie learn in this section of the book? (chap. 20)

- 6. Who is Tennessee Bolgeo? What is his interest in the treecats? (chap. 21)

Answers:

- 1. He uses his link with her to help her overcome her anger.

- 2. Ubel is a scientist with the BioNeering research group on Sphinx. She accidentally releases a deadly pathogen into the environment, poisoning and destroying the heart of a treecat clan’s home range. She tried to cover up the incident be murdering three witnesses. She also tries to kill Scott MacDallan when he tries to investigate.

- 3. Death Fang’s Bane

- 4. He has the “sight,” a type of empathic or telepathic ability found in some families from the Scottish Highlands.

- 5. She learns to shoot in order to protect herself.

- 6. Bolgeo is a con man who is posing as a xeno-anthropologist. He intends to capture and exploit some of the treecats.

GUIDE TO chapters 22—29

Prepare to Read . . . .

- Familiarize yourself with the following vocabulary and terms

- anarchist

- zealous

- scofflaw

- ecstatic

- quid-pro-quo

- connivance

- irreparable

- probationary

- holographic

- escalating

Chapter Summaries:

- Chapter 22: [271—279] Stephanie and her parents have lunch with Bolgeo, Hobbard and Chief Ranger Shelton. She is lured into the lunch by the opportunity to meet Shelton and pursue her interest in a Forestry Service internship. Bolgeo arranges for a newsman to take secret footage of Lionheart at the restaurant so that he can study it. The footage proves to him that the treecat was able to detect Bolgeo’s movements even when he was more than a hundred meters out of sight.

- Chapter 23: [280—287] Dr. Hobbard is suspicious of Bolgeo and shares her concerns with Gary Shelton. He doesn’t seem to have any field experience, and when she searches library records, she can’t find any published papers under his name. She is particularly concerned that she introduced him to Stephanie and is afraid that will undermine Stephanie’s trust in her. Bolgeo plants transponders in the Harrington’s air cars to try to track Stephanie’s visits to the treecat range. When that doesn’t work, he hires someone to plant a transponder on her glider. He tracks her next visit to the treecats and gets GPS coordinates for the location.

- Chapter 24: [pp. 288—297] Climbs Quickly is awakened by a call from a Bright Water scout, Short Tail. There is trouble, and Climbs Quickly goes out to meet him without waking Stephanie. Short Tail has come for him because, in the last several days, three members of the clan have disappeared when they went out from their nesting places. The fact that they did not even send a mind call for help or in warning is particularly worrisome. Some of the elders had suggested moving deeper into the mountains without telling Climbs Quickly or any of the two-legs, because they believe that the two-legs are responsible for what is happening. Climbs Quickly immediately suspects that Bolgeo, whom he calls Speaks Falsely, is involved. He is frustrated again by his inability to communicate with Stephanie directly. He needs to find a way to let the two-legs know what is happening to his clan. Their best chance is to bring Stephanie to the clan and hope she realizes their concern.

- Chapter 25: [pp. 298—309] Bolgeo has captured a dozen treecats and is keeping them, caged and drugged, in a warehouse. He set traps baited with celery juice. The traps were rigged with a proximity sensor that released a powerful gas that knocked the treecats out almost instantly. He wants to acquire fifty or sixty 'cats before he leaves Sphinx. Stephanie, realizing that Lionheart is terribly worried about something, goes back to his clan with him. While she is there, the cats receive a distress call from a memory singer a long way away. They realize they must get Stephanie to come with them so that she can see and report what is happening to the People. She, Climbs Quickly, and Sings Truly take off in her hang-glider, followed by many of the other cats from the clan.

- Chapter 26: [pp. 310—318] They find Water Dancer, the treecat who called for help. Her mate, Twig Weaver, has been caught in one of Bolgeo’s traps and is unconscious. Stephanie uses her gravity pack to get up into the tree where Twig Weaver is trapped. She realizes the trap is a sophisticated device, possibly booby-trapped, and calls her father and Scott MacDallan for help. MacDallan contacts Frank Shelton and his partner Ainsley and gives them her GPS location so they had head her way. He then advises her to back off a little way and keep an eye on things, then he heads toward her location.

- Chapter 27: [pp. 319—331] Before anyone she has called could have had time to reach her, Stephanie hears an air car approach. She realizes that the cage must send sort of signal when it has captured a treecat. She gets the treecats with her to give her their carry nets and runs toward Twig Weaver. When she gets near the cage, the gas dispenser hisses, but the gas does not affect her. She ties the cage to the tree with the nets to defeat the cage’s counter-grav unit and runs back to join the other treecats so that she will not be detected. Bolgeo shows up and attempts to retrieve the cage but finds he can’t get it up to his ship using its counter-grav unit. He decides to land, put on his enviro suit, and retrieve the cage. Stephanie draws her gun and steels herself to use it if necessary.

- Chapter 28: [pp. 332—343] Bolgeo arms himself with a tranquilizer gun and goes to retrieve the cage. Climbs Quickly and the other treecats smell a death fang in the area. They explore and find that it is a very young, but well-grown, animal. They debate whether to drive the animal toward Bolgeo, which will probably cause his death. Causing the death of another is a grave choice, but one they think is justified. The huxapuma burst out of the forest near Bolgeo, coming straight at him. He hits with several tranquilizer darts, but they don’t stop it. Panicked, he throws the gun at the beast and it lodges in the animal’s mouth. Just before the enraged huxapuma strikes at Bolgeo again, Stephanie shoots and kills it. Much as she hates the man, she doesn’t want to see him torn limb from limb.

- Chapter 29: [pp. 344—332] MacDallan and Karl finally reach the area and find a terrified Bolgeo surrounded by treecats and a young girl with a very large gun. Shelton, who had been suspicious of Bolgeo all along, had managed to trace the warehouse. When notified of Bolgeo’s apprehension, he moved on the warehouse and rescued the imprisoned treecats. Stephanie agrees to cooperate with Dr. Hobbard to help her learn about the treecats to try to keep them safe. Much to Stephanie’s delight, Shelton informs her that the Forestry Service has just instituted the rank of probationary ranger. He presents her with a badge, making her part of the Service.

Quiz/Reading Comprehension Questions:

- 1. Why does Bolgeo hire a newsman to take video footage of Climbs Quickly at the lunch he arranges? (chap. 22)

- 2. How does Bolgeo finally track down Climbs Quickly’s clan? (chap. 23)

- 3. What do the treecats call Bolgeo? (chap. 24)

- 4. How does Stephanie prevent Bolgeo from “collecting” Twig Weaver? (chap. 27)

- 5. How does Stephanie finally get to join the Forest Service? (chap. 29)

Answers:

- 1. To learn more about the treecats’ telepathic abilities so that he can figure out how to sneak up on them.

- 2. He hires someone to place a transponder on Stephanie’s hang-glider.

- 3. Speaks Falsely.

- 4. She ties it to the tree with carry-nets from the treecats, preventing its anti-grav unit from taking it up to his ship.

- 5. Shelton gets the service to create a new rank: probationary ranger.

Suggested activities/inquiry-based exploration—

- 1. Have your class discuss or write papers on the following question: One of Stephanie’s firearms instructors tells her that there is an old saying that “some people need killing.” Although she didn’t finally kill Bolgeo, saving his life instead, do you think she would have been justified in killing him if that was the only way to keep him from harming the treecats?

- 2. One of the issues the book raises is what it means to be “people.” The People make a distinction between “thinking” and “unthinking” creatures. What are some of the characteristics of a creature that the People use to assign them to one category or another? What are some of the things that suggested to Stephanie that Climbs Quickly and the other treecats were “people.” Ethicists have traditionally used the distinction between a “person” and a “non-person” to answer questions about who/what deserves moral consideration. Some of the standard answers are language, tool use, a certain level of intelligence, or an ability to make moral choices. Have your students explore some of the traditional ways of making this distinction, then discuss what they think the standard should be. How do the treecats fit?

- 3. Have your students choose particular characters to discuss or write about. How realistic was the characterization? What were some of the character’s virtues? What were some of their weaknesses? Did you like them or dislike them? Did their actions seem to flow naturally from who they were? Did they change over the course of the book? If  the character made a moral choice, do you agree with that choice? Why or why not?

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

TEACHER’S GUIDE TO THE ROLLING STONES BY ROBERT A. HEINLEIN

TEACHER’S GUIDE TO 1632 BY ERIC FLINT

The Wild Side Reader's Group Discussion Guide by Laura Haywood-Cory

The Ghost Ship Reader’s Group Discussion Guideby Laura Haywood-Cory

BAEN BOOKS TEACHER’S GUIDE TO ON BASILISK STATION BY DAVID WEBER

BAEN BOOKS TEACHER’S GUIDE TO A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP BY DAVID WEBER