Mic Breaks Only discussion

***Open discussion of Parts 2 & 3, no spoiler marks needed. Be sure you have read through Part 1 before reading! Note: if this is your first visit to this topic I recommend you read this post about discussion ideas, then skip down and post your initial response, then read and respond to other people's posts.***

At the very least check in here when you finish this section and tell us if you are enjoying the book. I'll post specific discussion ideas below, along with some general topics we'll see repeated throughout the book.

Part 2-3 discussions:

1) Which challenge will prove the most troublesome for the Jellison Ranch group?

2) Of the post-comet strike hazards presented in this section which would you personally have the hardest time dealing with?

General Discussions:

1) Share your favorite quote(s) from this section.

2) Share your favorite word(s) used in this section.

3) Do you have a favorite or most intriguing character at this point in the novel?

Location reminder

Arthur Jellison gets information from postman Harry.

GO!

Jellison's Problems: Just as Maureen has publicly agreed to marry Mr. Christopher her astronaut lover will land on the ranch and she will break off the engagement. All hell will break loose as each of Maureen's former lovers will form rival groups in a life & death version of Bachelorette.

My Problem: I really don't like being cold and wet - both of which seem to be inevitable consequences. I'm also afraid my survival rate may be lower than most since I'm not one of Maureen's lovers.

Quotes: One man had climbed on top of a wrecked truck. He sat on the cab, feet dangling over the windshield, and drank deeply from a bottle of whiskey.

More of the parking lot separated, dipped, slid slowly downhill, carrying Charlene and her killer car.

Facial expressions differ among races and cultures, but she knew murderous hate when she saw it.

The only good thing about Hamerfall, women's lib was dead milliseconds after Hammerstrike. WTF.

Words: muzzy-headed, rabbit-punched, pash, glom, newsnian.

Character: Brad Wagoner - ex Marine and potential dam builder. Not worth a mention in the character list though so my vote is probably wasted.

I think the largest challenge for the Jellison ranch will be maintaining resources for an ever-growing community of people with virtually no skills. The list of head-hunting qualifications seems like a farce since playboys and documentary filmmakers have somehow made it into the inner sanctum. My vote for secondary challenge is that the comet has brought an alien illness that quickly becomes a pandemic due to having limited access to physicians, proper medical facilities, and drugs.


If I was on the coast I would be most scared of tidal waves and flooding. I have never been in flood conditions, so this is extra terrifying to me. Long term I would be most worried about getting food.


My favorite quotes include "Orange holes glowed on the dark Earth, like cigarettes poked through the back of a map."

"He knew how to make insulin. It took a laboratory and the killing of one sheep per month. Yesterday Dan Forrester had become an expensive luxury." Obtaining the laboratory real-estate might be a bit of a challenge here.

"Today's dawn still carried an elfin light, sunlight faintly thinned and transmuted by gases and dust brought inward from interstellar space."


My favorite words included: telemetry, ionosphere, congresscritters, perigee (I think I fondly remember this word from an incantation on Bedknobs and Broomsticks ), canticle, trove, rivulets,rain-stippled, massif, furies.


My favorite character is Tony from the Shire commune. "It was Tony. Harry knew him. Scrawny and sun-darkened, grinning to show teeth that had been straightened in youth, Tony was dressed as usual: jeans, wool vest, no shirt, digger hat, sandals." Tony may want to consider a different material for his vest - I don't think wool is great in super wet weather. I have to give props to any character who is literally the "hatchet man."