Quote from: Guan Thwei 1992 on Oct 15, 2015, 04:13:59 PM
I am very near the ending of the book and have learned so much interesting stuff about the Yautja.
Spoiler
First, regarding "Yautja"...
When Lilliya used the term "Yautja" while conversing with Hashori (who she "guessed" was female but still is unsure) Hashori tilted her head in confusion as if not understanding "Yautja".
Later on, when Hashori and Lilliya team up (I'll leave how that happens for you all to find out), Hashori says "Yautja" but the name sounds so different that Lilliya just heard it as "Yautja" which makes me suspect that the name is a human corruption of the actual term they use which was always my impression for Perry's Yautja, Machiko could only try and pronounce it I guess.
This part I don't like. It almost seems as if it's a reference to the fandom not coming to terms with the Yautja concept that the Perry's came up with and the different pronunciations which the fandom in the Yautja camp have come up with (Yawt-ya, Yowt-ja). I mean looking at the Prey, War and Hunter's planet books, narratively and from a point of view stance.. the Predators have always referred to themselves as such. Dachande, Lar'nix-va, Bakuub-- all referred to themselves as this.
I believe that in the Steve Perry Q&A thread which had come about years ago-- Perry had somewhat acknowledged the pronunciation issue and he sort of solved that problem when he commented on it when he had said something along the lines of "I've always pictured the pronunciation as Yowt-cha" or something alone those lines. I'll have to look for the thread and share it here.
But yeah, I just don't think that part should've been touched. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Quote from: Guan Thwei 1992 on Oct 15, 2015, 04:13:59 PM
Spoiler
Regarding their society, they are not conquerors nor are they very war-like, however, they are combat ready. Hunting and killing is their way of life and it's something they always look forward to.
What I loved is how independent and incredibly intelligent Yautja are portrayed as... they are very independent and populations are sparse. Yautja are spread across the galaxy but few in numbers. When the human characters infiltrate a Yautja space habitat (cobbled together from rocks, it looked almost as if they were building a planet than a space station, inside it was cavernous, humid and very natural looking) they find a Yautja settlement in one of the huge hollowed out caves.
The settlement is small, buildings look like little domes which on the inside are more cubed and tend to house one Yautja with its trophies which are artistically displayed, skeletal hands reaching out through walls, skulls, jawbones, leathered wings, talons and so on.
Some homes had ships moored next to them. Speaking of ships, no two Yautja ships are the same and it is said that individual Yautja actually design and make their own ships which gives each ship a personalized look to that specific Yautja.
This I have always believed was to be the case. The Yautja are very combat oriented and everything they do revolves around the hunt, I have always known that but I have always believed that even their artistic values were revolved around that. The fact that ships are personalized, customized even goes to show that even their artistic side is geared to that. I've always believed that and even implemented that to my own little world. So I'm not really too surprised about that, and quite like that part there which I find to be really cool.
Quote from: Guan Thwei 1992 on Oct 15, 2015, 04:32:25 PM
Spoiler
The galaxy is hinted at being quite sparse with life, on some corners, life blossoms while many large space of galaxy are quiet and devoid of life. It incorporate the best of both worlds, some fans want the dark and gritty galaxy while others want some more life in it, well, this has both.
I'm okay with this. Then again this was sort of the same case with the old EU, I mean it wasn't entirely dead but it didn't have humans meeting other alien races and being chummy chum chum with them either.
Also Guan... Can you PM me the multiverse tidbit regarding the Founders and their experiments with quantum physics? I've made mention of this on my personal blog and might end up sharing that post over on my groups pages. Seriously, that part REALLY has given me hope. Like.. you wouldn't believe. It's something I am hoping for that we end up getting.