Clarkesworld Podcast April 2010: Between Two Dragons (Yoon Ha Lee)

[james_davis_nicoll]

Between Two Dragons (Yoon Ha Lee)

A small star nation, trapped between their ally - vast, militarily ineffectual and a very tempting target for ambitious militarists - and their enemy - ambitious militarists - is saved thanks to the cunning and skill of an adept commander. He is rewarded for this by with a prison term. As it turns out, it's handy the court did not execute him as the clearly temporary peace proves temporary.

Yet another story based on the Imjin War! Oh, SF, when will your fascination with geobukseon IN SPACE end?

One wonders if in some hypothetical afterlife Yi and Belisarius ever compared notes.

Comments

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Included in this collection, I believe.

[resonant.livejournal.com]

I would be interested in reading the other based on it. Any recommendations?

[affreca.livejournal.com]

Yoon Ha has at least one other short story based on Admiral Yi, though otherwise unconnected with this one. I can't remember the title right off hand.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

IIRC it is "The Battle of Candle Arc," which is in the same collection. (The story is in the collection, whatever it's called.)

the collection, whatever it's called

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

I see "Conservation of Souls" on the cover there.

Re: the collection, whatever it's called

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I mean, whatever that story may be called, it is in that collection.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

It might be very hard to do Admiral Yi IN SPACE in a way that doesn't make him seem implausibly superior to his opponents. For example, in the Battle of Hansando, the Japanese lost about fifty ships and had another dozen captured; casualties came to about 8,000. Yi in contrast lost no ships, and the Korean casualties came to 19 dead and 400 wounded.

At the Battle of Myeongnyang, Yi and a fleet of 13 ships went up against a Japanese fleet of 130+ warships. The Japanese had 31 ships destroyed, about 92 ships disabled, and 8,000 casualties. The Koreans lost no ships and had a half a dozen or so casualties.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

In contrast, Korean's army was somewhat less well led than its navy.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

And I think there was another battle where the Korean losses came to "one sailor, lightly wounded." Part of the reason why Yi did so well was the Japanese strategy was to close and board whereas the Koreans preferred to rely on long range bombardment; the Japanese committed the classic error of bringing a uchigatana to a cannon duel.

[bruce munro (from livejournal.com)]

Well, there's a way to do it: we can have pages of Weberesque exposition on how our hero cleverly uses technological innovation X to defeat the militarist but technologically conservative enemy.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Also cunning choice of battle venues. And a pretty good insight into how the enemy thought.

In SF terms

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

On one side: a space navy with cutting edge laser and kinetic weapons with range and power sufficient for the admiral to delicately inscribe his name on the surface of distant moons. On the other ships crewed by the Mobile Infantry, convinced they will win as long as they can get within arm's reach of the other side. WHO! WILL! WIN?!!

(suddenly eying those Japanese anime shows about giant robots with swords)