I haqve read and enjoyed quite a few Swarm Cycle stories but something i come across is the suffix to a planet name "at", eg earth-at.
Can someone explain the suffix or point me to the story wher it is explained, please!!!!
I haqve read and enjoyed quite a few Swarm Cycle stories but something i come across is the suffix to a planet name "at", eg earth-at.
Can someone explain the suffix or point me to the story wher it is explained, please!!!!
the suffix to a planet name "at", eg earth-at.
It's a standard convention in the universe: the name of a solar system containing an inhabited planet is the planet's name followed by 'at'.
But does it stand for anything or is it just something Thinking Horndog decided to add to the the solar systems name?
I didn't ask when I wrote Arkadia and didn't use it in my story that was inspired by the Swarm Universe though I always wondered if it actually stood for or was an abbreviation something, or had no meaning at all.
SunSeeker
But does it stand for anything or is it just something Thinking Horndog decided to add to the the solar systems name?
I've always assumed it's something TH invented - Earth is at Earthat, Beer is at Beerat, etc. I seem to recall that in one of the earlier stories it says that the AIs imposed the convention.
I know I've seen that "-at" suffix in some Science Fiction. I can't remember where right now, though. Maybe John Ringo? I can't find any basis for it via Google, though, so maybe it was just a "pulled it out of my ass" thing by the first writer and it was adopted thereafter? I am pretty sure it's not unique to the Swarm universe.
This is what the Swarm Cycle wiki page says about Earthat:
http://swarm.freewiki.in/index.php/Earthat
Earthat is, simply, the solar system that Earth is at. The Confederacy names systems by adding -at to the name of the most populated or most important planet or colony in the system, so the system with Earth is called "Earthat" by the Confederacy. Many of the humans from Earth will call it other names like "Sol System" or "Terra-at".
No indication if the convention was copied from elsewhere.
The bit I've bolded is probably the best explanation of what the -at convention means.
Earth is at.
The bit I've bolded is probably the best explanation of what the -at convention means.
Thanks DS! That explains it to me!
SunSeeker
Dominions Son
Thank you Dominions Son, that looks like the best answer that is available.
I still wonder what the letters might stand for.
If Terry Pratchett was writing a swarm cycle story then no doubt "Awaiting Turtle"