History CoolStarship / Literature

* The TC/USNA ''America'' from ''Literature/StarCarrier'', one of only 12 supercarriers in any human SpaceNavy. While built and officially a part of the [[ExpandedStatesOfAmerica United States of North America]] Navy, it operates under the umbrella of the [[OneWorldOrder Terran Confederacy]] (hence the TC/USNA prefix). It's particularly noted that other Earth nations don't build carriers that size due to different military doctrines. Whereas North Americans base their fleets around huge carriers, other nations tend to field only smaller carriers as part of their battlegroups, which are focused on battleships. The ''America'' herself (like most human ships) looks like [[http://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1368514414i/17924163._UY200_.jpg a giant menacing mushroom]]. The "cap" is actually a reservoir of water that acts as both radiation shield and used for life support. The lower part of the "stem" contains the reactor arrays that use miniature black holes to generate power. The upper part of the "stem" contains the living spaces and Space Fighter hangars. The fighters themselves are typically launched using the magnetic accelerator tube at the center of the "cap" or simply dropped from the side of the "stem". When not in use for launching fighters, the tube can be used as a MagneticWeapon, launching metallic slugs at relativistic speeds at the enemy (although not as fast as a dedicated railgun). Like every other ship, the ''America'' moves by projecting black holes in front of the ship, allowing her to accelerate incredibly fast. For interstellar travel, an AlcubierreDrive is used. Over the course of the series, the ship is hit hard, including nearly being destroyed during the battle with the Grdoch. She is repaired in a matter of weeks by using nanites to "regrow" her damaged parts.

* Subversion? The cool ships in the "[[Literature/TheShipWho Ship Who...]]" series tend to be middle of the road, completely average ships. Not too junky, not too edge of the tech. Mainly because it's too expensive. And the ships can't afford it (yeah, the ships are alive -- each ship is controlled by a "brain", a human born with incapacitating disabilities raised as a "shellperson" and trained to control ships, space stations, or cities, who are cybernetically connected to the ship/station/city systems). Oddly, few have weapons.

* In ''Sandbox/TheDaedalusSeries'': Humans in the 22nd century have colonized Mars and are venturing ever further into the solar system. That's not the CoolSpaceship part, what's found on Mars is that there's a dimensional barrier between our world in the 22nd century and an alternate Victorian age where space travel is common and done on wooden frigates, such as the Daedalus because [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemy in this dimension works]]. So wooden sail-ships have anti-gravity and old front-loading cannons that hit for far more power than they should because of alchemy.

* Scott Westerfeld's ''Literature/TheSuccessionDuology'' is full of [[CoolSpaceship Cool Spaceships]]. [[http://s3.amazonaws.com/adaptiveblue_img/books/killing_of_worlds_book_two_of_succession/scott_westerfeld Pictured here]] are the Rix battlecruzer (top) and the Lynx (bottom).