2026 Reading Challenge
Night Train to Rigel (Quadrail, #1)

Questions About Night Train to Rigel (Quadrail, #1)

by Timothy Zahn (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (2)

Is Night Train To Rigel at all inspired by Night Train to Munich? The Lady Vanishes? Murder on the Orient Express? Other books/movies? I want to interest a friend in it who is not primarily interested in SF, but who enjoys noir.
Lave You could call it sci-fi noir, so I think someone interested in noir would enjoy this book. It is a bit more lighthearted though in my opinion than mo…moreYou could call it sci-fi noir, so I think someone interested in noir would enjoy this book. It is a bit more lighthearted though in my opinion than most noirs I've read. There are a few refrences to a lot of these old noir movies and it's clear that the author drew inspiration from them. (less)
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what the hell is "fit rec"? i hate books that don't explain their terms. I have no idea what is going on in this book. Totally frustrated
Kenny Martens It's "dit rec" and my best guess is it stands for digital recording. Frank mentions "The Lady Vanishes" (which is a 1938 movie) as a "classic dit rec …moreIt's "dit rec" and my best guess is it stands for digital recording. Frank mentions "The Lady Vanishes" (which is a 1938 movie) as a "classic dit rec drama" so that confirms that a dit rec drama is some kind of movie. At another point, Frank is on the train and he sets "the compartment's display window to show a dit rec of travel through the Swiss Alps". So in that case, it's not a movie with characters and a plot, but it is a video recording of some sort.

We never get an explanation of exactly what dit rec is short for, but the author lets us know exactly what it is through the context.(less)
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