_Paths of the Dead_: notes from a re-read
Kate Nepveu
(review to be posted soon), and while I'm no Thomas Yan, I confess to
some inspiration from that quarter; here, therefore, are some notes on
the book.
All page references are to the hardcover.
SPOILERS.
Ch 1, p31: this footnote from Brust-the-translator, about the
bungalow, strikes me as having only one possible purpose, that is, to
establish the persona of Brust-the-translator. How . . . meta.
Ch 2, p45: "This is how Morrolan tells the story of his dream of the
black wand. We confess that Morrolan is capable of exaggeration,
prevarication, disingenuousness, and making something up out of whole
cloth, wherefore we cannot insist on the truth of the matter."
Besides the obvious--is it me, or does this suggest a level of
familiarity with Morrolan personality's that is somewhat different
from Paarfi's attitude to many of his other characters?
Ch 3, p47: "In the earliest days of the Empire, when the seventeen
tribes (or sixteen, or twenty-one, depending on whether the number is
submitted by a culturalist, a biologist, or a rationalist)"
I get the first two, but what could the rationalist reference be to?
Ch 7, p77: "Priestesses of the Demon Goddess are immortal, elfs are
long-lived, and coachmen-- [...] We are eternal."
And what of witches?
Ch 10, p113: "Now the Princess [Loudin] herself scarcely survived the
birth of her child by a year"
Why am I not survived that Paarfi differs from Vlad's report on this?
Ch 10, p118: "My lord," said the Countess, "For what do you look?"
"Ships, my lady, from distant ports." "Someday you will see them."
I really like this image and recurring conversation, and if we don't
eventually a scene where Khaavren *does* see ships from distant ports
on his terrace, I will be gravely disappointed. =>
Ch12, p130: Kytraan and Piro's conversations about girls ("Girls like
heroes.") never fail to amuse me. They're so *young*.
Ch18, p194: conversation about how the Phoenix House isn't dead. Verra
says she can't explain "why two that are hidden can produce one that
is seen." My first instinct on seeing this is, could it be that being
a Phoenix is a recessive trait?
I can't make much else of the rest of that conversation, as it seems
very general.
Ch22, p232: any speculation on what's up with Sennya, Ibronka's
mother? There are several references to her mysterious, painful past.
I note it down as a loose end to date.
Ch23, p245: "But tell me, what is it like to have men fight over you?"
"I don't care for it." "I had wondered. I believed it was better to do
the fighting." "I think that it would be."
I like them too, even though it's taken me a little while to be able
to tell them apart.
Ch25, p277: possibly my favorite line in the book: "Let no one say,"
she told the pyrologist, "that you are not highly skilled at your
profession."
Ch27: "How Morrolan and Company Traveled South as Piro and Company
Traveled North, and Very Nearly Met Each Other": would this count as
the biggest difference between Paarfi and the Vlad series in this
book? In _Taltos_, of course, Morrolan tells Vlad that he was with
Zerika holding off brigands at the top of Deathgate Falls, while in
this book, he doesn't even meet Zerika before she has the Orb.
Ch28, p321-22: Aerich's unsent letter to Pel. I haven't read more
Dumas than _The Three Musketeers_, and I don't know if the friends
actually or potentially split in those books. Even if I had, though,
I'd probably still be worried about what Pel will do.
Ch33, "How Zerika Negotiated The Paths of the Dead": I hope it's not a
spoiler if I say that, in the Preface to _Lord of Castle Black_,
Paarfi says that this is an "elegant metaphorical journey, in which
each of the Seventeen Houses was neatly encapsulated and symbolically
transcended, in a literary exploit of which only modesty prevents the
full explication". Damn Paarfi anyway, because now I have to look for
all seventeen. I have _zero_ confidence that this is right, but what
the hell.
For House descriptions, I relied on
http://www.math.ttu.edu/~kesinger/brust/
http://www.math.ttu.edu/~kesinger/brust/houses.html
* giant jhereg circling overhead (?) (this might be before she's in
the Paths proper, and doesn't seem like an obstacle, but I was short).
House: Jhereg
* "she had not gone three steps before she found that she could not go
forward because of thickness of the foliage that sprang up in front of
her as if out of nowhere. . . . With these words, she plunged forward
directly through the brush, which was difficult, but not impossible."
House: ? Tsalmoth (tenacious)
* "she discovered that she had come to a small brook, which she could
have crossed in three steps without getting her ankles wet, and, with
some relief, she stopped momentarily, before starting again abruptly
upon recalling that stopping unnecessarily within the Paths was--at
the very least--unlucky. *Do not drink of the water; else your soul
will slip into the brook and be carried away*, she had been cautioned.
She followed the advice without difficulty, but it did remind her that
she was becoming thirsty."
House: ??
* "*pass the pond neither to the right nor to the left, touching none
of the water, and at no time stray from your path*." (Zerika uses a
vine and branch to go over it.)
House: ? Chreotha (webs)
* "*Do not let the cries of lost souls take you from your path, nor
the sight of those who suffer cause your eyes to stray.*
House: ? Iorich (justice)
* "two things became apparent: first that the objects were weapons--in
particular, swords and spears, which were all aimed at her; and second
that they were, indeed, approaching, and at a furious speed." (Zerika
keeps to the path and keeps moving and they only appear to puncture
her.)
House: ? Dzur or Dragon
* "'now the Paths wish to know if I can walk across at two-inch wide
plank without falling in?'"
House: Issola
* "when a pit, perhaps four feet wide and of unknown depth, opened up
directly before her feet. Zerika made one of those decisions that is
half instinct, and half thought," and jumped over.
House: ??
* "she found her way blocked again," by a boulder. "As she reflected,
she observed; and observing, she saw; and seeing, she considered; and,
after considering, she planned; and after planning, she moved several
small stones in front of the boulder, and laid a log on top of these
stones, which permitted her to ascend to the top of the boulder" and
then slide down the other side.
House: Tiassa, or possibly Vallista (construction)
* Blood River full of corpses
House: ? Jhereg, Dragon
* cliff falling on her from either side, very incremental steps
forward
House: ? Lyorn (tradition)
* illusion of being in same place; shutting eyes and going forward
House: Athyra
*"and, just as her foot was about to descended upon the trail,
realized that there were *two* animal tracks leading away", one that
was much smaller but led away more directly.
House: Yendi
* "Before her, directly in the trial, was a bush of some sort, on the
top of which was a nest, and in the nest was a small white bird,
evidently sitting on eggs. . . . Without breaking stride, she walked
through the bush. The bird flew off, screeching, while the nest and
the eggs fell to the ground."
House: err, Hawk?
* "This brought her, presently, into what appeared to be a large,
prepared, tended garden."
House: Teckla (I don't know if this counts as an obstacle, but I was
short and had nothing for Teckla, so . . . )
* "the landscape began to show every sign of attempting to confuse
her. With one step, she was high upon a mountain; the next step
brought her to the shore of a sea . . . "
House: ? Jhegaala (metamorphosis)
* "'with my foot somehow trapped by a sort of vine or some other piece
of vegetation that has wrapped itself around my ankle.'" (after much
consideration) "'wherefore, with the limited understanding I now
possess, I will take action, both to accomplish my purpose, and to
deepen my understanding of the processes by which I am surrounded.'
This said, she drew her poniard . . . and cut at the thick root that
had snared her."
House: Phoenix. =>
Anyone else want to try?
--
Kate Nepveu
E-mail: kne...@steelypips.org
Home: http://www.steelypips.org/
Book log: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/
Mike Schilling
"Kate Nepveu" <kne...@steelypips.org> wrote in message
news:8lsihvsdou6juv6g1...@news.verizon.net...
> I was re-reading _Paths of the Dead_ in preparation for the sequel
> (review to be posted soon), and while I'm no Thomas Yan, I confess to
> some inspiration from that quarter; here, therefore, are some notes on
> the book.
>
> All page references are to the hardcover.
>
> SPOILERS.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "I don't care for it." "I had wondered. I believed it was better to do
> the fighting." "I think that it would be."
>
> I like them too, even though it's taken me a little while to be able
> to tell them apart.
This sex-role-reversal is very common in Brust. IIRC Khaavren tells Daro
that they will have preety sons and brave daughters.
> Ch28, p321-22: Aerich's unsent letter to Pel. I haven't read more
> Dumas than _The Three Musketeers_, and I don't know if the friends
> actually or potentially split in those books.
Yes. Aramis (Pel) becomes D'artagnan's (Khaavren's) nemesis. I won't give
any further spoilers, since I recommend you read both _Twenty Years After_
and _The Vicomte de Brageloone_.
> Even if I had, though,
> I'd probably still be worried about what Pel will do.
>
> Ch33, "How Zerika Negotiated The Paths of the Dead": I hope it's not a
> spoiler if I say that, in the Preface to _Lord of Castle Black_,
> Paarfi says that this is an "elegant metaphorical journey, in which
> each of the Seventeen Houses was neatly encapsulated and symbolically
> transcended, in a literary exploit of which only modesty prevents the
> full explication".
In other words, Paarfi doesn't get it either. Which is not to say Brust
doesnt.
> Damn Paarfi anyway, because now I have to look for
> all seventeen. I have _zero_ confidence that this is right, but what
> the hell.
>
>
> * "she discovered that she had come to a small brook, which she could
> have crossed in three steps without getting her ankles wet, and, with
> some relief, she stopped momentarily, before starting again abruptly
> upon recalling that stopping unnecessarily within the Paths was--at
> the very least--unlucky. *Do not drink of the water; else your soul
> will slip into the brook and be carried away*, she had been cautioned.
> She followed the advice without difficulty, but it did remind her that
> she was becoming thirsty."
> House: ??
>
Athyra? The danger is sorcerous, and Athyra wizards hide their souls.
>
> * "when a pit, perhaps four feet wide and of unknown depth, opened up
> directly before her feet. Zerika made one of those decisions that is
> half instinct, and half thought," and jumped over.
Dzur? Act without thinking.
Kate Nepveu
>"Kate Nepveu" <kne...@steelypips.org> wrote in message
>news:8lsihvsdou6juv6g1...@news.verizon.net...
>> I was re-reading _Paths of the Dead_ in preparation for the sequel
>> (review to be posted soon), and while I'm no Thomas Yan, I confess to
>> some inspiration from that quarter; here, therefore, are some notes on
>> the book.
>> All page references are to the hardcover.
>> SPOILERS.
>> Ch28, p321-22: Aerich's unsent letter to Pel. I haven't read more
>> Dumas than _The Three Musketeers_, and I don't know if the friends
>> actually or potentially split in those books.
>Yes. Aramis (Pel) becomes D'artagnan's (Khaavren's) nemesis. I won't give
>any further spoilers, since I recommend you read both _Twenty Years After_
>and _The Vicomte de Brageloone_.
I didn't like _The Three Musketeers_--the morality of that time is
sufficiently different that I didn't like any of the characters--so I
have no intention of reading the rest. But thank you for the
information.
Mike Schilling
> "Mike Schilling" <mscotts...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> Ch28, p321-22: Aerich's unsent letter to Pel. I haven't read more
> >> Dumas than _The Three Musketeers_, and I don't know if the friends
> >> actually or potentially split in those books.
>
> >Yes. Aramis (Pel) becomes D'artagnan's (Khaavren's) nemesis. I won't
give
> >any further spoilers, since I recommend you read both _Twenty Years
After_
> >and _The Vicomte de Brageloone_.
>
> I didn't like _The Three Musketeers_--the morality of that time is
> sufficiently different that I didn't like any of the characters
It's true that Khaavren and his friends are far more likable than the
originals. And Brust's treatment of women is far more palatable; in Dumas,
they are either schemers or victims (or both, if you recall D'artagnan's
treatment of Milady de Winter), never heroes and rarely even admirable.
> --so I
> have no intention of reading the rest.
In that case
<Spoilers work="Later Museketeer books">
</Spoilers>
In _Twenty Years After_ they are on opposite sides of the Fronde (a muddled
civil war of sorts), with D'artagnan and Porthos on the side of the crown,
and Athos and Aramis on the side of the nobility. They patch up their
differences and go to England to try to rescue Charles I from the hangman
(Milady de Winter's son, it turns out :-).
By the time of _The Vicomte de Bragelonne_, Aramis has become a full-time
intriguer. His most daring plot is the one to replace Louis XIV with his
identical twin brother (the eponymous man in the iron mask.) He realizes
that the one man in France who can thwart him is D'artagnan; we suspect that
if that they did not still love each other, Aramis would happily have him
killed.
When the iron mask plot is revealed, Aramis and Porthos, whom Aramis has
duped into helping him, flee. French soldiers pursuing them trap them in a
cave; Porthos dies helping Aramis to escape. (A wonderful scene. Dumas
said he wept as he wrote it.) Aramis winds up in Spain, where he sells his
services to the crown. We last see him as a Spanish duke.
Athos dies of grief when his son (the Vicomte) dies. D'artagnan dies in
battle. In the epilogue, Dumas implies that D'artagnan, Athos, and Porthos
will be reunited in heaven, while Aramis will be elsewhere.
Kate Nepveu
>"Kate Nepveu" <kne...@steelypips.org> wrote in message
>news:7d5jhvguogkn5vtk1...@news.verizon.net...
>> I didn't like _The Three Musketeers_--the morality of that time is
>> sufficiently different that I didn't like any of the characters
>It's true that Khaavren and his friends are far more likable than the
>originals. And Brust's treatment of women is far more palatable; in Dumas,
>they are either schemers or victims (or both, if you recall D'artagnan's
>treatment of Milady de Winter), never heroes and rarely even admirable.
Yup, that would be it.
>> --so I
>> have no intention of reading the rest.
>In that case
><Spoilers work="Later Museketeer books">
Thanks for the information. I think just _Twenty/Five Hundred Years
After_ shows we're not in a tight parallel, plot-wise, to the Dumas.
And we know that Khaavren will live at the end of these, because we
see him in Vlad's era.
I will say here, as I've said in the review I'll be posting here
shortly, that all four do meet again in _The Lord of Castle Black_.
Chris Byler
wrote:
>I was re-reading _Paths of the Dead_ in preparation for the sequel
>(review to be posted soon), and while I'm no Thomas Yan, I confess to
>some inspiration from that quarter; here, therefore, are some notes on
>the book.
>
>All page references are to the hardcover.
>
>SPOILERS.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Ch 1, p31: this footnote from Brust-the-translator, about the
>bungalow, strikes me as having only one possible purpose, that is, to
>establish the persona of Brust-the-translator. How . . . meta.
The more so since my dictionary defines bungalow as "a _usu._
one-storied house with a low-pitched roof" [emphasis mine]. So his
comment isn't even _accurate_, let alone necessary.
Aside from the ridiculousness of a word meaning "house in the Bengal
style" being the only possible translation of a word from a nonhuman
language.
>Ch 2, p45: "This is how Morrolan tells the story of his dream of the
>black wand. We confess that Morrolan is capable of exaggeration,
>prevarication, disingenuousness, and making something up out of whole
>cloth, wherefore we cannot insist on the truth of the matter."
>
>Besides the obvious--is it me, or does this suggest a level of
>familiarity with Morrolan personality's that is somewhat different
>from Paarfi's attitude to many of his other characters?
It also suggests that Paarfi received this account directly from
Morrolan (there are indications that much of his other work is from
second and thirdhand sources, aside from the parts which are
exaggeration, prevarication, disingenuousness, and/or made up out of
whole cloth).
I'm still waiting for the revelation that Paarfi is a nom de plume of
Daymar's...
>Ch 3, p47: "In the earliest days of the Empire, when the seventeen
>tribes (or sixteen, or twenty-one, depending on whether the number is
>submitted by a culturalist, a biologist, or a rationalist)"
>
>I get the first two, but what could the rationalist reference be to?
Well, in _Issola_, Sethra mentions the thirty-one tribes that became
the Empire, and mentioned that "It's just the number of tribes there
happened to be then". Twenty-one is not thirty-one, but either Vlad
or Paarfi could have made a mistake. It's not hard to see why a
rationalist would have counted all the tribes, including the
later-extinct ones.
>Ch 10, p118: "My lord," said the Countess, "For what do you look?"
>"Ships, my lady, from distant ports." "Someday you will see them."
>
>I really like this image and recurring conversation, and if we don't
>eventually a scene where Khaavren *does* see ships from distant ports
>on his terrace, I will be gravely disappointed. =>
Agreed. But since his terrace overlooks the harbor of Adrilankha,
which we know will become a major city by Vlad's time, I don't expect
to be disappointed in this regard.
>Ch22, p232: any speculation on what's up with Sennya, Ibronka's
>mother? There are several references to her mysterious, painful past.
>I note it down as a loose end to date.
Yes. In _Five Hundred Years After_, Garland (a Tsalmoth who first
_The Phoenix Guards_, and has subsequently adopted the alias Greycat)
blackmails her into not attending the Meeting of Prinicpalities and
going along with his plan for solving the Empire's problems (this is
explained in chapter 25). In the same book, he appears with his
daughter Grita, a Tsalmoth/Dzur crossbreed. It's not hard to imagine
both the source of the blackmail, and why Sennya would consider this a
painful memory.
Of course, this just leads to further speculation - if Orlaan is Grita
as some have suggested, will she encounter her half-sister Ibronka?
Does either know of the other's existence or the relation between
them?
>Ch27: "How Morrolan and Company Traveled South as Piro and Company
>Traveled North, and Very Nearly Met Each Other": would this count as
>the biggest difference between Paarfi and the Vlad series in this
>book? In _Taltos_, of course, Morrolan tells Vlad that he was with
>Zerika holding off brigands at the top of Deathgate Falls, while in
>this book, he doesn't even meet Zerika before she has the Orb.
It's not impossible that Zerika could return to Deathgate Falls for
some reason, but I'd be inclined to chalk this up to Morrolan's
exaggeration, prevarication, disingenuousness, and making something up
out of whole cloth.
[snip]
--
Chris Byler cby...@vt.edu
"Between justice and genocide there is, in the long run, no middle
ground." -- Lois McMaster Bujold (Aral Vorkosigan)
Konrad Gaertner
>
> I was re-reading _Paths of the Dead_ in preparation for the sequel
> (review to be posted soon), and while I'm no Thomas Yan, I confess to
> some inspiration from that quarter; here, therefore, are some notes on
> the book.
Thanks for reminding me that I still haven't gotten around to my own
re-read. Maybe once I've finished the first 5 Mageworld books...
> All page references are to the hardcover.
I'm not going to ask what alternatives you had available.
> SPOILERS.
>
> Ch 1, p31: this footnote from Brust-the-translator, about the
> bungalow, strikes me as having only one possible purpose, that is, to
> establish the persona of Brust-the-translator. How . . . meta.
This came up over on the mailing list[1], from someone else who was
re-reading and commenting on many of the same things.
> Ch 2, p45: "This is how Morrolan tells the story of his dream of the
> black wand. We confess that Morrolan is capable of exaggeration,
> prevarication, disingenuousness, and making something up out of whole
> cloth, wherefore we cannot insist on the truth of the matter."
>
> Besides the obvious--is it me, or does this suggest a level of
> familiarity with Morrolan personality's that is somewhat different
> from Paarfi's attitude to many of his other characters?
I just think it's there to contrast with Paarfi's defense of his
sources.
> Ch 10, p113: "Now the Princess [Loudin] herself scarcely survived the
> birth of her child by a year"
>
> Why am I not survived that Paarfi differs from Vlad's report on this?
^^^^^^^^
Cool typo.
> Ch18, p194: conversation about how the Phoenix House isn't dead. Verra
> says she can't explain "why two that are hidden can produce one that
> is seen." My first instinct on seeing this is, could it be that being
> a Phoenix is a recessive trait?
>
> I can't make much else of the rest of that conversation, as it seems
> very general.
Goddesses seem to have a very hard time explaining things, even to
each other. Either that, or they're trying to avoid the question.
> Ch22, p232: any speculation on what's up with Sennya, Ibronka's
> mother? There are several references to her mysterious, painful past.
> I note it down as a loose end to date.
Likely the mother of Grita (who may be Orlaan (who explicitly ISN'T
Loraan)).
> Ch25, p277: possibly my favorite line in the book: "Let no one say,"
> she told the pyrologist, "that you are not highly skilled at your
> profession."
My favorite line: "Well, and why should she have all the fun? Let
her have the love and contentment."
> Ch27: "How Morrolan and Company Traveled South as Piro and Company
> Traveled North, and Very Nearly Met Each Other": would this count as
> the biggest difference between Paarfi and the Vlad series in this
> book? In _Taltos_, of course, Morrolan tells Vlad that he was with
> Zerika holding off brigands at the top of Deathgate Falls, while in
> this book, he doesn't even meet Zerika before she has the Orb.
On the mailing list someone speculated that maybe the primary soul
in Blackwand is Tazendra's. Which would make the accounts fairly
consistent.
> Ch33, "How Zerika Negotiated The Paths of the Dead": I hope it's not a
> spoiler if I say that, in the Preface to _Lord of Castle Black_,
> Paarfi says that this is an "elegant metaphorical journey, in which
> each of the Seventeen Houses was neatly encapsulated and symbolically
> transcended, in a literary exploit of which only modesty prevents the
> full explication". Damn Paarfi anyway, because now I have to look for
> all seventeen. I have _zero_ confidence that this is right, but what
> the hell.
>
> For House descriptions, I relied on
> http://www.math.ttu.edu/~kesinger/brust/
> http://www.math.ttu.edu/~kesinger/brust/houses.html
See also:
http://world.std.com/~mam/Cracks-and-Shards/characteristics.html
> * "she had not gone three steps before she found that she could not go
> forward because of thickness of the foliage that sprang up in front of
> her as if out of nowhere. . . . With these words, she plunged forward
> directly through the brush, which was difficult, but not impossible."
> House: ? Tsalmoth (tenacious)
Or Chreotha (nets, etc).
> * "she discovered that she had come to a small brook, which she could
> have crossed in three steps without getting her ankles wet, and, with
> some relief, she stopped momentarily, before starting again abruptly
> upon recalling that stopping unnecessarily within the Paths was--at
> the very least--unlucky. *Do not drink of the water; else your soul
> will slip into the brook and be carried away*, she had been cautioned.
> She followed the advice without difficulty, but it did remind her that
> she was becoming thirsty."
> House: ??
Dangers or curiosity or distraction, maybe Tiassa (thinking/dreaming).
> * "when a pit, perhaps four feet wide and of unknown depth, opened up
> directly before her feet. Zerika made one of those decisions that is
> half instinct, and half thought," and jumped over.
> House: ??
Maybe Dzur (fast reflexes).
> * "she found her way blocked again," by a boulder. "As she reflected,
> she observed; and observing, she saw; and seeing, she considered; and,
> after considering, she planned; and after planning, she moved several
> small stones in front of the boulder, and laid a log on top of these
> stones, which permitted her to ascend to the top of the boulder" and
> then slide down the other side.
> House: Tiassa, or possibly Vallista (construction)
I don't think it's Tiassa; sure it *sounds* like how Khaavren thinks,
but that's being filtered through Paarfi. So possibly Hawk (solution
through careful observation).
> * "Before her, directly in the trial, was a bush of some sort, on the
> top of which was a nest, and in the nest was a small white bird,
> evidently sitting on eggs. . . . Without breaking stride, she walked
> through the bush. The bird flew off, screeching, while the nest and
> the eggs fell to the ground."
> House: err, Hawk?
Or Vallista (destruction).
--KG
Konrad Gaertner
> This came up over on the mailing list[1], from someone else who was
> re-reading and commenting on many of the same things.
Whoops, forgot the footnote.
[1] http://dragaera.info/mailing-lists.html
--KG
Kate Nepveu
>On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 17:53:51 GMT, Kate Nepveu <kne...@steelypips.org>
>wrote:
>>I was re-reading _Paths of the Dead_ in preparation for the sequel
>>(review to be posted soon), and while I'm no Thomas Yan, I confess to
>>some inspiration from that quarter; here, therefore, are some notes on
>>the book.
>>All page references are to the hardcover.
>>SPOILERS.
>>Ch 2, p45: "This is how Morrolan tells the story of his dream of the
>>black wand. We confess that Morrolan is capable of exaggeration,
>>prevarication, disingenuousness, and making something up out of whole
>>cloth, wherefore we cannot insist on the truth of the matter."
>>Besides the obvious--is it me, or does this suggest a level of
>>familiarity with Morrolan personality's that is somewhat different
>>from Paarfi's attitude to many of his other characters?
>It also suggests that Paarfi received this account directly from
>Morrolan (there are indications that much of his other work is from
>second and thirdhand sources, aside from the parts which are
>exaggeration, prevarication, disingenuousness, and/or made up out of
>whole cloth).
Hmmm, or that he read it in something Morrolan had written, perhaps.
>I'm still waiting for the revelation that Paarfi is a nom de plume of
>Daymar's...
I can't imagine Daymar would care enough about people's motivations...
>>Ch 3, p47: "In the earliest days of the Empire, when the seventeen
>>tribes (or sixteen, or twenty-one, depending on whether the number is
>>submitted by a culturalist, a biologist, or a rationalist)"
>>I get the first two, but what could the rationalist reference be to?
>Well, in _Issola_, Sethra mentions the thirty-one tribes that became
>the Empire, and mentioned that "It's just the number of tribes there
>happened to be then". Twenty-one is not thirty-one, but either Vlad
>or Paarfi could have made a mistake. It's not hard to see why a
>rationalist would have counted all the tribes, including the
>later-extinct ones.
I'd forgotten about that reference; thanks.
>>Ch22, p232: any speculation on what's up with Sennya, Ibronka's
>>mother? There are several references to her mysterious, painful past.
>>I note it down as a loose end to date.
>Yes. In _Five Hundred Years After_, Garland (a Tsalmoth who first
>_The Phoenix Guards_, and has subsequently adopted the alias Greycat)
>blackmails her into not attending the Meeting of Prinicpalities and
>going along with his plan for solving the Empire's problems (this is
>explained in chapter 25). In the same book, he appears with his
>daughter Grita, a Tsalmoth/Dzur crossbreed. It's not hard to imagine
>both the source of the blackmail, and why Sennya would consider this a
>painful memory.
I knew I should have re-read all the books. =>
>Of course, this just leads to further speculation - if Orlaan is Grita
>as some have suggested,
"As some have suggested"? It says so right at the end of Chapter 30.
Page 341-42:
Piro frowned. "Well, as to Orlaan, there is something there."
[Tazendra:] "Yes, I wish I could remember . . . ah! I have it!"
"Well?"
"She is Greycat's daughter. . . . Now, what was her name?"
"Grita," said Piro, who, perhaps because of how rarely his father was
willing to speak of the past, was all the more certain to remember
every detail when he did.
>>Ch27: "How Morrolan and Company Traveled South as Piro and Company
>>Traveled North, and Very Nearly Met Each Other": would this count as
>>the biggest difference between Paarfi and the Vlad series in this
>>book? In _Taltos_, of course, Morrolan tells Vlad that he was with
>>Zerika holding off brigands at the top of Deathgate Falls, while in
>>this book, he doesn't even meet Zerika before she has the Orb.
>It's not impossible that Zerika could return to Deathgate Falls for
>some reason, but I'd be inclined to chalk this up to Morrolan's
>exaggeration, prevarication, disingenuousness, and making something up
>out of whole cloth.
Or Paarfi being wrong?
Kate Nepveu
>Kate Nepveu wrote:
>> All page references are to the hardcover.
>I'm not going to ask what alternatives you had available.
The paperback will be out very soon.
>> SPOILERS.
>> Ch22, p232: any speculation on what's up with Sennya, Ibronka's
>> mother? There are several references to her mysterious, painful past.
>> I note it down as a loose end to date.
>Likely the mother of Grita (who may be Orlaan (who explicitly ISN'T
>Loraan)).
Yes, thank you. As I said elsewhere, Grita is explicitly Orlaan
(Chapter 30).
>> Ch25, p277: possibly my favorite line in the book: "Let no one say,"
>> she told the pyrologist, "that you are not highly skilled at your
>> profession."
>My favorite line: "Well, and why should she have all the fun? Let
>her have the love and contentment."
Heh. Let's hope so.
>> Ch27: "How Morrolan and Company Traveled South as Piro and Company
>> Traveled North, and Very Nearly Met Each Other": would this count as
>> the biggest difference between Paarfi and the Vlad series in this
>> book? In _Taltos_, of course, Morrolan tells Vlad that he was with
>> Zerika holding off brigands at the top of Deathgate Falls, while in
>> this book, he doesn't even meet Zerika before she has the Orb.
>On the mailing list someone speculated that maybe the primary soul
>in Blackwand is Tazendra's. Which would make the accounts fairly
>consistent.
This speculation will meet reality in _Lord of Castle Black_.
>> Ch33, "How Zerika Negotiated The Paths of the Dead": I hope it's not a
>> spoiler if I say that, in the Preface to _Lord of Castle Black_,
>> Paarfi says that this is an "elegant metaphorical journey, in which
>> each of the Seventeen Houses was neatly encapsulated and symbolically
>> transcended, in a literary exploit of which only modesty prevents the
>> full explication". Damn Paarfi anyway, because now I have to look for
>> all seventeen. I have _zero_ confidence that this is right, but what
>> the hell.
>> For House descriptions, I relied on
>> http://www.math.ttu.edu/~kesinger/brust/
>> http://www.math.ttu.edu/~kesinger/brust/houses.html
>See also:
>http://world.std.com/~mam/Cracks-and-Shards/characteristics.html
Ah, good resource, thanks.
>> * "when a pit, perhaps four feet wide and of unknown depth, opened up
>> directly before her feet. Zerika made one of those decisions that is
>> half instinct, and half thought," and jumped over.
>> House: ??
>Maybe Dzur (fast reflexes).
I think this is likely, making the weapons Dragon.
>> * "she found her way blocked again," by a boulder. "As she reflected,
>> she observed; and observing, she saw; and seeing, she considered; and,
>> after considering, she planned; and after planning, she moved several
>> small stones in front of the boulder, and laid a log on top of these
>> stones, which permitted her to ascend to the top of the boulder" and
>> then slide down the other side.
>> House: Tiassa, or possibly Vallista (construction)
>I don't think it's Tiassa; sure it *sounds* like how Khaavren thinks,
>but that's being filtered through Paarfi. So possibly Hawk (solution
>through careful observation).
Well, yes, but the *journey* is being filtered through Paarfi, too, so
I don't think that's a good objection. =>
>> * "Before her, directly in the trial, was a bush of some sort, on the
>> top of which was a nest, and in the nest was a small white bird,
>> evidently sitting on eggs. . . . Without breaking stride, she walked
>> through the bush. The bird flew off, screeching, while the nest and
>> the eggs fell to the ground."
>> House: err, Hawk?
>Or Vallista (destruction).
Also possible.
Alexx S Kay
><Spoilers work="Later Museketeer books">
></Spoilers>
>In _Twenty Years After_ they are on opposite sides of the Fronde (a muddled
>civil war of sorts), with D'artagnan and Porthos on the side of the crown,
>and Athos and Aramis on the side of the nobility. They patch up their
>differences and go to England to try to rescue Charles I from the hangman
>(Milady de Winter's son, it turns out :-).
The plot of _Five Hundred Years After_ mirrors this in a few ways, though
hardly a one-to-on correspondence. The civil chaos in the capital, the
presence of a child of the former book's villain. The big one, though,
is that the plot features Our Heroes trying to prevent a disaster which
a reader with any knowledge of history knows was not prevented. That
gives each book a similar mood of Impending Doom.
>; Porthos dies helping Aramis to escape. (A wonderful scene. Dumas
>said he wept as he wrote it.)
I certainly wept as I read it. But for me, it was far surpassed by the
chapter in which Porthos' will is read. That had me laughing *and* crying
simultaneously. Not often that an author can pull *that* trick off.
I'm worried abour Tazendra :-( But I hope Brust/Paarfi manage some
similarly moving passages.
> Aramis winds up in Spain, where he sells his
>services to the crown. We last see him as a Spanish duke.
>Athos dies of grief when his son (the Vicomte) dies. D'artagnan dies in
>battle. In the epilogue, Dumas implies that D'artagnan, Athos, and Porthos
>will be reunited in heaven, while Aramis will be elsewhere.
IIRC, D'artagnan dies many, many years after the main action has concluded.
So Khaavren's surviving to Vlad's time doesn't mean he won't die at the
end of _Viscount_.
I've always felt, in a fannish/geeky sort of way, that Aramis' death wasn't
recounted because he never actually died. Once he got to the highest rank
of the Illuminati, they let him in on the immortality serum (or Fountain of
Youth, or whatever). If I was doing a League of Extraordinary Gentleman
type crossover story, I'd definitely feature him as one of the shadowy,
behind-the-scenes figures :-)
Alexx
Alexx Kay
Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my employers
al...@world.std.com
http://world.std.com/~alexx
"That missing cosmic entities will be hiding on Earth and that random
time-travel will cause the subjects to wind up in the twentieth century
are special cases of the same Universal Law." -- Dani Zweig
Michael S. Schiffer
news:bfhajr$e4d$1...@pcls4.std.com:
> "Mike Schilling" <mscotts...@hotmail.com> writes:
>
>><Spoilers work="Later Museketeer books">
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>...
> I've always felt, in a fannish/geeky sort of way, that Aramis'
> death wasn't recounted because he never actually died. Once he
> got to the highest rank of the Illuminati, they let him in on
> the immortality serum (or Fountain of Youth, or whatever).
That's sort of canonical, assuming that the summary of (the Finnish
translation of) _Son of Porthos_/_The Last Musketeer_ at
<http://www.hoboes.com/html/FireBlade/Dumas/Son.html> is accurate,
though it's ultimately only an elixir of longevity rather than
immortality.
Mike
--
Michael S. Schiffer, LHN, FCS
msch...@condor.depaul.edu
Mike Schilling
"Michael S. Schiffer" <msch...@condor.depaul.edu> wrote in message
news:Xns93BF8BF07152...@130.133.1.4...
"sort of canonical" at best, since _Son of Porthos_ is not Dumas.
Alexx S Kay
Fascinating. Everyone *except* that web site seems to be sure that
the Dumas attribution is fake, but it's still nifty to hear about it.
Looks like I'm not the only fanboy who had that idea :-)
Alexx
Alexx Kay
Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my employers
al...@world.std.com
http://world.std.com/~alexx
"In my day-to-day life, I became an actor portraying Dave Sim -- or at
least as accurate a portrayal as I could muster from what I remembered
of once being that Dave Sim."
-- Dave Sim in correspondence with Alan Moore about _From Hell_