_Issola_ sighting
Kate Nepveu
Tuesday, 6/19/01. Go hound your local bookstore.
Kate
--
http://www.steelypips.org/elsewhere.html -- Paired Reading Page; Reviews
"On a shelf over the experiment table was the inevitable skull, which the
wizard put there to remind him of death, though it usually reminded him
that he needed to go to the dentist." --Bellairs, _The Face in the Frost_
Thomas Yan
Kate Nepveu <kh...@pantheon.yale.edu> wrote:
>Four or five copies, Borders, World Trade Center NYC, today,
>Tuesday, 6/19/01. Go hound your local bookstore.
Done! They said they thought it would take 7-10 days to arrive....
--
Thomas Yan (ty...@cs.cornell.edu) I don't speak for Cornell University
Computer Science Department \\ Cornell University \\ Ithaca, NY 14853
(please pardon any lack of capitalization; my hands hurt from typing)
Coyu
>Four or five copies, Borders, World Trade Center NYC, today,
>Tuesday, 6/19/01. Go hound your local bookstore.
Also a few up at the B&N in Chelsea, Manhattan.
No spoilers.
Terry Austin
>Four or five copies, Borders, World Trade Center NYC, today,
>Tuesday, 6/19/01. Go hound your local bookstore.
>
Amazon is shipping, too.
--
Terry Austin <tau...@hyperbooks.com>
http://www.hyperbooks.com/
If you don't use both your left brain and right brain,
you've basically just got half a brain.
-John Rudd
Wisegirl
"Kate Nepveu" <kh...@pantheon.yale.edu> wrote in message
news:9gotk9$61h$2...@news.ycc.yale.edu...
> Four or five copies, Borders, World Trade Center NYC, today,
> Tuesday, 6/19/01. Go hound your local bookstore.
>
> Kate
I spied one copy- just one- (Seattle U.W. bookstore, if anyone cares)
yesterday, and got a huge adrenaline rush. Finished it four or so hours
later, and...It's a good book.
Konrad Gaertner
Saw 4 copies in a Barnes & Noble in Richardson Square Mall (near Dallas,
TX).
Ditto the good book comment.
--KG
Christopher Jorgensen
In article <9gpked$7r2$1...@nntp3.u.washington.edu>, "Wisegirl"
<nos...@nospam.com> wrote:
>I spied one copy- just one- (Seattle U.W. bookstore, if anyone cares)
>yesterday, and got a huge adrenaline rush. Finished it four or so hours
>later, and...It's a good book.
I got it a while back as a reviewer copy. Read it and didn't know
what to think. I've been waiting for it to hit shelves so I could
discuss it. I didn't care for it, but then I didn't like Athyra, Dragon,
or Teckla when they first came out and not at least one of those
is my favorite (after Jhereg) and I like the other two.
Give it a year or two to grow on me.
christopher....
--
Guns don't kill people. Nepalese princes kill people.
For the writings of Christopher L. Jorgensen visit pogrompublishing.com
Kendra Hillman Chilcoat
Random thoughts....
It was a fun four hours, but I would've been happier if Brust hadn't
used the already overused word "ironic" in every other paragraph since
a) there are many, many perfectly adequate synonyms and b)it's pretty
obvious that Vlad and friends are sarcastic folks. We don't need it
spelled out for us over and over and over and over.....
Liked the ending, though I have some qualms about stereotypical ways in
which Vlad's new "feminine side" may be handled. I'm giving Brust the
benefit of the doubt for now and assuming he'll handle it well. I'm
certainly looking forward to finding out in the next book.
I really liked that Vlad's chance to reenter human (or whatever)
society came with a high price. Lots of pain, suffering, sacrifice,
and other things that are intriguing when they happen to people who
aren't me.
--
Kendra Hillman Chilcoat
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. USA
k-hi...@nwu.edu
Konrad Gaertner
>
> Spoilers, so........
>
> Random thoughts....
>
> It was a fun four hours, but I would've been happier if Brust hadn't
> used the already overused word "ironic" in every other paragraph since
> a) there are many, many perfectly adequate synonyms and b)it's pretty
> obvious that Vlad and friends are sarcastic folks. We don't need it
> spelled out for us over and over and over and over.....
>
To me, the most annoying thing was Vlad's attitude towards his friends.
Also, that weird stream-of-three-consciousnesses bit.
> Liked the ending, though I have some qualms about stereotypical ways in
> which Vlad's new "feminine side" may be handled. I'm giving Brust the
> benefit of the doubt for now and assuming he'll handle it well. I'm
> certainly looking forward to finding out in the next book.
>
Don't count on it. If I was Brust, the next Vlad book would fill in
some of the gaps (like Vlad's trip east between Phoenix and Athyra).
This is the best stopping place for Vlad since Phoenix. And Brust has
already finished a significant portion of _Viscount of Adrilankha_.
> I really liked that Vlad's chance to reenter human (or whatever)
> society came with a high price. Lots of pain, suffering, sacrifice,
> and other things that are intriguing when they happen to people who
> aren't me.
This is what really impressed me. I found Brust's method to be far
more plausible than anything I could think of to get the Jhereg off
Vlad's back.
Favorite quote so far: "Daddy did it. Daddy took their link from them."
--KG
Sean Eric Fagan
Konrad Gaertner <gae...@aol.com> wrote:
>Kendra Hillman Chilcoat wrote:
>> Spoilers, so........
>>
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I, for the most part, enjoyed the book considerably. Although I still think
they're too short for hardcover, but I guess I don't begrudge him the money.
My initial comment, after finishing it, was: gosh, when Brust decides to
answer reader questions, he doesn't do it halfway, does he?
That said, I really don't like the bit with Godslayer. We've seen Godslayer
mentioned before in the story, and _Dragon_ seemed to set things up so that
Blackwand, Pathfinder, and Spellbreaker were each part of it -- and that still
didn't handle the problem that Godslayer had been mentioned before, as an
ancient artifact.
Justin Fang
>In article <3B320FD6...@worldnet.att.net>,
>Konrad Gaertner <gae...@aol.com> wrote:
>>Kendra Hillman Chilcoat wrote:
>>> Spoilers, so........
>>>
>>
>>
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>That said, I really don't like the bit with Godslayer. We've seen Godslayer
>mentioned before in the story, and _Dragon_ seemed to set things up so that
>Blackwand, Pathfinder, and Spellbreaker were each part of it -- and that still
>didn't handle the problem that Godslayer had been mentioned before, as an
>ancient artifact.
_Dragon_ HC, page 112:
"The other [Godslayer] was taken by the gods, and an attempt was made to
destroy it." But which presumably only disassembled it. When the
components are brought together again, Vlad manages to reassemble it. I
don't see the problem.
Konrad Gaertner
So was the dagger originally part of Godslayer? On the one hand, there
can't be too many Morganti weapons with human-sized hilts that are
powerful enough to stop Verra from touching the world. On the other
hand, it was really stupid of them to give it to someone carrying the
other part. Which begs the question of how much did they know, and how
do they get their information? I'm trying to picture a reason why
Teldra would tell them Vlad's an assassin.
What I wouldn't give to see this book told from their POV...
--KG
Avram Grumer
jus...@ugcs.caltech.edu (Justin Fang) wrote:
And none of this jibes with "A Dream of Passion," the Vald story Brust
wrote in 1986 for the Ad Astra convention chapbook.
http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~phoenix/brust/dream.html
--
Avram Grumer | av...@grumer.org | http://www.PigsAndFishes.org
Andrew Plotkin
Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> Favorite quote so far: "Daddy did it. Daddy took their link from them."
*My* favorite: "...it is hard to be comfortable around someone who just
likes you for no reason, when you've always--"
That's Vlad's story in a nutshell, ain't it.
"I *am* cute" was also a great line, one of several which made me
laugh out loud.
And now, speculations which have nothing to do with Spellbreaker:
Sethra says "There is one other Lavode, but he isn't ready yet." Vlad,
or Baby Vlad? I'm guessing the latter.
And then there's this klava thing. I was about to kick Brust in the
shins on page 19, when he casually mentions that klava is made out of
eggshells and vanilla bean. Okay, pick two random silly ingredients.
Why not rubber bands and old broccoli stems?
Then on the next page he *gives instructions*.
I have two theories.
One theory is that for the past ten years, Steven Brust has been
drinking something that tastes like good coffee smells, every morning,
and he just hasn't bothered to mention it to the rest of the world.
I do not put much stock into this theory, because if it were true,
someone would have found out and killed him for the secret.
I have another theory.
This theory states that Steven Brust would *like* to drink something
that tastes like good coffee smells. So he invents a half-plausible
method (neutralize acidity with calcium carbonate, reheat, refilter)
-- plausibility enhanced with advice from a chemical engineer friend.
Then he drops the line into a supersaturation solution of fandom, and
sits back, confident that by next Minicon, one of us will have gotten
it to *work*.
--Z
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
* Just once, I'd like to vote for the better of two goods.
Justin Fang
Avram Grumer <av...@grumer.org> wrote:
Oblique spoiler for _Issola_:
>And none of this jibes with "A Dream of Passion," the Vald story Brust
>wrote in 1986 for the Ad Astra convention chapbook.
>http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~phoenix/brust/dream.html
Presumably Brust has had A Better Idea (TM) since then.
Coyu
>SPOILERS (for Issola and previous books)
>
>
C
o
n
t
r
o
l
-
L
>And then there's this klava thing. I was about to kick Brust in the
>shins on page 19, when he casually mentions that klava is made out of
>eggshells and vanilla bean. Okay, pick two random silly ingredients.
>Why not rubber bands and old broccoli stems?
>
>Then on the next page he *gives instructions*.
Eggshell coffee has been around for a long time, but not quite in the
way Vlad describes. It's said to settle the grounds in lumberjack
coffee, for instance. Some people use the hot water to cook a
soft-boiled egg while making coffee.
Same way with the use of the vanilla bean. Like making vanilla sugar.
>I have two theories.
>
>One theory is that for the past ten years, Steven Brust has been
>drinking something that tastes like good coffee smells, every morning,
>and he just hasn't bothered to mention it to the rest of the world.
>
>I do not put much stock into this theory, because if it were true,
>someone would have found out and killed him for the secret.
Well, I drink something that tastes like good coffee most mornings
(unless I am purging myself of residual caffeine) because it *is*
good coffee.
You'll have to step in line with the death threats, though. It's good
to be back on rasfw.
>I have another theory.
>
>This theory states that Steven Brust would *like* to drink something
>that tastes like good coffee smells. So he invents a half-plausible
>method (neutralize acidity with calcium carbonate, reheat, refilter)
>-- plausibility enhanced with advice from a chemical engineer friend.
>Then he drops the line into a supersaturation solution of fandom, and
>sits back, confident that by next Minicon, one of us will have gotten
>it to *work*.
Brust is a good enough writer to make Postum or Sanka sound
delicious.
ObSFCoffeeTip: to kill the metallic taste of instant coffee, add a pinch
of salt. (IMS, Gregory Benford, _Timescape_.)
Michael S. Schiffer
<9h18ij$of0$1...@news.panix.com>:
>SPOILERS (for Issola and previous books)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>...
>And now, speculations which have nothing to do with Spellbreaker:
>Sethra says "There is one other Lavode, but he isn't ready yet."
>Vlad, or Baby Vlad? I'm guessing the latter.
Not at all. It's Morrolan, who will turn out to be the reincarnation
of Sethra's brother, with Vlad's speculating on whether they'd been
lovers turning out to be misdirection. (But, of course, he must learn
*patience* in order to properly use the Forc^W^W pre-Empire sorcery...)
(Great. Now I'm imagining Sethra Lavode with her hair in two cinnamon
buns on either side of her head.)
>And then there's this klava thing. I was about to kick Brust in the
>shins on page 19, when he casually mentions that klava is made out
>of eggshells and vanilla bean. Okay, pick two random silly
>ingredients. Why not rubber bands and old broccoli stems?
Eggshells have traditionally been used in coffee to clarify it.
(Campers apparently still use eggshells to settle the grounds of coffee
brewed over a fire, though there's some argument over whether this
actually works.) If Dragaeran coffee is done like Turkish coffee, with
a sludge of grounds at the bottom, then Klava may just be Dragaera's
only filtered brew, with the vanilla added for flavor. (I don't recall
if there's any mention of filtering regular coffee. Even if there is,
the filters may not be very good, so that refiltering it through the
eggshells improves it.)
Of course, I also wouldn't be shocked if this were an existing coffee
recipe, especially if it came from Hungary.
>...
>This theory states that Steven Brust would *like* to drink something
>that tastes like good coffee smells. So he invents a half-plausible
>method (neutralize acidity with calcium carbonate, reheat, refilter)
Plausibility lessened by the fact that there seems to be widespread
agreement that reheating coffee is not something that enhances the
flavor. (Not being a coffee drinker, I can't speak from experience.)
>-- plausibility enhanced with advice from a chemical engineer friend.
>Then he drops the line into a supersaturation solution of fandom, and
>sits back, confident that by next Minicon, one of us will have gotten
>it to *work*.
If this theory turns out to be correct, let me know. If someone can
produce something that tastes like coffee smells, I'm there.
Mike
--
Michael S. Schiffer, LHN, FCS If reading in an archive, please do
ms...@mediaone.net not click on words highlighted as links
msch...@condor.depaul.edu by Deja or other archives. They violate
the author's copyright and his wishes.
Konrad Gaertner
>
> Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote in
> <9h18ij$of0$1...@news.panix.com>:
>
> >SPOILERS (for Issola and previous books)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> >...
> >And now, speculations which have nothing to do with Spellbreaker:
>
> >Sethra says "There is one other Lavode, but he isn't ready yet."
> >Vlad, or Baby Vlad? I'm guessing the latter.
>
Baby Vlad can't be more than 4 at this point. I can't see Sethra
considering him even a Lavode-in-training at that age.
> Not at all. It's Morrolan, who will turn out to be the reincarnation
> of Sethra's brother, with Vlad's speculating on whether they'd been
> lovers turning out to be misdirection. (But, of course, he must learn
> *patience* in order to properly use the Forc^W^W pre-Empire sorcery...)
>
> (Great. Now I'm imagining Sethra Lavode with her hair in two cinnamon
> buns on either side of her head.)
>
No, that's Morrolan. Remember the comment that he re-styles his hair
every week?
> >And then there's this klava thing. I was about to kick Brust in the
> >shins on page 19, when he casually mentions that klava is made out
> >of eggshells and vanilla bean. Okay, pick two random silly
> >ingredients. Why not rubber bands and old broccoli stems?
>
> Eggshells have traditionally been used in coffee to clarify it.
> (Campers apparently still use eggshells to settle the grounds of coffee
> brewed over a fire, though there's some argument over whether this
> actually works.)
ObFilm: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
> If Dragaeran coffee is done like Turkish coffee, with
> a sludge of grounds at the bottom, then Klava may just be Dragaera's
> only filtered brew, with the vanilla added for flavor. (I don't recall
> if there's any mention of filtering regular coffee. Even if there is,
> the filters may not be very good, so that refiltering it through the
> eggshells improves it.)
>
The innkeeper says she doesn't know how to make a klava filter, which
might mean everyone is drinking unfiltered coffee.
> Of course, I also wouldn't be shocked if this were an existing coffee
> recipe, especially if it came from Hungary.
>
Same here.
> >-- plausibility enhanced with advice from a chemical engineer friend.
> >Then he drops the line into a supersaturation solution of fandom, and
> >sits back, confident that by next Minicon, one of us will have gotten
> >it to *work*.
>
I was wondering where the chem. eng. came in, since the bit with the
manacles would be mech. eng.
--KG
J.B. Moreno
> "Michael S. Schiffer" wrote:
> > >Sethra says "There is one other Lavode, but he isn't ready yet."
> > >Vlad, or Baby Vlad? I'm guessing the latter.
> >
> Baby Vlad can't be more than 4 at this point. I can't see Sethra
> considering him even a Lavode-in-training at that age.
Uhm, you're forgetting the business with souls -- and the fact that she
might occasionally visit the Halls of Judgement and get her own glimpses
of the future; she might have thought of him as a Lavode-to-be before
Vlad met Cawti, let alone before the kid is grown.
--
JBM
"Your depression will be added to my own" -- Marvin of Borg
Thomas Yan
Kendra Hillman Chilcoat <k-hi...@nwu.edu> wrote:
>Spoilers, so........
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>Random thoughts....
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>It was a fun four hours,
4-5 hours for me, spread over two days. I didn't read the dust
jacket, so Teldra's appearance was a happy surprise, and I was
surprised at how sad I was when I thought she was dead and gone.
I'm glad it took place chronologically after the other books, but I
want to know what happened/happens to Savn.
>but I would've been happier if Brust hadn't
>used the already overused word "ironic" in every other paragraph since
>a) there are many, many perfectly adequate synonyms and b)it's pretty
>obvious that Vlad and friends are sarcastic folks. We don't need it
>spelled out for us over and over and over and over.....
Now that you point it out, I agree it was overused, but it didn't
bother me much. I was temporarily distracted by what I think is a
typo on page 205, when Morrolan says "...beyond that we've been
doing...". It could be "beyond *what* ...", but that sounds a little
too informal, so I suspect it should be "beyond that which ...".
Also, I think once I mistook a sub-clause as a main clause and had
back up and reread the sentence to understand what it meant.
No real thoughts to share --perhaps after I've had some time to
think-- except that now I wonder if Vlad's addressing an audience is
more than just a stylistic device that Brust is using: is he
addressing Teldra and/or his other weapons, watching gods, or some
other sentiences, or perhaps talking to the Lords of Judgment as they
review his life?
Thomas Yan
>Konrad Gaertner <gae...@aol.com> wrote:
>>Kendra Hillman Chilcoat wrote:
>>> Spoilers, so........
>>>
>>
>>
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>they're too short for hardcover, but I guess I don't begrudge him the money.
I'm happy to see shorter books being published in addition to the
refridgerator-sized books.
>[...] I really don't like the bit with Godslayer. We've seen Godslayer
I liked it. When Vlad says, (approximately), "oh, and perhaps you
figured it out alraedy", I hadn't yet, but then did realize he was
making a Great Weapon but did not yet realize that Teldra was part of
it.
>mentioned before in the story, and _Dragon_ seemed to set things up so that
>Blackwand, Pathfinder, and Spellbreaker were each part of it -- and that still
>didn't handle the problem that Godslayer had been mentioned before, as an
>ancient artifact.
Not part of it, I think, but linked -- part of the same story: when
Pathfinder was found, Godslayer was also likely to show up. Also, the
Serioli indicated that Godslayer was not quite there, but Spellbreaker
would be part of Godslayer (again). It doesn't seem clear to me how
the powerful Morganti blade the Jenoine gave Vlad fits in.
Sean Eric Fagan
Thomas Yan <ty...@twinkie.cs.cornell.edu> wrote:
>>>> Spoilers, so........
>>mentioned before in the story, and _Dragon_ seemed to set things up so that
>>Blackwand, Pathfinder, and Spellbreaker were each part of it -- and that still
>>didn't handle the problem that Godslayer had been mentioned before, as an
>>ancient artifact.
>Not part of it, I think, but linked -- part of the same story: when
>Pathfinder was found, Godslayer was also likely to show up. Also, the
>Serioli indicated that Godslayer was not quite there, but Spellbreaker
>would be part of Godslayer (again). It doesn't seem clear to me how
>the powerful Morganti blade the Jenoine gave Vlad fits in.
Thanks to one of the other responses to my post, I realized I'd misread (or
misremembered, at any rate :)) the appropriate scene in _Dragon_.
I am not sure whether _any_ powerful Morganti blade would have done the trick,
or if, by coincidence or necessity (it was the only one powerful enough to
affect Verra's ability to manifest on Dragaerra), it was one of the original
components of Godslayer. (We seem to have three components to a Great Weapon:
a magical device that gives it its special power, a Morganti blade, and a
soul. But can any Morganti blade suffice, or only certain ones? And would
that explain why there are so many Morganti blades, because the rest are
failures from the efforts to make Great Weapon?)
Anyway, I enjoyed the book a lot. :)
Sean Michael Dilda
Perhaps "A Dream of Passion" was just that, a crazy dream Vlad was having.
Sean Michael Dilda
>Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote in
><9h18ij$of0$1...@news.panix.com>:
>
>>SPOILERS (for Issola and previous books)
>>
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>>...
>>And now, speculations which have nothing to do with Spellbreaker:
>
>>Sethra says "There is one other Lavode, but he isn't ready yet."
>>Vlad, or Baby Vlad? I'm guessing the latter.
>
>Not at all. It's Morrolan, who will turn out to be the reincarnation
>of Sethra's brother, with Vlad's speculating on whether they'd been
>lovers turning out to be misdirection. (But, of course, he must learn
>*patience* in order to properly use the Forc^W^W pre-Empire sorcery...)
It can't be Morrolan. Morrolan is already listed as one of the people going.
If he wasn't ready yet, then he wouldn't be going at all.
Maureen O'Brien
You don't find out about Gharlane's passing until yesterday. <sigh>
You walk in the bookstore not knowing that Issola is there. <smile>
Issola was a good fast couple hours' read. It would have been faster
if I hadn't kept having to stop and croggle. Or grin fanatically.
Or giggle to myself in the middle of the Chinese restaurant.
Lady Teldra was always someone who was just there -- useful, graceful,
helping make the books what they were -- but we never really knew her
until now. That in itself was worth the book.
I'm still trying to absorb some of the really remarkable information
that we learned, and I have no doubt that the implications and
reliability of that info are going to be discussed here for many posts
to come. But frankly, I think it's really too soon to throw out "A
Dream of Passion" with the bathwater.
"I let the gold chain I had misnamed Spellbreaker fall into my
hand...." indicates that "ADoP" takes place before Issola, but is
probably told out after it. The events of this story are probably one
of the reasons Vlad can be said to "know about the windows".
Once you walk through the windows, you can be anywhere, and time passes
differently on the whole. Once you enter a mini-world created by a god,
I think you can assume that time itself is at that god's disposal.
What was to prevent this unnamed goddess from
a) going back in time
b) finding the original Godslayer, which would no doubt have been
Human-sized
c) bringing it forward in time and concealing it on her own world and
d) figuring this was a good way to kill Verra?
Afterward, Vlad might even have been made to forget what happened by
other gods, made nervous by events, and then allowed later to
remember and tell his chronicler.
Another theory -- this was a prophetic dream.
Maureen
Konrad Gaertner
>
> Konrad Gaertner <kgae...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> > "Michael S. Schiffer" wrote:
>
> > > >Sethra says "There is one other Lavode, but he isn't ready yet."
> > > >Vlad, or Baby Vlad? I'm guessing the latter.
> > >
> > Baby Vlad can't be more than 4 at this point. I can't see Sethra
> > considering him even a Lavode-in-training at that age.
>
> Uhm, you're forgetting the business with souls -- and the fact that she
> might occasionally visit the Halls of Judgement and get her own glimpses
> of the future; she might have thought of him as a Lavode-to-be before
> Vlad met Cawti, let alone before the kid is grown.
>
that's what she tells Vlad in Taltos.
She can still chat with Verra of course.
And didn't Brust confirm that Cawti is Miklos' daughter? Of course,
Brokedown Palace could have been part of Verra's Ineffable Master Plan
all along (the only way out of her relationship with the royal family?).
While we're talking of Lavodes, Sethra also says that they were
disbanded _before_ the Interregnum. Another major thing Paarfi got
wrong. Any ideas why they'd been disbanded? The Lavode Scandal
sounds most likely, but that happened a while before tPG.
--KG
Konrad Gaertner
>
SPOILERS
>
> I am not sure whether _any_ powerful Morganti blade would have done the trick,
> or if, by coincidence or necessity (it was the only one powerful enough to
> affect Verra's ability to manifest on Dragaerra), it was one of the original
> components of Godslayer. (We seem to have three components to a Great Weapon:
> a magical device that gives it its special power, a Morganti blade, and a
> soul. But can any Morganti blade suffice, or only certain ones? And would
> that explain why there are so many Morganti blades, because the rest are
> failures from the efforts to make Great Weapon?)
>
I believe this will be the primary discussion topic for a while (once
the klava recipe is proven/disproven).
That ain't a typical Morganti weapon... it's damn powerful, with a
human (Easterner) sized hilt. If it was part of the original
Godslayer, it might have adjusted itself for Vlad (or been adjusted
by the gods when they realized they couldn't destroy it completely).
What would you call that kind of weapon anyway? Eighteen inches is
_long_ for a knife. Would it be appropriate for a machete (yes, I know
it's weighted wrong for that)? Did they use knives like that in
slaughterhouses?
And why couldn't Sethra find M&A? Even if Path and SB were linked,
Vlad searched for (and found) Blackwand instead.
While thinking about Great Weapon personalities, it occurred to me
who's might be in Pathfinder. Of course, it depends on how/why it
was disguised and other stuff we don't know, but it seems (to me) to
fit Vlad's impressions.
Hmmm... One of the top assassins on that world, wielding the most
powerful weapon ever created, which [now] has the personality of the
epitome of courtliness and surprise. Be afraid, be very afraid.
--KG
David Dyer-Bennet
> SPOILERS (for Issola and previous books)
>
>
>
> And then there's this klava thing. I was about to kick Brust in the
> shins on page 19, when he casually mentions that klava is made out of
> eggshells and vanilla bean. Okay, pick two random silly ingredients.
> Why not rubber bands and old broccoli stems?
>
> Then on the next page he *gives instructions*.
>
> I have two theories.
>
> One theory is that for the past ten years, Steven Brust has been
> drinking something that tastes like good coffee smells, every morning,
> and he just hasn't bothered to mention it to the rest of the world.
>
> I do not put much stock into this theory, because if it were true,
> someone would have found out and killed him for the secret.
>
> I have another theory.
>
> This theory states that Steven Brust would *like* to drink something
> that tastes like good coffee smells. So he invents a half-plausible
> method (neutralize acidity with calcium carbonate, reheat, refilter)
> -- plausibility enhanced with advice from a chemical engineer friend.
> Then he drops the line into a supersaturation solution of fandom, and
> sits back, confident that by next Minicon, one of us will have gotten
> it to *work*.
Several people around here have said "Oh, that's swedish coffee". I
wouldn't know myself, but nobody has mentioned it in the thread yet so
I'm tossing it in.
(For myself, I don't think it even *smells* good. The taste is vile
beyond description.)
--
David Dyer-Bennet / Welcome to the future! / dd...@dd-b.net
SF: http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/ Minicon: http://www.mnstf.org/minicon/
Photos: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/
Thomas Yan
>
>"I *am* cute" was also a great line, one of several which made me
>laugh out loud.
Heh, I liked that one, too.
I don't know if I exclaimed aloud when Teldra showed up, but I laughed
at "it would be wrong of me to put unfair pressure on you, but [Tukko]
knows how to brew klava", etc.
Thomas Yan
Maureen O'Brien <mob...@dnaco.net> wrote:
***spoilers***
>[...] I think it's really too soon to throw out "A
>Dream of Passion" with the bathwater.
Maybe not all of it, but much of it must be modified.
>"I let the gold chain I had misnamed Spellbreaker fall into my
>hand...." indicates that "ADoP" takes place before Issola, but is
>probably told out after it. The events of this story are probably one
>of the reasons Vlad can be said to "know about the windows". [...]
I don't think that, as written, it can take place before Issola:
"He was off at Dzur Mountain when the alarms went off.
I was visiting his home, and I used to run his security,
so I felt obligated to at least look into it."
and the fact that Issola is the first time that Vlad returns to the
castle since going on the run indicates to me the events would have to
happen later. Plus,
"I rushed there as fast as I could, which wasn't as fast as I
could have a few years before."
suggests advancing age and/or permanent injury to me.
Plus, he mentions
"Kragar was long dead anyway"
which has not happened yet in Issola and reminds me of a question:
Why doesn't he mention Rocza's presence or lack thereof?
Thomas Yan
Konrad Gaertner <gae...@aol.com> wrote:
>Sean Eric Fagan wrote:
>>
>SPOILERS
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>>
>> I am not sure whether _any_ powerful Morganti blade would have done
>> the trick, or if, by coincidence or necessity (it was the only one
>> powerful enough to affect Verra's ability to manifest on
>> Dragaerra), it was one of the original components of Godslayer.
>> (We seem to have three components to a Great Weapon: a magical
>> device that gives it its special power, a Morganti blade, and a
>> soul. But can any Morganti blade suffice, or only certain ones?
If a soul is required, whose was the original soul, and what happened to it?
Was each Great Weapon created by someone who linked their own soul
with that of another's, locked in the weapon? How did Aliera's soul
get linked to Pathfinder -- did she have to put her awareness into it?
I don't get the impression that she mixed another's soul into it.
>[...]
>While thinking about Great Weapon personalities, it occurred to me
>who's might be in Pathfinder. Of course, it depends on how/why it
>was disguised and other stuff we don't know, but it seems (to me) to
>fit Vlad's impressions. [...]
Please remind me: what were Vlad's impressions? I don't remember what
he thought about Pathfinder. And who do you think is in Pathfinder?
It seems like you are suggesting that perhaps Mario and Aliera were
lovers and loved each other and were Devera's parents and that Mario
is in Pathfinder, but it seems like Mario is still up and about, so
I'm not sure what you are thinking....