Crowning Moment Of Awesome
Mark_R...@hotmail.com
fiction that they could think of title as the subject says Crowning
Moment Of Awesome. The Harrington series gets its own page.
Their Vorkosigan entry includes the obligatory moment for Cordelia,
but doesn't include Mark's. I'm currently listening to the audiobook
version and his screwing up by the numbers early is more painful to
listen to than what happens to him towards the end precisely because
the latter sets up his crowning moment and the aftermath.
What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include for
written SF?
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Eowyn kicking the Nazgul's ass has to rank right up there. "No living
man am I! You look upon a woman!"
(And actually the Charge of the Rohirrim before that)
Marc C. DuQuesne saving the universe in "Skylark DuQuesne".
Gully Foyle's apotheosis in the fire.
Corwin and Bleys on the Stair.
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Live Journal: http://seawasp.livejournal.com
Sean Eric Fagan
<Mark_R...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>TvTropes.com has a page with as many of the cool fanboy highpoints of
>fiction that they could think of title as the subject says Crowning
>Moment Of Awesome. The Harrington series gets its own page.
I'm curious why you didn't bother including the URL, which is
Which is not TvTropes.com, interestingly enough.
Mike Ash
> What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include for
> written SF?
IMO the best one ever is the scene in _Cryptonomicon_ where the two
"present day" protagonists meet up for dinner with the old Japanese guy
who runs the construction firm and
SPOILER
exchange the last three digits of the latitude/longitude of the
MacGuffin, thereby discovering that the old Japanese guy is the one who
buried the treasure in the first place. The whole book is full of great
moments, but in my eyes they're all just a buildup for that scene.
The bit in _A Fire Upon the Deep_ where
SPOILER
Pham Nuwen temporarily snuffs out the local sun in order to kill
quadrillions of innocent lives and destroy the Blight is pretty good too.
--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon
alien8er
Well, being something of as Literary Liberal, I consider the
Discworld series to be (pretty damn near) SF, so...
The scene in _Soul Music_ where Death shatters His scythe and
prepares to use a shard of it as a pick for the magical guitar, which
would End The World..
Put shivers up and down my spine, that did.
Also, the bit in _Ringworld_ where the crew of Lying Bastard figure
out how the meteor defense worked.
Mark L. Fergerson
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
Thomas Covenant giving the Giant ghosts the fire-purge ritual with
his white gold magic. Definitely the highest moment for a character
that usually needed a good slap upside the head.
Ted
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
And from the same series:
"NOM."
William December Starr
"Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> said:
> Eowyn kicking the Nazgul's ass has to rank right up there. "No
> living man am I! You look upon a woman!"
Sadly, the Nazgul's reply -- "You have got to be fucking _kidding_
me!" -- didn't make it into the final draft.
-- wds
Mark_R...@hotmail.com
> In article <43cd9dcf-02e6-48a8-b5fb-3b3f81bc4...@z1g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>,
>
> <Mark_Reich...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >TvTropes.com has a page with as many of the cool fanboy highpoints of
> >fiction that they could think of title as the subject says Crowning
> >Moment Of Awesome. The Harrington series gets its own page.
>
> I'm curious why you didn't bother including the URL, which is
>
Thought it was long enough I should just let people google it.
Besides, the last time I post TVTropes links, people accused me of
wanting them to waste their morning/afternoon/evening.<g>
> Which is not TvTropes.com, interestingly enough.
Yes thank you.
Wayne Throop
Pffft. They don't even have any from Wapsi Square in their webcomics
section. Not even the "when things upset me, I send them somewhere...
even I don't know where they go" speech, or any of the others when
one of the three golems raise their Aspect (via their facial glyph)
and wield an Attribute (or threaten to). Or more gory ones, like Jin's
mother's job interview, or Jin's going postal on the temple guards for
raping the other two girls ("I snapped"). Or non-gory ones like when
Monia poits for the first time. And dozens more. Even non-magical
ones, like when Shelly pops the fake mugger in the snoot. "You're not
in a position to defend yourself." / "Neither are you." / POW!
http://wapsisquare.com/d/20050610.html
http://wapsisquare.com/d/20061222.html
http://wapsisquare.com/d/20060505.html
http://wapsisquare.com/d/20061201.html
http://wapsisquare.com/d/20050706.html
Ah well. Perhaps I'm mistaking what constitutes a Crowning Moment.
But I guess those aren't for written SF, are they now? Hm.
Probably not a favorite, but I rather like the bit in The Witling
where the Guild destroys an entire army by Renging down a chunk of
the moon onto their location. And speaking of rocks raining down
from the moon (if not Renging), there's the exchange between Manny
and Mike to the effect of "I think we should stop hitting Cheyanne
Mountain" / "Why?" / "It's not there anymore."
Or... hm... "I kill you. I kill you filthy, Vorga."
Wayne Throop thr...@sheol.org http://sheol.org/throopw
Erol K. Bayburt
<sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>Mark_R...@hotmail.com wrote:
>> TvTropes.com has a page with as many of the cool fanboy highpoints of
>> fiction that they could think of title as the subject says Crowning
>> Moment Of Awesome. The Harrington series gets its own page.
>>
>> Their Vorkosigan entry includes the obligatory moment for Cordelia,
>> but doesn't include Mark's. I'm currently listening to the audiobook
>> version and his screwing up by the numbers early is more painful to
>> listen to than what happens to him towards the end precisely because
>> the latter sets up his crowning moment and the aftermath.
>>
>> What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include for
>> written SF?
>
> Eowyn kicking the Nazgul's ass has to rank right up there. "No living
>man am I! You look upon a woman!"
>
> (And actually the Charge of the Rohirrim before that)
And the arrival of Aragorn, after. ("On it flowered a White Tree, and
that was for Gondor, but seven stars were about it, and a high crown
above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years beyond
count.")
In the _Silmarillion_, Huor's prophesy to Turgon. ("This I say to you,
lord, with the eyes of death:")
>
> Marc C. DuQuesne saving the universe in "Skylark DuQuesne".
>
> Gully Foyle's apotheosis in the fire.
>
> Corwin and Bleys on the Stair.
Ardneh's final words to Orcus in _Empire of the East_
The last ride of Arhys in _Paladin of Souls_
AC's answer to "The Last Question"
Jim Lovejoy
news:govb27$9bj$1...@panix1.panix.com:
It's been awhile since I've read the unpublished draft, but wasn't the
Nazgul's reply actually -- "You have got to be fucking _kidd_ aaagh!" ??
> -- wds
Dorothy J Heydt
I worked it out this way.
The best part about it is the way Tolkien covered his bets from a
linguistic standpoint.
The word "man" in English has been made to stand in for what were
originally two words: _mann_ meaning "a man, as distinguished from
an animal, demon, or god" (compare Latin _homo_, Greek _anthropos_),
and _wer_ meaning "a man, as distinguished from a woman or a child"
(Latin _vir_, Greek _aner, andros_).
If Eowyn and the Witch-King had been pedants like the herb-master
of Minas Tirith, the dialogue might have gone more like this:
"You fool, no living man may harm me."
"_Distinguo_, Sir, I am not _vir_ but _femina._ Prepare to die."
"Excuse me, your Westron is so imprecise. I did not mean _vir_, I
meant _homo_."
"Ah, point taken! In that case, permit me to point out that
Meriadoc, who is not _homo_ but _dimidiulus,_ a Halfling, has
just introduced an Arnorian blade into your knee."
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at hotmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the hotmail edress.
Kithrup is getting too damn much spam, even with the sysop's filters.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
No, it was
"D'OH~!"
Quadibloc
Baggins was the true original author of "The Cat and the Fiddle", I
was somewhat distressed that Tolkien had to also attempt to undermine
Shakespeare's claim to originality for the fight between Macbeth and
Macduff.
Of course, he had no _real_ intent to do any such thing, but somehow
even allowing the mere appearance to creep in distressed me.
John Savard
Robert A. Woodward
Er, Homo is a genus; dimidiulus is a species.
--
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com>
<http://www.drizzle.com/~robertaw>
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
news:KG7Lp...@kithrup.com:
I believe that scientists are still debating that, aren't they?
--
Terry Austin
The races for Congress would have gone about the way they did if
McCain was running against a plastic clothes hanger (and McCain
probably still would have lost). - Some Guy
Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
news:gp1kr8$bid$2...@news.motzarella.org:
Homer J Nazgul? Makes sense. There is a distinct resemblance between
Merry and Bart. And Eowyn and Lisa, for that matter.
Graham Woodland
I rather think that Middle-Earth has yet, at the time of the
story, to bring forth its Linnaeus. Possibly Meriadoc, beset in
later years by a vague and unaccountable feeling that he and
Eowyn were somehow cheating, may have finally got around to
introducing the binominal nomenclature in his _Herb-Lore of the
Shire_.
--
Cheers,
Gray
---
To unmung address, lop off the 'be invalid' command.
Jack Bohn
>What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include for
>written SF?
After visiting the page to fix in my mind what they mean (and
after, as the WebMD commercial goes, clicking on so many things I
got carpal tunnel syndrome) I believe I have some nominees:
James H. Schmitz's "The Truth About Cushgar" has the CMOA of his
Agent of Vega series.
The Agents are self-starting, highly capable people, provided
with powerful starships and commissioned as roaming
troubleshooters in the space of the Confederacy of Vega. One,
who before becoming an Agent had seen her husband and son taken
captive by space-pirates, finds they may still be alive in the
star-nation of Cushgar, which seems to pursue piracy as foreign
policy. She calls her Co-ordinator, just to let him know where
she is going, as he can't mission any Agents to Cushgar.
rot-13 for the rest:
Ur qbrfa'g zvffvba nal Ntragf, ohg ur qbrf yrg sbegl-gjb gubhfnaq
gjb uhaqerq naq guvegl-rvtug bs ure pybfrfg sevraq xabj jurer fur
vf tbvat. Gurl qebc gurve pheerag zvffvbaf naq pbire vqragvgvrf
naq gurve fuvcf ortva zrrgvat rnpu bgure ba n qevir gb gur
pncvgny bs Phfutne.
To leave off spoilers for the third paragraph of the story:
"But there was no engagement, then. There was not even anything
resembling an official surrender. Star system by system, mighty
Cushgar was accepting the governors installed by the Confederacy.
Meekly, it coughed up what was left of the captive peoples and
the loot it had pirated for the past seven centuries. And, very
simply and quietly then, under the eyes of a dumfounded galaxy,
it settled down and began mending its manners."
--
-Jack
hh...@thinksystem.net
_Watership Down_ when Bigwig informs Woundwort that he will not
surrender as _his Chief Rabbit_ had ordered him to hold the position.
--
-Harold Hill
Quadibloc
> In article <KG7Lp0.1...@kithrup.com>,
> djhe...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote:
> > "Ah, point taken! In that case, permit me to point out that
> > Meriadoc, who is not _homo_ but _dimidiulus,_ a Halfling, has
> > just introduced an Arnorian blade into your knee."
> Er, Homo is a genus; dimidiulus is a species.
The Witch-King of Angmar was being pedantic about Latin, not Linnean.
The word "homo", and it's modern Italian cognate "uomo", are perfectly
good words for "man" - and, in Latin at least, "homo" for man in the
universal sense, including woman, exists as distinguished from "vir",
which specifies the gender.
John Savard
Paul Clarke
>The Harrington series gets its own page
Of which I rather like Shannon Foraker's "Oops."
> What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include for
> written SF?
Le Guin's _A Wizard of Earthsea_: Ged gambling his life on the quality
of his research:
'Like a sword in sharpness but five times the length of any sword, the
point of the dragon's tail arched up scorpion-wise over his mailed
back, above the tower. Dryly, he spoke: "I strike no bargains. I take.
What have you to offer that I cannot take from you when I like?"
"Safety. Your safety. Swear that you will never fly eastward of
Pendor, and I will swear to leave you unharmed. . .
A grating sound came from the dragon's throat . . . "You offer me
safety! You threaten me! With what?"
"With your name, Yevaud."
Ged's voice shook as he spoke the name, yet he spoke it clear and
loud. At the sound of it, the old dragon held still, utterly still.'
William December Starr
Erol K. Bayburt <Ero...@comcast.net> said:
> Ardneh's final words to Orcus in _Empire of the East_
"You be fucked."
-- wds
Kurt Busiek
Okay, so it's not exactly crowning awesomeosity, but the fact that I
remember it over 30 years after reading the book, and can still
translate and spell it, counts for something.
kdb
Moriarty
"Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from all his
strategems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm a
tremor rang, his slaves qualied, and his armies halted, and his
captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will, wavered and despaired.
For they were forgotten. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that
wielded them was now bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain.
At his summons, wheeling with a rending cry, in a last desperate race
there flew, faster than the winds, the Nazgul, the Ringwraiths, and
with a storm of wings they hurtled southwards to Mount Doom.
In _Startide Rising_ the Soro commander, upon receiving a message from
the now escaping humans, turns to an assistant and asks for a
translation: "What does 'nyeah nyeah' mean?"
From _A Witch Shall Be Born_: "And so, Falcon of the desert, I leave
you to the companionship of another bird of the desert."... Lower and
lower swept the wings of the hungry vultures.
Harry Dresden going to a fancy dress party hosted by vampires, dressed
as a vampire.
-Moriarty
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> My CMoA:
>
> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
Someone else years ago recounted being stuck in a traffic jam
somewhere, and turning to his companion and both of them simultaneously
saying "NOM".
>
> From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from all his
> strategems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm a
> tremor rang, his slaves qualied, and his armies halted, and his
> captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will, wavered and despaired.
> For they were forgotten. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that
> wielded them was now bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain.
> At his summons, wheeling with a rending cry, in a last desperate race
> there flew, faster than the winds, the Nazgul, the Ringwraiths, and
> with a storm of wings they hurtled southwards to Mount Doom.
Translated: "And Sauron realized he'd been had, and said: "D'OH!" even
as the Chief of the Nazgul had before him."
Moriarty
<seaw...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
> Moriarty wrote:
> > From all his policies and webs of fear and treachery, from all his
> > strategems and wars his mind shook free; and throughout his realm a
> > tremor rang, his slaves qualied, and his armies halted, and his
> > captains suddenly steerless, bereft of will, wavered and despaired.
> > For they were forgotten. The whole mind and purpose of the Power that
> > wielded them was now bent with overwhelming force upon the Mountain.
> > At his summons, wheeling with a rending cry, in a last desperate race
> > there flew, faster than the winds, the Nazgul, the Ringwraiths, and
> > with a storm of wings they hurtled southwards to Mount Doom.
>
> Translated: "And Sauron realized he'd been had, and said: "D'OH!" even
> as the Chief of the Nazgul had before him."
And later...
And as the Captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to
them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of
shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous
it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast
threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over
them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed; and
then a hush fell. They heard in the distance a faint cry: "If ONLY
I'd read the Evil Overlord list!'
-Moriarty
Tina Hall
> My CMoA:
> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
> Harry Dresden going to a fancy dress party hosted by vampires,
> dressed as a vampire.
Real vampires?
I thought the Harry Dresden stories were 'just' fiction, not fantasy
fiction/urban fantasy/paranormal fiction/whatever it's called.
--
"Allright, allright." the chief stopped him. "Do you ever actually
take a breath after you start talking?"
-- Rennik to Ranes, Magic Earth VI
Excerpts at: <http://home.htp-tel.de/fkoerper/ath/athintro.htm>
Mark_R...@hotmail.com
> On 7 Mar, 21:18, Mark_Reich...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> >The Harrington series gets its own page
>
> Of which I rather like Shannon Foraker's "Oops."
Oh god, yes. I may have my problems with series now, but that has to
win the prize for most mundane one word statement for an awesome
accomplishment ever.
With pardons to Cosby:
"'Oops?' Commander Foraker, what do you mean 'oops'? I know what I
mean when I say 'oops'. ..."
Moriarty
> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
> > My CMoA:
> > "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>
> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely powerful
uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name. Once summoned
he will charge in, kill the summoner and all around him, and return to
imprisonment. Covenant is in some kind of catatonic trance, and he
and his party have been kidnapped by some guy who wants to utilise his
powers, which would be Very Bad. A fellow party member seemingly
betrays them all by offering to remove the trance, does so, but
implants a suggestion in Covenant's mind so that once the trance is
removed the first thing he does is say "Nom". Kidnapper yells
something like "You've doomed us all" and scarpers. Covenant recovers
enough power to beat Nom in subsequent fight.
>
> > Harry Dresden going to a fancy dress party hosted by vampires,
> > dressed as a vampire.
>
> Real vampires?
>
> I thought the Harry Dresden stories were 'just' fiction, not fantasy
> fiction/urban fantasy/paranormal fiction/whatever it's called.
Nope, the Dresden books are definitely the latter. He was at a fancy
dress party hosted by real vampires. Enemy vampires. Powerful Enemy
Vampires. Wearing fake vampire teeth and a cloak. I can't remember
if he spoke with a faux-Transylvanian accent though.
-Moriarty
Kurt Busiek
> On Mar 10, 12:04 pm, Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>> My CMoA:
>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>
>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>
> Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely powerful
> uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name.
Out of curiosity, can one say words like "economics" and "binomial" on
that world, without summoning Nom?
kdb
Moriarty
It never comes up and they never rigorously test the idea because, as
we all know, economics isn't a science. Boom-tish. But you're right
it is ludicrous to set a trigger like that using a one syllable word.
The Young Ones did it better with the demon Ftumch, who never gets
summoned because no-one ever accidentally says his name.
And there's always the Order of the Stick where the word Roy had to
trigger Belkar's Mark of Justice was "squiddleydoodlefluffer".
-Moriarty
Dorothy J Heydt
To say nothing of reading Lolcats!
Kurt Busiek
> On Mar 10, 12:33 pm, Kurt Busiek <k...@busiek.com> wrote:
>> On 2009-03-09 18:25:12 -0700, Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> said:
>>
>>> On Mar 10, 12:04 pm, Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>>>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>>>> My CMoA:
>>>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>
>>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>>
>>> Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely powerful
>>> uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name.
>>
>> Out of curiosity, can one say words like "economics" and "binomial" on
>> that world, without summoning Nom?
>
> It never comes up and they never rigorously test the idea because, as
> we all know, economics isn't a science. Boom-tish. But you're right
> it is ludicrous to set a trigger like that using a one syllable word.
Or maybe you have to be saying his name; not just making the sound, but
accompanying it with the intent to name him; it's magic, after all.
And "Nom!" is funny in a dramatic way; I like the image of it.
Of course, the following image I have is of a giant, menacing Cookie
Monster appearing, and devouring everything and everyone while
gleefully saying, "Nom nom nom NOM!"
kdb
Ted Nolan <tednolan>
That's like one of the funniest moments in the (very funny overall actually)
move "Eurotrip". One of the fairly clueless American teen tourists decides
to walk on the wild side in Germany with dominatrix Lucy Lawless, but no
problem because she gives him a "safe word"!
Ted
--
------
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>
>> My CMoA:
>
>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>
> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
In the Thomas Covenant series -- second trilogy -- there is a type of
monster which is very nearly unstoppable destruction incarnate, called a
Sandgorgon. They can be summoned by speaking their name, and come
THROUGH anything in their way. And do so VERY fast, clearing a path
regardless of what lies between them and their destination.
Thomas Covenant knows the name of one Sandgorgon -- "Nom". And when
he's caught in a trap by one of the chief villains, with apparently no
way out, no help, no hope, in the heart of their impenetrable
fortress... he speaks that name.
>
>> Harry Dresden going to a fancy dress party hosted by vampires,
>> dressed as a vampire.
>
> Real vampires?
Real.
Harry Dresden is a practicing wizard in a world where all the magical
things really exist. He's a magical "down on his luck private eye" type
character -- a powerful wizard but he just doesn't seem to catch a break.
Something like him could exist in the Digital Knight universe about,
oh, 20 years after DK,when the existence of The Wierd has become
accepted in various circles.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Which reminds me of a crowning moment of pathos-filled Awesome in one
of the most unlikely places: Groo, the Wanderer.
Having gone through a harrowing time in which he was trapped
underground with a wise man and little else, Groo has actually become
educated and given up the sword for the book. Invaders come to pillage
the library town. He tries to argue them into leaving, but of course
they won't listen. And finally the library is set ablaze.
And suddenly Groo is standing in the burning doorway, swords out and
pure fury on his face...
... and all the invaders suddenly say, "...did we err?"
(one of the barbaric and incompetent Groo's catchphrases was always
"Did I err?")
Tina Hall
> Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> said:
>> Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>>> My CMoA:
>>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>>
>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>>
>> Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely
>> powerful uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name.
> Out of curiosity, can one say words like "economics" and
> "binomial" on that world, without summoning Nom?
What about 'No more <whatever>'? Is it the sound itself, or the
intention (I guess not the latter, by Moriarty's explanation)?
Or some mystic attached to the right, lone whole _word_ (rather than
sound)? (You know, like 5 appears in 53, or 25, but neither of them
can replace the actual number '5'.)
--
"Not very scary. Ranes explained ghosts once, made about as much
sense as running around with a sheet over the head does, too."
He lifted the sheet to look at her. "Of course it's not scary.
It's me. Kian." -- Magic Earth VI
Tina Hall
> Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>> My CMoA:
>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>
>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
> Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely
> powerful uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name.
Wow, must have stopped reading just short of reaching that point
(roughly in the middle of the second three-book omnibus).
Or I forgot. <g>
> Once summoned he will charge in, kill the summoner and all around
> him, and return to imprisonment. Covenant is in some kind of
> catatonic trance,
Since about the first page of book 1. <g,d&r>
Eh, sorry. I do thank you for explaining. I just didn't expect it to
be something I have any knowledge of. :)
> and he and his party have been kidnapped by some guy who wants to
> utilise his powers, which would be Very Bad. A fellow party
> member seemingly betrays them all by offering to remove the
> trance, does so, but implants a suggestion in Covenant's mind so
> that once the trance is removed the first thing he does is say
> "Nom". Kidnapper yells something like "You've doomed us all" and
> scarpers. Covenant recovers enough power to beat Nom in
> subsequent fight.
What a shame. <g>
Thanks though.
>>> Harry Dresden going to a fancy dress party hosted by vampires,
>>> dressed as a vampire.
>>
>> Real vampires?
>>
>> I thought the Harry Dresden stories were 'just' fiction, not
>> fantasy fiction/urban fantasy/paranormal fiction/whatever it's
>> called.
> Nope, the Dresden books are definitely the latter.
Oh. I must be more confused than I thought.
> He was at a fancy dress party hosted by real vampires. Enemy
> vampires.
I expected that. :)
> Powerful Enemy Vampires. Wearing fake vampire teeth and a cloak.
Him, you mean. Or do the vampires wear fake teeth and a cloak?
> I can't remember if he spoke with a faux-Transylvanian accent
> though.
Do the vampires do that?
What's the title of the book? (And who was the author again?)
--
"If you walk down the street, do you care about a bug you might step on?"
"I don't pick it up and rip out its legs."
-- Arentus and Dayta, Magic Earth I: Getting Caught
Excerpts at: <http://home.htp-tel.de/fkoerper/ath/athintro.htm>
Wayne Throop
: Nope, the Dresden books are definitely the latter. He was at a fancy
: dress party hosted by real vampires. Enemy vampires. Powerful Enemy
: Vampires. Wearing fake vampire teeth and a cloak. I can't remember
: if he spoke with a faux-Transylvanian accent though.
Fake, intentionally *cheap* and *cheezy* vampire teeth and cloak.
That's the one were he starts the wizard/vampire war. Which war continues
through the next four or five books... I'm not sure if they'll have the
truce the White Council asked him to manuver the White Court to secure
in effect by the time Turn Coat comes out, but so far it's been a very
*very* nasty war.
Sometimes Harry is a bit too wise-ass for his own good.
Of course, that wasn't the *only* thing he did that started the war,
but still... sometimes he's a bit too wise-ass for hish own good.
Wayne Throop thr...@sheol.org http://sheol.org/throopw
Moriarty
> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
> > Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
> >> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
> >>> My CMoA:
> >>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>
> >> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
> > Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely
> > powerful uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name.
>
> Wow, must have stopped reading just short of reaching that point
> (roughly in the middle of the second three-book omnibus).
You must have just missed it. I'm almost certain it was that book.
<snips>
> >Covenant recovers enough power to beat Nom in
> > subsequent fight.
>
> What a shame. <g>
Yeah, a lot of people have that reaction to Whiny Leper Guy.
>
> Thanks though.
>
> >>> Harry Dresden going to a fancy dress party hosted by vampires,
> >>> dressed as a vampire.
>
> >> Real vampires?
>
> >> I thought the Harry Dresden stories were 'just' fiction, not
> >> fantasy fiction/urban fantasy/paranormal fiction/whatever it's
> >> called.
> > Nope, the Dresden books are definitely the latter.
>
> Oh. I must be more confused than I thought.
>
> > He was at a fancy dress party hosted by real vampires. Enemy
> > vampires.
>
> I expected that. :)
>
> > Powerful Enemy Vampires. Wearing fake vampire teeth and a cloak.
>
> Him, you mean. Or do the vampires wear fake teeth and a cloak?
Him. Their teeth are real.
> > I can't remember if he spoke with a faux-Transylvanian accent
> > though.
>
> Do the vampires do that?
>
> What's the title of the book? (And who was the author again?)
Jim Butcher is the author. I can't remember which book exactly. Book
6, "Blood Rites" maybe?
-Moriarty
Wayne Throop
: Jim Butcher is the author. I can't remember which book exactly. Book
: 6, "Blood Rites" maybe?
No, that incident happened in Grave Peril, the third book.
The one where he meets Michael Carpenter, and there's a ghostly
plot to Get Harry Dresden. And he aquires his headstone,
inscribed "He died doing the right thing" (iirc).
Blood Rites is the one where devious infighting in the White Court
involves Harry, and he gets to Meet the Raiths, especially the father
and senior daughter. On a porn movie production.
Um. If I'm remembering rightly. I'm pretty sure.
Wayne Throop
: [... mentions some Harry Dresden books ...]
Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, another CMoA from Dresden is
when Ivy is trying to protect Harry from the Denarians...
especialy Harry's awed description of her combat sorcery technique.
"She had barely aything to work with, and she was making [her
attackers] look like pygmies trying to capture an elephant.
If she hadn't been so completely cut off, I think she'd have
eaten them alive."
"Truly?"
"You had to have seen it. I've never seen anyone...
You had to have seen it."
Of course, expertise in all things is to be expected,
since she *is* The Archive.
And of course, when he sees Karyn and Kincaid with his Sight.
An angel, blazing with fury and savage strength, spun towards
the Renfield, her eyes blazing with azure flame, a shaft
of fire in her hands. The angel was dressed in soiled robes
smudged with smoke and blood and filth, no longer white.
She bled from a half a dozen wounds, and moved as if in
terrible pain.
[..and a bit later..]
For just a second I saw something standing there. Something
enormous, malformed, something silent and merciless and deadly.
It had to crouch to keep from brushing the ceiling with the horns
curving away from its head, and batlike wings spread from its
shoulders to fall around it and behind it, to drag along the floor,
and I thought I saw some hideous double image lurking behind it
like the corpse-specter of Death himself.
Then the second was past, and I pushed my Sight away, and
Kincaid stood frowning down at me.
There is a reason Harry doesn't like using his Sight much
I wish he'd hurry up and figure out who the Swords belong with.
Before he ends up with them all, which I doubt would be a Good Thing.
Tina Hall
> Tina Hall wrote:
>> Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>> My CMoA:
>>
>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>
>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
> In the Thomas Covenant series -- second trilogy -- there is a
> type of monster which is very nearly unstoppable destruction
> incarnate, called a Sandgorgon. They can be summoned by speaking
> their name, and come THROUGH anything in their way. And do so
> VERY fast, clearing a path regardless of what lies between them
> and their destination.
That sparks the question of where they start out.
> Thomas Covenant knows the name of one Sandgorgon -- "Nom". And
> when he's caught in a trap by one of the chief villains, with
> apparently no way out, no help, no hope, in the heart of their
> impenetrable fortress... he speaks that name.
:)
Thanks to you, too, for explaining.
>>> Harry Dresden going to a fancy dress party hosted by vampires,
>>> dressed as a vampire.
>>
>> Real vampires?
> Real.
> Harry Dresden is a practicing wizard in a world where all the
> magical things really exist. He's a magical "down on his luck
> private eye" type character -- a powerful wizard but he just
> doesn't seem to catch a break.
The private eye part is what stuck in my confused memory, thus the
question.
So far the last name has made the whole thing rather uninteresting,
but with this I might have a look after all. Going to a fancy dress
party hosted by vampires, dressed as a vampire, sounds like fun.
('Wizard' doesn't, but, well...)
Do you have more certain details on name of book than Moriarty?
> Something like him could exist in the Digital Knight universe
> about, oh, 20 years after DK,when the existence of The Wierd has
> become accepted in various circles.
I don't have a universe where all the magical things really exist.
The nearest is my vampire story where the vampires caused all the
myths, and like to keep them up.
--
"Did you make a mistake when you cut off your end of the tie and
somehow swapped identities with Thalos?"
Arentus grinned. "Maybe you and I did."
-- Senar and Arentus, Magic Earth IV: Seeing Far
Tina Hall
> Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>> Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>>>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>>>> My CMoA:
>>>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>
>>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>>> Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely
>>> powerful uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name.
>>
>> Wow, must have stopped reading just short of reaching that point
>> (roughly in the middle of the second three-book omnibus).
> You must have just missed it. I'm almost certain it was that
> book.
I don't doubt you.
I'm not sure what it was exactly, but I stopped reading when the
surroundings - that until that point had made up for having to deal
with T.C. and the writing style -- switched to nothing I want to
read about.
All I remember from that book is two vague things with water. One
perhaps swimming, with someone perhaps losing consciousness? The
other with a boat or ship? And then they met some critters and
something happened that had me lose interest entirely.
(Well, I think the blind guy also from this world was also in the
second omnibus, him or someone else an alternate viewpoint to T.C..)
>>> Covenant recovers enough power to beat Nom in subsequent fight.
>>
>> What a shame. <g>
> Yeah, a lot of people have that reaction to Whiny Leper Guy.
<g>
>>> Powerful Enemy Vampires. Wearing fake vampire teeth and a
>>> cloak.
>>
>> Him, you mean. Or do the vampires wear fake teeth and a cloak?
> Him. Their teeth are real.
Right.
Sounds like fun.
>>> I can't remember if he spoke with a faux-Transylvanian accent
>>> though.
>>
>> Do the vampires do that?
>>
>> What's the title of the book? (And who was the author again?)
> Jim Butcher is the author. I can't remember which book exactly.
> Book 6, "Blood Rites" maybe?
Thanks.
--
[Kian covers himself with a bedsheet]
Dayta chuckled. "You're impossible."
"Of course. I'm a ghost. And ghosts don't exist. Boohoo." -- Magic Earth VI
Excerpts at: <http://home.htp-tel.de/fkoerper/ath/athintro.htm>
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> On Mar 10, 2:01 pm, Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>> Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>>>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>>>> My CMoA:
>>>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>>> Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely
>>> powerful uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name.
>> Wow, must have stopped reading just short of reaching that point
>> (roughly in the middle of the second three-book omnibus).
>
> You must have just missed it. I'm almost certain it was that book.
That's the FIRST time -- which is not nearly as cool as the second time.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
>
> All I remember from that book is two vague things with water. One
> perhaps swimming, with someone perhaps losing consciousness? The
> other with a boat or ship? And then they met some critters and
> something happened that had me lose interest entirely.
>
> (Well, I think the blind guy also from this world was also in the
> second omnibus, him or someone else an alternate viewpoint to T.C..)
The "blind guy" was in the first trilogy, second book; Hile Troy was
his name, the stupidest military "genius" ever written.
Linden Avery, a doctor, was the alternate viewpoint in the second trilogy.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>> Tina Hall wrote:
>>> Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>
>>>> My CMoA:
>>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>
>> In the Thomas Covenant series -- second trilogy -- there is a
>> type of monster which is very nearly unstoppable destruction
>> incarnate, called a Sandgorgon. They can be summoned by speaking
>> their name, and come THROUGH anything in their way. And do so
>> VERY fast, clearing a path regardless of what lies between them
>> and their destination.
>
> That sparks the question of where they start out.
As their name sort of implies, they live in a desert normally. (Trying
to make sense of their existence or ecology is of course a futile
exercise; Donaldson doesn't work that way very often)
>
>> Thomas Covenant knows the name of one Sandgorgon -- "Nom". And
>> when he's caught in a trap by one of the chief villains, with
>> apparently no way out, no help, no hope, in the heart of their
>> impenetrable fortress... he speaks that name.
>
> :)
>
> Thanks to you, too, for explaining.
You're welcome. Note that Covenant actually speaks Nom's name twice,
once in the second and once in the third book of the second series. The
first time it's basically planned by a baddie, the second time it's
definitely NOT in the bad guy's plan.
>
> Do you have more certain details on name of book than Moriarty?
Actually I don't, because I haven't read that far in the series.
>
>> Something like him could exist in the Digital Knight universe
>> about, oh, 20 years after DK,when the existence of The Wierd has
>> become accepted in various circles.
>
> I don't have a universe where all the magical things really exist.
> The nearest is my vampire story where the vampires caused all the
> myths, and like to keep them up.
>
In the DK universe, if not ALL of the magical things, an awfully large
number of them really exist, though most of them aren't going to be seen
on Earth. Hopefully.
David DeLaney
>Tina Hall wrote:
>>> In the Thomas Covenant series -- second trilogy -- there is a
>>> type of monster which is very nearly unstoppable destruction
>>> incarnate, called a Sandgorgon. They can be summoned by speaking
>>> their name, and come THROUGH anything in their way. And do so
>>> VERY fast, clearing a path regardless of what lies between them
>>> and their destination.
>>
>> That sparks the question of where they start out.
>
> As their name sort of implies, they live in a desert normally. (Trying
>to make sense of their existence or ecology is of course a futile
>exercise; Donaldson doesn't work that way very often)
Well, technically they are trapped in one specific part of said desert,
Sandgorgon's Doom, by a spell cast by a wizard. (Yes, a wizard did it.) To
keep them from running amuck wherever they happened to want. After destroying
their summoner, the spell forces them back to the Doom.
Covenant had enough wildly inexplicable Power to fight Nom to a standstill,
as it turned out, instead of being destroyed. He then bargained with him.
> You're welcome. Note that Covenant actually speaks Nom's name twice,
>once in the second and once in the third book of the second series. The
>first time it's basically planned by a baddie, the second time it's
>definitely NOT in the bad guy's plan.
And the second time Nom is much happier to see him.
Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
David DeLaney
>> All I remember from that book is two vague things with water. One
>> perhaps swimming, with someone perhaps losing consciousness? The
>> other with a boat or ship? And then they met some critters and
>> something happened that had me lose interest entirely.
>>
>> (Well, I think the blind guy also from this world was also in the
>> second omnibus, him or someone else an alternate viewpoint to T.C..)
>
> The "blind guy" was in the first trilogy, second book; Hile Troy was
>his name, the stupidest military "genius" ever written.
He, er, also was in the second trilogy, for a couple of fairly instrumental
plot points. (YES, it was several thousand years later there.)
>Linden Avery, a doctor, was the alternate viewpoint in the second trilogy.
She got to do at least a pretty close approximation of a CMOA near the end...
"and between them, the old definition forged into the heels of the Staff of
Law."
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>> Tina Hall wrote:
>>>> In the Thomas Covenant series -- second trilogy -- there is a
>>>> type of monster which is very nearly unstoppable destruction
>>>> incarnate, called a Sandgorgon. They can be summoned by speaking
>>>> their name, and come THROUGH anything in their way. And do so
>>>> VERY fast, clearing a path regardless of what lies between them
>>>> and their destination.
>>> That sparks the question of where they start out.
>> As their name sort of implies, they live in a desert normally. (Trying
>> to make sense of their existence or ecology is of course a futile
>> exercise; Donaldson doesn't work that way very often)
>
> Well, technically they are trapped in one specific part of said desert,
> Sandgorgon's Doom, by a spell cast by a wizard. (Yes, a wizard did it.) To
> keep them from running amuck wherever they happened to want. After destroying
> their summoner, the spell forces them back to the Doom.
Well, yes, but I wasn't going into all that detail. And it's been quite
a while since I read the series.
>
> Covenant had enough wildly inexplicable Power to fight Nom to a standstill,
> as it turned out, instead of being destroyed. He then bargained with him.
Well, one would HOPE that if you have the power of the Wild Magic which
could destroy the Arch of Time (i.e., the whole of that world), you
could overpower any one thing native to that world.
Basically Nom found that you can't beat a Super-Saiyajin. :)
>
>> You're welcome. Note that Covenant actually speaks Nom's name twice,
>> once in the second and once in the third book of the second series. The
>> first time it's basically planned by a baddie, the second time it's
>> definitely NOT in the bad guy's plan.
>
> And the second time Nom is much happier to see him.
Yep. The baddie is NOT.
And D'OH! I just remembered yet one more Crowning Moment of Awesome in
that series. The grand finale of that second trilogy, when you find out
that Covenant really HAD figured out how to beat Lord Foul in one of the
most perfect ways ever imagined.
Louann Miller
@kithrup.com:
>
> "Excuse me, your Westron is so imprecise. I did not mean _vir_, I
> meant _homo_."
>
> "Ah, point taken! In that case, permit me to point out that
> Meriadoc, who is not _homo_ but _dimidiulus,_ a Halfling, has
> just introduced an Arnorian blade into your knee."
Now you've gone all Steven-Brust-y.
Tina Hall
> Tina Hall wrote:
>> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>> Tina Hall wrote:
>>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>>
>>> In the Thomas Covenant series -- second trilogy -- there is a
>>> type of monster which is very nearly unstoppable destruction
>>> incarnate, called a Sandgorgon. They can be summoned by
>>> speaking their name, and come THROUGH anything in their way.
>>> And do so VERY fast, clearing a path regardless of what lies
>>> between them and their destination.
>>
>> That sparks the question of where they start out.
> As their name sort of implies, they live in a desert normally.
> (Trying to make sense of their existence or ecology is of course
> a futile exercise; Donaldson doesn't work that way very often)
Perhaps they run around that area for so long that everything's
ground to sand?
I thought things you summon come from another dimension. But what do
I know.
>> Do you have more certain details on name of book than Moriarty?
> Actually I don't, because I haven't read that far in the series.
Why not? (Just curious.)
Tina Hall
Ah.
The names even sound vaguely familiar.
Thanks.
I think. (Do I want to know this? :) )
Michael Alan Chary
William December Starr <wds...@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <gourpk$ckl$1...@news.motzarella.org>,
>"Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> said:
>
>> Eowyn kicking the Nazgul's ass has to rank right up there. "No
>> living man am I! You look upon a woman!"
>
>Sadly, the Nazgul's reply -- "You have got to be fucking _kidding_
>me!" -- didn't make it into the final draft.
Well, yes, because the Hobbit basically whacked him before he had much
chance to say anything.
Eowyn response would have been, "And Eowyn did look upon the Witch-King,
who lay dying and shouted, "Scoreboard, homeboy. Scoreboard."
--
The All-New, All-Different Howling Curmudgeons!
http://www.whiterose.org/howlingcurmudgeons
Michael Alan Chary
>On 2009-03-09 18:44:20 -0700, Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> said:
>
>>> On 2009-03-09 18:25:12 -0700, Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> said:
>>>
>>>> On Mar 10, 12:04?pm, Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>>>>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>>>>> My CMoA:
>>>>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>>
>>>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>>>
>>>> uberthingy) ?who can only be summoned by his own name.
>>>
>>> Out of curiosity, can one say words like "economics" and "binomial" on
>>> that world, without summoning Nom?
>>
>> It never comes up and they never rigorously test the idea because, as
>> we all know, economics isn't a science. Boom-tish. But you're right
>> it is ludicrous to set a trigger like that using a one syllable word.
>
>Or maybe you have to be saying his name; not just making the sound, but
>accompanying it with the intent to name him; it's magic, after all.
>
>And "Nom!" is funny in a dramatic way; I like the image of it.
>
>Of course, the following image I have is of a giant, menacing Cookie
>Monster appearing, and devouring everything and everyone while
>gleefully saying, "Nom nom nom NOM!"
>
Or, maybe it does summon the demon, which is why Nom has a double doctor
in both economics and number theory. He's doing post doc work at the
Unviersity of Chicago. I think I had him for a class.
Dorothy J Heydt
Well, it's all in the eye of the beholder. I wrote that
years ago when I had never so much as heard of Brust.
"One is in the imagination of the reader; the other in the
intention of the author." --Tolkien, on applicability vs.
allegory
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>> Tina Hall wrote:
>>> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>>> Tina Hall wrote:
>
>>>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>>>> In the Thomas Covenant series -- second trilogy -- there is a
>>>> type of monster which is very nearly unstoppable destruction
>>>> incarnate, called a Sandgorgon. They can be summoned by
>>>> speaking their name, and come THROUGH anything in their way.
>>>> And do so VERY fast, clearing a path regardless of what lies
>>>> between them and their destination.
>>> That sparks the question of where they start out.
>
>> As their name sort of implies, they live in a desert normally.
>> (Trying to make sense of their existence or ecology is of course
>> a futile exercise; Donaldson doesn't work that way very often)
>
> Perhaps they run around that area for so long that everything's
> ground to sand?
As someone else just explained, they were actually bound inside a
particular section of desert to keep them from destroying everything at
random.
>
> I thought things you summon come from another dimension. But what do
> I know.
Some magic systems work that way, some don't. In this case, the spell
that binds them to that section of desert can only be released --
temporarily -- by speaking the Sandgorgon's name, and then, once the
Sandgorgon has either destroyed the speaker or been defeated by him, the
spell forces him to return to the desert.
>
>>> Do you have more certain details on name of book than Moriarty?
>
>> Actually I don't, because I haven't read that far in the series.
>
> Why not? (Just curious.)
>
Just haven't gotten around to it. I enjoyed the Harry Dresden book I
tried, but I haven't read the others yet. I probably will eventually.
Since becoming a writer I've found I have less reading time.
Tina Hall
Which was?
--
"I'm officially crazy now. I can do all the funny things I like
without anyone thinking I've gone nuts."
-- Ranes, Magic Earth III: Magi Shans
Excerpts at: <http://home.htp-tel.de/fkoerper/ath/athintro.htm>
Paul Clarke
<seaw...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
> You're welcome. Note that Covenant actually speaks Nom's name twice,
> once in the second and once in the third book of the second series.
In the second book I think it's one of the Haruchai that says Nom's
name. The flaw in the binding spell is that if you say a sandgorgon's
name it leaves the Gyre and kills you, and then has to go back. If
Covenant had said the name previously then either he'd be dead or we'd
already have had a Covenant/Nom confrontation.
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
You do. The Wild White Magic beats the Sandgorgon down.
The second time, Nom remembers that Covenant 0wnz0r3d him and bows.
Admittedly it's been a long time since I read it, but that's what I
recall.
Tina Hall
> Tina Hall wrote:
>> Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>>> Tina Hall wrote:
[Nom, sandgorgons]
>>> As their name sort of implies, they live in a desert normally.
>>> (Trying to make sense of their existence or ecology is of
>>> course a futile exercise; Donaldson doesn't work that way very
>>> often)
>>
>> Perhaps they run around that area for so long that everything's
>> ground to sand?
> As someone else just explained, they were actually bound inside
> a particular section of desert to keep them from destroying
> everything at random.
Yeah, I've seen that.
I like my explanation better. <g>
>> I thought things you summon come from another dimension. But
>> what do I know.
> Some magic systems work that way, some don't. In this case, the
> spell that binds them to that section of desert can only be
> released -- temporarily -- by speaking the Sandgorgon's name, and
> then, once the Sandgorgon has either destroyed the speaker or
> been defeated by him, the spell forces him to return to the
> desert.
Not very smart of the sandgorgon to destroy the speaker, then. (They
could make a deal, no one defeated, no one destroyed...)
>>>> Do you have more certain details on name of book than
>>>> Moriarty?
>>
>>> Actually I don't, because I haven't read that far in the
>>> series.
>>
>> Why not? (Just curious.)
> Just haven't gotten around to it. I enjoyed the Harry Dresden
> book I tried, but I haven't read the others yet. I probably will
> eventually. Since becoming a writer I've found I have less
> reading time.
I'd like to do more writing, but somehow don't.
--
Food swimming in water just wasn't right.
-- Senar, Magic Earth V
Excerpts at: <http://home.htp-tel.de/fkoerper/ath/athintro.htm>
Damien Neil
> Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, another CMoA from Dresden is
> when Ivy is trying to protect Harry from the Denarians...
And another one:
T Big Bad is creating zombies out corpses from ancient Indian burial
grounds, because the older the corpse the stronger the zombie. At the
final showdown, Harry finds himself in a natural history museum...
And for a non-Dresden, non-fiction CMoA:
"Nuts."
- Damien
William December Starr
thr...@sheol.org (Wayne Throop) said:
> Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com>
>
>> Jim Butcher is the author. I can't remember which book exactly.
>> Book 6, "Blood Rites" maybe?
>
> No, that incident happened in Grave Peril, the third book. The
> one where he meets Michael Carpenter,
s/meets/has known for a long time without ever once mentioning \
anywhere in the series before but we aren't supposed to notice that/
-- wds
William December Starr
> Sometimes Harry is a bit too wise-ass for his own good.
> Of course, that wasn't the *only* thing he did that started the war,
> but still... sometimes he's a bit too wise-ass for hish own good.
But -- <rot13> qvqa'g vg ghea bhg gung gur inzcverf jrer cynaavat ba
ynhapuvat n jne ntnvafg gur jvmneqf naljnl, naq Uneel (naq Oryvaqn'f)
npgvbaf sbeprq gurve unaq, znxvat gurz qrpyner jne orsber gurl jrer
shyyl ernql? </rot13>
-- wds
William December Starr
Mark_R...@hotmail.com said:
> What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include
> for written SF?
It's sort of "blink and you'll miss it," but in Diane Duane's MY
ENEMY, MY ALLY Kirk pulls off an tactical miracle, having planned
days in advance, before a mission with about a zillion variables,
exactly when, where and on what course he'll need a back-up starship
to appear to save his otherwise doomed butt.
-- wds
Dorothy J Heydt
Yeah, only AIUI McAuliffe actually said "Balls" but they
cleaned it up for the US news media.
David DeLaney
>Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
>> And D'OH! I just remembered yet one more Crowning Moment of
>> Awesome in that series. The grand finale of that second trilogy,
>> when you find out that Covenant really HAD figured out how to
>> beat Lord Foul in one of the most perfect ways ever imagined.
>
>Which was?
(The following contains spoilers. The book's from 1983, so has been around for
25 years, so I'm not adding space or anything. But be warned.)
Well, Foul killed him. Dagger-like triangle of magical power into the back,
white-gold-power blorts out and then dribbles for a bit, Covenant falls down
and dies. Foul is of course evil-genius-triumphant at this, since it's taken
him SIX BOOKS to do it, and reaches out for the ring... and picks it up and
puts it on. Mua ha haaaa!
...and Linden Avery, who Foul had set one of the remaining Ravers on, goes
through an epiphany that finally lets her neutralize said Raver's influence on
her - but not fast enough to prevent any of the above.
Foul then turns and starts firing blasts of wild magic _at_ the Arch of Time.
To break it and escape of course. With mua ha ha-ing . But the blasts are
getting intercepted before they get there, even though they're going off in
a direction nothing else in the room can go. And the thing absorbing them
gradually takes on definition ... and sketches itself into a white-gold-fire
portrait of Covenant.
(See, in the FIRST trilogy, the Law of Death got broken, allowing High Lord
Kevin to come back and get possessed by Foul and have all the Illearth Stone
fun happen. But while that let the Dead come back, it didn't let them actually
DO stuff, it just let them communicate with the living. Who could subsequently
do stuff. In the second trilogy, Hile Troy, now several thousand years a
Forestal, semi-sacrifices himself with the assistance of Covenant and Avery
(or maybe just Avery, don't recall) ... to also break the Law of _Life_ - which
was what kept the Dead from doing stuff in the real world. So ... by the end
of book six, Covenant's ghost can stand there interposed between reality and
the Arch of Time, and soak up Lord Foul's blasts all day long; Foul's plotting
and actions have created the Perfect Guardian. Oops. Checkmate.)
Foul can't accept this, and spends all his remaining life force in ever more
furious blasts, which Covenant, painfully, absorbs and grows easier to see
from.
Finally Foul blasts himself entirely away, the ring falls to the floor,
Covenant _explains_ what had been going on to Avery, and conveys himself Away.
Unfortunately, with the death of Covenant, Avery's summoning is over ... but
she claims the Ring, and uses its power to hold herself there long enough to
finish the Quest that they were on; more foreshadowing is fulfilled, and a
new Staff of Law is made, and the Sunbane gets dispersed forever. Then she
goes home.
Wayne Throop
: But -- <rot13> qvqa'g vg ghea bhg gung gur inzcverf jrer cynaavat ba
: ynhapuvat n jne ntnvafg gur jvmneqf naljnl, naq Uneel (naq Oryvaqn'f)
: npgvbaf sbeprq gurve unaq, znxvat gurz qrpyner jne orsber gurl jrer
: shyyl ernql? </rot13>
I don't think so. As I took it, <ebg13>Ovnapn unq pnyyrq n ercerfragngvir
bs gur Erq Pbheg, ohg jnf nffhzvat gung Uneel jbhyqa'g or fb fghcvq nf
gb cebibxr n jne bire n fvatyr vaqvivqhny.</ebg13>
But I could be wrong. And it's hard to know what the Black Council was
planning at that point, or how complicit the Red Court was in that.
Wayne Throop thr...@sheol.org http://sheol.org/throopw
Wayne Throop
:: "Nuts."
: djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
: Yeah, only AIUI McAuliffe actually said "Balls" but they
: cleaned it up for the US news media.
But still managed to convey that he got a bit testy.
Dorothy J Heydt
>:: And for a non-Dresden, non-fiction CMoA:
>:: "Nuts."
>
>: djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
>: Yeah, only AIUI McAuliffe actually said "Balls" but they
>: cleaned it up for the US news media.
>
>But still managed to convey that he got a bit testy.
Heh. Yes.
William December Starr
thr...@sheol.org (Wayne Throop) said:
>> But -- <rot13> qvqa'g vg ghea bhg gung gur inzcverf jrer cynaavat
>> ba ynhapuvat n jne ntnvafg gur jvmneqf naljnl, naq Uneel (naq
>> Oryvaqn'f) npgvbaf sbeprq gurve unaq, znxvat gurz qrpyner jne
>> orsber gurl jrer shyyl ernql? </rot13>
>
> I don't think so. As I took it, <ebg13>Ovnapn unq pnyyrq n
> ercerfragngvir bs gur Erq Pbheg, ohg jnf nffhzvat gung Uneel
> jbhyqa'g or fb fghcvq nf gb cebibxr n jne bire n fvatyr
> vaqvivqhny.</ebg13>
>
> But I could be wrong. And it's hard to know what the Black
> Council was planning at that point, or how complicit the Red Court
> was in that.
You could be right, but either way it worked out to the good guys'
advantage, or at least it lessened their disadvantage. (Side note:
yeah, Bianca. Where on earth did I get "Belinda" from?)
-- wds
Gene
@panix2.panix.com:
> (Side note:
> yeah, Bianca. Where on earth did I get "Belinda" from?)
There are no vampires named Belinda. Trust me on this.
--
"It's not like there is much that is universal among economists." -- Shawn
Wilson
Sean Eric Fagan
>bs gur Erq Pbheg, ohg jnf nffhzvat gung Uneel jbhyqa'g or fb fghcvq nf
>gb cebibxr n jne bire n fvatyr vaqvivqhny.</ebg13>
I think you're wrong -- it appeared to be a carefully, and brilliantly,
calculated move on their part, to get the desired outcome.
Mind you, in that case, there were *multiple possible outcomes*, and each of
them was a "win" for Belinda (but not necessarily the various Courts).
Kyle Haight
<Mark_R...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Of which I rather like Shannon Foraker's "Oops."
>
>Oh god, yes. I may have my problems with series now, but that has to
>win the prize for most mundane one word statement for an awesome
>accomplishment ever.
I've always liked Cordelia Vorkosigan's one-word CMOA: "Shopping."
--
Kyle Haight
William George Ferguson
wrote:
>On Mar 7, 1:18 pm, Mark_Reich...@hotmail.com wrote:
>> TvTropes.com has a page with as many of the cool fanboy highpoints of
>> fiction that they could think of title as the subject says Crowning
>> Moment Of Awesome. The Harrington series gets its own page.
>>
>> Their Vorkosigan entry includes the obligatory moment for Cordelia,
>> but doesn't include Mark's. I'm currently listening to the audiobook
>> version and his screwing up by the numbers early is more painful to
>> listen to than what happens to him towards the end precisely because
>> the latter sets up his crowning moment and the aftermath.
>>
>> What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include for
>> written SF?
>
> Well, being something of as Literary Liberal, I consider the
>Discworld series to be (pretty damn near) SF, so...
>
> The scene in _Soul Music_ where Death shatters His scythe and
>prepares to use a shard of it as a pick for the magical guitar, which
>would End The World..
>
> Put shivers up and down my spine, that did.
>
>
> Mark L. Fergerson
Myria LeJean's self-chosen fate at the end of Thief of Time.
--
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
(Bene Gesserit)
Johnny Tindalos
> "Silflay hraka, u embleer rah."
>
> Okay, so it's not exactly crowning awesomeosity, but the fact that I
> remember it over 30 years after reading the book, and can still
> translate and spell it, counts for something.
>
> kdb
>
>
>
Definitely! It's only been about 26 years for me, but I still think that
phrase sometimes.
(Only at people who deserve it, naturally, not at giant telepathic rabbit-
monsters from Beyond the MainBrane.)
Mark_R...@hotmail.com
> In article <2cd29dd4-be00-45f3-ba51-10ae69d4e...@v39g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>,
>
> <Mark_Reich...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Of which I rather like Shannon Foraker's "Oops."
>
> >Oh god, yes. I may have my problems with series now, but that has to
> >win the prize for most mundane one word statement for an awesome
> >accomplishment ever.
>
> I've always liked Cordelia Vorkosigan's one-word CMOA: "Shopping."
Yeah, I should have added that. I mentioned that the site has that
obligatory moment in the original post.
Since I rate the Vorkosigan series higher than the Harrington series,
I won't defend my oversight.
Dorothy J Heydt
My daughter, in moments of stress, sometimes mutters "Embleer
Frith in a handbasket!!"
William December Starr
djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) said:
> Johnny Tindalos <Jama...@UnrealEmail.arg> wrote:
>> Kurt Busiek <ku...@busiek.com> wrote
>>
>>> "Silflay hraka, u embleer rah."
>>>
>>> Okay, so it's not exactly crowning awesomeosity, but the fact that
>>> I remember it over 30 years after reading the book, and can still
>>> translate and spell it, counts for something.
>>
>> Definitely! It's only been about 26 years for me, but I still
>> think that phrase sometimes.
>>
>> (Only at people who deserve it, naturally, not at giant telepathic
>> rabbit- monsters from Beyond the MainBrane.)
>
> My daughter, in moments of stress, sometimes mutters "Embleer
> Frith in a handbasket!!"
I'm whooshed. What work are you people talking about?
-- wds
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
Watership Down.
Brenda Clough
You would like it, WDS. The ur-Natural Animal Fantasy (versus the
Magical Animal Fantasy like TAILCHASER'S SONG), beautifully written and
enough of a bestseller that it inspired dozens of imitators.
Brenda
Dorothy J Heydt
Richard Adams, _Watership Down._ It's about rabbits -- and
barring a few little liberties, such as they can talk to each
other and one of them has the second sight, they act *like
rabbits.* They don't plan ahead -- until they begin to learn
to. Half-a-dozen bucks escape from the destruction of their
warren, to found a new one somewhere -- and then they realize
they didn't bring any does with them. They're rabbits.
They're also brave, ingenious (though not precisely *smart),
lyrical, and Frith-fearing. There's a movie too, one of the
two or three best book > film adaptations I've ever seen.
Erol K. Bayburt
<sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
> Which reminds me of a crowning moment of pathos-filled Awesome in one
>of the most unlikely places: Groo, the Wanderer.
>
> Having gone through a harrowing time in which he was trapped
>underground with a wise man and little else, Groo has actually become
>educated and given up the sword for the book. Invaders come to pillage
>the library town. He tries to argue them into leaving, but of course
>they won't listen. And finally the library is set ablaze.
>
> And suddenly Groo is standing in the burning doorway, swords out and
>pure fury on his face...
>
> ... and all the invaders suddenly say, "...did we err?"
>
> (one of the barbaric and incompetent Groo's catchphrases was always
>"Did I err?")
If we're going to include comics, a couple from Girl Genius:
"Showtime!"
and
"I am Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, son of Klaus. I will say this only once.
Leave now, or you will die."
Oh, and a honorable mention to the coffee moment of awesome:
"Excellent aroma." *sip*
Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)
"I am GILGAMESH WULFENBACH, Little man! There is NOTHING I could not do
-- had I but CAUSE. And now... and now I HAVE one.
"DO... YOU... UNDERSTAND?"
rmoldsk...@online.no
> What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include for
> written SF?
I'm not sure I'd put it down as a crowning moment for written SF in general,
but one bit of awesome that's stuck with me is from "Downbelow Station" by
Cherryh:
[SPOILER]
Signy leading the attack run on Mazian's forces at Pell, and her left-behind
rider ships rallies to her call.
--
Leif Roar Moldskred
Lawrence Watt-Evans
<sea...@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
Thank you. The other two were fine moments, but THAT was obviously
the Crowning Moment of Awesome, and I'm surprised Erol didn't cite it.
--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com
I'm selling my comic collection -- see http://www.watt-evans.com/comics.html
I'm serializing a novel at http://www.watt-evans.com/realmsoflight0.html
Wayne Throop
:
: "DO... YOU... UNDERSTAND?"
I won't pick nits with silght wording and punctuation variation...
but it's really better with Wooster's reply for full effect.
"Yes! Ohgodyes! Yes master!"
It also helps to know that a page or two prior, before explaining things
thus to Wooster, they had an exchange something like
"Do you fear me? Be honest."
"Yes, I suppose a little."
"I can work with that..."
Michael Alan Chary
Btw, you asked about this a year ago, and I couldn't remember whether I
had answered or not. Butcher will sometimes go a couple three books
without mentioning characters. I grant you it seems odd to do that with
Mike in the first two, but I can see him having series bible and "knowing"
a character exists without actually mentioning him.
possible minor spoilers for book 11, which has the first few chapters
posted on Butcher's website.
Just for instance, Butcher just posted chapter five of Turncoat to the
website, and the Alphas are back.
--
The All-New, All-Different Howling Curmudgeons!
http://www.whiterose.org/howlingcurmudgeons
Michael Alan Chary
You've read the book. You've seen the movie. Now, eat the stew!
Dave Hansen
> In article <gp71c1$gt...@news.motzarella.org>,> >> In article <KGBFJ9....@kithrup.com>,
> >> djhe...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) said:
>
> >>> Johnny Tindalos <Jamai...@UnrealEmail.arg> wrote:
> >>>> Kurt Busiek <k...@busiek.com> wrote
>
> >>>>> "Silflay hraka, u embleer rah."
>
> >>>>> Okay, so it's not exactly crowning awesomeosity, but the fact that
> >>>>> I remember it over 30 years after reading the book, and can still
> >>>>> translate and spell it, counts for something.
> >>>> Definitely! It's only been about 26 years for me, but I still
> >>>> think that phrase sometimes.
>
> >>>> (Only at people who deserve it, naturally, not at giant telepathic
> >>>> rabbit- monsters from Beyond the MainBrane.)
> >>> My daughter, in moments of stress, sometimes mutters "Embleer
> >>> Frith in a handbasket!!"
>
> >> I'm whooshed. What work are you people talking about?
>
> > Watership Down.
>
> You've read the book. You've seen the movie. Now, eat the stew!
"Silflay" does indeed mean "eat." However, I wouldn't describe
"hraka" as stew...
Regards,
-=Dave
Tim McDaniel
Erol K. Bayburt <Ero...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>Mark_R...@hotmail.com wrote:
>> What Crowning Moments Of Awesome would you want them to include for
>> written SF?
>
I'd be more precise: Ista and the Father talking on the stairs, and
her going down to Arhys. For all that Bujold seems to have
transparent or functional prose, that's the highest of high fantasy to
me, and still brings a tear to my eye.
--
Tim McDaniel, tm...@panix.com
Michael Stemper
standing in a circle, while the Unit is clobbering the Shinola out
of Eddore -- and a huge Lens refulgently forms in the space between
them.
That is truly awesome.
--
Michael F. Stemper
#include <Standard_Disclaimer>
Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding;
Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile eggshell mind.
Michael Stemper
You've read the book, you've seen the movie, now: EAT THE STEW!
--
Michael "It's a cookbook" Stemper
Louann Miller
>
> I'd be more precise: Ista and the Father talking on the stairs, and
> her going down to Arhys. For all that Bujold seems to have
> transparent or functional prose, that's the highest of high fantasy to
> me, and still brings a tear to my eye.
I'm always out of tears at that point from "as I would be heard, so I hear
you."
Brenda Clough
Or, more correctly, "Now, eat the cast!" From a sign in a butcher shop
in Britain, when the movie came out.
Brenda
Johnny Tindalos
@reader1.panix.com:
"I read Tolkien and I got the hobbit habit,
Then I read another book and loved the film;
Now I've got the brown-eyed rabbit habit."
Johnny "bad paraphrase of a limerick I heard in teh [thinks about
correcting typo, decides not to] eighties OH and I seem to be ripping off
Mr. DeLaney dammit" Tindalos
Non
> On 2009-03-09 18:25:12 -0700, Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> said:
>
>> On Mar 10, 12:04 pm, Tina_H...@ftn.kruemel.org (Tina Hall) wrote:
>>> Moriarty <blue...@ivillage.com> wrote:
>>>> My CMoA:
>>>> "Nom" (Agree with Wasp on that)
>>>
>>> ? (Care to explain "Nom"?)
>>
>> Thomas Covenant book, er, 5? Nom is a sandgorgon (immensely powerful
>> uberthingy) who can only be summoned by his own name.
>
> Out of curiosity, can one say words like "economics" and "binomial" on
> that world, without summoning Nom?
>
> kdb
>
Hrrrr....oh, me misunderstand. Me sorry!
Ursa
216.196.109.145:
Never mind, I'll take him away.
It's just that our many-tentacled subaqueous pseudomessiah failed to
deliver the requisite tribute today; while I am sure he will find a
reason sufficiently compelling to permit the transfer of his justified
punishment to sundry innocent (if no less squamous) bystanders, this kind
of thing tends to make Non edgy.
Now who wants to say the K-word?
Yours astonishingly magnaminously,
Ursa