I've started in on 500YA, and in the course of so doing, found myself examining the cover art, which brought to my mind an incongruity; and that raised the question of whether I ought to seek an answer in the appropriate venue, now that I have the capability to do so; wherefore previously, I have had the question, but not the capability, and hence, still lack the answer. My question, then, is this: Vlad continually refers to the advantages of Eastern-style fencing over the Dragaeran hack-and-slash style, with very heavy, broad blades (that, in fact, he is nearly unable to lift on one occasion). In contrast, the Paarfi novels clearly are written as Dumas pastiches, and as such, the appropriate sword form is the rapier; this is borne out by the cover art of both 500YA and tPG, as well as the descriptions of swordfights within, at least in some cases. (Tazendra uses either a broadsword or a hand-and-a-half sword; Khaavren and the others appear to carry and fight with rapiers). So, what's up with that? Are the Dragaerans so much bigger and stronger that Vlad perceives their rapiers as broadswords, while the Dragaerans perceive them as light fencing blades? Is it that Khaavren and his companions, excepting Tazendra, are unusual with respect to their armament? Is it that Vlad is unusual in the opponents that he faces? Is it that Dragaerans fight with (large) rapiers in a full-forward medieval style, more suited to different weapons? Is it that Vlad is actually wielding something closer in form to the foil or epee or sabre (modern fencing weapons) than their common ancestor the rapier? Is Paarfi being an idiot? -- Matthew Hunter (matthew at infodancer.org) Homepage: http://matthew.infodancer.org/index.jsp Public Key: http://matthew.infodancer.org/public_key.txt