[different quoting styles don't mix very well; also, this bit here was from me originally] > Agreed; this is also the reason why I believe Khaavren is > the current Warlord. [Roney] > Given that he's supposed to be the head of the Special > Tasks Group (at the time _Orca_ was written), that seems > unlikely. [rest of the quotes are from Casey] > [nit]No one *was* warlord at the time _Orca_ was *written*, > though perhaps someone *is* at the time _Orca_ is set. > [/nit] :) Oh boy! Someone who wants to pick nits with me :) I would be *very* surprised if there was no Warlord when the prologue and epilogue were written. As for the rest of the book, there's no proof it was "written" in that universe to begin with. > I agree that sure sounds like Papa-cat himself. Mayhap > we'll hear a bit more in the Vicount trilogy? Then again, mayhap not. I wounldn't be too surprised if Brust found a way to leave the matter in doubt. > On the other hand, I haven't seen any explicit indication > of where they will land in the timeline. Hearsay from someone claiming to have heard an excerpt from volume 3 at a con said it was set in the first year of Zerika IV's reign. In an interview soon after Issola was published, Brust said he wasn't sure if Paarfi would consider Khaavren's meeting with Vlad important enough to include. Would the Author like to comment? And have the Wonderful Folks at Tor said anything about sample chapters? I notice that Amazon still doesn't have a cover image yet :( --KG