Noah Stacy writes: ... the other couldn't get into them basically because (paraphrasing) everyone, Vlad included, is a bad-ass. I mean, Aliera's a demigod, one gets the impression that Morrolan has won pitched battles against hundreds single-handedly, and Vlad is exceptionally good at just about everything he does (except possibly sorcery). Sometimes i feel something similar; basically, Vlad has managed to make it this far only because he has acquired some incredible bad-asses as friends. But then it seems as though it were ordained by fate, what with reincarnation. Plus, the Brust theory about writing characters as people whom he found interesting and would want to hang out with is fairly compelling. rone -- "Alan Alda's all we are." - Kurt Cobain