Dragaera

Liavek

pddb at demesne.com pddb at demesne.com
Sat Mar 22 12:51:59 PST 2003

On Sat, Mar 22, 2003 at 03:32:49PM -0500, Gaertk at aol.com wrote:
> pddb at demesne.com writes:

[snip, I hope not too far]

> Hmm, I'm not sure we're understanding each other.  (Or maybe
> I need to reread the books.)

I did just reread them (I'm writing a Liavek novel, a day
late and a dollar short as usual), so perhaps I have an
advantage.

> My opinion is that the series should have stopped at book 4.
> At that point, everything that needed wrapping up was.  Then
> book 5 tried to add on, and it seemed that the authors tried
> to surprise the readers, and in so doing, damaged their
> characters.

I can't, of course, argue that this is how it seemed to you.
However, that is really not the way writing it felt.  What
we did have was a pause for reflection, and to consider the
implications of what we had written, and whether to bring
them out or deepen them or bring ambiguities or hidden
assumptions or logical conclusions not yet detailed, to the
fore.

> _Liavek: Festival Week_ spoilers:
> 
> S
> 
> P
> 
> O
> 
> I
> 
> L
> 
> E
> 
> R
> 
> S
> 
> [I'm picking on Pamela solely because she responded; I've a 
> much bigger gripe with Shetterly's story.]

I adored that story.  I think it follows very logically the
implications of The Magician's life and flaws, and takes up
issues raised in, for example, Ford's "Riding the Hammer"
in Volume IV.  This discussion is reminding me of 
many I had after TECKLA was published, oddly enough.

> I just can't imagine Dialos killing himself like this.  This 
> is his idea of acting responsibly?  Yes, he's making a point,
> but look at the cost, especially to Nerissa.

The effect to Nerissa is exactly what was intended.  She's
ready to take up her life.  She has to live anyway, you know,
because of the cat, and now she has a means to do so, outside
the stressful orbit of her family.  Also, I hope, if you look
at the way she went about seeking help in "The Green Cat" and
the way she does it in "A Necessary End," she's learned how
to cope with Liavek much better.

Obviously I didn't convey this properly, but it's at the very
end of the story.  I actually thought when I reread it that
I'd been a bit overt and obvious about it, but maybe (indirection
being a prime flaw of mine) I really hit a middle ground.

I'm sorry it didn't work for you.

-- 

Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet           (pddb at demesne.com)
"I will open my heart to a blank page
   and interview the witnesses."  John M. Ford, "Shared World"