On Wed, 25 Jun 2003, Philip Hart wrote: #On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 charles_sumner at harvard.edu wrote: # #> >I think _Jhereg_ is not exactly canon - Vlad says some funny stuff about #> >reviving beheaded people, for example I treated that as a slip by Brust [1], but if you're trying to keep Brust the author [2] out of the picture, saying Vlad made a mistake in Dragaeran history seems a good way to go. [1] http://world.std.com/~mam/Cracks-and-Shards/deaths.html#Beheading [2] http://world.std.com/~mam/Cracks-and-Shards/cracks.html#Brusts #> > - and Aliera's account seems both #> >muddled and likely to be biased. #> #> If Paarfi did "read notes or correspondence from the principals," that #> would have to include Aleria and _Jhereg_ (as well as _Issola_). # #You are quite likely wrong re _J_ and _I_ - Vlad says he was assured his #accounts would never see the light (or shade, I guess) of Dragaeran day. Athyra p. 9, maybe also Orca p. 16, mass market paperbacks. http://world.std.com/~mam/Cracks-and-Shards/cracks.html#Brusts #I don't believe I have accepted them as canon - I've asserted that #Paarfi's story hangs together, has some likelihood of being based on #eye-witness accounts, hasn't resulted in his death by duel, and is all we #have to go on, so deserves to be considered the default description of #what happened until we have more obviously reliable information (and what #would that be? Perhaps Sethra or Verra [no, she could be accused of bias #too] speaking in a Vlad novel?) Default does not imply 100% reliable. #The fact is that Paarfi is our best (well, almost only) source of info #on these matters and one has to either accept it as an #internally-consistent and plausible description of events or choose #ignorance of this interesting period of history. Or internally inconsistent, if one finds internal inconsistencies. -- Mark A. Mandel http://world.std.com/~mam/Cracks-and-Shards/ a Steven Brust Dragaera fan website