Though _A_ is not my favorite installment in the Vladiad, I think you underestimate the book. I thought it was interesting to learn what life is like for the majority of Dragaerans - this is important in evaluating the political elements of _Teckla_/_Phoenix_. We learn a good deal about witchcraft. We get to see Vlad interacting with someone he doesn't feel inferior to, someone intelligent and sympathetic enough to be a worthwhile foil; Vlad seems much more like an adult than he does interacting with Sethra, Morrolan, and Aliera. I thought the surgery scene was well-done, and the minor characters of Master Wag and Sara were well-sketched. The final confrontation in the dark was also excellent. I also appreciated getting to see things from Rocza's viewpoint for once - not as interesting as Loiosh's perhaps (though some of it comes through indirectly), but worth reading a few pages. Admittedly the novel does drag in spots, especially compared to the earlier Vlad novels. In fact my own objection to the novel is related to this - Loraan spends too much time twiddling his thumbs and not enough blasting away (he sends a handful of guards who can't trace a teleport?), when anyway he has no business being undead after meeting Blackwand. For a topical example of the usefulness of Savn's viewpoint, this list has recently discussed the effect of Vlad's height on his fighting style. Turning to _A_, we find that when Vlad is attacked in the inn he jumps onto a table. Maybe we wouldn't have gotten this detail in first person. - Philip On Mon, 5 May 2003, Greg Morrow wrote: > Thomas FURNITURE ARTIST wondered aloud to the group: > >Re-reading it (yes, finished already) I believe I can say that though I > >almost burn with curiousity in regards to what Vlad and Loiosh were > >thinking, I did rather enjoy it being told from the viewpoint of Savn. > > I disliked it intensely. In my impression, _Athyra_ is about forty pages > of story stretched out to 200 by the expedient of a POV character who knows > less than anyone else, *including the reader*. Ignorant POV characters are > no crime in storytelling, but their most effective use is to smooth > exposition--you can tell exposition to an ignorant character to mask > telling the reader. > > But Savn was ignorant of things we already knew. For me, at least, that > meant I spent most of the book going, "Yes, that's Vlad. Yes, that's > Loiosh. Yes, I know why an Easterner acts like a Jhereg and has a > jhereg. Yes, this, yes, that, yes, I know this other thing already, too, > just tell the blasted story." > Plus none of Vlad's usual supporting cast? Bah. > > -- > "Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're > crazy."--Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist in his project to > drill for oil in 1859. > > mailto:Dr.Elmo at whiterose.org > http://www.whiterose.org/dr.elmo/blog/ > >