On Sun, Aug 03, 2003 at 03:25:40PM -0400, Alexx S Kay <alexx at TheWorld.com> wrote: > > On Sun, Aug 03, 2003 at 12:13:21PM -0400, Alexx S Kay <alexx at TheWorld.com> wrote: > > > > Well. > > > > > > > > That was fun. > > > > > > > > [SPOILERS below] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [snip] > > > > I was operating under the impression that the "rune" would be > > Arra's way of making the levitation permanent. She suggests that > > with enough witches, she can make it permanent. > I don't remember such a suggestion, but will watch for it during the > next read-through (already underway, but slower, 'cause I'm updating > the Timeline). Page 308. > > > > * Interesting and unusual twist regarding Piro's choice of > > > > romantic partners. I wonder where it's going? > > > About a third of the way through, I suspected this would happen, and by > > > halfway through, I was sure. As in the Dumas model, the Viscount's love > > > life is not well-omened. It did make me appreciate, from an authorial > > > point of view, how cleverly Brust and Paarfi established the necessary > > > setup for this. > > Since I haven't yet read the Dumas works in this case, could you > > elaborate a little on this element in Dumas? > Raoul, the Vicomte de Bragelone loves Louise de la Valliere. This love is, > at least at first, returned. But after she joins the royal court, she is > successfully wooed by the king, and becomes his mistress, thus breaking > Raoul's heart. > The parallel is not close, but definitely seems present, at least to me. Hmm. Zerika would find it difficult to fulfill that parallel, I think. > Speaking of literary parallels, When Tazendra announces that she has > checked the cave the party is camped in front of, and it only goes back > fifteen feet, I immediately flashed on a similar scene from _The Hobbit_. > And sure enough, just as in the Hobbit, a little later, the party are > surprised by someone emerging from the (apparently) dead-end cave. Might > be just a coincidence, but it brought a smile to my face. Yes. -- Matthew Hunter (matthew at infodancer.org) Public Key: http://matthew.infodancer.org/public_key.txt Homepage: http://matthew.infodancer.org/index.jsp Politics: http://www.triggerfinger.org/index.jsp