--- Philip Hart <philiph at SLAC.Stanford.EDU> wrote: > > On Sun, 29 Feb 2004, Bryan Newell wrote: > > But don't read this email unless you've read all > the Dragaeran novels, as > > there are spoilers for most of them below. > > > > > > > > > > 1. Why hasn't any action been taken against Paarfi > by the Empire for > > publishing to the masses how to defeat the Orb? > > Because Paarfi is Sethra's mouthpiece, and no one > wants to mess with her. > Is this based on the theory that Sethra killed Tortaalik and set Mario up to receive the blame/awe? > > > 4. When the Empire was founded, Kieron was, well, > Kieron, Vlad was Dolivar, > > but who was Aliera? Aliera says she was a Shaman, > and in "Issola" we hear > > that Drien was a Shaman/Warrior contemporary of > Kieron's, and may or may not > > have had a sex change, so was Aliera Drien? > > No. This would make her relationship with Morrolan > e'Drien too Oedipal. > Also I believe Drien is described as complex, > possibly as unstable - not > Alieraesque. > She probably wasn't Drien but I don't believe that she and Morrolan are physically involved. She's just his friend and relative who's staying at his home because... Well, I'm sure there's a good reason. > > > 6. Is Grita Ibronka's (much) older sister? ... > > Yes. People on the list eagerly await their > presumed confrontation. > I'm looking forward to her death, because she bores > me - my guess is the I have to agree. I'm pretty disappointed in Grita as a villain so far. Even learning Elder Sorcery hasn't given her any advantage over her foes. Maybe if we saw more of her reasoning and internal conflict about her unusual situation it would be more interesting. All we've seen her do in _Viscount_ is seek revenge on the people she hates by trying to kill their children (a practice they could have more reasonably applied to her but refrained from) in a way that threatens the existence of the Empire and Cycle. > > > 9. ... Verra says, "Kelly has his hands on the > truth about the way a > > society works ... > > > Has she forgotten the Teckla Republics? Or is > > lights" the Easterners came from), which again > begs the question, what about > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > <allcaps>aaaaahhhh!</allcaps> > > > Teckla Republics? Maybe what Kelly wants isn't > the same as a Teckla > > Republic? > > > Kelly wants to break the Cycle. He doesn't want to > form a govt that will > scrap its constitution in a set timeframe. She's > surely talking about > Marxism or some other earthly analysis, and noting > that it doesn't make > any sense in a world that's a) widely preindustrial, > b) indifferent to > widescale slaughter, and c) <allcaps> run by a big > cosmic wheel > administered by a bunch of gods </allcaps>. > If sorcery becomes a good analogue to industry (becoming more useful through time to provide for most needs of the society) than the people who control what amounts to the means of production will be a small elite. Since this is the opposite of Marx's theories, it doesn't look good for Kelly's plans anytime in the future. However, maybe the inevitable path is that improved lifestyle through sorcery will lead to a more compassionate attitude among Dragaerans given much more security, comfort and leisure than their ancestors imagined the masses would have. Emperors ever more tolerant of Easterners and the lower classes (Zerika with her lover and Norathar with her past) will come to power. Eventually, Emperor will be essentially a formality in political life and only the maintenance of the Orb and its duties will be left. There could be elections among the people for political offices (perhaps with one House being favored by mystic influence depending on the Cycle). __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Get better spam protection with Yahoo! Mail. http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools