On Tue, Apr 06, 2004 at 06:31:32PM -0500, Matthew Hunter <matthew at infodancer.org> wrote: > By way of simultaneously offering a contribution of deceptively > little content to the discussion, and a play of words to those > list members enamored of such tasks, and finally, to misquote one > of our heros... > I am now one-half a Teresa. > Discuss. SPOILERS BELOW I have finished, and thus, I shall comment. 1) Tazendra was indeed the subject of the explosion and fire which brought Paresh (the Teckla sorceror from Teckla) to Adrilankha. However, this was the result of an attack, not an experiment. 2) Aerich was, in fact, the Duke of Arylle who arrived to inquire pf Paresh what had occurred. Intriguingly, however, Paarfi's account differs from Paresh's in several manners; first, Aerich gives no indication of being a sorceror; second, Paresh (who is not named in Paarfi's account) similarly gives no indication of sorcerous ability; third, as described by Paarfi, the encounter between the two was exceedingly brief and had no nature of combat about it; fourth, if Paarfi's account can be considered accurate, the behavior of Paresh is extremely typical of a Teckla. I am not sure who to believe. 3) Morrolan did, indeed, sacrifice several villages to Verra. In the process, he killed a god. He also seems to derive some benefit from the souls consumed by Blackwand; although this is only hinted at. In light of that, I wonder what effect the consumption of Tri'nagore had upon him? 4) Tazendra has indeed died (and died well), but not at Morrolan's sword. Thus, the question of what I shall call "Morrolan's Paradox of the Paths" remains unanswered. 5) There was very little in this book about Sethra. This was disappointing. 6) I suspect that Vlad may run into the Blue Fox at some point. Which begs the question, how DO the Jhereg feel about "road agents" unaffiliated with their House? 7) Loraan apparantly summoned a Jenoine despite remaining entirely offstage. Odd. Why he remains an active player backstage I have no idea. 8) Grita appears to have died. Depending on Paarfi's accuracy, this may have some effect on whether Grita was an invented character to fill Mellar's role in Jhereg, about which there was brief speculation earlier. 9) Aerich is dead. I believe this resolves a minor inconsistency about the age of the Duke of Arylle in Vlad's time; eg, Aerich would no longer hold that position. 10) I remain disappointed with the presentation of Morrolan and Blackwand. Their sections almost feel as if Paarfi was merely going through the motions; not very fun to read at all. The actions were significant and reasonable, but the depiction was relatively lifeless. This quality, in fact, pervades all three volumes of this work. 11) In theory, Pel remains alive and active as Prime Minister. Since his stated preference is for discretion, it is perhaps understandable that Vlad has not commented upon him. 12) None of the questions regarding the Warlock have been effectively answered. 13) We get to see the origins of Morrolan's eternal party. Heh. 14) The development of teleportation and psionic communication are depicted rather well. 15) Why hasn't Vlad met Arra? 16) When did Morrolan become a wizard? Issola implies that he was already a wizard when he acquired Blackwand, because he was then able to replace his staff with Blackwand. And yet, we have seen little indication of that. (For that matter, all of Morrolan's skills develop in leaps and bounds offstage; this is annoying). 17) I have a minor, and I believe entirely understandable, curiousity regarding the identity of the individual quoted on page 341 by "the author", whom I suspect in this case to be Paarfi. I wonder if the translator would deign to comment. -- 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