Dragaera

random comments on The Enchantress of Dzur Mountain: Spoilers

Wed Apr 14 16:07:44 PDT 2004

On Tue, Apr 13, 2004 at 10:26:02PM -0700, Philip Hart wrote:
> spoilers for _TEoDM_
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> again, spoilers for the Pirodessey or the end of the Paarfiad or ...
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> 2. The editing in this volume seems to me to have been the best by far.
> I only caught a "the the".  Well, that and the lack of several
> sentences in Paarfi's Afterward conversation on pg 345.

I think the subject of a sentence got messed up at one point, like it says
"Sethra" when it should have been Sethra the Younger or the Sorceress.

> 7. I didn't understand why the Necromancer couldn't function with a God on
> the world.  Plus she managed ok in a similar situation at the end of
> _Issola_.

As said, the God was apparently blocking necromancy (or her necromancy), vs.
the presence of any random god.  "As long as that god is in the world I am
completely helpless."

> 8. Morrolan can't have much to strive for after killing a god.  And why

Well, there's becomng one.  Of course, he only made that world off-limits, the
god's core survived.  One wonders if Godslayer goes further.

> 9. There was some confusion in the description in para 4 on pg 289 -
> it seems as if Paarfi thinks Trinagore's death and the defeat of the
> Jenoine are the same event, instead of coincidental.  The Warlock's call
> and Morrolan's teleport are unrelated.

Yeah, that was confusing.  And contra someone else, the events weren't
simultaneous, either.  Morrolan killed the god, which should have allowed both
the Warlock and Necromancer to act, with the N. bringing Sethra to the
Jenoine, followed shortly thereafter by the death or removal of the Jenoine
and the resumption of sorcery.  The two events may have been pretty close
together, if the Necromancer could gate in really close, but not simul.

> 10. Piro never did much for me - when the soldiers tried to take him,

Agreed.  The young'ns didn't have the same appeal as the first gang of four.
And I kind of feel that something was missing from the book as well, I'm
afraid.  Good enough read, and I probably won't return the hardcover to wait
for paperback, but enh.  _Paths_ was pretty strong, but the latter two books
have a certain "going through the motions" feel.  The assault on the Orb felt
odd -- Jenoine, strike team, and then strike team gets chopped up by Pel and
Khaavren.  Maybe I'm getting tired of the whole unreliable narrator thing, and
am wanting a solid believable picture.  Grump, grump.

Devera showed up pretty unambiguously, though.  I should go update the FAQ.

We get a bunch of hints of what's inside Dzur Mountain, and seems to confirm
my notion of it as someone's NORAD/Cheyenne Mountain.

> the description of the meal early in the book, it struck me that Piro
> refuses to follow society's dictates in questions of marriage while
> happily exploiting the Teckla, who end up eating the nobles' scraps.
> Unpiroic.

Unsurprising.

> 11. Grassfog's amulet is a bit of plot device.  Actually the plot seemed

...which doesn't even get used in its advertised function.  Not sure if it
makes it worse or better.

> 12. Nice to see Khaavren resigning his position - this is a precho I think
> of a comment in the Vladiad about K turning in his cloak yet again.

_Orca_, Kiera's comment on Khaavren's hissy-fits.

> 15. I'm a bit unhappy that nothing came of Roaana's dream in _TPotD_ -

Don't even remember that...

> much of an arc.  Well, we do get an excellent portrayal of Aerich, static
> but then he's at an acme where d/dt is zero.

Possibly also had a thing for Tazendra himself.  I was disappointed Sethra or
the Necromancer didn't resurrect the recently dead folk lying around the cave.
I think we heard of a resurrection happening somewhere, earlier in the book.

Pel becoming Prime Minister was a nice moment.  Was a PM even mentioned in
_Orca_?

-xx- Damien X-)