Hi Mark A. Mandel and other linguists, Have you read Thieves' World: Enemies of Fortune (short story "The Man from Shemhaza" by Steven Brust in it) yet? I was just wondering what you thought of the linguist in the short story by Jeff Grubb "Malediction". If you liked it, you might also like the short story "Apocalypse Noun" in Thieves' World: Turning Points by Jeff Grubb. No Steven Brust story in that volume. I just do not remember coming across any fantasy stories before whose main character was a linguist. Bye. Linda G.