> > At 10:12 04/09/2005, Maximilian Wilson wrote: > > >According to the poem, a reborn Phoenix (if it's different from a > > >decadent Phoenix) should come at the very end of the Great Cycle, > > >followed then by a decadent Phoenix. But with Tortaalik/Zerika, we saw > > >just the opposite, and then Zerika handed off power to a Dragon. > > > > > >Any comments? > In response Sat, 2005-04-09 at 19:56 -0700, Mark A. Mandel wrote: > > Cracks and Shards! I have been reading these books for how many years?, > > and I never even > > noticed that. Mr. Wilson, you have pointed out a notable Crack. > > > > -- Mark A. Mandel > > http://cracksandshards.com > > a Steven Brust Dragaera fan website > > [This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.] In response Steve Brust wrote on Sat, 23 Apr 2005 17:37:27 -0700 >This is most emphatically not a crack. Hi, Glad to hear Steve is out of the hospital. Hopefully, the cure works this time. So my first thought on this Cycle post was therefore it is most emphatically a shard, but then... Have we ever read of anyone quoting the Cycle poem? I thought Vlad was taught Dragaeran history by someone. Did he teach himself? Using book search, this came up: Score 2 at 51.1% in chapter jhereg06.html … all. At my father's insistence, I knew at least as much about the history of House Jhereg as any Dragaeran born into the House. Jhereg records do, I will admit, tend to be somewhat … Jhereg, Chapter 6, "True heroics must be carefully planned--and strenuously avoided", pg 72 The Book of Jhereg, Jhereg, Chapter 6, pg 53 Does anyone remember someone teaching Vlad Dragaeran history? I was thinking the cycle poem was a Dragaeran childhood rhyme meant to help a child learn the cycle. And that someone teaching an Easterner about the cycle would teach him the Cycle poem, but then the Lyorn or whoever would not feel it necessary to explain to an Easterner that it is just a poem. It is not the Cycle. The teacher would think the Easterner does not need to know more...it is not like the Easterner will ever go the Paths of the Dead and see the real Cycle. The Easterner would probably not even be around long enough for a change in the cycle...so why would it matter that the poem is not entirely accurate and is different when "A Great Cycle--seventeen Cycles" completes. The Book of Taltos, Taltos, Chapter 14, pg 140. Perhaps there is different Great Cycle verse. 17 Cycle verses exactly the same and then a slightly different Great Cycle version. Can't you see a teacher saying to Vlad and the second Cycle verse is ...and the third Cycle verse is and Vlad saying there all exactly the same. And the teacher trying to explain that after 17 Cycles another Cycle verse had to be written and Vlad saying skip it. Bye. Linda G.