>> Not everything Steve has reported on was dictated by the wise-cracking >> young assassin. Some of it was created by a wordy old scholar. >> > Then there was the nebulous third-party observer who related Athyra. Steve is playing with different narrative methods "recently" in order to best illustrate the theme of a book as well as keep himself entertained by the writing process. We have the typical first-person narration by Vlad, the "guest narration" by Kiera in the guise of a conversation with Cawti, a case of third-person narration of Savn's story (yes, this is Savn's story even though it features Vlad in a supporting role) and of course the historical meanderings of Paarfi. What sort of narrative ideas might Steve use for future books just to spice things up? Iorich - This is an epistolary novel, except that the "epistles" in question are not letters, but court records, transcripts of court sessions, and various bits of investigative evidence. The sub-text is that Vlad stays one step ahead of the investigators while conducting his own Sherlock Holmes/Sam Spade/Nick Charles (imagine Cawti as Nora, there's a laugh!) type of investigation. Anyone who thinks Steve doesn't read Holmes ought to go back and check out Tazendra's commentary on the interpretation of boot tracks. All she needed was to say that she'd once published a small monograph on the subject... Jhegalla - This is an unpublished manuscript for an avant garde new play in seventeen acts which seeks to explore the nature of the soul and the endless metamorphosis it encounters through its history or reincarnation. Each act puts Vlad into increasingly bizarre and surreal situations (act 10 is recited in seventeen syllable verse, act 3 is a mystery, act 5 is a romance, and act 13 is an opera; Vlad's age, sex, and race change from act to act) but the entire play examines his past, present, and his possible future, ultimately resolving some conflict that puts the Empire and House Jhereg in his debt while simultaneously bring him peace vis-a-vis the duality of his position as both an Easterner and a Dragaeran citizen. The "opera" episode of _Xena: Warrior Princess_ is a good model of the sort of chaos and growth that this story might represent. (Whatever you might think of the show itself, that episode (_The Bitter Suite_) was one of the most interesting and ground-breaking TV productions I've ever seen.) Vallista - In a nod to both _Brokedown Palace_ and _The Princess Bride_, _Vallista_ is entirely narrated by an old Easterner as a folk tale for his sick grand-daughter. It tells the story of the "Hero from Faerie" whose actions ultimately destroyed a regime and laid the foundation for a better to follow. The Hero ultimately returns to Faerie but his child stays behind and, of course, is our narrators grandfather. Come to think of it, _Brokedown Palace_ could well have been titled _Vallista_... Okay, this is just my attempt to shift the conversations back to Dragaera, but I AM curious what sort of odd narratives the other houses might inspire. ;)