> Anyhow, not really what I wanted to come out with, here. > Strange things making connections in my head, though -- have > parallels ever been drawn between the sequence of events > through Teckla and Phoenix to the abortive student revolt of > 1832, portrayed in 'Les Miserables'? Admittedly, Kelly's > organization actually manages to make it a bit further, as > it were, but still ... > Great! Now the image of Paresh singing "Do you hear the people sing?" is going to be stuck in my head all day. *heh* In fact, I'm having a pretty easy time envisioning the Vladiad as a cycle of musicals. Anyone have an awning? We could put on a show... I don't really draw much of a connection between Phoenix and Les Miz. About all they have in common, in my opinion, is the backdrop of a a group of idealist revolutionaries engaged in a revolt that is ultimately futile. Les Miz is really (once you get past the politics and the hundreds of pages of back-story on every character who happens to spend five minutes talking to Valjean) the story of Valjean and his road to redemption. He's pulled into the revolt by accident and could well have avoided it completely if he'd wished to. Vlad is reborn, in a sense, but I just don't see the same relationship to the revolt and its leaders. Primarily, I think, it's because Kelly's revolt is much more personal to Vlad - His family and his childhood home are at stake, causing Vlad to actively oppose the revolt for most of the story. It's Vlads love for Cawti and his devotion to her well-being in the face of overwhelming danger and the disintegration of their relationship that leads to his "redemption". The revolt is just another piece of the story, just as the Five Hour Uprising is important to Khaavren's/Tortaalik's story but is, at the same time, peripheral to it. Vlad isn't swept up in the revolt (to the point of, apparently, killing at least one person) as one of the idealists as Valjean is. He's swept up in it as one of the mob, subject to the confusion, the emotion, and the action that affects all of the rioters. I gotta say, though, that the image of Khaavren as Javert is a pretty darn attractive one. *heh* Except that Valjean was certainly a Tiassa, whereas Javert would more likely be a Dzur. (If you question that, I'll just point you to the multiple examples of Tazendra as "consulting detective". In fact, the example in _The Lord of Castle Black_ sounds so much like Holmes that at first glance I took it to be a pastiche of _A Study in Scarlet_. It isn't, but there's no question that Tazendra is employing the same observational and deductive techniques as Holmes, with Piro and company being just as amazed as Watson ever was at the results.) I'd pity the criminal who managed to so engage the attention of a Dzur that he became a worthy challenge all by himself.