Howard Brazee <howard at brazee.net> Sent by: dragaera-bounces at dragaera.info 05/26/06 08:45 AM To cc dragaera at dragaera.info Subject Re: META: Proposed rules page first complete draft >Or in particular, say "The latest book - which currently is _Sethra >Lavode_, even when the latest book's spoilers are not major plot twists". > >I really see 1½ spoilers in Dragaerian novels, and neither is in the >Viscount of Adrilanka series, so the guidelines need to be better defined. --- >Given your other comments, I'd recommend changing _The Viscount of >Adrilankha_ to _Sethra Lavode_ because 1) that's where the meat of the >spoilable things are and 2) since there's no specific book titled _The >Viscount of Adrilankha_ it might help avoid some confusion from new >readers. You could also list it as "_Sethra Lavode_ (aka volume three of >_The Viscount of Adrilankha_)" if you wanted to keep the TVoA reference. --- How's this? --- In general, it should be assumed that most readers of this list will be familiar with the basic characters and general world of Dragaera. When mentioning specific plot points, especially major revelations from the later works it is considered polite to place a spoiler warning in the subject line of the message. This most notably concerns certain facts revealed late in _Orca_, and many of the later events in _Issola_ and _Sethra Lavode_. It is essential to include spoiler warnings when discussing virtually any topic related to a book recently published by Steven Brust. ("Recent" in this case usually means within 6 months of the release of the paperback edition, but the "Most Recently" published book usually still qualifies. At this time [05-06] this is _Sethra Lavode_.) Examples of appropriate spoiler warnings: "The best thief in Dragaera? (Orca Spoilers)" or "The undead and Dark Water (Athyra Spoilers)". When writing a message marked with a spoiler warning, in cases where the spoiler itself would normally occur very early in the text of the message, it is a good idea to provide several blank lines (17 is a popular number for some reason) at the top of your message to make it less likely for a mail client to display the spoiler text by accident. Spoiler warnings should be used with greater discipline when discussing Steven's non-Dragaera works, such as _Agyar_, _Freedom & Necessity_, _The Gypsy_, _To Reign in Hell_, and also _Brokedown Palace_ which has been out of print for many years. Spoiler warnings should also be used when making revealing references to works by other authors, including books, short stories, movies, or plays that list members may not be familiar with.