On 6/2/06, Jon Lincicum <lincicum at comcast.net> wrote: > > Martin Wohlert wrote: > > However, even after a re-read (or is it two?) I still think that the > > the ending of _Issola_ is quite woolly... > It does go by rather quickly, and /Issola/ of all the Vlad books, is, to > date, the one that is most dependent on having read the other books (esp > /Dragon/, /TPG/ and /FHYA/) to fully appreciate. > > Perhaps /Dzur/ will eclipse it in this respect. I think Steve may have > given up on the idea of writing the books in such a way that the order > does not matter. > My introduction to Dragaera was a brief mention of it on a Usenet group a year and a half or so ago, followed by a skim through a web page (not sure whose), followed by a glance at Tor's sample chapter of Issola. That was the hook; I found a copy of Issola and read it and loved it, and went looking for the other books to figure out all the backstory. I kept hoping each story would reveal how Vlad lost his finger; eventually I figured out that I hadn't missed anything, Steve just never explained it. :) I don't know that I "fully" appreciated /Issola/ the first time through, since I hadn't read Orca. For instance, the Third Floor Relic quip made no impression on me whatsoever. But I didn't "fully" appreciate Yendi the first time either, for the same reason. I think Steve did a marvellous job of making Issola a viable entry-point into the series, and I hope /Dzur/ is just as good. -Max -- Be pretty if you are, Be witty if you can, But be cheerful if it kills you.