Reading roundup

[hamsterwoman]

20. Lev Grossman, The Magicians -- very interesting book. I loved the first half of it, while Quentin and company were at Brakebills. I enjoyed the rest of it, too, but in a different way. I liked the way the plot unfolded, all the echoes and connections. I enjoyed a lot of the details, bits of dialogue and prose... but past the halfway mark, i.e.

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

Kinda interesting considering how long he's been at it, but I'm guessing it's a sign of how Vlad's grandpa is just That Good, and passed much of it on to Vlad. Oh, and Morrolan seems to have some bad sorcery habits he applies to witchcraft (the converse is probably why Vlad's not that great at sorcery, he's a Witch foremost).

It's funny, because Morrolan was a witch for a hundred years or more before he even discovered the concept of sorcery -- but it's pretty clear sorcery is more his style -- maybe 'cos it requires less patience?

My thinking is that what makes Morrolan a very impressive wizard (he is pretty young for the role of Court Wizard, I think, and it seems like it doesn't often go to Dragons since there are Athyra around; although it does look like Sethra the Younger was Court Wizard before Morrolan, and she's a Dragonlord too... ) is what makes him a less-than-stellar witch -- he is good at syntethizing separate disciplines (which seems to be the definition of "wizardry" in Dragaera-verse) but it might mean he is less rigorous at the individual disciplines.

I do think it's an indication that Noish-Pa is Just That Good and that Vlad himself is pretty special.

Have he and Vlad's grandpa talked much yet? I think Morrolan'd really like getting his advice.

I'm rereading Phoenix right now, which is when Morrolan and Noish-Pa meet, and M shows him around his work-shop, but we don't get to see much of the interacting first hand (Vlad is understandably distracted by things like Cawti facing execution and needing to end the war with Greenacre).

I'd think Teckla-awe, but for normal people too.

That sounds about right to me, theoretically anyway. But you're right about Baritt, who basically mocked Morrolan to his face. Although he was dead at the time, so I don't know that Morrolan could do much to him. Well, he could probably still have Blackwand eat his soul, but he seemed more confused and hurt than angered by that convesation.

[q99]

Part of it may be that Morrolan's not as good at the symbolism aspects too. Like when he asked Vlad about whether it was better to use reptile or mammal blood for a ritual, and Vlad had to inform him it's always best to use your own blood for mystic connotations.

I think he thinks in ingredients and assembling something, rather than the meaning behind it, and that's an issue he'd have even before learning sorcery.

-although it does look like Sethra the Younger was Court Wizard before Morrolan, and she's a Dragonlord too... )-

Being Sethra's apprentice is special circumstances I would think.

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I'm rereading Phoenix right now, which is when Morrolan and Noish-Pa meet, and M shows him around his work-shop, but we don't get to see much of the interacting first hand (Vlad is understandably distracted by things like Cawti facing execution and needing to end the war with Greenacre).-

I hope they get to hang out in the next book or two :)

[hamsterwoman]

I think he thinks in ingredients and assembling something, rather than the meaning behind it, and that's an issue he'd have even before learning sorcery.

That is an excellent point! And, yeah, that seems to be rather intrinsic to Morrolan's personality, and I can definitely see how it would seriously hamper him as a witch -- or, at least, allow him advance to a sort of journeyman level but no further.

Being Sethra's apprentice is special circumstances I would think.

Yep. Although I wonder if it's also a manifestation of Zerika's sense of humour that she keeps naming as her Court Wizards Dragonlords who would much rather be Warlord. (Although I do wonder if Sethra the Younger being Court Wizard is a goof/inconsistency. I think she was Warlord at some point early on in Zerika's reign? And then became Court Wizard somehow?

I'm also trying to remember/figure out when Aliera became Warlord... She obviously is just prior to Iorich, but doesn't seem to be during Phoenix or even Issola, 'cos she doesn't seem to be acting in any official capacity for the Empire. I'm starting to think that Zerika, inured by Khaavren's on-again, off-again resignations, changes up her inner circle regularly just to keep people on their toes. That might explain the secret Prime Minister thing, too.)

I hope they get to hang out in the next book or two :)

I do too! Having just finished my Phoenix reread, the last thing Morrolan tells Vlad is that he'll look after Noish-Pa. Of course, Noish-Pa then goes off to Lake Szurke... but I wonder if M drops in on him periodically to make sure he is doing well and chat about witchcraft.

[q99]

Hm, they went over the whole "Who'll be warlord during the next reign?" thing during Yendi. I forget the details.

And yea, Zerika does seem like she'd mix things up occasionally- if nothing else, the ever-shifting Dragon Heir situation inspires changes in other areas involving dragons.

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I do too! Having just finished my Phoenix reread, the last thing Morrolan tells Vlad is that he'll look after Noish-Pa. Of course, Noish-Pa then goes off to Lake Szurke... but I wonder if M drops in on him periodically to make sure he is doing well and chat about witchcraft. -

We have got to visit Lake Szurke in a book at some point.

[hamsterwoman]

Ah yes, the musical Dragon Heirs :) Though, since Aliera only appears in Taltos, almost 450 years after the end of the Interregnum according to that timeline thingy, looks like Morrolan was Heir for a good long time, poor guy. (I do wonder how much time he spent with the Orb over the course of this, since Zerika tells him in LCB that, as Heir, he'll need to get used to it or something... and whether he at least got to know his father a bit through the Orb's memories of him. And Adron, too, I'm guessing. I've clearly been thinking about this stuff way too much.)

Hm, they went over the whole "Who'll be warlord during the next reign?" thing during Yendi.

They did... and I can't keep it straight for the life of me even though I just finished Yendi a few weeks ago. XD But it mainly seems to be along the lines of who would get to be Warlord during the next Dragon reign (as it was centered of what would happen when either Morrolan or Aliera or Norathar took over as emperor, and would they name Sethra the Younger as Warlord). I guess it's assumed that when a Dragon Emperor takes over, there will be changes

(I did have to wonder... Morrolan does cheerfully explain to Vlad, in Yendi, that he's fine with Sethra the Younger setting off the conquer the East because he doesn't think she'll succeed in any lasting fashion and there's no harm in it. But in Lord of Castle Black (or maybe Sethra Lavode, I forget, one of the Viscount books at any rate), when he first meets her, he does not seem to like her views on Easterners much. Now, granted, that could just be Paarfi giving Morrolan more Eastern sympathies than he really had, for exoticism's sake or something. And, of course, a couple of centuries have passed since then, so maybe he cared at one point but no longer does. Or I could easily see Morrolan just caring about Blackchapel and not so much for any other place in the East. But in any case, that passage in Yendi has started seeming rather odd to me after I read Viscount.)

[q99]

-Ah yes, the musical Dragon Heirs :) Though, since Aliera only appears in Taltos, almost 450 years after the end of the Interregnum according to that timeline thingy, looks like Morrolan was Heir for a good long time, poor guy. -

One thing that strikes me about the Warlord/Aliera situation is that she hasn't technically known the Empress that long in Dragaeran terms. Even if they became fast friends, a couple years before putting her in the spot is sensible.

The Orb'd have some memories of Aliera, which likely helped, but that's a fairly short time. Hm, I suppose they got to know each other due to Aliera being Dragon Heir, until she wasn't at which point she was just a high-rank noble...

[hamsterwoman]

One thing that strikes me about the Warlord/Aliera situation is that she hasn't technically known the Empress that long in Dragaeran terms

Good point, I hadn't thought of that... I suppose Zerika must have relied on Sethra's judgement in that, as I can't think of anyone else still alive who spent any time with Aliera. And the Orb, if all it had to rely on there was Tortaalik's memories, wouldn't have had anything particularly useful, either.

You're right though that they must've gotten to know each other some while Aliera was Dragon Heir, but even that was only two years, as I think that's the distance between Taltos and Yendi. Although one of the books -- Phoenix, I think? -- has a weird line about some adventure of Vlad's which "first brought Aliera to the Empire's attention" or words to that effect. Which makes not a whole lot of sense, since installing Aliera as Dragon Heir was a large part of why Morrolan was trying to get her back, so I don't see him wasting any time in going to Zerika with a "look what we found!"

I do wonder who was Warlord during the Vlad books before Iorich. Morrolan makes a comment in Phoenix about Norathar putting together an invasion force for Greenaere, but it's not clear whether she's Warlord or not at this point. Since a point is made in Iorich about how Warlord and Heir are not often one and the same, I was guessing not... but she could've been, I guess. I guess it's possible Zerika defaults to Sethra Lavode whenever she doesn't have an acceptable candidate and Sethra isn't confined to Dzur Mountain for her own arcane reasons.

[q99]

Maybe after finding her they had to make sure Aliera was suitable first? Or "brought to the Empire's attention," could just mean "Fished her out of the paths."

--

Hm, I had the impression Sethra's in one of her 'unpopular' spells at the moment, and hasn't been warlord in awhile. Maybe it's someone we don't know, a shocking possibility.

[hamsterwoman]

There's definitely some early inconsistency/Vlad's weird memory lapses around Aliera's return from the Paths of the Dead -- at least in Jhereg, where Vlad says something about her fetching up in some field without apparent awareness of the role he played. But I think that "brought to the Empire's attention" line is in Phoenix, which was written after Taltos, so... I dunno. More Vlad memory weirdness potentially...

Hm, I had the impression Sethra's in one of her 'unpopular' spells at the moment, and hasn't been warlord in awhile.

That definitely seems to be the case during the time one of the Paarfi books is written, but I think it's Five Hundred Years After, which I think was written during Norathar's reign? I can definitely see how Sethra would be unpopular with Norathar on the throne, since she was involved, however unwittingly, in N's parents' disgrace and death. But Zerika owes so much to her (both her life, presumably, and her Empire), and all her principal advisors (Morrolan, presumably Khaavren and Pel as well, because of the Tazendra connection) are either friends of Sethra's or respect her a lot. But I suppose something could've come between them anyway, I suppose; Dragaerans are pretty crazy after all.

[q99]

She might be fine with the Empress, in fact I'm sure she is, but I mean more in the historical sense, she's in a "Horrible undead who Dzur heroes go to kill!" stage. Which I think cycles around- in a few centuries I expect her to be popular again.

[hamsterwoman]

Ah, yes, she does seem to be in one of those phases as far as the general populace is concerned, and looks like it's been going on for a while, since the Interregnum for sure (if Khaavren's maid's reaction in Sethra Lavode is anything to judge by). She was definitely Warord for Zerika right after the Interregnum, but I suppose that was a case where Zerika couldn't afford to sacrifice expediency for good PR or whatever, so it would definitely make sense that after the true military need was past Sethra stepped back from the role for the next couple of hundred years.

Maybe her resurrecting the Lavodes, as she seems to be starting on with Telnan, will help bring that about again in a couple of centuries, yeah.

[q99]

One can only hope. Telnan's a great PR guy :)

[hamsterwoman]

Telnan's a great PR guy :)

XD This cracks me up entirely, I confess. Just, the visual. He is a very likeable fellow, though!

[q99]

Quite! He's a great PR guy in the sense that if you talked to him, you would get the feeling that if he were involved in anything sinister he would brag about it in a cheerful manner.

[hamsterwoman]

Haha, rather! XD

[q99]

Going back to the Warlord question, I have done some digging. Aliera was indeed the Warlord at the time of Issola at the least.