Poem Fest, Reading Roundup, and Dragaera links
Real life has been intense. I have a lot to post about, but am too tired to write it up. So here's some book-related content instead:
isiscolo pointed me towards the Multifandom Poetry Fest for the year, which, as you might guess, is extremely Relevant To My Interests:
So far, on the writing end, that's led to a fill for minutia_r's prompt: The Goblin Emperor, Csethiro/Maia, a sword against your enemies
As dainty bauble we could never please
The court, the gossips, but, Serenity,
We'll be a sword against your enemies.
A warrior's heart is out of fashion these
Days, and (like our nose) it's plain to see
As dainty bauble we could never please.
No handicap is kindness; no disease
A gentle heart upon the throne, and we
Can be the sword against your enemies.
You build your bridges, never to appease,
But to do right: a lasting legacy,
No worthless bauble. It could never please
Us to be mere drapery, to cease
The warrior's dance; we choose instead to be
A sharpened sword against your enemies.
So let us share, in hardship and in ease,
Whatever fate thou findst or buildst for thee:
As dainty bauble I could never please --
I'll be a sword against thy enemies.
[Blathering]So, this was really fun! For me the core of writing a fannish poem is figuring out the form the character would write in, like 90% of the time (this is how we got Adam's sestina and the rest), and things sort of fall into place from there. Somehow I figured the elves of TGE-verse would go for villanelles -- they are elegant, but in a sort of ostentatious, loopy way that just seemed to fit the aesthetic, very rigid and formal but graceful and sort of natural-feeling. Anyway, so I figured a villanelle, and it made sense to make the prompt words one of the repeating lines, and specifically A2, the money shot. (My only previous attempt at a villanelle, I ended up with A1 being the stronger line, and that makes the ending less punchy than it should be, so, lesson learned.)
And then it occurred to me that this was actually a case where the repetition of the villanelle's refrain (which tends to annoy me from a content perspective because nothing is actually that profound that it needs to be repeated 4 times in less than 20 lines) could be put to some good use, because this is a canon, and a culture, where very minute changes, that hardly change the line at all, actually signal important shifts in meaning -- and so I figured that the poem would start out in the formal we/you and end up with the intimate I/thou. But up until almost the very end I kept waffling over WHERE the shift would take place -- the last two lines (i.e. the refrain)? That didn't seem quite right. Just the last line? It was actually only when I came up with the first line of the last stanza that the very obvious solution -- the entire last stanza, duh, 'cos it's a stanza - occurred to me, and only because I realized I wanted the "us" in that first line to be ambiguous/transitional -- you can read it as the singular-formal, carrying over from the preceding lines, OR (and this is what I think it "really" is) you can read it as plural, Csethiro talking about them as a single entity for the first time instead of a distinct formal-I and formal-you. So I'm actually really happy the way that whole stanza worked out ultimately, and most of it wasn't even preconceived intent. :D
I don't actually remember how the B rhyme word came along -- I might've just been looking for something that would be very simple the rhyme/have a lot of options, but in the end, the fact that both the A and B rhymes have the long "ee" sound in them ended up being something I liked -- this way the B rhymes are actually sort of slant rhymed or at least assonant with the A rhymes, and the whole thing feels even more... fractally, IDK, the thing that drew me to villanelles in the first place. Ditto for the additional repetitions/motifs that snuck in, in addition to the actual repeated lines -- the "heart" and "warrior", and the way the middle four stanzas sort of mirror each other.
*
Reading continues slowly, and I'm still "behind".
8. Patrick Weekes, The Prophecy Con (Rogues of the Republic #2) -- not quite at zany and over-the-top as the first book, which made me a bit sad, buy definitely still enjoyable (especially the second half, once it hits its capery stride), and it impressed me in one regard: I feel like the author pretty clearly tried to explicitly address some problems/gaps in the first book, and actually did a much better job of it than I had expected. Spoilers!
So, let's talk about that first. One of the things that didn't particularly work for me in book 1 was the pair-everybody-off romance, and in particular Dairy the prophecied Champion of Dawn/unicorn fairy with a virgin kink felt rather off. Well, I was happy to see that at the start of this book it is settled that nothing happened between them and Dairy just wanted to be friends. Something egelantier pointed out as a gap in the first book is that all the relationships are het. Well, this book seemed determined to acknowledge the existence of non-het relationships -- Desidora, back to being a love priestess, sets up two women, at least one of them apparently bi, and then two guys, all very equitable, and then Ululenia actually goes and finds herself a female virgin to pass the time. And I thought that would be the end of it, even when Dairy rejoined the team, but, OK, apparently not, and 16-year-old!Dairy/creature of magic with a thing for virgins apparently works way better for me when Dairy is an enthusiastic participant, even though the Mister Dragon thing is still pretty random. But points for giving one of the main characters a non-het relationship (even though the implication that Dairy just isn't into women at all -- even Loch says "even I'm a little tempted" when seeing Ululenia in her Elven form -- is kind of a retcon, considering his reaction to Loch being all sultry for the guards, but I don't mind. Or hey, maybe Dairy's tingly feelings about Bi'ul, which I thought was being played for laughs in book 1, wasn't, but I kinda doubt that. And Tern and Hessler are pretty cute as a couple, once the jealousy/obliviousness is out of the picture, although I still feel pretty strongly that Desidora is part of that relationship as well. Loch and Pyvic was suitable low-key, there were no additional forced love interest for Icy, and while Kail/Desidora is apparently still a thing I'm expected to believe in and care about, at least it wasn't a major or established thing.
Sadly, I liked both Kail (my favrorite in book 1) and Diz less in this, as I felt they both got kind of needlessly angsty arcs -- Desidora upset that without the mantle of a death-priestess she is useless, and Kail still feeling off after the mind-controlled betrayal and therefore being grumpy at everyone, especially Icy. I think Tern was probably my favorite this round, with Icy still firmly in second, but I hope Kail will be back to his usual self in book 3. And Diz has her mojo back, so hopefully no more moping for her, either, despite Gwyl's betrayal. I did, however, enjoy the running joke with Kail naming the airship and everyone grudgingly accepting the name, and Tern's assertion that "That puts you in charge of all stupid names we encounter on this job."
I think Weekes is also trying to make up for the barely-there worldbuilding backstory in the first book, so we get a good look at the Dwarves (Tern's appreciation for them was very cute, as well as her appreciation of Veiled Lightning) and the Elves (an interesting take on them, and Ethel was one smug asshole, which I happen to like in my Elves), and even something explaining the Urujar history of oppression (very "as you know Bob," as it had to be, but there are worse ways to make that happen than a museum visit).
There was some plot. The whole thing where an Elven porn manuscript was the key to stopping war between nations was so ridiculous, I had even a harder time buying the heist than in the first book, but I liked Ethel's limerick, and the poker tournament (although I could see the "twist" with the flush coming from miles away). And the train-roof fight scene was fun in a similarly over-the-top way as much of the first book... except for all the civilian casualties. Which brings me to the other reason, besides Kail angst, that this book worked less well for me -- it feels considerably darker than the first one, further undermining the zaniness I'd enjoyed. Much higher death toll, an entire garrison being wiped out, armies of zombies, kind of horrific scenes with the naga stealing people's words as mind-control and using that to suborn their will - it is very effectively creepy, but too dark for the surrounding candyfloss (and also her torturing a fairy creature), the new Archvoyant with crystal shards piercing his fingertips -- it veered effectively close to horror, leading to much cognitive dissonance with the quippy action and fluff elsewhere.
Actually, the first part of the book, when the team is split up, kind of dragged for me, but things picked up once everyone was reunited, including Dairy. One thing I do think was done really neatly was the reveal of Dairy as one of the knights -- the new recruit, the nickname, everything. Him joining them makes perfect sense for the Champion of Dawn who has fulfilled his purpose, and actually for the kind of person Dairy has shown himself to be. I don't really buy him believing Loch et al were actually evil -- whatever else, the kid's moral compass has always been impeccable, so I don't see him as someone easily brainwashed at all, even by authority - but I liked everything else about that part of the book.
Also, while I appreciate the "Nice Guy" takedown, I didn't think that bit needed to really be there in depth, it's pretty random.
Oh -- oh! And the fakeout with Loch's death at the end -- the book actually ends with that, and there are acknowledgements, and only THEN do we go back to the action and learn that Loch is alive and how it was all done. I don't think I've ever seen it handled that particular way in a book before. Very solid trolling XD
9. Patrick Weekes, The Paladin Caper (Rogues of the Republic #3) -- OK, so Kail was back to form, and I enjoyd the book more, although the ending features such a drawn-out set of concurrent action scenes switching back and forth between smaller sets of characters that I really couldn't keep track of who was doing what and why, and was kind of starting to skim there. Enjoyable overall, but I'm a little glad there isn't a book 4 out (currently), because I'm ready to take a break from these guys. Spoilers!
We continue the de-heteronormalization of the series, with Veiled Lightning revealed to be a lesbian and apparently Ululenia's love interest? Well, I guess we had an m/m pairing involving one of the main team, and needed to balance that out. Speaking of romance, Tern and Hessler continued to be really cute in this, although I could've done without the Apparently Dead interlude for him; I find it adorable that they're confident they can make things work even though he is now a Glimmering Man (which is a development I'm not really in favor of, but hopefully it won't change him too much; I guess it's just his and Tern's turn for angst next book?) This one had its angst quota fulfilled by Ululenia and, very low key, by Icy's secret past. I was very apprehensive about the Icy reveal, but I actually decently liked the way it was handled, with him finding a new balance (the elemental powers, though? Whaaaat.) And the evil unicorn thing got a bit much, but it did make me find Ululenia at least a little bit interesting for the first time in three books, so I guess that's OK? I don't at all mind the reset, though.
Plot-wise, I kept thinking the ancients were basically Jenoine, with the genetic experiments, and then it turned out that Kail was right about them being sentient objects possessing people, and THEN the plot turned out to be "iPhones are evil mind control", which I find kinda hilarious, tbh. Westteich was a pretty satisfying example of bureacratic evil, which is a fun love-to-hate category for me. I was bummed that Ethel turned out to be a traitor to the cause, though, because I'd really enjoyed his interactions with the team, even more as a reluctant and grumpy ally in this book than as a fun antagonist in the last one. The named ancients, Mr Slant and Mr Lively and so on, were almost Good Omen-esque in their feel (if not as deft, but, I mean, that's a tall bar to clear). I didn't really need the detailed propaganda play-by-play, but whatever.
Kail's "yo mama" duel with the ancients was quite fun, and it was also nice to see how he acted when his own mother was in danger, especially Kail impersonating a harrassed and put-upon black ops guy ordering people about
; not that one needs to be quite so on point about it, but it was fun, and could've been a lot worse. (I also liked the chance to learn that Kail's real name is Binjamet duQuaille - presumably Kail comes from the last name) Tern's parental issues were less to my taste -- it seemed like such an extreme and fairly unmotivated reaction, not a natural outgrowth of anything we'd seen till then. I would've expected something more like Pawter's homecoming in Killjoys -- vague spoilers for Killjoys? complicated feelings and a lot of resentment/not a lot of forgiveness, but a core of family,/Killjoy spoilers and instead there was absolutely nothing. Why even bother going there, then, narratively? On a random note, I guessed that Laridae was Tern's real name a little bit before it was revealed. And speaking of things I guessed, I also figured out that demon!Jyelle's "NOW?" were directed at Loch and she was working with Our Heroes rather than the ancients.
Oh, also, I found that I really liked Derenky, in book 2 and here, his competence and his cheerful and unapologetic designs on Pyvic's job -- and was very sad when he was killed off. These books are hard on the supporting cast in general; I was surprised Naria was killed off, with fairly minimal redemption, although it was nice to see her and Loch actually cooperate for once, even if it was in flashback.
There is more creepiness in this book, although not to the degree of the naga and her magic in book 2; I think the most effective aspect of that for me was the chimera, determined that "We will die last". If the trackers were meant to be creepy, or sympathetic, or interesting in any way, they did not work like that for me.
The running gag in this one was Hessler's 91 seconds ("Sorry, it's a thing now"), and I found it pretty charming. The series running gag, though, is Loch stealing people's swords in every book (Kail: "Hey Captain, you know you can actually give people coins in order to legally purchase a sword?") And I laughed at the toast to Loch's family's dead fish at the end.
The then/now writing trick kind of didn't work for me, because it feels like cheating (although that's another visual media trick, I think -- sitcoms seem fond of that one), and in any case, I don't think I can buy a sentient hammer plotting against evil iPhones and Loch hoodwinking a sentient walking stick (I did guess the battleaxe was gone too easily... but how did Loch know about the properties of ancients being able to jump to other weapons, and what kinds? Did Gwyl tell her as part of their arrangement?)
Two quick quotes:
Loch to Kail: "Hey, you were right about the ancient being magical weapons. Who am I to doubt your statistically inevitable blind luck?"
Icy: "I swore an oath never to kill again. Please try not to die. [...] Perhaps you should have tried harder."
10. Steven Brust, Jhereg (reread) -- so first ikel89 picked up this book, after I had carefully avoided shoving it on her, and then cyanshadow started reading it, after I had cheerfully and self-servingly shoved it on her at dinner a couple of weeks back, and that reminded me that I was sort of planning to reread it myself, since it's been a while since my last reread, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it, trying to keep pace with Cyan. The result is this Jhereg liveblog (except I did go back and add thematically linked bits to earlier ones, to keep it a little organized): Spoilers, of course
- I always forget that the restaurant flashback where eleven-year-old!Vlad witnesses a Jhereg hit and meets Kiera is the Jhereg (and thus series) opener. I mean, I remember the SCENE, of course, just not that this is how we first meet Vlad. It's a hell of a scene in terms of showing background and worldbuilding.
- Baby Loiosh is still the most adorable thing. I always assume this part, with Loiosh hatching, is actually in Taltos (which would make sense, because flashback), but no wonder it's here, and that I imprinted on Loiosh as much as I did.
- Morrolan has a spy network? By which, I assume, Vlad and Kragar mean that Lady Teldra has a spy network, because unless we're talking about people generally coming an going at Castle Black, between the party and the Circle of witches, I don't see Morrolan either taking an interest in spies or feeling like spying is consistent with Dragonlord honor...
- The Demon is somewhere between 800 and 1000 years old, which Vlad says is equivalent to 35-40 for an Easterner. Assuming a linear scale, that puts the born-just-before-the-Interregnum cohort (Morrolan, Zerika) square in their mid-20s equivalent, and Aliera just a little bit older (mid-late 20s).
- I really do like the Demon, and the aboveboard way he deals with Vlad (well, until he tries to have him assassinated, but very professionally), and am glad he's stuck around as an occasionally-recurring character.
- "I could build my wife the castle she'd been talking about" -- [spoilers for Teckla]spoilers for Teckla So, like. We know Vlad is oblivious about the actual state of his marriage at this point, but I really, really wonder how he got this castle impression from Cawti. The only way I can imagine the conversation going is:
Vlad: So, I was at Castle Black yesterday--
Cawti: Castle Black! That floating thing perpetuating the exploitation of Easterners and Teckla blah blah blah military-industrial complex blah blah blah corrups system which must be torn down blah blah blah opium of the masses blah blah blah.
Vlad: *smiles and nods absently while cataloguing which weapons he needs to change for tomorrow*
Vlad: Aww, darling, of course, we'll have a castle some day too :D
(Although later on Vlad brings up the castle again, to Cawti, and she chuckles. That's harder to explain away as Vlad obliviousness. Or, IDK, maybe Cawti does actually want a castle , and she wants to run it like a kibbutz...
But in general, it's really bittersweet to read about Vlad and Cawti here. Their marriage seems pretty solid -- bantering about Cawti being better than him at knives and how he couldn't afford to hire her and Norathar as assassins, her taking his turn cooking without him even realizing it because she sees he's working through something, her being supporting and the only person he can talk to about the Dolliver revelation. But there's also these other bits -- Cawti mentioning she was bored at home (as a joke, but...), Vlad taking such a big job, and a huge risk, without consulting with her -- I mean, yes, it's his work, and he's in a high-risk profession anyway, but it seems like the sort of thing one may want to consult a spouse about before committing to? (Although I guess he couldn't really tell the Demon "I'll think about it" -- but it seems (from Hawk) that psionic contact is considered secure, so...)
- "I hadn't realized that there was more than one way to leave the council." Damn, I've rather missed young!mobster Vlad :)
- "Dragaerans out east are treated about the same as Easterners are treated here -- worse, if anything," Vlad says. Now this is interesting. He's never been in the East himself at this point (but has some friends/sources there? I should reread Jhegaala to see if that's still the case...), so I wonder if this is a "common knowledge" sort of thing, or if Noish-Pa told him stories. Presumably Morrolan hasn't told him much, if anything about his time in the East, given everything that is news to Vlad in Issola, and anyway, he seems to have been sheltered or oblivious enough to have had a pretty easy time of it -- unless Paarfi was making up stuff again. But it's neat to see that Dragaerans being considered demons in the East has been true in Brust's mind as far back as Jhereg (one of the Viscount books talks about Morrolan being considered a "pet demon" by his village).
- Vlad says he was revivified once (or at least once in the context of a "standard" hit -- so, presumably, not the events in Yendi) by Sethra Lavode after Kiera found his body in the gutter. This has to be after Taltos, because I doubt he would've been this blase about being revivified by Sethra if he didn't already know her at the time. He also, later, references "that time Aliera had brought me back to life" -- that must be Yendi.
- The Empire has rules against torturing suspects and forced mind-probes, but they suspend those rules in the case of Morganti killings -- and anyone convicted of a Morganti murder is executed by a Morganti blade himself. (Well, unless one has a Great Weapon and can get away with whatever, of course :P) I'm surprised, though, that in the figures Vlad is quoting, a Morganit killing is only about 4x the cost of a "standard" -- that seems a bit low considering the higher risk and general taboo against the destruction of souls...
- Mellar is Vlad's 42nd hit. Boy's been busy in the past 5 years! That's a corpse every 1.5 months on average... and assassination is not even his main job anymore these days. Two of those were Morganti.
- So, Kiera's known Vlad since he was 11 and this is her first time visiting his office? I mean, everybody's freaking out that she'll steal his stuff, so maybe that's why, but still... (considering that Morrolan was all, "invite me up to see your etchings" on, what, their fourth meeting or something? XP) And later on we see that Aliera's not been in his office either, but that's more to be expected.
- I still find it so weird/interesting that Vlad and Kiera's standard greeting is kissing XD Like, how did that get started? (And, does he keep doing it after Orca?) Speaking of greetings, while Vlad, Morrolan, and Aliera do things like bow to each other, Sethra apparently kisses Vlad on the cheek XP
- Kiera re: Vlad getting greedy and getting in over his head: "The last time that , happened, you found yourself fighting an Athyra wizard, right in his own castle, as I recall. That kind of thing isn't healthy, Vlad." *dies*
- Vlad makes reference to the e'Barritt line being almost wiped out (along with the e'Kierons) during the first Dragon-Jhereg War, which took place "about ten thousand years ago". This would imply that Barritt has been alive at least that long. Is that sort of lifespan common for a wizard and/or proto-Great Weapon holder? Sorceress in Green seems to be of a similar age, doesn't she? And Sethra is rumoured to be about that age, too, although of course she is actually much older. (Presumably, it's all just the one Barritt...)
- Vlad says that he isn't willing to hurt Morrolan by killing Mellar at Castle Black because 'I owe him too much'. Like, what? Helping him out during Yendi, with cash and the Sword and Dagger attack? I feel like everything prior to that was stuff Morrolan got him dragged into in the first place. XP
- Morrolan has been studying pre-Empire sorcery for about a hundred years. I guess it took him about 150 to exhaust the "WHEE SORCERY!" phase we see in LocB.
- Morrolan: "His [Mellar's] employees, after all, were Jhereg. How could he trust them?" says Morrolan to Vlad, who is on his payroll, and then pauses for effect: "He paused for a moment, to see if I'd respond to the cut, but I let it go by."
- One of the very cutest things for me in the series is Loiosh and Vlad's Dragonlord friends showing affection to each other -- Morrolan holds his arm out for Loiosh to land so he can give him scritches, Loiosh flies up and licks Aliera's ear. IDK, possibly it's sublimated expectations from the His Dark Materials daemons, which really don't apply to familiars, but it seems such an intimate gesture in the midst of all the bowing and formality.
- The Tsalmoth epigraph line is "There is no such thing as sufficient preparation."
- The thing that surprises me about the Aliera infodump on this reread is that Vlad did not know any of this beforehand, apparently? He doesn't know what the Jenoine are / hasn't heard the term -- but it doesn't seem to be any sort of deep secret, if Paarfi talks about them in a book. Several hundred years later, of course, so maybe that's an indication that something has happened between now and then to, IDK, make it more relevant to public consciousness. But I think in Tiassa people know about the Jenoine, too -- so is it just Vlad having a weird blind spot the way kids from immigrant families sometimes do? Or is it just Brust changing his mind between books about how common this knowledge was / succumbing to editorial pressure for infodumps? Aliera says she's learned a lot of this stuff from talking to Sethra (and past life regression or whatever), which is not an avenue open to a lot of people, but apparently there are Lyorn records of a lot of it, too.
- The Jenoine really aren't very good at this design of experiments thing. If you wanted a control group, why would you use Easterners and alter them and then use them as controls for this different group of people (Dragaerans) that you're messing with? Of course, it's possible Aliera's understanding of what they're after is flawed, or their goals are too alien for us (and Dragaerans) to comprehend.
- I had forgotten the amount of drama the reincarnated-Dollivar thing caused in Vlad (Kragar actually had to slap him! after Loiosh attempted to do so verbally).
- I'd also forgotten a bit about Vlad and Kragar's oppression olympics discussion about Easterners vs cross-breeds, which is actually quite neat:
Kragar: Sure, Vlad; you have it worse, in fact, but he can't help but feel that he's entitled to better.
Vlad: And I'm not?
Kragar: You know what I mean.
- When Kragar mentions that rumours are starting, Vlad is worried the Demon would take another shot at him (or Kragar, or Cawti, as a way of getting to him). It never occurs to him to worry he might do what he actually did, which is take a shot at Morrolan (through someone in his chain of command, as it happens).
- Vlad says Castle Black was built "over 300 years ago", which isn't quite right, unless it took longer for the Interregnum to be considered over (and for the count to begin) than Zerika returning with the Orb.
- Vlad attributes the wounded dragon protecting its young painting hanging in Castle Black to the Necromancer. Huh.
- Private rooms past the party hall at Castle Black: "Aliera uses these rooms often. Morrolan, seldom. Myself, never."
- Sorceress in Green and Sethra the Younger are back at the party. What does it take to ACTUALLY get kicked out?
- Not only does Vlad think Fentor is a Tsalmoth, he says he's been part of Morrolan's security forces for over 50 years. Which is certainly a true statement, since Fentor goes back to the beginnings of Castle Black, but I wonder where Vlad got that timeframe. Was that the period when Fentor went from being in charge of, IDK, training Morrolan's troops or whatever military role, to a more peaceful existence as a security guy?
- "She drew Pathfinder, and Fentor gasped and tried to draw away" -- I think I'd previously read it as a reaction to an unsheathed Great Weapon, but Fentor has been around Morrolan and Blackwand long enough that I doubt it (especially since Blackwand is "angrier" than Pathfinder in feel). I guess he's thinking Aliera is about to suck out his soul with Pathfinder, for getting Morrolan killed, now that she's gotten what she needed from his mind?
- Aliera hands Vlad the chaos stone ("a bauble for your wife") once she's done cleaning up his amorphia spill. Huh. (And it's blue. And Pathfinder glows green.)
- The Imperial guard at the tavern with the amorphia recognizes Aliera as a Dragonlord but not as herself. That is rather odd, considering there really can't be that many golden-haired Dragonlords around, and she was until recently (if briefly) the Dragon Heir.
- Revivified!Morrolan's first expression is anger, and only then confusion -- which makes sense, since he was charging in after Fentor when he was killed. Both Fentor and the sorceress start with fear, but that makes sense, too, of course, since the sorceress ha dbeen facing Aliera with the Great Weapon and Fentor was tied up with a knife to his throat. Also, Vlad pulls Morrolan to his feet (he'd been lying on the floor and "He held a hand up, and I assisted him to his feet."), which is slightly hilarious, as Vlad is the shortest person there, and presumably has the worst leverage, but aww.
- The unfortunate sorceress is pretty good indeed, if she "succeeded in stripping away all of [Morrolan's] defensive spells". (Also, Morrolan addressing her as, "Could that have been you, my lady?") But it still makes zero sense to me that Morrolan would rush in without Blackwand. I mean, WHAT. I know it's sort of retconned/explained in one of the later books that he wasn't really-truly revivifiable -- and Aliera's only had Pathfinder for a few months at this point, so maybe she doesn't know the ins and outs of Great Weapons ownership yet and didn't realize it -- maybe Sethra would've set them straight if they'd asked her -- but still.
- The whole ploy with taking out Morrolan still makes very little sense to me, I'm afraid. Morrolan says they threatened him with killing Fentor with a Morganti blade... why didn't they, actually? Because they didn't want an extra, unnecessary casualty (that they weren't getting paid for)? OK, let's assume that. But killing Morrolan and making him unrevivifiable is kind of a bigger deal than killing a random Dragonlord like Fentor. Or... did the Demon, et al, realize that Morrolan wasn't really unrevivifiable, and Blackwand's capabilities would kick in after some time, and was just counting on Morrolan to be dead long enough for them to nail Mellar? (Maybe even not at Castle Black, but once Mellar learned that Morrolan was out, and his oath no longer holding anyone back -- and would bail on Castle Black to avoid the wrath of Aliera? Sort of the mirror of Vlad's actual scheme later in the book?) Because if Morrolan was intended to be dead-dead, then... how would this avoida Dragon-Jhereg War? I know the Demon said he was willing to start one if there was no other choice, and with the rumours, he probably felt like he didn't, but it seems very drastic... much more drastic than just pissing Morrolan off by killing Mellar in his castle. Or maybe I just don't understand Dragon logic enough to know why this would be less of a problem.
- The passage of Vlad using psychological torture on the Left Hand sorceress while inwardly identifying with her is really uncomfortable. I mean, it's intended to be, so well done, but... *cringe* Morrolan, on the other hand, is weirdly polite to her, even with the poetic justice of a single stab to the heart and non-revivification spell.
- Fentor prostrating himself in front of Morrolan, who is clearly both pissed and solicitous of his well-being, pouring him wine, etc., Fentor choking up when recounting seeing Morrolan's lifeless body after Alier revivified him, while being so very matter-of-fact about being killed himself ("I was blindfolded and then killed"), and the rest of that interlude is one of my favorite things about this book, especially now that I know how far back the two of them go.
- I noticed it before that Morrolan really doesn't seem to touch people much (just Loiosh) -- the Dragaerans in general don't seem to, maybe a sorcery thing, like clapping vs knocking. Anyway, he doesn't, but right after being revivified, he initiates physical contact twice -- clapping Fentor on the shoulder, and the moment I mentioned above, which I'd forgotten about -- holding up a hand to help him off the floor. I think there really is something to revivification making him (relatively) touchy-feely.
- The account of stuff leading up to Adron's Disaster here (via Aliera) is SO different from Paarfi's in 500YA, it's donwright bizarre. I mean, I can buy that Aliera would know about a second Dragon-Jhereg War when Paarfi didn't (and Kragar doesn't, huh, which is stranger...), but all this other stuff: Adron forced to rely too heavily on magic (OK, plausible, I guess, but I have a really hard time seeing Adron as someone who'd be content taking over after a decadent Phoenix had been poisoned), the spell getting out of control because of the lack of his best sorcerers (rather than because of the infinite loop Paarfi presents), Tortaalik trying to use the Orb against the Jhereg as the reason Mario killed him (instead of Tortaalik trying to arrest Aliera being the impetus; which Aliera can't possibly not know, but I guess I could see her not advertizing that), another Phoenix trying to grab the throne (that one's probably hardest to explain). As always, it's hard to say whether Aliera is feeding them a line or Paarfi was making stuff up/misinformed, but... yeah.
- Vlad draws the parallel for Cawti between him and Morrolan and her and Norathar. I mean, it's kind of an obvious parallel, because Cawti has only the one Dragonlord friend, but still. I like the symmetry.
- Vlad sure has a knack for ending up staring down the business end of his Dragon friends' great weapons...
- I had forgotten that Kiera and Aliera know each other, and greet each other with a smile. Interesting!
- I feel like every time I reread this book, I like Mellar more and more. I mean, the destruction of three houses for revenge is a ridiculous thing to spend 300+ years planning, but like Vlad, I have to admire the commitment.
- OK, why is Daymar's (attempted? fakeout?) mind-probe of Mellar to disorient him NOT a violation of Morrolan's oath? Because it was not actually a threat? Or because Mellar was already teleporting out?
- I am so endlessly cuted out that when Vlad summons the wild jhereg, fighting desperately for his life, he is just as worried about Loiosh not forgiving him for picking up a second familiar as about, you know, dying. And when Vlad things that Loiosh is leaving him forever, awww!
- Morrolan is puzzled by Vlad having two familiars, which he really shouldn't be (if Paarfi is to be believed) because Laszlo had two, also. And I guess Vlad didn't realize until now that Blackwand is Morrolan's familiar.
All in all, I find that I really like the beginning, and the end (from the point where Morrolan turns up dead), and really don't care for the whole Dollivar reincarnation business, which I find frankly superfluous.
Dragaera-related links:
- So Dragaera fandom mostly exists on a mailing list, but an optimistic person created a Slack channel. It's just as dead as anywhere else, but IDK, maybe it'll perk up when Vallista comes out...
- New to me Morrolan on DeviantArt
- Dragaera/Vlad Taltos books "family" tree (where family inlcudes things like reincarnations, Great Weapons, familiars, etc.) (spoilers up through Tiassa!)
- Brust did an AMA with his Incrementalists co-author, but a lot of the questions were about Dragaera, from which I've gleaned the following:
1) Confirmed! The Paarfi book "The Baron of Magister Valley" is indeed a Count of Monte Cristo pastiche (and is currently still under submission).
2) Apparently SKZB has a cameo in Sandman: The Wake -- man, I should find that again and look!
3) A jhereg is about the size of a medium cat, but lighter (because hollow bones)
4) Good Guys (the non-Vlad, non-Incrementalists book) has been bought and is coming out in about a year from Tor
5) The non-canonical "A Dream of Passion" short story is actually a stealth crossover with Chronicles of Amber, in a really minor way (that makes sense because it was written for a convention pamphlet where Zelazny was GoH).
- And finally, for mine and poooossibly ikel89's amusement: Russian (game? LARP?) wiki entry for Morrolan
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And while I'm at it, a book-centric friending meme:
A Bookworm Friending Meme!
isiscolo pointed me towards the Multifandom Poetry Fest for the year, which, as you might guess, is extremely Relevant To My Interests:
So far, on the writing end, that's led to a fill for minutia_r's prompt: The Goblin Emperor, Csethiro/Maia, a sword against your enemies
As dainty bauble we could never please
The court, the gossips, but, Serenity,
We'll be a sword against your enemies.
A warrior's heart is out of fashion these
Days, and (like our nose) it's plain to see
As dainty bauble we could never please.
No handicap is kindness; no disease
A gentle heart upon the throne, and we
Can be the sword against your enemies.
You build your bridges, never to appease,
But to do right: a lasting legacy,
No worthless bauble. It could never please
Us to be mere drapery, to cease
The warrior's dance; we choose instead to be
A sharpened sword against your enemies.
So let us share, in hardship and in ease,
Whatever fate thou findst or buildst for thee:
As dainty bauble I could never please --
I'll be a sword against thy enemies.
[Blathering]So, this was really fun! For me the core of writing a fannish poem is figuring out the form the character would write in, like 90% of the time (this is how we got Adam's sestina and the rest), and things sort of fall into place from there. Somehow I figured the elves of TGE-verse would go for villanelles -- they are elegant, but in a sort of ostentatious, loopy way that just seemed to fit the aesthetic, very rigid and formal but graceful and sort of natural-feeling. Anyway, so I figured a villanelle, and it made sense to make the prompt words one of the repeating lines, and specifically A2, the money shot. (My only previous attempt at a villanelle, I ended up with A1 being the stronger line, and that makes the ending less punchy than it should be, so, lesson learned.)
And then it occurred to me that this was actually a case where the repetition of the villanelle's refrain (which tends to annoy me from a content perspective because nothing is actually that profound that it needs to be repeated 4 times in less than 20 lines) could be put to some good use, because this is a canon, and a culture, where very minute changes, that hardly change the line at all, actually signal important shifts in meaning -- and so I figured that the poem would start out in the formal we/you and end up with the intimate I/thou. But up until almost the very end I kept waffling over WHERE the shift would take place -- the last two lines (i.e. the refrain)? That didn't seem quite right. Just the last line? It was actually only when I came up with the first line of the last stanza that the very obvious solution -- the entire last stanza, duh, 'cos it's a stanza - occurred to me, and only because I realized I wanted the "us" in that first line to be ambiguous/transitional -- you can read it as the singular-formal, carrying over from the preceding lines, OR (and this is what I think it "really" is) you can read it as plural, Csethiro talking about them as a single entity for the first time instead of a distinct formal-I and formal-you. So I'm actually really happy the way that whole stanza worked out ultimately, and most of it wasn't even preconceived intent. :D
I don't actually remember how the B rhyme word came along -- I might've just been looking for something that would be very simple the rhyme/have a lot of options, but in the end, the fact that both the A and B rhymes have the long "ee" sound in them ended up being something I liked -- this way the B rhymes are actually sort of slant rhymed or at least assonant with the A rhymes, and the whole thing feels even more... fractally, IDK, the thing that drew me to villanelles in the first place. Ditto for the additional repetitions/motifs that snuck in, in addition to the actual repeated lines -- the "heart" and "warrior", and the way the middle four stanzas sort of mirror each other.
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Reading continues slowly, and I'm still "behind".
8. Patrick Weekes, The Prophecy Con (Rogues of the Republic #2) -- not quite at zany and over-the-top as the first book, which made me a bit sad, buy definitely still enjoyable (especially the second half, once it hits its capery stride), and it impressed me in one regard: I feel like the author pretty clearly tried to explicitly address some problems/gaps in the first book, and actually did a much better job of it than I had expected. Spoilers!
So, let's talk about that first. One of the things that didn't particularly work for me in book 1 was the pair-everybody-off romance, and in particular Dairy the prophecied Champion of Dawn/unicorn fairy with a virgin kink felt rather off. Well, I was happy to see that at the start of this book it is settled that nothing happened between them and Dairy just wanted to be friends. Something egelantier pointed out as a gap in the first book is that all the relationships are het. Well, this book seemed determined to acknowledge the existence of non-het relationships -- Desidora, back to being a love priestess, sets up two women, at least one of them apparently bi, and then two guys, all very equitable, and then Ululenia actually goes and finds herself a female virgin to pass the time. And I thought that would be the end of it, even when Dairy rejoined the team, but, OK, apparently not, and 16-year-old!Dairy/creature of magic with a thing for virgins apparently works way better for me when Dairy is an enthusiastic participant, even though the Mister Dragon thing is still pretty random. But points for giving one of the main characters a non-het relationship (even though the implication that Dairy just isn't into women at all -- even Loch says "even I'm a little tempted" when seeing Ululenia in her Elven form -- is kind of a retcon, considering his reaction to Loch being all sultry for the guards, but I don't mind. Or hey, maybe Dairy's tingly feelings about Bi'ul, which I thought was being played for laughs in book 1, wasn't, but I kinda doubt that. And Tern and Hessler are pretty cute as a couple, once the jealousy/obliviousness is out of the picture, although I still feel pretty strongly that Desidora is part of that relationship as well. Loch and Pyvic was suitable low-key, there were no additional forced love interest for Icy, and while Kail/Desidora is apparently still a thing I'm expected to believe in and care about, at least it wasn't a major or established thing.
Sadly, I liked both Kail (my favrorite in book 1) and Diz less in this, as I felt they both got kind of needlessly angsty arcs -- Desidora upset that without the mantle of a death-priestess she is useless, and Kail still feeling off after the mind-controlled betrayal and therefore being grumpy at everyone, especially Icy. I think Tern was probably my favorite this round, with Icy still firmly in second, but I hope Kail will be back to his usual self in book 3. And Diz has her mojo back, so hopefully no more moping for her, either, despite Gwyl's betrayal. I did, however, enjoy the running joke with Kail naming the airship and everyone grudgingly accepting the name, and Tern's assertion that "That puts you in charge of all stupid names we encounter on this job."
I think Weekes is also trying to make up for the barely-there worldbuilding backstory in the first book, so we get a good look at the Dwarves (Tern's appreciation for them was very cute, as well as her appreciation of Veiled Lightning) and the Elves (an interesting take on them, and Ethel was one smug asshole, which I happen to like in my Elves), and even something explaining the Urujar history of oppression (very "as you know Bob," as it had to be, but there are worse ways to make that happen than a museum visit).
There was some plot. The whole thing where an Elven porn manuscript was the key to stopping war between nations was so ridiculous, I had even a harder time buying the heist than in the first book, but I liked Ethel's limerick, and the poker tournament (although I could see the "twist" with the flush coming from miles away). And the train-roof fight scene was fun in a similarly over-the-top way as much of the first book... except for all the civilian casualties. Which brings me to the other reason, besides Kail angst, that this book worked less well for me -- it feels considerably darker than the first one, further undermining the zaniness I'd enjoyed. Much higher death toll, an entire garrison being wiped out, armies of zombies, kind of horrific scenes with the naga stealing people's words as mind-control and using that to suborn their will - it is very effectively creepy, but too dark for the surrounding candyfloss (and also her torturing a fairy creature), the new Archvoyant with crystal shards piercing his fingertips -- it veered effectively close to horror, leading to much cognitive dissonance with the quippy action and fluff elsewhere.
Actually, the first part of the book, when the team is split up, kind of dragged for me, but things picked up once everyone was reunited, including Dairy. One thing I do think was done really neatly was the reveal of Dairy as one of the knights -- the new recruit, the nickname, everything. Him joining them makes perfect sense for the Champion of Dawn who has fulfilled his purpose, and actually for the kind of person Dairy has shown himself to be. I don't really buy him believing Loch et al were actually evil -- whatever else, the kid's moral compass has always been impeccable, so I don't see him as someone easily brainwashed at all, even by authority - but I liked everything else about that part of the book.
Also, while I appreciate the "Nice Guy" takedown, I didn't think that bit needed to really be there in depth, it's pretty random.
Oh -- oh! And the fakeout with Loch's death at the end -- the book actually ends with that, and there are acknowledgements, and only THEN do we go back to the action and learn that Loch is alive and how it was all done. I don't think I've ever seen it handled that particular way in a book before. Very solid trolling XD
9. Patrick Weekes, The Paladin Caper (Rogues of the Republic #3) -- OK, so Kail was back to form, and I enjoyd the book more, although the ending features such a drawn-out set of concurrent action scenes switching back and forth between smaller sets of characters that I really couldn't keep track of who was doing what and why, and was kind of starting to skim there. Enjoyable overall, but I'm a little glad there isn't a book 4 out (currently), because I'm ready to take a break from these guys. Spoilers!
We continue the de-heteronormalization of the series, with Veiled Lightning revealed to be a lesbian and apparently Ululenia's love interest? Well, I guess we had an m/m pairing involving one of the main team, and needed to balance that out. Speaking of romance, Tern and Hessler continued to be really cute in this, although I could've done without the Apparently Dead interlude for him; I find it adorable that they're confident they can make things work even though he is now a Glimmering Man (which is a development I'm not really in favor of, but hopefully it won't change him too much; I guess it's just his and Tern's turn for angst next book?) This one had its angst quota fulfilled by Ululenia and, very low key, by Icy's secret past. I was very apprehensive about the Icy reveal, but I actually decently liked the way it was handled, with him finding a new balance (the elemental powers, though? Whaaaat.) And the evil unicorn thing got a bit much, but it did make me find Ululenia at least a little bit interesting for the first time in three books, so I guess that's OK? I don't at all mind the reset, though.
Plot-wise, I kept thinking the ancients were basically Jenoine, with the genetic experiments, and then it turned out that Kail was right about them being sentient objects possessing people, and THEN the plot turned out to be "iPhones are evil mind control", which I find kinda hilarious, tbh. Westteich was a pretty satisfying example of bureacratic evil, which is a fun love-to-hate category for me. I was bummed that Ethel turned out to be a traitor to the cause, though, because I'd really enjoyed his interactions with the team, even more as a reluctant and grumpy ally in this book than as a fun antagonist in the last one. The named ancients, Mr Slant and Mr Lively and so on, were almost Good Omen-esque in their feel (if not as deft, but, I mean, that's a tall bar to clear). I didn't really need the detailed propaganda play-by-play, but whatever.
Kail's "yo mama" duel with the ancients was quite fun, and it was also nice to see how he acted when his own mother was in danger, especially Kail impersonating a harrassed and put-upon black ops guy ordering people about
; not that one needs to be quite so on point about it, but it was fun, and could've been a lot worse. (I also liked the chance to learn that Kail's real name is Binjamet duQuaille - presumably Kail comes from the last name) Tern's parental issues were less to my taste -- it seemed like such an extreme and fairly unmotivated reaction, not a natural outgrowth of anything we'd seen till then. I would've expected something more like Pawter's homecoming in Killjoys -- vague spoilers for Killjoys? complicated feelings and a lot of resentment/not a lot of forgiveness, but a core of family,/Killjoy spoilers and instead there was absolutely nothing. Why even bother going there, then, narratively? On a random note, I guessed that Laridae was Tern's real name a little bit before it was revealed. And speaking of things I guessed, I also figured out that demon!Jyelle's "NOW?" were directed at Loch and she was working with Our Heroes rather than the ancients.
Oh, also, I found that I really liked Derenky, in book 2 and here, his competence and his cheerful and unapologetic designs on Pyvic's job -- and was very sad when he was killed off. These books are hard on the supporting cast in general; I was surprised Naria was killed off, with fairly minimal redemption, although it was nice to see her and Loch actually cooperate for once, even if it was in flashback.
There is more creepiness in this book, although not to the degree of the naga and her magic in book 2; I think the most effective aspect of that for me was the chimera, determined that "We will die last". If the trackers were meant to be creepy, or sympathetic, or interesting in any way, they did not work like that for me.
The running gag in this one was Hessler's 91 seconds ("Sorry, it's a thing now"), and I found it pretty charming. The series running gag, though, is Loch stealing people's swords in every book (Kail: "Hey Captain, you know you can actually give people coins in order to legally purchase a sword?") And I laughed at the toast to Loch's family's dead fish at the end.
The then/now writing trick kind of didn't work for me, because it feels like cheating (although that's another visual media trick, I think -- sitcoms seem fond of that one), and in any case, I don't think I can buy a sentient hammer plotting against evil iPhones and Loch hoodwinking a sentient walking stick (I did guess the battleaxe was gone too easily... but how did Loch know about the properties of ancients being able to jump to other weapons, and what kinds? Did Gwyl tell her as part of their arrangement?)
Two quick quotes:
Loch to Kail: "Hey, you were right about the ancient being magical weapons. Who am I to doubt your statistically inevitable blind luck?"
Icy: "I swore an oath never to kill again. Please try not to die. [...] Perhaps you should have tried harder."
10. Steven Brust, Jhereg (reread) -- so first ikel89 picked up this book, after I had carefully avoided shoving it on her, and then cyanshadow started reading it, after I had cheerfully and self-servingly shoved it on her at dinner a couple of weeks back, and that reminded me that I was sort of planning to reread it myself, since it's been a while since my last reread, and this seemed like the perfect time to do it, trying to keep pace with Cyan. The result is this Jhereg liveblog (except I did go back and add thematically linked bits to earlier ones, to keep it a little organized): Spoilers, of course
- I always forget that the restaurant flashback where eleven-year-old!Vlad witnesses a Jhereg hit and meets Kiera is the Jhereg (and thus series) opener. I mean, I remember the SCENE, of course, just not that this is how we first meet Vlad. It's a hell of a scene in terms of showing background and worldbuilding.
- Baby Loiosh is still the most adorable thing. I always assume this part, with Loiosh hatching, is actually in Taltos (which would make sense, because flashback), but no wonder it's here, and that I imprinted on Loiosh as much as I did.
- Morrolan has a spy network? By which, I assume, Vlad and Kragar mean that Lady Teldra has a spy network, because unless we're talking about people generally coming an going at Castle Black, between the party and the Circle of witches, I don't see Morrolan either taking an interest in spies or feeling like spying is consistent with Dragonlord honor...
- The Demon is somewhere between 800 and 1000 years old, which Vlad says is equivalent to 35-40 for an Easterner. Assuming a linear scale, that puts the born-just-before-the-Interregnum cohort (Morrolan, Zerika) square in their mid-20s equivalent, and Aliera just a little bit older (mid-late 20s).
- I really do like the Demon, and the aboveboard way he deals with Vlad (well, until he tries to have him assassinated, but very professionally), and am glad he's stuck around as an occasionally-recurring character.
- "I could build my wife the castle she'd been talking about" -- [spoilers for Teckla]spoilers for Teckla So, like. We know Vlad is oblivious about the actual state of his marriage at this point, but I really, really wonder how he got this castle impression from Cawti. The only way I can imagine the conversation going is:
Vlad: So, I was at Castle Black yesterday--
Cawti: Castle Black! That floating thing perpetuating the exploitation of Easterners and Teckla blah blah blah military-industrial complex blah blah blah corrups system which must be torn down blah blah blah opium of the masses blah blah blah.
Vlad: *smiles and nods absently while cataloguing which weapons he needs to change for tomorrow*
Vlad: Aww, darling, of course, we'll have a castle some day too :D
(Although later on Vlad brings up the castle again, to Cawti, and she chuckles. That's harder to explain away as Vlad obliviousness. Or, IDK, maybe Cawti does actually want a castle , and she wants to run it like a kibbutz...
But in general, it's really bittersweet to read about Vlad and Cawti here. Their marriage seems pretty solid -- bantering about Cawti being better than him at knives and how he couldn't afford to hire her and Norathar as assassins, her taking his turn cooking without him even realizing it because she sees he's working through something, her being supporting and the only person he can talk to about the Dolliver revelation. But there's also these other bits -- Cawti mentioning she was bored at home (as a joke, but...), Vlad taking such a big job, and a huge risk, without consulting with her -- I mean, yes, it's his work, and he's in a high-risk profession anyway, but it seems like the sort of thing one may want to consult a spouse about before committing to? (Although I guess he couldn't really tell the Demon "I'll think about it" -- but it seems (from Hawk) that psionic contact is considered secure, so...)
- "I hadn't realized that there was more than one way to leave the council." Damn, I've rather missed young!mobster Vlad :)
- "Dragaerans out east are treated about the same as Easterners are treated here -- worse, if anything," Vlad says. Now this is interesting. He's never been in the East himself at this point (but has some friends/sources there? I should reread Jhegaala to see if that's still the case...), so I wonder if this is a "common knowledge" sort of thing, or if Noish-Pa told him stories. Presumably Morrolan hasn't told him much, if anything about his time in the East, given everything that is news to Vlad in Issola, and anyway, he seems to have been sheltered or oblivious enough to have had a pretty easy time of it -- unless Paarfi was making up stuff again. But it's neat to see that Dragaerans being considered demons in the East has been true in Brust's mind as far back as Jhereg (one of the Viscount books talks about Morrolan being considered a "pet demon" by his village).
- Vlad says he was revivified once (or at least once in the context of a "standard" hit -- so, presumably, not the events in Yendi) by Sethra Lavode after Kiera found his body in the gutter. This has to be after Taltos, because I doubt he would've been this blase about being revivified by Sethra if he didn't already know her at the time. He also, later, references "that time Aliera had brought me back to life" -- that must be Yendi.
- The Empire has rules against torturing suspects and forced mind-probes, but they suspend those rules in the case of Morganti killings -- and anyone convicted of a Morganti murder is executed by a Morganti blade himself. (Well, unless one has a Great Weapon and can get away with whatever, of course :P) I'm surprised, though, that in the figures Vlad is quoting, a Morganit killing is only about 4x the cost of a "standard" -- that seems a bit low considering the higher risk and general taboo against the destruction of souls...
- Mellar is Vlad's 42nd hit. Boy's been busy in the past 5 years! That's a corpse every 1.5 months on average... and assassination is not even his main job anymore these days. Two of those were Morganti.
- So, Kiera's known Vlad since he was 11 and this is her first time visiting his office? I mean, everybody's freaking out that she'll steal his stuff, so maybe that's why, but still... (considering that Morrolan was all, "invite me up to see your etchings" on, what, their fourth meeting or something? XP) And later on we see that Aliera's not been in his office either, but that's more to be expected.
- I still find it so weird/interesting that Vlad and Kiera's standard greeting is kissing XD Like, how did that get started? (And, does he keep doing it after Orca?) Speaking of greetings, while Vlad, Morrolan, and Aliera do things like bow to each other, Sethra apparently kisses Vlad on the cheek XP
- Kiera re: Vlad getting greedy and getting in over his head: "The last time that , happened, you found yourself fighting an Athyra wizard, right in his own castle, as I recall. That kind of thing isn't healthy, Vlad." *dies*
- Vlad makes reference to the e'Barritt line being almost wiped out (along with the e'Kierons) during the first Dragon-Jhereg War, which took place "about ten thousand years ago". This would imply that Barritt has been alive at least that long. Is that sort of lifespan common for a wizard and/or proto-Great Weapon holder? Sorceress in Green seems to be of a similar age, doesn't she? And Sethra is rumoured to be about that age, too, although of course she is actually much older. (Presumably, it's all just the one Barritt...)
- Vlad says that he isn't willing to hurt Morrolan by killing Mellar at Castle Black because 'I owe him too much'. Like, what? Helping him out during Yendi, with cash and the Sword and Dagger attack? I feel like everything prior to that was stuff Morrolan got him dragged into in the first place. XP
- Morrolan has been studying pre-Empire sorcery for about a hundred years. I guess it took him about 150 to exhaust the "WHEE SORCERY!" phase we see in LocB.
- Morrolan: "His [Mellar's] employees, after all, were Jhereg. How could he trust them?" says Morrolan to Vlad, who is on his payroll, and then pauses for effect: "He paused for a moment, to see if I'd respond to the cut, but I let it go by."
- One of the very cutest things for me in the series is Loiosh and Vlad's Dragonlord friends showing affection to each other -- Morrolan holds his arm out for Loiosh to land so he can give him scritches, Loiosh flies up and licks Aliera's ear. IDK, possibly it's sublimated expectations from the His Dark Materials daemons, which really don't apply to familiars, but it seems such an intimate gesture in the midst of all the bowing and formality.
- The Tsalmoth epigraph line is "There is no such thing as sufficient preparation."
- The thing that surprises me about the Aliera infodump on this reread is that Vlad did not know any of this beforehand, apparently? He doesn't know what the Jenoine are / hasn't heard the term -- but it doesn't seem to be any sort of deep secret, if Paarfi talks about them in a book. Several hundred years later, of course, so maybe that's an indication that something has happened between now and then to, IDK, make it more relevant to public consciousness. But I think in Tiassa people know about the Jenoine, too -- so is it just Vlad having a weird blind spot the way kids from immigrant families sometimes do? Or is it just Brust changing his mind between books about how common this knowledge was / succumbing to editorial pressure for infodumps? Aliera says she's learned a lot of this stuff from talking to Sethra (and past life regression or whatever), which is not an avenue open to a lot of people, but apparently there are Lyorn records of a lot of it, too.
- The Jenoine really aren't very good at this design of experiments thing. If you wanted a control group, why would you use Easterners and alter them and then use them as controls for this different group of people (Dragaerans) that you're messing with? Of course, it's possible Aliera's understanding of what they're after is flawed, or their goals are too alien for us (and Dragaerans) to comprehend.
- I had forgotten the amount of drama the reincarnated-Dollivar thing caused in Vlad (Kragar actually had to slap him! after Loiosh attempted to do so verbally).
- I'd also forgotten a bit about Vlad and Kragar's oppression olympics discussion about Easterners vs cross-breeds, which is actually quite neat:
Kragar: Sure, Vlad; you have it worse, in fact, but he can't help but feel that he's entitled to better.
Vlad: And I'm not?
Kragar: You know what I mean.
- When Kragar mentions that rumours are starting, Vlad is worried the Demon would take another shot at him (or Kragar, or Cawti, as a way of getting to him). It never occurs to him to worry he might do what he actually did, which is take a shot at Morrolan (through someone in his chain of command, as it happens).
- Vlad says Castle Black was built "over 300 years ago", which isn't quite right, unless it took longer for the Interregnum to be considered over (and for the count to begin) than Zerika returning with the Orb.
- Vlad attributes the wounded dragon protecting its young painting hanging in Castle Black to the Necromancer. Huh.
- Private rooms past the party hall at Castle Black: "Aliera uses these rooms often. Morrolan, seldom. Myself, never."
- Sorceress in Green and Sethra the Younger are back at the party. What does it take to ACTUALLY get kicked out?
- Not only does Vlad think Fentor is a Tsalmoth, he says he's been part of Morrolan's security forces for over 50 years. Which is certainly a true statement, since Fentor goes back to the beginnings of Castle Black, but I wonder where Vlad got that timeframe. Was that the period when Fentor went from being in charge of, IDK, training Morrolan's troops or whatever military role, to a more peaceful existence as a security guy?
- "She drew Pathfinder, and Fentor gasped and tried to draw away" -- I think I'd previously read it as a reaction to an unsheathed Great Weapon, but Fentor has been around Morrolan and Blackwand long enough that I doubt it (especially since Blackwand is "angrier" than Pathfinder in feel). I guess he's thinking Aliera is about to suck out his soul with Pathfinder, for getting Morrolan killed, now that she's gotten what she needed from his mind?
- Aliera hands Vlad the chaos stone ("a bauble for your wife") once she's done cleaning up his amorphia spill. Huh. (And it's blue. And Pathfinder glows green.)
- The Imperial guard at the tavern with the amorphia recognizes Aliera as a Dragonlord but not as herself. That is rather odd, considering there really can't be that many golden-haired Dragonlords around, and she was until recently (if briefly) the Dragon Heir.
- Revivified!Morrolan's first expression is anger, and only then confusion -- which makes sense, since he was charging in after Fentor when he was killed. Both Fentor and the sorceress start with fear, but that makes sense, too, of course, since the sorceress ha dbeen facing Aliera with the Great Weapon and Fentor was tied up with a knife to his throat. Also, Vlad pulls Morrolan to his feet (he'd been lying on the floor and "He held a hand up, and I assisted him to his feet."), which is slightly hilarious, as Vlad is the shortest person there, and presumably has the worst leverage, but aww.
- The unfortunate sorceress is pretty good indeed, if she "succeeded in stripping away all of [Morrolan's] defensive spells". (Also, Morrolan addressing her as, "Could that have been you, my lady?") But it still makes zero sense to me that Morrolan would rush in without Blackwand. I mean, WHAT. I know it's sort of retconned/explained in one of the later books that he wasn't really-truly revivifiable -- and Aliera's only had Pathfinder for a few months at this point, so maybe she doesn't know the ins and outs of Great Weapons ownership yet and didn't realize it -- maybe Sethra would've set them straight if they'd asked her -- but still.
- The whole ploy with taking out Morrolan still makes very little sense to me, I'm afraid. Morrolan says they threatened him with killing Fentor with a Morganti blade... why didn't they, actually? Because they didn't want an extra, unnecessary casualty (that they weren't getting paid for)? OK, let's assume that. But killing Morrolan and making him unrevivifiable is kind of a bigger deal than killing a random Dragonlord like Fentor. Or... did the Demon, et al, realize that Morrolan wasn't really unrevivifiable, and Blackwand's capabilities would kick in after some time, and was just counting on Morrolan to be dead long enough for them to nail Mellar? (Maybe even not at Castle Black, but once Mellar learned that Morrolan was out, and his oath no longer holding anyone back -- and would bail on Castle Black to avoid the wrath of Aliera? Sort of the mirror of Vlad's actual scheme later in the book?) Because if Morrolan was intended to be dead-dead, then... how would this avoida Dragon-Jhereg War? I know the Demon said he was willing to start one if there was no other choice, and with the rumours, he probably felt like he didn't, but it seems very drastic... much more drastic than just pissing Morrolan off by killing Mellar in his castle. Or maybe I just don't understand Dragon logic enough to know why this would be less of a problem.
- The passage of Vlad using psychological torture on the Left Hand sorceress while inwardly identifying with her is really uncomfortable. I mean, it's intended to be, so well done, but... *cringe* Morrolan, on the other hand, is weirdly polite to her, even with the poetic justice of a single stab to the heart and non-revivification spell.
- Fentor prostrating himself in front of Morrolan, who is clearly both pissed and solicitous of his well-being, pouring him wine, etc., Fentor choking up when recounting seeing Morrolan's lifeless body after Alier revivified him, while being so very matter-of-fact about being killed himself ("I was blindfolded and then killed"), and the rest of that interlude is one of my favorite things about this book, especially now that I know how far back the two of them go.
- I noticed it before that Morrolan really doesn't seem to touch people much (just Loiosh) -- the Dragaerans in general don't seem to, maybe a sorcery thing, like clapping vs knocking. Anyway, he doesn't, but right after being revivified, he initiates physical contact twice -- clapping Fentor on the shoulder, and the moment I mentioned above, which I'd forgotten about -- holding up a hand to help him off the floor. I think there really is something to revivification making him (relatively) touchy-feely.
- The account of stuff leading up to Adron's Disaster here (via Aliera) is SO different from Paarfi's in 500YA, it's donwright bizarre. I mean, I can buy that Aliera would know about a second Dragon-Jhereg War when Paarfi didn't (and Kragar doesn't, huh, which is stranger...), but all this other stuff: Adron forced to rely too heavily on magic (OK, plausible, I guess, but I have a really hard time seeing Adron as someone who'd be content taking over after a decadent Phoenix had been poisoned), the spell getting out of control because of the lack of his best sorcerers (rather than because of the infinite loop Paarfi presents), Tortaalik trying to use the Orb against the Jhereg as the reason Mario killed him (instead of Tortaalik trying to arrest Aliera being the impetus; which Aliera can't possibly not know, but I guess I could see her not advertizing that), another Phoenix trying to grab the throne (that one's probably hardest to explain). As always, it's hard to say whether Aliera is feeding them a line or Paarfi was making stuff up/misinformed, but... yeah.
- Vlad draws the parallel for Cawti between him and Morrolan and her and Norathar. I mean, it's kind of an obvious parallel, because Cawti has only the one Dragonlord friend, but still. I like the symmetry.
- Vlad sure has a knack for ending up staring down the business end of his Dragon friends' great weapons...
- I had forgotten that Kiera and Aliera know each other, and greet each other with a smile. Interesting!
- I feel like every time I reread this book, I like Mellar more and more. I mean, the destruction of three houses for revenge is a ridiculous thing to spend 300+ years planning, but like Vlad, I have to admire the commitment.
- OK, why is Daymar's (attempted? fakeout?) mind-probe of Mellar to disorient him NOT a violation of Morrolan's oath? Because it was not actually a threat? Or because Mellar was already teleporting out?
- I am so endlessly cuted out that when Vlad summons the wild jhereg, fighting desperately for his life, he is just as worried about Loiosh not forgiving him for picking up a second familiar as about, you know, dying. And when Vlad things that Loiosh is leaving him forever, awww!
- Morrolan is puzzled by Vlad having two familiars, which he really shouldn't be (if Paarfi is to be believed) because Laszlo had two, also. And I guess Vlad didn't realize until now that Blackwand is Morrolan's familiar.
All in all, I find that I really like the beginning, and the end (from the point where Morrolan turns up dead), and really don't care for the whole Dollivar reincarnation business, which I find frankly superfluous.
Dragaera-related links:
- So Dragaera fandom mostly exists on a mailing list, but an optimistic person created a Slack channel. It's just as dead as anywhere else, but IDK, maybe it'll perk up when Vallista comes out...
- New to me Morrolan on DeviantArt
- Dragaera/Vlad Taltos books "family" tree (where family inlcudes things like reincarnations, Great Weapons, familiars, etc.) (spoilers up through Tiassa!)
- Brust did an AMA with his Incrementalists co-author, but a lot of the questions were about Dragaera, from which I've gleaned the following:
1) Confirmed! The Paarfi book "The Baron of Magister Valley" is indeed a Count of Monte Cristo pastiche (and is currently still under submission).
2) Apparently SKZB has a cameo in Sandman: The Wake -- man, I should find that again and look!
3) A jhereg is about the size of a medium cat, but lighter (because hollow bones)
4) Good Guys (the non-Vlad, non-Incrementalists book) has been bought and is coming out in about a year from Tor
5) The non-canonical "A Dream of Passion" short story is actually a stealth crossover with Chronicles of Amber, in a really minor way (that makes sense because it was written for a convention pamphlet where Zelazny was GoH).
- And finally, for mine and poooossibly ikel89's amusement: Russian (game? LARP?) wiki entry for Morrolan
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And while I'm at it, a book-centric friending meme:
A Bookworm Friending Meme!