Comments | shimotsuki: TSK discussion

shimotsuki

TSK discussion | Legacy, ch 1-9

Jul 23, 2012 14:03

Welcome to the special Lakewalker edition of our TSK discussion group! I am posting from a small lake at roughly the latitude of Dag's Hickory Lake, and the water is indeed a bit murky, but the sixteen (!) of us gathered here in two tents lake houses do not yet smell green. Possibly because we have a shower that is fed by the city water system. ( Read more... )

sharing_knife, books

Comments 9

katyhasclogs July 23 2012, 18:08:46 UTC

16? Enough for a patrol there. ;)

Your holiday sounds lovely! I'll be back later for a proper discussion.

shimotsuki July 24 2012, 20:39:45 UTC

16? Enough for a patrol there. ;)

You're so right! I hadn't noticed. ;)

Last night I accidentally unearthed a small knot of Bujold fans among the holidaymakers here (friends of my guy's from college, plus some assorted significant others), but none of them have have read TSK. Which is a shame, since the terrain around here is so spot on for Hickory Lake, and I want someone to squee with...

philomytha July 23 2012, 18:16:22 UTC

Ooh, I like the sound of your lake holiday!

This was my least favourite section, when I first read the books, probably because of the relentless way Fawn gets blindsided and knocked back by her experiences at the camp. Dag really doesn't give her any idea what to expect at all - and while Dag also went into West Blue with very little idea of what it would be like, that section feels very different, perhaps because a farmhouse is not such an unfamiliar location for the reader even if Dag has never slept inside one before (though later in the series there's a lot more about Lakewalkers' discomfort around farmers). But I remember being as startled as Fawn to discover that she had a tiny tent and no domestic conveniences at all in her new home. It definitely doesn't feel like a couple settling down in their new home, it's a couple discovering that this home isn't going to work out for them, and I guess that's what makes it uncomfortable to read.

shimotsuki July 24 2012, 20:44:43 UTC

I normally holiday at those more northern or eastern lakes Dag mentions, where the plunkins won't root because the ground is rocky, lol. But this lake is nice too (if a little murky). And when the party consists of old college friends (of my guy's) who got to know each other through a science fiction and fantasy club long ago, the company is a lot of fun as well! [Case in point: Last night at dinner it was discovered that two people in the group are independently rereading Komarr on this trip, and there was a spirited argument about whether or not Ivan is actually smarter than he seems. (No one here has read the ARC of the new book yet; speculation about that was the reason for the argument.) I've never seen so many Bujold fans in one place off the internet before.]

It definitely doesn't feel like a couple settling down in their new home, it's a couple discovering that this home isn't going to work out for them, and I guess that's what makes it uncomfortable to read.I think you've put your finger right on what I found difficult ( ... )

shimotsuki July 24 2012, 21:00:42 UTC

I didn't like this part of the book the first time I read it -- not because I had issues with the writing, or the plottng, or the characters, but because I didn't like what was happening! As philomytha says, it was hard seeing things looking like they really weren't going to work out for Fawn trying to fit in and start her new life. (For what it's worth, though, now that I'm on a reread, I really enjoyed going through this section again and seeing how the pieces were being set up for the larger story ( ... )

katyhasclogs July 24 2012, 21:41:18 UTC

So, plunkin. Fawn says they're nicer than parsnips, but I refuse to believe that any vegetable could be nicer than a parsnip. ;) They're a cool world-building creation all the same. Out of interest, how does everyone else picture them? I think I see them as some sort of freshwater sweet potato...

I've just been flicking back through the wedding night, and it strikes me that it's so much more than just a sex scene. There's a ton of character building there, what with Fawn yakking constantly and wondering and problem solving, and Dag's internal monologue and a whole sort of collaborative air that is so very them. And the ghost hand bit moves the plot forward. And all in all the scene is super-cute.

That said, on first reading I had a slight 'Huh, so much for all that supposed sexual liberalness - they go 'all the way' for the first time on their wedding night' moment. Which is really unfair of me, because there's very valid plot-based reasons for that. And it's a lovely scene.Anyway. I loved all the insights into Lakewalker ( ... )

shimotsuki July 24 2012, 22:21:55 UTC

Out of interest, how does everyone else picture them? I think I see them as some sort of freshwater sweet potato...

Since they're sort of head-sized, and dark green, I pictured them as looking sort of like a (biggish) kabocha pumpkin:

( ... )

philomytha July 25 2012, 09:27:40 UTC

That said, on first reading I had a slight 'Huh, so much for all that supposed sexual liberalness - they go 'all the way' for the first time on their wedding night' moment. Which is really unfair of me, because there's very valid plot-based reasons for that. And it's a lovely scene.

I noticed that too. On the other hand, they both consider themselves to have had quite a lot of sex together previously, so perhaps it's just us and our hidebound notions of what counts and what doesn't ;-)

As for plunkins - well, I don't think parsnips are anything special raw (though there are no vegetables better that a roasted buttered parsnip!) so plunkins evidently have that going for them.

gilpin25 July 25 2012, 21:40:12 UTC

So LMB has done the one thing many claim sounds the death knell of a good number of interesting relationships: she's gone and married them and there are still 3 books to go! Except I didn't really have any doubts about her keeping the relationship wheels constantly turning, just eagerness to find out how she'd go about it. But it's another way she's turned the usual romantic 'rules' on their head.

It's hard reading Fawn facing little blow after little blow, and watching them all pile up, and I was already thinking that Dag was resigned to this not working. But she certainly wasn't, and not to his reserve about so many other things, either. I did love the glimpses of Lakewalker society, the lack of privacy/hygene, lol surprises along the way, and the many new characters we meet in a short space of time. They're all memorable.

Like katyhasclogs I wanted more Cumbia, and far more about her and Dag's father, and had to resist inwardly chanting Mummy's boy at Dar at one infuriating point. It's interesting how Dag leaves Cumbia to it so quickly ( ... )