[Dragaera] First reading comments (Dzur Spoilers)

[Jon Lincicum]

Philip Hart wrote:
> Spoilers for Dzur 1
> poilers for Dzur  2
> oilers for Dzur   3
> ilers for Dzur    4
> lers for Dzur     5
> ers for Dzur      6
> rs for Dzur       7
> s for Dzur        8
>                   9
> for Dzur         10
> or Dzur          11
> r Dzur           12
>                  13
> Dzur             14
> zur              15
> ur               16
> r                17
>                       (Hey, exactly right, waddya know?)
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> Tense, exciting read.  I'll have to reread and think about the character
> development issues and the plot implications forward and backward.
> I had some quibbles/cavils/criticisms though:
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> Rather randomly - Melestav had made the office klava, and his death meant
> Kragar had had to send out for it.  But that was at the end of
> Teckla/Phoenix, and Vlad left immediately after.
>   
Good point. One I noticed myself back when I first read "Klava with 
Honey". However, I wrote this off as being either a) there was some 
period of time we don't hear about at the end of Phoenix where Vlad was 
preparing to skip town that was edited out of the main story,or else b) 
his memory is like a watchyacallit.
> The Zungaron dialogue failed to convince me he would be interesting
> to Vlad (not to mention the reader).  The happy-go-lucky "golly this
> grub's good" stuff got tiresome.  (Esp. compared to the Teldra dialogue
> from _Issola_, which formed a better thematic balance/narrative whatever.)
>   
Telnan is still basically an unexplored character (apart from being a 
mostly typical Dzur) in my book. But he was mostly a side character, so 
it didn't concern me too much.
> Cawti seemed a little overmatched by Vlad in their conversations
> ("How'd you like being saved?" etc seemed a little unsubtle.)
>   
Cawti's scenes were brief, and did seem a little flat, but there's so 
much pent up angst between those two, it didn't strike me as *that* 
unusual.
> Ditto Kragar - he didn't have enough of a Kragar presence to me.
> I guess Mario was ok, nothing special though (ok, perhaps the point),
> and oddly old.  I think the Demon's dialogue was also a bit flat.
>   
I spent the first half of the book just *waiting* for Vlad to go see 
Kragar. When he finally did, and revealed the whole connection-to-Mario 
thing, I was delighted.

I think the problem here is that for much of the book, Vlad is on his 
own, and the meetings with old friends don't dwell too much on any one 
person. Kragar just came into the story too late in the book to really 
settle into himself, if you get my meaning.
> In general, several parts of the book seemed to dump Vlad somewhere
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> (or have someone show up and tell him he should finally go talk to
> someone) and dump someone else there and then someone's talk was
> underwhelming. Maybe this last was just a function of reading the Text
> in one sitting interrupted only by my wife's insistence I get some sleep.
> Or maybe it was a way of hiding info from the reader, or avoiding too
> much from happening between the characters.  Maybe in part there were
> just fewer physical descriptions of people than I expected or needed.
>
> (The Daymar segment was I thought an exception to the above, mostly -
> the joking stuff on his part seemed a little strained, but it's Daymar.
> Ditto some of the Kiera interactions.)
>   
The Daymar chapter was amusing, if a bit uninspired. I've never 
connected that much with Daymar, however, so I may have missed some of 
the subtleties here.
> The Verra-related stuff sizzled.  But I'm a bit concerned we will
> have even more trouble deciding what has actually happened as Vlad's
> reliability is attrited.
>   
Agreed on all points. The Verra set-up, as far as I'm concerned, is the 
cornerstone of this book. I cannot wait to see what Steve does with 
this. And yes, it certainly does cut into Vlad's reliability--which I'm 
sure Steve is all broken up about.
> I rather wondered about Vlad being able to show up at Verra's
> and pose a credible threat for a while (at least), but not being
> able to drop in on the Left Hand without good odds of taking them
> all and walking out.
>   
This is where the whole "Destiny" conversation with Sethra comes in. 
Verra knows damn well that Godslayer is meant for her. The Sorceresses 
of the Left Hand have less of a clue.
> I was annoyed at several points by Vlad having a plan and not telling
> Kragar or even Loiosh what he was thinking.
>   
Well... That's as much to keep the audience in suspense as anything 
else. I'm willing to let this one slide a bit.

> _Orca_ gave a better sense of "something complex or complicated is going
> on and Vlad finds his way through it" - the "got a piece of it" stuff
> brought up the contrast for me.
>   
Orca was a good one,. no question about it. I think Dzur was about other 
things. The story may have suffered a bit for this, but I am convinced 
that the *series* did not.
> Somehow having access to Mario should have proved useful back in the day.
>   
Well, that would have made things just a bit too easy, wouldn't it?
> Also:
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> Still missing Teldra.
>   
Yeah... Though there were subtle clues throughout that something was 
brewing on this front. Can't wait to see the payoff, but I'm not 
surprised that we didn't get immediate gratification on this.
> I liked, or appreciated, the sense of isolation Vlad feels - it seemed
> a little odd to me that he shows up and feels compelled to throw himself
>   
It's an interesting paradox... Vlad, back in contact with all his 
friends for the first time in years, somehow finds himself isolated and 
alone for much of the story.
> immediately and totally into the Left Hand stuff, but ok.  Ditto the
> fear and stress he continues to feel.  I liked the sense of people on
> the streets - I kept (as surely Vlad did) expecting one of them to
> come at him with a knife.  Sort of a French film noir vibe - or maybe
> that was just the early-morning reading.
>
> I was concerned after _I_ that he'd end up with too much power, but I
> guess he's hamstrung enough by the Phoenix stones that that's not so
> much of an issue.
>   
I think it may be that Vlad could very well have walked into the house 
the Left Hand was using in South Adrilankha in the very first chapter 
and taken care of his entire problem right there. Now, a) that wouldn't 
have made for a very good story, and b) there would have been *no* 
suspense at all left for the rest of the series. But part of dealing 
with a character like Vlad is waiting for him to discover just exactly 
what he is capable of. No one can just tell him (not even Sethra), he 
has to figure it out for himself.

Majikjon