[Dragaera] Seventeen Jhegaala Spoilers *HEAVY, SEVERE, SERIOUS, MAJOR Spoilers*

[Jon Lincicum]

SPOILERS WITHIN. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

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Seventeen observations on /Jhegaala/:

1. Do you suppose Zerika ever thanks Vlad for sending her the gift of 
paper? What will cheap, plentiful paper do for Cawti's campaign to teach 
Teckla to read? Will it have any impact on the ability of certain 
[cough]historians[cough] to get their works published, cheaply, some 
years later?

2. Devera clearly feels sympathy for Vlad's suffering. Guilt over the 
necessity of seeing him put into that situation by Verra, perhaps?

3. Vlad's Father and Mother both finally have names. Given in the 
prologue. All this time, all those books, the names hidden in mystery, 
then, bompf. Two pages in, here they are. "Oh, did you think I was going 
to keep you in suspense?" Tricksy author. No donut.

4. Vlad's plan of attack for finding the answers he seek keeps changing. 
This may be the most Jhegaala-like trait in the whole story. To the 
left, the plans themselves are more Tiassa-like.

5. No direct mention at all of the missing finger, yet it's clearly 
evident both how it happens, and when it happens.

6. No mention of Vlad's trip being inspired by a dream sent by Verra, as 
seemed to be implied in /Dzur/. Did I miss something, or is there more 
to this story?

7. It is interesting revisiting Vlad so young. Before he lost his 
finger, before he met Savn, before Lady Teldra left us.

8. Despite the danger all around in Burz, Vlad persists in the quest for 
answers, when at any almost time he could have just walked away.

9. Vlad contemplating what House would make a good art critic sounds 
remarkably like discussions I've read on this list. Vallista was his 
choice, and I would have to agree.

10. Vlad's ability to manipulate events while lying bedridden through 
the last few chapters and destroy his enemies with a simple ruse while 
physically helpless is positively Yendi-like.

11. The entire story, it feels like Vlad's in the middle of a trap. I 
spent chapter after chapter waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then 
when it finally did, I didn't see it coming. Go figure.

12. No Dragaeran appears--the only one who even figures in the story 
(The Jhereg assassin) is killed off-stage.

13. Interesting tidbit about the names of the executed being marked into 
the base of the Executioner's Star.

14. The Paper-mill itself seems to drive and overshadow everything in 
this book. It is interesting the role this one economic factor played in 
the entire nature of this town. The figurative stink may have been 
stronger than the literal one.

15. We now know that pigs do exist on Dragaera. We've had hints before, 
but this is the first time the word's ever been directly used. I had 
often suspected they might not, in favor of Kethna.

16. The life-cycle of the jhegaala is expounded upon marvelously. We may 
now know more about this creature than any other in all of Dragaera.

17. Vlad uses no sorcery of any kind in this book.

Majikjon