[Dragaera] I reviewed Hawk. :-/

Tue Nov 4 06:26:19 PST 2014

Brian VanSkyock
Development Senior Engineer I - Trauma
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brian.vanskyock at zimmer.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Dragaera [mailto:dragaera-bounces at lists.dragaera.info] On Behalf Of Jon Lincicum via Dragaera
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2014 12:22 AM
To: steve.rapaport at gmail.com; dragaera at lists.dragaera.info
Subject: Re: [Dragaera] I reviewed Hawk. :-/

On 11/3/2014 6:38 PM, Steve Rapaport wrote:
>
>
> On 3 November 2014 22:09, Jon Lincicum via Dragaera 
> <dragaera at lists.dragaera.info <mailto:dragaera at lists.dragaera.info>>
> wrote:
>
>
>     > On Sunday, November 2, 2014 4:31 AM, Jon Lincicum via Dragaera <dragaera at lists.dragaera.info
>     <mailto:dragaera at lists.dragaera.info>> wrote:
>
>     > > On 11/1/2014 9:04 PM, Jerry Friedman via Dragaera wrote:
>     >>  P
>     >>  D
>     >>  L
>     >>  Ti
>     >>  H
>     >>  D
>     >>  Is
>     >>  Ts
>     >>  V
>     >>  J
>     >>  Io
>     >>  C
>     >>  Y
>     >>  O
>     >>  Te
>     >>  A
>     >>  P
>     >>
>
>
>
> By the way, 'hamstring' means disable, not 'kill'. And Sethra has 
> overruled both plans and destiny before. She and Vlad seem to have 
> more free will than most of the players.

Well, in the context of the original "hamstring the yendi" quotation way back in /Jhereg/, it was heavily implied that once Sethra had hamstrung him, Keiron and company would have merrily finished him off. So, while not instantly fatal, hamstringing Dolivar would have indeed led directly to his demise.

Instead, Sethra let him get away.

What if the entire fate of the Empire since, and the reason the gods allowed Sethra to return as an undead, was simply that she had "unfinished business"... and that that business was to finally fulfill what she had been destined to do 200 thousand years before, and had failed to do?

>     One finds it hard to imagine Teldra /as Teldra/ killing anyone. We
>     know there will be a "test of wills" (from Dzur). Perhaps this
>     means that the Teldra/Vlad soul entity will experience a corporeal
>     reversal; Teldra's soul ends up in Vlad's body, and Vlad's soul
>     ends up in Godslayer... And then Verra is /really/ in trouble.
>
>
> This is just weird, Jon! :)

Why, thank you! I'm rather proud of that one.

****
I still think that Vlad will end up in a great weapon at some point, either permanently or maybe a temporary 'freaky Friday' swap with teldra

And It would be interesting (at least to me) if his son ends up with the blade - they can make up for lost time getting to know each other

>     3. Is it just me, or does Aliera's attitude toward Kragar in this
>     book (and his resigned attitude back to her) seem like an "older
>     sister vs little brother who let her down" dynamic? Would explain
>     an awful lot. But would raise all sorts of questions regarding
>     Adron, Verra, Devera, et al.
>
>
> I like the idea of the relationship, but there's no reason to assume 
> an actual familial relationship to make it work. Kragar could have 
> been a protege.

I dunno. I just got that vibe from the things that each one said about the other. Like, she puts on a big show about how much she hates Kragar and is willing to let him die, but perhaps that's just because Vlad is there and she needs to put on an act. In the end, she accomplishes what appears to be a minor miracle by saving him... And I'm not really convinced that's just because of how much she likes Vlad.

As to whether Kragar could be a protege... Interesting idea. Though I have trouble imagining Aliera being interested in having one of those in the first place.

I also toyed with the idea that perhaps Kragar could be her son... But that seems to be counter-indicated by the fact that Verra was keen on "having a grandchild" in /Tiassa/, implying that she didn't already have one.

*****
Not sure if it is a family relationship, a past lover, or a protégé/apprentice/rival - but there is definitely too much "history" between Aliera and Kragar
(or it's a red herring)

>     4. Diyann will prove to be the most cunning and deadly Jhereg Vlad
>     has ever had to face. Or perhaps we never see him again. There was
>     definitely some foreshadowing-like hints given in his
>     introduction; but this again could prove to be utter red herrings.
>     But certainly, at least one of the Jhereg compromised by Vlad's
>     trickery in this one is likely to attempt to devise a way around
>     the problem of potentially losing all his assets, and my guess is
>     it would be Diyaan.
>
>
> Yeah, legit. That's both easier and harder for Vlad, since instead of 
> having the entire Jhereg to avoid, he's got a subtle and effective 
> single enemy. But he's dealt with those before (Yendi).
>

Of all the possible fates Vlad might face, and in spite of everything, getting shined by the Jhereg has always seemed the least likely outcome to me.

****
Diyann will likely prove to be  a prick in the future (heck he is a prick now)
I hope that Vlad's relationship with the Demon will be expanded upon and we get to see the tow of them in action - perhaps against the left hand or even the Jhereg council 
You know, a light hearted buddy adventure
Throw Khaavren in there and we get a ...... not sure what we would get   but, I would read it

--Majikjon
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