MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2455

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Various and Sundry
	by "Abigail Laughlin" <abbykat-+AT+-hotmail.com>
  2) Re: OwlFlight/Sight/Knight
	by "Victoria H." <wukolia-+AT+-hotmail.com>
  3) Re: OwlFlight/Sight/Knight
	by Hank Tiffany <davidt-+AT+-cet.com>

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Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 13:49:32 GMT
From: "Abigail Laughlin" <abbykat-+AT+-hotmail.com>
To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk
Subject: Various and Sundry
Message-ID: <F181jkyqU7a0xtAEHLB00000c6b-+AT+-hotmail.com>

<<someone (bad delete finger) wrote: but ... isn't there some indication 
(and i know i don't have the textevd) that the companion will feel an "urge" 
to go seeking his/her herald? Anyone else remember this (or not? :-)>>

Eldan also hints at it when he describes the day he was Chosen to Kerowyn in 
By The Sword... he mentions that he was in the stables one day when six of 
them descended and made it very clear that they wanted to be tacked up 
*right now,* thank you.

<<I enjoyed both Fire Rose and the Black Swan -- although there's a short 
story I read (can I remember where? Of course not) that told the story of 
one of Siegfried's 'extra princesses' that was much better than the Black 
Swan itself.>>

I forget the title of that story, but it's in an anthology called Flights of 
Fantasy that centers around birds. The heroine is Honoria, one of the cooler 
princesses from The Black Swan.

<<I couldn't stand the Firebird though -- but then, Russian history always 
bored me.>>

Personally, I thought Firebird was the best of the lot--the writing style 
Misty uses in it hearkens back to earlier, better work like Arrows, and the 
plot stays tight and believable throughout, which Black Swan doesn't do. I 
also liked Ilya, the hero, quite a bit.

<<A bit of fluff:  Rosalind Hawkins went down on my Bio test as the woman 
who helped discover the structure of DNA.  I was reading the book at the 
time, and I kept confusing her with Rosalind Franklin. :)>>

I find that reading about things in fantasy novels makes me all the more 
interested in learning about them IRL... I'm sure my history professor this 
semester has wondered why I come near to nodding off for some of his 
lectures and perk up to listen avidly to others--sometimes mid-class. :)

<<And here's my ObMisty...I just got done reading Four and Twenty 
Blackbirds, and I actually liked it much better than I thought I would. But 
I thought the whole plot device with the Inspector and the Priest (sorry! 
I'm sooo bad with names)>>

Tal Rufen and Artis :)

<<falling in love and then abruptly changing their minds at the end of the 
book was a little contrived.>>

Actually, I found that particular bit of the plot to be very realistic. In 
point of fact, it happens ot me all the time--which is probably how I 
recognized it.

They didn't fall in love; each of them saw something in the other and built 
a mild infatuation off it. Love is Something Different... it doesn't 
evaporate in the light of reason, which is precisely what their infatuation 
did at the end of the book.

And I confess that, though I'd have liked for Tal to get the girl (I like 
Tal quite a bit), I rather enjoyed the fact that Misty steered away from the 
stock sort of ending where the villain is defeated Once And For All and the 
heroes find True Love with one another, happy happy joy joy. It's a little 
too easy to work a nice cozy romance into the plotline--or at least it is 
for me.

Zha'hai'allav'a,
Raven Darkblade and Mor the raven,
Holy Hand of the Goddess of Elves,
Member of the Mistic Circle,
Webmaster of the Circle of Stone,
Knight and Founding Member of the Order of Unsung Heroes, Advocator of 
Eldan, Champion of Kethra and Hyllarr, Devotee of Maclyn, and Worshipper of 
Tal Rufen;
http://www.angelfire.com/ky/Ashke/ - The Labyrinth

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Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 09:55:37 -0800
From: "Victoria H." <wukolia-+AT+-hotmail.com>
To: <mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk>
Subject: Re: OwlFlight/Sight/Knight
Message-ID: <OE40VK9vJdgko3YqH0b00000c0a-+AT+-hotmail.com>


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  Heyla again listsibs - wow, I've posted twice in under three weeks!  Th=
at's darn good for a lurker-ish one like myself. ;)  Anyways, sorry about=
 how short this is but I just wanted to make a comment...

  Li'nia wrote:

>I'm rather a fan of very descriptive writing, =20
>as evidenced from the fact that two of my fave authors
>are L.E. Modesitt and J.V. Jones (who're great at
>that!).  The thing that got me in OF was the fact that
>Darien was rather immature.  =20

  I think the thing that bothered me about OF was that Darien was at time=
s really immature and then at other times really adult.  The whole scenar=
io with the villagers and how they treat him very poorly and then want hi=
m to return when he's adult (and basically worship the ground he walks on=
) seemed a little too stereotypical (for lack of a better word) for me.  =
But I also like the descriptive writing.  At times it does get a little t=
edious (especially when Misty's just describing everyday actions, etc.) b=
ut it does add a nice touch in certain situations.  =20

>Thankfully, he's a bit
>better in the next two books.  Also, much of the
>second book, OwlSight, centers around the Healer
>(forgot her name! sorry!).  So, IMHO, I would
>recommend that you read the other books... But, you
>may just want to buy them in paperback...

   Keisha is the name of the healer, right?  I haven't read OwlSight in a=
 while so I may be wrong...   I sort of liked her character - at times sh=
e was a bit of the stereotypical "smart, older, but not-as-pretty sister"=
 but I still liked her in general. :)  =20
   =20
  What I disliked with 'Darien's Tale' (or whatever) was how there was a =
big space of unrecorded time between the first and second books and espec=
ially between the second and third books.  Darien changes a great deal be=
tween OF and OS - and we simply have to accept that change without readin=
g anything about the transition.  Also, I really really really disliked h=
ow the relationship between Keisha (??) and Darien changed so very much b=
etween OS and OwlKnight.  They went from friends to (almost) fiances with=
out any transition!  I would have liked to read something about the time =
in between.

   While we're on this topic, Misty mentioned that she might do a fourth =
book for this series - what does everyone think about this?  I'm not sure=
 whether I'd want her to write this or not...

  Well, that turned out longer than I thought!  Anyways, back to lurkerdo=
m for me! ;)

  Cotton-candy sheep for all!

   Vicky
 ___________________________________________________________
Get more from your time online.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://expl=
orer.msn.com

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<HTML><BODY STYLE=3D"font:10pt verdana; border:none;"><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <=
DIV>&nbsp; Heyla again listsibs - wow, I've posted twice in under three w=
eeks!&nbsp; That's darn good for a lurker-ish one like myself. ;)&nbsp; A=
nyways, sorry about how short this is but I just wanted to make a comment=
..</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;Li'nia wrote:</DIV> <DIV><BR=
>&gt;I'm rather a fan of very descriptive writing, </DIV> <DIV>&gt;as evi=
denced from the fact that two of my fave authors</DIV> <DIV>&gt;are L.E. =
Modesitt and J.V. Jones (who're great at<BR>&gt;that!).&nbsp; The thing t=
hat got me in OF was the fact that<BR>&gt;Darien was rather immature.&nbs=
p; </DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp; I think the thing that bothered m=
e about&nbsp;OF was that Darien&nbsp;was at times really immature and the=
n at other times&nbsp;really adult.&nbsp;&nbsp;The whole scenario with th=
e villagers and&nbsp;how they treat him very poorly and then&nbsp;want hi=
m to return when he's adult (and basically worship the ground he walks on=
) seemed a little too stereotypical (for lack of a better word) for me.&n=
bsp; But I also like the descriptive writing.&nbsp; At times it does&nbsp=
;get a little tedious (especially when Misty's just describing everyday a=
ctions, etc.) but it does add a nice touch in&nbsp;certain situations.&nb=
sp; </DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&gt;Thankfully, he's a bit<BR>&gt;bette=
r in the next two books.&nbsp; Also, much of the<BR>&gt;second book, OwlS=
ight, centers around the Healer<BR>&gt;(forgot her name! sorry!).&nbsp; S=
o, IMHO, I would<BR>&gt;recommend that you read the other books... But, y=
ou<BR>&gt;may just want to buy them in paperback...<BR><BR>&nbsp;&nbsp; K=
eisha is the name of the healer, right?&nbsp; I haven't read OwlSight in =
a while so I may be wrong...&nbsp;&nbsp; I sort of liked her character - =
at times she was a bit of the stereotypical "smart, older, but not-as-pre=
tty sister" but I still liked her in general. :)&nbsp;&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&=
nbsp;&nbsp; </DIV> <DIV>&nbsp; What I disliked with 'Darien's Tale' (or w=
hatever)&nbsp;was&nbsp;how&nbsp;there was a big space of unrecorded time =
between the first and second books and especially between the second and =
third books.&nbsp; Darien&nbsp;changes a great deal between OF and OS - a=
nd we simply have to accept that change without reading anything about th=
e transition.&nbsp;&nbsp;Also, I really really really disliked how the re=
lationship between Keisha (??) and Darien changed so very much between OS=
 and OwlKnight.&nbsp; They went from friends to&nbsp;(almost) fiances&nbs=
p;without any transition!&nbsp; I would&nbsp;have liked to read something=
 about the time in between.</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp; Whi=
le we're on this topic, Misty mentioned that she might do a fourth book f=
or this series - what does everyone think about this?&nbsp; I'm not sure =
whether I'd want her to write this or not...</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV=
>&nbsp; Well, that turned out longer than I thought!&nbsp; Anyways, back =
to lurkerdom for me! ;)</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp; Cotton-candy =
sheep for all!</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp; Vicky</DIV> <DIV=
>&nbsp;</DIV> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML><DIV><BR>___________________=
________________________________________<BR>Get more from your time onlin=
e.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com</DIV>

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Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 11:43:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Hank Tiffany <davidt-+AT+-cet.com>
To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk
Subject: Re: OwlFlight/Sight/Knight
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.1001119114140.172A-100000-+AT+-davidt>



On Sun, 19 Nov 2000, Victoria H. wrote:

>   I think the thing that bothered me about OF was that Darien was at time=
> s really immature and then at other times really adult.  

Not to offend anyone but isn't that a farily good thumbnail description
of most 14-18 year olds?

Hank Tiffany, god osn typsl

ps please turn off your HTML!


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End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2455
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