MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2456 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: fairy tales by Liz Hoffman 2) mercedes by Nadejda Choumanova 3) Re: fairy tales by "Misty's Secretary" 4) How well does "Storm" stand on its own? by "Layla Voll" 5) Re: fairy tales by "Layla Voll" 6) RE: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? by "Howell, Tommy" 7) Re: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? by "Charlotte DiStefano" 8) RE: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? by Hank Tiffany 9) Re: fairy tales by Shannon.Wiltshire-+AT+-vodafone.co.nz 10) RE: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? by Lish Monahan 11) Re: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? by "Layla Voll" 12) Re: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? by "Molly McAllister" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 17:42:52 +0000 (GMT Standard Time) From: Liz Hoffman To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: fairy tales Message-ID: Cariad said >I also love Jane Yolen's Briar Rose (of Sleeping Beauty, obviously) that combines the fairy tale and the Holocaust. Usually I hate war stories, but that one is quite good. <> --Really? I've never read any, and I love Tanya Huff. Does anyone have any titles?< Er, well... I think maybe I had Jane Yolen and Tanya Huff muddled up. Raven Darkblade said <<<.. short story told the story of one of Siegfried's 'extra princesses' >>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.> Is that a Misty edited / written anthologies or just one shes contributed to? And whats it like worth buying? Given what the god og ty[dp (Hank Tiffany) said about Darien and being 14-18. I kind of thought that a lot of people never really get past that point, like Elspeth a bit in places? I think we've all been spoiled by Vanyel going from immature to mature in one book, Darien did it in a more normal space of time. ---------------------- Liz Hoffman E.G.Hoffman-+AT+-soton.ac.uk ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 12:00:33 -0600 From: Nadejda Choumanova To: "mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk" Subject: mercedes Message-ID: <3A1966C1.64DCE52B-+AT+-oakton.edu> subscrube ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 20:17:54 -0000 From: "Misty's Secretary" To: Subject: Re: fairy tales Message-ID: > <<<.. short story told the story of one of Siegfried's > 'extra princesses' >>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.> > > Is that a Misty edited / written anthologies or just one > shes contributed to? And whats it like worth buying? Flights of Fantasy was edited by Misty, and includes a couple of short stories that she wrote. Daw books, ISBN: 0886778638 Paul (Just proving I'm still around :-) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 20:30:25 GMT From: "Layla Voll" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? Message-ID: Hi! I recently got a second set of the "Storm" trilogy, and was going to pass it along to a friend of mine who has just started reading the Valdemar books. She's read Oathbound, Oathbreaker, and By the Sword. It seems as if ML is usually very good about not retelling too much of the plots of other books (witness the way the actual story of "Oathbound" is mentioned but skipped over in "By the Sword.) But I still wanted to see whether you all thought reading the Storm books would give away too much of the earlier books. As you may have guessed, I myself have not yet read the Storms trilogy, either: I've just read what my friend has read, plus Arrows, plus the first two Winds books. (I figured I'd read my copy of Storms after I finish Winds, in chronological order.) So if you could possibly avoid revealing too much of either Storm or the end of Winds in your recommendation, that would be great. (You know: try to avoid: "Well, of course Talia going insane in the first Storms book does give away the fact that she had to poison Dirk at the end of "Winds.") Also, please note that I'm not asking what the best first ML book to give someone would be in an ideal world (although I'd be curious what you think about that, as well). I happen to have free extra copies of Storm Warning/Rising/Breaking now, and I'm just wondering if I should give them to her. Layla _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 20:57:31 GMT From: "Layla Voll" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: fairy tales Message-ID: Liz Hoffman writes: >Given what the god og ty[dp (Hank Tiffany) said about >Darien and being 14-18. I kind of thought that a lot of >people never really get past that point, like Elspeth a bit >in places? I think we've all been spoiled by Vanyel going >from immature to mature in one book, Darien did it in a >more normal space of time. Personally, I think I was spoiled by Talia, who was an exceptionally mature teenager. Not in an unbelievable way, by any means -- she grew up in a community where she was considered an adult at the age of 13, and certainly never had the opportunity to be remotely spoiled. Anyway, I found Talia a very lovely, very believable, mature thirteen-year-old in "Arrows of the Queen," and I liked her a lot. The same is true of Kerowyn -- I thought she was a very enjoyable character in her teenage years. But it means that I get somewhat impatient at times with some of the other teenage characters, because I find them more spoiled and self-centered than Talia and Kerowyn. I know, we can't all be Queen's Own, and if all the characters were all absolutely and completely selfless, perfectly mature thirteen-year-olds, the books would be a mite unrealistic. Layla ------------------- Layla Voll Layla_Voll-+AT+-hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 15:23:24 -0600 From: "Howell, Tommy" To: "'mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk'" Subject: RE: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? Message-ID: <5BA8DB8D54C4D3119956009027DE50C60E9FAA-+AT+-tdmnmail.tdmn.belo.com> The biggest problem with Storm standing on its own is all the "guest stars" that appear. It's really kind of the wrap-up for the series, as it ties up story lines from almost every trilogy, from the "Gryphon" books all the way upto the "Winds." It does have the advantage of being told from the perspective of a new character and culture, which builds in a lot of the elements needed to make it stand on its own. Ideally, I would read Black and White Gryphon before reading Storms. (Silver Gryphon stands on its own pretty well and has a thread mentioned in OwlSight). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 21:25:52 GMT From: "Charlotte DiStefano" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? Message-ID: *Lightsong blinks a couple of times as she looks up from her mess of Calculus II papers* So, if I take the integral of x sin squared theta...oh! Heyla everyone! Sorry, been slightly burried in work here...maybe a took a couple too many credits this semester? Anyway, ehough fluff... Layla wrote... ...I still wanted to see whether you all thought reading the Storm books would give away too much of the earlier books. *Lightsong clears her throat, and prepares to give her grand speech on The Order in Which the Books of Velgarth Should be Read... *Starshadow throws a couple of sheep at Lightsong, knocking her off of her soap-box...She'enedra, she only asked if the Storms would give away too much of the other books, she doesn't need a lecture* *Lightsong grins sheepishly, and puts away the soap-box* Okay, I don't think that you should read the Storms before you finish the Winds. I did that, because I was the first of my friends to read the books, so I didn't have anyone to tell me otherwise, and it ruined a lot of the Winds for me. Overall, I would say that the Storms should be read after ALL of the other Velgarth books, because I think they kind of pull everything together... *Lightsong ducks another sheep from Starshadow*...okay, fine, I guess that isn't really that important, but I would say, don't read the Storms books before the Winds. Now, I'm off to conquor the wonderful world of the Standard Derivation Principle for Probability Density Functions...*sigh*...someone remind me why I took this class? ~Lightsong Royal Defender of the Brat Dame of OoAM She'enedra to Starshadow ~ ~ Do not live merely in harmony, and some say, but in melody. ~ ~ _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 14:11:47 -0800 (PST) From: Hank Tiffany To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: RE: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? Message-ID: On Mon, 20 Nov 2000, Howell, Tommy wrote: > Ideally, I would read Black and White Gryphon before reading Storms. At least BG. I'm not so sure you need WG. Hank Tiffany, Gidotyops ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 11:33:11 +1200 From: Shannon.Wiltshire-+AT+-vodafone.co.nz To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: fairy tales Message-ID: <4C25699D.00812902.00-+AT+-nts4corp.vodafone.co.nz> Hmmm I really enjoyed all of Mercedes books however I really didnt get into the owl series - I just cannot get onsite his character. I really enjoyed the concept of the vale in Valdemar but... the character really started to annoy me after a while - guess I just like characters who are interesting and more adult - loved all the others -its just those 3 oh well well thats all from me ( what does everyone think of the diana tregarde novels? I just finished jinx high) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 17:49:56 -0500 (EST) From: Lish Monahan To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: RE: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? Message-ID: > Ideally, I would read Black and White Gryphon before reading Storms. (Silver > Gryphon stands on its own pretty well and has a thread mentioned in > OwlSight). I may be opening my mouth and inserting my foot here, but this is my thought: I wouldn't have a friend read either Storms or the Gryphon series first. I think a large majority of Misty's fans have agreed that her later stuff is not as good as her early work, and I would in fact argue that some of her recent stuff has been downright painful to wade through, but I've done it because I love the world and love the characters. I think the gryphon books were decent, but not particularly riveting. And the Storms seies is fun, but with all of the different characters appearing and subplots being wrapped up, and the chaos of dealing with all of the different cultures, I'd be really afraid that a first time Misty reader would get so frustrated and confused they'd quite likely give up and leave the books unfinished. My advice: if you want to get someone -hooked- on Misty, start 'em on the early works that center on or two distinct well-defined characters and one culture/plot. The two Vows & Honor books, Heralds of Valdemar, By the Sword, or (well duh), our sweet and perfect Vanyel. I think its better to start with these and really get emotionally involved in the world before tackling Misty's more obtuse works. Love, Lish ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 22:56:36 From: "Layla Voll" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? Message-ID: Tommy Howell writes: >The biggest problem with Storm standing on its own is all the "guest stars" >that appear. It's really kind of the wrap-up for the series, as it ties up >story lines from almost every trilogy, from the "Gryphon" books all the way >upto the "Winds." and "Charlotte DiStefano" writes: >*Lightsong clears her throat, and prepares to give her grand speech on The >Order in Which the Books of Velgarth Should be Read... >Okay, I don't think that you should read the Storms before you finish the >Winds. I did that, because I was the first of my friends to read the >books, so I didn't have anyone to tell me otherwise, and it ruined a lot of >the Winds for me. Overall, I would say that the Storms should be read >after ALL of the other Velgarth books, because I think they kind of pull >everything together... Actually.... if everyone else has heard The Speech before, is it on a FAQ somewhere? Because I'd very much like to know. Your response and Mr. Howell's response on Storms were exactly what I was looking for, and exactly what I did not suspect at all -- I'd pushed the Gryphon books off to the side "for reading later," for instance, because I'd assumed that they were a separate, unattached trilogy. Thanks! Layla _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2000 01:30:35 -0000 From: "Molly McAllister" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: How well does "Storm" stand on its own? Message-ID: >From: "Layla Voll" > >*Lightsong clears her throat, and prepares to give her grand speech on >The > >Order in Which the Books of Velgarth Should be Read... > >Actually.... if everyone else has heard The Speech before, is it on a FAQ >somewhere? Because I'd very much like to know. Well, one method which I did, which worked quite well was like this: Arrows Trilogy Magics Trilogy Vows and Honor Duology By the Sword Winds Trilogy Gryphons Trilogy Storms Trilogy Owl trilogy Arrows gets you hooked the Magic's even more and by then you are hopelessly addicted. Another method would be Chronologicaly : Gryphons Magics Vows and Honor Arrows By the Sword Winds Storms Owl but the problem with this method is that Gryphons is not her best (by far) and so it is not good for getting you hooked into the whole Velgarth scene. I would definately NOT read Storms if you haven't read Winds. It would give way to much away. Wind to thy Wings, Starshadow* She'endra to Lightsong Royal Defender of the Brat ------------------------------------------------------------ "Life is an even numbered word problem" My old math teacher, Mr Dice ------------------------------------------------------------ "Theropy is expensive but popping bubble rapIs radically cheap" _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 2456 **********************************