MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 116 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Storm Warning by h-wilfehrt-+AT+-nwu.edu (Helen M. Wilfehrt) 2) Re: Black Swan ? by Mat Timmerman 3) Re: Whimper by Mat Timmerman 4) RE: Storm Rising, anyone? by mealink-+AT+-syd.au.swissbank.com (Kerry Mealing) 5) RE: Storm Rising, anyone? by Vivian Choh 6) *triggering* of magestorms by Kathryn Desmarais 7) Re: *triggering* of magestorms by "Jennifer S. Broekman" 8) Re: MERCEDES-LACKEY digest 113 by Gyere Ringtale 9) HELP!! How do I Get the Mercedes Lackey Digest??? by "Leroy H. Maxwell III" 10) RE: Storm Rising, anyone? by PTJ-+AT+-badger.demon.co.uk (Philip Johnson) 11) RE: Storm Rising, anyone? by mel (Melanie Dymond Harper) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 14:16:45 -0500 From: h-wilfehrt-+AT+-nwu.edu (Helen M. Wilfehrt) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Storm Warning Message-ID: <199508231916.AA118965405-+AT+-casbah.acns.nwu.edu> I just finished SW, and I must say that I found it, on the whole, entirely enjoyable (I've already gone through it 3 times, skimming through some parts, in the past week). Not to say there weren't a few minor points which were questionable. I really enjoyed the characters of Karal and Altra. It took me a couple of times before I realized the actual identity of the one who was called "something like 'elder' ", aka Eldan, according to An'desha, among the group of those soaking in the hot bath in Firesong's and An'desha's Ekele (sp?) when An'desha got jealous of Firesong's and Darkwind's teasing each other. One point that I found curious was that, when Altra was telling everyone the best assignments for the distribution of mages to construct the magical wave breakfront, he assigned Firesong and Elspeth while An'desha was with Altra, Karal, and Florian, a Companion whom he knew to be a mage (a curious point in itself); Altra neglected to include Gwena among the count of mages with Firesong and Elspeth. Plus, I would have thought that Need might be useful in these happenings - for consultation in the previous discussions of the mage storms at least - if she could be convinced to become involved and despite the fact that she wasn't quite Adept level herself. >From solely a SW perspective, having not read Storm Rising nor TWG and not expecting to anytime soon unless my library gets them, I've been pondering a question several people have wondered: what set off the return of the Mage Storms at this particular point in time. I don't think it was Daren's telling the earth to return to normal (BtS) after the destruction of Ancar's mages - the scale of power involved them seems rather small relative to that involved in the Mage Storms. One possibility that I propose is that it may be the result of the final destruction of the entity Ma'ar/Falconsbane. When Ma'ar's body died eons ago in conjunction with Uthro's demise, it set off the initial Mage Storms due to the sudden release of a LOT of magic power. However, his "soul" continued to exist through subsequent eras only to be finally and completely destroyed by Firesong only relatively recently. However, this doesn't explain everything. Anyway...time to go back to work---- Helen ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 15:38:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Mat Timmerman To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Black Swan ? Message-ID: <01HUF1HWUE8M9N8QUE-+AT+-vaxc.hofstra.edu> > > In a message dated 95-08-22 00:02:50 EDT, you write: > > >I just (finally! :) read the RTC chat. In it, Misty mentions a book called > >the Black Swan. Where did thise come from? I just keep getting flashes of > >GG Kay's Fionavar Tapestry - Avaia, you know :) > > > > > > > > That's not all I want to know. I want the next Di book. Andre could very > easily become my hero! > I think that she will keep us addictted for quite some time! > I'm kind of lucky (well, luckier than most here :) in that I just read the Di books for the first time in about May or so. So, I'm not as deep in withdrawal as most :) > Matt J > (I guess now that Matt T is back I will have to stop being lazy and add the > J) Be as lazy as you want ;> My name is Mat <--- see, only one "t". Still, there's my last initial - I'm being lazy, not wriing it out (Timmerman). Mat T. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 15:49:36 -0400 (EDT) From: Mat Timmerman To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Whimper Message-ID: <01HUF1QIIQWS9N8QUE-+AT+-vaxc.hofstra.edu> > From: RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com > > I went to Barnes & Nobles last night, hoping they might have Storm Rising. > After all, I figured, B&N usually has the new books before most of the > other stores here in town. Whimper. Nothing. "Sometime this month" > they said. Whimper. Whine. Sniffle. So while you all already own the > book, and are discussing it, I'll sit in my little corner whimpering > till I can get the darn thing! Aaack! I hate New Yorkers (not really, > but you always seem to get stuff first). Yeah, I was lucky to get mine. I walked into the B&N near work and saw ONE copy of SRising. I snapped it right up, and haven't seen another copy there since. I wonder if they ordered it for a certain customer who reads Misty. If so he/she must be pissed at me ;) Still off topic, but I had to respond anyway: > > Since I couldn't find Storm Rising a few days ago, I picked up Belgarath > the Sorcerer by Eddings. If you are an Eddings fan, or if you really > enjoyed the Belgariad, pick this up! It's huge, but it honestly met > my every expectation! I can't say that for very many books. I loved > Belgarath in the Belgariad, so this book is definitely for me. > I liked it a lot. I think that Eddings has an undeserved bad rep on the Net. Sure, he's no Tolkein, but his books are enjoyable. People don't like Eddings because his books aren't really "meaningful" - in general, they're mind candy. But, so what? Not everything *has* to be analyzed. I read his books for fun, not to learn anything, really. They aren't bad, they're just good in a different way. There's also the problem of repeating the same story four times, though :) I didn't mind in the Mallorean, but the Tamuli sort of annoyed me. > > Mat T. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 95 09:09:28 EST From: mealink-+AT+-syd.au.swissbank.com (Kerry Mealing) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: RE: Storm Rising, anyone? Message-ID: <9508232309.AA13544-+AT+-syd.au.swissbank.com> Joan wrote: > Look, I'm *really* sorry I mentioned any names from this book, let alone > *hinted* that there just might be something interesting that wasn't > mentioned on the book flap. Excuse me for even including that sentence with > those people who should never have been mentioned. Forgive me from the > *bottom* of my heart. I didn't think I was spoiling anything by naming > names (from the previous book), and hinting that something we've discussed > before was somewhat proven. > > Only mildly :) at this point, and remembering why I hardly ever post, > > Joan (back to being your mild-mannered lurking librarian) > > Oh, P.S. Yes, Natoli is still a major character. There, was that a spoiler? Well, dammit! You've just gone and spoilt the whole book for me.. I absolutely, totally had no idea whatsoever that Natoli would become a major character - I was convinced she was going to get eaten by a rabid tayledras bond-bird warped by a mage-storm. No, wait, that's *Elspeth*.. Who's Natoli then? Natoli.. Natoli.. anyone, anyone? . Kerry. -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- Kerry J Mealing mealink-+AT+-syd.au.swissbank.com "Wanderer on the path of the truncated sig." > > joan_ferguson-+AT+-harvard.edu > Harvard University Library Preservation Office > 59 Plympton Street Cambridge MA 02138 > "Instead of loving your enemies,treat your friends a little better." > -Edgar Watson Howe (1853-1937) > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 23 Aug 1995 19:57:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Vivian Choh To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: RE: Storm Rising, anyone? Message-ID: On Wed, 23 Aug 1995, Melanie Dymond Harper wrote: > > Anyone who _does_ post spoilers is laying themselves open to being emailed a > blow-by-blow account of the last four episodes of the second series of > Babylon 5, including what happens to XXXXX and the XXXXX of XXXXXX. > ROTFL!! Vivian Choh bi189-+AT+-torfree.net v.choh-+AT+-utoronto.ca "I am all that I claim to be. I simply have not claimed all that I am." - M. Lackey, "Oathbreakers" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 08:24:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Kathryn Desmarais To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: *triggering* of magestorms Message-ID: Hi Ya'll, Ok- there have been a couple of ideas lately on what *triggered* the current mage storms...Daren or Firesong...., it has made me start thinking and *what if* instead of being triggered by anything.... the Various Gods/Goddesses have known or "seen" or whatever the mage storms coming- for years now in fact, and have helped the humans/all intellegent creatures get into the best position to defend against the storms... for example: (1) the "grand plan" of the companions- that is mentioned 1st in WoF (? 1st winds) -- Doesn't vanel comment (later) something to the effect that a plan that has been in effect as long as this one should have been changed many times over... anyway the point is -- what was/is the purpose of this "grand plan"?? - How about that whatever god/goddess allows/helps the companions be reborn knows about the mage storms coming and therefore the companions know and the plan is an effort to get, at minimum, some Herald-Mages back into the country... (2) The reappearence of Vkandis (Where in the hell has He been anyways??) After what? at least 700? years of neglect of His country he suddenly puts a true believer on the throne and gets rid of all the false preists and the firecats are also back... There has to be a reason He came back and well the mage storms are the obvious one. (3) The Shin'a'in goddess suddenly creates not one but 2 avatars- something she has *never* done. Convient tools to help An'desaea (sp)- but there has to be a further reason... they do let Her operate outside the plains for instance....are they collecting data for Her?.... (4) The "sudden" appearance of the lost ones... and the joining of them with the Shin'a'in and the Taylendras...somewhere I vaugely remember that someone mentions that this joining is a plan that the goddess has had in effect for a *long* time... convient timing too... just in time to make an alience w/k'Valdamer and help muster forces to fight the mage storms. Well, what do people think? Am I imagining things? (Has this been talked about before?) I realize *a couple* of the above points happened after the possible Daren trigger...but #1 and #4 didn't- Anything else people can think of to prove/tear to shreads this idea? Well enough out of me this morning... Wind to thy Wings Stormdancer ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 10:16:17 -0400 From: "Jennifer S. Broekman" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: *triggering* of magestorms Message-ID: <199508241416.KAA12890-+AT+-sparky.phast.umass.edu> Kathryn Desmarais wrote: >(1) the "grand plan" of the companions- that is mentioned 1st in WoF (? >(2) The reappearence of Vkandis (Where in the hell has He been anyways??) >(3) The Shin'a'in goddess suddenly creates not one but 2 avatars- >(4) The "sudden" appearance of the lost ones... and the joining of them >Well, what do people think? Am I imagining things? (Has this been talked >about before?) I realize *a couple* of the above points happened after >the possible Daren trigger...but #1 and #4 didn't- Actually, since all of the above are in the Winds and Storms trilogies, they all happen after Daren's action (in BtS, at least 2-5 years before WoF, by the ages of the twins), with the possible exception of (1), if you think that the Grand Plan has been in place since Gwena appeared or slightly before, instead of just since Elspeth 'realized' that nobody wanted to think about magic. >Anything else people can think of to prove/tear to shreads this idea? I lean towards the 'it was inevitable' theory myself, but if it was scheduled to appear now regardless, why did Vkandis wait till it was so near to act? I have personal theories, but they delve more into theology than discussion of the books at hand.:-) -jenneke I *am* family. How could I not have family values? Only Boys Accepting Feminism Get Kissed Meaningfully -- Geoff Marcy The only unnatural sexual act is that which you cannot perform. -Alfred Kinsey broekman-+AT+-sparky.phast.umass.edu | http://www-astro.phast.umass.edu/gs/jenn.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 10:14:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Gyere Ringtale To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: MERCEDES-LACKEY digest 113 Message-ID: Gyrfalcon opens his eyes after coming back from Vacation and looks at the towering pile of mail that the list left in his mailbox. On Mon, 21 Aug 1995, Eor wrote: > Now, when I first read this portion (again), I figured it was the room in > which Vanyel fused the focus-stones to the table, to the floor, and to the > Haven Heartstone... However, a bit later, it reads: [snip, munch, nibble] > I bring this up because, if this WERE the room I mentioned above, it would > have been impossible for anybody to move the table out of the way. After > thinking it over for a while, I remembered that Misty wrote the Arrows > trilogy before she wrote LHM... and therefore, IIRC there is a passage in Winds of Fury that mentions both the Haven heartstone, and the "Room of Concentration" that you had mentioned. WoFury pg 266 "In fact, this room did not look much out of the ordinary at all. It was a direct copy of the one on the ground floor of the Palace, one that was probally right above it, if Elspeth had reckoned her distances and angles right." > used some creative license...like when the name of Griffon's Companion > changes from the 1st book to the 3rd. Anyone else have thoughts on this? Hmmmn... Didn't notice that. Sorry about the long time responding to the stuff. I've been in Maine for the past week and am just catching up on my mail. --Gyrfalcon =======================msowers-+AT+-menger.eecs.stevens-tech.edu=================== Magic still exists. We have only to reach out and touch it, it is a part of the very fabric of the world. When our belief of magic completely dies this universe shall die. Because that magic; Hope, Dreams, Love, Beauty, Wonder, Belief, and Discovery are what make us a people. They are all part of a great Art whose workings are still a mystery but whose applications can be seen every day. If we ever lose the Art mankind shall not last the day. Let the magic that is in us roam free in our work, play, in each other, and most of all in ourselves. Let it roam free or it will die. ============================================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 10:34:18 -0500 (CDT) From: "Leroy H. Maxwell III" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: HELP!! How do I Get the Mercedes Lackey Digest??? Message-ID: I keep seeing reference to the Mercedes Lackey Digest now at vol 113 how do I get the digest?? to those who reply, Thanks in advance --------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Those who refuse to serve the Powers, become slaves to the Powers, Those who serve the Powers, Themselves become the Powers!" Zhai'helleva, Wingsibs Hank Maxwell a.k.a. StormShadow ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 16:07:31 GMT From: PTJ-+AT+-badger.demon.co.uk (Philip Johnson) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: RE: Storm Rising, anyone? Message-ID: <184-+AT+-badger.demon.co.uk> In message <9508231409.AA09145-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk> mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk writes: > > > As I understand it, at present, Storm Rising is out in the US but with > somewhat patchy distribution at the moment, and as far as I know it's not > out in the UK; I haven't seen it in UK or import edition here yet. > My info is that it is due on 18th September from Orion, under the Millenium imprint:- hardback ukp15.99 ISBN: 185798789 trade (i.e. large) paperback ukp8.99 ISBN: 1857982770 Also, the normal paperback of Strom Warning is due on 4th September. Same publisher, same imprint; ukp4.99 ISBN: 1857982975 Philip -- Philip Johnson Never do for yourself what you can con an expert into doing for you. Naismith: "On War". ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 18:23:10 +0100 From: mel (Melanie Dymond Harper) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: RE: Storm Rising, anyone? Message-ID: <9508241723.AA11752-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk> > My info is that it is due on 18th September from Orion, under the Millenium > imprint:- > hardback ukp15.99 ISBN: 185798789 > trade (i.e. large) paperback ukp8.99 ISBN: 1857982770 > Ah, but I'm impatient, so I will be looking for the US import tomorrow :) Mel. ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 116 *********************************