MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 131 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: SPOILERS!! Storm Rising Musings by RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com 2) Re: SPOILERS!! Storm Rising Musings by "Kristin A. Ruhle" 3) Re: Shaych Acceptance by EDooley489-+AT+-aol.com 4) Storm Rising by "Tarja Rainio" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 6:52:34 -0600 (MDT) From: RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: SPOILERS!! Storm Rising Musings Message-ID: <950907065234.21a16948-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com> >> SPOILERS DISCUSSED BELOW! :) >> > >> If Firesong was acting like such an idiot because of physical changes in >> his brain caused by the Storms (due to him being a Healing Adept), are >> those changes reversible or is he stuck with them? >I think he's stuck with them. I think the mage storms induced some kind of >chemical/hormonal imbalance in his brain. As I said in the other spoiler, >wonder what the Valdemaran version of prozac is? :) I totally disagree. I think after it was pointed out to him what was happening, he either fixed it himself or got help. Why you ask? Because by the end of the book, he's back more or less to being himself. He is able to work with his lover, without great anger, he is able to look for the greater good of all people, not just for himself. He's either healed, or on prozac Remember that Starfire was there. And doesn't Starfire as a ... whatchamacallit, essentially a highly extended psychiatrist, doesn't Starfire have certain "magical" or healing capabilities? I thought that Misty was showing us the piece where the confrontation occurs, and we can just assume that the problem is taken care of. Maybe not. Maybe it's only a temporary fix. Maybe Firesong will continue to struggle with this, going to mage-anon meetings (hee hee). Sorry. Seriously, there's two possibilities - either he is healed, and everythings okay again, or he's not, and he will cause further trouble for Andesha et al in Storm Breaking. >In the same way, I'm not sure, as a ruler, Solaris would have exploded the >way that she did at Karal. But in order to keep things from getting to easy >for Karal, and thus weakening plot, character, and theme all in one swipe, >he's got to have these problems. And for Karal, the full and *hostile* >attention of the Son of the Sun is definately a problem! I thought that maybe she was testing Karal. Seeing if he would react well under the stress of her hostile attention. After all, she must know from Altra that Karal is extremely stressed. So I think she's just testing him. >>Hmm. interesting theory...if you're a spirit perhaps you have a larger >>view of things and could opt to be reincarnated in a land you weren't >>born in. I think it might be harder to be a Companion (other then Grove >>born) if you hadn't been a Herald first. >This is also true, since devotion to Valdemar itself is one of the >things instilled in a Herald, largely, I think, by his >Companion. Is that true? I didn't think so. The companions are dedicated to the land of Valdemar, true. But I think the Herald must be the sort of person who can dedicate themselves to the land also, before they are chosen, and learn to love the land after they are chosen, without any nudging from the Companions. Of course, you could be right. Maybe that is implanted by the Companions. Hmmph. I don't think I like that. I want the Heralds to be free to choose. >Does anybody like the way Misty "translates" when a character is speaking a >"forign" language? I thought Kerowyn's Karsite in Storm Warning was a hoot, >and Solaris' Hardornen...well, I thought it almost took away from the >intensity of the encounter, but it did add a touch of reality. That's interesting that you said that. I thought it *added* to the intensity. Like someone else said, no universal translater. You kinda kept waiting for her to make a serious blunder, even knowing that wouldn't happen. I felt like I was living the scene with Tremane, trying desperately to understand what this strange woman was trying to say, in order to create an allegiance that could save all my men. StarWolf ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 22:13:49 -0700 (PDT) From: "Kristin A. Ruhle" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: SPOILERS!! Storm Rising Musings Message-ID: <199509080513.AA02395-+AT+-jive.rahul.net> > > >> SPOILERS DISCUSSED BELOW! :) > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I totally disagree. I think after it was pointed out to him what was > happening, he either fixed it himself or got help. Why you ask? Because > by the end of the book, he's back more or less to being himself. He > is able to work with his lover, without great anger, he is able to look > for the greater good of all people, not just for himself. He's either > healed, or on prozac Remember that Starfire was there. And > doesn't Starfire as a ... whatchamacallit, essentially a highly > extended psychiatrist, doesn't Starfire have certain "magical" or > healing capabilities? I thought that Misty was showing us the piece > where the confrontation occurs, and we can just assume that the problem > is taken care of. Maybe not. Maybe it's only a temporary fix. Maybe > Firesong will continue to struggle with this, going to mage-anon meetings > (hee hee). Sorry. Seriously, there's two possibilities - either he is > healed, and everythings okay again, or he's not, and he will cause further > trouble for Andesha et al in Storm Breaking. > Starfire?? It was Silverfox, Firesong's old Kaled'a'in friend and a Kestra'chern (which is a word that doesn't really translate well into any other language.) He's a sort of holistic emotional/spiritual healer. Say a combination psychologist, massage therapist and...well in *these* cultures making love to your patient is not considered "misconduct" or grounds for a scandal as it would be in our culture. It goes up to and includes sex. (I'm curious as to what cultures and healing traditions Misty draws this from.) The Gryphon books go into this some - the uninformed tend to think of a kestra'chern as just a sort of very high priced prostitute, but they are MUCH more than that. The actual healing happens offstage (as with Van after his gang rape in LHM) so we don't know all the details. It may have been partly physical (it's hinted that certain Healers might be able to repair the brain damage if, a big if, they knew what to look for) but was mainly psychological/emotional. Brain damage or no, Misty makes a point of emphasizing that Firesong still has free will. Kristin ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 02:39:10 -0400 From: EDooley489-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Shaych Acceptance Message-ID: <950907221933_13724770-+AT+-mail04.mail.aol.com> I agree with lydia about acceptance. It seems like people in cities are more tolerant of it than people in the middle of no-where. I have always felt that Misty just projected the real world's feelings about same sex pairings. The heralds seem to accept it over all but most people will accept that if they are familiar with someones character or personality. Education makes people more likely to accept it I think. Eric ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 16:23:51 EET DST From: "Tarja Rainio" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Storm Rising Message-ID: <65B8C1585C-+AT+-katk.helsinki.fi> Hello all! I'm wondering if someone would be willing to buy Storm Rising (the second book of the series =)) and send it to me (I live in Finland), if I send you the necessary funds (book price+postage) ? I'm asking this because I checked with the local bookstore, and they told me they have not yet ordered it in hardcover. If I special order it through them it will probably take two to three *months* before I get it... =( Please answer me by private e-mail, so that the list won't be filled with out-of-topic chatter... =) Hoping for replies, Tarja tarja.rainio-+AT+-helsinki.fi (and yes, I do have two different e-mail addresses, but messages to both come to the same place ;) ) ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 131 *********************************