MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 210 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Re: Shadow Stalker by "Sanna Koulu" 2) Re: First exposure to sci-fi/fantasy by Kathleen Lindsay Holland 3) re: from SF to Fantasy... by "Scarlett E. Blizzard" 4) Re: Not a companion but..... by SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) 5) Re: Help!! by SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) 6) Re: Casting characrers... by SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) 7) Re: Casting characrers... by mel (Melanie Dymond Harper) 8) Re: Not a companion but..... by SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) 9) Re: First exposure to sci-fi/fantasy by mel (Melanie Dymond Harper) 10) Re: Help!! by Rosario Holsen-Baker 11) Re: POLL - last call by RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com 12) Political Poll results by RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com 13) Re: Narnia (also, Sundancer reports back in) by Catherine Osborne 14) Re: MERCEDES-LACKEY digest 209 by Heather Mina 15) Re: Hallowe'en by RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com 16) First Fantasy by Catherine Osborne 17) Re: Narnia by Rosario Holsen-Baker 18) Re: POLL - last call by Rosario Holsen-Baker 19) Lots 'o stuff by RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com 20) Misty Music by RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com 21) Re: below the root series? by ARisemberg-+AT+-eworld.com 22) Re: Narnia by RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com 23) SW and SR - long... by "Sanna Koulu" 24) Re: First Exposure to Fantasy/Sci-Fe by Rich Crawford 25) Re: POLL - last call by Gyrfalcon 26) Re: MERCEDES-LACKEY digest 208 by dstorrs-+AT+-crossover.com (David K. Storrs) 27) Re: Casting characrers... by Mat Timmerman ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 10:13:25 EET From: "Sanna Koulu" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Shadow Stalker Message-ID: <5E80F24340-+AT+-otdk.helsinki.fi> Mat Timmerman wrote: > You know, I must have heard people say this a hundred times since > I'v been on this list (over a year now), but this is the first time > that I can say it. > > I just got Shadow Stalker this weekend, and I LOVE IT! > > I was little wary at first, having never listened to that type > of music before. As I listened to the beginning of "Windrider > Unchained", I thought, "Okay, at least it wasn't a total waste > of money." By the time I was halfway through the song, though, > I was hooked. :) Now I can't get the songs out of my head. All > day I've been hearing "Silver and amethyst/The colddrake hunts for > prey/Its glowing eyes can hyp-no-tize/And steal your soul away" > and "Challenge not this Web of Light/Oh mage of dark designs", > not to mention many instances of "Vanyel, Herald Vanyel" in > my head all day long! Welcome to the throng of the addicted, then ... > > So far, my favorite songs are (in no particular order): > Windrider Unchained > Demonsbane > The Colddrake and > Hawk Brother Mmmm...Demonsbane. It's really sweet... though my favorite is definitely Shadow-lover. Of course. Has anyone noticed that a lot of the people called Death have blue eyes? Like SL and Discworld's Death, for example. > Next, I plan on buying Heralds, Harpers, & Havok (I've found those lyrics > interesting since I first read Arrows' Fall -- gotta hear "It Was a Dark > and Stormy Night" :) ). I also want to buy one of the Vows & Honor > tapes. Which one should I get -- "Oathbound" or "Oathbreakers"? My advice: Get both . I liked Oathbreakers better (it has the Need song, + "There is always a reason") but Oathbound is good too, though more uneven. If you like Leslie Fish, Oathbound is a must because of the piece "Wind's Four Quarters"; it's stunning. -Seanna ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 18:57:33 -0600 (CST) From: Kathleen Lindsay Holland To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: First exposure to sci-fi/fantasy Message-ID: I think my first exposure was reading the wonderful stories of Enid Blyton. I don't think I will ever forget the memorable characters of Moonface and Silky from her books about that wonderful tree with the different lands at the top. (I have forgotten the names of the books of course :) ). I have yet to find any Enid Blyton books over here in America. Maybe they are just too British to survive the language barrier ;). When I was 11, I picked up a copy of David Eddings' Pawn of Prophecy to read on a train journey to London and I have been hooked ever since. I must admit that it was the covers to TLH that first drew me to ML's books. I fell in love with them at once. I read the entire series on the bus trip down from visiting friends in Ohio to my home in Texas. Does anyone sense a pattern to my discovering and reading great books here? :) Anyway, just thought I would delurk and share all that with you. I have been reading this list for quite a few weeks now but I am a shy soul and prefer listening to participating usually. Could not resist sharing Enid Blyton with you all though. I don't think I have seen anyone mention her yet. Well, I guess I will go back to lurking, Kate (klh0001-+AT+-jove.ucs.unt.edu) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 95 9:50:45 CET (0850Z) From: "Scarlett E. Blizzard" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: re: from SF to Fantasy... Message-ID: <9511070900.AA19263-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk> Vivian said: > I find the way people have "discovered" SFF to be quite > interesting. A great many of the list members seem to have been prompted > or encouraged by a parental unit :). My parents never read to me, nor > ever encouraged me (or my sister) to read...and no, this is not a bitter > sob story...I'm just curious as to how many of us discovered SFF on our > own (without our parent's help) - Surely I'm not the only one... > >>>>>>No, My mother is a reader, but I was never read too. I started reading the summer of first grade, due to my teacher. I had dyslexia and was writing everything backwards. So they put me on a reading program. (Of course the program wouldn't have worked if I hadn't wanted it to) but I found that I LOVED to read. Started off with mysteries, which I still read, started on Fantasy at 14, but I really didn't start reading Fantasy feriously until the age of 19. One interesting thing I have found is that my kids do not like to read! My daughter who is in 2nd grade seems to be showing an interest in it, but my son who is 10, only reads occasionly. Even though they see me reading constantly--sometimes 2 books at a time (one in the bedroom, and one in the living room). I don't pressure them though, I figure they will read if they want too. I do encourage and try to set an example for them. Scarlett ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 04:53:30 EST From: SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Not a companion but..... Message-ID: <013.04318474.SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com> Good morning, all > >Now, with the Companion/lifebond thing, I think what 'Lendel was >saying in that passage of MPawn was that his bond with Van was an >equal to equal bond, unlike his bond with Gwena, whom he looked up to >as a kind of older sister and savior. I don't think he ever said the >bond with Van was *stronger,* just different. I seem to remember him >saying it was "more like" his bond with Staven. I know. What I'm saying is that lifebonds are 'like' twin bonds, and twin bonds don't decrease w/distance, whereas Companion/Herald bonds do >. btw, somewhere someone said that lifebonds don't carry thoughts. Why couldn't they? If Companions can only speak to their Chosen if the Chosen have Mindspeaking Gifts , why couldn't lifebonds not carry thoughts unless both partners were Mindspeakers? wyvern, putting that badly ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 05:05:22 EST From: SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Help!! Message-ID: <013.04318536.SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com> Gyrfalcon, >You can never leave... You belong to us now. Body, soul, and mind. We >have you and we'll never let go. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! funny, that's what I say to my victims-er-friends.... wyvern the wandering lunatic (tm) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 05:07:23 EST From: SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Casting characrers... Message-ID: <013.04318547.SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com> Shadow-Lover, >I think Heather Alexander did a *wonderful* job as Van... All though I >must admit to her *AWFUL* job as Stefen... (Magic's Price was a downer >for me... I guess that's why they put it at the END of the tape!!!) I I haven't heard the tape... don't torture me! wyvern, who *will* get it someday... eventually... really, I will! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 10:16:58 GMT From: mel (Melanie Dymond Harper) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Casting characrers... Message-ID: <9511071016.AA22666-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk> Actually, I have now seen the perfect person to play Vanyel. There's a new film out over here, called "Farinelli"; it's about a castrato opera singer, set in the 18th century (if my memory serves me right; I think he may have been the last of the castrati). Anyhow, the chap who plays Farinelli himself is Vanyel to a T; unfortunately I have not the first clue what his name is! Cheers Mel. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 05:20:00 EST From: SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Not a companion but..... Message-ID: <013.04318611.SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com> heyla, fellow lunatics... :) >> Vanyel went on after losing >>Lendal >>and Stefan went on after losing Vanyel and there were other instances >>where >>lifebonds had been broken but I thought I had read or inferred from >>somewhere >>that if a Herald would lose a companion he would go crazy or just be >>consumed >>by grief???? I sometimes wonder where I get these ideas from??? In M's Promise, Van says to Tashir that the only reason he didn't die after 'Lendel is that he bonded to 'Fandes. He also said that lifebonds were like Companion bonds: one partner normally didn't survive the other. The only reason Stef didn't die is Van specifically asked him not to, and gave him some good reasons, and I have a feeling that some of van's sense of duty rubbed off on Stef. As to what would happen to a Herald after his Companion died, I imagine the same thing that would probably happen to a companion who lost his herald: he'd get re-Chosen wyvern ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 10:23:14 GMT From: mel (Melanie Dymond Harper) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: First exposure to sci-fi/fantasy Message-ID: <9511071023.AA22939-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk> > I think my first exposure was reading the wonderful stories of Enid > Blyton. I don't think I will ever forget the memorable characters of > Moonface and Silky from her books about that wonderful tree with the > different lands at the top. (I have forgotten the names of the books of > course :) ). I have yet to find any Enid Blyton books over here in > America. Maybe they are just too British to survive the language > barrier ;). My sister had some of those books, although I did not (the Enid Blytons I had were all Famous Five, Secret Seven and school stories). And I have a feeling that at least one of the books was called something like "The Far-Away Tree"... Still pondering my first SF; perhaps it was nagging my dad to take me to see Star Wars, age 9. (Why I would have nagged him to take me if I hadn't already been interested in SF, though, is anyone's guess.) Mel. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 07:52:59 -0500 (EST) From: Rosario Holsen-Baker To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Help!! Message-ID: On Mon, 6 Nov 1995, Gyrfalcon wrote: > On Mon, 6 Nov 1995, Tamara Ann Jones wrote: > > > Help. I'm having a problem unsubscribing from this newsgroup. Could > > someone please help me? Thanks. > > I've said it before and I'll say it again... > > You can never leave... You belong to us now. Body, soul, and mind. We > have you and we'll never let go. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! > > Or you can just ask Mel. > > --Gyrfalcon Gyrfalcon, don't scare them. They have enough problems as it is, being stuck here in this dimensional black hole. :) |------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Tygra Nightblades | | | | File not found: _Meaning of life_ | | Abort, Retry, Ignore? | | | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 6:16:43 -0700 (MST) From: RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: POLL - last call Message-ID: <951107061643.2241c8a9-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com> I figured telling you which poll it was would be to easy. StarWolf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 6:31:37 -0700 (MST) From: RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Political Poll results Message-ID: <951107063137.2241c8a9-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com> Well, here are the results of the political poll. I tried hard to keep my own biases out of the collation, but I'm quite certain that a liberal type would classify things somewhat differently. Being a libertarian I see things somewhat differently than many of you 19 respondents 1 green 1 nonpolitical 2 libertarians (including me!) - conservative on the fiscal end, "liberal" on the social end (as in do what you want as long as it doesn't affect me) 4 moderates/independents (more or less middle-of-the-road types) 11 liberals ranging from semi-moderate liberals to screaming liberals including one self-described semi-communist (although socialist might be a better descriptor?) I doubt that 19 people are a very large representative sample of our "population" but it was very interesting hearing the various viewpoints. Thanks for participating! I'll probably think up another poll someday Got into a few really good discussions with people. StarWolf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 09:02:10 -0500 (EST) From: Catherine Osborne To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Narnia (also, Sundancer reports back in) Message-ID: On Tue, 7 Nov 1995, Amy Mason wrote: > Goodie...another poll! I'm 18 and I still love Narnia! I also > thought that the _Last Battle_ was the best book, second _The Last > Voyage_, and the worst _The Silver Chair_. Wow, me too! Favorite is *Last Battle*, second *The voyage of the Dawn Treader*, which I think you mean by *The Last Voyage*, and I hated *The Silver Chair*. In fact, when rereading Narnia I skip everything but the first two chapters and the last one. Those I read cause they're kinda cool. Secondly, having gone wild in the Middle School Library on Friday: The Rosemary Sutcliff books you referred too are *Warrior Scarlet* and *Frontier Wolf*. My second fav. Sutcliff is *Simon*. Also I got out *Beauty* by Sheri Tepper, which someone recommended. I didn't enjoy it at all, though I forced myself through it. I\/ Catherine Osborne "After great pain, I\/ Sundancer a formal feeling comes." I cosborne-+AT+-sidwell.edu --Emily Dickinson I http://www.sidwell.edu/~cosborne/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 95 09:05:31 GMT+0000 From: Heather Mina To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: MERCEDES-LACKEY digest 209 Message-ID: <9511071406.AA06418-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk> >IMHO -- Narnia is one of those worlds you just don't outgrow. "Don't let us ever grow too old - no, not too old and *silly* - for fairyland" ------- L.M. Montgomery, _Anne_of_Green_Gables_ Doesn't it just say it all? Heather Mina hlmina-+AT+-mailhost.vwc.edu heamin-+AT+-sunshine.vab.unisysgsg.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 7:08:06 -0700 (MST) From: RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Hallowe'en Message-ID: <951107070806.2241c8a9-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com> I'm not sure. It's a board game my husband bought many eons ago. You are one of the characters from the Arabian Nights, like Shehezerad. I don't remember the details, since we haven't played in a long time. However, we just got a large number of folk hooked on Rail Barons, and they are now ripe for Arabian Nights After us introducing them to Rail Barons, they are willing to try any new game we suggest. Is the game "Tales of the Arabian Knights" the same? By the title - Knights - it sounds more combatitive? StarWolf -------------- If "Tales of the Arabian Knights" is the game that I think you are referring to, then my company designed it. Glad you enjoyed it. :> Dave ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 09:14:51 -0500 (EST) From: Catherine Osborne To: mercedes lackey list Subject: First Fantasy Message-ID: BTW, my fav. Narnia character is Edmund and I have a really strong negative reaction to Michael Bolton ;) and I'm 16, for the poll. My mother is a writer and my father has always loved to read. They read to me when I was little all the classic children's picture books, which I still reread with joy every now and then (Maurice Sendak, among others). But they don't like fantasy. When I learned to read I stopped being read to mostly because I didn't want them too anymore - I'd rather read books myself ;) My first fantasy was Dr. Doolittle :) and the welsh legends (my mother wrote Mabinogion retellings for children and I loved all legends by the time I was seven I couldn't get enough of any of them). But my first genre fantasy was Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall books. I read the middle one five times in one weekend in seventh grade and still wasn't tired of it (and BTW I think it the best in that series.) Then the Darkangel books and Tamora Pierce's novels. Also Robin McKinley. I didn't get into Misty or Robert Jordan till my freshman and sophomore years, respectively, intro'd to them by Anne Cross as told in another post a while ago. (A long while.) Oh yeah, The Hobbit in seventh grade for class, and tLotR that summer. I\/ Catherine Osborne "After great pain, I\/ Sundancer a formal feeling comes." I cosborne-+AT+-sidwell.edu --Emily Dickinson I http://www.sidwell.edu/~cosborne/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 10:18:32 -0500 (EST) From: Rosario Holsen-Baker To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Narnia Message-ID: On Tue, 7 Nov 1995, Ashke wrote: > > > Adore Narnia. :) Oh, yeah, I'm 20. > The Last Battle has always been my least favorite, but that doesn't mean > I don't like it. Favorite character would have to be that mouse -- > Reepicheep? Haven't read them in a while. But still love them. :) > IMHO -- Narnia is one of those worlds you just don't outgrow. YES! YES! Reepicheep is definitly one of the best characters in the books! 15-yrs and still going. Haven't outgrown any of my old books yet. |------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Tygra Nightblades | | | | File not found: _Meaning of life_ | | Abort, Retry, Ignore? | | | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 10:23:52 -0500 (EST) From: Rosario Holsen-Baker To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: POLL - last call Message-ID: On Tue, 7 Nov 1995 RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com wrote: > I figured telling you which poll it was would be to > easy. > > StarWolf > WASTING BANDWIDTH!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will now be tied up and flogged with a wet noodle. |------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Tygra Nightblades | | | | File not found: _Meaning of life_ | | Abort, Retry, Ignore? | | | |------------------------------------------------------------------------| ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 8:29:29 -0700 (MST) From: RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Lots 'o stuff Message-ID: <951107082929.2241c8a9-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com> Lill writes: >and the Children of Morrow series by >Hoover. I started reading Feist when I was 13 or 14 but by then I had become >a loyal fan of Fantasy. Thank you for reminding me of Hoover! Hoover was definitely one of my earlier exposures to Fantasy. Some really good reading. Another one I would strongly recommend to all of you, especially if you have kids is Sylvia Engdahl. I must honestly credit Engdahl's books with having instilled a sense of consequences in me. In most of her books when someone does something foolish or doesn't think things through, bad things happen. Not just as a plot device. It is clearly laid out beforehand, and if the character would simply stop and think they could have seen the consequences coming. Very few juvenile books seem to lay it out like that. In addition the books are tremendously enjoyable. Very much like Hoover's books. Highly recommended. Unfortunately, the only place I can find Engdahl books anymore is in the archives of the library (you know, where the librarian looks at you and says, "nobody's checked those out in years. Are you sure you want me to dig them up?" Daria writes: >Even though everyone >in my family reads a lot, they always thought I was odd for keeping my >favorites and re-reading them (yes, mom, the book *is* still interesting the >second time around--and the third, and fourth, if you have the right book!) >so I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one in the world with a huge >library of sci-fi and fantasy. For me it's my spouse, John. He doesn't understand why you would ever reread a book. You've read it, so you remember it. This is one place a poor memory is useful. If I wait 5 or 6 years, a book can be virtually brandnew again If anyone has any ideas as to how to explain rereading to another person, do please let us know! Kate writes: I think my first exposure was reading the wonderful stories of Enid Blyton. I don't think I will ever forget the memorable characters of and Mel writes: My sister had some of those books, although I did not (the Enid Blytons I had were all Famous Five, Secret Seven and school stories). And I have a feeling that at least one of the books was called something like "The Far-Away Tree"... I remember those! We lived in Britain for a year when I was about seven. That's when I read my very first Fantasy novels (at least so far as I can remember) - the Narnia Chronicles. This didn't start me on a journey of fantasy however. Because I also found Enid Blyton's Famous Five, Secret Seven and school stories. I read everything Blyton I could get my hands on (not easy when you move back to Germany). I then worked my way through all the mystery books written for juveniles in my hometown library (one small room above the police station, which also housed the fire "department"). Tiny town, tiny library. Fortunately we moved to the U.S. a few years later. I started reading horse books. Then I ran out. Farley only wrote so much stuff So I picked up this book with a rocket ship on the spine, "Rocket Ship Galileo" (is that the right title?) then I was hooked. Devoured Heinlein. Still love Heinlein above all others. Read the list of books any SF fan "must" read. And slowly discovered that Fantasy is much more interesting. Hard SF doesn't interest me. Fantasy characters are much better developed, since it seems to me in hard SF, the science is the real character. So now I am a die-hard fantasy fan, and hardly ever read any science fiction. But I always go back to Heinlein. I think my favorite Enid Blyton is the Secret Mountain. I suppose that is Fantasy. Thanks for reminding me of Blyton. Spent many enjoyable hours with these books. StarWolf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 8:30:27 -0700 (MST) From: RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Misty Music Message-ID: <951107083027.2241c8a9-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com> Mat writes: >Next, I plan on buying Heralds, Harpers, & Havok (I've found those lyrics >interesting since I first read Arrows' Fall -- gotta hear "It Was a Dark >and Stormy Night" :) ). I also want to buy one of the Vows & Honor >tapes. Which one should I get -- "Oathbound" or "Oathbreakers"? Yup. "It was a Dark and Stormy Night" is awesome! I plan to learn to play it someday (I can sort of now, but it's not very good yet). Shadowstalker is the best I've gotten (though I don't have the Oath tapes). Also try By the Sword - it's really good, especially when Warll is teaching Kero about Mindspeaking "I can hear you thinking out loud, but thinking like this is never allowed"... Really one of my favorite songs. If you like this sort of music, I just bought "The Long Black Veil" by The Chieftains. Really great! You might give it a try. StarWolf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 07:51:40 -0800 From: ARisemberg-+AT+-eworld.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: below the root series? Message-ID: <951107075032_17998245-+AT+-hp1.online.apple.com> A librarian handed me the first book in the "below the root" series years ago, and I remember devouring them. What were those books called and who wrote them? Anyone remember? I would like to reread them and see if they still hold now that I am an "adult" [yeah, right! ;-)]. By the way, this mailing list is great. I am a closet reader of scififant, and it is delicious to me to see so many like minds. Zhai'helleva, -- Alice -- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 10:02:57 -0700 (MST) From: RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Narnia Message-ID: <951107100257.2241bcc4-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com> Am I really the only person on this list that can't sit down and read a Narnia book anymore :( Wow. Maybe I've been sucked too far into reality or something. I dunno. I've tried picking up some of the books but I can only read little parts without getting frustrated. Especially TL, TW, and TW, The Magician's Nephew and Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Last Battle isn't as bad. But I have very little interest in rereading these books, while I maintain extremely fond memories of them. As far as favorite character, Aslan will always top the ranks for me. I sure wish I'd never seen the PBS version of the books though. Lucy came across as a whiny bratty thing. Peter was never properly regal. I always pictured Peter as kind of a very young, oh I don't know, Highlander? You know, quiet dignity? I'm not describing this well. But Peter, while occassionally annoying, is generally the ultimate big brother. The guy you can always count on. And they certainly didn't show that. :( StarWolf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 17:41:59 EET From: "Sanna Koulu" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: SW and SR - long... Message-ID: <65FB196402-+AT+-otdk.helsinki.fi> Am I the only one who was unhappy with these books? I just finished re-reading them, and despite their good sides (Tremane + all the interesting background) I got depressed.... The reasons for that are many, but mostly (lessee if I can impart some organization to my thinking!): 1) Firesong. I think his character has been warped out of all recognition since Winds of Fate. Then he was described as supernally beautiful, the strongest mage k'Sheyna had ever seen (or would see within Darkwind's lifetime) and as _innovative_ and an experimenter. And this is the person who in SW and SR is scared to death of a new, "scientific" technique! Firesong was also supremely self-confident, even arrogant; the person we used to know and love . This same person is cowering and hiding in corners in the Storms. And no, I don't buy the explanation about the mage-storms warping his personality along with the land. _None_ of the other mages seem to be affected, and there's a lot of them - granted, they are not healing adepts, but still... Of course, characters grow and change; they are supposed to. But the changes here are too much too soon. We don't see how they happen, and they just seem totally illogical. 2) Firesong and An'desha. In SW there's the sweet scene just before An'desha & co are leaving for the Iftel border, when An'desha says he loves Firesong. In SR they are drifting apart...and not for any specific reason (?). I think this, as well as some other things in SR, is just there so as to wrench the plot to go to the "right" direction, and not because it's the way the characters would behave. Love does occasionally fade, but when An'desha says "I love you" at the end of SW, it's the culmination of a plot in which he matures and grows more independent and serene - why would he so suddenly change his mind then? (whoa, talk about a run-on sentence!). 3) The plot of SR in general. Those parts of the plot that have to do with An'desha and Firesong (my favorite characters in the books - possibly excepting Tremane) seem to be carbon copied from SW. Already in SW Firesong was against mechanical magic, but in the end, came to see it as necessary. BUT then in SR, he's _again_ against the same kind of magic, but in the end comes to see his error. Again. Wasn't one time enough? Also: in SW An'desha is (Firesong thinks anyway) drifting away, but then reaches a mature, serene kind of love. In SR he's drifting away from Firesong... etc etc. The plot is also un-balanced. The end is much too rushed - did anyone else find all explanations (For example, the way the Shin'a'in had prepared the way to Urtho's tower) a bit too facile? A lot of other things (and characters etc) seem to be there just for the sake of making the plot go where it "should" (rail-roading) instead of just behaving/working naturally. 4) Then there's the way poor Firesong was turning towards darkness and planning the kind of body-snatching Ma'ar did... For two thirds of the book, we see his thoughts getting darker and darker - but then he suddenly is forced to see just what he's been doing and for the rest of the book he's the nice, gifted, picturesque background character again. We don't get to see how he feels afterwards, when he has to face his friends and knows what he's done. There's nothing. Of course, whether they (Karal, Darkwind and Elspeth) really _are_ friends seems also questionable. There's a period of several months (?) while Firesong is turning towards evil, but none of them do anything! Instead they wait until the healing adept tries to fry his own bondbird, and then _threaten_ him implacably. At least An'desha must have noticed something, since they were at least sleeping together; there were Empaths and Mindspeakers around, so even though they don't pry, something would have leaked through. Elspeth, Darkwind and An'desha (possibly Silverfox) _could_ have talked to him, told him what was wrong, helped him, found him a Mindhealer or something; instead they let him try to kill his bondbird and (possibly) himself. I think that's downright criminal; like knowing somebody is sick and still leaving them untended when they are delirious with fever. 5) Triteness. Especially with Karal. Does everybody have to fall in love? Can't we at least in _one_ book have a character who doesn't have a love/lust interest? Do we really _need_ all these "happy endings" which taste of artificial sweetening? 6) The engineers. Darned engineers. I think Misty is being over- obvious in ramming the magic system down the readers' throats. I mean, it's pretty obvious it works according to some kind of "laws of nature", unlike for example in the Belgariad or the "Dark Is Rising" pentalogy. So why does it need to be R-E-P-E-A-T-E-D so much? OTOH, I still think magic is intuitive too. You can't write a poem or create a painting using mechanical formulae - and magic is also art. In a lot of the other books, Misty has emphasized the way the mage's feelings and thoughts affect the magic. Sounds pretty intuitive to me. Another thing is that the engineers are totally new. There's practically no mention of them in the previous books - OK, there's the message-towers and printing presses etc, but exploding steam engines?! I think we would have heard something of them before. Not that I really object to engineers per se, but why bring them into the current timeline - especially so abruptly? It's not logical - or at least it's not a good plot. Oh well. I seem to be in a rant-y mood today. But I'm frustrated at the books. There's a lot of good stuff in them (and there's cats! ) - if the rest was as good as the parts about Tremane, for example, the result would be delicious. Now it's just average - readable, sure, but not particularly good. If anyone who's bothered to read this far liked the books, would you tell why? Or why not? Maybe I'm missing something in them... -Seanna ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 09:31:23 -0800 From: Rich Crawford To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: First Exposure to Fantasy/Sci-Fe Message-ID: <199511071731.JAA07586-+AT+-franc.ucdavis.edu> The first science fiction book I read was in the library of my elementary school. I can't remember the author, but the book was called _The Missing Persons League_ and was about a group of people who abducted people and put them into suspended animation so that they could survive the coming ecological collapse (it was also my first exposure to environmentalism). The Christmas after I read that book, my mom gave me a collection of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells books, and my aunt gave me the entire Narnia series. I still have those old Narnia books, a friend of mine and I are in the process of reading them aloud to each other, I'm 27 years old, and Reepicheep is my favorite character. ............................................................................ ................................ Zhai'helleva Rich ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 12:27:56 -0500 (EST) From: Gyrfalcon To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: POLL - last call Message-ID: On Tue, 7 Nov 1995, Rosario Holsen-Baker wrote: > On Tue, 7 Nov 1995 RUNDLE-+AT+-wilma.bcasd.az.honeywell.com wrote: > > > I figured telling you which poll it was would be to > > easy. > > > > StarWolf > > > WASTING BANDWIDTH!!!!!!!!!!!!! > You will now be tied up and flogged with a wet noodle. I like the idea, but I do believe that a soggy noodle is more approiate (sp). :) And If StarWolf's wasting bandwidth my dear, what should we do to you for that last post? --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: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 11:23:33 -0500 From: dstorrs-+AT+-crossover.com (David K. Storrs) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: MERCEDES-LACKEY digest 208 Message-ID: <199511071623.LAA09421-+AT+-prague.crossover.com> >> Here, I'll prove it to you. Did anyone like O.R. Melling's Druid >> story and what was the author's name who wrote a trilogy that started (?) >> with "Damiano's Lute"? These questions are not rhetorical BTW. I really >> HAVE forgotten...R.A. something? Also, there was a book called something >> like "Songmaster" written by (or about a character called) Anastole or >> something like that? Can anyone refresh my memory? Did you like it? >> >> Vivian Choh bi189-+AT+-torfree.net v.choh-+AT+-utoronto.ca > >Haven't read the first author, but Damiano, Damiano's Lute and >Rapheal were written by R.A. MacAvoy. They grow on you, I like them >more every time I read them. > >Didn't Orson Scott Card write a book called "SongMaster" > >Sarah >sarah-+AT+-paradigm.co.nz > Orson Scott Card did in fact write Songmaster...I've read it, and it is very unlike his other works. The tone shifts in several places in unusual ways, and I came out of it feeling a bit odd about the whole thing...I don't want to spoil it for you, so I won't say any more. It is definitely worth a read, though (what OSC book _isn't_? ) Dave ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 11:06:55 -0400 (EDT) From: Mat Timmerman To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-vanyel.herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Casting characrers... Message-ID: <01HXCYBEGTFY936YVU-+AT+-vaxc.hofstra.edu> From: SMHA86B-+AT+-prodigy.com (MISS MARIA T FOGEL) > >Shadow-Lover, > >>I think Heather Alexander did a *wonderful* job as Van... All >though I >>must admit to her *AWFUL* job as Stefen... (Magic's Price was a >downer >>for me... I guess that's why they put it at the END of the tape!!!) > I > > I haven't heard the tape... don't torture me! > >wyvern, who *will* get it someday... eventually... really, I will! > Do it! Do it! :) I've been hearing about the tape for over a year now (since I joined the list) but I resisted the impulse to buy. Then I gave in and I just got it this weekend. I LOVE it. :) Come on, just try it. You'll like it.... ;> Mat -- feeling like a drug dealer :) -- Mat Timmerman accmjt-+AT+-vaxc.hofstra.edu "I don't care what you smell, just get in there." ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 210 *********************************