MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 847 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) languages/Jinx High/non-fantasy authors by Khenta Blaufalk 2) off-topic Top 17 . . .Bad RenFest and RP by Rozanna McNeer 3) Re: MageWar/Godhood by ShadowJaz-+AT+-aol.com 4) Re: languages/Jinx High/non-fantasy authors by Katherine M Brielmaier 5) Kilts by D H Tiffany/Shawn Marie Walker 6) Re: re Cover art by "E. Angell" 7) (mostly) First Misty/BV, The Lark & The Wren by hallett-+AT+-sprynet.com 8) Re: MERCEDES-LACKEY digest 846 by ShadowJaz-+AT+-aol.com 9) SB SPOILERS!!!!! by Mat the Cat in Green 10) Role Playing by Jake 11) Braid: MageGift/Bardic Voices/Cover Art/Melanie Rawn by myktshr-+AT+-ldd.net (miyako hirao) 12) RPG's/escapism by Soljan-+AT+-aol.com 13) Wing Commander by Rozanna McNeer 14) Book Tour? by Debra Cebulski 15) Reality, RPGs, stuff by "Hth." 16) Melanie Rawn by Mat the Cat in Green 17) Re: SB Spoilers Ho!!!!!!!!!! by catwoman 18) apology to the mimes creator by davidt-+AT+-cet.com (D H Tiffany/Shawn Marie Walker) 19) Re: Braid: HTH / Florian-Lendel / Serrated Edge / Mates / Valdemar as Conquerors / Drab Heralds / No Haven desc / Escapism by mealink-+AT+-syd.au.swissbank.com (Kerry Mealing) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 21:09:02 +0200 (METDST) From: Khenta Blaufalk To: Misty mail Subject: languages/Jinx High/non-fantasy authors Message-ID: Firemist writes: >For Esmeralda: >Dag Debbi, gaat het een beetje? Ik heb gehoord dat het heel koud daar >is. Echt acht graden?!? Hier is het nog steeds dertig! The frustrating thing about that language is that it is so similar to German that I actually understand about half of the words, but the sentences in general make no sense... I wonder if that's maybe a little bit like the difference between the languages of Shin'a'in and Tayledras: similar enough, but not enough to be understandable. and in another post she writes: >Khenta wondered what a dutch gargle sounds like. well, it's a gross >description, but apt. Naaaa, sorry, but I must attribute that request to Kaatje (you know, seeing that name for the first time -several months ago- I thought she actually was dutch; I mean it looks dutch to me, at least, like Antje or any other of those names with "je" at the end). I've seen enough gargling sounds as it is :). But I do know that the german "ch" is no match. ================================================================== Hth. writes: > What was so awful about Jinx High? I don't think it was awful. It was a fun read, sure, but why was it announced and marketed as a Di Tregarde-book when she has less lines than her old buddy and the son of her old buddy and the villain? I just wanted to see more of her. Same thing applies to Burning Water. =================================================================== amy asked: > Out of curiosity, what are people's favorite non-fantasy authors? >I like E.M. Forster quite a bit. Ohhhh.... Antonia Byatt! Possession was just brilliant. And the story with the djinni. Alice Walker. Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I'm blanking on the name momentarily, I mean the woman who wrote _Sexing the Cherry_ and _Oranges are not the only fruit_. And I won't even start on mysteries... Walk in beauty Khenta Blaufalk aka Skyfire & Aar Goddess of Incomplete Vocabulary and Garbled Grammar =================================================================== If today was a fish, I'd throw it back in... =================================================================== my at-the-moment favourite comment on thursdays ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 15:09:50 -0400 From: Rozanna McNeer To: "mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk" Subject: off-topic Top 17 . . .Bad RenFest and RP Message-ID: <199609261510_MC1-9DF-15FD-+AT+-compuserve.com> Speaking of RenFaires, there will be on in SE Texas in October. Anyone in the area interested in going? Re Roleplaying alright, call me naive, but I've never once met a person who thought they were their charcter, cut their ears to look like an elf, seriously thought AD&D automatically leads to Satanism or any of the other horror stories concerning RP. I've *heard* the stories, but I've never *met* these people or their like. Of course, I've never been to any Cons (blush) but I've only been playing for 7 years, and that was in Holland! I also fail to see why role-playing has such a bad name. Not to name names or anything, but a certain list-member's home page denies that their name is the name of an RP persona. WHY? Is there some cultural aspect re role-playing that I'm missing out on? Do people burn crosses in your front yard if you admit to being a Role-Player? I'm not be facetious (sp? does teh good fo typso ned zistor gudesss?), I really want to know! sorry to be off-topic! Firemist ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 15:22:17 -0400 From: ShadowJaz-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: MageWar/Godhood Message-ID: <960926152217_318056941-+AT+-emout10.mail.aol.com> I've just subscribed to MageWar, and I would also like to join the One s In Black. Sorry bout the one liner, haven't got anything else to write at the moment. NightShade aka ShadowJaz ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 15:03:15 -0500 (CDT) From: Katherine M Brielmaier To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: languages/Jinx High/non-fantasy authors Message-ID: On Thu, 26 Sep 1996, Khenta Blaufalk wrote: > Firemist writes: > > >For Esmeralda: > >Dag Debbi, gaat het een beetje? Ik heb gehoord dat het heel koud daar > >is. Echt acht graden?!? Hier is het nog steeds dertig! > > The frustrating thing about that language is that it is so similar to > German that I actually understand about half of the words, but the > sentences in general make no sense... > I wonder if that's maybe a little bit like the difference between the > languages of Shin'a'in and Tayledras: similar enough, but not enough to > be understandable. It looks eerily similar to English, too, I've noticed. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I keep getting the feeling that I *almost* know what it means! > and in another post she writes: > > >Khenta wondered what a dutch gargle sounds like. well, it's a gross > >description, but apt. > > Naaaa, sorry, but I must attribute that request to Kaatje (you know, > seeing that name for the first time -several months ago- I thought she > actually was dutch; I mean it looks dutch to me, at least, like Antje or > any other of those names with "je" at the end). I've seen enough gargling > sounds as it is :). But I do know that the german "ch" is no match. Nope, I'm not Dutch. Irish, Romanian, and German, but not Dutch. My given name is (obviously) Katherine. I'm Kaatje to family and friends, and usually Kate to everyone else, because then I don't have to repeat myself a dozen times on my first name, and then again on my last name. > Hth. writes: > > > What was so awful about Jinx High? > I rather liked it. Entertaining, and it's always fun to see the main character from a different point of view. (Derek's, I mean). > amy asked: > > > Out of curiosity, what are people's favorite non-fantasy authors? > >I like E.M. Forster quite a bit. > Uhhhhh. Steinbeck, Welty, Twain, Faulkner, Shakespeare, Swift, L'Engle (although she does do fantasy, too). In fact, looking at this pathetic list (based on what's on my bookshelves) maybe I'd better start branching out a bit! At the least to a few modern authors! with apologies for the mostly fluffy content, 's e do bheatha, Kaatje ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 13:31:26 -0700 From: D H Tiffany/Shawn Marie Walker To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Kilts Message-ID: Since the subject came up... "Donald Where's your Trousers" by Stewart-Grant [Note: I'm transcribing these lyrics from a 30 year old album so I'm unsure of some words, as indicated] Chorus: Let the wind blow high, let the wind blow low, throught the streets in the kilt I'll go. All the lassies say hello, "Donald where's your trousers?" I just come down from the Isle of Skye, I'm no {word garbled, pa????y f??}, I'm awfully shy. The lassies say as I go by, "Donald where's your trousers?" (Chorus) I took me to a fancy ball and it was slippery in the hall and I was feared that I might fall 'cause I had nae on but trousers. (Chorus) Now I went down to London town to have a little fun on the underground. The ladies turned their heads around, said "Donald where are your trousers?" (Chorus) [this verse is in the worst shape so I'm really only sure of a few of these words being 100% correct] Now the lasses say they love me, every one but they can't get me in the Kirk. {??????}kick the priest over hill and gone. saying, "Donald where's your trousers?" (Chorus) OBMisty: Uh...There nae be any Scots in Valdemar? How about this-in all the SB spoilers published so far nobodys mentioned if there is a repeat of the infamous "ok everbody, soulbond" scene from BTS? So tell, do Tremane & Solaris get hitched? Karal & Natoli? Does Charliss get Chosen? Does anybody get Chosen? Inquiring minds want to know! David Tiffany, Gladdener of hearts Kilt, n. A costume sometimes worn by Scotchmen(sic) in America and Americans in Scotland. - Ambrose Bierce ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 13:53:45 -0700 (PDT) From: "E. Angell" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: re Cover art Message-ID: On Thu, 26 Sep 1996, Rozanna McNeer wrote: > > Someone (me)asked > >Does anyone else not like the cover art for the Bard series?< > > ME, ME, ME!!!!!! I hate it. DKS did such a good job with the Change-winds > Series by Jack L. Chalker, but then did *that* to poor misty's books! I esp. > hate the cover for Robin and Kestrel. I mean, look at the cover. Robin's face > looks like she's 12, she's got a pamela anderson chest, and her hands look like > a 90 year olds with all those tendons and stuff. And who dresses like that?!?! > That jacket would never stay shut when she moves and her chest would > flop out for the world to see, and it must be ghastly uncomfortable to have > no support with such a large chest. > I thought the cover for the Lark and the Wren was **MUCH** better, but not > Jodie Lee. > Exactly. And The Eagle & the Nightengale was pretty bad too, although he did a good job on T'fyrr. I'm looking forward to "Four & Twenty Blackbirds" too- I like Ardis a lot and the serial killer aspect sounds fascinating. Zhai'helleva, 'S e do bheatha, & other nice things, Raindancer eangell-+AT+-u.washington.edu Herald, Ranger, Cat Person, EEPer, Kelt, & High Queen of the Strange Ones Who Dance Amidst The Treetops After Nightfall (esp. in the rain) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 14:10:12 -0700 From: hallett-+AT+-sprynet.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: (mostly) First Misty/BV, The Lark & The Wren Message-ID: <199609262110.OAA00157-+AT+-m4.sprynet.com> Hi everybody! As usual, I'm a little behind on my mail, so please excuse the belated response. On the first Misty thread: You know, I used to think I didn't like sci-fi/fantasy. When I was about 15, I decided to give the genre a try. At the time I didn’t realize there could be a big difference between sci-fi and fantasy; I thought they were one in the same. I went to our school library one day and selected a book by Asimov and one by Carl Sagan. I tried to read them both, but simply couldn’t get into either one! I decided I wasn’t impressed with sci-fi/fantasy and left it alone for a long time. On Christmas 1991, I got a Mercedes Lackey book, Bardic Voices: The Lark and The Wren, from an Aunt of mine. Thinking I didn’t like sci-fi/fantasy, I left it sit, but my husband SpiritBlade, book nut extraordinaire that he is, read it. He told me it was a really good book and kept trying to convince me to read it. About a year later, after much insistence, I finally read it. I was actually quite surprised to find I really liked the book. The following year during the holiday season, I went to the bookstore and looked for some Mercedes Lackey for my husband since I knew he had liked that first book so much and he LOVES to get new books as presents. The only book they had at the time that was the first in a series, rather than the second or third, was Magic’s Pawn, so I went ahead and got it. After he received and read the book, he suggested I read it, so I did. After reading it, I was hooked. I went out and bought Magic’s Promise and Magic’s Price as soon as I could and have never looked back since. For me it was TLHM trilogy that really got me into fantasy in general. Speaking of BV: The Lark and The Wren, I noticed someone asking for opinions on the series. As I mentioned, I really like the first book, but IMHO the rest kind of go do down hill from there. Don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to say I didn't like TRATK or TEATN, because I most certainly did - just no where near as much as the first one (which happens to be among my many favorites of Misty's novels). Was it Jake who said not TOO long ago that the preoblem with Misty is that even the mediocre to worst of her books were better than some other fantasy author's best novels? Whoever it was who said that, I have to agree. I've never read a single Misty book I didn't like (and I've read all but a few), but at the same time, I also agree that the over all the quality of her work of late does seem to be declining. (sigh) Maybe she does need a break. I think it'd be worth the wait to see some more truly *VINTAGE* Misty. You guys have got me SO curious about this mutant squid thingy!!! I haven't even SEEN a copy of SB yet, let alone bought one. Also, a warm to hello to all newbies! Well, it's back to lurking for me! Wind To Thy Wings, Arielle, Goddess of Mispelling, Mistress of typo;s, who is *desperately* searching for a copy of Swordspoints in here local used bookshops! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 17:13:34 -0400 From: ShadowJaz-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: MERCEDES-LACKEY digest 846 Message-ID: <960926171334_294132900-+AT+-emout02.mail.aol.com> To the author of The Top 17 Signs You're At A Bad Rennaissance Festival: Very, very funny. I thought it was hilarious - hysterical-rolling around on the floor-funny. . Danya, I've been thinking about the Van, Florian thing. Maybe Florian is Medren. That could be why LHM is bugging you. To all those who hate the Bardic Voices covers, with the exception of The Lark and The Wren, I have to aggree. I especially hated The Robin and The Kestrel cover. What's with the way they drew Robin? IIRC, she wasn't ugly, but the artist sure made her look that way. And her clothes, sorry but those just don't look like gypsy clothes to me. I really hate it when artists screw up the covers of good books! Okay, enough ranting for today. Also, I've found most of the info. on MageWar, but I can't find anything about persona creation. Could anyone who knows please tell me? NightShade aka ShadowJaz ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 17:42:54 -0400 (EDT) From: Mat the Cat in Green To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: SB SPOILERS!!!!! Message-ID: On Thu, 26 Sep 1996, D H Tiffany/Shawn Marie Walker wrote: #include "spoilers.h" B R14,SPOILERS (sorry about that. For some reason, C and Assembly just popped into my head.) > OBMisty: Uh...There nae be any Scots in Valdemar? How about this-in > all the SB spoilers published so far nobodys mentioned if there is a > repeat of the infamous "ok everbody, soulbond" scene from BTS? So > tell, do Tremane & Solaris get hitched? Karal & Natoli? Does Charliss > get Chosen? Does anybody get Chosen? Inquiring minds want to know! Nope, no soulbond scene. Though the end of SR causes his bond with Altra to become a little bit stronger. A bit like Talia's in that he can easily see out of Altra's eyes (and Florian's for that matter). No hitchings either. Tremane and Solaris end up just this side of civil, and we only see Natoli by teleson. One thing that _did_ show up was the infamous, "He looked like someone had hit him in the back of his head with a board." Sigh. When I saw this, my reaction was to groan, and say, "Mistyyyyyy! Not again." (in an exhasperated tone of voice). I mean, it was a good phrase, but does she have to use it in *every* one of her books? It Tremane who got the wood to head this time, BTW. Mat Cat Person, Champion in Green, |"I looked across the battlefield, blood Adept, and God of Procrastination| seeping from my wounds. My comrades, mtimme47-+AT+-magic.hofstra.edu | they did never yield. For courage http://ada.hofstra.edu/~mtimme47/| knows no bounds." - Heather Alexander ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 19:48:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Jake To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Role Playing Message-ID: <199609262348.TAA04956-+AT+-orion.webspan.net> At 08:03 PM 9/26/96 +0100, Mat wrote: >> From: Seanna > >> Hmm, Jake, not everyone knows what you are talking of. As a member of >> Alter Ego, Helsinki University RPG association, I've had to answer >> too many queries about "are those games really dangerous" and "do >> people get involved in satanism or get mixed up in their characters >> like in that _Mazes & Monsters_" to be comfortable with this. (And > >The guy I used to roleplay with (gods, it's been years) with had problems >like that. I think that they saw that movie (my parents did too), and >when, once or twice, he used an elizabethan word or two (thee or >something), they freaked. Took away all his D&D stuff for a couple >of months. Paraniod. Sheesh. *grin* All right. America is the land of Talk Shows, Gullibility, and Hysteria, unlike Europe. At least once per quarter there is a mention of children completely losing it and killing their family/converting to Satanism because of Role Playing Games. People don't ask the questions you mention --- they ASSUME it's true. I've gotten odd looks (and I was dressed normally, too) when I've asked for Gaming books at Waldenbooks (yes, they had them.. but they said something like "THOSE books are over there." In my twelve (12.. started when I was 10 years old...) years of roleplaying, I've kept a tab on this. Especially when I used to work in a store which sold Role Playing Games. Parents would NEVER buy this stuff for their kids. There are books out put by certain members of the Religious Right which condemn Fantasy Roleplaying in general. I have them in my possession... here's a quote from THE SATANIC REVIVAL (Dr. Mark I. Bubeck, Here's Life books) edited for space. "Among the clues [of telling if your child is "experimenting in Satanic rituals"] are: 5. Heavy involvement in fantasy or role playing games 6. Compulsive interest in "heavy metal" or "black metal" music. " >From HIS qualifications, I guess I'm a Satanist. Wish someone would inform ME, though. Since I don't even believe in this Satan character, whoever he is... These books are out there. Some Christians claim these games ARE Satanic over here. TSR (Developers of Dungeons & Dragons, and other Fantasy RP games) had to ELIMINATE the name Demon, Daemon, and Devil from the new editions of their products because there was a mass hysteria over the games being Satanic. They're called something weird which (I can't remember now) but it has a lot of consonants and apostrophes in it. But I still call them demons. And, at least in New York City, where all the odd people in America seem to congregate, I *have* had to deal with people who RP and lose it. It happens. It may not happen where you are, but it happens here. (Sorry if I went on a bit. This is one of two REALLY sensitive topics for me .) Blessed Be Jakearooooooo Jake Adamo (rynath-+AT+-webspan.net) Mercedes Lackey Information FAQ Administrator Bard Champion of the Ladies in Green ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 20:29:16 +0000 From: myktshr-+AT+-ldd.net (miyako hirao) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Braid: MageGift/Bardic Voices/Cover Art/Melanie Rawn Message-ID: <199609270125.UAA07567-+AT+-cdale3.midwest.net> Undine wrote: >>>So while Darkwind is able to regain his abilities, it appears that the Gift will totally fade if not used. Which brings me back to my question- how long does it take for the Gift to fade since Darkwind hadn't used his in years and was able to recover his abilities?<<< I think it depends on how strong the Gift is to start with. If it's really strong, it takes longer to fade than a weaker Gift. From what was written about Darkwind, isn't he a pretty strong mage? Adept-status, I think. So I theorize that his Gift was pretty darn strong, therefore didn't fade much with prolonged non-use. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OriGami wrote: >>>Well even though this seems like a Mage Winds and Storms mailing list going to ask a few questions on some of her other books. Now in a series of books that she wrote with a couple of other authors Magic went by way of the voice mostly though there was magic of the dead and sorcery. The main characters though were Bards...I don't think it was Bardic Voices though but I can't remembe rthe name of the books. Also did she ever do one of the Wing Commander Novels and was it worth the read?<<< It's just because Storm Breaking just came out (which I *still* don't have -- ). I think you're referring to the Bardic Choices, which I still haven't read. But I read the Bardic Voices, and it was really good. Except that it got really annoying sometimes because the priests was so *evil*. A characteristic, dirty son-of-a-whatever, cynical, sadistic, etc. But I liked Rune's little threat to the village punks. I have yet to read the Wing Commander Novels -- I second OriGami's question! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Raindancer wrote: >>>BTW, does anyone else hate the covers of the later Bardic Voices books, like R&K, E&N, and the Corbies one? <<< MEMEME!!! Yuck! Too gaudy, in my opinion. I liked the dark simplicity of L&W. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, I know this is a Misty list, but does anyone know when the next "Exiles" book (Melanie Rawn) is coming out? I read the first one "The Ruins of Ambrai" and I'd love to read the next ones if she'd only write them! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's it; I'm done for today. I'll be back sometime... Love and all the other good stuff you learn when you grow up, Summersong, sometimes Spiffy the Cat, consort of Spot "You must talk to him; tell him that he is a good cat, and a pretty cat, and..." -- Data "I will feed him" -- Worf (Phantasms) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 21:36:01 -0400 From: Soljan-+AT+-aol.com To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: RPG's/escapism Message-ID: <960926213601_294379617-+AT+-emout18.mail.aol.com> Jake shuddered: << *shudder* Have you ever done Live Action Role Playing? *grin* I've met MANY people who sadly think they ARE their characters. To the extent of nothing else. And sadly, from my experience, it's from those DWWG's (Damned White Wolf Games). My friend David was like that with Vampire: The Masquerade. It was *scary*... he thought first he was a vampire, then a werewolf. Running around on all fours, and calling it "practicing for the game" kind of made us wonder about him. I kind of edge away from people like th >> No, ut I've done some regular RPG. I've never seen anyone who thought they were their character, but it would be scary. I have a hard enough time thinking of my characters past and making her seem real! I'm nothing like my Mage War characters. I think all my main characters are a lot the same though. Kind, nice...I gotta change that. Hmmm. Except I should be doing an EQ RPG this year, and my character came with her personality. She's solit ary, blunt, hot-tempered, rugged, unforgiving, and witty. This should be fun... He also said: >>But I do know when to draw the line and get down to real life. Sure, *grin* it would be nice if there was a Valdemar (heck with that.. if there was a Kerowyn! *slurp*) but there isn't. The first rule I learned in the real life is that you have to Deal With Reality. *grin*<< Yeah, that would be nice. When I was younger I would believe that *somewhere* these things existed, but now I know they don't. It was like the old line, "A unicorn dies whenever someone stops believing." Misty was a crutch for me, but by now I don't have to lean on her writing. I was really depressed when I found Arrow's, and she probably saved me from a lot more grief. I was on the verge of a lot of nasty things, running away from home and worse, but I found that my problems weren't that big. People weren't trying to kill me by throwing me in a frozen river. If Talia could come back, so could I. I still know what a lot of her characters feel like, probably why I'm the goddess of sensitivity. I have as much empathy as humanly possible these days. And a lot of imagination. The beginning of _Magic's Pawn_ was like a mirror of my past self. Now I'm happy and not as anti-social. Lady Silvermoon LIG, Leader of the DDMF, Goddess of Sensitivity and Firecat, Cat Person Winds keep you warm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 21:54:26 -0400 From: Rozanna McNeer To: "mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk" Subject: Wing Commander Message-ID: <199609262154_MC1-9D7-4779-+AT+-compuserve.com> Yes, Misty did write a Wing Commander novel and it's called (go figure) Freedom Flight. I'm pretty sure it's a co-authored deal. I've only read it once and I guess it didn't make such a big impression on me because I haven't re-read since then. as an aside, someone had the subject header First Misty, and I thought it said Fire Misty: multiple implications running around my little head like 'how can they fire her? i thought writer's just get rejected, not fired' and 'que? slur on my name?' and the last one was 'Misty pottery?!?!?' I should stop doing e-mail at night, it brings out the insanity in me. . . (images of Fat Alberich floating up from dark recesses in her mind. . .) "Heeyyy, heeyyy, heeyyyla!" Fat Alberich calls out merrily, the rotund Karsite waddling out of cyberspace to scare ML list members out of their whites. AAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! NO!!!!! somebody SAVE ME!!!!! firemist ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 23:33:04 -0400 From: Debra Cebulski To: "'mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk'" Subject: Book Tour? Message-ID: <01BBAC03.116DABA0-+AT+-kerowyn> Is Misty going to do any signings for SB and if so, where and when? Any information would be *most* appreciated. Thanks! Deb Cebulski kerowyn-+AT+-waltham.harvard.net ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 23:22:46 CDT From: "Hth." To: Subject: Reality, RPGs, stuff Message-ID: <26SEP96.25250066.0055.MUSIC-+AT+-ACADEMIC.TRUMAN.EDU> So, Miss Sensitivity, ya admit to being a unicorn-killer, do you? How do you KNOW these things don't exist? You DON'T, do you? It's pretty hard to prove a lack of something. If this were math, we wouldn't even be able to call the absence of unicorns a theorem. It's a whaddayacallit, a thing that you can't prove, but you assume to probably be true for the sake of argument. Starts with a p. Yeah, I'm getting a college degree this year. What of it? I thought that RPG as Satanism thing had pretty much died out years ago. Oh, there's always the isolated oddball, but I've yet to meet someone who hassled me about it. The problem with being gullible is that you never know whom to believe. I've met people who thought they were vampires. *I* don't think they were vampires. But I don't KNOW that really, do I? See, this is the thing. A vampire could walk right up to you and say, "Hi, I'm one of the unholy damned and I exist off the blood of the living," and we'd say, "Yeah, right, buddy, get a life." Man, what a walk in the park to be a vampire these days. Hell, if I were a vampire, I *would* play live-action. How much fun would that be? Sucks to be a unicorn, though, I guess. That would be my cover, if I were a vampire. None of this, "Ummm, I'm the eccentric rich, and I don't like to get up before...seven or eight at night." Heck no. I'd tell everyone who would stand still long enough to listen: "Look! I'm a vampire!" I'd wear a big cloak and quote Byron and play LARP, and no one would ever think anything except, "What a loser." I'd live forever. I don't know, though. The problem with so many gamers is that once they get two seconds of your time, they're telling you how cool their character is, and all the cool things they've done. Hey, my characters are damn cool, but I'm not going to bore some stranger in a games shop with their life stories. And if I *do,* I'm going to shut up eventually and let that stranger bore me in return, and smile, and pretend to care. Don't these people have *friends* for that kind of thing? If I want to tell someone how cool Ian is, I'm going to rant to Barbara about it. I'm not going to grab some poor schmuck who's just trying to buy a Changeling supplement. All that being said...can I tell you guys just HOW cool Ian is? But I do think that gamers have that kind of crass and shallow image a lot of the time, which is why some intelligent people are loathe to admit to roleplaying. Personally, I don't mind it, but then I have no shame. That may be where you get people who refuse to admit that their alternate personae (wow! that's like practically *using* that semester and a half of Latin I took) are "roleplaying" characters. My problem with Janet et al in Tam Lin is exactly that -- they never come down from their intellectual high. Sure, I know from Shakespeare, but I give it a *rest* sometimes. Every smart person I've ever known is into all kinds of goofball things -- some of us trip on Scooby Doo or Xena, Warrior Princess or even (my God!) Star Trek. Some people get into music of every stripe, from NIN to Queensryche (Barbara, am I spelling that right? How in hell *do* you spell that? And what does Queensryche mean, anyway?) to Sondheim. I get the feeling the characters in that book would be the annoying types who go to Renaissance Faires and complain that trolls aren't period. What I never saw is a college student who spontaneously erupted into Keats. Not that it can't happen, or that it makes you a bad person. As long as you know who Krusty the Klown is. That's all I ask. It's been so long since I read fiction that wasn't fantasy. When I get time to read, it's pretty much either fantasy or history. From school, I remember being very, very into Nathaniel Hawthorne. I thought he was very cool. I liked Steinbeck, and all three Brontes. I really loved L.M. Montgomery as a kid -- I think I have most of her novels, including the really obscure ones like Blue Castle and Kilmeny of the Orchard, and several short story collections, only slightly damaged by basement flooding. The Emily series was my favorite. I also loved Little Women. My cherished hardback copy, ketchup stained and battered from much traveling, was recently partially devoured by my dog, and I was tremendously upset. I'm keeping it, though. That's the book they're going to bury *me* with. I *still* cry when I read that. Not the part where(LITTLE WOMEN SPOILER) Beth dies, but before that, when she and Jo have their conversation on the beach. Little Men was, IMO, only somewhat entertaining, but I really liked Jo's Boys. Has anyone else heard about this new version of Romeo and Juliet? I think it looks really awesome. It has Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes, and while the words are Shakespeare, it's set in a present-day-like alternate world -- a place called Verona Beach, where DiCaprio walks around in plate mail. I'm totally intrigued by this. The ads I've seen for it have this odd, half-familiar, surreal quality that reminded me of Ecstasia (which is the OTHER book you guys should be reading. Right after Swordspoint. That way you'll be familiar with the Six Great Gay Men of fantasy: Vanyel and Stefen, Richard and Alec, Paulo and Rafe.) I think whoever did the covers for Knight of Ghosts and Shadows and Summoned to Tourney needs to die off. Or become a plumber. Or for God's sake, anything but draw again. Look, I have a friend who's a better illustrator than that, and I bet he works cheaper, too. I'm going to hook him up with Baen and we're not going to put the innocent book-buying populace of the world through this again, okay? HTH r618-+AT+-academic.truman.edu Oh, my God, was this whole post off-topic. I am really sorry. I'm just really up tonight, and I have no obMisty. I admit it, I don't. I just don't, okay? STOP BADGERING ME! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Sep 1996 00:35:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Mat the Cat in Green To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Melanie Rawn Message-ID: Summersong wrote: > Okay, I know this is a Misty list, but does anyone know when the next > "Exiles" book (Melanie Rawn) is coming out? I read the first one "The Ruins > of Ambrai" and I'd love to read the next ones if she'd only write them! _The Mageborn Traitor_ is due out in March 1997. The things you learn being on the Rawn mailing list. (okay, so that's the *only* thing I learned... ) obMisty: Umm, I hope that the Misty..Live! cassette I ordered from Firebird is in stock? Teri Lee said that part of my order might be on back order. Yes, its weak. It's also 12:35 in the morning, and I just spent 2 hours programming in COBOL. Sue me. Mat Cat Person, Champion in Green, |"I looked across the battlefield, blood Adept, and God of Procrastination| seeping from my wounds. My comrades, mtimme47-+AT+-magic.hofstra.edu | they did never yield. For courage http://ada.hofstra.edu/~mtimme47/| knows no bounds." - Heather Alexander ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 21:59:06 -0700 (PDT) From: catwoman To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: SB Spoilers Ho!!!!!!!!!! Message-ID: <199609270459.VAA19524-+AT+-inreach.com> At 21:26 9/24/96 +0100, you wrote: Stop! Spoiler time! >That reminds me. Who else is frustrated by the off hand way that Need was >gotten rid of? This is a character who's been around in some form or >another since S&SIII, and poof, she's gone now. ME!!! That's part of that way that Misty seemed to rush the ending on this one. I mean, poof! Need's just...gone. I *hate* that! I really think Misty could have spent another day or two buffing up that ending scene. That sucked. :( >Danya? Two things. What made you think of Florian as an Avatar-type, and >where did Van recognize him? Whew...I'm glad someone else asked, cuz I felt kinda dumb, cuz I sure didn't see it either. Maybe in my rush to finish the book, I skipped it, but if I'm not the only one who didn't see it, I don't feel so bad. :) Anybody on the west coast seen _Tiger Tiger_ in paperback yet? I haven't and I wanna read it.. Blessed be, -Cat\/\/oman catwoman-+AT+-inreach.com Lady In Green Cat Person Lady of the Pink Wand Goddess of the Impatient and *still* (as always) looking for a spiffy sig.. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 22:22:06 -0700 From: davidt-+AT+-cet.com (D H Tiffany/Shawn Marie Walker) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: apology to the mimes creator Message-ID: Ok folks this is a serious subject. I'm sorry Jake, I thought you weren't serious about being offended by the Bippy jokes. Since the whole thing started, IIRC, while we were joking about the fourth and fifth books in the various trilogies (Aquamarine Gryphon, Oathblustered, Magic's Paradox etc) I took it as part of the joshing that was going on. I had no intention to mess with a character of yours, as far as I knew the only use you had made of Bippy was the line in the top ten list. I am deeply grieved to have caused pain to one whose wit has brought me so much joy. David Tiffany ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 26 Sep 96 17:06:42 EST From: mealink-+AT+-syd.au.swissbank.com (Kerry Mealing) To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: Braid: HTH / Florian-Lendel / Serrated Edge / Mates / Valdemar as Conquerors / Drab Heralds / No Haven desc / Escapism Message-ID: <9609260706.AA12553-+AT+-syd.au.swissbank.com> Heather - umm, you're doing it again. I've just read about 5 of your posts and the only comment that springs to mind is "Err, yeah. What she said." Stop it. :) --------------------------------------------------------------------- EOM. Re: Who is Florian? Jag wrote: > On Mon, 16 Sep 1996, Korendil wrote: > > >Anyway, Karal isn't the only one who thinks this Herald/Companion looks > > >familiar! Who the heck is he?! > > > > You're right. That DOES sound VERY familiar. But who had hair like that? > > If I recall, both Medren and Mardic had DARK brown hair. It sounds *so > > familiar* though! And flopping in his eyes...WHO IS IT?! > > > I think it was the hair flopping in the eyes that did it...it > reminded me of my big "brother" Chris, who's a 'Lendel clone (sometime > I'll get a picture to stick on my page)....could Florian possibly be the > 'Lendel part of Stef/'Lendel? After all, we know that the dominant > persona in Sorrows is Stefen, and 'Lendel was certainly friendly with Van > , and 'Lendel was a mage, and he had light hair.... I like this idea, a lot. I was always sorry that we didn't see much of the 'Lendel side of his personality (Personally, I always thought Stef was a bit bleugh) - it could well be that the different faces of his soul are just manifesting in two places at once. It would certainly help Van keep tabs on what's happening down in Haven; and it would explain why Stef's spirit in Sorrows was less clearly manifested / less powerful than Van's (something that's always bothered me, considering Tylendel was supposed to be a Mage of just as much Adept-potential as Van). If his attention/power was split between two places, that would explain it. :) --------------------------------------------------------------------- EOM. Cennyd wrote: > ObMisty: are Misty's Serrated Edge books worth the effort of reading? > They have never looked appealing, but some people on here seem to like > them. Are they likely to be enjoyable to someone who is not interested in > the '80-'90's counterculture. To give y'all a hint, my main reaction to > "Reality Bites" was "kewl title...movie blew chunks!" I don't like > existentialist angst or Generation X stereotypes. Given that, for those > of you have read the books, should I bother getting them? Well, for what it's worth, yes, I think so. (Of course, given that it's me voicing the opinion, that may well have an opposite effect ). I'm not interested in 80-90's counterculter either, especially given that any portrayed in Misty's books would most likely have a US-centric portrayal. The whole Generation X bit didn't really even make it to Australia in the first place. Now, the books as a whole do touch on things - hobbies, interests etc, of the characters - eg the car thread running through Chrome Circle - but, and here's the crucial point - it didn't dwell on it. As a non-car-fanatic, I didn't find it intrusive or boring. The books on a whole aren't as good as LHM, but they're probably on a par with Winds (ie, IMHO, worth a read & probably worth buying). I haven't read the "Wheels of Fire" collaboration with Mark Shepherd so YMMV on that one. Actually YMMV on all of them. :) --------------------------------------------------------------------- EOM. "Ailsa n'ha Winifreyda" wrote: > > then again the aussies use it, don't they? Along with cobber > > Well .... we certainly still say G'day Mate and Mate is a general term of > affection - probably the most a stereotypical homophobic heterosexual > Australian male can manage .... yes we do have snags but the Aussie macho > still runs deep. Women use it as well. Umm, yeup, Aussie macho runs deep. But mate-ship has connotations far deeper than a strangled homophobic way of indicating a non-sexual affection. It connotes friendship and camaderie, an honesty and [yes, non-sexual] affection, and a willingness to put yourself out for that other person (whether to help them or whatever). It kinda conjures up images/impressions of the guys who helped each other & fought & died at Gallipoli. Maybe it's a guy thing. Or regional. (Ailsa, for background reference for the phrase, I'm 21, originally from Far North Queensland - *grin* and I forbid you to say "Well that explains a -lot-"). As for snags - how many there are in Australia probably depends on your definition. The typical reaction to the wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve, cry-at-trifles SNAG (which does seem to be the most popular version) is "Oh for 's sake, get a grip." On the other hand, you'll find that most under [pick a figure] 30 males are sensitive, do appreciate music & culture and the rest, and are capable of expressing themselves in more than primordial grunts. At the same time, a large number of them can still retain some sort of grip on masculinity (by which I don't necessarily automatically mean heterosexuality either). It's definitional. --------------------------------------------------------------------- EOM. Esmeralda wrote: > in fact, (mind lunges frantically at a stray thought) someone wrote > recently (read it this morning) that maybe Valdemar was going to expand, > station Heralds in other lands - and my inital response was to feel sorry > for the "conquered" lands. I agree. Frankly I always felt annoyed about the calm annexation of Tashir's land (West Marsh? He became Baron of West M---) in LHM. It may be small, you might be able to ride across it in 2 or 3 days but dammit, it's a sovereign Kingdom & if Heralds were one half as honourable as they claim to be, they'd have refused Tashir's offer to cede his kingdom to Valdemar. And it's no use arguing that he chose to - he was young, a Valdemaran Herald-Mage had risked a hell of a lot to help Tashir personally & dammit, he had a Mind- healing Companion he was bonded to. He made an unbiased decision? Yeah, right. > Why? Well, this is fairly vague, just a feeling, but writing the above has > just triggered the thought that the heralds are a touch joyless, aren't they? > A bit holier-than-thou, smug. Don't you ever wish they'd trip and get those > precious whites grubby? I know they're selfless, self-sacrificing, often > dead - but the more recent books have not painted people I feel I'd > particularly *like*. I know, I know, they've got problems, but the > characterisation has become flat. I don't recall smiling or laughing while > reading any later ML. The death of Ulrich (or whatever Karal's mentor was > called) was formulaic ML - lots of grown up tough people unashamedly > crying, raw throats, toal abandoment to grief an' all that. I kept waiting > for something to ***happen*** and, (apart from Firesong trying to barbecue > Aya - which made me grin, now I think about it) nothing did. Mmm. I think a lot of them may be suffering somewhat from war-stress - basically worn down, flat and needing a vacation. Even their happy-times are with the background knowledge that some or all of them may be dead soon and that a lot of them have died in the past. Hopelessness and fear affect people subtly sometimes, all the more so when the welfare of a lot of other innocent people are depending on them. I agree, there wasn't a lot of true smiling or laughing, but it didn't strike me as out of character - in fact it struck me very much as the quiet understated desperation of a group of people trying to keep their morale up in the face of looming, overwhelming odds. Even then, it's mainly only the rulers and main characters who are gloomy - the ones who appreciate the true magnitude of the situation - often you find bit-players - even Heralds are quite cheerful and happy. Witness Herald Sonya (?) with the hero-worship of Van; or the two heralds who were so into gossip at the end of Winds of Fury. In fact the main time I find the Heralds being smug is when things are quiet and life is comfortable. That's the main time when they can sit back and pat themselves on the back and congratulate each other at protecting the poor innocent populace and being such noble people. --------------------------------------------------------------------- EOM. Khenta Blaufalk wrote: > Now that you mention it. There's this "generic background" thing > everytime she's writing about Haven [*]. Just a lot of houses with lanterns. > And at some time you'll get to the palace. That's about all I remember. > Didn't someone write some weeks ago that > there are no market scenes? That's what I mean. No specific background > for the stories. No "normal" people, just Heralds and royalty all the > time, in their nice little ivory tower of the Collegium. How is Haven > organized? Do they have a mayor? Are there slums (we know there must be, > from Stef's childhood memories in MPrice -> again, very sketchy) or a > red-light district or somesuch? I think we don't even know if the Healer's > place (Collegium?) is open to all people, should they need help. The > healers are there when they're needed for the plot (as is everything > else), basta. Ok, I don't like it when authors give lengthy descriptions of > utterly needless and unnecessary things. But not being given anything but > the basic info about a person or a place in a novel will make me ask > "And? And?" in the end. Amazing, though, that this never seemed to matter > when I was immersed in the story, but afterwards. Somewhere in Arrows is a short paragraph about Kris bringing Talia back into Haven (and saying that Heralds normally avoid the populated sections and go near the Tanneries, which aren't frequented that much because of the smell - but that it's a quicker, more direct route). Actually I can live without market scenes in Haven - I can imagine a market - frankly, IMHO, you've read about one medieval busy market scene, you've read 'em all. Misty certainly covers enough urban scenes in the Bards Tale books (Robin & Kestrel & Co), which is probably one of the reasons I didn't like them all that much. --------------------------------------------------------------------- EOM. Hth also said: > Am I the only person in the world who doesn't read fantasy to escape > from real life? I happen to like life okay, thanks, but I'm crazy about > fantasy, too. It seems like every time I talk to fantasy fans, they say > something about real life being boring or depressing or otherwise > unappealing, and that they read fantasy to get away from it. Really, is > there anyone else out there that does *not* feel this way? Because I'm > really beginning to feel like a bit of a freak here. I read to add another dimension to life; as well as to slow down & relax (and lately, recuperate from bruises from gettin' beaten up at martial arts ). It's not escapism given the amount of time and effort I put into life generally. Life's not boring or bad, or depressing. It's just that fantasy lets you experience elements that aren't always present to the degree you'd like in your own life, as well as experiencing how other people deal with their own problems (possibly similar to yours) and get different perspectives on life. Okay, enough braiding for now. I'm back from hols, on a roll again. :) Thess - the first book in the Telzey Amberdon series by James Schmitz is "The Universe against Her" ISBN 0-441-84576-2. The next two are "The Telzey Toy" and "The Lion Game". While on hols I picked up a spare copy of "The Universe against Her" - second-hand. If you're interested, let me know. Cheers, Kerry. "Never saw the morning till I stayed up all night, Never saw the sunshine til i turned out the light. Never saw my hometown til I stayed away too long. I never heard the melody til I needed the song." --Nanci Griffith "San Diego Serenade" ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 847 *********************************