| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Alaundo |
Posted - 29 Jun 2007 : 19:54:14
Well met
This is a Book Club thread for Scream of Stone (Book 3 of The Watercourse trilogy), by Philip Athans. Please discuss the chapters 61 - 70 herein. |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 06 Oct 2007 : 04:12:43
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
I'm also having a hard time figuring out why its so hard for Marek to kill Ivar. Perhaps I'm off a bit here, but Ivar doesn't carry magic around with him or anything . . . couldn't Marek scry him, teleport in range, fry him with a spell from a distance, and then teleport home?
Marek can't kill Ivar because Ivar is SPESHUL.
quote:
This part just feels like its kind of artificially building things up before the conclusion.
To be honest, Phil Athans can write really creepy, he can come up with really vivid scenes, and write really interesting characters, and the passage of time and its portraying is really a fun thing to watch, but I feel like the threads aren't really coming together to a real resolution, but that its kind of being forced into resolution mode nonetheless. I could be wrong, it just feels like the closer to the end we get, the more things are happening not because they are progressing the logical way based on previous events, but because they just are.
I agree with this. The way many plot threads in this books are tied up make no sense, or are anti-climatic.
quote:
Also, I know I'm in hypersensitive mode about the setting right now, but somehow Pristoleph's speech about how all things pass on and eventually end almost felt like a comment on the current "era" of the Realms. But I know I'm preoccupied.
I didn't like that speech because it felt like Pristoleph was acting as a pure conduit for the author's philosophy. He goes so far as to say that everything worth doing is done for and by one man. Now I'm very strongly an individualist, but even I think that statement is nonsense. I wouldn't go so far as to say that anything done for the benefit of others isn't worth doing, which seems to be the idea here. And how does it mesh with the Realms, and D&D in general, which has always had a strong vibe of going out of one's way to help others? What about all the accomplishments that have been made in the Realms itself with the intention of helping many people?
quote:
One last thing that occurs to me. I get that Pristoleph respects Ivar, but the comparison to Karsus seemed a bit much. Maybe its because one of the things I like about the setting is that while some things are more or less common, rarely is there a "never" or "always" applied to the setting, but it feels like there has "never" been a genius like Ivar. No one that hasn't used magic has done something amazing with engineering alone before in Faerun? Even among the dwarves, for example?
No. Truly, there has never been a genius like Ivar. And nothing that has ever been done in the Realms is as great, wonderful, and perfect as his canal.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 04 Oct 2007 : 03:29:47
I kind of felt like this section went in circles for a while. Pristoleph talks to Wenefir and Wenefir tells him to step down. Pristoleph says he won't kill him if he gets out. The senators send Wenefir to talk to Pristoleph, he tells him to step down, Pristoleph tells him he won't kill him if he gets out . . .
I'm also having a hard time figuring out why its so hard for Marek to kill Ivar. Perhaps I'm off a bit here, but Ivar doesn't carry magic around with him or anything . . . couldn't Marek scry him, teleport in range, fry him with a spell from a distance, and then teleport home?
This part just feels like its kind of artificially building things up before the conclusion.
To be honest, Phil Athans can write really creepy, he can come up with really vivid scenes, and write really interesting characters, and the passage of time and its portraying is really a fun thing to watch, but I feel like the threads aren't really coming together to a real resolution, but that its kind of being forced into resolution mode nonetheless. I could be wrong, it just feels like the closer to the end we get, the more things are happening not because they are progressing the logical way based on previous events, but because they just are.
Also, I know I'm in hypersensitive mode about the setting right now, but somehow Pristoleph's speech about how all things pass on and eventually end almost felt like a comment on the current "era" of the Realms. But I know I'm preoccupied.
One last thing that occurs to me. I get that Pristoleph respects Ivar, but the comparison to Karsus seemed a bit much. Maybe its because one of the things I like about the setting is that while some things are more or less common, rarely is there a "never" or "always" applied to the setting, but it feels like there has "never" been a genius like Ivar. No one that hasn't used magic has done something amazing with engineering alone before in Faerun? Even among the dwarves, for example?
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