| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 24 Jul 2007 : 21:11:30
We've been bantering about Darkvision in my "Pronouncing Roushom" scroll, but I have some specific questions about the novel which are not appropriate for that scroll.
First, is the Blade Cerulean a transformed elf (or perhaps a human or something similar)?
Second, when Ususi acquired her sister's "darkvision," did Ususi become "blind" in the common sense of the term (pun intended)? If she did, did she just lose visual light spectrum vision in her eyes, or did her eyeballs boil away or some such hideous thing?
(By the way, I have a lot of stuff by Bruce R. Cordell, and I honestly think that this may be his single best piece of Realms writing, modules and accessories included. Has he written of the Blade Cerulean elsewhere? There are soooooo many interesting things in this novel that I find myself hard-pressed to keep my questions down to a managable number and let my imagination answer the others!)
FOLLOW-UP: Kiril Duskmourn appears in Bruce's latest novel, Stardeep: The Dungeons, which is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com. |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 29 Feb 2008 : 17:05:25
I agree that the book didn't really seem to be about Ususi, even though she seemed to be set up as the main character. |
| Alisttair |
Posted - 29 Feb 2008 : 16:25:10
I just finished reading this book, and I found it good until the final few chapters. Also, it didn't feel like Ususi was the main character as she was barely shown in the first few chapters (and only a little more so throughout), and I didn't get a sense of aknowledgment of her having appeared in Lady of Poison prior (I only knew about it because I read that a few weeks ago). I enjoyed reading about Warian more than anyone else in fact. I don't know why, but I had trouble following Kiril in some parts (maybe outside distractions were a factor on this though), but I look forward to reading Stardeep nonetheless. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 31 Jul 2007 : 02:31:51
Jamallo, I know who Ususi is as a character, and I have indeed read Lady of Poison (a while back, in fact). But I'm disappointed because Darkvision didn't tell us much about who Ususi is as a person. I know she's a Deep Imaskari mage who is a bit of an iconoclast by living on the surface. But so what? I never got to learn much about what made her tick, what her little quirks are. While I thought some of the side characters were awesome (and it's wonderful that Kiril Duskmourn will be getting her own novel), I thought it was a shame how Darkvision was supposedly about Ususi, but...wasn't. She felt almost like a side character, with no real growth except for what was important for the plot (ie. the alternate timeline twin).
Also, in Darkvision Ususi seemed to have lost the salty personality that she had in Lady of Poison--sad, because "prickly" characters tend to be more interesting than bland, saintly "I'm always nice to everyone and never get irritated" type characters. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 27 Jul 2007 : 19:44:58
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
I've always been a fan of alternate reality/time travel screwy headgame storylines (heck, Infinite Crisis and 52 are some of my new favorite comic stories), but I felt like the explanation for Ususi and her "twin" was tacked on at the end, and we've never had much "alternate timeline" precedence in the Realms before, so it was a bit jarring.
I concur--the "alternate timeline twin" thing not only seemed very tacked on, I didn't think it was explained very well. In fact, once of my biggest quibbles with Darkvision is the fact that the book doesn't even tell us very much about who Ususi is, even though she is supposedly the star character.
(snip)
She first appeared in Lady of Poison, which reveals enough about her that a canny Realms loremaster could guess that she was from Deep Imaskar. I wasn't overly pleased with Lady of Poison because I thought that (A) the whole set-up was more Moander-ish than Talona-ish, and (B) the book was permeated by a treacly sludge of romanticism between all of the "heroes," with nice boy-girl, boy-girl pairings (even though I felt that a Gay Gilgamesh-Enkidu relationship was more appropriate for one couple) -- the whole book reeked of TSR-mandated "Goodness." Bah! Aside from those parts, though, it was a ripping good yarn about demons and tainted creatures.
And it introduced us to Ususi, for which I am very grateful.
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| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 25 Jul 2007 : 02:54:11
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
I've always been a fan of alternate reality/time travel screwy headgame storylines (heck, Infinite Crisis and 52 are some of my new favorite comic stories), but I felt like the explanation for Ususi and her "twin" was tacked on at the end, and we've never had much "alternate timeline" precedence in the Realms before, so it was a bit jarring.
I concur--the "alternate timeline twin" thing not only seemed very tacked on, I didn't think it was explained very well. In fact, once of my biggest quibbles with Darkvision is the fact that the book doesn't even tell us very much about who Ususi is, even though she is supposedly the star character.
quote:
I am interested in seeing Kiril's story and more about the Star Elves in Bruce's next novel. Bruce does make some interesting characters in his books, and he's not afraid to come up with some non-standard ones.
Indeed. I'm excited myself, although definitely more for Kiril than star elves in general. Star elves as a race I can take or leave, but Kiril is quite the memorable character, regardless of her race. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 25 Jul 2007 : 02:06:37
I've always been a fan of alternate reality/time travel screwy headgame storylines (heck, Infinite Crisis and 52 are some of my new favorite comic stories), but I felt like the explanation for Ususi and her "twin" was tacked on at the end, and we've never had much "alternate timeline" precedence in the Realms before, so it was a bit jarring.
I am interested in seeing Kiril's story and more about the Star Elves in Bruce's next novel. Bruce does make some interesting characters in his books, and he's not afraid to come up with some non-standard ones. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 25 Jul 2007 : 01:58:06
quote:
Originally posted by Jamallo Kreen
First, is the Blade Cerulean a transformed elf (or perhaps a human or something similar)?
I think the nature of that blade is still a mystery, but I definitely got the impression that the blade was once an elf. I'll bet Stardeep will tell us more
quote:
Second, when Ususi acquired her sister's "darkvision," did Ususi become "blind" in the common sense of the term (pun intended)? If she did, did she just lose visual light spectrum vision in her eyes, or did her eyeballs boil away or some such hideous thing?
You know, I don't know--honestly, that part of the book really confused me and was probably the scene I liked the least. I didn't think her eyes boiled away, though. |
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