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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5695 Posts |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Nov 2005 : 20:58:02
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Very short and sweet part. I believe this is the part in which Ivar meets the water naga? I really like the water naga, but as I mentioned in the Novels forum, it seems strange that Ivar is barely suspicious of her once he finds out her true nature. I know it's good to be open-minded about other creatures, but isn't this a bit ridiculous? Knowing that one is in control of one's fate goes hand in hand--IMHO--with being careful about things and caring about one's own survival, as you cannot rely on the gods or "Destiny" to keep you alive to do what you want. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Another character I'm not overly fond of--Phyrea, although she nicely complicates Willem's story (which is way more interesting than Ivar's, by the way). The way she is described as being so perfect, physically, just plain annoys me. That, and she is your typical "clever" thief who can talk her way out of everything, apparently, since ever guard I've seen so far in the novel is both young and stupid. I'd love, for once, to have an older, more hardened guard say "All right miss, I've heard it all before--cut the crap and put the [insert stolen object here] down or I WILL shoot you."
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"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 07 Nov 2005 20:58:49 |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 13 Nov 2005 : 23:10:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Another character I'm not overly fond of--Phyrea, although she nicely complicates Willem's story (which is way more interesting than Ivar's, by the way). The way she is described as being so perfect, physically, just plain annoys me. That, and she is your typical "clever" thief who can talk her way out of everything, apparently, since ever guard I've seen so far in the novel is both young and stupid. I'd love, for once, to have an older, more hardened guard say "All right miss, I've heard it all before--cut the crap and put the [insert stolen object here] down or I WILL shoot you."
Well ya know, I really liked Phyrea after this opening scene  The leather-clad egg thief was great. I loved how she threw the oil and blew the guards head clean off  The escape and charade about not getting the egg was well done too.
Willem really took me by surprise in this part, when he poisoned Senetor Khonsu! I didn't think he had it in him, and to be so calm about it too. Great scene!
I wasn't so keen with the whole naga scene, although I did like how the big plan to build the canal would affect other parties. How Thay would not want it to happen as they sell portal access to merchants etc. This is what I was expecting from this book (maybe it'll come later in the trilogy), where other organizations and powers try to stop the building of the canel. It was a good informative scene, but just odd with a naga 
I've brought this up at Candlekeep before - At one point in this part of the book, Willem calls Devorast an athiest. How can anyone in the Realms be an athiest when there is evidence that gods clearly do exist. Priests can prove this everyday, and with the avatar crisis....well, nuff said!
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Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 13 Nov 2005 : 23:13:37
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I quite liked the gruesome scene when Marek meets Thadat and Kurtssun appears behind him, cleavers his arm off at the elbow and hacks him to death whilst he was within a spell of silence. Very nasty.
A sad scene where Fharaud dies. I really liked this character and his fate was very tragic. Very sad how he died. Nicely described how he heard Devorast say goodbye just as he had passed over  |
Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2005 : 04:17:02
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I dislike Phyrea, but at the same time, I cannot deny that she interests me. Frankly, I think she might well be psychotic.
As for atheist: I see a Realms atheist as someone who doesn't pay any attention to the gods. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 27 Nov 2005 : 15:09:25
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Phyrea is definately showing signs of psychosis. She does dangerous things so that she actually feels something, she has had thouhts of killing her father in his sleep, and she cuts herself when she gets frustrated. Ironically, we are so used to quirky and over the top villains that we might miss the signs that an author gives us to a real world disorder that a character might have.
Ivar doesn't bother me, and in fact he is the most interesting character in the book for me. I can buy him not being afraid of a water naga more that I can buy him being automatically competent in battle. I think its interesting that the Naga is now trying to explain to him how other HUMANS think.
As far as Willem goes, I think this goes back to Fharaud says about someone needing to become a second rate human before he becomes a first rate monster. He is starting down this path now, as a petty poisoner and a double crosser as far as his relationships go. I just wonder if Willem will fully realize how low he has sunk or if he will always think that what he does is perfectly justified.
As far as an athiest in the Realms, think if it this way. If you beleive in the gods, and trust in at least one to show you the right path for your life, you are a beleiver. If you beleive that the gods serve a purpose, but you don't know if everything that is said about them is true, or if their purpose is what is commonly beleived about them, and you have no real patron, you are an agnostic. If you think that you have seen a lot of powerful creatures, and you have see a lot of magic, and that the gods may exist, but what differentiates them from, say, fiends and celestials, or powerful wizards of any race, and you don't beleive they have any purpose but to get in the way of mortals and distract them from their potential, you could very well have earned the title of athiest. |
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Starchaserva
Acolyte
10 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jun 2008 : 19:43:47
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To paraphrase the great Terry Pratchet "the gods had a habit of going round to atheists' houses and smashing their windows" It's not that you can really deny the gods exist, I think it means more along the lines of "I don't pay fealty to a certain one"
So far, with this book, I've been disappointed. It took me half the novel to even decide which character I was supposed to root for, and I feel I was let down when I found out that Ivar's main goal was to build a canal. That seems weak to me. I do like the Black Dragon more than any other character. Phyrea totally annoyed me, as she seems like a very cliched character. She's physically perfect, can have anything she wants, lives in a mansion, and cuts herself and sleeps around to wrangles emotional responses from people like her father. I just can't bring myself to care about anything that happens to her. However, the descriptions can be very well done, if you ignore certain character inconsistancies. |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2010 : 08:34:46
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I find Ivar extremely DIFFICULT to believe... Marek is the only character I like in this book.
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Every beginning has an end. |
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Whisper of Waves: Part 3 (Chapters 37-49)
