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Belthor
Seeker
USA
52 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 18:12:51
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In the book Spellfire, there are some references to other peoples and happenings that seem to have little to nothing to do with the main plot. This is not criticism, but a point of confusion on my part. Elminster makes a reference to a woman named Lansharra who once wielded spellfire, but who had to be opposed because she became too dangerous. Can I find that story in another of Ed's books by any chance? Also, later in the same chapter, Torm and Rathan visit with a woman named Lhaera and her daughter named Imraea for no apparent reason. Once again, is there some back story that I'm unaware of that deals with these two in another book? I'm just trying to figure out if I'm lost because I haven't read enough of Ed's book prior to Spellfire, or if it's just disjointed in my own head.
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If the rest of humanity were only as smart as my familiar...... |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36803 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 19:42:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Belthor
In the book Spellfire, there are some references to other peoples and happenings that seem to have little to nothing to do with the main plot. This is not criticism, but a point of confusion on my part. Elminster makes a reference to a woman named Lansharra who once wielded spellfire, but who had to be opposed because she became too dangerous. Can I find that story in another of Ed's books by any chance? Also, later in the same chapter, Torm and Rathan visit with a woman named Lhaera and her daughter named Imraea for no apparent reason. Once again, is there some back story that I'm unaware of that deals with these two in another book? I'm just trying to figure out if I'm lost because I haven't read enough of Ed's book prior to Spellfire, or if it's just disjointed in my own head.
There are no novels of Ed's that predate Spellfire, at least not in the Realms.
I believe these passages are in there to illustrate how the Realms are a vibrant place, with a thousand thousand stories happening all at once... Also, the book was horribly mangled by editors once it was handed in; there may have originally been a lot more detail in these areas, but it was excised for purposes of word count.
However... I gotta say, it threw me, too. I felt kinda like I'd walked in during the middle of an episode of a long-running TV show, with absolutely no idea who anyone was or what was going on. |
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 14 Feb 2006 19:42:47 |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 20:12:07
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As Wooly says, the Realms is a tapestry of interacting stories, theads and paths that cross and depart. No story, or person, is separate from what surrounds it (no man is an island); there are no clean beginnings or perfect endings. In our lives, we never know the stories of everyone we meet, and so in the Realms. Some of these touched-on stories are developed in detail, others are off-hand references that may be furthered later. Thus the Realms' verisimilitude, the sense of always something round the next corner, or underlying cause deeper than what we know.
The Knights' kindness to Lhaera would seem without reason to the Malaugrym or the Zhents. But doing more than is called for is exactly what good folk do; here we're shown the secret by which the Knights (and the Harpers) achieve more than they ought, by making friends and being remembered. |
Edited by - Faraer on 14 Feb 2006 20:13:02 |
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Belthor
Seeker
USA
52 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 20:23:02
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Thank you both for the quick replies. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one to feel as if I was thrown for a loop by the sudden changes of scene and story. Faraer, I had just decided to inturpret that scene just the way you described. Thanks for the input.
I personally believe that editors and lawyers await the same fate in the afterlife. |
If the rest of humanity were only as smart as my familiar...... |
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Skeptic
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1273 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 20:32:33
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I personally believe that editors and lawyers await the same fate in the afterlife.
Lemure in Nine Hells ? 
I just finished reading Hand of Fire, and the FR accessory I would really want to see one day is : Thounsands Faces of Faerūn : Characters of Ed Greenwood. A sourcebook giving some abrievated stats and a short story & description to each of those high numbered characters of his novels. I could even like a crunchy chapter of Feats, Spells, PrC, Magic items related to these characters  |
Edited by - Skeptic on 14 Feb 2006 20:33:03 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36803 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 21:07:33
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Keep in mind that there is at least one (maybe only one! ) lawyer out there who is a good guy: our own George Krashos.  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Skeptic
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1273 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 21:33:46
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| Why do you think I added the at the end? |
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Belthor
Seeker
USA
52 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 21:47:40
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| Well, George probably can't help but be a good guy. He's infested with Realmsian type thoughts and imaginings. It may be that he can avoid Lemure, in spite of his lawyerly type activities because of these..... ahh.... redeeming qualities. Right Krash? |
If the rest of humanity were only as smart as my familiar...... |
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Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 21:53:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Keep in mind that there is at least one (maybe only one! ) lawyer out there who is a good guy: our own George Krashos.
That Paul S Kemp don't seem too bad, either. So now we're up to two |
There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6666 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 22:40:06
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Yeah, it's always easier to think Realms than actually do work, whilst at work. But then again, if I'm a really good lemure maybe I can work up the hierarchy (that actually sounds like what most lawyers do IRL anyway ... spooky).
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Winterfox
Senior Scribe
895 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2006 : 22:44:56
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| Lansharra wasn't a woman who once wielded spellfire. The name is what the Shadowsil was once known as while she was Elminster's apprentice. |
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Belthor
Seeker
USA
52 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2006 : 00:27:26
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| Thank you Winterfox. I'm not sure if I just missed that explanation in the book, or if you have good sources, but it now helps to make the story flow a bit better; helps it make more sense to me. |
If the rest of humanity were only as smart as my familiar...... |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31772 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2006 : 01:51:37
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Ed's works always give the reader a sense that they are being immersed into a rich world of interlocking stories and themes... perhaps moreso than any other Realms author. When you read Ed's books you can usually experience the wide ranging and significant mix of history and present day lore -- you perceive that the story "has always been going". It's a point about Ed's works that I particularly like as it allows you to visualise the background world of the Realms and how it is also moving inside (and sometimes outside) the context of the story -- in this case, Spellfire.
Temptation of Elminster was a good example of this as well.
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 15 Feb 2006 01:53:24 |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2006 : 03:06:41
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Elminster names the Shadowsil's (Symgharyl Maruel's) truename Lansharra at her funeral, then briefly tells her story -- it's not unclear.
ruleslawyer is a lawyer, too. |
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quajack
Seeker
86 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2006 : 17:13:44
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| Spellfire was one of the first FR novels that I read and, at the time, I thought it was horrible. Now, about 125 books deep into the series, I believe that if I had a go at it again I'd most likely enjoy the heck out of it. This may sound ridiculous, but Spellfire might be a little too "Realmsy" for those new to Faerun. Years later I read "Crown of Fire" and I thought it was excellent. The two books are very similar. Because I was afforded the opportunity to really get a handle on the Realms as a whole, I am now able to better appreciate the earlier Realms novels as I reminisce about them over a mug of Luskan's "Cutlass's" cheapest brew. And lo and behold, Josi Puddles just spilled my mug. I've myself some business to tend to here that can't be for waitin'. Well met all. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 08 Feb 2010 : 07:38:56
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Ed's works always give the reader a sense that they are being immersed into a rich world of interlocking stories and themes... perhaps moreso than any other Realms author. When you read Ed's books you can usually experience the wide ranging and significant mix of history and present day lore -- you perceive that the story "has always been going". It's a point about Ed's works that I particularly like as it allows you to visualise the background world of the Realms and how it is also moving inside (and sometimes outside) the context of the story -- in this case, Spellfire.
Temptation of Elminster was a good example of this as well.
More Scroll Necromancy!
That is what I really love about Ed's writing period. The immersion I get while reading. |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3567 Posts |
Posted - 08 Feb 2010 : 15:14:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
Ed's works always give the reader a sense that they are being immersed into a rich world of interlocking stories and themes... perhaps moreso than any other Realms author. When you read Ed's books you can usually experience the wide ranging and significant mix of history and present day lore -- you perceive that the story "has always been going". It's a point about Ed's works that I particularly like as it allows you to visualise the background world of the Realms and how it is also moving inside (and sometimes outside) the context of the story -- in this case, Spellfire.
Temptation of Elminster was a good example of this as well.
More Scroll Necromancy!
That is what I really love about Ed's writing period. The immersion I get while reading.
Even his short stories are stuffed to the gills with goodies! |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Question about Spellfire
