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 Best of the Realms 3: The Knights of Samular
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
Admin

United Kingdom
5696 Posts

Posted - 01 Jun 2007 :  17:16:57  Show Profile  Visit Alaundo's Homepage Send Alaundo a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
Well met

This is a Book Club thread for the short story of The Knights of Samular, in The Best of the Realms, Book III anthology, by Elaine Cunningham. Please discuss herein:

Alaundo
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Kajehase
Great Reader

Sweden
2104 Posts

Posted - 03 Jun 2007 :  10:29:44  Show Profile Send Kajehase a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Been a week or so since I read this, so I'm not able to make a very detailed comment, but there were two things that stood out enough that I can bring them readily to mind.

1. I really like this story, but... it's left me wanting more. Good job Elaine.
2. I really enjoyed the scene between Danilo and Khelben. A very fine example of how it doesn't take much description to make a scene moving. Darn I wish I could write like that.

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Kuje
Great Reader

USA
7915 Posts

Posted - 03 Jun 2007 :  15:15:31  Show Profile Send Kuje a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I liked the expanded info about Ashemmi. Very cool Elaine. The foreshadowing that Khelben knew he wasn't going to be alive for much longer was also interesting.

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

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Edited by - Kuje on 03 Jun 2007 15:28:12
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31799 Posts

Posted - 03 Jun 2007 :  16:09:27  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Ooooh... Ashemmi info -- that's good to hear. I can't wait until this book arrives!

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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
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USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 03 Jun 2007 :  20:32:54  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
What I liked most about this story was how it turned out that Algorind was not a dupe being molded like clay by Sir Gareth (which the City of Splendors sourcebook implies, IIRC). I also like how the Sir Gareth plot gets resolved.

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ElaineCunningham
Forgotten Realms Author

2396 Posts

Posted - 06 Jun 2007 :  13:42:47  Show Profile  Visit ElaineCunningham's Homepage  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin

What I liked most about this story was how it turned out that Algorind was not a dupe being molded like clay by Sir Gareth (which the City of Splendors sourcebook implies, IIRC). I also like how the Sir Gareth plot gets resolved.


Thanks. I figured it was time Algorind got a break.

I always saw Algorind as a young man of great promise, a genuinely good person who wished to do the right thing. He got caught up in something that was too warped and tangled for a man of his experience and nature to deal with. After all, he was only about eighteen years old. How many teenagers, especially a naive young man whose experience is limited to a closed society such as military monestary, would be prepared to deal with the moral dilemnas he faced, and with the duplicity of men such as Sir Gareth? The kid was over his head, big time, but I always intended that the rookie paladin would grow into his chosen role.
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31799 Posts

Posted - 06 Jun 2007 :  15:40:36  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje

The foreshadowing that Khelben knew he wasn't going to be alive for much longer was also interesting.

Having now read the story itself, I'm inclined to agree. That "flicker of emotion" made me shed a tear.

And being the Danilo fan that I am, I was thoroughly glad to see him pop up again. It was intriguing to see him adopt such a "mature" role.

Well done Elaine.

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ElaineCunningham
Forgotten Realms Author

2396 Posts

Posted - 08 Jun 2007 :  12:39:21  Show Profile  Visit ElaineCunningham's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Thanks, Sage. Glad to hear that you liked the story.

This tale has two lines of dialogue that I'm extremely happy with:

Danilo: "I have judged you harshly over the years."
Khelben: "That is what young men do."

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Ardashir
Senior Scribe

USA
544 Posts

Posted - 13 Jun 2007 :  00:17:16  Show Profile  Visit Ardashir's Homepage Send Ardashir a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Kajehase

2. I really enjoyed the scene between Danilo and Khelben. A very fine example of how it doesn't take much description to make a scene moving. Darn I wish I could write like that.



Write long enough and you will get that good. The only way to learn how to write is to write and submit what you write to editors. This is the voice of experience.

And I like that Algorind got some respect this time around. He got a hard lesson in Thornhold, but he learned from it.
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 20 Jun 2007 :  03:46:45  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I have to concur with everyone so far. This was an absolutely great wrap up to Thornhold and I'm very happy that Algorind got a chance to grow into is role. I like the distinction that Elaine makes that he wasn't making horrible mistakes in Thornhold because he was a paladin, but because he was a young man that was just begining to understand what his role would be.

The Khelben/Danilo scene was indeed very touching. There was so much in the scene that wasn't explicitly spelled out, but foreshadowed really well. Danilo won't be Khelben's successor because he is his own man. Khelben is proud of Danilo, in part because he resisted Khelben's overtures to make him into a man that Khelben wants him to be.

And the irony of Danilo, despite being his own man, becoming more like Khelben in his minipulations of Algorind, and his self recimination over it. I loved it, and it really came through how difficult this must have been for Danilo.

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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore

1425 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2007 :  03:56:28  Show Profile  Visit Charles Phipps's Homepage Send Charles Phipps a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I, for one, was kinda surprised by the Algorind/Bronwyn implications.

Isn't he kinda dumb for a woman of her experience?

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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader

USA
7106 Posts

Posted - 24 Oct 2007 :  19:51:05  Show Profile  Visit Rinonalyrna Fathomlin's Homepage Send Rinonalyrna Fathomlin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
They seem to like each other. *shrug*

"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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