The Gradual Interview

[wayfriend]

I see that SRD considers George Dubya and Ravers as the same class of beings morally.

I can only say: well, yeah.

[drew]

This one falls under thr Trippy category:

Drew: Just for starters, you, Stephen R. Donaldson, are one of the best writers of all time. Your works have influenced me in more ways than I can express. One of the ways is actually what my questions are about. In the second book of the Gap Cycle on page 61, your "ancillary documentation" started with the conflict of Chaos and Order. I was curious where you learned of this or if it is something specific to you. If it isn't just yours then could you state where you took it from or modified it from because I want to know more, and if it is yours, I would be facinated at how you came across such a profoundly universal human trait. Thanks in advanced. From one of your most avid readers, Drew.






The "chaos vs order" theme which pervades the GAP sequence is certainly not original with me. (Only the specific details of how that theme is deployed are mine.) Indeed, the theme is so deeply embedded in Western thought that it might be impossible to determine who first put it into words. But speaking solely of my own intellectual development, I like to credit William Blake, who wrote, "Reason is the circumference of energy." This struck me when I first read it, and still strikes me today, as an ideal expression of the paradox which makes art, beauty, and even humanity possible. If energy (chaos) is not controlled by reason (order), it remains formless and destructive. If reason is not constantly challenged and stretched by energy, it remains rigid and destructive.

Okay: this wasn't me..There's another SRD fan out there named drew

But I did start reading Forbidden knowledge (for the 1st time) yesterday, and came accross the "ancillary documentation" part today..and then here was a new question in the GI on it...groovey

[I'm Murrin]

I guess it must just be the more recent editions of [was it The Real Story or Forbidden Knowledge?] that include the foreword where he explains the whole chaos and order thing.

[drew]

My Real Story I bought at a used bookstore about 10 years ago.

the Forbidden Knowledge that I am reading--and might I say, Really Enjoying-- is from the Library--first U.S. printing.

[dlbpharmd]

Doc: Mr. Donaldson,
In LFB Foamfollower stated that a Giantship was always at sea seaching for a route home. What happened to the ship that was at sea during The Illearth War?

This is a more complex question than it probably ought to be. But consider the fact that in LFB the Lords promised Foamfollower Gildenlode keels and rudders (if memory serves) for the Giantships. From this one might well infer that when the current "searching" Giantship returned to The Grieve it stayed there--and no new ships were sent out--because the Giants were hard at work retrofitting all of their ships. Plus, of course, the sea is a perilous place. Any number of Giantships might simply have never returned.

A more probing question, I think, is: why did Lord Hyrim et al find no Giantships at all when they reached The Grieve in TIW? "The Last Chronicles" may conceivably suggest an answer. Or not. Authors have been known to be very clever. They've also been known to be badly confused.

(06/15/2005)

How intriguing!

[Edge]

A more probing question, I think, is: why did Lord Hyrim et al find no Giantships at all when they reached The Grieve in TIW? "The Last Chronicles" may conceivably suggest an answer. Or not. Authors have been known to be very clever. They've also been known to be badly confused.

Well, that's just confusing and irritating.

'Or not' is not a satisfactory answer.

[High Lord Tolkien]

A more probing question, I think, is: why did Lord Hyrim et al find no Giantships at all when they reached The Grieve in TIW? "The Last Chronicles" may conceivably suggest an answer. Or not. Authors have been known to be very clever. They've also been known to be badly confused.

Well, that's just confusing and irritating.

'Or not' is not a satisfactory answer.

It's worse than that!
That GI tidbit had me jumping out of my seat and then crashing down onto the floor!
SRD is an evil man putting stuff like that in the GI.
I FREAKING LOVE IT!!!!

[Furls Fire]

little red herrings everywhere

Spoiler

I remember seeing video stream of his, I think it was one Romeo provided, where he said something like "We may even see Damelon Giantfriend, now wouldn't that be fun."

[dlbpharmd]

I remember that too! That would be fun!

[matrixman]

That's a good question from SRD about Lord Hyrim. I never thought about the Giantships (whether their presence or absence) during Hyrim's search of The Grieve; I was too caught up in the drama of the story. I'm a dumb kind of reader at times: unless it's pointed out plainly to me, I completely miss the boat. Maybe SRD is suggesting that he is "badly confused" but also cleverly working out his own confusion, in the course of writing the Last Chronicles.

[Kenaustin Ardenol]

The question above that one the author Stephen says "thanks for the news about the 2nd book" is this a reference to SD earlier saying he was coming along with the book or has their been a release date put up somewhere that I've misssed.

[I'm Murrin]

why did Lord Hyrim et al find no Giantships at all when they reached The Grieve in TIW? "The Last Chronicles" may conceivably suggest an answer. Or not. Authors have been known to be very clever. They've also been known to be badly confused.

I say his comment means "I screwed up, but if I get the chance I might put an explanation somewhere in the Last Chrons".

[dlbpharmd]

The question above that one the author Stephen says "thanks for the news about the 2nd book" is this a reference to SD earlier saying he was coming along with the book or has their been a release date put up somewhere that I've misssed.

No release date yet.

I say his comment means "I screwed up, but if I get the chance I might put an explanation somewhere in the Last Chrons".

I'm with MM - I never noticed that there were no Giantships either. What were we to expect. Should Covenant and the Search find them still moored to the docks in TWL?

[I'm Murrin]

No, but Hyrim and Korik should have seen some, since they arrived during the slaughter.
I didn't notice they were missing either, but now that it's been pointed out it seems almost obvious.

[Warmark]

So perhaps during TIW and TPTP ( and the following few years ) there was as rogue band of Gaints roamming the Land and Sea performing random acts of kindness and storytelling?

[wayfriend]

I agree with Murrin. I think that SRD was pointing out a mistake that he had found himself, which was similar to the question on hand, and so he offered it up.

Will he add some details to 'correct' this? I hope not. I don't think it's worth it - it's not the kind of a problem that creates a huge whole in the story, it's just an unfilled-in blank really. Left to the imagination, as it were. I hope that Donaldson goes after more important things.

The Giants or the Raver probably simply cut the moorings and the ships drifted out to sea. The Giant's, in grief, or the Raver, out of malice.

[matrixman]

The Giants or the Raver probably simply cut the moorings and the ships drifted out to sea. The Giant's, in grief, or the Raver, out of malice.

What a powerful scene that would be, Wayfriend! I can picture the Giants gathered around in sorrow and self-hate, solemnly sending off their empty vessels. Their ships become wandering derelicts, lost at sea just as the Unhomed were lost to themselves.

[High Lord Tolkien]

The Giants or the Raver probably simply cut the moorings and the ships drifted out to sea. The Giant's, in grief, or the Raver, out of malice.

What a powerful scene that would be, Wayfriend! I can picture the Giants gathered around in sorrow and self-hate, solemnly sending off their empty vessels. Their ships become wandering derelicts, lost at sea just as the Unhomed were lost to themselves.

I was thinking about the same scenerio as Watfriend but decided against it since:

"But, unlike the western vineyards and fields, the workshops had not been abandoned suddenly. All the tools hung in their racks on the walls; the tables and benches were free of work; even the floors were clean. The Giants laboring there had taken the time to put their shops in order before they went home to die."

The Giants either dropped everything they were doing of packed up everything nice and neat.
Doesn't seem like making the effort to unmoor(?) [I'm not a boat guy so I don't know the terms] the 3 Giant Ships would fit.

I also don't see the Raver doing. Just not his style.

How about the 3 were in some kind of drydock down the coast waiting to be retrofitted?
Not as romantic but....

[Kenaustin Ardenol]

The fact that SD pointed out the missing Giantships and not somebody on the GI leads me to believe he has an answer as to what happened to them, the possabilitys are as endless as SD's imagination. Imagine caught in a ceisure and popping up in the story fully laden with giants of old.

[wayfriend]

What a powerful scene that would be, Wayfriend!

(Thanks.)