The Gradual Interview

[danlo]

At SRD's read at B & N I had an opportunity to fanagle a humungous-breathtaking poster of Runes, but I missed my chance--**kicks self, repeatedly**

[Warmark]

At SRD's read at B & N I had an opportunity to fanagle a humungous-breathtaking poster of Runes, but I missed my chance--**kicks self, repeatedly**

**kicks danlo**

[dlbpharmd]

Interesting Q&A from today's GI (the Haruchai among us will find this especially interesting):

Katten: Mr Donaldson,

From reading the First Chronicles, I somewhat got the impression that the Haruchai, while being quite extreme as a race (who else could come up with the Vow?), were mostly made the outwardly cold and unexpressive beings they were because of their millenia of service as Bloodguard. This was reinforced for me when the Bloodguard in The Illearth War, whose name I forget, returns to tell of the trip through the swamp and has a panicked outburst while telling his tale, which is explained through him being recently made a Bloodguard.

The Haruchai in the later books, while being very slightly more expressive than the Bloodguard, are still extremely stony-faced and it is hard to imagine any of them having an outburst like that. Is this one of those small discrepancies that happen over series, or did I miss the point, and was that Bloodguard just an unusally sensitive Haruchai?

Thanks.

No, I think my point was that the Bloodguard of the unseemly outburst was unusually *young*. In my thinking, it has always been true of the Haruchai (not just the Bloodguard) that they cultivate a stoney stoicism as a defense against, or as a way of managing, their extreme passions. And since they lead long lives (when they aren't killed in battle), they have lots of time to practice their impassivity. But even Haruchai start out as children; and it seems likely that at least a few of them became Bloodguard pretty early in life.

(09/10/2005)

Katten and SRD are referring of course to Tull, who initially broke down under the burden of his tale in front of Lord Mhoram. Tull was one of the the youngest Bloodguard at the time of TIW, having replaced a Bloodguard slain on Mhoram's trip to Foul's Creche.

[ur-bane]

I found this particular GI entry rather amusing:

Clement Singarajah, M.D: Not a question, but just a big thank you. Of all the great authors out there, you have come the closest to JRR Tolkein and in some ways have exceeded him (almost sacrilege to say so!) and I am pleased you are returning to the Land. By the way, you are one of the few authors who manages to tax my vocabulary with curious words like cerements, frangible, percipient, lambent, inchoate etc. Perhaps you could put floccinaucinihiliplification to good us as you have an undoubted mastery of English writing that very few others can match, perhaps only JRRT. Best regards to a superb author and thank you again for the alas too short hours of pleasure you have given my imagination.


OK, this is a quiz for regular readers of the GI. Do any of you own a dictionary that contains the word "floccinaucinihiliplification"? If you do, please post a definition--and 4-6 months later I'll post my heartiest congratulations. <grin>

P.S. No points will be awarded if it turns out that no one except Clement Singarajah, M.D., can provide a definition. (Now I'm *really* grinning.)

(09/07/2005)

And actually, (although misspelled by Dr. Singarajah) floccinaucinihilipilification is a word in the English language!

1 entry found for floccinaucinihilipilification.
Main Entry: floccinaucinihilipilification
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: an act or instance of judging something to be worthless or trivial
Etymology: the parts of the word each mean `at nothing' or `with a small price'

And the part that made me laugh........such a long word meaning "trivial"!!
I think Webster had a little too much to drink while writing out the F's in his little book.

[Warmark]

michael sasen: will there be giants.

RAFO.

(09/14/2005)

I though this was quite funny.

[dlbpharmd]

Beat me to it, Warmark.

[dlbpharmd]

Jessica: Hey SRD. Being an avid reader I have read many good books during my 16 years but yours stand superior to the rest. Good books may be forgotten, and even, in time great books. But your writing is astoundingly unforgettable. Thank you for the enjoyment of such works.

Couple of questions:

1) Do you base your characters off of a particular race when you create them? I just like to get a mental picture of what everyone looks like and you described the Haruchai with brown skin. Would they almost be Hispanic looking or African-American or...what? Just wondered...

2) Could anything develope between Linden and Stave or is that just wishful thinking? I'm probably just jumping to conclusions, but it would be so sweet in a way...a Haruchai romance. *grins*

Thank you for your time. I will continue to anxiously await your next books in this series.

1) Two things to keep in mind about how I work. One, I'm not a visual personal. And two, my imagination doesn't respond well when I try to base what I'm doing on verifiable reality. So no, I didn't have any particular races in mind for any of the "Covenant" characters. However, it is a little known fact that many of the Ramen names and words are based on or extrapolated from Marathi (which is derived from Hindi, which in turn is derived from Sanskrit).

2) "Could anything develop between Linden and Stave...?" Now there's an idea that literally never crossed my mind. <grin> Several problems. a) I suspect that no ordinary human woman is strong or fierce enough to appeal to Haruchai males. b) Parents whose children are in danger really don't think about much of anything else. If they *appear* to think about something else, that's only because they're scrambling to find SOME way to help their children. c) It's neither an accident nor a marketing ploy that this story is called "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant."

(09/17/2005)

[dlbpharmd]

Alan: Hi Stephen.
Obviously, I love your work.
But... I gotta say. I WILL NOT be buying your books new if the intended deadlines of 2007, 2010 and 2013 are correct. That is just too long to wait and I will by the books 2nd hand or thru Ebay.
I must ask, Why would you(or your publishers) do this. The time limit is much too long. No story is worth waiting that long for!
For me, I've passed up books for the very same reason, too long to be published, I don't care for the endings if the wait is that long. I can wait a year or two, perhaps three. But 8 years is beyond a joke!
Why would you do this?
Secondly; was there any need to use swear words, as in sh*t, f*ck, bullsh*t? what was the point in using modern expletives?
Thanks for your time(if indeed you give it, as I suspect you wont)
Alan.

<sigh> I don't suppose it ever occurred to you that books like mine might be difficult to write? Or that a man my age might have health problems? Or that I'm a human being who has to deal with all of the many complications that beset human beings? Or that I might by trying hard to beat the announced deadline(s)? No, of course not.

I hope to make my characters as real as possible. You show me one human being who doesn't use obscene or sacrilegious (?) expletives--not even in the privacy of his/her own mind--and I'll show you twenty who do.

(09/18/2005)

[ur-bane]

When I read that q in the GI this morning I almost choked on my coffee!

Good answer, SRD! I guess Alan doesn't realize that a whole bunch of us also waited 20 years for Runes. 3 years/book pales in comparison.

I for one will purchase every book as it is published, and eagerly await the arrival of the next. (Not to mention the fact that there is plenty of other great literature to hold us over!)

[Usivius]

I second that, ur-bane. I waited book by book for 'Gap', I can do it for this...

[CovenantJr]

I wouldn't have thought anyone who's read much Donaldson could be so childish. SRD dealt with that petulant whine quite well.

[Cail]

Having read the books, and knowing how masterfully he can use language, why on earth would you insult the man, knowing he'll reduce you to Jello*(TM)?

[Old Darth]

They probably thought they were being clever and funny.

They know better now.

[Usivius]

[dlbpharmd]

John Dunn: Mr. Donaldson,

I would like to express my gratitude for the books you have written. I especially found the Mordant's Need series extremely enjoyable-not to say that I do not consider your other works (Chronicles, Gap, Man Who) to be about the best written works published in the last 3 decades, because they are! As I have aged, I find it more and more difficult to *force* myself to read most of the trash published today that I sadly enjoyed as a younger man. Learning that you had returned to the Covenant series I was delighted; reading the Ruins of the Earth was perhaps the best literary pleasure I have had in many years.

If you have answered this question before, pardon my asking again. In the Illearth War Hile Troy is given Covenant's ring, but is prevented from using it by Caerroil Wildwood, who states "I cannot permit this. It is breaking of Law." Maybe I am too dense to have understood, or I missed it, but what Law is Wildwood referring to?

Thank you so much for you time, and I wish you and yours the very best.

What I want to say is, "If you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand the answer." But that's a joke. What I really mean is that your question makes me squirm. The answer is intuitively obvious to me--and I'm particularly bad at explaining things which are intuitively obvious to me.

(Now I want to say--quoting, or perhaps misquoting, Robert Browning--"When I wrote that, only God and I knew what it meant. Now only God knows.")

But let me try this. 1) The Law of identity. As Mhoram says, Covenant *is* white gold. The use of his power by someone else violates his relationship with that power. In "The Power that Preserves," Elena destroys herself--and the Staff of Law--by violating Covenant's relationship with white gold. 2) The Law of promises. Troy has offered to pay Wildwood's price; to trade himself for the survival of his army. If he becomes a white gold wielder and goes off to confront Elena/Kevin, he'll be breaking his word--and once Troy does that, Wildwood won't have the power to force him back. 3) The Law of, well, let's call it consequences. Elena has broken the Law of Death. She's locked in a battle with Kevin's ghost/spirit/whatever. Troy wants to intrude on that battle, determine the outcome. But wild magic is the wrong tool for the job. It's better suited to breaking Laws than to mending them. Elena already has the only tool that could possibly be used to repair what she's done--but she's fighting for her life, and besides she's out of her mind. In a situation like that, how could wild magic do anything except make matters worse (break more Laws)?

I hope this helps.

(09/21/2005)

[dlbpharmd]

Here's another jewel of a question from Xar - we don't get to see enough of him around anymore. [Runes spoiler]

Spoiler

Pier Giorgio (Xar): Hello Steve! I was reading a question you recently answered, concerning the Haruchai and their obsessions with moral absolutes, and I was wondering - the Haruchai of the Last Chronicles, as far as we can see, appear to believe themselves the only ones who are worthy of preserving the Land, and they absolutely refuse to accept any criticism about their ways, their deeds, and the actions they undertook in order to become the Masters of the Land. In short, in their own eyes, they appear to believe themselves unassailable, and they exorcise the fear of being inadequate which was shown by the Haruchai in the Second Chronicles by establishing the tradition of the three Humbled, which should technically serve as reminders of past mistakes and lessons in humility. Even this tradition has become a source of pride though, as we learn that it is a great honor to be maimed into a Humbled, and the Haruchai actually fight to prove themselves worthy of this honor. So, in short, it seems that the Haruchai have a deep-rooted desire - perhaps on an unconscious level - to prove themselves to be the best, bar none. This is also reflected in the obsessive way all Haruchai we have known hone their physical skills to near-perfection.
Obviously, this attitude leads to a certain amount of metaphorical blindness (if I believe to be always right, and you show me evidence that I'm wrong, chances are I'll pretend I didn't see them and keep believing I'm always right), and so the Haruchai end up being generally impervious to outside influence - somewhat tragically, though, this imperviousness seems to apply more to their would-be allies than to their subtler foes.

Anyway, all of these considerations led me to wonder: Stave, who has shown the typical behaviour of the Masters throughout most of "Runes", eventually rejects at least part of this belief. Could the loss of his eye, which happens shortly before this event, also be taken to exemplify a "crack" in the imperviousness of the Haruchai (or at least Stave)? I mean: the marring of a Haruchai's near-perfect physical skills (and I would imagine that having one less eye does have an impact on those) could symbolize the shattering of Stave's preconceptions and a "crack" in the "moral armor" all Haruchai have? The Humbled are also maimed, but they do so voluntarily, and turn the maiming into a source of pride; whereas Stave's maiming seems to symbolize something more - although I could easily be reading too much into this event

I'm posting this more because of the thought and care you put into it than because I have anything substantial to add (although the theme is being explored further in "Fatal Revenant" even as we speak <grin>). But I do want to confirm that I intended the loss of Stave's eye pretty much the way you interpreted it. His "single" vision is both physically less and psychologically more than the ordinary "double" vision of the Haruchai.

(09/21/2005)

[duchess of malfi]

Don, you might want to slap a spoiler on that last one, for those who haven't read Runes yet.

[dlbpharmd]

Thanks, Duchess!

[Fist and Faith]

Let's hear this part again, with emphasis added by me:

Elena already has the only tool that could possibly be used to repair what she's done--but she's fighting for her life, and besides she's out of her mind.

Damned straight! What a wacko!

[wayfriend]

In "The Power that Preserves," Elena destroys herself--and the Staff of Law--by violating Covenant's relationship with white gold.

I cannot figure out what the violation is.

I always assumed that the Staff triggered the wild magic, and Covenant's instincts for self preservation destroyed the Staff.

Perhaps this refers to Elena's attempt to have Covenant concede the ring? Does wild magic attempt to destroy everyone who attempts to take the ring from Covenant? Let's see. Kasreyn: yep. Foul: yep (for all practical purposes, and twice, too.) Troy: yep, eventually.

Hmmm...