The Gradual Interview

Post by **Relayer** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:53 pm

Romeo, that sounds awesome!! I can't wait either. (but I'm going to, and not read the FR preview)

And thanks for putting it in a way that doesn't spoiler anything...

Post by **A Gunslinger** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:56 pm

Romeo wrote:I was just kidding about SRD being pissed about the april fools joke.

I'll tell you - I was blown away by the plot lines of the book. I couldn't have predicted it in a million years. But once I understood it, it just seemed so right - it pulls the whole book (and Runes!) together into one big "holy crap" revelation. This is the complex plotting of the Gap novels brought into the Land - Fatal Revenant has simply left me stunned.

And I expect I'll be even more stunned as the story continues. I'm sure I'll be looking back at FR with an entirely new understanding after the next book. Things I thought I understood will look entirely different, but I'll look back and wonder how I ever could have seen them the way I originally did. That's juts the way SRD writes. I love it!

Holy crap. I cannot wait.

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:18 pm

I just wish I had some way of getting an advanced copy so I could ask SRD to sign it at Elohimfest. ::sigh:::

Post by **wayfriend** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 3:56 pm

Menolly wrote:I just wish I had some way of getting an advanced copy so I could ask SRD to sign it at Elohimfest. ::sigh:::

Yes, I was hoping that the Elohimfest was later in the year, for that very reason. Now it's a fool's hope.

Post by **Zarathustra** » Thu Apr 19, 2007 8:52 pm

Wow.

Wow.

I can't wait.

Post by **wayfriend** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:07 pm

Now we know who makes SRD go "hubba hubba"...

In the Gradual Interview was wrote:Patrick: I think Giamatti would make a great Angus. I see Gary Oldman as more of a Hashi Lebwohl, though...

And thank you for sharing all of your great stories!
This seems like as good a time as any to observe that you might have more fun discussing your ideas on kevinswatch.com. My interest in the subject is pretty limited (although I must confess that I hope they can cast Jessica Alba in the movie as SOMEone <grin>).

(04/19/2007)

Post by **Relayer** » Mon May 07, 2007 2:24 pm

SPOILER WARNING!!

(no, not in this post.) But one of the new questions in the GI, regarding the first chapter of FR, should definitely be spoilered. It's the first of the most recent 5. It won't destroy the next 6 months of waiting, but I wish I hadn't seen it

I emailed SRD and asked him to keep spoilering FR, since many people (well, at least me and Wayfriend) haven't read the preview.

Post by **wayfriend** » Mon May 07, 2007 2:38 pm

Relayer wrote:I emailed SRD and asked him to keep spoilering FR, since many people (well, at least me and Wayfriend) haven't read the preview.

Yes, I have my FR spoiler turned on in the options, but it didn't seem to block the latest FR spoiler.

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Mon May 07, 2007 4:02 pm

The one about Jeremiah? I don't see how that one is a spoiler.

Post by **wayfriend** » Mon May 07, 2007 4:23 pm

I read the first sentence and it said

Spoiler

something about Jeremiah being 'normal' in Chapter 1.

I didn't know that... now I do.

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Mon May 07, 2007 4:24 pm

I just read that as a natural extension of the last chapter of ROTE, but I do see your point.

Post by **Relayer** » Mon May 07, 2007 4:48 pm

dlbpharmd wrote:I just read that as a natural extension of the last chapter of ROTE,

Agreed. And as I said, it doesn't really ruin anything. But that's not the point. I just wanted to call his attention to it before there starts to be more speculation, or some question about the chapter he read at the convention, or whatever that slips through. We've done a really good job here at the Watch, let's keep it that way. (Wayfriend's signature says it very well

)

I hate trailers, especially for movie sequels (Matrix, X-men, etc). They generally give everything away except the very last climax and ruin many of the plot points and twists that come up. If Return of the Jedi was released today, the trailer would include "Luke, I am your father." Gee thanks.

Or, to quote from the jacket of the Illearth War, just two little things that really change the impact of the story if you know them ahead of time:

Defending it is the stalwart Council of Lords, governed now by the beautiful High Lord Elena - discovered to be Covenant's own daughter - and led in combat by Warmark Hile Troy - a blind man who may or may not be from Covenant's real world.

Now stepping off soapbox

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Mon May 07, 2007 5:54 pm

I, too, have decided to not read the first chapter of FR online, so I appreciate the heads up...

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Mon May 07, 2007 10:10 pm

For Fist:

Tink: You have been mentioned in this blog and a discussion was raised. I thought it would be a thrill if you would be so kind as to drop in with an answer to this question for us. Thank you, thank you.

www.damninteresting.com/?p=802

Comment #50 (April 21st, 2007 at 12:01 am)
tednugentkicksass says: I'm
reading the second chronicles of Thomas Covenant right now and I came upon this gem. what the hell does "unambergrised" mean? I can't think of a better place to ask. I know what ambergris is but what the hell does this mean?

In a (perhaps doomed) effort to preserve my own sanity, I don't contribute to--or even visit--blogs. Lifeistooshort etc..

But "unambergrised". A great word, which (if memory serves) I stole from Gerard Manley Hopkins. Think of it like this. Long ago, ambergris (noun) was sometimes used to prepare bodies for funerals; more literally, to counteract the stink of an unburied body until an appropriate funeral (a show of respect and love) could be arranged. Inventing a verb from the noun, "to ambergris" denotes "to prepare a body for a funeral." By implication, therefore, the verb connotes treating something deceased or lost with love and respect. From there, it isn't hard to invent an adjective from the verb: e.g. "Men wept over her ambergrised corpse." And from *there*, it's a small step to the adjective "unambergrised," which means--drumroll, please--the opposite of "ambergrised". Which in turn brings us, through a series of connotations, to the unintended accuracy of asking, "What the hell does 'unambergrised' mean?"--"hell" having suddenly become appropriate to the discussion (via "treating something deceased or lost with contempt and/or disregard").

(I hear carping in the background, but I choose to ignore it. <grin>)

(05/07/2007)

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Tue May 08, 2007 1:08 am

*hyperventilating*

...

....

....

OK, recovering. Finally getting the answer to the most burning of life's questions can be a bit overwhelming.

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Tue May 08, 2007 9:33 am

Fist and Faith wrote:*hyperventilating*

...

....

....

OK, recovering. Finally getting the answer to the most burning of life's questions can be a bit overwhelming.

:::this discussion must have been from before my time on the Watch:::

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Tue May 08, 2007 9:41 am

"Unambergrised" is Fist's favorite SRD word.

YouTube · Post by **Menolly** » Tue May 08, 2007 10:05 am

Ohhhh...

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Tue May 08, 2007 10:49 am

Indeed!!!

Therefore that night the army from the Westron Mountains gathered under the south wall of Revelstone. All the <I>Haruchai</I> joined their minds together and out of their common strength forged the metal of the Vow - unalloyed and unanswerable, accessible to no appeal or flaw, unambergrised by the promise of any uncorrupt end: a Vow like the infernal oath upon the river of death which binds even the gods. This they wrought out of the extremity and innocence of their hearts, to match the handiwork of the Giants and the mastery of the Lords. As they spoke the hot words - <I>Ha-man rual tayba-sah carab ho-eeal</I> - the ground seemed to grow hot and cognizant under their feet, as if the Earthpower were drawing near the surface to hear them. And when they brought their Vow around full circle, sealing it so that there was no escape, the rocks on which they stood thundered, and fire ran through them, sealing their bones to the promise they had made.

Post by **wayfriend** » Tue May 08, 2007 2:12 pm

*splutter* *froth*

I always thought unambergrised meant unmarred. And it makes sense.

"Treating something deceased/lost with contempt/disregard" doesn't make sense in the sentences it is used, does it?

In [u]The Wounded Land[/u] was wrote:A few shreds of red cloth marked the place of Memla's death, unambergrised by any grave or chance for mourning.

Okay, here it makes sense.

In [u]The Wounded Land[/u] was wrote:Echoing in Covenant's mind like the thronged glory of the trees, it solaced his unambergrised heart for a time, so that he could walk the land which had been Foamfollower's home without faltering.

Okay, you can stretch it here. Covenant's heart was dead/lost, and disregarded?

In [u]White Gold Weilder[/u] was wrote:She was only mortal; but Mount Thunder's grief would go on without let or surcease, unambergrised for all time.

Okay, here it makes sense.

In [u]Gilden-Fire[/u] (?) was wrote:Therefore that night the army from the Westron Mountains gathered under the south wall of Revelstone. All the Haruchai joined their minds together and out of their common strength forged the metal of the Vow - unalloyed and unanswerable, accessible to no appeal or flaw, unambergrised by the promise of any uncorrupt end: a Vow like the infernal oath upon the river of death which binds even the gods.

This application makes no sense. What is dead/lost with contempt/disregard here?

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

The Gradual Interview