What you REALLY want to see in AATE (MAJOR SPOILERS POSS)

[Vader]

If this were The Vespers I'd say what AATE needs most is more cowbell.

[Akasri]

I got a fevah!!

[matrixman]

[Vraith]

Hah...nice nice nice, visually and pun wise.
Hey...I think you could do something with "The Illearth War" and Cult song...1000 psychic wars? what the heck is the title...just got the melody, and the lines
"All my scars are on the insiiiiiiiiiiide..
I don't know if there's anything left of ME! [ Me me ]

[RantAbsolain]

In the preview chapter, Covenant briefly reviews Foul's history - not only in the Land, but across the entire Earth. It's fascinating stuff and I'd like to see a lot more on it - there's material for lots of other books there, I think.

More about the Ravers would be great too - we know that turiya was tempted by the possibility of obtaining the white gold for himself when he occupied Triock, and samadhi as Gibbon na-Mhoram tried to compel Covenant to give him the ring. The Ravers obviously are perfectly willing to turn on Foul if they get enough power to do so. It'd be interesting to learn more about these creatures and their history and motivations.

And anything at all about Haruchai women would be cool.

[thewormoftheworld'send]

In the preview chapter, Covenant briefly reviews Foul's history - not only in the Land, but across the entire Earth. It's fascinating stuff and I'd like to see a lot more on it - there's material for lots of other books there, I think.

More about the Ravers would be great too - we know that turiya was tempted by the possibility of obtaining the white gold for himself when he occupied Triock, and samadhi as Gibbon na-Mhoram tried to compel Covenant to give him the ring. The Ravers obviously are perfectly willing to turn on Foul if they get enough power to do so. It'd be interesting to learn more about these creatures and their history and motivations.

And anything at all about Haruchai women would be cool.

You asked SRD on the GI about Haruchai women, correct?

[ninjaboy]

Anyone thought about the Skurj / Sandgorgons fighting against the Worm of the world's end? Not incredibly likely, but it is something that I'd like to see..

[RantAbsolain]

In the preview chapter, Covenant briefly reviews Foul's history - not only in the Land, but across the entire Earth. It's fascinating stuff and I'd like to see a lot more on it - there's material for lots of other books there, I think.

More about the Ravers would be great too - we know that turiya was tempted by the possibility of obtaining the white gold for himself when he occupied Triock, and samadhi as Gibbon na-Mhoram tried to compel Covenant to give him the ring. The Ravers obviously are perfectly willing to turn on Foul if they get enough power to do so. It'd be interesting to learn more about these creatures and their history and motivations.

And anything at all about Haruchai women would be cool.

You asked SRD on the GI about Haruchai women, correct?

That wasn't me - but I'm glad someone raised the topic with him. Did he indicate that he'll maybe discuss the Haruchai homeland and life there?

[ninjaboy]

In the preview chapter, Covenant briefly reviews Foul's history - not only in the Land, but across the entire Earth. It's fascinating stuff and I'd like to see a lot more on it - there's material for lots of other books there, I think.

More about the Ravers would be great too - we know that turiya was tempted by the possibility of obtaining the white gold for himself when he occupied Triock, and samadhi as Gibbon na-Mhoram tried to compel Covenant to give him the ring. The Ravers obviously are perfectly willing to turn on Foul if they get enough power to do so. It'd be interesting to learn more about these creatures and their history and motivations.

And anything at all about Haruchai women would be cool.

You asked SRD on the GI about Haruchai women, correct?

That wasn't me - but I'm glad someone raised the topic with him. Did he indicate that he'll maybe discuss the Haruchai homeland and life there?

Oh - didn't you get the memo? after the series is written there'll be a couple of chapters that were edited out, written from the haruchai perspective, which will deal not only with events related to the ending of the Chronicles but the personal, family and historical events pertaining to the haruchai.. Should be able to buy them as a seperate book, 50 to 100 pages long, illustrated by Peter Goodfellow.

Isn't that just what you wanted to hear???

[thewormoftheworld'send]

In the preview chapter, Covenant briefly reviews Foul's history - not only in the Land, but across the entire Earth. It's fascinating stuff and I'd like to see a lot more on it - there's material for lots of other books there, I think.

More about the Ravers would be great too - we know that turiya was tempted by the possibility of obtaining the white gold for himself when he occupied Triock, and samadhi as Gibbon na-Mhoram tried to compel Covenant to give him the ring. The Ravers obviously are perfectly willing to turn on Foul if they get enough power to do so. It'd be interesting to learn more about these creatures and their history and motivations.

And anything at all about Haruchai women would be cool.

You asked SRD on the GI about Haruchai women, correct?

That wasn't me - but I'm glad someone raised the topic with him. Did he indicate that he'll maybe discuss the Haruchai homeland and life there?

OK, you got me. I am completely bumfuzzled by the sheer perseverance of this recurring question. Why in, well, Someone’s Holy Name (at the moment, I can’t think whom to invoke) do you care? Apparently a number of people do (although the GI as posted probably doesn’t reflect that fact). But I can’t imagine why.

And since I can’t imagine why….

However, please feel free to speculate as much as you want. Broadly speaking, it seems that “warrior cultures” conform to one of two basic paradigms: 1) the women are warriors as well, indistinguishable in that regard from the men (although they may serve different functions in combat), or 2) the woman are rewards, and as such, their lives have very few features in common with the men. Anyone want to guess which paradigm the Haruchai are more likely to prefer?

(10/19/2008)

And...

OhmiGod! You want to ADD to the complexity? Does it not occur to you that we’re already drowning in the stuff? And if you aren’t, *I* certainly am?

But seriously….

Maybe you should get a life?

(No, stop: bad Steve. Pull yourself together.)

OK, *this* time I’m serious. Honest.

Obviously you’re right--at least in theory. The more dimensions/complexities I can add to my characters, the more real or human or believable they may become. But in practice the theory can easily become an illusion. The *real* reason you want to know more about the Haruchai is that I’ve succeeded at sparking your imagination. So how did I do that? By describing them literally (in any amount of detail)? Or by describing them enigmatically? By *suggesting* who and what they are rather than by definining (and thereby limiting) every conceivable dimension of their lives?

The creation of characters in storytelling is always a tricky balancing-act. Too much information (or the wrong kind of information) clogs the reader’s imagination. Too little information (or information that’s too static) gives the reader’s imagination nothing to work with. In both cases, the characters stubbornly refuse to come to life.

So when I put it that way, your interest in--say--Haruchai women does *not* seem odd to me (except in the sense that I always consider it odd when I succeed at what I’m trying to do <rueful smile>). At the same time, however, it certainly doesn’t inspire me to fill in any of the gaps. Instead your interest demonstrates that I’ve already said enough on the subject.

(03/19/2009)

[RantAbsolain]

You asked SRD on the GI about Haruchai women, correct?

That wasn't me - but I'm glad someone raised the topic with him. Did he indicate that he'll maybe discuss the Haruchai homeland and life there?

Oh - didn't you get the memo? after the series is written there'll be a couple of chapters that were edited out, written from the haruchai perspective, which will deal not only with events related to the ending of the Chronicles but the personal, family and historical events pertaining to the haruchai.. Should be able to buy them as a seperate book, 50 to 100 pages long, illustrated by Peter Goodfellow.

Isn't that just what you wanted to hear???

A snide non-response was not what I wanted to hear, but thanks for asking.

[RantAbsolain]

You asked SRD on the GI about Haruchai women, correct?

That wasn't me - but I'm glad someone raised the topic with him. Did he indicate that he'll maybe discuss the Haruchai homeland and life there?

OK, you got me. I am completely bumfuzzled by the sheer perseverance of this recurring question. Why in, well, Someone’s Holy Name (at the moment, I can’t think whom to invoke) do you care? Apparently a number of people do (although the GI as posted probably doesn’t reflect that fact). But I can’t imagine why.

And since I can’t imagine why….

However, please feel free to speculate as much as you want. Broadly speaking, it seems that “warrior cultures” conform to one of two basic paradigms: 1) the women are warriors as well, indistinguishable in that regard from the men (although they may serve different functions in combat), or 2) the woman are rewards, and as such, their lives have very few features in common with the men. Anyone want to guess which paradigm the Haruchai are more likely to prefer?

(10/19/2008)

And...

OhmiGod! You want to ADD to the complexity? Does it not occur to you that we’re already drowning in the stuff? And if you aren’t, *I* certainly am?

But seriously….

Maybe you should get a life?

(No, stop: bad Steve. Pull yourself together.)

OK, *this* time I’m serious. Honest.

Obviously you’re right--at least in theory. The more dimensions/complexities I can add to my characters, the more real or human or believable they may become. But in practice the theory can easily become an illusion. The *real* reason you want to know more about the Haruchai is that I’ve succeeded at sparking your imagination. So how did I do that? By describing them literally (in any amount of detail)? Or by describing them enigmatically? By *suggesting* who and what they are rather than by definining (and thereby limiting) every conceivable dimension of their lives?

The creation of characters in storytelling is always a tricky balancing-act. Too much information (or the wrong kind of information) clogs the reader’s imagination. Too little information (or information that’s too static) gives the reader’s imagination nothing to work with. In both cases, the characters stubbornly refuse to come to life.

So when I put it that way, your interest in--say--Haruchai women does *not* seem odd to me (except in the sense that I always consider it odd when I succeed at what I’m trying to do <rueful smile>). At the same time, however, it certainly doesn’t inspire me to fill in any of the gaps. Instead your interest demonstrates that I’ve already said enough on the subject.

(03/19/2009)

Thanks for this response. I have not plowed my way through Donaldson's massive Gradual Interview. I read the original series back in the late '70s and early '80s as they were published and came across the Donaldson Internet sites much more recently.

What Donaldson chooses to include in his books is his business, of course. But the Haruchai play a very large role in the books, and it's a pretty one-dimensional role - an entire race of unemotional yet judgmental male kung-fu masters who due to the brittleness of their judgementalism always miss the climactic battle. Anything that could add depth or complexity to these men would be interesting to me - such as including one or two of the long-suffering women of the race.

[Relayer]

Seriously, I'd bet everything I have that TC will be sane...he's most of the way there even at the end of this teaser chapter...though the fragments and fractures will have a place, like LF's prophecies in assorted other books.

TC's fracturedness reminds me of a caesure. The difference being, the Timewarden has the ability to hold consciousness/awareness of every moment of time. In a caesure, it's all chaos.

[rdhopeca]

Seriously, I'd bet everything I have that TC will be sane...he's most of the way there even at the end of this teaser chapter...though the fragments and fractures will have a place, like LF's prophecies in assorted other books.

TC's fracturedness reminds me of a caesure. The difference being, the Timewarden has the ability to hold consciousness/awareness of every moment of time. In a caesure, it's all chaos.

Sort of like Anele, eh?