The Gradual Interview

[Loredoctor]

Vincent: It is not that I am taking anything away from the voluntary nature of Covenant's sacrifice when I say that to Foul he is little more than a tool. I say that because of the breaking of the law of death and Foul's mastery of the dead Kevin. If Foul were to have raised Covenant in this manner then he would indeed be nothing but a tool, and that was what the final part of Runes with 'Covenant' riding up to the gates of Revelstone led me to think. I felt the need to defend myself on that point because you dismissed my question as irrelevant. Not only that you mocked my entire question and did it in such a way that I looked like a buffoon for even asking it. Let me tell you the truth about the Creator, both yours and mine: He's bored. He's not good or evil. Those are concepts we ascribe to things because of how they effect our lives personaly. He doesn't care. Foul didn't even exist before he created him, and the only reason the creator does anything at all to help combat him is because he wants his creations to love him. He created Foul to be a villain and dumps misery and suffering upon him in abundance so that he will in turn be the bad guy so the people will then turn to him for help.
Maybe that doesn't have anything to do with your story, and maybe I am just upset because I am depressed, but you could have just ignored my question rather than mocking it. I idolized you. I'm not a stalker or some kind of psycho, I am just a fan, and an aspiring writer. I haven't included my e-mail address and I don't expect a response. I'll read your books because I enjoy them and anything that takes a little time out of the misery I go through on a daily basis is a boon, but personaly I think you are a jerk.





I wish I could remember your original question--or my response to it. And I wish that you had included an e-mail address, so I could send you a personal apology. It is not my intent to mock my readers. But sometimes my sense of humor gets a bit carried away. And sometimes I become impatient or vexed. That's not your fault, of course. But it does happen.

Quite frankly, I use myself as a model for the Land's Creator. Since *I'm* not bored, I assume he isn't either.

Please accept my regrets.

(11/23/2006)

Wow, someone willing to call their "idol" a jerk! And Donaldson posts it! Something about this exchange warms my heart, both the bravery of calling Mr. D. out on a perceived injustice, and Donaldson's open contrition. (And the fact that he's posting on T-day.)

But honestly, I think Vincent was overreacting. Donaldson's original response wasn't mocking in the slightest. This guy's a touch sensitive, if you ask me. I hope I haven't just pissed off a fellow Watcher. Oh well, won't be the first time. Peace all--happy Thanksgiving.

Well said, Malik23.

[CovenantJr]

Yes, nicely said, Malik. I agree that, although to me it sounds like Vincent is, frankly, a bit self-absorbed and whiny, I have to admire his willingness to not only criticise SRD but do so to SRD. Equally, I admire SRD's gracious response.

[drew]

Does anyone remember that this was about?

This is his original question:

Vincent: Why didn't the creator realize that by trapping Foul within the arch of time he was merely exacerbating the problem that Foul's banes would have produced? Was he attempting to protect other future 'projects' from his influence? Or did he believe that by forcing Foul to live amung the 'mortals' he might teach him some measure of compassion for them? What motivates Foul to constantly assail the people of the land? They aren't the cause of his situation and surely his anger would have subsided over time. Did he prompt/goad Kevin into performing the ritual of desecration because he hoped it would bring down the arch, or because he secretly feared that the lords' power would grow to one day rival his own? Now that Covenant is dead, with the law of death being broken, can Foul break the arch, or is he hopelessly trapped because the crux (Covenant) is now nothing more than a tool?





Gee, and I was SO hoping there wouldn't be any more Creator questions.... <rueful smile>

OK (he said, girding up his loins), let's break this down into Creator questions and LF questions.

Creator questions. You could say that the Creator trapped LF within the Arch by accident. (There's some textual justification for this view.) You could say that the Creator was solving his own "problem of how to deal with evil" by putting the bad guy in prison. (I can't think of any textual evidence, but the interpretation itself is probably defensible.) Or you could say that the Creator was taking a more holistic, even Zen approach to the situation: how can a living organism (the creation) grow if it doesn't have something both to strive for and to strive against? This is an extremely risky way of being a Creator: it requires him to give up on the whole notion of "perfection," and to face the very real prospect of complete failure. But it may conceivably be the most *loving* way of being a Creator.

LF questions. Well, of course, misery loves company. In my experience, people who are in intense, chronic pain usually "punish" the people around them; anyone who happens to be within reach, including innocent bystanders. Such individuals ease the sting of their own pain by feeling empowered when they cause pain in others. But LF also has a better reason for being so nasty. He can't break the Arch of Time himself: only power wielded by other people has the potential to free him from his prison. So the ultimate aim of everything he does is to goad other people into extreme--and extremely destructive--acts of power (like the Ritual of Desecration). And, of course, if the people who are being goaded are in intense pain, they are more likely to exert power destructively. Meanwhile LF remains trapped because a) the Law of Time is the most fundamental--therefore the least easily damaged--of the necessary Laws, and b) Covenant's self-sacrifice (voluntarily becoming an inherent participant in the Arch) has made the Law of Time stronger rather than weaker. (To call Covenant "nothing more than a tool" is to disregard the voluntary nature of his sacrifice.)

I hope that's clear.

(11/11/2006)

[Loredoctor]

Looks like Vincent over-reacted in a big way. What a prat.

[CovenantJr]

Looks like Vincent over-reacted in a big way. What a prat.

Concise and to the point.

You're right though. If that's the answer he was getting so worked up over, he must be very sensitive. It was as reasoned and thoughtful as could be expected, with the exception of a couple of remarks about answering a lot of Creator questions (and if Vincent reacts this badly to inoffensive little comments like those, I can't imagine how he'll ever survive the real world)

[Zarathustra]

Sounds like Vincent has some other issues (his admitted depression). It's hard not to feel a little sorry for him . . . until you go back and read the original response from Donaldson. Everyone here knows I can be critical of Donaldson, and I've supported that other guy who criticized his writing on the GI, but this complaint is ridiculous.

It sounds like Donaldson was genuinely regretful.

It also seems that Donaldson's question bin is getting a little low, if he's answering a question about another question posted in the same month.

[dlbpharmd]

Runes/Fatal Revenant related topic:

Spoiler

Daniel Wolf: Mr. Donaldson.
I've been thinking of Linden's latest summons to the Land. She came in with a bullet wound in her chest so it seems almost predetermined that she will be shot while in the Land. Or not. Care to comment?

I have some questions about Esmer. He would have to be my favourite new comer. Could he lead the Hurachai? They would surely to respect his power.Or would they reject him due to his mixed heritage?

Also,how tough is he? Is he bullet proof? What I mean is - Would he be a match for a pistol wielding Roger. I'd like to think so. For some unknown reason I feel that they will come to blows.
DAN

I'm not sure I can supply a "rational" explanation. But I feel strongly that guns don't belong in the Land (rather like technology in general), and Roger will not be wielding firearms if/when we encounter him again. As for Linden's bullet-hole: if you start from the assumption that she really is dead in the "real world," then the requirement that her physical circumstances must be duplicated in the Land disappears. Since she won't be going back to the "real world," there's no need for physical continuity.

Esmer is far too conflicted to lead anyone. He's certainly more likely to attack the Haruchai than to command them. And they do seem inclined to reject almost everyone else's power.

How tough is Esmer? Hmm. That's too much of a spoiler, even for the "spoiler" category. Please be patient.

(11/25/2006)

Spoiler

SRD's point about physical continuity is inconsistent with WGW. There, Covenant's physical condition did match exactly his condition when he was summoned to the Land.

[wayfriend]

... but it is not inconsistent with WGW: The Last Bourne.

[dlbpharmd]

Refresh my memory, please?

[wayfriend]

Spoiler

Hile Troy (as Caer Caveral) did not achieve physical continuity before he passed away. This has been discussed in KW, but I have no thread references handy, sorry.

[dlbpharmd]

Oh! Thanks, I see your point now. No references necessary.

[Xar]

After reading that answer, I also noticed this apparent inconsistency and sent the question to the GI. Let's see what SRD has to say about this, although I assume that

Spoiler

the difference between Covenant's and Troy's deaths is due to the fact that Troy had already "ascended" to a different reality before death (he was no longer the Troy from the Illearth War, but Caer-Caveral, the Forestal), whereas Covenant was still mortal, and his "ascension" actually needed his death so that his spirit could become the keystone of the Arch.

[Zarathustra]

I thought that both Hile Troy and Caer Caveral died in fire (the Krill caused the Forestal to ignite). Yeah, HT could be said to be a victim of falling. But he never hit the ground. So there's some wiggle room there about exactly what killed him. His fingers couldn't hold onto the ledge anymore because they were burning. When he arrived in the Land, he thought the burnt flesh smell came from himself. He obviously thought fire was the issue, not hitting the ground. Regardless, it can't be coincidence that Donaldson had HT enter the Land in fire, and leave the Land in fire. This continuity was intentional.

I noticed the discrepancy in SRD's answer, too. Covenant was "stabbed" in both worlds. Again, this cannot be coincidence. Donaldson is backpeddling a bit to give himself room to explain Linden's wound differently. He does have some wiggle room built in: there's the difference that Covenant wasn't "already dead" in the 2nd Chronicles; he was slowly bleeding to death the whole time. According to Donaldson's repeated claims in the GI, Linden is already dead from gunshot wound, not just slowly dying in the real world.

But really, he has always had some wiggle room from the very beginning: Covenant wasn't hit by a car in Mt.Thunder! There's no need for a gun to cause Linden's wound. Maybe it's going to be a slingshot.

[I'm Murrin]

Nor was he hit by a car in the real world: he collapsed in the street, and the car never touched him.

[Zarathustra]

Nor was he hit by a car in the real world: he collapsed in the street, and the car never touched him.

Oh yeah. Forgot that part. Well then, he didn't get scratched up on asphalt on Mt.Thunder. How's that?

[Zarathustra]

Perry Bell: Hello Stephen,
I had asked this before but my first question required a bit of explanation so I hope you dont mind, but I thought I would ask again.
Esmer's power somehow reders Linden incapable of raising the wild magic. Is this some effect of his power or is it the profound self conflict Esmer has that causes this? Also, does it affect Lindens use of the staff?
Thanks again for all you do. I cant wait till October 2007!
Respectfully,
Perry Bell

I’m always uncomfortable trying to answer questions that involve “explaining magic”. Over-simplifying the issue: if I could explain it, it wouldn’t be magic. I would be writing science fiction, not fantasy. But in general, magic in “The Chronicles” is an expression of the emotional nature of its wielder. So think of Esmer as an alloy (like white gold), a mixture of elements. (Remember that there’s magic on both sides of his ancestry. The Haruchai are magical--or magic-ful--people in the same sense that the Ranyhyn are magical horses.) But where white gold is a mixture of similar elements, Esmer is a mixture of dissimilar, even contradictory elements. The result is dissonance, interference, static. (OK, I admit that this is a rather sf way to think about the issue. But what the heck, we’re all friends here.) It has a damping effect on the resonances of other alloys. The Staff of Law, on the other hand, is organic; a natural and (in a manner of speaking) single element. Therefore Esmer’s presence won’t interfere with Linden’s ability to use the Staff.

(11/30/2006)

Cool. I love when he explains things like this. For me, it doesn't take away the "magic" of it at all. It enhances it. And yeah, alloys might be considered a bit sf, but only in the sense of metals. In the broader sense of "alloy," I don't think this is a sf explanation at all. Esmer isn't metal.

[Relayer]

Funny, I was just about to paste that quote in myself...

I love "The Haruchai are magical--or magic-ful--people in the same sense that the Ranyhyn are magical horses." It made me realize even more why the Haruchai are so moved by the great horses... they resonate with each other like nothing else in the Land. And why the Haruchai are such powerful and amazing humans. It also clarifies why the horses are so willing to bear them.

The Staff is "organic; a natural and (in a manner of speaking) single element" ... The original Staff, yes, but the new one is an alloy of Earthpower and Law, Vain and Findail, plus a bit of One-Tree-magic and fused by Linden using Wild Magic. I'm confused about how he sees that as a "single element."

[Zarathustra]

Very good point about the Staff, Relayer. I don't have a clue how to resolve that one.

[Loredoctor]

Nor was he hit by a car in the real world: he collapsed in the street, and the car never touched him.

Oh yeah. Forgot that part. Well then, he didn't get scratched up on asphalt on Mt.Thunder. How's that?

[CovenantJr]

The Staff is "organic; a natural and (in a manner of speaking) single element" ... The original Staff, yes, but the new one is an alloy of Earthpower and Law, Vain and Findail, plus a bit of One-Tree-magic and fused by Linden using Wild Magic. I'm confused about how he sees that as a "single element."

I had the same thought when I read that quote. The new staff is very much an alloy; in fact, it could, like Esmer, be considered an alloy of two opposing forces: Vain and Findail.

I think SRD is really just ad-libbing these answers, hence the inconsistency. It's easier to find continuity errors in someone else's work than your own.