Kevin's Watch

I wrote this in Casting the Augury:

I really think that the Mordant Need books are very unique, they really make your imagination work overtime especially as far as filling in what is omitted.

It's hard to explain this concept. But take for example the 'vagueness" of the geography, Mordant's world in general, what's going on in Alend, Cadwal etc...etc...So what I think I mean is this: Instead of SRD writting 6 books and doing all the work-he economizes, is vague in places, and makes us do the work. Many, sort of, agreed on my interpretation of Mordant on my map-but, on the other hand, probably everyone who reads these book is going to have their own, special, interpretation of the geography and "fill in" stuff.

So I thought it would be kinda cool to get your thoughts on this and possibly your takes on what else might be going on in Mordant's World, the Cares etc...

I am not sure why or how, but I definitely understand where you are coming from. For some reason, while the Land has a very Tolkein like life to it, Mordant (and the surrounding area) just feels more magical. It feels a little more like a place from adolescent fantasy (NOT an insult). It has more OZ and less Middle-Earth. Who knows, this may just be because I first read it at a younger age and my imagination worked differently then.

Been a while since I read them, but I agree that there's a definite lack of detail about the rest of Mordant, save for tantalising glimpses of the other "nations".

Personally, I'd have liked more details. I didn't spend much time imagining what was there, just lamenting that the glimpses were so small.

--Avatar

Well, since I used to be a major map collector and am a history major geography fascinates me-so take say Carmag for example, my imagination always run wild when I try to envision it. It's got to be the biggest city in Mordant's world and the most corrupt. With jewels and gold and exotic debauchery. Where to they get these things? Do they have a small navy? Have they been across the sea? Do they encounter other traders from far away lands or islands? What's the name of the sea? Does it sort of have an arabian feel to it like a cross between Bhrathiar and the city in The Djinn Who Watches over the Accursed? Surely Festten lives in something akin to a palace and if so where is the "assassin" training center in relation to it? Are there any other towns in this desert country-are they only located on oases--are there actually oases? Where is the Fen of Cadwal? What's Carmags fresh water supply? etc...

I agree Av! I have often described the book as an adult fairy tale so I know what you mean about the "feel".

I was under the impression that Alend had deserts, and Cadwal was mountainous. Maybe Cadwal is the Afghanistan (eastern Afghanistan) to Alend's Arabia... but Mordant is Europe?

It is probably foolhardy to compare the geography of a made up place to the real world, but I am curious as to what Donaldson was thinking when he thought of Carmag.

In my research it was exactly the opposite-Alend is mountainous. But why does Afganistan have claim on mountians? (I do see what you are driving at-it just has never occured to me to try to equate Mordant with our world)

Another thing (it doesn't distract from the story, for me at least: if it truly is an adult "fairy tale" it doesn't really matter..) is if Cadwal is such a desert and Carmag is located a good ways away from Mordant-what exactly were the supply logistics of such a huge army's march?

Well, my reply is... you are probably right Danlo. 9 to 10 I am just mixed up. I don't have the books with me so I cant look it up anyway.

Isn't Afghanistan mountainous? I just picked it because it was the only part of the former realm of Darius that had the kind of geography described by SRD.

I looked it up.

Afghanistan Geography: Terrain= mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and southwest

Interesting--I agree Afganistan is very mountianous--no I was just curious as to why you chose it, trying to stir up some other responses, not being critical-just as long as Orison doesn't become Jerusalem I think we're fine.

I've always thought that the dreamy feel and lack of knowledge go a long way to put the reader in Terisa's shoes -- she's a complete stranger in Mordant, and we learn about things right along beside her...we figure things out along with her.

I hope and expect (definately for imagination's sake) you to disagree with this, but based on what vague and little info is given on Mordant's world geopgraphy here, just to refresh, is my map: Mordant Map

Carmag always seemed in my imagination to be a sultan's palace, hugely debauched, and decorated much like Eremis's rooms in Orison--pictures of naked ladies, lots of silk and velvet, deep rich colors, huge pillows and ottomans all over the place....lots of veils, secrets, whispers, probably opium and hookahs, bowls of olives and figs and dates, goat cheese, etc...but definitely a capital city type of place.

I always pictured Alend as much less centralized--as a loose confederacy of provinces that group together more by culture and family than out of any real sense of nationhood. Hence the need for the Alend Contender--a contest to see who is most fit to rule a mix of unruly nomads and shepherds.

Mordant seems the most "Western" of the three, I agree, but I think it has more to do with the conventions of fairy-tales than any specific idea of geography. We expect there to be huge castles and feudal law and armor and broadswords and things in a fairy story. The foreign baddies (or goodies) are always exotic and Eastern, maybe because when the original fairy stories were being written down, the East had just been opened up and was bizarre and a little frightening.

Alend government does seem to work in an Identical way to the ancient Persian empire. I always thought that both Alend and Cadwell had a very "eastern" flavor to them.

I don't know, my mind always seems to work this way, comparing fantasy worlds to the real one. When I read Lord of the Rings, I always thought of the easterlings as being arabians and the haradrim as being african or indian. It's just my nature. Although I never did do that with the land.