Kevin's Watch

I suppose I must be getting (more) cynical as I get older, but I do find it amazing that people simply accept, without question, whatever is told them. Weapons of Mass Destruction in one corner and 'magic bullets' in the other, there is an acceptance of statements as truth as solid as physical laws, rather than opinion, mis-direction or outright lies as they usually are.

The general acceptance of the Gradual Interview seems to be in part at least, in the same category. I can't believe that SRD is going to give the game away with anything other than playing down important things, mis-direction or steering speculation away from where he's going. It simply doesn't gel for me that someone says,

"Hey Steve, what's the story with so and so?"

SRD replies:

" Shucks, you've gone and guessed where I was heading with that one, well that blows that suprise, guess I'd better re-write that theme, put the release date back guys!"

Yet I see people speculating only for someone to log on and say: "NO, THAT'S BEEN COVERED IN THE GI!!!!"

What I see in the book is solid, unless a major re-write and release in a second edition takes place, it's in stone. But people asking questions, which must even at least by accident be somewhat too near the mark, cannot expect the author to just dish out the dirt and spoil the rest of the series.

Now SRD is a clever so and so but I think it too much to expect him to be scrupulously honest and risk the fan-base opening the goodies before Santa's due!

You make a very good point, finn. Maybe we are putting too much stock in SRD's answers to story questions.

However, the GI is still the only way for most fans to communicate with SRD (unless you're one of the lucky ones to meet him at Elohimfest), so we won't stop sending him questions just because you personally happen to feel skeptical about the whole thing.

And, of course, through the GI SRD has provided insight into technical matters like his writing process and the vagaries of the publishing industry from his point of view. So in these areas at least, the GI undeniably has been of great value.

I think we should read all the "spoilerish" stuff in the GI like the proverbial devil does the Bible. There is clear evidence for example that the Mahdoubt is more than she seems. I think she will be a significant plot point.

when a question is asked about future events he always says Read And Find Out. Anything he reveals is not going to mislead or confirm anyone's suspicions because he's being careful not to talk about it.

I believe at one point SRD said that the Mahdoubt is exactly what she looks like. At the first look this sentence could be taken so that the Mahdoubt is just a moderately eccentric servant of Revelstone and that's it. However it's really quite vague and could mask radically different ideas.

For example, there is some evidence that the Mahdoubt is using some sort of glamour spell. Under this glamour she might be exactly what she looks like, but none of our characters have gotten more than a passing glimpse of that yet.

It could also be that the Mahdoubt looks just like an Elohim shapeshifted into an aging woman, or an artificial construct in the shape of an aging woman, or any number of similar cases. Looks can have more than one way of being what they look like. I think it could be said, with some twisted but reasonable logic, that things ALWAYS look what they are. An apple and an extraterrestial exterminator robot mimicking an apple both look similar but both also look like themselves.

It could even be a combination of the two, so that under her glamour spell the Mahdoubt looks just like a Demondim wearing a dead woman's body and is exactly what she looks like.



(I wonder if I'd been a good lawyer?)

Nerdanel wrote:An apple and an extraterrestial exterminator robot mimicking an apple both look similar but both also look like themselves.

Interesting concept there

Matrixman wrote:

However, the GI is still the only way for most fans to communicate with SRD (unless you're one of the lucky ones to meet him at Elohimfest), so we won't stop sending him questions just because you personally happen to feel skeptical about the whole thing.

Not advocating any of the above, but I have noticed a few times that ideas get slammed with: ".......SRD has already addressed this in the GI" as if what we have been told is gospel and further speculation is therefore pointless.

Perhaps there's some mileage in a thread or forum dissecting the answers provided in the GI?

Finn:

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... 65&start=0

dlbpharmd wrote:Finn:

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... 65&start=0

WOW!!!! That's me busy for a week or two!