Gaston de Foix

I just finished A Veil of Spears. Curious whether others on this forum have read the series and whether they have thoughts. I picked up the first novel at the recommendation of GRRM on his Not A Blog. My initial impression of the series has been positive and enjoyable with a few caveats. If you are interested in non-Western fantasies, this is one of the best around. And if you like your politics vicious and your world building detailed, this qualifies as well. The author is producing books regularly, and deserves a wider audience. That said, I found it incredibly difficult to remember the 12 Kings and their unique attributes in the first couple of books. An appendix would have been nice. Similarly, a summary of the events of previous books (whether online or elsewhere) would be handy. The most recent book had some strengths: great world building and the gradual introduction of the Gods and the broader world outside Sharakhai. It also had some welcome reunions and important plot developments. The biggest weakness was the plot armour that the lead character is endowed with. There was a major twist at the end about which I was also somewhat iffy. But all in all a strong third book.

Thanks! I remember now. It's definitely the case that Kvothe ignores the long term consequences of his actions, pursuing his narrow self-interest. That's pretty Walter Whiteish, I would go with chaotic evil.

remind me - what was 50 shades of medieval?

Sanderson also cares a lot less about quality. A lot of the scenes in Words of Radiance and Oathbringer have been badly written with a certain two dimensionality to the characters. Sanderson at his best can address and overcome his flaw, but I suspect his first drafts are being less and less reworked now that he has achieved such great success. That said, I think what Rothfuss needs is for an associate with a passion for anonymity to produce a first draft of a chapter, based on notes from him. He can then rework it to his heart's content. Sometimes you need to make writing a cooperative exercise, to move things along.

Actually, Bakker has had funny moments with Achiaman. His jnanic line at meeting Saccarrees was pretty good - and you are?

I have a question about the Nonmen at the end of TUC. Who (if anyone) has survived? Is it the Consult supporting Nonmen in Ishterebinth?

Maybe, although given the difficulties he is struggling with, why would he be offered or accept a book under contract with deadlines?

LOL. I think he came up with a cool scene/reveal and then retconned it. I recently re-read the Kelmomas/beetle scene in the first book. It's pretty clear lil Kel was originally supposed to be the Ajokli vehicle.

New thread. I've been dipping and browsing in the glossary. One interesting find, which may be a clue as to the location of the Heron Spear, is the entry about the Holy Sagas. For some reason my kindle reader won't let me copy and paste, but it appears that the Holy Sagas are a travelog of Seswatha's wanderings, ending at Sakarpus: "and lastly, the Annal Sakarpa or "the Refugees Song", as it is sometimes called, the strange account of the city of Sakarpus during the Apocalypse." The theory here would be that the Heron Spear left in Cenei was a fake of some sort. Question about the Unification Wars: there appear a number of military set-backs in the Unification Wars, which are to my mind revealed to suggest that Kellhus was not as indomitable and/or in control of events as previously understood. But such explanations overlook the fact that Kellhus could use assassination as a military strategy more or less at will right?

I would assume that the survivors would need to understand why Kellhus failed in order to defeat the No-God. It's reasonable to assume they would be searching for an explanation. Also, to the extent that any of the remaining Anasurimbor remain (Kayutus, Serwa) their character arcs will involve many discussions about blame for the fate of the Great Ordeal. I have a question from a narrative perspective. If the TAE was ultimately about validating Akka's world view against the falsity of belief in Kellhus, then how do all of the signs; Akka's dreams, the tapestry, the birth of Mimara's child, the Judging Eye etc. fare against that skepticism in the second series?

But wouldn't you concede that there is an inherent tension between "ripping away the G-string" and the progressive development of the story in the next series? The reason the revelation that Ajokli was controlling Kellhus is so unsatisfactory is because it raises so many unanswered questions. But a clear, comprehensive answer to Kellhus' fate and causes for failure would basically denude a major mystery that, if I were in his place, I would certainly reserve for the next series.

My sense is that part of it is Bakker believing in layers of revelation in his writing. If the series continues, then the layers of revelation have to continue. Which may have resulted in the g-string comment no longer being applicable at some point in the writing of the story. I personally have opined at great length previously about Imimorul being a God and/or the Nonmen creating the Gods only to have the theories pretty definitively shot down, and it wasn't on the basis of canonical inconsistency (at the time). There's clearly some re-writing and re-working of ideas going on. Bakker can come across insufferably obsessed with demonstrating his intellect and/or borderline dishonest because he asserts something somewhere that doesn't quite pan out the way he imagined, and then he changes things around without quite fessing up to it. And there's probably an element of truth to Gronzag's claims as well. But he's far preferable to authors who have asserted their series is finished and/or repeatedly extended deadlines or expectations without coming clean about it. Ultimately, I read Bakker not because I buy his claims that he's smarter than me, or because he will lead me to enlightenment. Writers are human beings. Bakker has created this cool world, with some nifty ideas, and written an engrossing story, which he has worked hard to produce in a timely manner, despite never quite getting the recognition he deserved. He deserves a lot of credit for that.

I've been checked out for a bit. Where exactly is this Bakker AMA?

I have a different interpretation of the quote. I interpret it as the carnal transgressions being committed against Esmenet, not by her. She is saved for the same reason that followers of Yatwer are saved: because they are weak; because they are victims. Also, Esmenet did not burn Carythusal. Kellhus did, because everyone of Esmenet's actions since meeting Kellhus' (including her hiring the Narindar) were caused by Kellhus' acts or omissions.

I don't buy that the baby is the messiah. Achiaman = Seswatha = messiah. Another question: Has the metagnosis vanished from Earwa? Serwa appears to be dead, Saccarees is almost certainly down for the count and Kellhus is salt.