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Excerpt from R. Scott Bakker's The White-Luck Warrior


pat5150

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Got back from class, no sticky notes on the door saying UPS guy had come and gone, so that means any minute now he's gonna show up with the precious..

unless it's some scrub new driver and he can't find my apartment

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Larry, Wert, and I will soon be doing an interview with Bakker. And since you guys are hardcore fans of the author, as I did with Erikson, I invite you to submit some questions. The most interesting questions will be selected to be part of the Q&A.

Remember, Scott has a visceral fear of spoilers. So please no questions that would automatically get us a RAFO answer.

And since the metaphysical aspects of Bakker's universe have been discussed thoroughly on this board, if some of you could formulate some questions on the topic, that would be great. I have to admit that you guys make my head spin every time I read your posts!

Cheers,

Patrick

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Larry, Wert, and I will soon be doing an interview with Bakker. And since you guys are hardcore fans of the author, as I did with Erikson, I invite you to submit some questions. The most interesting questions will be selected to be part of the Q&A.

Remember, Scott has a visceral fear of spoilers. So please no questions that would automatically get us a RAFO answer.

And since the metaphysical aspects of Bakker's universe have been discussed thoroughly on this board, if some of you could formulate some questions on the topic, that would be great. I have to admit that you guys make my head spin every time I read your posts!

Cheers,

Patrick

1) As this tale is over 25 years old in conception, how "true" does PON/TAE adhere to his original plot/thematic outlines? Are the differences significant or superficial?

2) Is there a plan for an updated appendix and/or a 'world guide'?

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General ones:

1. How has your interaction with the fans and the critics colored your choices in characterization and plot? Has there been anything that you've changed because of that interaction?

2. What is one thing in the first four books that you wish you could have changed upon reading it over?

Outside:

3. Can a Topos be created outside of a large amount of violent deaths? Is the Cil-Aujus topos because of death or because of pain?

4. Damnation is used often in terms of a description and I'm aware we'll get to it in time - but what would an Earwan view as being damned and the consequences of being damned? (we have a pretty clear idea of what hell is for us, that whole lake of fire and eternal torment - what is hell for them?)

Sorcery:

5. What makes someone more poweful as a sorcerer? Is it willpower, or emotion, or intellect? Or some combination?

6. Why is someone turned to salt in the presence of a Chorae? Specifically, why salt? I assume this is a reference to sodom, but if that's the case why don't other damned turn into salt?

7. What do chorae do to arcane devices?

8. What is 'anarcane ground', anyway? And why would sranc be turned away from it?

Religion:

9. Will we find out whether Fanim or Inrithism is more accurate? Or if either are reasonably accurate?

10. Can gods be created?

Inchies:

11. Something that's bugged me for a while is the quest of the Inchies to avoid damnation. They appear to be immortal; why do they care if they're damned or not? How does damnation affect the Inchies right now?

Dunyain:

12. It's stated that Kellhus tried with many different women but only Esme was strong enough to birth kids - and she popped out tons despite being something like 50 years old. Without going into details, is there something else that's special about Esme?

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In the prologue to TDTCB Kellhus climbs up a mountain to get away from Ishual. Did he just take the shortest path south, or do no valleys lead to Ishual and it is surrounded by Mountains all around?

Did Celmomas develop Ishual from an existing structure or was it completely new construction?

Was Ishual just for Celmomas' line or for all the Anasurimbor lines?

Are descendants of the lines of Cimoira alive in the current time in Earwa?

Are the Emwamma a different species, related to humans, but not human?

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Lots of good questions Kal, but has this one not more or less been answered? Or are you asking what makes someone one of the few? Could you elaborate on this question a bit?

No, not interested in what makes someone one of the few.

I know that Kellhus is really smart and understands the concepts well, so he can do more interesting spells - but I don't necessarily get that that makes him more powerful. I don't know what makes the leader of the scarlet spires super powerful, or why older sorcerers would be more powerful than younger ones. Practice? We know that emotion drives the Pushke, but what drives sorcery?

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A question for RSB. I want to know;

reading this spoiler will cause a minor spoil for WLW if you think I have read it

Where is Shauritis? (spelling?) It seems a shame to limit this fantastic character to just potentially just one book. What is the thinking behind keeping him a such a minor character in plot and narrative? It's sad that he has not even appeared in Seswatha's dreams. Didn't Seswatha face him at any point?

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Pat,

Excellent news to hear that you guys are doing an interview with Scott. I would love it if this were a meaty interview which gets some answers from Scott on the books themselves, without asking for significant spoilers.

The question I want answered which has nothing to do with spoilers is a progress report on Unholy Consult.

Q: In our 2009 interview, you referred to writing WLW at the same time as working on Unholy Consult. How far are you along now, and secondly, when do you expect Unholy Consult to on the shelves, given that it took nearly a year from initial manuscript completion of WLW, to it's publication in April 2011?

Other than that, some very interesting questions put by Razor. I second questions 5 to 12 and would really love to see all of these asked. In particular the one about anarcane ground, that has been a complete mystery sofar that intrigues many.

I also want to second both of Lockesnow's questions about Ishual.

Finally, anything that he would be willing to say about what we can expect in Unholy Consult would be nice.

Not having read WLW yet, I am limited in what I can ask, I am sure I would have dozens more questions, so I feel I can rely on you three guys to ask good questions as well.

Locke:

Who or what is Cimoira? Or is that from WLW?

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Remember, Scott has a visceral fear of spoilers. So please no questions that would automatically get us a RAFO answer.

My top question is this, but it may be RAFO: We see that the interpretation of damnation is local in the sense that, e.g., sorcery is viewed as damnable in Momemn but not in Shimeh. Question: is the reality of damnation local as well? In particular, is a Cishaurim who dies in the streets of Carythusal damned?

Alternative, specific non-RAFO meta-question: Would it be true to say that the particulars of the mechanics of sorcery were not yet fleshed out when you wrote the encounter between Inrau and the Consult synthese?

Look-how-well-read-we-are question: To what extent is Kellhus's journey in the first books a deliberate inversion of the Bildungsroman?

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