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Messages - Talby16

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1
Codex Alera Spoilers / Re: Question about letters
« on: March 27, 2019, 08:37:40 PM »
The letter to Aquitaine contained the proclamation of the adoption of Aquitaine as Tavi's younger brother, the recommendation of Sextus's physician to Aquitaine and the recommendation of Ehren to Aquitaine as the most reliable cursor he could pass on at this time. In addition, according to Ehren there was the hidden cypher that contained instructions to him from Sextus to eliminate Aquitaine. As far as I can tell, no mention is made of the 2nd letter after Sextus gives it to Ehren. I like to think that it contains Sextus's blessing and pride for Tavi. That would be a good question for Jim at a convention.

2
Codex Alera Spoilers / Re: Gaius Tavarus Magnus
« on: March 27, 2019, 08:34:03 PM »
It makes sense for Tavi to change his name with the upheaval that happened as a result of the Vord War. His new name contains elements of tradition (Magnus and Gaius) but also ushers in the changes by going from a number based name (septimus, octavian, etc) to the name given him by their traditional enemies now frenemies. It signals a new way of doing/looking at things.

3
Harry previously adhered to the tenet of mass is neither created or destroyed. He thought that all shapeshifting was altering the body's shape, but with the mass either being compressed or expanded not changed. Seeing Gray shift into a horse made him change his mind. See the following quote from Skin Game:
Quote
Shapeshifting I could deal with, but Grey had done something more significant than that—he’d altered his freaking mass. Rearranging a body with magic, sure, I basically knew how that worked. You just moved things around, but the mass always remained the same. Granted, I’d seen Ursiel shift into his bear form and add oodles of mass, so I knew it could be done somehow, but I’d figured that was maybe a Fallen angel thing. Though that didn’t make sense, either. I’d seen Listens-to-Wind reduce his mass pretty significantly in a shapeshifting war with a naagloshii, but I’d figured he had managed to make some materials denser and heavier, crowding the same mass into a smaller area

4
DF Spoilers / Re: Can Hellfire be used without a Coin?
« on: February 21, 2019, 10:22:07 PM »
I think of all the examples of a mortal bartering with a greater authority/power/creature/etc for access to greater power. We have already seen Harry summon a demon a make a deal for information. I see no reason why a mortal wizard couldn't summon a demon or other creature with access and make a deal for access to Hellfire absent the coins.

5
DF Spoilers / Re: Did Harry lie to Michael, or worse?
« on: February 21, 2019, 10:19:11 PM »
  Susan didn't die because of Harry,  the seeds of her death were planted way back in Storm Front, long before Harry.  She liked to write about the supernatural, expose it, used Harry, though yeah came to love him, to gain fame and fortune in her career...  She gave lip service to believing what she saw and experienced but she never paid it enough respect, so like a great many dangerous things it bit her in the ass...  Even if she had never met Harry in my opinion Susan was destined to die by some supernatural means or another simply because brave as she was and smart as she was, she was always in over her head.
If she never got involved with Harry, she may very well never have had the chance to get involved enough with the supernatural to get killed. Or she could have learned about them slow enough to respect the danger. Harry gave her access.

If she hadn't had a child with Harry, she could have continued to fight the Red Court at arms length instead of a direct confrontation.

Susan is at fault for what happened to her in Grave Peril[/i]. She was stupid to ignore Harry saying it was dangerous. The woman who replaced Susan hasn't gotten into any serious trouble in part because Harry keeps her at arms length because of what happened with Susan.

Susan is a tragic character due to her fate, but I think that her end definitely overshadows the choices she made that put her in that position in the eyes of some readers (as illustrated by the above posts). One of the biggest decisions (that I disagree with) was her choice of where Maggie should grow up. I can see her concerns about the safety around Harry, but she thought the better alternative was a family she personally knew within the Red's sphere of influence. She joined the Fellowship and was an active fighter against the Reds and a known associate of their greatest enemy. She knew that Maggie would be a target because of her parentage and didn't take any more precautions than putting her with friends.

6
DF Spoilers / Re: Did Harry lie to Michael, or worse?
« on: February 21, 2019, 10:11:07 PM »
I agree with that Harry took the best, perhaps only, overall option. Harry did manipulate Susan. I don't think he needed to.

Susan probably wasn't going to get the chance to watch anyone die. Once Maggie died, Susan would too.

It doesn't matter whether or not we think Harry did a terrible thing at Chichen Itza. Harry does. People who survive accidents that were in no way there fault often feel guilty. Susan died because of Harry, one way or another. (I mean that in a cause and effect sort of way, not morally). He's going to feel guilty and blame himself. That's Harry.

Excellent post. I completely agree. In the end, however Harry actually remembers the incident or chooses to remember the incident pales in comparison to the guilt he feels about Susan's fate. At that moment, besides that altar, I think he took the only action he could have to save Maggie. After that, he could have let his former love live as a monster or have her death mean something. Despite virtually having no choice with regards to Susan's fate he still feels guilt because that is Harry.

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DF Spoilers / Re: Did Harry lie to Michael, or worse?
« on: February 21, 2019, 09:46:43 PM »
Martin probably planned on turning and being the sacrifice.

Precisely. In the beginning he had no way of knowing that the bloodline curse came into play. His goal was most likely to keep the war ongoing and keep the WC involved so that the maximum amount of damage would be done to the Reds. At some point he learned of this plan and thought of how awesome it would be to wipe all the Reds out. I fully agree that his first plan was to turn himself and force Harry to kill him wiping out the Reds. Circumstances made it more feasible to insert Susan in his role.

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DF Spoilers / Re: Did Harry lie to Michael, or worse?
« on: February 19, 2019, 05:31:25 PM »
Who knows if Susan would have either reached the same conclusion Harry did on her own and acted or if her desperation to save her daughter would have left her with her only alternative to embrace her inner vamp. Harry couldn't chance a delay and gave her a push to get her there out of desperation.

I truly believe that suffered from PTSD due to that event and may have unconsciously blocked out some of the more traumatic moments.

9
DF Spoilers / Re: Did Michael lie?
« on: February 19, 2019, 05:25:00 PM »
I also think that Michael did not intentionally lie to Harry. That would be completely out of character for him. I think Michael stated the truth that he knew based upon his information and experience. His information was obviously incomplete. Harry pointed this out to Michael in Small Favor in the workshop:
Quote
I just stared at him for a minute. Then I said, "Hell's bells. And I thought wizards had a monopoly on arrogance."
He blinked.
"Or do you really expect me to believe that the Church has been there to document every single instance of anyone picking up any of the cursed coins. That they've followed through with everyone tempted by a Fallen's shadow, taken testimony. Made copies. Hell, gotten it notarized. Especially given that you've told me that Nicodemus has worked as hard as he could to destroy the Church's records and archives through the years."
Michael's weight settled back on his heels. He frowned..

Lash herself said that no Shadow had been with a person longer than she had been with Harry. Michael was in uncharted waters and trying to apply his experience to something that he knew nothing about. He spoke in error, but not maliciously.

10
Cinder Spires Books / Re: Cinder Spire - Kid friendly?
« on: February 15, 2019, 04:20:08 PM »
Besides the rape comment mentioned by Con there is another scene where Gwen is thinking about Benedict's love life (or lack thereof) and thinks about how there has been interest from some highborn ladies. It is implied that some ladies would consider sex with a warriorborn to be an adventure, but not out right stated. Overall, pretty tame. As long as there is no fear of spiders I think a 12 year old would be fine.

11
DF Spoilers / Re: The Gatekeeper in Summer Knight
« on: February 14, 2019, 10:03:04 PM »
Wasn't there a wikia post about how to get to his domain?? Egypt sounds like a great place to relax.

Here is the relevant WOJ:
Quote
2010 2D6feet interview with Iago @6:31
Iago says that at the 2010 DragonCon, Jim told him:
“You get to the Gatekeeper’s domain by walking across the surface of the moon.”

12
DF Spoilers / Re: The Gatekeeper in Summer Knight
« on: February 14, 2019, 09:56:52 PM »
And in Proven Guilty that Gatekeeper apparently sees  Eb and the team as they move through a portal back to Chicago with Micheal.  He breaks the circle and throws open the door before the guard can knock.

Depends on what way you are using "see." I personally do not think that he physically saw them or saw them with his Sight. We know from Proven Guilty that Rashid sometimes gets information from hindsight:
Quote
"He got this from hindsight, he had to," Bob said.
"Hindsight," I murmured. "You mean he went to the future for this?"
"Well," Bob hedged. "That would break one of the Laws, so probably not. But he might have sent himself a message from there, or maybe gotten it from some kind of prognosticating spirit. He might even have developed some ability for that himself. Some wizards do."

My opinion is that Rashid knew they would be arriving through this skill. Kind of like Abby from White Knight who is able to see in the future involuntarily only Rashid has the skill to peer at will.

13
DF Spoilers / Re: Found this odd in Fool Moon
« on: February 14, 2019, 09:19:08 PM »
Nice catch. I remember reading that, but I never attached any real significance to it. Now I wonder if JB is working on a series of short stories involving Mike the supernaturally gifted mechanic set to the backdrop of the main book series.

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Codex Alera Spoilers / Re: codex alera back ground
« on: December 17, 2018, 08:58:06 PM »
As much as I would love to read more novels set in the time period before the Codex Alera, Jim already has enough on his plate. A release of his notes is the best we could probably hope for beyond getting more tidbits from Q&A sessions.

15
Codex Alera Spoilers / Re: Gaius Tavarus Magnus
« on: December 17, 2018, 08:56:35 PM »
Big clue is that it actually says Gaius Tavarus Magnus 1 AV. To me this means 1st year After Vord.

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