I logged in to IntenseDebate for the first time in years so I could comment on this post, and now I don't know what to say. Thank you for writing this, I guess. I was spoiled for this chapter before I read it (thanks, reviewers!) but even so, it hit hard. Death is such a difficult topic to do justice to, I think. And at a time like this *gestures vaguely at everything happening in the world right now* it's going to be especially tough for a lot of people. Thank you for putting some words to what a lot of us have felt, or are feeling, to greater or lesser extents right now.

Virtual hugs to all who want them <3

I LOVE Tiffany's connection to her land and its geology and geological history. It's one of my (many) favourite things in this book.
I also loved Granny Aching's appearance here, and the sense of closure that comes with it for Tiffany. I don't really have the time or emotional bandwidth to explain why it means so much to me, except to say that It really resonated with some of my own experiences of grief and moving forward.

Very much agreed. I'm a geologist and I find the whole concept of deep time, geological time, strangely comforting and sort of...anchoring. Like, no matter how badly humans fuck up, the rocks keep forming and eroding, Earth keeps going, and we're all very small parts of something much bigger.
Put that way I guess it can sound almost religious. I'm an atheist, but I think it's fair to say I have a sense of something like spirituality when I think of deep time.
Tiffany's connection to the land and its history is one of my favourite things about her characterisation.

The Devil among the Tailors is quite a fun little tune. I've danced to it for both Scottish Country dancing and Irish step dancing.[youtube BKL7VwVNkFQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKL7VwVNkFQ youtube]

*pterodactyl screech*
TIFFANY!
I have been looking forward to revisiting this book for a very long time.

I was both terrified and fascinated by earthquakes as a child, and we get a lot of them here in New Zealand. My terror/fascination meant that I sought out information about them, and it was one of the factors that led to my becoming a geologist.
Studying the earth has made me less afraid of the things that it does. I mean, big earthquakes are still pretty scary, but I (and most of my geology colleagues) sort of cope with them by going into SCIENCE MODE. A non-geologist colleague recently commented to me that being in an office full of geologists when there's a quake is a bit surreal: all the geologists get excited - we crowd around the computers to follow the updates from GeoNet, we compare notes about what we felt and how it compares to other earthquakes we've experienced, we speculate about how the quake might fit into recent patterns of seismicity. Following (and understanding) the science makes the aftermath of the quake (and any aftershocks) less scary for me; it can become a sort of adventure.

Yeah, the Zealandia submerged continent is fairly new science, or at least newly published science - geologists have been talking about is for a decade or two as the evidence has been falling into place, but it's only been published in the last couple of years.

[spoilers/lots of personal stuff relating to spoilers]

V'z n uhtr LJ sna, naq V unir orra sbe zber guna n qrpnqr, ohg V'ir arire orra noyr gb oevat zlfrys gb ernq guvf obbx. Zl zhz jnf qvntabfrq jvgu grezvany pnapre fubegyl nsgre V fgnegrq uvtu fpubby. VVEP, vg jnf yngre gung lrne gung V qvfpbirerq gur LJ frevrf.
Nsgre ernqvat gur svefg srj obbxf, V nyernql bire-vqragvsvrq jvgu Avgn (gubhtu abg nf zhpu nf V vqragvsvrq zl yvggyr fvfgre jvgu Qnvevar). V nyernql unq n cbyvpl bs qryvorengryl fcbvyvat zlfrys sbe gur raqvat bs rirel obbx V ernq (vg jnf, naq erznvaf, naq nakvrgl guvat sbe zr; V unir gb xabj ebhtuyl ubj guvatf ner tbvat gb ghea bhg). Jura V sbhaq bhg gur cerzvfr naq raqvat bs guvf obbx, V xarj V pbhyqa'g unaqyr vg. Rirel gvzr V'ir ernq guebhtu gur frevrf, V'ir fxvccrq vg.
Zhz ernq n ybg bs gur fnzr obbxf gung zl fvfgre naq V qvq; jr bsgra qvfphffrq obbxf naq frevrf gbtrgure. Fur ernq nyy gur LJ obbxf gung jrer gura eryrnfrq (hc gb Jvmneqf ng Jne) juvyr fur jnf haqretbvat gerngzrag sbe ure pnapre, naq rawblrq gurz. V qba'g erpnyy rire qvfphffvat guvf obbx jvgu ure. V'z cerggl fher fur ernq vg gjvpr, orpnhfr V pna erzrzore ure nfxvat zr gb trg vg bhg bs gur yvoenel ntnva sbe ure nsgre ure vavgvny ernq-guebhtu bs gur frevrf. V guvax/ubcr gung znlor fur sbhaq fbzrguvat inyhnoyr va vg.
Zhz qvrq n srj jrrxf nsgre zl rvtugrragu oveguqnl, nsgre yvivat jvgu pnapre sbe arneyl svir lrnef. Gung jnf va rneyl 2009. V fgvyy unira'g orra noyr gb ernq guvf obbx va gur lrnef fvapr. Znlor V'yy tvir vg n gel guvf gvzr, V'z abg fher. V guvax ernqvat nybat jvgu Znex naq gur pbzzhavgl zvtug uryc zr, gubhtu.

Yeah, she was dreadful. I hope she's no longer teaching.

To be fair, he also wrote the Snow Queen, which I adore, but argh some of his other stories are so miserable!