IntenseDebate - grcogman

5 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Book o... · 0 replies · +7 points

And the callback to the aria from _Faust_, "Anges purs, anges radieux" - one of my eternal favourites. "... [she] relentlessly declared her own salvation, requiring the aid of the Powers that Be."

There's a lovely recording of it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlZPn0QaqXE - with Joan Sutherland, Franco Corelli, and Nicolai Ghiaurov.

Another very fine one here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFOSZUpqqNY - with Carol Vaness, James Morris, and Jerry Hadley.

5 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Book o... · 0 replies · +1 points

V'ir nyjnlf gubhtug gung ur qvq punatr onpx, lrf.

5 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Book o... · 2 replies · +4 points

"Jung unf orpbzr bs zl puvyqera?"

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Will o... · 1 reply · +20 points

And unusually for the antagonist of a book, Berenene knows when to cut her losses, or at least when to allow for the possibility of loss. Even if she doesn't quite believe it's going to happen, and even if she has to be talked into it by a more detached advisor. At least she takes that advice.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Will o... · 5 replies · +17 points

This is absolutely true. I think Jonathan did her a favour when he made her swear not to use it, even if she resented it at the time.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Will o... · 1 reply · +13 points

I like to think that's what Ambros is doing, too, and that he isn't generally the sort of liege lord that has people flogged in the main square - he's just using the nearest convenient legal tool to shut Halmar down.

But until that legal tool stops existing in this setting, people are going to be using it.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Will o... · 14 replies · +27 points

VVEP sebz yngre va gur obbx, gura lrf, vg *vf* gung zhpu zbarl ng fgnxr. Fnaqel'f rfgngr vf gur ynfg ovt bar gung'f haraphzorerq ol bgure qrogf naq serr bs Vzcrevny vasyhrapr. Nalbar jub pbagebyf Fnaqel nf n cynlvat cvrpr, be rira jub vasyhraprf ure, naq guhf ure rfgngr naq svanaprf, orpbzrf n znwbe cynlre.

V guvax gung Qhxr Irqevp qvq znxr n pbhcyr bs zvfgnxrf jura ur frag Fnaqel naq ure sevraqf vagb guvf. Svefg, ur haqrerfgvzngrq rknpgyl ubj vzcbegnag Fnaqel'f rfgngrf jrer gb gur Rzcver, naq guhf gb Orerarar. Naq frpbaqyl, juvyr fraqvat va gur bgure guerr jvgu Fnaqel qvq (naq vf) cebgrpgvat Fnaqel, vg'f nyfb ghearq Fnaqel'f neeviny vagb n OHL BAR TRG GUERR SERR fcrpvny bssre sbe Orerarar.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Will o... · 12 replies · +27 points

Glorious as it is to watch Ambros give Halmar that smackdown, it's also a fact that the same social positioning which lets him give the smackdown is also the same social positioning that supports the aristocracy, and it's only the fact that Ambros is a good person and Halmar a bad person which make us support the principle here of "if you insult your liege lady, you will be put in the stocks and flogged". Weren't we condemning that sort of idea just last chapter?

It's parallel, in a way, to the bit in the Keladry books where Jonathan agrees to change the law to protect servants, if Keladry will give up her feudal claim of insulted knightly honour and not challenge the offending knight to a duel. Equal protection for all, or privilege for a few? Even if a protagonist is among the few, and of course *she* would use it well...

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Will o... · 0 replies · +13 points

I am reminded of a line from the Keladry books about how n tbbq xvat vf abg arprffnevyl n avpr xvat.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'The Will o... · 5 replies · +50 points

When you think about it, a good Emperor or Empress really should be trying to attract powerful mages (or merchants, or scholars, or whatever) to support their Empire. Actively scouting for useful talent is not in itself a bad action for a ruler.

(Having Winding Circle as a next door neighbour and potential resource is definitely a factor in Duke Vedric's authority and his relationships with neighbouring countries, whether or not Sandry sees it that way.)

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