ase

50,000 words of space opera, feminist agenda in the meta, and semi-engineered technology crash. What could possibly go wrong?

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meril.livejournal.com

That's all right. I keep distracting her with Curt Schilling's blog.

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I haven't read "The Steerswoman's Road", but I agree with your assessment of Fawn's little venture. I have the same opinion of Cordelia's shopping trip, although in both cases, I enjoy the stories. And, of course, in both cases, we are given a Good Thing which wouldn't have occurred had the two ladies not made their reckless choices. That's why we have stories, I suppose.

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This is all an unsubtle scheme to get secondary characters named after your favorite baseball players, isn't it?

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Steerswoman's Road is an omnibus of two Rosemary Kirstein novels, and it is very, very cool.

I'm willing to give Cordelia a pass, because she was working on a very short-term deadline no one else cared about, and because I was 16 when I read Barrayar. Fawn just hits every one of my, "well, isn't she a darling little plucky thing!" nerves. Other people may not have come up with an answer as quickly as her, but they were trying. Compare with the Miles situation, where Cordelia and Aral were about the only people who cared. I sort of see what LMB's trying to do, but she's created a character who is supposed to be smart and doesn't come off that way. Compare to Steerswoman's Road, where Rowan (protagonist) comes off as very, very smart.

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Cordelia and Aral were indeed the only ones who cared, and, had that little venture not occurred, lots of deaths would have occurred, among them, no doubt, Miles.

However, had it not been under control of the author, the little venture's most probable outcome was to give watzisface another, more effective hostage. It is like spending your last funds on the lottery, because that is the only way you can possibly get enough funds to (do whatever noble purpose is appropriate).

I am further biased by the fact that I consider continuing Miles' development a very bad thing (except, of course, for the source of wonderful stories), but that's my problem.

I will keep an eye out for Kirstein and Stearswoman's Road. Thanks!

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Hmm... so I'm willing to give Cordelia a pass because selfishness for the sake of mother love (whether she should have felt mother love for an embryo is another question, and I've never quite forgiven Bujold for the authorial manipulation where they couldn't have any more children Because I Say So) is understandable to me, and I'm sympathetic.

Selfishness on Fawn's part for the sake of... uh? The arrogance that she might be able to do something other more experienced people can't? I'm not buying it.

I don't know, I think Cordelia would have figured out some way to die nobly or something. I kind of trust Cordelia to take care of herself, and I don't trust Fawn. Maybe that's what it comes down to.

(Which is kind of what ase was saying, but in different words.)

*goes to look for Kirstein*

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Selfishness on Fawn's part for the sake of... uh? The arrogance that she might be able to do something other more experienced people can't? I'm not buying it.

Thank you for nailing what I would have spent a lot of time trying to say.

I am not going to guarantee that everyone will like the Steerswoman series as much as me, because it's pretty much a descriptive checklist of what I want in my sf/f reading, but I think it's interesting enough that other people will enjoy it too.

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charlie_ego makes pretty much the point I would. I might say, if I feel the author's hand weighing the scales, I feel she weighed them by giving Cordelia bonus character traits, but in Fawn's case by creating a plot that broke in her favor. You probably missed the Mercedes Lackey Valdemar books, but I keep waiting for Fawn's snow-white telepathic stallion to come riding up and present itself as validation of her Special-ness. This isn't a feeling that makes me inclined to enjoy any scene she's in, which is sort of a problem in a romance novel.

Re: Miles: series bias is a powerful and subtle thing, yes. I want an LMB book as good as Mirror Dance or Memory, but I think she can do that without returning to the Milesverse. I am less sanguine about the prospects of her doing it in the Sharing Knife universe.

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I read some of the Valdemar books, stopped because I couldn't take the whining. Can't stand Gilbert O'Sullivan, either. :<{

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You mistake comparisons to Lackey for a compliment, I think. When I am doing the comparing, it's usually not. :-)

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meril.livejournal.com

No, it's an unsubtle scheme to convert you slowly to baseball fandom (and to distract me from writing my own stuff)

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:<)

No, I didn't mistake, just gave an alternate reason. :<) I can live with special telepathic horses*, but, I agree, I wouldn't want TSK to turn into such a book.

But you've got to expect the protagonists of a fantasy to be special in that world - else, why write about them?

*While we're on the subject, do you know if the song Horsetamer's Daughter was based on a Darkover story?

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I thought Curse of Chalion was as good as Mirror Dance, and maybe (in a lot of ways) even as good as Memory (minus the Miles-bias at the end, where Haroche gets destroyed and Miles gets a shiny new job, which does kind of disturb me). But it's certainly a very different book.

I think she could do it in the Sharing Knife universe, but I'm increasingly less convinced she can do it with Dag, Fawn, or any of their compatriots.

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Can't stand Gilbert O'Sullivan, either. :<{

I'd love elaboration on this?

I have always loved Pirates of Penzance, because I find Frederick and the policemen and the pirates rather cute and sympathetic in their madcap way, but I disliked Mikado for years because I don't find ANY of the characters sympathetic in the least... However, I'm willing to forgive a lot for the sake of silly people singing :)

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You should write. In IM, if necessary, for the first draft. Otherwise I'll start throwing random worldbuilding ideas at you. ("Hey M! What if - what if there were sharks, with frikkin' laser beams?" "...I think that's been done (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Evil#Schemes)." "Oh.")

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Quick explanation: miscommunication. :<)

I am not much into fandom, but Gilbert and Sullivan would be an exception. Pirates is one of my favorites, and my largest gripe against Hollywood is the fact that I can't get the Kline/Ronstadt movie on DVD. My other favorites are Mikado (sorry), Iolanthe, Gondoliers and Pinafore. I merely like the rest.

The gentleman I ranted about is Gilbert O'Sullivan, a pop singer of a few decades ago who apparently appealed to teen angst some time after I had been cured of that affliction. The song that grated the most was Alone Again, Naturally. It apparently is on YouTube, but I have no intention of verifying that. ;<)

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mareklamo.livejournal.com

The arrogance that she might be able to do something other more experienced people can't

Sounds like a teenager to me!

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Ah! Okay, that makes a lot more sense. I am sufficiently isolated from pop culture that I have never heard of this person.

I didn't mean to imply I didn't like the Mikado now-- once I got over my need to approve of all characters (seeing more opera helped a lot with this ;) ), and saw a decent production, I found out I really liked it :)

my largest gripe against Hollywood is the fact that I can't get the Kline/Ronstadt movie on DVD.

Yes. YES.

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While we're on the subject, do you know if the song Horsetamer's Daughter was based on a Darkover story?

To the best of my knowledge no. However, the people to ask would be the filkers, such as

robin_june or

scifantasy.

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filkferengi

"Horsetamer's Daughter" isn't based on any canonical Darkover story; it's Leslie Fish's Darkover story. Fanfic, basically. If you'd like to download it, it's up on the Virtual Filksing [http://www.prometheus-music.com/eli/virtual.html], along with lots of other delightful songs, organized by topic.

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filkferengi

I'd strongly recommend "The Filkado."

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Thank you. I read the lyrics years ago (I think someone on LMB did a LMB filk based on it), and have a performance now, and love it. I have read a lot of Darkover, but by no means all, or even most, and just wondered.

Thanks!

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