Speaking of what word play? The fact that Aornis is a tributary of the river Styx (along with Acheron, Cocytu, Phlegethon and Lethe)? [Yes I just googled that, though I knew Acheron].
Or is it a subtle pun, which I don't see, on the fact that Aornis means "birdless"? ________ "The King's Peace" has finally sucked me in. Lovely, lovely, lovely stuff. I must have devoured 2/3rds of it today. They're _just_ beginning to suspect Morthu of reading Ulf's dreams.
I'm impressed with everything, the people, the gods, the land, the battle sequences; all of extremely high caliber. And just when the characters and plot are seeming to develop a rhythm, something pops changes everything, or at least your perspective of it (Ulf, the Boar, the Goddess of the waters, etc.) The land and scenario are fairly familiar, but I haven't been able to pin down any parallels to many Arthurian individuals. The immediate Pendragons, Moragan, Mordred...but beyond that...
::shrug::
May it's me or maybe she just decided not to take it that far.
I have a feeling "King's Name" is going to be rather...depressing. Unless the Arthurian parallels are abandoned. England really didn't come to a happy end in those stories. ______________ (Pre-emptive rebuttal to herewiss13: yes, I did see the paragraph about the species coming out of the sea. It's a very logical progression which resolves some of my "but why?" complaint. It needs more support. The culture in stasis still would've benefitted from more development of what they're lacking.)
I'd actually forgotten about the sand crabs, until you mentioned them. While that's a compelling reason in it's own right, to answer your question: The thing the culture was lacking was _change_.
Personal example: I hate change. I fight it tooth and nail. Look where I am right now? Everyone is telling me that change is necessary, that it's _healthy. Stasis is death. Without change, that species can't move on to something _better_. I'm not reaching my potential right now and neither were they. You can transcend to a richer, fuller plane of existence, or you can remain a quiet pastoralist for eternity. I wonder what the healthy choice would be...?
Granted, despite the analogy, I don't think that species was depressed. But apathy isn't something to just _accept_...especially when it is, at least in part, manufactured apathy.
I won't bring up the captive souls of all the ancestors because I haven't re-read the book recently enough to comment authoritatively on it...but they might constitute a reason for "moving on" too.
BTW, you _have_ seen the first chapter of "Wizards at War" haven't you? It's up now. Carmela's cute. The trio of house guests are still there and you find out just what the "uh-oh" was about. Let's just say it's going to be an "unusual" military situation. I'm not sure how she'll pull it off, but I have faith. ___________ The Harry/Cho relationship is a beautiful example of teenage idiocy
No kidding. There were times I wanted to smack the both of them. But you have to give Rowling props for making Harry a bona fide adolescent.
Other than that, she's a pretty run-of-the mill tyrant
I'm not quite sure how ordinary Umbridge is. Her dominance and tyranny are all expressed psychologically. She subtly attacks the mind rather than the body, and her willful blindness to all things non-dogma is downright _scary_ at a time when so much of that can be observed within the highest levels of government.
And ordinary tyrant is pretty straight forward about it. You have your minions, your physical coercion, and your definite, straight-forward agenda-of-conquest. None of this nightmarish "for your own good." (which she _might_ actually _believe_!) Umbridge creeped me out like practically no other evil character I can remember.
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baggyeyes
(no subject)
Date: 2004-04-09 11:22 pm (UTC)Speaking of what word play? The fact that Aornis is a tributary of the river Styx (along with Acheron, Cocytu, Phlegethon and Lethe)? [Yes I just googled that, though I knew Acheron].
Or is it a subtle pun, which I don't see, on the fact that Aornis means "birdless"?
________
"The King's Peace" has finally sucked me in. Lovely, lovely, lovely stuff. I must have devoured 2/3rds of it today. They're _just_ beginning to suspect Morthu of reading Ulf's dreams.
I'm impressed with everything, the people, the gods, the land, the battle sequences; all of extremely high caliber. And just when the characters and plot are seeming to develop a rhythm, something pops changes everything, or at least your perspective of it (Ulf, the Boar, the Goddess of the waters, etc.) The land and scenario are fairly familiar, but I haven't been able to pin down any parallels to many Arthurian individuals. The immediate Pendragons, Moragan, Mordred...but beyond that...
::shrug::
May it's me or maybe she just decided not to take it that far.
I have a feeling "King's Name" is going to be rather...depressing. Unless the Arthurian parallels are abandoned. England really didn't come to a happy end in those stories.
______________
(Pre-emptive rebuttal to herewiss13: yes, I did see the paragraph about the species coming out of the sea. It's a very logical progression which resolves some of my "but why?" complaint. It needs more support. The culture in stasis still would've benefitted from more development of what they're lacking.)
I'd actually forgotten about the sand crabs, until you mentioned them. While that's a compelling reason in it's own right, to answer your question: The thing the culture was lacking was _change_.
Personal example: I hate change. I fight it tooth and nail. Look where I am right now? Everyone is telling me that change is necessary, that it's _healthy. Stasis is death. Without change, that species can't move on to something _better_. I'm not reaching my potential right now and neither were they. You can transcend to a richer, fuller plane of existence, or you can remain a quiet pastoralist for eternity. I wonder what the healthy choice would be...?
Granted, despite the analogy, I don't think that species was depressed. But apathy isn't something to just _accept_...especially when it is, at least in part, manufactured apathy.
I won't bring up the captive souls of all the ancestors because I haven't re-read the book recently enough to comment authoritatively on it...but they might constitute a reason for "moving on" too.
BTW, you _have_ seen the first chapter of "Wizards at War" haven't you? It's up now. Carmela's cute. The trio of house guests are still there and you find out just what the "uh-oh" was about. Let's just say it's going to be an "unusual" military situation. I'm not sure how she'll pull it off, but I have faith.
___________
The Harry/Cho relationship is a beautiful example of teenage idiocy
No kidding. There were times I wanted to smack the both of them. But you have to give Rowling props for making Harry a bona fide adolescent.
Other than that, she's a pretty run-of-the mill tyrant
I'm not quite sure how ordinary Umbridge is. Her dominance and tyranny are all expressed psychologically. She subtly attacks the mind rather than the body, and her willful blindness to all things non-dogma is downright _scary_ at a time when so much of that can be observed within the highest levels of government.
And ordinary tyrant is pretty straight forward about it. You have your minions, your physical coercion, and your definite, straight-forward agenda-of-conquest. None of this nightmarish "for your own good." (which she _might_ actually _believe_!) Umbridge creeped me out like practically no other evil character I can remember.