merlinscribe | This is the May 2015 Open Thread for Merlinscribe.

I have read Crown of Vengeance many time, I am going to guess upward of 40 times at least, not including how many time I have heard the audio version of it. Kate Rudd did a wonderful job of reading it and I hope she also does Blade. I have a very short memory which is both good and bad. Good in the context that I can read the same fiction book dozens of time and I may remember very little of it. In other words I can read a book, then a week or month later pick up the same book and it is like I have never read it before. It is bad because I can read a history chapter four times in a week and be lucky to get a C. I have about half of Crown memorize, which alone should say how much I have read it. Just finished reading it again, so now I am back to the beginning.
I do have a couple of question on the book that I was wondering about, and the answer could have been somewhere in the book that I could of skipped over. So if they were forgive me for that. In no particular order.
1. Is tuathal left? And deosil right?

2. From my second or third reading of the book there were two names that bother me. I am not sure if I was just misunderstanding what was said. In most of the book the War Prince of Telthorelandor was named of Ivaloriel who was bondmated to Ladyholder Edheleorn, but around the end of the book (chapter 16: Wind and Dust) it was spoken as if Edheleorn was the War Prince. And in the last chapter after the alliance called an abeyance, after Edheleorn spoke, the words His voice was written. So who is the actual War Prince? And there sexes?

3. I know this does not matter, but I am curious. How much older is Runacarendalur to Vieliessar?

4. This question has almost no bearing on the book, but I was wondering, after Vieliessar became War Prince of Oronviel how did Gunedwaen react when he heard?

5. At the very beginning of the final chapter, in the excerpt when it mentioned that she became high king through seven great battles. I think I figured out when they happened in the book. There were three of them listed (Niothrmangh, Cirdeval, and the Barrens) that I had a hard time placing in the book. I think I have figured out the first and last after so many rereads, but I cannot figure out where Cirdeval was place, or if that one was off stage?

Thank you for your time, and once again I cannot wait for Blade to be released.

Bridget

PS I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors.

1. Tuathal is left and deosil is right. While humans have a "right" preference ("right hand man" and similar phrases), the Elves have a "left" preference.

2. Tsk. Either I or the copyeditor should have caught that. Ivaloriel Telthorelandor is War Prince of Telthorelandor, and Ladyholder Edheleorn is his Bondmate.

3. Runacar was one of the Lords Komen with the right to lead his own meisne in battle by the year Vielle was born. I've never nailed that down completely, but offhand I would say he was between twenty and thirty years older than she is.

4. Gunedwaen was with her, and a member of her court in Oronviel. I suspect the scene of him telling her she was an idiot is one of the ones that was cut, but you may certainly picture him as a mix of exasperated and impressed. (And hoping she'd stop with Oronviel, but no such luck.)

5. Cirdeval is a Less House of the Windsward, and Vieliessar did not fight any battles in the Windsward. I am, therefore, as puzzled as you. The text is:

"In centuries to come it would be said the High King gained her throne through seven great battles: Oronviel, Aralhathumindrion, Jaeglenhend, Niothramangh, Cirdeval, the Barrens, and the Shieldwall Plain. Oronviel was a Challenge Circle, Aralhathumindrion only a skirmish, and the Barrens was not a battle at all. But Storysingers shape history as cabinetmakers shape wood, and it is left for Loremasters to decide the truth."

It may have something to do with Thurion going to the Windsward as her envoy, but I would have to do a close reading of the uncut book to be sure. Sorry not to have an answer.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. It means a lot when authors are willing to take the time to answer question.

Much appreciated,
Bridget

You're quite welcome! I like talking about the World of Obsidian, and there are huge numbers of things that haven't made it into the books. Side stories may be required.

Side stories are always fun to read. I, personally, can not get enough of the World of Obsidian. Considering how many times I read the books.

Bridget

Dear Bridget: Thank you so much! I really do hope to publish the one about Silver Star Free Company: their story was one of the things I had to cut from CROWN.

I hope you do. I would like to know how or why the Silver Star Free Company joined her.

There is so much to tell about Silver Star and its captains: taken all together, the way their lives went and the choices they made (or were forced to make) is pretty much a snapshot of life among the Hundred Houses--from Landbond to Ladyholder--from the years just before Vieliessar. And so I really want to finish writing it. SCOURGE comes first, though.

I can understand Scourge coming first, since I can not wait for both Blade and Scourge to come out. Still hoping Blade comes out soon. But I think it would be nice to read more about some of the other people. Why they were willing to, in some cases, give up everything they had to join.

A lot of that *used* to be in CROWN, of course. By Vieliessar's time, if you weren't a member of a War Prince's court (and sometimes even if you were, if you were a member of a Less House), life pretty much sucked. The Landbonds were treated worse than cattle, and the Craftworkers, Farmholders, and hereditary servant classes were severely exploited. Unless you were Lightborn, one of the Lords Komen, or the War Prince, life was uncertain, power was corrupt, and justice was non-existent.

In the specific case of the Silver Star Free Company, it was one of the few Free Companies to escape the Scouring of Farcarinon (one of Bolecthindial Caerthalien's less-stellar ideas), and had a certain bone to pick with the Hundred Houses. Vieliessar's policy of enfranchising outlaws and mercenaries under her banner tended to ensure that any surviving members of Free Companies (after the Scouring) would join her. How Silver Star came to fight under her banner, however, is quite another story...

Edited (Hit "post" too soon.) 2016-07-22 19:22 (UTC)

Can't wait to read it. I can never get enough of this world. So thank you for putting this world on paper for us to enjoy.

I am so glad you are enjoying the story!

This is the May 2015 Open Thread for Merlinscribe.

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