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NeilNjae
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Yes, I also remembered the Odysseus reference just after I posted my notes. I also think that talking animals are a staple, but perhaps not ones as gifted or forthright as the talking bird in this one! As for the wrap-up, I think the introduction …
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OK, that all sounds good. And thanks for the comments on my notes. Let's keep to the schedule for a bit, we'll just post thoughts and musings as they come to us. But also, feel free to start threads on each week if you're ready before I am!
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On the one hand, this is somewhere the book could shine: hackneyed settings and plots often make for bad literature but excellent RPG settings, where everyone's improvising stuff and there's no editing. However, much of this setting is military age…
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There was the anti-progress slant, where the embracers of technology were all decadent wierdoes, but the "real men and women" of Virga were thrusting and assertive and heroic by being primitive. Or some tosh like that. I didn't get any mo…
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I'm not sure it really added much to the story. The only effect of the trip to the "visitor centre" was to prompt a complete reversal of what we thought Aubri's goal was. Again, I think this is somewhere the book fell between two stools. …
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I agree with the sentiment here. It was a setting that was trying too hard to mesh the hard SF ideas with the "cool vibes" approach of doing dieselpunk. If you compare this setting with some of the bizarre habitats dreamed up by Iain Banks…
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Aubri and Verena were the two most interesting characters. Aubri was a bit enigmatic and Verena had her own agenda, manipulating people around her. Hayden and Chaison were a bit one-dimensional and dull. Hayden's inner conflict, between hating the …
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I found it all rather dull, to be honest. I didn't particularly care about any of the characters, so wasn't involved with all the histrionics and angst over whether whatsitcalled nation was free or not. It was competently told and decently written,…
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Regarding Aladdin and his restraint: I think it's meant to be held out as a moral highlight of his character, that he continues to live modestly even when he could have riches. At least, that's what I think the author is getting at. I agree that th…
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(Quote) I'm most of the way through it.
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(Quote) "Members of the Hugos"? I'm not sure what you mean by that. The World SF Society doesn't have a great deal of structure or controlling officers. It has something to protect the "Worldcon" trademark and a process to shunt …
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See also the commentary from John Scalzi. It seems there was some pre-emptive censorship by the convention, which leaves a bad taste. I'm concerned about how the Anglophone SF world will further retreat from other communities. Not a good situation …
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I think we've rather lost track of the frame story at this point. These aren't tales supposedly to educate a psychopathic sultan, but ripping yarns to amuse in a coffee house. But I agree that there are a lot of tropes in this story that are very f…
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(Quote) I agree. If this tale had the pace of the earlier ones, it would have been about five pages rather than 25. (Quote) I agree with that, especially her very specific request for Shaybar. What did she think would happen when he appeared?
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I agree Falco was a paper-thin caricature, not a decent villain. He was just an excuse for the rest of the action. If he'd been toned down a bit, it would have made a better novel. There could have been some questions about whether he was right, or …
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I was getting at the idea of of "entrapment" being a restriction over what you'd like to do. Amina doesn't want to be away from her daughter, and doesn't want to be hunting down magical artefacts. But she wants to be a good Muslim and a go…
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(Quote) Thanks! Clash has talked about religion. For jurisprudence, the action is away from civilisation for most of the time, and for the rest the characters are in places frequented by sailors rather than landlubbers. When they are in Aden, they …
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@Apocryphal , can you please give an example (or two?) of things you found jarring? What was it about these characters that said "modern" to you, and what would have been the "medieval Arab" alternative?
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Questions posted. Let's hear your thoughts!
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It's Frebruary! How are people doing with The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi? Should I post some questions?
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As for the problems of using the treasures, I don't think we've had any hint of downsides for using them so far in the story. And I'm not sure we'll get back to them either, as the focus is now on the pari. I'm pretty much of the opinion that there…
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One thing that struck me about the story of Hasan is how fate and prudence combined to make his fortune. It was fate/luck that he got the diamond, but prudence to only sell it for a high price, and more prudence to invest the proceeds in buying and …
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I'm with Richard, in that I'd not heard of Marjana before this story. I wonder why she has been forgotten in English (European?) literature? It's also another example of cleverness being lauded over strength, as with Dalila the Crafty and many other…
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The main issue for my use of the setting is that we've only seen the military side of things during a war. That's OK, but isn't my taste in gaming any more. I think the setting would need some more fleshing out to make it suitable for gaming (and I …
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At least she built her story around the idea of portals between worlds, rather than just using it as an excuse to get the hero from Earth to the other world. But as you say, it's an old trope. I think the story could have worked well enough as a str…
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One other thing. I got duped into thinking this was a collection of short stories, when the action changed without warning from Tregarth to Loyse. I could see no connection between the two, even initially doubting that they were set on the same worl…
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I'm fine with the melange of different bits. It's a story, Norton can put together the fantasy world how she likes. It also draws from the planetary romances of John Carter and the like: high tech, magic, and swords. The main difference, I think, is…
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I admit, I got utterly lost with all the bits of geography in the setting, and who was descended from what race and held what station, and what bits were regions or countries or cities, or what was close to what and far from what, and... It was just…
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I'd heard about her, as a general background presence, but I'd never read any of her books. At least, I think not: I read a lot of stuff in my youth without a lot of context or understanding of the significance of books. Given her writing in this b…
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We're due to restart Arabian Nights this coming week. Are people still on board for that? Do we want to continue, delay a bit more, or something else?