jvj

*rofl* Ok, ok! But it's luring, innit?

OH yeah, this Lan Fallstar ... what a coward. I don't wanna be in his shoes when Mal naysayer - the second coolest guy there after the Dog Lord - comes over him with that six foot length of sword.

as for Raif ... I 'd like to see him snogging Mallia Argola. That'd be some kind of reward for all those freezes, shots, blazing blisters, gnawing shadwo pieces and other sufferings he's gotta go throu'. Ah, learning not to look at ones own body definitely helps.

Oh, Julie, whither takest thou this poor lad!

@polijn: it's sam shepherd. ("It's gonna be bumpy" -> If this ain't a cool one I don't know. "maybe we explode")

Couldn't agree more about old Dog Lord. He's brilliant. The thing I like most about J.V's books are her characters are so believable as people. None are 2 dimensional or sterotyped. A lot more than you can say for a lot of fantasy authors. George RR Martin is brilliant with characters too.
As for Lan - he is right up there with Mace. Should both be skinned alive!

I'd like to see Mace and Marafice face off .. see if Mace really can fight. I'd say he can.

I gotta say - I have a bit of a soft spot for Marafice (not a big one though). He is a villian but he does have some redeeming qualities.

It's good, I'm re-reading, and it seems like JVJ has done with Marafice a little of what GRRM did with Jaime. Although Marafice is a far more intimidating character, and probably will not have the depth of Jaime .. I don't know.

What I do know is that it's very good. I like that at the beginning Marafice is this great colossal figure that scares the willies out of Ash. Then by the end of the book 3 we have a far greater understanding of him and his small? growth in character.

LOL - I hear what you say, although I think Marafice has more redeeming qualities then Jaime. After all, he is not doing the rumpy pumpy with his evil twin sister!

Witchary:

Serious? I was actually thinking the opposite. That the way GRRM has drawn Jaime in the last couple of books shows a far more sympathetic character. He has turned around and grown some moral gonads, so to speak.

But anyway, don't want this to stray from the books. Maybe we could start a thread in general conversation as to the growth of Marafice as opposed to Jaime. Ha ha.

theUnguru wrote:Witchary:

Serious? I was actually thinking the opposite. That the way GRRM has drawn Jaime in the last couple of books shows a far more sympathetic character. He has turned around and grown some moral gonads, so to speak.

But anyway, don't want this to stray from the books. Maybe we could start a thread in general conversation as to the growth of Marafice as opposed to Jaime. Ha ha.

By this I meant to say, to keep the conversation on topic (Sword of Shadows). But didn't want to try and stop this line of thought .

theUnguru wrote:
By this I meant to say, to keep the conversation on topic (Sword of Shadows). But didn't want to try and stop this line of thought .

LOL!!! I hear you. New topic coming up - "Who has less chance of burning in the 7 fires of hell - Marafice or Jaime?"

polijn wrote:Nah, I think we all came to the general consensus in another thread that Jack and his sister Terissa are in fact Ash's parents. Can't remember which thread tho. i remember going off on genetics... maybe it was the Raif "getting better" at magic thread...

I think Jack had sandy blond hair and his half sister had the same characteristics. I don't remember her hair color but it was probably the same color so their child would have sandy blond hair and he or she would not have silver blond hair like Ash. Genetically this is not a full proof statement but i would say that that the evidence is agains Ash being related to Jack; besides Spire Vanis is far from where Jack's half sister lived.

pangie wrote:OH COME ON, ASH. WHAT ABOUT RAIF, YOU INSUFFERABLE THING YOU?!?!

I think Ash fell in love with Lan largely because of how much he reminded her of her 'almost father'. I have heard it is very normal for a man or woman to fall in love with someone who is very similar to his or her own parents. Lan is cold most of the time with very occassional warmth and she develops the same dynamic with him has she had with the only parent she ever knew. Part of the dynamic is the disengenuousness of Iss and Lan and the other part is the desire that Ash has to please them and have a close relationship. And also Iss and Lan are never really letting the relationship get close.

She chose the physical relationship with Lan because no one has taught her that she should limit herself sexually and therefore her only way of deciding whether or not to have intercorse is to decide through her feelings and obviously she feels like she has to have sex in order to have deeper relationship with Lan.

I think she felt that she had to hang on to Lan in some way and this was one way to get closer to him, but of course as it turns out, not a good way.

Lan is certainly no Raif. Who is? Maybe Mal. . . (though he has set himself up as Ash's father)

And I don't know about Mallia Argola - she seems a little convenient to me. One gorgeous woman in the Rift and she has a thing for Raif. . .

I also like Raif a lot and was really hurt when Ash didnt even think about him even once in Swords while the poor Raif thinks about her almost daily. I dont think it would be too candyfloss if Ash and Raif eventually got together. What's so bad about two people who really like and understand each other getting together and finding happiness? Although I think Raif and Ash were never meant to be together

Have you read any of the answers you got in response to your other posts to long forgotten topics?

Perhaps you should look finally up what tragedy is, or a tragic hero.

I dont expect Raif to ever be happy. As the above poster mentioned Raif is being set up perfectly for the tragic hero slot. It disgusts me, intrigues me, throws me into despair, but hope lasts eternal. We can and will hope that Raif will find happiness if not with Ash then with someone, but im totally expecting him to continue pushing away other potential soulmates or at least happy relationships because of his loyalty to Ash, because it is perfect for the tragic hero, especially considering what is happening with Ash at the same time. I too was hurt deeply to see so many pages of Raif wondering about Ash and the only time in Ash's chapters that she even has a thought for him is in regards to Lan not being able to heart-kill. Ash has obviously moved on. Raif has obviously not. I think they will meet again yes, but it will be filled with nothing but betrayal and despair for Raif. I agree with an earlier poster that it seems completely feasible that they will end up being put against each other especially considering the sull's hate of Raif due to their prophecy and her now being sull. Raif I expect is just in for one heart breaking moment after another untill his end finally comes. Which is terrible and saddening to many of us readers and even though I personally hate that he has been and I bet will continue to go through these events, I feel not only pity, but respect that he still perseveres.