jvj

Omg, I got the same feeling with Mace too - I had never felt so much anger towards a character in a book before. He's just vile. But so well written because of it and he's actually worthy of his role in a way. So many times a villain is a villain because they're obviously mean and nasty, but Mace does everything on the sly and twists things and so is actually really clever and a worthy adversary.

Mace reminds me of the Archdeacon Claud Frollo from Hugo 's Hunchback of Notre Dame. He's an evil, controlling, obsessed bastard, and worst of all, he's always one step ahead of the "good" guys.

I didn't like Raina until the very last chapter of Red Ice. Now I feel like I can get behind her.

Baralis has always been my absolute favorite. He was the best thing about the Book of Words. However, I wouldn't like him as much without Crope. And his poor hands! Worse than weaving six shirts out of starwort.

It defiantly says something about how good a story is when you absolutely hate the bad guy, like Mace Blackhail.

Greg_from_NC wrote:It defiantly says something about how good a story is when you absolutely hate the bad guy, like Mace Blackhail.

Yep..that thing about "love to hate" and thats brilliantly done. Doesn't change the fact that I want to drink out of his hollowed out skull in the end, but....
Psycho Raina needs to get him killed over the duration of several days

Greg_from_NC wrote:WARNING: spoiler for A Cavern of Black Ice
Am I the only one that was completely blown-away when Iss's prisoner turned out to be Baralis?!?!?!

It was kinda backwards for me, because I read A Carvern of Black Ice almost a year before I read the Book of Words Trilogy. And by that time I had read BofW, the Baralis revelation had slipped my mind because I hadn't realized the relevance. Then when I re-read Carvern, I was just floored.

Hats-off to Miss Jones!!! Not only was Baralis the best series tie-in I've ever read, but it totally caught me off guard and with as many books/movies as I go through, that's fairly hard to do. It's something that will always stick with me.

Now, as I currently enjoy A Sword of Red Ice, I'm very anxious to see where the character of Baralis goes. Now his potential has no bounds. Will he be an unlikely ally (no spoilers please), or a an enemy. The only thing that's certain is that Baralis now an unpredictable force which makes him the most dangerous player in the story. It's one of the most unique sub-plots in the genre that I've come across.

Man...when I read the part where the creatures of the Blind gave Baralis his name, I gasped loud enough to make my parrots hiss (I was in bed reading before sleeping) and I said "Holy sh--!" ...which got me the reward of scaring the bajeezus out of my birds and causing them to thrash around in their sleeping cages. I felt horrible for waking my birds up in such a rude manner, but I laugh looking back on it now. Waking your companions up with a shocked profanity, though rude, is kinda funny...lol

Still, discovering that the Baralis we loved to hate (though I had a secret crush on him ) from BoW has been violently kidnapped and imprisoned by Iss, whom I hate with a passion, in SoS sent my head reeling. If I had been standing or sitting instead of lying in bed, I probably would have fallen on my rear or off my seat. Now Baralis has found a soft spot in my heart for what Iss did to him. All I want to do is hold him and tell him everything will be okay...but I'm sure Crope would vehemently protest to that. No one touches or cares for his Lord but himself!

There are no words to describe how much I hate Mace Blackhail. He is the epitome of everything wrong, dirty, cruel and evil. I hate him with a passion. Him and Penthero Iss. I can't stand him either. Marafice Eye grated on my nerves in the first two books, but he's beginning to grow on me since the third book...

Lessee...my favorite characters... Raif, Drey and Effie Sevrance, but most especially Raif and Drey. I could easily fall in love with a man like them. Angus Lok and his wife and girls...I actually cried at the end of Fortress when Angus returns home with the ribbons for his girls only to discover the charred remains of his house... Angus reminds me very much of my Dad.
Raina Blackhail. I liked Raina from the beginning, but she's become such an awesome character throughout the third book, I love her more and more. Anwyn Bird...I love that old lady. She reminds me a lot of my grandmother, maybe that's why I love her so much. I didn't really connect with Ash in the beginning of the first book, but as the story went on, I became more and more attached to her. She reminds me of myself in a lot of ways; she's stubborn and pig-headed, a little naive and a little afraid of what the future could bring. Ark Veinsplitter and Mal Naysayer, because they're just so damn cool! Vaylo Bludd and Drybone, oh hells yeah. I could fall in love with a man like Drybone, too... Vaylo also reminds me of my Dad, in the ways he's so fiercely protective of his family and his dogs. Stillborn and Addie Gunn, too. They both remind me of my brother. Yustaffa pissed me off at first, but we now have a love-hate relationship...lmao

I've liked Vaylo from the beginning and the further I read into the series I keep liking him more and more, (now 2/3s through Sword of Red Ice). I don't know what it is about people like the Dog Lord; harsh but stand by their own code with a soft-spot for animals, children, and misfits.

I know this is an obscure reference, but Vaylo's character reminds me a lot of NYPD Blue's Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), which I was also a big fan of. Sipowicz was a cranky, a recovered alcoholic, sometimes violent and even a little prejudice. He was an old veteran, with a past he wasn't always proud of, but any scene with him with his little son, I'd get a lump in my throat every time.

Yeah, Vaylo is reminscent of Sipowicz, isn't he? I really liked Sipowicz, too.. I was so depressed when NYPD Blue aired their final episode...

hmm favourites does bear count as a character or wolfdog? if not its gotta be the sullys ark and mal nd i suppose cluff's awesome too i kinda liek stillborn too he's weird

I never thought of that. I do rather like the animal characters (I'm going to get my Vet Tech degree eventually ), despite their background roles. Raif's horse Moose, Angus' Sull-bred bay with the really complicated name, Snowshoe the mountain pony, Bear the hill pony and definately Vaylo's pack of dogs, especially the wolf dog. Oh, don't forget the Dog Horse! That mean sonnuvabitch horse is awesome.

To my mind there is something slightly unreal about how lucky Mace Blackhail is with his evil schemes and ditto with the unlamented Stannig Beade. It reminds me a little bit about the later Harry Potter books where the villains seems to have no problems taking over the government in spite of it only being about 16-17 years since they were defeated the last time.

I can't speak for the potter books, but with the Scarpe scum I think it makes sense. They are smoothtalkers before anything else so playing on peoples fears and desires to gain advantages should not be too hard and it looks like that is exactly what they've been doing with Blackhail. Toy with fears, trigger desires. Anything to keep them from thinking clear for too long. Add some underhand assassination tactics into the mix and you have trouble brewing!

I wouldn't be surprised if the eventual plan in their minds is to just take over all of Blackhail and make it Scarpe. Blasted rodents! I'm anticipating Raina's fireworks Hers and Stannig's last encounter was a thing of beauty!

Ooohohohoho yes. I was hoping Raina would take matters into her own hands and become the silent vigilante. I clapped my hand over my mouth to keep from cheering, as it was past 2 AM and I was in bed reading, trying to relax because I couldn't sleep. Though, I can't say that trying to relax while reading JV Jones is the best idea, LOL.

...I hate Mace and his damned dirty weasels with their clever, oily tongues...

vaylo bludd is my absolute favorite, hands-down. for some reason i picture him as a less asian version of genghis khan, so there's probably some ethnic bias in my dog lord love. i feel that he is one of the most realistic players in terms of his character. he's neither purely heroic or purely evil. he makes an unwise decision in accepting help from iss, but has a good heart and sense of loyalty.

Do not be concerned with the comparison with the Potter books. There are no real similarities except it seemed a little bit too easy there too. As for Raina I think she waited too long, but then again things went downhill very quickly.