The original version of this page can be found at : http://forum.sfreader.com/default.aspx?f=41&m=68251
Posted By : Nathan Jerpe - 2/4/2008 9:10 PM
So I've updated the dramatis personae over on the Ouroboros sticky thread (need to set up a link when I'm not so lazy!), and I wasn't sure where to put:
 
Helteranius
Zeldornius
Jalcanaius Fostus
 
These three great captains were first mentioned in Chapter VII as being hired by Gaslark, but this doesn't necessarily imply that they are Goblins.
 
I'm guessing Chapter IX is their big scene (a cool one) so I figured this thread would be a good place to mention them.


http://roguelikefiction.com


Posted By : Bill Ward - 2/5/2008 5:23 PM
I gotta admit chapter 9 had my eyes glazing over.

I liked chapter 10 and Brandoch receiving a cursed prophesy (or weird).


billwardwriter.com


Posted By : James Enge - 2/5/2008 7:09 PM
Bill: I know what you mean about Ch. 9; the Zeldornius, Helteranius, Jalcanaius Fostus thing had its moments, but in the end seemed pretty stagey, right down to the earth gaping on cue for Zeldornius. Ch. 10 was more fun: I like the castle of Ishnain Nemartra and its mysterious lady. I also like it that Brandoch Daha didn't just exchange some polite Tolkienian words with her: this section reminded me more of Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories (like "Stardock" or "When the Sea King's Away") than anything in so-called high fantasy.

I look forward to the return of Corund and Gro, too. Things usually start to happen when those guys show up.

Nathan: Thanks for doing the dramatis personae. Don't forget Mivarsh Faz: he pops up in Ch. 9 and he'll be around for a few chapters, if I remember right.



James Enge
http://jamesenge.com/

"A Covenant with Death" in Flashing Swords
"The Lawless Hours" in Black Gate 11
"The Gordian Stone" in Every Day Fiction
"The Red Worm's Way" forthcoming in Return of the Sword
"Payment in Full" forthcoming in Black Gate


Posted By : Nik - 2/8/2008 4:37 PM
Chapter 9 = melodramatic

Chapter 10 = Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

James: The interaction between Brandoch and the mysterious lady in 10 did feel a bit Leiberish, which I liked. Sometimes I wonder if Tolkien even liked girls...


Nicholas Ian Hawkins

Forthcoming
"Knowledge and Dust," in Magic & Mechanica, from Ricasso Press, Winter 2008

"What Heroes Leave Behind," in Return of the Sword, Flashing Swords Press, Spring 2008

Published
"Relativity," in FLASHSHOT, September 28, 2007


Visit my website, Trampler of Beautiful Phrases, at nihawkins.wordpress.com


Posted By : Nathan Jerpe - 2/14/2008 3:15 PM

Hmmm, Leiberish? I'll have to check out those Gray Mouser stories...I'm a beginner with Leiber.

On another tangent, I liked how after his encounter with the mysterious woman, Brandoch Daha used the moon to resolve his experience of time disparity. He did this as if the heavens were unsusceptible to earthly curses; beyond reproach as it were.

This isn't the first time Eddison has appealed to the heavens I don't think; astronomy seems to play a more important role in this work than most fantasy. I recall mentions of Arcturus (a voyage to which was documented just two years earlier) and some others.

In today's random Wikipedia wanderings I noticed that Pluto was discovered only a few years after the publication of Ouroboros. Back in '22 they were calling it Planet X, suspecting it was out there but never quite finding it.

Maybe in the wake of the last century's scientific discoveries, the concept of 'solar system as setting' has passed from the realm of fantasy to that of science fiction? Maybe our solar system is just not fantastic enough any more?


http://roguelikefiction.com