Discussion:
Rise of a Merchant Prince
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Joker
2006-03-24 19:46:12 UTC
Permalink
Ok, I just finished RoMP. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I like the fact
that it was mostly based in Krodor and dealt primarily with Roo's rise to
power. While I felt it relied a bit more on chance (the locust plague) it
was great to see Roo in action, taking advantage of a one up opportunity. I
thought the characters behavior was more or less believable in that he gave
his family all their material needs and yet was very distant emotionally.
It was great to see Martin, I presume, one last time. The only problem I
had was right at the end when Duke James could not spare a ship to go after
Calis's group. I understand he is marshalling for an impending war, but
Calis has proven he usually comes out of these situations and with new
information. Also, what is up with Sylvia and her dad? That last exchange
where she's just wandering around naked in front of him was just weird. Ok,
fine she's a cold hearted tool, but her dad?
--
Joker
"...God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me."
Gen. 21:6
~misfit~
2006-03-24 23:52:27 UTC
Permalink
Post by Joker
Ok, I just finished RoMP. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I like the
fact that it was mostly based in Krodor and dealt primarily with
Roo's rise to power. While I felt it relied a bit more on chance
(the locust plague) it was great to see Roo in action, taking
advantage of a one up opportunity. I thought the characters behavior
was more or less believable in that he gave his family all their
material needs and yet was very distant emotionally. It was great to
see Martin, I presume, one last time. The only problem I had was
right at the end when Duke James could not spare a ship to go after
Calis's group. I understand he is marshalling for an impending war,
but Calis has proven he usually comes out of these situations and
with new information. Also, what is up with Sylvia and her dad? That last
exchange where she's just wandering around naked in front
of him was just weird. Ok, fine she's a cold hearted tool, but her
dad?
She was a cold-hearted tool *of* her dad. How do you think she got that way?
You have to read between the lines. That part came as no surprise to me as
I'd already worked out the dynamic in that relationship.
As for Roo's business benefiting from chance for it's initial boost, that
happens a lot in the real world too, both ways. Some business' get lucky and
have a meteoric rise, some get unlucky and crash, most just struggle on,
building or declining slowly. Also, some people make their own luck. I know,
I once lived in that world (business) myself. A joke from that era, from
business school: (Q) What's the easiest way to own your own small business?
(A) Start off with a large business and *wait*. You have to read between the
lines on that one too. Roo didn't "wait", he got out there and found
oportunities.
As you said, "Calis has proven he usually comes out of these situations and
with new information". The operative words being "comes out". It's not
always necessary to look after someone who can look after thems-elf. <g>
Sorry, perhaps I'm pre-empting Ray, although, IME, it doesn't pay to ask too
much from an author about his work. Reading is a two-way thing, the author
gives you 90% of the story but it's up to the reader to add that last 10%,
(YMMV, those are just arbitrary figures off the top of my head, some readers
add more than 10%) to use their imagination and intelligence, to interpret
the written word into mental images. That's why it is a far superior medium
to TV or film. They are both completely passive and require little more than
having the viewer stay awake. With TV/film I usually play "guess the ending"
as my mind is otherwise 80% free, (I dislike not using my mind) taking only
20% (max, with really complicated plots. If a film/TV programme doesn't
require 15%+ of my processing power I stop watching it.... unless I'm
hung-over, something that's increasingly rare these days. Good wine/scotch
is usually expensive) to process input. I get the endings/plot twists right
to such an extent and with such accuracy often enough that a friend swears
that I'm psychic. (I am a little but that's another story). To me, movies
and TV are fine for when you're tired, emotionally or physically (or hung
over) or with company and want simple, on a plate storylines. They will
never take the place of a good book for someone with an active and
imaginative mind.
TTFN,
--
~Shaun~
Tom Sico
2006-03-25 19:19:01 UTC
Permalink
Post by ~misfit~
Post by Joker
Ok, I just finished RoMP. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I like the
fact that it was mostly based in Krodor and dealt primarily with
Roo's rise to power. While I felt it relied a bit more on chance
(the locust plague) it was great to see Roo in action, taking
advantage of a one up opportunity. I thought the characters behavior
was more or less believable in that he gave his family all their
material needs and yet was very distant emotionally. It was great to
see Martin, I presume, one last time. The only problem I had was
right at the end when Duke James could not spare a ship to go after
Calis's group. I understand he is marshalling for an impending war,
but Calis has proven he usually comes out of these situations and
with new information. Also, what is up with Sylvia and her dad? That last
exchange where she's just wandering around naked in front
of him was just weird. Ok, fine she's a cold hearted tool, but her
dad?
She was a cold-hearted tool *of* her dad. How do you think she got that way?
You have to read between the lines. That part came as no surprise to me as
I'd already worked out the dynamic in that relationship.
As for Roo's business benefiting from chance for it's initial boost, that
happens a lot in the real world too, both ways. Some business' get lucky and
have a meteoric rise, some get unlucky and crash, most just struggle on,
building or declining slowly. Also, some people make their own luck. I know,
I once lived in that world (business) myself. A joke from that era, from
business school: (Q) What's the easiest way to own your own small business?
(A) Start off with a large business and *wait*. You have to read between the
lines on that one too. Roo didn't "wait", he got out there and found
oportunities.
As you said, "Calis has proven he usually comes out of these situations and
with new information". The operative words being "comes out". It's not
always necessary to look after someone who can look after thems-elf. <g>
Sorry, perhaps I'm pre-empting Ray, although, IME, it doesn't pay to ask too
much from an author about his work. Reading is a two-way thing, the author
gives you 90% of the story but it's up to the reader to add that last 10%,
(YMMV, those are just arbitrary figures off the top of my head, some readers
add more than 10%) to use their imagination and intelligence, to interpret
the written word into mental images. That's why it is a far superior medium
to TV or film. They are both completely passive and require little more than
having the viewer stay awake. With TV/film I usually play "guess the ending"
as my mind is otherwise 80% free, (I dislike not using my mind) taking only
20% (max, with really complicated plots. If a film/TV programme doesn't
require 15%+ of my processing power I stop watching it.... unless I'm
hung-over, something that's increasingly rare these days. Good wine/scotch
is usually expensive) to process input. I get the endings/plot twists right
to such an extent and with such accuracy often enough that a friend swears
that I'm psychic. (I am a little but that's another story). To me, movies
and TV are fine for when you're tired, emotionally or physically (or hung
over) or with company and want simple, on a plate storylines. They will
never take the place of a good book for someone with an active and
imaginative mind.
TTFN,
You've put too much thought into this.
-- Tom
~misfit~
2006-03-26 09:45:34 UTC
Permalink
Post by Tom Sico
Post by ~misfit~
Post by Joker
Ok, I just finished RoMP. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I like
the fact that it was mostly based in Krodor and dealt primarily with
Roo's rise to power. While I felt it relied a bit more on chance
(the locust plague) it was great to see Roo in action, taking
advantage of a one up opportunity. I thought the characters
behavior was more or less believable in that he gave his family all
their
material needs and yet was very distant emotionally. It was great to
see Martin, I presume, one last time. The only problem I had was
right at the end when Duke James could not spare a ship to go after
Calis's group. I understand he is marshalling for an impending war,
but Calis has proven he usually comes out of these situations and
with new information. Also, what is up with Sylvia and her dad?
That last exchange where she's just wandering around naked in front
of him was just weird. Ok, fine she's a cold hearted tool, but her
dad?
She was a cold-hearted tool *of* her dad. How do you think she got
that way? You have to read between the lines. That part came as no
surprise to me as I'd already worked out the dynamic in that
relationship. As for Roo's business benefiting from chance for it's
initial boost,
that happens a lot in the real world too, both ways. Some business'
get lucky and have a meteoric rise, some get unlucky and crash, most
just struggle on, building or declining slowly. Also, some people
make their own luck. I know, I once lived in that world (business)
myself. A joke from that era, from business school: (Q) What's the
easiest way to own your own small business? (A) Start off with a
large business and *wait*. You have to read between the lines on
that one too. Roo didn't "wait", he got out there and found
oportunities. As you said, "Calis has proven he usually comes out of
these
situations and with new information". The operative words being
"comes out". It's not always necessary to look after someone who can
look after thems-elf. <g> Sorry, perhaps I'm pre-empting Ray, although,
IME, it doesn't pay to
ask too much from an author about his work. Reading is a two-way
thing, the author gives you 90% of the story but it's up to the
reader to add that last 10%, (YMMV, those are just arbitrary figures
off the top of my head, some readers add more than 10%) to use their
imagination and intelligence, to interpret the written word into
mental images. That's why it is a far superior medium to TV or film.
They are both completely passive and require little more than having
the viewer stay awake. With TV/film I usually play "guess the
ending" as my mind is otherwise 80% free, (I dislike not using my
mind) taking only 20% (max, with really complicated plots. If a
film/TV programme doesn't require 15%+ of my processing power I stop
watching it.... unless I'm hung-over, something that's increasingly
rare these days. Good wine/scotch is usually expensive) to process
input. I get the endings/plot twists right to such an extent and
with such accuracy often enough that a friend swears that I'm
psychic. (I am a little but that's another story). To me, movies and
TV are fine for when you're tired, emotionally or physically (or
hung over) or with company and want simple, on a plate storylines.
They will never take the place of a good book for someone with an
active and imaginative mind. TTFN,
You've put too much thought into this.
Hehe. Gotta watch more TV, stop that brain from working.......
--
~Shaun~
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Joker2006-03-24 19:46:12 UTC