Today, a Just For Fun post...

[seawasp]

... people often ask me what my favorite parts of my own books are, so here we go -- My Favorite Moments, Part 1!

Comments

[pedanther]

Unrelated to the nominal topic of the post, I finished reading Phoenix in Shadow yesterday, and now I have Theories about what will be revealed in book three.

Also, you should picture me shaking my fist at you when I recognized where the Wanderer's badass boast comes from.

[seawasp]

Since the third book's out, you can certainly tell me your theories and we can see how close you come.

:) I was afraid that either no-one would get that one, or too many people would and the BBC or whoever owns the rights would get twitchy.

[pedanther]

One of the theories relates to the identity of the Big Bad and the "other game, already in progress, on a far more distant playing field". It's mentioned in the prologue that, despite the obvious reasons why this should be impossible, the Big Bad is familiar with electronics, which suggests Earth as a possible location for the "far more distant playing field". And the bit about the last skirmish being "surprisingly painful, if instructive" reminded me of the dynamic between Jason Wood and his Big Bad - who, I notice, gets namechecked in this novel as one of the few beings who might even consider crossing the King of All Hells.

The other is not so much a theory as an observation of a parallel that, if deliberate, might be foreshadowing something. It's a plot point in this novel that our heroes enter a place that has supposedly been isolated from the rest of Zarathan for thousands of years and yet its native tongue is mutually intelligible with the Zarathan lingua franca. And here's the thing: Earth has also supposedly been isolated from Zarathan for thousands of years, and it's implied in Phoenix Rising - by the way our heroes can understand what they say to each other in the Star Cell, if nothing else - that Xavier and his friends' native tongue is mutually intelligible with the Zarathan lingua franca. (Then again, given Khoros and the Wanderer and the yet-unnamed Big Bad, it would seem we already know that the separation of Earth and Zarathan is somewhat overstated.)

I have book three right here, and I'm looking forward to seeing if I'm right. (Entertainingly wrong would also be an acceptable outcome.) I should probably get my day's work done first, though...

[seawasp]

The translation of Earth-language to Zarathan-language is actually explained in the Spirit Warriors trilogy. It's not coincidence, no, but it's not as sinister as the issue with Kaizatenzei.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Speaking of, any word on when we'll see the Spirit Warriors trilogy?

[seawasp]

Oh, and do a review of Phoenix in Shadow and you'll kick it over the 20 mark! :)

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Since it's not fresh in my mind... what chapter was this so that I can find it?

[pedanther]

Chapter 54.

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Yup. I somehow managed to miss that the first time through. I mean, I recognized it from *somewhere* just not where. Then again, the elderwyrm is a bit of a distraction. And, well, Sunfall. :)

[xander-opal.livejournal.com]

What a clever ploy to get me to re-read your books. ;)