In The Text: There Is No Substitute For Good Manners - Except Fast Reflexes.

Well it's past time for another text post, especially as Lorigga is already more than halfway through the book, if not finished by now. Last post I said I'd talk about Dragaeran Society, but as Lorigga pointed out to me, it's fairly well explained in the book. Instead I will quickly summarize and then give some information about the cycle. There are two main sentient species that inhabit the planet: Dragaerans and Easterners.

Dragaeran Traits:
- 6 to 8 feet in height averaging in at 7 feet
- No facial hair
- Tend to be thin, never fat
- Mostly black or brown hair, blonde is very rare
- Lifespans average 3,000 years
Easterner Traits:
- Pretty much the same as people on Earth

Easterners live in small communities in the the Dragaeran Empire and are called such because most of them live East of the Eastern Mountains. Within the Empire they are second class citizens and are mostly non-existent in the houses.

There are 17 houses each represented by a different animal found on Dragaera. Most houses will have common physical traits between their members and tend to wear clothes colored based on their house. Only two will allow Easterners: Jhereg and Teckla. If an Easterner has sufficient funds they can buy a title in the Jhereg. If an Easterner swears fealty to the Lord of a region of land, they can become a Teckla, the only house with non-noble status that makes up 90% of the Empire's population.

From the Lyorn Records:
The Great Cycle is perhaps the most fundamental law of nature on Dragaera. It is said that the Cycle has always existed on Dragaera (even before the arrival of the Jenoine) and even the gods are subject to its influence. The position (or Reign) of the Cycle determines which House can claim the throne and the Orb. A House's position on the cycle also affects how well fate favors each house. This is somewhat similar to the phases of the moon--a House whose position is rising in the Cycle, such as the Dragon, is gaining favor, while the Athyra whose Reign has passed "recently" will continue to lose favor until the next Vallista Reign, when it will start to rise again. At the time of Dzur, it is the Reign of a reborn Phoenix (Zerika the Fourth). The time a cycle takes to complete depends on the length of each Reign. A Reign may be as short as 289 years, or as long as 4,913 years. It may be possible for several different emperors of a given house to rule during a single Reign, but once a Reign ends, leadership of The Empire passes to a new House.Thus, a single Cycle could be as short as 4,913 years, or as long as 83,521 years. Seventeen Cycles make up a Great Cycle. The Empire being well over 200,000 years old, we are now just barely into the second Great Cycle. The Cycle is not just a mental construct but is an actual item located near the Halls of Judgment in the Paths of the Dead. It is a massive stone wheel, mounted on the side of a great wall. According to Dragaerans who are authorities on the subject, this artifact is not simply a manifestation or symbol of the cycle--this massive stone wheel actually is the cycle in every important respect. It is said that if someone were able to physically turn the stone wheel, then the cycle itself would, in fact, change. Given the mass of the cycle, this does not seem likely. It should be noted that the cycle apparently rotates in a counter-clockwise direction.

Phoenix sinks into decay,
Haughty dragon yearns to slay.
Lyorn growls and lowers horn,
Tiassa dreams and plots are born.
Hawk looks down from lofty flight,
Dzur stalks and blends with night.
Issola strikes from courtly bow,
Tsalmoth maintains though none knows how.
Vallista rends and then rebuilds,
Jhereg feeds on others' kills.
Quiet iorich won't forget,
Sly chreotha weaves his net.
Yendi coils and strikes, unseen,
Orca circles, hard and lean.
Frightened teckla hides in grass,
Jhegaala shifts as moments pass.
Athyra rules minds' interplay,
Phoenix rise from ashes, gray.

In The Text: I Trained Him. He Bit Me.

I must confess, this will be my third time reading Jhereg. I'm usually very anti reading the same book over again (ask Sydny), I dunno I'm weird like that I guess. However this book is one of the few exceptions. It's not his best written, as it was his first book published back in '83, but it is an excellent introduction to Vlad Taltos' adventures in Dragaera. I think one of the reasons I'll prolly be rereading this book for years to come is Brust's way of casually dropping information that at first pass you don't even notice. Already 5 chapters in, I'm gleaming subtle hints about future events that I hadn't really noticed or thought about on my first read through. And it's not that the book is filled with passages that make no sense, but that the delivery can hold several meanings with a verbal sleight of hand directing you away from the insight. My next post will fill in some background information on Dragaeran society. I wish you all "long life and good hunting" =)

p.s. I must say I am offended that Europe gets way cooler images on the covers of their fantasy books. The above is from the french version of Jhereg and is completely evil and badass looking. /jealousy

In the text (offiliated with In the cup)

Well the new offshoot of In the cup has officially been created. We shall be called In the text. Each month or so we will elect new books to read. I nominate that we generally try to read "classics" because if not I doubt we will ever leave the sci fi/fantasy realm (and besides its much more fun to read books that none of us have read and the classic genre Im sure has tons and tons of books we havent touched). However In the text is a democratic organization and all book nominations will be up for discussion at the close of the last text. So far we have 3 members. To join its easy, just pick up the current text and dig in. We are currently reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. Cmon...you know you want to be cool like us!

Now to the first post about Pride and Prejudice. Ive read up to Ch. 6. I promised Ron I wouldnt read more but that was sort of a one day thing. After tonight all bets are off. Besides, its such an easy read. I find myself turning the pages with ease and Im eager to find out whats going to happen next. Its all about marriage but I find myself wondering, will Mr. Bingley go for Lizzy or Jane, will Mr. Darcy continue to be rude and cold, or most likely, will Mrs. Bennett give Mr. Bennett a heart attack from all her crazy rants and "nerves". You just have to keep reading to find out!

I can see why I couldnt handle this type of novel when I was in high school. Marriage and social customs of semi-aristocratic societies was not exactly my idea of a fun read. Now however from a much more removed perspective I can appreciate the rigid practices of these small towns for the connections they have with our own modern rigid practices that are very much still in place with regard to if a man is successful than he must of course be looking for a wife. Brilliant observations into a world so superficial, yet her subtlety in relating the joy that everyone gets out of "playing the game" and the entertainment it causes them (without the goal of marriage it seems many of the characters would not even have lives) makes the whole lifestyle much more endearing when being portrayed from Austin's eyes. I cant help but love the rat race that Im currently in, I suppose it would be very unfair for me to expect that people in Austin's day and age didnt both loathe and love their own rat race. I have much more to say about the writing style and the characters but Ill wait until I read to Ch. 10. Id like to have a bit more to comment on before I get into the style. Just wanted to share that so far so good! Pleasantly surprised to say the least. Long live In the text!