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NeilNjae
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I got confused and read it a month ago!
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The book is clearly not a gazetteer, so why did Priest decide on this form for the work? Did he have a chunk of spare worldbuilding he wanted to show off? The book now clearly is revolving around these same few individuals and Commis's death. I sti…
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(Quote) I can explain it as one of those effects that only shows up over large distances. At the scale of an island or so, navigation is accurate and mapping is possible. The weird effects show up at distances of hundreds or thousands of km, making …
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(Quote) It reminded me of Hong Kong, but you're right: it's reminiscent of plenty of large cities in warm climates. Two questions, though. Those cities tend to be supported by large rural hinterlands: where are they in the Archipelago? And the &qu…
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What I get from these chapters is that the Northerners' war is everywhere, but the Islanders deliberately don't see it. There are northern military police roaming Mesterline; Muriseay has two military camps, maintained by force; someone's building a…
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There's also the theory that various ancient megastructures (Stonehenge, some pyramids in Chichen Itza) are designed to give an acoustic element to events there. But in the Dream Archipelago, it seems to be something that art students do, and I thin…
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(Quote) The in-world description of The Islanders is one of a gazetteer of the islands, with individual descriptions penned by many people. So why did the compiler of the gazetteer include this piece of narrative? Did they think it would make a good…
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(Quote) I think it makes about as much sense as any other deep reading of the book's symbolism!
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(Quote) That's a great contemporary reading of the situation. But how about the Classical one? The book is a journey across an unknown Mediterranean, hopping from island to island. An Odyssey, if you will. Is there anything to be gained from that re…
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Thanks for the reviews, @Apocryphal . I hadn't made the connection between the Archipelago and Greece, but it's obvious now it's pointed out. It might fit hole similar to the Caribbean for those on the other side of the pond. Accessible, but still …
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(Quote) Lorna expressed admiration for the tunnels as an art form. (Quote) I could read the final, circling drone as Lorna. She's finally given up dreams of leaving the island, and her personal horizon has shrunk to the one island, constantly circl…
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We learn that tunneling is a landscape-modifying art which produces soundscapes. It ties in to the constant mentions of winds and currents, as they're what produce the sounds. Do the tunnels capture the wind? Channel it? Emphasise it? I don't think …
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(Quote) The secret to stage magic is misdirection. The secret to stories abut stage magic is also redirection?
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(Quote) I'm sorry to hear about that. As for the book, the gaining and losing of the internal narrative is an interesting idea that could have been explored.
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(Quote) "Deft" is the word that springs to mind. As others have mentioned, I think Pratchett is closer stylistically to Wodehouse than Douglas Adams. Adams can be rather pointedly clever; Pratchett and Wodehouse rarely rub our noses in it.
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(Quote) That's a good crystallisation of the point. Yes, the place is full of smug artists that leave a wake of damage. I don't know if it's autobiographical, or it's a point that Priest is trying to make in this book.
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(Quote) Is this based on the "systems" view of history, as opposed to the "great man" view. Pratchett's saying that individual actions can make a difference at the level of individuals, but individuals are generally powerless at …
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(Quote) Perhaps I'm projecting from his later books. You can imagine the thought process behind this book: "Death's a popular character, but I need a viewpoint character as a way in to the story, let's give Death an apprentice." Death goe…
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I think it was Robin Laws who coined the terms "iconic hero" vs "dramatic hero." In that framing, iconic heroes are ones like Kirk or Holmes, people who don't change over the story; they're suited for episodic stories. Dramatic h…
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(Quote) Ooh. (Or should I say "Ook"?) There's an interesting idea. It's also interesting that the veracity of the written stories, in Death's library, is never questioned or shown to be inaccurate. I wonder if an older Pratchett would hav…
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I've not played Dying Earth and it's ages since I've read it. Something like Fate Accelerated could also work; that's a game where characters are described by their personality and relationships more than physical abilities. I would say Smallville …
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Pratchett obviously loves the genre, tropes and all, so his satire of them is full of sympathy and warmth. I don't think this would work with an author who was hostile (or even neutral) to the genre. As for how to run humorous RPG sessions? I have …
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One thing I forgot to mention. Mort's name and what it means. He spends most of the book being called "boy" and resenting it. Just about as soon as he becomes recognised as an adult and people call him "Mort", he becomes Duke of …
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There's not a great deal to the plot. It's amusing seeing how both Mort and Death grow through the story: it's not just Mort's changes that matter. Mort learnt responsibility and Death learnt about justice. As for doing a coming of age story, I thi…
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The satire is something that permeates Pratchett's work, like the word "Blackpool" runs through a stick of rock. There's a warmth to it as well: most people are generally decent and trying to do the right thing, even if the structures and …
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Junno read like a British commentary on the worst of USAian libertarianism and gun culture. I'm not sure there was much more to it. Bathurst seems more like a superhuman Lothario than an actual human being. These islands show some of the impact of …
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Sounds intriguing. Kindle is good for me, so availability isn't an issue.
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Oh. Oh. I've got myself confused. I've read Final Harbour, the submarine book that's the March pick. I'll see if I can catch up with Mort soon!
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Why glass? Is the prevalence of glass a metaphor for something? Glass is transparent but tangible; it separates but allows observation. Is there a connection with painting and pictures? Hike could have slammed a door on Commis, but instead mimed th…
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As a short story, would this stand on its own? I don't think so. It's interesting because of how it shines new light on the Commis affair. As a short story itself, I don't think it's compelling; it doesn't make a point by itself. I did entertain th…