Alice
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Hello, thank you for your books, they are among my most re-read, which means most loved and important to me. I've been thinking a lot lately about Desdemona's fate in the afterlife. It seems she will dissolve into nothing, which seems like a sundering. I really want this to not be the case for her. Does the White God, who is perhaps part demon himself, take back His creatures whole, if not all the time, sometimes? (hide spoiler)]
Lois McMaster Bujold
Glad you're enjoying the books!
Demonic dissolution is indeed about the same thing as sundering, only on fast-forward. Desdemona's ultimate fate is undetermined at this time, but is certainly one reason she's trying so hard to keep Pen alive.
One possibility may be that she's reached the maximum size of demon that any human head can hold, and her next jump would entail some trimming, mutilation, or loss, like a human-expanded demon going back into an animal. It might not be good for the human target, either. Demons aren't Great Beasts, but one also remembers the messy fate of Pen's Great Earthworm experiment. Another is that over some unusually long sorcerer's life, the human-demon amalgam may undergo some change-of-state that makes such a, for lack of a clearer term, soul-upload to the god possible. Des is in no hurry to test the problem.
Ta, L.
Glad you're enjoying the books!
Demonic dissolution is indeed about the same thing as sundering, only on fast-forward. Desdemona's ultimate fate is undetermined at this time, but is certainly one reason she's trying so hard to keep Pen alive.
One possibility may be that she's reached the maximum size of demon that any human head can hold, and her next jump would entail some trimming, mutilation, or loss, like a human-expanded demon going back into an animal. It might not be good for the human target, either. Demons aren't Great Beasts, but one also remembers the messy fate of Pen's Great Earthworm experiment. Another is that over some unusually long sorcerer's life, the human-demon amalgam may undergo some change-of-state that makes such a, for lack of a clearer term, soul-upload to the god possible. Des is in no hurry to test the problem.
Ta, L.
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There is more information in the average sentence you write, or the average paragraph, than most other writers I can think of. Is this consciously done? To explain what I mean, when I first saw a Michelangelo sculpture up close, I was amazed at how much information was contained in all the subtle carving choices he made. Far more observations, say, than in the Mona Lisa.
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As I begin to read Free Falling after reading the series thus far in the chronological timeline of the Vorkosigan family, I wanted to express my gratitude for your creation. My dad read this series as a kid (I am 24) and not only has this series formed a camaraderie between us as we bonded over Miles and his adventure, but this series reminded me of my love of reading. Thank you! (Including a ? so I can post this lol)
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