The Sword and Laser discussion
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Promise of Blood
2014 Reads
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PoB: I'm having an issue...(some spoilers for the first half)
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Sky that's...not too helpful? Are you saying the whole "killing his best friend" plot gets sidetracked? Or does fighting the lion help Taniel make a decision? Is it a sensible decision, storywise? Is the friend gonna take a massive infodump that explains the whole geis thing and why Taniel can't kill him because and...?See, I really need a true spoiler right now.
How about a half-assed spoiler? I got to this point in the book yesterday and I'm a little irked. Not only does the "killing his best friend" plot gets sidetracked, but Taniel justifies his decision as a necessity in the face of war, and he's probably right. Like father, like son. I'm irritated with both of them.
You know what that reminded me of, actually? Battlestar Galactica - the relationship between Apollo and Commander Adama in the show, the tension between duty and family...I went along with it. I actually thought the scene where Tamas gave Taniel the order was very well-written.
Grr stupid app doesn't let me see spoilers. Um. I asked for spoilers and put it in the thread title - you don't have to hide them I think.
Ok, thanks David Sven, now I know at least the basics, I guess. I really would have been happy with a full on spoiler - is everyone too conditioned against it nowadays? I got all these hints and sort of answers and spoiler within a spoiler lol.Now at least I'm interested in seeing how the choice to NOT KILL HIM is justified. Oh yes, I went there.
Michele wrote: "I got all these hints and sort of answers and spoiler within a spoiler lol."Well I wasn't sure how much you wanted to be spoiled so nested spoilers allow spoilers by degrees :)
Michele wrote: "Now at least I'm interested in seeing how the choice to NOT KILL HIM is justified. Oh yes, I went there. "It isn't, really. Taniel can't bring himself to do it, and he comes up with the plausible explanation that he needed Bo for the attack on the mountain by the Kez to explain to his father why. But that's just an excuse for the fact that he thinks that his father ordering him to kill his best friend is jerkish and he doesn't want to do it. He decides that they will probably find a way to remove the geis, but that basically gets set aside except for a vague "the compulsion isn't that bad, yet" from Bo later.
Did I spoil directly enough? Was that helpful?
Whoohoo! Joanna is my new best friend!Thanks very much, exactly what I was afraid was going to happen, exactly what I wanted to know.
Michele wrote: "Whoohoo! Joanna is my new best friend!Thanks very much, exactly what I was afraid was going to happen, exactly what I wanted to know."
Woot. Yay for friends.
Everybody's cagey about spoilers here, but I figured the thread was marked for spoilers, and you explicitly asked for it. But I can see how people would try to be as vague as possible so as not to risk you saying they had gone too far.
Must. Not. Spoil. Ahhrrghhh!?#See Joanna's second to last post.
It's possible that the whole geis thing is resolved in The Crimson Campaign, but I haven't read that one.
I think everyone is just being extra careful because a few people were spoiled by accident in one of the threads last month and got upset.
It's been a couple months since I read the book, but wasn't this a Frodo-Gollum-type situation? Taniel doesn't kill Bo for reasons that aren't rational, but that ends up helping him with the plot later on?
I feel like I've been conditioned to avoid spoilers. Or perhaps its a geis. Has anyone noticed Tom or Veronica wearing rune-covered white gloves and making disturbingly odd motions with their hands?
Michele wrote: "Sky that's...not too helpful? Are you saying the whole "killing his best friend" plot gets sidetracked? Or does fighting the lion help Taniel make a decision? Is it a sensible decision, storywise? ..."I must admit I had a few too many beers at that point and totally misread your question.
Hahaha! Thanks for the effort though :)
Sure, Happy to confound you with erroneous answers any time! :)
His reasoning isn't good, but IMO the plot as it develops is still satisfying because he knows his reasons are terrible, and it seems to be implied that his choice is going to have serious consequences. Bo is a time bomb that looms over the narrative.
I think aside from making me really pissed off at Tamas, who I at least respected up til now, I'm afraid I'm going to hate what happens either way. I mean, if he kills him I'll lose any sympathy for Taniel. If he doesn't kill him I'll think it's a major cop out, storywise. This is tough because so far we've gotten no real explanation for why the death might be necessary, besides some weak thing about a spell or vow or geis thingy.
Does what happens next make sense? You can spoil it for me if necessary, I'm not worried about that. I just want to know if whatever outcome is properly justified and believable. Because I want to continue reading, I like the overall plot, but I usually need to be invested in the characters, and this scene is threatening to totally kill it for me, since none of these characters has made me love them yet.