Sept'09 Sabriel / Magical devices

[Jeanne]

What did you think of the paper wing? Did you think if feasible that something made of paper would support so many humans?

[Jon]

It was enhanced paper. :) So, who can say how many humans it would take to crash a paper wing.

[Becky]

I envisioned the Paperwing as kind of a really big model airplane. Really lightweight, but lacquered and durable.

It seemed to me that there was really only room for one person and cargo. Perhaps it could be made to comfortably seat two plus cargo, but I didn't get the impression that the Paperwing was intended to be a commercial aircraft. :)

When Touchstone was passed out after hauling Sabriel up the hill, they had to put him in the luggage area and strap him in. If there was a seat for him, I'd imagine they'd have used that instead.

[Elise]

I thought it was a pretty cool aircraft. I could picture well what it looked like. It seemed kind of like a glider to me.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

I don't really recall a paperwing throughout the series ever holding more than two people. I think the one Sabriel had was a one-person version, but that there are two-people versions later, but I don't recall there ever being anything larger than that.

I also forget how much we learn about the paperwings in this story, so forgive me if this wasn't in Sabriel, but I really like the description of the paperwings as coming alive and being like a living bird, almost, when it's actively being infused with magic for flight.

But I didn't, for a moment, have a problem really accepting it's existence. It is, from what I remember, described as being more sturdy than it looks and, also, as my fiance always says "It's magic". Goes a long way. :>

[Libby]

blackrose wrote: "It's magic". Goes a long way.

Yes, magic is quite good at tying up lots of loop holes - "oh, it's magic, well ok". I did love the paperwings - very creative.

[Mary-Ann]

Magic - I love the romantic idea of the paperwings, painted in the royal colours even, I don’t tend to think of things in the possible in magic. But the plausible. If such a thing as magic exsisted, it could make a plane out of paper. Often when we think of paper we think of just the paper we use in day to day for writing or of course the books that we read. But this question spurred me to think about how a paperwing might actually be constructed. There are some variations of cardboard that are actually quite sturdy, boxes, that contain files, I’ve moved may times and the design and reinforcement of wardrobes is very sturdy. Perhaps I am forgetting wrongly but I think I’ve even seen a foot stool made of cardboard. So paper, and be at least somewhat sturdy. Fortified by magic I don’t see it as an extreme stretch that it could carry a person. However to be honest, when I was reading it I just thought that the name paperwing, was one that seemed to have a sense of romance. Perhaps that it just made me think of Oragami paper cranes, come to life flying through the sky, but obviously bigger than the ones that we would fold when I was a child. :)