Words to the Wise Book 2 - Towards Darker Climes

[Kath]

Unless Mr Harker is going to let me down (which I sincerely hope he does not have the temerity to do - He knows I hate chick-lit!) I think there will be much more to tug the heart before the Saga is over. (Although I hope it is never over!)

[Philip (sarah)]

I liked the debate they had about 'what defines a man'.
I read it several times and could to some extent agree with each of their points of view.
I was very touched by the old woman in the settlement,for the first time in either of the books I guessed what was going to happen and highlighted W's words to Rickard when he was trying to explain her motivation for doing what she did.

[Cornelius]

Fear not, Kath, The Wanderer recoils at the very mention of chick-lit. There will, however, be some poignant moments (before The Wanderer skips daintily through those meadows).

Sarah: I'm glad the settlement scene touched you. Sometimes it's difficult to predict how such scenes will be received. Some people prefer a more action packed approach, but then of course the emotion is lost.

[Kath]

Owww - just finished it - again. I love the Jorunn section. I get pretty riled up about sects manipulating the young and impressionable but I am amazed at how well Cornelius get into the mind of a woman and can write very convincingly. Look at Dickens if you want an example of someone who can only write 'wet' women. They are cut-outs. Jorunn feels real.

[Cornelius]

I'm glad you think so, Kath. Sometimes I feel like one of the creatures; I inhabit the souls of others and peer out from behind their eyes. That just sounds weird, doesn't it?

[Jud]

yes but we've learnt to love the weird cornelius, or at least set it aside and ignore it...

I saw your comment on my review of book 2 on amazon I didnt want to reply in case people then thought I only gave a good review cause I knew you and then they would maybe ignore it.

but anyway what i wanted to say about it was; did i inspire you to continue with the blurb of book 3?

[Cornelius]

That's ok, Jud, I can understand that, and I appreciate it also. I don't expect replies on the comments part anyway, but I just feel a lot better if I thank someone for a good review; it's my thing. There are a few there whom I didn't thank, but I'd already tracked them down in the forum with my 'findpeoplethathaverecentlyreviewedyourbook' tracking device.

You have inspired me very deeply. I have blurb on the brain.

[Jud]

superb :o)

[Cornelius]

Or "sublurb", even. Oh dear.

[Kath]

burble, burble ...

[Jud]

blurle blurble...

[[deleted user]]

Do we have sight of Book three yet? I am trying to wait really patiently :-D

edit just had an answer from Ignite thanks

[Cornelius]

I'll begin editing Book Three in the new year, JB.

[Jud]

Is it the new year yet?

[Kath]

John, he's been saying 'soon' about editing the damn thing, never mind publishing, for so long that Jud and I have had to re-define the word. We now take 'soon' to mean this side of NEXT Christmas.

The longer he makes us wait, the greater our expectations will be. Then the better it has to be to satisfy us. (I don't see it failing though!)

[Cornelius]

Ok, all done, it's now edited. I just need to correct one word on page 900 and then ... oh would you look at that, there's a fox in the garden. I must investigate. I hope I've remembered to save all these new edits, otherwise when I return from investigating said fox I'll have to start the entire process again.

[Jud]

Cornelius, as they say in Belfast "I'll bang ye" (means punch), no teasing its not funny. You promised you'd be finished by March so get working.

[Kath]

You don't fool us. You have perfected procrastination to an industrial process!

[Maureen (Mews)]

Just finished this last night. My favourite part was with Rickard/The Wanderer/Horse. Had me quite tearful. I am going to think it over for a day or two before I write my review.

(view spoiler)[ This isn't really a spoiler as such, but more about some personal reminders I got while reading the book of a game I play called World of Warcraft and will probably be actually quite boring for anyone to read...lol, so I decided to hide it in a spoiler. (Not that I am suggesting the book is anything like it, it isn't AT ALL).

When I first saw the name Esben I was reminded of someone who I used to play with and he used that name as his character in the game. He hasn't played for over a year....but people come and go in online video games all the time, so that's not unusual. It just gave me a bit of a spooky "oooo" moment when I saw the name ;-). The second time I was reminded of the game was near the end, in the forest approaching Sirrenvaag. There is an area in the game called Duskwood (I don't want to post a picture here, mainly because I don't know how to...lol, but if anyone wants to google images "Duskwood" they can see lots of pictures). The descriptions of the fog etc, just instantly reminded me of this place and I couldn't stop picturing it while reading. I know it's probably nothing like you pictured it while writing it Cornelius, but this is the image I kept getting in my mind. It's a really spooky place and one area I don't often visit in the game because of that. (hide spoiler)]

[Cornelius]

I'm really glad you liked it, Maureen, and thank you in advance for the review. I've just googled 'Duskwood'. Although it isn't quite what I pictured whilst writing, I must admit the place looks rather fine to me. I've always been intrigued by 'World of Warcraft'. I reckon it's something that I would really enjoy playing, but I know that I'd lose a great deal of my life playing it. It's an absolutely huge world, isn't it? If I started playing that I don't think the saga would progress any further at all. As it is I've just started 'Skyrim'; that's another huge world. I have to limit my time with that one.

[Jud]

I hereby forbid you on pain of eternal nagging from ever beginning to play World of Warcraft Cornelius

[Kath]

See, Cornelius, your work touches people very deeply. What is that compared to on-line gaming? Back to work at once, you hear?
Pretty please - all the sprinkles in the world.

[Maureen (Mews)]

No, don't go near World of Warcraft AT ALL, or we will never see part 3 of the saga anytime soon...lol.

It is quite addictive and you do seem to lose whole chunks of your life to it. However I have been playing for 6 years now and it's lost some of that early appeal for me. I still play and enjoy it, but not as much as I used to. Which is probably just as well now that I have my son ;-). When I first started playing though, I lived alone and worked full-time. I used to lose whole weekends in a blink playing.

I have heard the name "Skyrim" but I haven't looked into it. My friend has also been trying to get me to play something called "League of Legends", but I have even resisted googling it to find out what it is. I can't afford the time to get too lost in video games these days. I have the right balance with World of Warcraft now, and just play for a few hours of an evening sometimes when the wee one goes to bed.

I shouldn't mention this, but it's recently become free to play (with restrictions). Used to be you could get a free 10 day trial before deciding if you wanted to pay for the game and subscription. But now anyone can play for free, anytime, up to level 20.

[Kath]

Oh for heaven's sake don't tell him that.
Bye-bye Sirrenvaag. I had such hopes!

[Maureen (Mews)]

Ooops sorry Ignite! I don't want Sirrenvaag to be delayed either.

Cornelius, forget the part where I said World of Warcraft was free to play. It's not. I lied. It costs hundreds, if not thousands of pounds to play and will suck the very soul from you and your wallet ;-).

[Cornelius]

Jud and Kath: Don't worry, I have no intention of venturing anywhere near 'World of Warcraft', although I must admit I was tempted by the 'play for free' side of things until Maureen put me right. I certainly have no desire to lose my soul. These game designers really take it out of you these days, don't they?

Maureen: I know all about losing chunks of life to a game. I'm just about coping with 'Skyrim'. It's part of the 'Elder Scrolls' series, 'Skyrim' being part five. Basically you free-roam through the world taking on missions, talking, fighting, eating and sleeping. There is a story arc to the whole thing but you can tackle that whenever it pleases you. It's probably very World of Warcraftish. My advice will sound very similar to yours: "Don't go near 'Skyrim'!" You'll look at your son one day and suddenly realise he's eighteen years old.

[Maureen (Mews)]

Yeah I just talked to my friend about "Skyrim" Cornelius....he stopped playing because he wanted his life back ;-). Sounds very much like World of Warcraft to me (or World of Warcrack as it should be known). Except for the eating and sleeping part. They don't even let you sleep there ;-).

[Maureen (Mews)]

Did my review yesterday and copied it to .com and goodreads. It feels a bit short and naff though (the review). But I didn't want to talk about my favourite parts too much incase of spoilers.

In other news, I visited the Game shop while I was in town today. Skyrim was on sale at half-price. I bought it.

[Cornelius]

There's absolutely nothing naff about your review, Maureen. On the contrary I thought it was great. I saw it yesterday and left you a 'Thank you' in the comments section. There's no need to reply, though, I just like to thank those who take the time to review the books; it means a great deal to me.

Uh oh! You've bought 'Skyrim'? Bye bye, life. Let me know how you get on with it. My character is on level ten at the moment. Be warned, though, make sure you build up your character sufficiently before you engage others in combat. You'll be smacked around like a squash ball for the first few hours of play.

Edit: Thank you for copying the review over to '.com' and 'Goodreads'.