This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Mister Six: According to Satire/Parody/Pastiche, these novels parody Alexandre Dumas. Is this true? Because this write-up doesn't mention Dumas, nor does it sound like they are parodies - or even humorous at all.
Etrangere: Yes, it's true. And yes, they're funny. YMMV.
Shire Nomad: Most of it's a pastiche, but the flowery language style itself is over the top and thus crosses into Affectionate Parody territory.
Jordan: First I'm glad this page was created, but I was wondering about in the most recent book how Vlad wants to see Kiera even though he knows that she is just an alter ego of Sethra, if Sethra disappear and then return as Kiera is an example of status quo being god- it sort of reminds me of the thing with Principle Skinner being an imposter where the characters choose to maintain an illusion.
Shire Nomad: I wouldn't worry about it; read between the lines and I'm pretty sure it's just mutually agreed-upon for the two to maintain the illusion. Also beneficial for those readers who are reading the books even more out of order than Brust writes them in; I've noticed he likes making each as stand-alone as possible.
Some of the descriptions were too in-depth for this page, not to mention good examples, so I moved them to their respective tropes pages.
(Lavode:) I re-categorized an entry from Rant Inducing Slight to Berserk Button. When someone calls Aliera short, she doesn't stop at yelling at them.
Phoenix Fire: I'm wondering about the Fantasy Counterpart Culture example; would that maybe be better classified as "justified"? I mean, Brust is just playing it straight with an explanation.
Jordan: I may have written that description at some point- I think justified would be fair to say, although it does differ from others in that the cultures seem to be like Earth cultures because they originally were from Earth. - Also, a question about a potential example: I was considering adding Slytherin House. In this case, there of course literal houses and I've noticed that some of them seem to be like x house plus ambition or else have negative characteristics built in. For example, both the Athyra and Hawk are scholarly types, but the Athyra are more clearly ambitious and sometimes end up in the Evil Sorceror role. Similarly, both Dragons and Dzur are the Proud Race Warrior Guy house, but the Dragons seem to be power hungry whereas Dzur are more often of the Blood Knight variety. This actually seems to make the latter more sympathetic. Also, I was thinking how oddly, the Orca aren't just the house of merchants, they are the house of corrupt merchants.
Evil Midnight Lurker: Why is Medieval Stasis listed as Averted? The Empire is TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND YEARS OLD and while sorcery has gone through a lot of evolutions, especially in the years since the Interregnum, technology and culture are locked in place to an extent that I would find utterly unbelievable were it not for the existence of the gods and the Cycle.
Phoenix Fire: Switched out Author Appeal for the more-appropriate Food Porn.
Jordan: I see that listing Vlad as a Villain Protagonist was deleted. I think it's an interesting question. I've come across at least some websites (I think that Fantasy Rants one) that call him this, but he is also clearly an Anti-Hero. I'd say since he tends to make the world at least slightly better by the end of the book and has relatively decent motives, he's more Anti-Hero than Villain Protagonist. That being said, I'm of the opinion that Morrolan and Aliera would be villains were they not Vlad's friends.
Lavode: Agreed - I get the impression that the Empire has a value system that is quite different from most of ours, with less emphasis on charity for the weak. Even the more sympathetic aristocrat characters (like Khaavren) think it's perfectly natural that they should have rights that Teckla don't, and Vlad is apparently beginning to see that the whole system that he and many of his friends benefit from is wrong. (Political fantasy, yay!)
