Miscellaneous Cracks

Puns are a problem for translators. Two words or phrases that mean different things but sound the same in one language generally don't sound the same in another language.

So how do we get the following? Vlad is about to set off with Morrolan for Deathgate Falls, and is asking Loiosh's advice on what to bring along:

[Loiosh:]	"Witch supplies?"
[Vlad:]	"I don't know. That's what I'm asking you."
[Loiosh:]	"No, I mean, are you going to bring supplies for spells?" [Tlt 83]

Then, en route to the Falls, they meet a troop (clowder? pride?) of cat-centaurs, whose leader heads off a couple of incipient puns:

She said, "I am called Mist."

A cat-centaur with red eyes said, "That's because when she throws her spear—"

"Shut up, Brandy." [Tlt 93]

And later:

Mist stared at the ground, her tail flicking. "Why are you going there?"

Morrolan said, "It's a long story."

Mist said, "We have time for long tales. Shut up, Brandy." [Tlt 95]

Elsewhere:

[Aliera:]	"... I — there! You see? You've woken up one of my patients."
[Morrolan:]	"It is just as well. You have exhausted all of my patience." [Yen 90]

On the other hand, an imaginative translator can often replace an untranslatable pun with another pun that conveys a similar feeling.[*] If we can pin the confusion of Zerika's parentage on Brust the translator, we can credit him with this solution.

Or we can decide to ignore the whole thing, on the grounds that as soon as Brust decided to write about characters who spoke Dragaeran, he had already committed himself to pretending, for the most part, that they were speaking English.[*]

And on the gripping hand, the most sensible attitude toward all of these is probably "Don't sweat the small stuff". The same comments also apply to mentions of specific words, such as "no" and "new".

Sethra Leaving Dzur Mountain

During the events of (the main thread of) Taltos, Sethra says "It is impossible for me to leave Dzur Mountain at the moment" [Tlt 35, Tlt 40]. This is part of her argument to persuade Vlad to take on the job of retrieving Aliera's soul from Loraan's keep. And later on "she seemed a little harried and worn out, as if she'd just been through a rough experience of some kind" [Tlt 68], which Vlad later [] puts together with the reports of events involving a Jenoine at Dzur Mountain.

But this conversation takes place only hours after Vlad bumps into Kiera at Ferenk's [Tlt 16]. Sethra could be lying, of course. In a lifetime of two hundred millennia [Jrg 114] one is likely to develop a facility for producing convincing untruths at need; and of course there is the whole business of Kiera to prove it. Or the Jenoine situation could have developed very quickly.

Another possibility, pointed out by Damien R. Sullivan, is that Sethra could leave briefly, as for the meeting, but not for long trips or fighting. Or, as Jerry Friedman writes: "After I read Orca, I assumed that when Sethra said she couldn't leave Dzur Mountain, she meant that (for inscrutable magical reasons), she could leave it only as Kiera."

Kiera's Appetite

One of the little things that clue Vlad in to Kiera's identity is how little she eats [Orc 284]. But when alone in Adrilankha she breaks her fast with "warmed nutbread, maizepie, and Eastern-style coffee (which Vlad claims is too bitter for him)" [Orc 168]. That doesn't sound like someone who "lives on, well, on other things, so she doesn't eat much" [Orc 284, Ath 85]. (So is she also a táltos?)

On the other hand, maybe she just had a little of each for the taste. It sounds rich in flavor, especially with the bitter coffee (like our Turkish coffee?). — [2001.07.04] In Issola Vlad has a similar thought about Sethra: "Sethra picked at her food, as she had the other times I'd eaten with her. I knew she didn't eat much, for obvious reasons; I wondered if she enjoyed the flavors." [Iss 196]

Damien R. Sullivan has suggested to me that this is something that Kiera is making up to tell Cawti. It could be; but Kiera isn't telling Cawti everything: for example, her final dialog with Vlad certainly remains their secret! I see the arrangement of the book cinematically: framed between the letters of the Prologue and Epilogue, we see brief exchanges between the two women, between which Kiera's story to Cawti appears in flashback, as do Vlad's narrations to Kiera (and Kiera's to Vlad, but we could easily go too far in analyzing levels of nested flashbacks here). But the flashbacks are really for us, the viewers/readers, and contain more than is told — at least, to Cawti. As Kiera writes in the Epilogue,

Maybe you were upset by what I didn't tell you, yet you know there are things that I had to leave out, both on Vlad's behalf and on my own.

Topography

— but it sticks in my mind. The candlebud "grows only on the eastern slope of a hill or valley" [TPG 24]. Now, many plants in our world prefer to grow facing a particular direction, for sun or shade as the case may be. But while the eastern slope of a hill faces east, the eastern slope of a valley faces west. (Think about it. When you descend the western slope of a hill into a valley, you're on the eastern slope of the valley.)

If this is a slip, Brust is in good company: I recall an article in some national publication, about precolumbian cliff dwellings in what is now the southwestern USA, whose author found it strange that the builders evidently preferred the north sides of canyons, when the south sides would get more sun.

But in Dragaera, where the constant overcast obscures the sun and light comes from the whole sky, there are no shadows. There's no light-based reason for the candlebud to prefer an east-facing slope, or a west-facing one for that matter. Well, the heat of the Furnace, as Dragaerans call the sun, can be felt on the face: maybe the candlebud absorbs heat and wants more in the morning, and Paarfi just meant to say "east-facing". Or maybe there's some totally different reason.

Geography

I just happened to be rereading 500YA and I discovered a curious error. On page 75 in my paperback edition, but about 1/3 of the way through the sixth chapter (An important dignitary) appears a messenger from the "Lord Mayor of Adrilankha" (announcing that Adron has hit town and wishes permission to enter). Tortaalik gives permission and a bit later Adron appears in the palace.

This is an obvious error. Presumably Brust was thinking of Adrilankha as the capital and slipped. Or Paarfi was thinking of Adrilankha as the capital and slipped.

This is my cue to be embarrassed. I've had this pointed out to me by several people but never gotten around to putting it up here. Michael is only the latest; when I find the credits for his predecessors I'll add them.

Which Way to the Dungeon?

In reconciliation with Kathana e'Marish'chala, Khaavren says, "It will not be me who brings you to the Issola Wing" [of the Imperial Palace; TPG 351]. But when our heroes and their friends find themselves being transported to the Palace as prisoners, he says to Pel, "also in the Iorich Wing is the Imperial Prison" [TPG 412]. When they are brought to the Emperor it is up the Dark Stairs, guarded by Phoenix and Iorich Guards, to the Pavilion of the Iorich [TPG 449]. And to crown the confusion — mine, at least — the two orders Tortaalik gives G'aereth regarding Seodra read, first, "to convey her to the prisons in the Iorich Wing" and, second, "to hold the Lady Seodra in my prisons in the Issola Wing". [TPG 474]

So which is it? Guinn the jailer is as courteous as an Issola, but it is the Iorich who are the grim guards and judges. I think Brust got his I's crossed. (This news has been brought to you by Ben-san Arizona.)

Dragaeran vs. Eastern Names

[1998-06-28] In the non-battle of the Pepperfields, the Eastern leader, Fenarr, uses an allegedly Dragaeranized form of his name, "Crionofenarr" [TPG 364-375]:

[Khaavren:]	... allow me to say, sir, that you speak our language very well.
[Fenarr:]	Thanks, my lord. I lived among you for some time... as a vassal...
[Khaavren:]	That must be where you acquired a name which does not offend my ears as, if you will pardon me, most names of Easterners seem to do.
[Fenarr:]	You are right, my lord; my own name should be very difficult for you to pronounce...

The implication of this exchange is that there is some difference between Dragaeran and Eastern (or Fenarian) names as such. What can this difference consist of? The criterion I have used, recognizing a name from a real human language of our world, is obviously not available in Dragaera. The apparent difference is length: that Dragaerans prefer longer names than Easterners do. This is supported by the view from the other side: The legend of Fenarr, as preserved among the Fenarians of Vlad's time, refers to Khaavren as Kav. [BP 1-3]

But this is difficult to maintain in the face of such Dragaeran names as Pel (not his true name, but accepted as such), Geb [FHYA 310], Tem, and Luk. Perhaps we should suppose that the important difference is a difference in pronunciation that doesn't appear in the spelling, as rendered by Brust the translator — rather as Hungarian words and names are generally not spelled correctly outside Brokedown Palace. This could even be reasonably true of the differences between Hungarian and many other European languages, which generally lack such phonetic features as distinctive vowel length and palatal stops.

By this point in his career, after all, Brust had painted himself into something of a corner in this regard by providing plenty of names, both Eastern and Dragaeran, without any clear differentiation: in general it's not obvious, just from looking at a name and without recourse to knowledge from our world, which side of the mountains it comes from. (See discussion of Dragaeran names.) So we can view the difference between long names and short ones as a distinction that is easily shown to the reader, standing in for the real difference, much as English stands in for Dragaeran (or for Fenarian, in the dialogue in Brokedown Palace).

What Color are the Chaos Stones?

Besides the obvious solution (that Brust screwed up), if the stones are indigo and you can only describe them as the colors blue or purple, then different people would describe them differently, or even the same person would see the stones differently depending on what light they saw them in. For instance, full sunlight would make the color look lighter and the shadowy light in a tent might make them look darker.

Proposal 1 is supported by Vlad's description of the chaos stone he makes in Issola, which had not come out when Kimmie wrote the above: "a sort of milky hue somewhere in between blue and purple". [Iss 130] He's looking at it there in full sunlight.

The Interviewer vs. the Reader

It seems reasonable to assume that Vlad is telling his tales to Brust the interviewer in the same order that Brust the translator is publishing them in. (This has to be modified somewhat for Athyra, which takes a third-person point of view, and Orca, which is framed within Kiera's (!) POV. But let's let that pass, for now.)

Simple. Brust the interviewer is publishing the tales one at a time, in these very books that we are reading — and that, in a different view, are the work of Brust the author. The realities of publishing being what they are, he cannot count on the reader of Phoenix to have already read Jhereg and the intervening volumes, so he takes some literary liberties with Vlad's narration, as he did with Paarfi's title [FHYA 550]. Since Morrolan does not appear in Phoenix until page 67, Brust the interviewer makes Vlad seem to be addressing the reader of Phoenix here.

Dragaeran Muscles

[1999-03-30] We're told that Dragaerans don't get visibly muscular, except for some Orca and Tsalmoth. But we see counterexamples when Vlad joins up with Morrolan's hired army in Dragon. Sgt. Crown's forearms are "thick and knotted with muscle and quite intimidating" [Drg 128], and Aelburr's arms are similar [Drg 132].

Burying the Dead

A Fire of Rocks

[2003-05-18] When Tazendra leads Piro and Kytraan into the room in which they are to meet Sethra Lavode,

One wall held a massive hearth, which was burning with a bright fire, although Piro could not see what was actually burning in it: there was no sign of wood, but only what appeared to be several rocks. We wish we could solve this mystery for the reader, but, alas, we know no more than Piro, from whose report we know of it, what strange magic was causing this fire.

The obvious answer is, "It's the coal, stupid!" Morrolan's army uses coal for their fires where there's no wood to burn [Drg 210]. And even in the unlikely case that coal was discovered or came into wide use only after the Interregnum, Paarfi is publishing in the 179th year of Norathar's reign [POTD 11], long after Dragon.

One obvious retort is, "So it isn't coal, stupid!" That is, Piro and Paarfi know perfectly well what coal is, and the apparent rocks don't look like coal, but like rocks. Well, maybe the fire is some of Sethra's magic. Or maybe it's fueled by natural gas from the depths of Dzur Mountain.

Morrolan's Hair

[2003-05-21] Lee Ann Rucker pointed out that the first time Vlad meets him, Morrolan changes not only his hair's styling but its length from one page to the next, in what must be less than a minute of narrative:

Reborn Phoenix in the Cycle Poem

According to the poem, a reborn Phoenix (if it's different from a decadent Phoenix) should come at the very end of the Great Cycle, followed then by a decadent Phoenix. But with Tortaalik/Zerika, we saw just the opposite, and then Zerika handed off power to a Dragon.

Cracks and Shards! I have been reading these books for how many years?, and I never even noticed that. Mr. Wilson, you have pointed out a notable Crack.

Honestly, I think that people are just reading too much into the poem. The Phoenix is the symbol of death and rebirth. It sits at both "ends" of the poem because otherwise it wouldn't be a cycle.

Here's my view of things:

A Great Cycle is a new cycle of cycles. The House of the Phoenix is doubled at this time because both Great Cycles, the one just past and the one just beginning, must begin and end with the House of the Phoenix. A normal transition of Phoenix to Dragon would simply be a continuation of the previous Great Cycle.

The Great Cycle is when the rebirth aspect of the Phoenix becomes active. Ordinarily, all Phoenix Emperors start out strong and then decay into decadence. A Reborn Phoenix is one who has emerged out of the death and decay of his own house, revitalized and strengthened to the point that he (as Aliera defines things) doesn't fall into decadence. (Or at least has the sense to pass on the Orb before that happens.)

The demarcation between the Decadent Phoenix and the Reborn Phoenix, symbolizing the death of the old order and the birth of the new order, is the true demarcation between one Great Cycle and the next.

Zerika is the first Reborn Phoenix. When the next Great Cycle rolls around, we can probably expect some other event as cataclysmic as the Interregnum to mark the occasion and to provide the opportunity for the Phoenix and, symbolically, the Cycle, to rejuvenate itself and achieve the next stage of growth for the Empire.

Basically, it's a Y2K bug that, when it hits, allows the Lords of Judgement to make a few needed upgrades to the system before rebooting it and starting over.

Chaz or Tukko?

In Jhereg, Sethra Lavode has a servant named Chaz. In ___ she has a servant named Tukko. Two servants? We only see one at a time and there's no other indication that she has more than one.

Same servant, two nicknames. Dri'Chazik a Tukknaro Dzur is his "full title", which she uses when annoyed with him (LOCB148). Maybe it should really be spelled Tukk'o.

Notes

[clowder] a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle, a skein of geese in flight, a murder of crows, a pride of lions, a clowder of cats

[translating puns] See, for example, the wonderful contemporary German and French translations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (to give it the original title), which were supervised by the author.

[speaking English] See Tolkien's discussion "On Translation", Appendix F.II of The Return of the King, and especially the note on Brandywine at the very end.

Miscellaneous Cracks in the Dragaeran Tales

Puns