James Barclay

[wigwam]

Re the title - I had assumed that initially but there was so many reference to Takaar "who once walked with the Gods" by other elves that it must be physical?

[Wulfgar]

[James]

Sorry to be absent. Book two is causing more problems than book one. Sigh.

Anyway, a few answers:

Takaar walking with gods - it's not literal but interesting thought that it might be. It's a statement of the utmost regard in which Takaar was held. He was the elf who brought the War of Bloods to an end and introduced the harmony. He was also the one who discovered the portal to Calaius and managed to open it (though he does not know how it is a function of his innate magical ability). He also mapped the energy lines in the rainforest. So he was set above all other elves and many would have assumed him some kind of minor deity himself. He is not.

The elves' gods never walked among the elves. They represent a completely dominant faith and belief system and no elf (in the times of this trilogy) is an aethiest. Every elf worships the God ascribed to their thread as well as Yniss who is the father of the gods.

Garonin - The original draft of OWWG had the opening few chapters dedicated to the last battle of Garonin vs Elves on Hausolis and I may yet publish those online sometime. We'll see. Auum, like many of the TaiGethen who survived that battle, would be known to the Garonin because they recognise the individual mana signatures of living things and, of course, never forget an enemy they are sworn to defeat.

'Helping Takaar with his Magic-Birthing headache. Why would the wytch lord do that when he was there to snuff them out?' Simply because he is fascinated by an elf becoming aware of magic. He is a scholar, evil as he is, and it piqued his interest. Book 2 gives more on Ystormun and his, erm, experiments.

Calaius was discovered about 1000 years before the Garonin forced the elves from Hausolis. Takaar always considered it the ultimate bolt-hole.

I hope this helps.
_________________
'A human with a hand outstretched in friendship carries the fangs of a taipan in his palm.' A TaiGethen saying.

[wigwam]

Fascinating stuff - thanks
Online reference to the early "missing" chapters would be awesome James

[lunarbof]

What I liked in OWWG:

-The way elves are divided based on their God/subrace
-The way Takaar makes a first contact with a Panther (Awesome stuff)
-Tai battles (obviously)

What I didn't like:

-Takaar didn't really once walked with god.... I was really expecting a close encounter with Elven god.... I went as far as to expect that Auum would also meet the Gods...after all, Aumm is the best.
-The lack of attachment with characters (might be only me). Except for Auum, I didn't get really attach to anyone... not even Takaar. Maybe there was too many lead characters (for me)?
-Lack of timing for major deaths... For me, the timing of deaths is what is so special in the Raven serie.... something was missing here.
-Humans to be there before Elves... I always assume elves where the first inhabitant of Balaia...The fact that Elves arrive after humans does add up for me !

What I didn't expect:

-Elves with no magic (nice touch).
-Elves behaving much like humans...hurting themselves, betrayals. (interesting perspective).
-Humans back with one magic (well I wasn't expecting humans).... I think it's time to re-read the Ravens and refresh my history.

So overall, I was a bit disappointed with the book...It is still a good book, but not up to the Ravens.

Most part of my disappointment probably come from expecting too much: because of the long wait to get by hand on a copy of OWWG... and because of the title which promised so much !!!

[Rups]

I LOVE The Silent, there are hints, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how they evolve...

[James]

Hi lunarbof. Thanks for your post and your comments. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

If I can respond to a few of your points...

The phrase 'Once Walked With Gods' is not literal. It's all about Takaar's aura, his achievements and what he brought to the elves in terms of peace and harmony. For elves, the mystique surrounding him led him to being termed as one who walked with gods. Since his fall from grace, the word 'once' has been added to describe that fall.

Sorry you didn't attach to characters beyond Auum. For me, Katyett was very strong, as is Takaar of course though he is difficult to love (deliberately). Other popular characters are Garan, Methian and Pelyn. But, you can only warm to those who speak to you so fair enough.

Your timing comment. I've never consciously timed the death of anyone in any of my books. Deaths occur at the times of greatest stress in novels but only happen when I believe there is no way to survive. But if I was timing, I'd say Katyett's death was just about right. It's an interesting point you make though - what do others think?

Humans before elves... I don't see why this is a problem. Elves and humans are equally ancient races, just that elves are longer lived. In the dimension of Balaia, humans evolved there and elves escaped there and I think you can see that their arrival ultimately turns the dimension on its head.

On the One magic thing - all human magic was based on the One magic until the Sundering of Triverne which gave rise to the four colleges and happened about 1000 years before The Raven were born. Elven magic is also a type of One magic - they of course stick to it as long as they can though by NightChild, there are only four practitioners left...

Thanks once again for your thoughts and I hope you pick up Rise of the TaiGethen when it comes out later this year.
_________________
'A human with a hand outstretched in friendship carries the fangs of a taipan in his palm.' A TaiGethen saying.

[wigwam]