Aldo: by Laurel
333956 | 
 | | Purred: Sun Dec 3, '06 7:11am PST |  | |  | | Sun, 3 Dec
Dear Sasha,
Was pondering that last line of Constant Minor's again. It's a little confusing to me, but I now think he's referring to two different things here: that he brought "the best and the brightest" Resonants with him to Marchmont but the ghatti "strain" runs "strong and wild." Does that make more sense? I kept thinking he meant he brought ghatti with him to Marchmont, but the more I read, the more I realize this can't be. Where would this secret stash of ghatti be? If Constant Minor had brought "the best and the brightest" ghatti with him to Marchmont, then ghatti would be revered.
We figured out a very funny thing, although it probably has more to do with Exiles' Return than either of the first two books. Remember Callis' translation of her full name Doncallis---or, at least, the English-language saying for it? Well, Sash, play around with Addawanna! It *finally* occurred to us, although we had been thinking about it since the first book. Addawanna---I Don't Wanna!!!!! MOL We've tried and tried to figure out many of the names, btw, through all the books, and there's one particular scene in Exiles' Return that makes us believe we were on target in believing there was hidden wordplay.
Going back to my notes for a couple of things I didn't mention in my previous pawmail/post. As we discussed in our IM, I do believe Saam was with Nakum for a few reasons, one of them being, most evidently and primarily, plot purposes. Greeno needs Saam. Saam mentored Nakum in human practices and ways, helped Nakum grow and mature. Nakum, on the other hand, helped Saam further develop his tracking abilities, the senses that were heightened when he lost his mindspeech. In essence, Saam has bonded with the earth. Not a traditional Seeker bond so much as an Erakwan bond. Saam now has strengths the other ghatti simply do not, or that the other ghatti have never fully developed, concentrating more on the mindspeech than anything else.
Aelbert and N'oor. No, Aelbert was never controlled by Maurice that we know of, though he was a Resonant. He was fueled by his own desires, his own sense of injustice done to him. The guy just absolutely *wallowed*, and his wallowing overwhelmed him, to the point where, really, he no longer thought straight or beyond himself. Ugh. Aelbert annoyed us. He became so distorted. And we felt so sorry for N'oor. Perhaps the *only* time Aelbert ever thought of anyone else first was at the very end, when he begged for N'oor to be killed as well. N'oor was in such an unequal bonding with Aelbert. While you made the point that neither Bond nor Bondmate must share everything with each other, we do think Aelbert went beyond the pale in hiding himself from N'oor. He never let N'oor counsel him such as Khar counsels Doyce or Rawn counsels Jenret. Would he even have listened if she tried? Was N'oor simply one of Aelbert's trinkets, kept in his pocket, so to speak, brought out, polished and admired on occasions when it suited him? And the business of their ending training after just one year, rather than the usual two, made us wonder whether Aelbert did not somehow fabricate that letter, to further his own ambitions. For some reason, we never could believe they had excelled that much in their training. Not to mention, wasn't Swan very hazy in her recollection of it, too? As though Aelbert had done a little mind manipulation there. We shall miss N'oor, is all we can say.
Now, we did want to mention that we found Hru'rul's and Eadwin's 'printing so very disappointing. After reading the tremendous scenes of Khar'pern 'printing with Doyce, and Parm 'printing with Harrap, didn't you find Hru'rul and Eadwin a tremendous letdown? It was so matter-of-fact. No suspense, no mystery, not even a real buildup---unless you count Eadwin squeezing his eyes shut from his fear of "nipping." Okay, maybe "will he or won't he" might constitute suspense and mystery.  MOL
Everyone's running from something in these books, looking for ways to redeem themselves, start anew, cleanse their souls. One page before Doyce is "reborn" on Callis' mountaintop, Sarrett and Jenret have this exchange in the Sidonie dungeon:
[Jenret to Sarrett] "Go back to sleep. Dreams can't be any worse than the nightmare we're in."
Her asperity stung like a slap. "You don't have a monopoly on nightmares, Jenret. All of us have something haunting us."
And one thing further, from the Callis/Doyce exchange on Doyce's fear of going back into the world.
[Doyce to Callis] "...It's just that I'm so tired, so afraid of the unknown."
[Callis] "Ah, but the 'known' isn't always pleasant, either. At least with the 'unknown,' you have the potential for betterment. So do not fear."
And, most significantly, Khar waits for Doyce on the other side of the door. When Doyce goes through, reentering the world, she and Khar ascend to a new, deeper level in their relationship, a rebirth here as well. It seems most appropriate, then, that there in the womb, the safe harbor and cocoon of Callis' mountaintop, Nakum (though Callis herself originally was going to tell the tale) spins the story of Hatachawa, a creation myth, as we mentioned previously.
We've tried to cover the rest of our notes here, Sash! We enjoyed this book very much, found it near impossible to put down. Shhh---we enjoyed Mindspeakers' Call even more than Finders Seekers!!!!
Purrs and Meiows,
Aldo
Purrs and Chirps,
Tess |  |  | |  |
| |
|
|
0
) Oh, and Mommy ordered the two books in Ghatten's Gambit!!!
