The Sorcerer’s Widow: Progress Report Four

Chapter Four has now been posted.

Chapters Five through Nine are paid for; Chapter Ten is 90% covered.

I’ve written Chapters Five and Six, and I’m halfway through Chapter Seven — I got held up by a plot problem for awhile, but I think I have it beat now.

13 thoughts on “The Sorcerer’s Widow: Progress Report Four

  1. Interesting. Sounds like Ezak got spectacularly lucky. (field repair? I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be, but it doesn’t sound like something you want to get caught by).

    So, random questions;
    In the first chapter it’s mentioned that they’re in central Ethshar (presumably. Ethshar of the Sands is mentioned as the destination of choice, I assume it’s the closest major city)…
    When about is the story set?

    Also, at this point in the series you’ve got quite a few characters from previous stories… Should we be looking forward to cameos?

  2. They’re well north and slightly east of Ethshar of the Sands.

    Honestly, I’m not sure exactly when it’s set — if nothing happens to change my mind, it’s around 5215, but I reserve the right to adjust that drastically.

    No cameos are planned, but I’m not ruling them out.

  3. I’m really enjoying this one so far. It’s been funny seeing Ezak confidently thinking he’s fooling Dorna while seeing hints that she’s not taken in but is using him for her own purposes; but seeing the big talisman climb out of the wagon and run off was the funniest scene yet.

  4. It seems like eventually they’d start to have SOME clue that Dorna is a lot more than just a sorcerer’s widow; if she can use these devices, that pretty much by definition makes her a sorcerer, doesn’t it?

    Kel, at least, seems to be figuring it out.

  5. My next guess for the talisman name is “fire and forget”, which is close to what it seems to be doing.

  6. “Field represses?” That would be the closest transliteration, but I’m not sure what sorts of fields it would repress.

    Maybe they’ll find it out in one of the cornfields, brutally repressing the cornstalks?

  7. Being able to use a talisman isn’t what makes one a sorcerer. It’s being able to MAKE the talismans that does it. Remember, sorcerers made talismans as their stock and trade. If they couldn’t be used by others they’d be far less marketable.

    I would be willing to bet her husband made sure she knew how to use some of that stuff so that she didn’t inadvertently end up getting hurt by them.

  8. I think simply being able to repair them is also sufficient.

    A sorcerer is someone who knows how they work.

    But yeah, knowing how to use them is not enough. One of the benefits is that non-sorcerers can use them.

  9. LWE’s said previously that of “modern” sorcerers no more than half have the knowledge necessary to create talismans. The vast majority of sorcery is the use of existing talismans, much as the vast majority of wizardry is the use of existing spells.

  10. BTW, I *think* I just did a $20 contribution, but if paypal gave you $18.15 instead, it’s probably my fault.

    On another tangent, I was re-reading The Blood of A Dragon, and of course looked closer at the brief mention of sorcery there. I didn’t notice it before, but there is an indication that if Dumery had been more persistent, he might have found a sorcerer willing to take him on. Of course, that would’ve been a different (and probably less interesting) story.

  11. I’ve been assuming it’s “field repair system,” or something along those lines.

    *

    Incidentally, Lawrence, I bounced off this line:

    “Or maybe,” Ezak said, as if suddenly coming to a great realization…

    …since it read to me like, “Yow,” he said, hitting a home run like someone hitting a baseball a long way with a bat…

    He _is_ coming to a great realization. Surely there’s some other comparison to make.

    *

    But then, maybe it’s just me. Ignore as needed.

    kdb

  12. Given that it is a repair talisman, that pushes repair up by a lot.

    “Field repair system” sounds good.

    So much for “fire and forget”, the sounds aren’t quite mangled enough.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *