Quote from: Willie the Duck;1033658I suppose. I took these two comments...

...together to mean it was a returning child coming back for grad school perhaps (otherwise wouldn't it be first time house to selves in at least 22 years?). So after the teenage eat-like-a-horse era. I'm clearly not the right person to ask. Regardless, glad for Chirine (+wife, +daughter and her fiancé, seems like everyone wins here).

This is Fifth Daughter, who moved in with us from Basel to go to school here in the US at her mom's urging. Since First Daughter came to live with us over a decade ago, there's been a steady stream of Daughters-in-Residence occupying what used to be The Missus' spare room. The Missus is disabled and has a fixed pension, and I have my income; what the issues revolved around were the room and board costs, as we saw both utilities and expenses go up. When she had The Boyfriend / Fiance living with us for most of the time, the bills just got to be too much. Fifth is a vegetarian, and The Fiance is a gourmet, which is kinds of expensive...

So, yes, everybody wins and the game room gets to be a game room and not a warehouse. Which is good, 'cause people are coming over at the end of the month... :eek:

Three 45-gallon bags of trash hauled out tonight, and now we start to clear the game room...

Hi everybody.

I haven't been on here in a while but, of course, Tekumel is still very much on my mind.

I just finished "Lords of Tsamra" ... and, well, my mind is blown, even though I already knew some of its secrets.

By the way, spoiler alert regarding what follows! Skip this discussion if you don't want to know anything before reading the book.

The (true) lords of Tsamra: not only do they control Tsamra and the whole of Livyanu, but they are engaged in an age-old conflict with the One of Fears, the god worshipped by the inhabitants of Dlash. It turns out that the One of Fears, as perceived by the novel's main protagonist, looks like a worm-like mountain with three eyes ... which is pretty much how I visualize the lords of Tsamra themselves. This suggests to me that the One of Fears and the Lords are related. Are we talking cousins here, or perhaps even offsprings? This is all speculation, of course, but the possibilities are exciting.
Also, even more mindblowing to me, the telepathic, super-intelligent, Dune sand-worms-like Lords where brought to Tekumel by the First Man to help Him ... terraform the planet!
So what the hell are the Lords of Tsamra? Is there more information about them in other publications or is that pretty nuch it?

The Pylons: so, it appears that these two structures, which, by the way, you can orbit around (as in, they are very concrete objects "floating" in space) seem to be infinite in size and infinite in age. They are "inhabited" by beings called "the Silver Suits". But the Suits didn't build the Pylons. They found them, like everyone else; which stands as an echo of how the pre-Conquest inhabitants of central Mexico related to the ruined city of Teotihuacan. The "Silver Suits" moved in (the Pylons) and are, what? stuying? using? them for some unknown purpose.
However, as Chirine mentioned here in the past, the "Silver Suits" are really E.E. Smith's Lensmen who, in Smith's books, are genetically-engineered super-soldiers fighting the ("bad") Eddorians on behalf of the ("good") Arisians. And that conflict has been going on since as long as there has been a universe (according to Smith).
So how does that work in Barker's world!? We are told that the Lensmen didn't build the Pylons and that they themselves don't know what they (the pylons) are. So does this mean that the Pylons (and whatever/whoever build them) predate the Eddorians and the Arisians?! This could also suggest that the Lensmen don't know that they are "working" for the Arisians.

Other note-worthy tid-bits:
- The Dlashi Voice.
- The reasons behind the horrific genocidal destruction of Livyanu; that genocide is a direct echo of the destruction of the native central-american populations after the Conquest etc.
- How much of a shallow, self-involved, coward the main protagonist is (nice change from traditional heroes).
- How fun this book is to read. There's plenty of heavy-handed exposition and digression, but it's pretty much as good as "Man of Gold" (the Prof. also crammed a lot (!) of information the closer he go to the end of the book). "Flamesong" is still the better novel in my eyes: it too contains of lot of fantastic information, but Barker seems to have been able to spend time introducing it in a dramatic manner, one that's linked to the plot and the characters.

Longer reply coming; this site stopped working in my old browser, so I'm working in a new one. Back later...

This is what I think of when I hear "pylons."

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Quote from: Baron;1034098This is what I think of when I hear "pylons."

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Pylons...the ultimate in Mega Dungeon/Space Station!!! The Professor's last three novels do not seem to be well regarded by some. I however enjoyed them greatly. Lots of stuff there in.

H:0)

Quote from: Hrugga;1034107The Professor's last three novels do not seem to be well regarded by some. I however enjoyed them greatly. Lots of stuff there in.

I liked them. All 5 had good stuff in them. To me, all the books described a different facet of Tekumel, with the 4th and 5th being the only ones similar to each other.

I seem to recall the Prof saying that he couldn't "get" Korrúkka (the main character of Lords of Tsamra) and struggled to relate to him and thus finish the book but I found him to be delightful. And, from a gaming perspective, very informative of how to play or run a follower of Ksarul without them being a cliche mustache twirling Machiavellian evil schemer, which seems how too many default to playing them. Having a different view to the various temples makes them really come alive. The concept developed upthread of the almost used car salesman version of a Sarku worshipper - How are you going to spend your afterlife?- was another great example. Not all Sarku worshipers are dour necromancers sitting on a pile of bones listening to Bauhaus.

Writing this brings a question to mind- Is there any other way that the followers of the Temples are described, something like calling them Sarkuians or Avantheans?

Quote from: Big Andy;1034111I liked them. All 5 had good stuff in them. To me, all the books described a different facet of Tekumel, with the 4th and 5th being the only ones similar to each other.

I seem to recall the Prof saying that he couldn't "get" Korrúkka (the main character of Lords of Tsamra) and struggled to relate to him and thus finish the book but I found him to be delightful. And, from a gaming perspective, very informative of how to play or run a follower of Ksarul without them being a cliche mustache twirling Machiavellian evil schemer, which seems how too many default to playing them. Having a different view to the various temples makes them really come alive. the concept developed upthread of the almost used car salesman version of a Sarku worshipper - How are you going to spend your afterlife?- was another great example. Not all Sarku worshipers are dour necromancer sitting on a pile of thrones listening to Bauhaus.

Writing this brings a question to mind- Is there any other way that the followers of the Temples are described, something like calling them Sarkuians or Avantheans?

That's a good point. I concur. Characters can be complex, not just robots of Change or Stability. I guess the level of complexity would depend on the style of play.

H:0)

Are the books available again for a reasonable price?

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1034132Are the books available again for a reasonable price?

Not yet. I think there are rumors they will be. How long? Snails move faster...I'm sure Chirine has some laying about he could lend you. You are his General. You have only to give the order. I was lucky to get my copies from Tita at the normal price a few years ago.

H:0)

Quote from: Hrugga;1034143Not yet. I think there are rumors they will be. How long? Snails move faster...I'm sure Chirine has some laying about he could lend you. You are his General. You have only to give the order. I was lucky to get my copies from Tita at the normal price a few years ago.

H:0)

I do not give Chirine orders, I request that he convey my wishes.

Also, I am VERY hesitant to borrow irreplaceable artifacts.  Lords of Tsamra is on the web with about a $150 asking price in several places.

Quote from: Baron;1034098This is what I think of when I hear "pylons."

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Yeah, I agree. That's how I see them as well.

Shemek.

Quote from: Neshm hiKumala;1033824Hi everybody.

-snip-
I just finished "Lords of Tsamra" ... and, well, my mind is blown, even though I already knew some of its secrets.
-snip-

That was my reaction as well, the first time I read it. I know some people have dismissed the last three books, but to be honest I like them as much the first two, and they have a wealth of information in them that can be used in campaigns.

Shemek.

Quote from: Big Andy;1034111I liked them. All 5 had good stuff in them. To me, all the books described a different facet of Tekumel, with the 4th and 5th being the only ones similar to each other.

Writing this brings a question to mind- Is there any other way that the followers of the Temples are described, something like calling them Sarkuians or Avantheans?

The last two are short novellas, and could have been one book, save for the need to milk the franchise with more titles.

No, not that I ever heard.

Quote from: Neshm hiKumala;1033824- How fun this book is to read. There's plenty of heavy-handed exposition and digression, but it's pretty much as good as "Man of Gold" (the Prof. also crammed a lot (!) of information the closer he go to the end of the book). "Flamesong" is still the better novel in my eyes: it too contains of lot of fantastic information, but Barker seems to have been able to spend time introducing it in a dramatic manner, one that's linked to the plot and the characters.

"Flamesong" was the only one that was edited. Once Mike Callahan left, none of the other books had any editing at all.