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HFQ Official Snippet #13

This fascinating series is a combination of historical seafaring, swashbuckling adventure, and high technological science-fiction. Join us in a discussion!
Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by chrisd   » Sat Dec 13, 2014 1:25 pm

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I now fear that, having given us TWO snippets in quick succession, His Excellency, The Great Panjandrum, Lord High Everything Else & Celery Chaser-in-Chief will now let us all "Stew in our own juices" Until NEXT YEAR

Please! No!

At least let us have a Christmas Box for Boxing Day!
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by dreamrider   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 5:45 am

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tootall wrote:(snip)
Thanks celery person !!


@tootall;

Do you know who runsforcelery is?

Let's just say that this scene is UNDOUBTEDLY very, very real...
...and evil, twisted, and not at all what it appears to be, in some really unexpected way.

dreamrider

PS - Merry Christmas, David, and Sharon, and kids, if you are looking in.

dr
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by Bahzellstudent   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 8:48 am

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wow - bonus snippet hidden in the snippet thread; thanks twice over RFC. My anticipation for the book goes up in some sort of geometric progression as each snippet comes out- I just hope the publishers remain on schedule, otherwise we will have more one exploding enthusiast come next Autumn!

Happy Christmas David to you and yours.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by DianeSilva   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 1:51 pm

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USMA74 wrote:Thank you MWW/RFC. I really enjoyed this snippet. (But then I always say "Best Christmas Tree Ever" each and every year.) :lol:

Thank you Mr Weber for the snippet. Poor Sandaria. she and Aivah must be in such shock. As another poster Sadi it's too bad Mikhal Staynair Cosby have been there to help Merlin and Nimue. I think Merlin is going to have a hard time convincing Sandaria about the truth about Lanhorne
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by Kakai   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 2:40 pm

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Thank you, O Mighty Celery Chaser! Merry Christmas to you and your family! I'll save new year wishes in hopes of having another snippets before 2015...

runsforcelery wrote:
Ahlvyn Khapahr looked Thirsk in the eye.

“I’m very sorry about this, My Lord,” he said quietly. “I’ve always deeply respected you.”

Thirsk looked back at him . . . and Khapahr squeezed the trigger.

The heavy bullet hammered the earl out of his chair in a crack of thunder.



Emphasis mine.
If it hammered him out of his chair, would that mean that Khapahr stood behind him and kind of... shot through the chair?

Also: rules of physics indicate that if bullet had enough force to throw dozens-kilograms man off the chair, it would probably throw Khapahr as well. Either artistic license or...
a) it is a dream, so rules of physics don't apply
b) it was Thrisk's psychical reaction (he jumped off the chair)
So I'd say he survived that.
-----------
When in mortal danger, when beset by doubt,
Run in little circles, wave your arms and shout.
- Ciaphas Cain
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by McGuiness   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 4:41 pm

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gcomeau wrote:Love the snippet! That said, no getting to see their reactions when Nahrmahn is "raised from the dead"? No getting to go through the details of the tour of the cave? Or, presenting them with a (very very compressed) synopsis of the full history of the human race. That would have been fun to witness.

Argh... I was really looking forward to a little more than wow this is a really big cave, and there's some stuff in it that's amazing but we won't go into a whole lot of detail and just skip past it all with a reference to a brief guided tour and pick things up with Nhrman already sharing a virtual drink with the group.

That's just mean... getting to experience all the coolness through the eyes of Safeholdians seeing it for the first time is one of the most potentially fun parts of the entire premise of stories like this.
This is exactly what I expected - show the contents of the cave but gloss over them for the reader. After all, that's exactly what we got when Merlin took Sharleyan to the cave, so why should Aivah's tour be any different? (For us poor, tantalized readers I mean.) Besides, it gives RFC the freedom to pull any sort of tech he needs from the cave in the future, since we don't have anything close to an inventory of what's in it. Just in case he has a better idea later of on course! :twisted:

At this point the explanation used by Archbishop Staynair would be helpful - the Writ took truths from many of the Earth's religions, so not all of it is a fraud. That would settle Sandaria and Aivah down quite a bit, and lead to their acceptance that the CoGA is the greatest fraud ever perpetuated on the human race.

A warm chat with a respected clergyman who understands the truths in the Writ, yet hasn't lost his faith despite knowing the entire religion is designed to keep humanity forever chained to the face of Safehold is exactly what the doctor ordered. I hope Merlin realizes this. These two women would respond better to the approach used with Father Paityr rather than boggling their minds with a massive demonstration of Terran Federation technology, which despite Merlin's explanations, is indistinguishable from magic to them. :shock:

Sandaria may be taking a rather long nap, although her meltdown may occur later. But Father Paityr said very much the same thing after learning the truth. Time for an extended retreat after getting her com. Aivah can work with Merlin and Cayleb to become acclimated. As much as we've been led to respect her intelligence and abilities, she believed! Her case is much more like Paityr Wylsynn than we may have realized. (And double so for Sandaria!) So OWL's remotes are going to have to keep a very close watch on both of them.

"Oh bother", said Pooh as he glanced through the airlock window at the helmet he'd forgotten to wear.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by pokermind   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 4:52 pm

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RFC gave us a more comprehensive tour of the cave in OAR when Merlin woke up repeating it every time someone visits will just make later books redundant. Hmm will those stands of modern weapons be used, or is fear of the OBS going to preclude there use?

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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by McGuiness   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 5:11 pm

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runsforcelery wrote:
Ahlvyn Khapahr looked Thirsk in the eye.

“I’m very sorry about this, My Lord,” he said quietly. “I’ve always deeply respected you.”

Thirsk looked back at him . . . and Khapahr squeezed the trigger.

The heavy bullet hammered the earl out of his chair in a crack of thunder.

Uh, there's a pretty noticeable ellipsis in the sentence "Thirsk looked back at him . . . and Khapahr squeezed the trigger." So we have absolutely no idea how much text comes between those two phrases.

This could be a dream. Khapahr could have shot the chair. Note that it does not say that the earl was hit by the bullet, nor that the earl was Thirsk.

Taking this "scene" at face value, which as we know is a dubious proposition when RFC is deliberately trying to "tantalize" us readers, it seems that there will be a clever attempt at faking Thirsk's death. If the Inquisition accepts its veracity, they'd most likely release Thirsk's family from "protective custody," after which they'll conveniently disappear. Thirsk's grave will hold no body, or at least not his, and if he's buried at sea, a tractor beam will pull his "corpse" from beneath the waves. Who knows, there may be a small submarine in Nimue's cave if the narrative calls for one! :lol:

"Oh bother", said Pooh as he glanced through the airlock window at the helmet he'd forgotten to wear.
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by Annachie   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 6:20 pm

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DrakBibliophile wrote:Thirsk wakes up in a cold sweat saying "What a nightmare".


As Bobby Ewing walks out of the shower in nothing but a towel? :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You are so going to die. :p ~~~~ runsforcelery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
still not dead. :)
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Re: HFQ Official Snippet #13
Post by DrakBibliophile   » Sun Dec 14, 2014 7:22 pm

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Nah, the Dallas gimmick would be if the open scene of the book following HFQ revealed that HFQ was just a dream. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Note, in Robert A Heinlein's Citizen Of The Galaxy, the main character wakes up from a dream where the villain was about to have him flogged.

So it's a long standing trick of the trade for authors to have scenes that quickly turn out to be a dream. :) :)


Annachie wrote:
DrakBibliophile wrote:Thirsk wakes up in a cold sweat saying "What a nightmare".


As Bobby Ewing walks out of the shower in nothing but a towel? :)
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Sometimes The Dragon Wins! [Polite Dragon Smile]
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