A Real spoiler....

The following spoiler is true.
it will leave you unsatisfied and wanting more...
You have been warned.....
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After much debate about the cover art in LAMA when you actually got to read the book the scene was accurate and really representative of things that happened in the book.

The same is true of HFQ.

pbreed wrote:The following spoiler is true.
it will leave you unsatisfied and wanting more...
You have been warned.....
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After much debate about the cover art in LAMA when you actually got to read the book the scene was accurate and really representative of things that happened in the book.

The same is true of HFQ.

So are Merlin and Nueme on a ship when a recon skimmer attack?

bigrunt wrote:

pbreed wrote:<SNIP SPOILER WARNING>

After much debate about the cover art in LAMA when you actually got to read the book the scene was accurate and really representative of things that happened in the book.

The same is true of HFQ.

So are Merlin and Nimue on a ship when a recon skimmer attack?

Two problems with this - first the cover of LaMA was not accurate in any way other than Nimue appeared for the first time. Predicting that she was a PICA named Nimue was one of the few things I got right in the entire book!

Second, the inner circle has already considered the use of TF weapons on enemy ships using the skimmer when it wasn't certain which route the Charisian POWs would be taken to Zion to be put to the Question and the Punishment of Schueler - by sea or by land? A ship could easily disappear at sea and not raise any questions, but the destruction of a convoy on land obviously couldn't. (Where was the M96 when they really needed it?) Merlin was extremely worried that the OBS would be triggered by the use of TF weapons, or that their use would wake up something under the Temple that the inner circle would much rather remain asleep!

So exactly which of those two arguments against using TF weapons have changed? Especially if Merlin and Nimue are standing on the deck of an ICN warship that could easily blow away the ship that is being attacked by the recon skimmer?

Please keep in mind that if the skimmer is flying over during combat, no cover has been accurate. It's appeared on six covers, four of which were completely incorrect, and the only two which got it right were BSRA with Merlin pictured looking out of the skimmer while in orbit, and BHD, which sort of got it right, since Merlin was shown leaving the skimmer to rescue Sharley from the assassination attempt at the abbey - although he arrived during a thunderstorm at night, which is most likely more difficult to illustrate!

So let's check the list:
OAR - the skimmer is shown flying over Tellesberg castle during the day. Never happened!
BSRA - Merlin is shown in the skimmer in orbit. Accurate!
BHD - Merlin is shown exiting the skimmer during daylight instead of during a thunderstorm at night to save Sharley from assassination. Sorta right but not really.
AMF - Merlin watches the Battle of Tarot Strait as a holograph. Plausible.
HFaF - Merlin watches the Battle of Iythria from the ramp of the skimmer. Never happened!
MTaT - The skimmer is shown flying over a land battle. Never happened!
LaMA - Merlin and Nimue look at a holograph of a Rottweiler class armored ship in Nimue's cave. Not in the textev, so... Never happened!

Not counting HFQ, which seems highly unlikely to be accurate, we have four blatantly inaccurate covers, one that's correct, one that's plausible, and one that has the time of day wrong. That's five of seven covers that are simply wrong! The odds of the cover being wrong go up to five out of six if the skimmer is pictured, so that's an 83% chance of being wrong even before HFQ, which shows a scene we've already been told will never be allowed to occur - plus our heroes are on a ship that could most likely destroy the ship being attacked by the skimmer rather easily

So I'll bet the covers that contain the skimmer but are flat out wrong when it comes to the novel goes up to six of seven, or 86%.

Granted, covers are designed to sell books, so making them look exciting is important. I'm of the opinion that the artist ought to read the book and the entire series before creating the next cover, but quite often an artist isn't given a copy of the book before he/she is asked to create the cover art, but has to get by on a description of a few scenes. Clearly the artist for Safehold likes the skimmer - a lot! Obviously it sells books, which is good for RFC, and we all cheer for that! I'd just like a bit more accuracy...

Merlin as Mab would have made a great cover for LaMA. Of course nobody's parents would have let him read the book!

McGuiness wrote:BSRA - Cayleb is shown in the skimmer in orbit. Accurate!

Slight nit, but I'm pretty sure that's Merlin on the cover and the scene depicted is the very first one in the book when he's looking down on Safehold and contemplating his life.

I would argue that in LAMA the cover shows Merlin and Nimue together in Merlins cave. Where its pretty clear she woke up and they spent time together in the cave.....so the exact scene was not described in the book, but it clearly happened in the book.

The Scene on the HFQ cover is more explicitly in the book. You will be able to identify the exact page on which it occurs...

McGuiness wrote:...

Second, the inner circle has already considered the use of TF weapons on enemy ships using the skimmer when it wasn't certain which route the Charisian POWs would be taken to Zion to be put to the Question and the Punishment of Schueler - by sea or by land? A ship could easily disappear at sea and not raise any questions, but the destruction of a convoy on land obviously couldn't. (Where was the M96 when they really needed it?) Merlin was extremely worried that the OBS would be triggered by the use of TF weapons, or that their use would wake up something under the Temple that the inner circle would much rather remain asleep!...

There is no need to use TF weapons. The recon skimmer could tractor a burning barrel of pitch to drop onto the deck, or drop a tungsten penetrator--or rock--from a height through the hull just fine. Or a handful of large shells for that matter released at high--but not OBS worrying--speed into the sides.

evilauthor wrote:

McGuiness wrote:BSRA - Cayleb is shown in the skimmer in orbit. Accurate!

Slight nit, but I'm pretty sure that's Merlin on the cover and the scene depicted is the very first one in the book when he's looking down on Safehold and contemplating his life.

Whoops, it looks like you got me there. The character depicted actually looks like Cayleb, a la AMF, which can be argued is also Merlin. I just don't see any waxed mustachios in either picture!

I edited the original post so it now says Merlin is in the skimmer in BSRA, and is watching the battle in AMF. I just wish the author would read a description of Merlin and realize that he has exaggerated waxed mustachios - which we sort of got in LaMA.

I was also mistaken in that Cayleb doesn't take a flight in the skimmer until BHD when he and Merlin fly to Charis to give Sharley the Big Reveal and for Cayleb to "show her how her communicator works" or whatever the kids are calling it these days...

(Did anybody else worry about her getting pregnant while Cayleb was supposedly in Corisande?)

Long Distance Pregnancy:

Yes I did wonder about that. Apparently no one did the math...

You all are assuming that the skimmer belongs to Merlin and OWL, and that the ship being attacked is not ICN.

That may not be the case considering all the "hidden" stuff that is showing up in all kinds of places.

Shan-Wei and Pei are probably not the only ones who stashed high tech all over the place...

jgnfld wrote:

McGuiness wrote:...

Second, the inner circle has already considered the use of TF weapons on enemy ships using the skimmer when it wasn't certain which route the Charisian POWs would be taken to Zion to be put to the Question and the Punishment of Schueler - by sea or by land? A ship could easily disappear at sea and not raise any questions, but the destruction of a convoy on land obviously couldn't. (Where was the M96 when they really needed it?) Merlin was extremely worried that the OBS would be triggered by the use of TF weapons, or that their use would wake up something under the Temple that the inner circle would much rather remain asleep!...

There is no need to use TF weapons. The recon skimmer could tractor a burning barrel of pitch to drop onto the deck, or drop a tungsten penetrator--or rock--from a height through the hull just fine. Or a handful of large shells for that matter released at high--but not OBS worrying--speed into the sides.

Kudos for thinking out of the box, but is there any reason to complicate things?

After all, the odds are extremely good that Merlin and Nimue are on the deck of an ICN warship, and it can comfortably blow away the ship they're chasing in a minute or two since it's likely windward of it. Not only that but its chasers could be hitting the other ship at this point, and there really aren't any wooden galleons on Safehold that can withstand a barrage by rifled artillery with 10x the blasting power of the ICN's original shells. Not that the chasers are that powerful, but they'll do the deed and sink the other ship if the warship doesn't catch up before its main guns are needed - and a sinking ship is a slow ship...