When will the next one be?

Am very happy to hear of a new book in this series . This is one of my fav fant series. I think DW could write an instruction manual for a trash compactor and make it a best seller. I pray DW very good health and a decressing need for sleep. So he can finish this project quickly. But I hope this book ties up the series. With all DW's many series I am consurned he won't be able to finsh all of them. My favorite fantasy author was Paul Edwin Zimmer. The best heroic fantasy series I've ever read. I looked for the 3rd book for yrs. Then I found out he died before writeing it. I still ache for that book. God grant DW along and healthy life.

Rook wrote:

John T Mainer wrote:All those hints, his goddess said Brandark was too much her brothers, and for all his association with the Order of Tormanak, it is Semkirk he seems to follow closets.

What hints are there that point towards Semkirk? I am not aware of any that suggests that Brandark has anything more than a general scholarly interest in the subject. However, there are a LOT of hints that Brandark has a deep and intense interest in sailing and ship building. That points to Korthrala, not Semkirk.

John T Mainer wrote:
You think a Hradani Champion of Tormanak is a threat to dark mages because of his link to the energy field, how about the first Hradani Mind Mage? If three or four human mind mages can hold off a dark wizard, what could the mind of Brandark, focused by a scholar's discipline, wielded by a warrior heart, and powered by the Hradani rage do?

I am willing to bet that besides founding the first Hradani university, Brandark will be the first Hradani Mind Mage. A Champion of Tormanak, and a Mind Mage; the Hradani would be thus represented by the two great forces that check the powers of the dark wizards that once enslaved their folk.

Couple of problems with your theory that Brandark could be a mage. Leaving aside the fact that only humans are mages, (there is no evidence that Brandark is anything other than pure Hradani) all mages go through a 'Mage Crisis' when they hit puberty. If they do not get help and training the crisis will kill them. Brandark comes from Nahvak and has not traveled far before meeting Bahzel. Where would he have gotten the help and training needed to survive the Mage Crisis? Humans are not found in Hradani lands... Especially in Nahvak.

To sum up:
1. Brandark is most certainly past puberty. (yes, he is young for a Hradani, but not THAT young)
2. He has not had access to the help and training needed to survive the Mage Crisis.
3. Brandark is not dead.
4. There is no mention of him having any mage powers in any of the books.

I don't think he is a mage.

Wencit has discussed with Brandark and Baz the fact that the Hradani were changed by the war, and changed by the gods to balance those changes. The discussion about deepening Hradani connection to the energy field, and about how no Hradani could be a mage before the war open an interesting door. Before they were tampered with they could not be mages of any kind. Can they now?

Brandark has been described as an indifferent poet, but a voracious scholar, and one whose knowledge of the classics allows him to discuss lore with Wencit himself, demonstrating equal knowlege with the greatest of scholars of civilized lands. That is like finding a Viking warlord aproaching parity with Byzantiums finest scholars. This brands him Semkirks more than Tormanaks. His desire to bring the knowledge of sea faring to his folk is a part of his lore-hunger; not just to know, but to bring to his people. He will be a teacher to match Baz's champion; a Jesuit to match his Templar to lead their people back to their proper place with the other civilized races.

Brandark is young for Hradani, do we really know he is past his mage crissis? Because everybody knows there are no Mind Mages in his race, did anyone seriously look for signs?

Yay, happy days! The next project is gonna be in War Gods, Woohoo!

Wencit has discussed with Brandark and Baz the fact that the Hradani were changed by the war, and changed by the gods to balance those changes. The discussion about deepening Hradani connection to the energy field, and about how no Hradani could be a mage before the war open an interesting door. Before they were tampered with they could not be mages of any kind. Can they now?

Brandark has been described as an indifferent poet, but a voracious scholar, and one whose knowledge of the classics allows him to discuss lore with Wencit himself, demonstrating equal knowlege with the greatest of scholars of civilized lands. That is like finding a Viking warlord aproaching parity with Byzantiums finest scholars. This brands him Semkirks more than Tormanaks. His desire to bring the knowledge of sea faring to his folk is a part of his lore-hunger; not just to know, but to bring to his people. He will be a teacher to match Baz's champion; a Jesuit to match his Templar to lead their people back to their proper place with the other civilized races.

Brandark is young for Hradani, do we really know he is past his mage crissis? Because everybody knows there are no Mind Mages in his race, did anyone seriously look for signs?[/quote]

I think it more likely that Brandark becomes a Wild Wizard than a Mage. When Bahzel touched/channeled wild magic through his Hradani link using Battle Dawn and Tomanak as buffers, DW foreshadowed that current Hradani could access their link in other ways than to fuel their vitality. Bahzel doesn't have the mental training or curiousity to really understand how to manipulate that energy, so needed help to use it. Brandark? He could well learn how with some divine assisstance. Semkirk as you suspect, but in a different direction.

Could be that he never really is able to master wizardry, but comes to understand it well enough to teach a gifted half-breed son/daughter of a Champion of Tomanak and the highest of the Sothoii Wizard descended blood. Seems far fetched but more likely than Brandark the Mind Mage.

Just occured to me, how could any hradani be a mind mage?

I mean, a mind mage or magi uses the energy of their own body to fuel their magic, that's why they're so trusted - they do not have enough energy on their own to work major changes. But every hradani has an intrinsic link to the energy field that wizards use, so by using their "own" energy they can access the rest of the energy too.

Just a thought, but interesting nonetheless IMO.

WiseMan999 wrote:Just occured to me, how could any hradani be a mind mage?

I mean, a mind mage or magi uses the energy of their own body to fuel their magic, that's why they're so trusted - they do not have enough energy on their own to work major changes. But every hradani has an intrinsic link to the energy field that wizards use, so by using their "own" energy they can access the rest of the energy too.

Just a thought, but interesting nonetheless IMO.

So, hradani can't be wild wizards in the classic sense of using energy external to themselves. Instead they have to channel that energy through their person. The human mage wouldn't do that either, their links are too narrow. They have to store energy up for some time until they have sufficient amounts to do anything useful.

That is an intersting thought, thanks!

"“Precisely.” Wencit nodded. “Most wizards are what we call ‘wand wizards.’ They can’t really touch the ¬energy of the universe directly. They require techniques—call them tools—to manipulate it. A wild wizard doesn’t ‘manipulate’ it at all; he simply channels it. In theory, a wild wizard could seize the total energy of every ounce of matter in an entire universe and focus it all upon a single task, a single objective.”"

Upon further thought, and seeing the above quote, I have come to a conclusion that any hradani wizard must in fact be a wild wizard. Their link to the energy field should mean that they can access the energy field directly, therefore they should not need a wand. Hence - they are wild wizards.

It goes without saying that a hradani wizard would be absolutely unacceptable to the peoples of Norfressa, let alone a wild wizard, who are supposed to be more powerful than regular wizards.

As for how Bazhell channeled this "wild energy", I have a feeling it may have something to do with the fact that at the time he did so he was linked not only to a courser (who have the same link as hradani do apparently), but both of them were also linked to a God. It may be a case that this combination allowed him to break the normal barrier and use wild magic. If he was really a wild wizard, surely his eyes would have stayed "wizardy" - like Wencit's.

WiseMan999 wrote:"“Precisely.” Wencit nodded. “Most wizards are what we call ‘wand wizards.’ They can’t really touch the ¬energy of the universe directly. They require techniques—call them tools—to manipulate it. A wild wizard doesn’t ‘manipulate’ it at all; he simply channels it. In theory, a wild wizard could seize the total energy of every ounce of matter in an entire universe and focus it all upon a single task, a single objective.”"

Upon further thought, and seeing the above quote, I have come to a conclusion that any hradani wizard must in fact be a wild wizard. Their link to the energy field should mean that they can access the energy field directly, therefore they should not need a wand. Hence - they are wild wizards.

It goes without saying that a hradani wizard would be absolutely unacceptable to the peoples of Norfressa, let alone a wild wizard, who are supposed to be more powerful than regular wizards.

As for how Bazhell channeled this "wild energy", I have a feeling it may have something to do with the fact that at the time he did so he was linked not only to a courser (who have the same link as hradani do apparently), but both of them were also linked to a God. It may be a case that this combination allowed him to break the normal barrier and use wild magic. If he was really a wild wizard, surely his eyes would have stayed "wizardy" - like Wencit's.

Since you are pondering the subject anyway, try to fit in the description of how young Wild Wizards are more powerful than older Wild Wizards. Older ones may have better use of the power they actually possess but younger ones can access more absolute power.

That sounds like channeling to me. Your quote asserts that in "theory" a WW can access all the power of the universe. Perhaps the limiting factor is how much a body can channel. Being unskilled, Bahzell needed the links to Walsharno and Tomanak to manage the amount of energy his spelled required.

Well, all this is speculation anyway. I can't wait to read the story.

Using this reasoning, it would be the same to say that the Dwarven Stoneherders and Human Mages are also Wild Wizards.

WiseMan999 wrote:"“Precisely.” Wencit nodded. “Most wizards are what we call ‘wand wizards.’ They can’t really touch the ¬energy of the universe directly. They require techniques—call them tools—to manipulate it. A wild wizard doesn’t ‘manipulate’ it at all; he simply channels it. In theory, a wild wizard could seize the total energy of every ounce of matter in an entire universe and focus it all upon a single task, a single objective.”"

Upon further thought, and seeing the above quote, I have come to a conclusion that any hradani wizard must in fact be a wild wizard. Their link to the energy field should mean that they can access the energy field directly, therefore they should not need a wand. Hence - they are wild wizards.

It goes without saying that a hradani wizard would be absolutely unacceptable to the peoples of Norfressa, let alone a wild wizard, who are supposed to be more powerful than regular wizards.

As for how Bazhell channeled this "wild energy", I have a feeling it may have something to do with the fact that at the time he did so he was linked not only to a courser (who have the same link as hradani do apparently), but both of them were also linked to a God. It may be a case that this combination allowed him to break the normal barrier and use wild magic. If he was really a wild wizard, surely his eyes would have stayed "wizardy" - like Wencit's.

IIRC, a "wizard" is someone who can utilise the energy outside their own body for their own purposes, whereas a Magi can only use the energy inside their own bodies. Therefore Magi are by no definition wild wizards, they cannot even touch the energy Wencit uses so freely, a wild wizard is a wild wizard because they can channel the energy of the universe - not just that of their own bodies.

Stonherds, it seems, are a little trickier to define.

"Good. Because sarthnasikarmanthar is simply a specialized version of the same thing—one which applies only to stone and which only the dwarves have developed. A sarthnasik doesn't 'dig' or 'cut' a tunnel. He visualizes it in his mind—much as I suppose you or Kerry visualize the mending of a wound when you call on Tomanāk for healing—and then imposes that vision on the energy other people see as 'solid stone.' "

And

"Hardly!" Wencit snorted. "It takes a great deal of concentration and imposes a tremendous drain on the life energy of a stoneherd. Something like this tunnel or some of the other tunnels and cuts sarthnasiks have produced for the Empire aren't anything they do casually, Bahzell. But the ability is undoubtedly the real reason dwarves seem so much more comfortable underground."

"And they still do it today?" Brandark sounded uneasy, and Wencit turned to look at him. "I mean, there's no White Council—hasn't been one for twelve hundred years." Wencit cocked his head, and the Bloody Sword frowned. "I don't think I like knowing that a bunch of wizards have been running around unsupervised all that time!"

"They're not wizards," Wencit said, and sighed at Brandark's expression of disbelief. "Sarthnasikarmanthar is no more wizardry than the elves' long life spans are, Brandark. Rock is the only thing a stoneherd can impose his will on, though most sarthnasiks do seem to have a greater affinity for metal work than even other dwarves do. I think it has something with their sensitivity to the ores in their raw state. But a stoneherd could no more 'visualize' a hole through you than Vaijon here could."

Stoneherds do not use the energy outside them for their purposes, they use the energy inside them to change the shape of the energy outside them. They are much more similar to Magi than Wizards, and therefore also disqualified from being wild wizards.