Through Fiery Trials, Snippet #1

Bluesqueak wrote:

DianeSilva wrote: I agree. I have long believed Merlin would eventually die. Which is why he created the other Nimue PICA. He knew there might be a chance his pics body may not survive. . I will miss him if that does happen. He is my favorite charactet

Or he lies sleeping in a hidden cave, to awaken only in Safehold's hour of darkest need...

As I recall, one of the early books mentions that even if Merlin's PICA gets hit with enough Safehold-level combat tech to severely damage it, his nannies could rebuild him given sufficient time and raw materials. The Cave would be a logical place to park him while the rebuild is going on.

ywing14 wrote:— from The Life of Merlin Athrawes, Zhakleen Wylsynn,
Tellesberg, Royal University Press, 4217.

This might be my favorite part "4217". That's a long way off.

Do you think based on this that Merlin will die as it were? I have felt for awhile that he was preparing for the possibly by making another a Nimue PIzcA

DianeSilva wrote:

Undercover Fat Kid wrote:....addendum:

I think Merlin dies in this story arc. These types of history books tend to be written post mortem, me thinks

I agree. I have long believed Merlin would eventually die. Which is why he created the other Nimue PICA. He knew there might be a chance his pics body may not survive. . I will miss him if that does happen. He is my favorite charactet

I'm going to have to disagree, this book serves as a soft reboot for the series, so this is simply a good way to sum up what has gone before.

So last night, I read TFT. It was a magnificent tour de force, with amazing characters and a satisfying ending.

...and then I woke up, the dream sliding out of my head along with the plot and the amazing characters. Snippet withdrawal is being more cruel than usual. It's invading my sleep.

Though if I could remember the plot, maybe I could write the next bestseller, instead of waiting for it to come out.

DianeSilva wrote:

ywing14 wrote:— from The Life of Merlin Athrawes, Zhakleen Wylsynn,
Tellesberg, Royal University Press, 4217.

This might be my favorite part "4217". That's a long way off.

Do you think based on this that Merlin will die as it were? I have felt for awhile that he was preparing for the possibly by making another a Nimue PIzcA

As I commented once upon a time, if the fictional parallel is followed, Nimue eventually seals Merlin into a cave. There seemed to be an extended discussion of Nimue studying the Terran Federation hand to hand combat techniques, which really did not seem to be used very much when she beat up the impolite Corisandian officer. Perhaps it gets another use in Pica-Pica combat, for example because Merlin has mental problems or is infected with a computer virus when he visits the Temple. Perhaps he gets to sleep, like Frederick Barbarossa. Perhaps the VR space is expanded, so that Nahrman is joined by his wife, and Merlin is joined by Nynian.

phillies wrote:As I commented once upon a time, if the fictional parallel is followed, Nimue eventually seals Merlin into a cave. There seemed to be an extended discussion of Nimue studying the Terran Federation hand to hand combat techniques, which really did not seem to be used very much when she beat up the impolite Corisandian officer. Perhaps it gets another use in Pica-Pica combat, for example because Merlin has mental problems or is infected with a computer virus when he visits the Temple. Perhaps he gets to sleep, like Frederick Barbarossa. Perhaps the VR space is expanded, so that Nahrman is joined by his wife, and Merlin is joined by Nynian.

As someone else replied,that is only one version of the legend. Besides which, while RFC may have fun with some of the tropes, there is very little sign that they are in any way a controlling influence in what happens. The ease and completeness with which Nimue humiliates the hapless guard lieutenant are ample justification for the discussion of her study of hand-to-hand techniques.

Edited once (12 Sept 18) to get Phillies quote marked as such.

Joat42 wrote:

shayvaan wrote:Yaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy!

One ,minor problem though.


The date: November YoG 890 is at the START of the first war, which ended with the execution of Clyntahn in February YoG 899.


BTW the times he gives at the end of the snippet, support either November YoG 899 or 900, depending on how you round it.

Uhm yeah... Nahrman died during the summer of 895 so having his hologram interacting with Merlin in 890 means we either have time travel going on or it's a typo.

Luckily this isn't Star Trek so the latter is the likely cause.

Or the presence of a crystal ball? Ouch!

Bluesqueak wrote:
I agree that demonstrating that we live on a world that is curved is fairly easy for anyone with a boat and a telescope, but my experience with atheistic true believers, or the Jesus never existed crowd is that they've got a fairly 'sophisticated' system whereby they provide reasons to exclude any evidence that doesn't fit their worldview. Flat Earthers probably have that same kind of set-up. Whatever evidence you hand them, they'll be prepped with an explanation of why that evidence is fraudulent.

The term "atheistic true believers" is an oxymoron, and rather insulting at that. You seem to feel that atheism is simply another religion. It is not, and you are projecting your beliefs of how people should feel on atheists. Hence your comment "true believers."

Atheists do not believe in a god of any type. You claim there is one, so the burden of proof is on you, not on them. Show them a well designed and executed double blind study proving the existence of god, any god, and they will come around. A book that was obviously written and rewritten to support one group or another is not proof of anything.

Hildum wrote:

Bluesqueak wrote:
I agree that demonstrating that we live on a world that is curved is fairly easy for anyone with a boat and a telescope, but my experience with atheistic true believers, or the Jesus never existed crowd is that they've got a fairly 'sophisticated' system whereby they provide reasons to exclude any evidence that doesn't fit their worldview. Flat Earthers probably have that same kind of set-up. Whatever evidence you hand them, they'll be prepped with an explanation of why that evidence is fraudulent.

The term "atheistic true believers" is an oxymoron, and rather insulting at that. You seem to feel that atheism is simply another religion. It is not, and you are projecting your beliefs of how people should feel on atheists. Hence your comment "true believers."

Atheists do not believe in a god of any type. You claim there is one, so the burden of proof is on you, not on them. Show them a well designed and executed double blind study proving the existence of god, any god, and they will come around. A book that was obviously written and rewritten to support one group or another is not proof of anything.

Atheism is a belief too. Obviously literal interpretations of the bible are incompatible with science, but you can always keep asking why.
Why do the fundamental constants of the universe align exactly in a way that allows baryonic matter to exist?
So far no one has any realistic idea on how to make experiments on anything outside the spacetime we know. Proving the nonexistence of any creator is as impossible as proving it.
Many physicists and other scientists are religious, and see absolutely no conflict with their excellent science.
Science is all about gathering knowledge, which requires proof.
Religion is all about beliefs, which does not require proof.
The conflict arises only if you believe something that is proven to be wrong.

Hi Hildum,

Kudos for some excellent points!

Although the way some atheists act and think corresponds to the way some religious act and believe, rationalizing their beliefs in the same way; rather than being completely irreligious, rational, and logical; but of course they're still human.

Of course if free will is critical to God's purpose, as I believe it is, providing the kind of incontrovertible proof believers and non-believers want, is counter to that purpose.

Can you say "not gonna happen"?

So we're stuck with living by faith, or not; sustained by the miracles we know of or personally experience, or not; to choose and live according to what we really believe, as Maikel puts it.

Which is just one more reason why RFC is such an inspiring story teller.

Now where could he have gotten that idea from?

L

Hildum wrote:

Bluesqueak wrote:
I agree that demonstrating that we live on a world that is curved is fairly easy for anyone with a boat and a telescope, but my experience with atheistic true believers, or the Jesus never existed crowd is that they've got a fairly 'sophisticated' system whereby they provide reasons to exclude any evidence that doesn't fit their worldview. Flat Earthers probably have that same kind of set-up. Whatever evidence you hand them, they'll be prepped with an explanation of why that evidence is fraudulent.

The term "atheistic true believers" is an oxymoron, and rather insulting at that. You seem to feel that atheism is simply another religion. It is not, and you are projecting your beliefs of how people should feel on atheists. Hence your comment "true believers."

Atheists do not believe in a god of any type. You claim there is one, so the burden of proof is on you, not on them. Show them a well designed and executed double blind study proving the existence of god, any god, and they will come around. A book that was obviously written and rewritten to support one group or another is not proof of anything.