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Post by devilinthedetails on Jan 28, 2019 2:43:48 GMT 10
One of the greatest strengths of the Emelan universe to me is the profound sense of place. There are so many different and vividly portrayed settings that we get to visit throughout the Emelan books. My two favorite settings were Namorn and Tharios. I loved Namorn because I got the sense of it as a very complex, powerful empire with distinct regions because we got to see different places in it during Cold Fire and Will of the Empress. In Will of the Empress, I enjoyed the court politics, which reminded me of czarist Russia. In Cold Fire I enjoyed the trip to Kugisko, which sort of reminded me of a cross between Nordic countries, Russia, and even the Netherlands with skating as a means of travel in the winter and the emphasis on trading. The culture felt vibrantly drawn with the wooden architecture with distinctive paintings and carvings and details about how they drink their tea with things like sugar cubes in their mouths. I also just like winter imagery with sleigh rides and snow.
I had similar feelings about the city-state of Tharios we visit in Shatterglass. It was such a unique setting with its mix of Mediterranean culture (I get a vibe of Greek city-state, Roman empire, and Byzantium rolled into one) with a religion that reminds me of Hinduism with its belief in reincarnation, a caste system with untouchables, and a focus on pollution versus purity. It was cool to see so much blending and borrowing of different real world cultures to create a fascinating fantasy one.
How about you? What are some of your favorites and why do you love those places so much?
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Post by Lisa on Jan 31, 2019 3:32:27 GMT 10
I loved the Amsterdam-meets-St. Petersburg representation of Kugisko, especially in comparison to the Namorn representation we got in Will of the Empress, which felt a little more southern and eastern Russia in comparison.
I would have liked to see more of Zakdin, personally. I was so curious with the first heading in Sandry's Book (Palace of Black Swans, Zakin, Hatar), and unfortunately didn't get to learn anything more about the place except that it once had an amphitheatre.
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Post by devilinthedetails on Jan 31, 2019 5:48:30 GMT 10
I loved the Amsterdam-meets-St. Petersburg representation of Kugisko, especially in comparison to the Namorn representation we got in Will of the Empress, which felt a little more southern and eastern Russia in comparison. I would have liked to see more of Zakdin, personally. I was so curious with the first heading in Sandry's Book (Palace of Black Swans, Zakin, Hatar), and unfortunately didn't get to learn anything more about the place except that it once had an amphitheatre. Glad somebody else loved Kugisko and got the Russian vibe from Namorn in Will of the Empress. It's interesting that you mention wanting to see more of Zakdin after the opening of Sandry's Book since I do remember being a bit frustrated at the beginning of that book by how quickly we seemed to be traveling between places and not allowed to really get to know any of them in depth until we arrived in Emelan. It might have been better if we got to spend a bit more time in Zakdin with Sandry either before or after the outbreak of smallpox and didn't meet the other Circle characters until Sandry did. I just think the beginning of Sandry's Book introduces too many characters and places a bit too fast and has them traveling too quickly. I might have even put the book down early on if I hadn't already read Tammy's Tortall ones and been willing to give her a chance to make the series work for me since I loved some of her other books, which they did once we settled in Emelan.
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Post by Lisa on Feb 2, 2019 0:34:29 GMT 10
Ahh, I actually loved that about Sandry's Book, though for a while I was assuming it was all happening simultaneously, and Niko could replicate himself. ^_^
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Post by devilinthedetails on Feb 2, 2019 0:50:01 GMT 10
Ahh, I actually loved that about Sandry's Book, though for a while I was assuming it was all happening simultaneously, and Niko could replicate himself. ^_^ Niko being able to replicate himself is such an awesome idea that I think you should keep it as your head canon regardless of timeline considerations.
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