Talk:The Will of the Empress

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I don't know if anyone but me noticed this, but in the book, they go from being 16 to being 18 in a matter of weeks. At the beginning, it says that it's Sandry's 16th birthday. Also, Daja tells Frostpine that she's sixteen. Then, that same summer, they're all of a sudden all 18 and able to wear their medallions outside of their clothes. Am I the only one who finds this strange?? Thirteen Figure Skater 12:32, 20 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, if you look at the dates, they're mentioned as being 16 in 1041 K.F., whereas they're only mentioned as being 18 in 1043 K.F., which does give them 2 years. However, there are huge gaps of time between when Daja comes home, when Tris arrives, and then when Briar arrives (October 1041, June 1042, and February 1043 respectively, using the equivalents in the front of the book for the month names), but if you don't read the dates at the beginning of each sub-chapter, it's very easy to assume that each arrives home a few weeks after the previous. On a slightly unrelated note, it's only a month between when Briar moves in with Daja, and the time the Duke asks them to accompany Sandry, and it's not more than 2 weeks after then that they leave for Dancruan, so Daja moves into the house when they're about 16, Tris moves in with her when they're about 17, and Briar moves in when they're about 18. (Just to help people get their heads around the timeline.) Nique1287 22:42, 21 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

As Nique1287 pointed out, the first chapter or so of WotE takes place over a time span of two years or so. However, it's a valid questions, and maybe it's worthwhile to include a timeline of events in this article. It can be compiled from the chapter headings. Would that constitute a copyright violation? I'm not certain what the rules are, regarding book excerpts. - LeaHazel 20:12, 23 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

If we tell where we got the information from, we should be fine. Thirteen Figure Skater 8:19, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Rizu

"She sends young men to court Sandry, and when Daja realises that she is nisamohi (lesbian), Berenene sends a young girl to seduce her."

This seems wrong to me. There's no evidence in the book that Rizu was sent by Berenene to seduce Daja. It's a possible interpretation, certainly, but it's not hard text. The text indicates that Rizu took up with Daja of her own accord, and Berenene, although pleased with the development, was not behind it. Daja didn't know she was lesbian until Rizu kissed her; there is also that.

A more minor thing, but: Rizu is described as being in her twenties. Is it really accurate to describe her as a "young girl"? LeaHazel : talk : contribs 16:04, 8 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You're right on both counts. Rizu was sent along to befriend Sandry, and her relationship with Daja was just serendipity, and she's never described as a 'girl' that I can recall. There are a lot of discrepancies in the article, actually, now that I look closer. Another one is that Briar never 'pointed out' that the Empress wouldn't be kidnapped very brutally, it's actually Sandry and it's only an internal thought, none of them would dare say it to the Empress herself, and the amulets that Pershan tied on Sandry to stop her power toward the end were dampening her power, Sandry was only able to regain her power because the other mage, that had made the amulets, had his power dampened by Briar and Daja, if I recall correctly. Someone must have written that summary after skimming the book rather than reading it fully, I think. Nique1287 14:00, 9 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think a comprehensive rewriting is in order, perhaps modeling it after one of the neater book articles. An infobox would make a nice addition, too. I'll see if I can find a good version of the cover to upload. LeaHazel : talk : contribs 21:11, 9 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Rewriting

I just sat and rewrote a lot of the article, and added sections that I felt were appropriate. The existing summary was basically of the book's main plot and I felt the sub-plots were better off under their own sub-headings, since the summary is quite long. Also, there seemed to be a lot of commentating that doesn't quite belong, such as on Rizu's motivations (see above) and Briar's "promiscuity" so I cleaned it up a bit and changed the phrasing for clarity. I tried to provide more external perspective and to clarify the timeline of the first chapter a bit.

Since the talk page is not terribly active, I just went ahead and edited it. If there's a content problem, it can always be discussed here, although I made an effort to stick to the text proper and not add anything that might be attributed to reader's observation. Briar's PTSD I feel is pure canon, since his symptoms are literally textbook (see PTSD#Symptoms and their possible explanations: nightmares, flashback, hyperarousal, paranoid ideation etc). I'm now going to create Minor characters in The Will of the Empress based on the external list I wrote up a while ago. LeaHazel : talk : contribs 19:39, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]