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pietro

ICARIAN
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Posts posted by pietro

  1. We seem to have another long hiatus in prospect. We are now entering the second half of the educational year in most of Europe ramping up to the end of year/final exams, and I suspect that doesn't bode well for progress.

    Again I would say I hope all is well in Icaria.

  2. There is simply too much unknown to speculate on what was and what is. No doubt there are some answers (at least there had better be angry1) in the next chapter. That should return us to the point where Jamie is resolving his confrontation with Charles.

    I think you can claim more than a gut feeling, Ricky, regarding Charles. There are many clues that he was a pivotal character in the resistance and that he was following a plan when they were all brought out of stasis, allowing Jamie and Niklas to develop their own knowledge and conclusions. Don't forget that he was also 'testing' them to be sure they were capable of being a true Wizard and King, an expensive test as it allowed Loran to take control of the Throne army.

    For me, Charles was just as pivotal a character as Croal, possibly even more so, don't forget it was Charles who supplied him with all the information of the Empire's excesses and repression as well as information about Niklas with the hidden data store Jamie found. We know that Charles was a primary mover, probably the primary mover behind the resistance, remember it was Charles who had the second key to the stasis chamber holding the Wizard's Own, something I am not sure even the Empire was aware of.

    In one sense I agree that Charles will be shown to be a supporter of Jamie but I am not sure 'friend', at least before stasis, would be true. I have no doubt he was one of the most important members of the Croal/Jonas plan and resistance, I surmise it was his position and role to be the main facilitator for that plan within the Empire, I am sure he was the one to insert Niklas into the Ghadar, ensure his education and training by the Ghroum Sak'ki, etc. placing Giovanni at the Ecole and so on. I still think Croal had a different plan beyond his agreement with Jonas, or perhaps an extension of that plan he didn't mention to anyone :D. As I have said before, I think there was an original Croal/Jonas plan based on the Icarians subverting and destroying the Empire, I think they realised the Empire was going to be a tougher nut to crack than they thought and there was a secondary plan to produce a de Valen/Agramos pairing with the training, knowledge and conditioning to win the Icarians from the Empire and destroy it, then I think there was a Croal plan that involved Charlie, whether even Charles was aware of that I don't know.

  3. Exactly the point. the only other clue is, if I recall correctly, it was Castor who collected together the items that were placed in stasis with Charlie, so we can assume he acquired it through his contacts in the Kalorian League. That then raises the question, why. Was it Jamie's instructions? Just a hunch? Or was it maybe an old instruction from Croal as a last ditch effort to stop Loran from becoming a complete wizard? We shall probably never know

  4. The Orb of the Unicorn is under the Protection of the Imperial House of the Metaphysical Arts (also known as The House of the Oracle). His Imperial Highness Prince Jonathan of Tower Mount rules the Oracles House and his scribe is Lord Langford, Duke of Angel's Fall.

    The seat of the Prince wasn't filled until the meeting held after the rescue of Jonathan.

    That makes the acquisition and placing of the Orb of the Unicorn even more puzzling. It also suggests that Jamie knew far more than we were led to believe he did, although we have never been made privy to much of what Jamie knew anyway. Why would Jamie have bothered to secrete an Orb anyway, especially at a time it would almost certainly be missed by the powers that were, since the Empire and the Icarians were due to depart in the near future, and thus arouse the Empire's suspicion?

    Perhaps the next chapter will shed some light, but I won't hold my breath.

  5. I think you are mistaken re Jamie's tattoo, the story clearly says the pictograms were present when it developed while Jamie was at the Ecole but only the rings were present when Jamie came out of stasis, the related pictogram appearing as he absorbed an orb. Of course, this may have been a mistake in the writing, Talon Rider has already warned us there were several 'continuity errors' that had crept in as the story was (slowly) written that have been addressed in the Book 1 revision that has seemingly vanished.

    I am also pretty sure all the clues point to Ghroum DNA rather than avian DNA being the 'magic' ingredient in the Icarian make up, I don't see where you get the idea it was a later development.

    When I say Croal created every Icarian I don't mean that literally. It is pretty clear, I think, no one else knows how to create the stem cells that can be developed into Icarians, yes, others can do the manipulations to produce certain characteristics but only Croal created the root stock, if you like.

    You could be right about the Orb of the Unicorn although we have not been given any clues as to how Renaud and Jamie got hold of it. I suppose if one looked up the House responsible for it one might make a guess, but had they even been distributed at that time? The whole thing about the distribution of the Orbs at the point of collapse has not been covered.

    As far as I recall there are absolutely no clues as to the origin, significance or purpose of the Tower and the Monastery so any guess is valid.

  6. As I recall the Tower and the Monastery represent something coming that is actually worse than the Empire, exactly what, I have no clue. It may well be that rather than the Empire this potential event was the focus of all Croal's plans surrounding Jamie and Charlie. We mustn't forget that these structures pre-date Altinestrans.

    We obviously aren't going to agree on whether or not Niklas and Jamie or Giovanni and Charlie becoming King and Wizard was an integral part of Croal's plan, my view remains that it wasn't. I don't say he didn't hope Jamie and Niklas would take those roles, only that it wasn't necessary from his point of view. Remember, the whole Icarian hierarchy was an invention of the Empire, Savaron Loka to be precise, perhaps useful from Croal's point of view to help manipulate circumstances to favour his plans, but not a part of his plan. Again you have to look at Croal's character, as utterly ruthless as Savaron Loka, paranoid to the extent he barely trusts himself, a certainty that chaos rules and complex plans will always fail, a belief that everything must be backed up with ready made alternatives to switch to, alternatives that have no connection with others, no one other than himself knowing the full picture on anything but always working in apparently plain sight and so on. Look at the way he has trained Jamie, exposing him to knowledge without explaining, making him do exercises without explaining, pretending he doesn't know what Jamie is doing while monitoring his every moment, encouraging him to make his own connections, develop his own understanding and knowledge and most revealing of all, not interfering even when Jamie is doing something that could easily bring everything Croal has spent his life working for down and kill them all. Then there is Niklas' training, also done, I believe, in accordance with the Croal plan, or maybe the Croal/Jonas plan, but with nothing to link him to it. If I recall correctly there is a passage where Croal is talking with one of his co-conspirators, discussing Jamie's progress. At the end there is a comment about the 'other one' and his progress. I had assumed at the time this referred to Charlie, now I think it referred to Niklas. There was a similar episode where the other one was Loran but this one was different, unless I'm just getting confused, of course which would not in itself be surprising given the complexity, hanging threads and mystery in the story :lol:

    Charles was indeed a part of the resistance and I believe he was the architect behind Niklas' training, but I also think he, like Croal, was working to a slightly different agenda, apparently working together with Croal to a common end, but both actually looking at a different ending. As I have previously said, all the indications are there were several resistances, some joining together to progress their joint interests, some working alone or specifically focused on a single thing, like the Farzetti, I believe, some with fingers in several pies, like Croal.

    As for Charlie, should he not have completed his puberty cycle? I thought he was only two years younger than Jamie in actual age and I am more than sure it has been longer than two years.

    The issue of Jamie's tattoo and its partial disappearance and reappearances together with his apparent susceptibility to the Germinus is very frustrating. I can't see any way that could have occurred, unless it was something to do with the mysterious virus Charles was behind. Still, I didn't expect the 100 year planned stasis to be changed to 2000 years + by a cometary close encounter so I suppose anything goes. Presumably that is Jamie.wri emphasising his 'best laid plans of mice and men ....' and all that, chaos rules.

  7. Hhhmmm, a few misconceptions there I think, Ricky.

    I think there are enough clues in the text so far to suggest that Ghroum DNA is the source of the wings, intelligence, long life, psi potential and overall physical capacity of all Icarians. It is pretty clear Croal created ALL the Icarians, at least he created the entire stock of stem cells that could be grown into Icarians, other scientists were able to manipulate those cells to 'tweak' certain characteristics and thus produce different individuals, but no one was privy to the method used to create the stem cells. We know that Croal kept that secret while appearing to work openly and allowed the assumption that the fundamental genetic enhancements came from birds while it was of course from the Ghroum.

    I agree that the pairing of Niklas and Jamie was not accidental, Croal obviously intended they would form a formidable team and the 'intention to mate' was designed to help that come to pass, where I disagree is that he intended them to be Wizard and King, as I said, I would think from Croal's position that would be irrelevant.

    Castor's facility did indeed derive from his work for Croal as did his station among the Kalorian League, which was also part of his duties for Croal.

    I am fairly confident that Jamie, Niklas, Charlie, Giovanni and Jonathan were all crafted by Croal, separately from the stem cells he made that were in use at Gold Glass. Cody, like Charles, was, I think, part of the run of the mill Icarians from Gold Glass that just happened to have exhibited a bit of psi power. I am not sure but I think there are hints of unexpected psi powers to be seen among other Icarians, even Hippolito's ability to attract is quite possibly psi based.

    I also agree that Croal's plans included a lot more than just rolling the dice. From my perspective he was obviously intent on ensuring that his special creations, Jamie, Niklas, Charlie, Giovanni and Jonathan would both survive and be suitably placed and be properly prepared to have the opportunity to do their job which was the destruction of the Empire. I think he was quite happy to use the Empire's ambitions, the various resistances and the Kalorian League and their plans to progress his own plotting and that while he may have seemed to be a partner to several groups he was in reality entirely his own man with his own ultimate plan. That is why I say he couldn't have cared less about who was or wasn't Wizard and King, the mechanics of how Jamie, Niklas and Charlie eventually fulfilled their roles didn't matter, as long as they were successful. Croal and Jonas's philosophy from the very beginning was that you cannot dictate outcomes, events progress as they will, whatever those in charge intend when they start the ball rolling; plans composed of careful, choreographed and intricate steps are doomed to failure, chaos rules. Croal would not make a plan dependent on Niklas and Jamie or Charlie and Giovanni being King and Wizard.

  8. Just discovered Kandric 27 is up at GA :lol::D

    Well done and thank you Kyle!

    A lot of interesting stuff here, not really a lot of action. The next instalment should be a lot livelier as things are starting to come to a head and the various groups are coming together.

    I still feel there is a chapter missing, there were a lot of events occurring while Kandric was knocked out from his magical overdose which I would have liked to have seen covered,but there you are. One of my suspicions was proved true although the known facts don't quite add up, but whether that is by accident or design, aka red herrings, I don't know. The Zoldon/Klandon mystery has a bit of a twist, maybe, but that should be properly revealed in the next instalment as well.

  9. Yes, I agree. But those were the Empire's plans and they intended Hippolito as King, they weren't the resistance plans, they didn't even know about Niklas as far as we know, and they were shattered before Alexander died anyway, it wasn't the Kalorian League's plan either and it certainly wasn't Croal's plans.

    So in the present circumstances there are no plans, Jamie and Niklas have fallen into the role of Wizard and King by accident rather than design. Their damaged memories and the information available made them think they must be the Wizard and King because of who Jamie is, and the reaction of most of the other Icarians returned from stasis simply reinforced that belief, plus their innate monarchical sense of duty and responsibility for others pushed them to accept that role.

    So, going back to Ricky's point, there is no reason that Jamie and Niklas cannot be Wizard and King, nor is there any reason why Charlie and Giovanni should be Wizard and King in their place. Everything hinges on Jamie and his decisions while he still lives, it is doubtful any pre-stasis plans have any relevance now and as far as we know, Jamie was not a knowing participant in any of them anyway. We do not even know if Jamie was aware of any particular role Croal may have intended for Charlie, again if any and yet again if any such role was still still valid or necessary.

    Anyway, that's enough 'any's for now. :D

  10. In a sense, yes. Jamie did tell Charlie it would be down to him if he something should happen to Jamie. And Jamie also made Niklas promise to fight disunion and protect Charlie in that event.

    I suppose the difficulty here is that, as far as we know, Croal had no plans other than to put Jamie and Charlie, and presumably Niklas as I have posited before, in place so that they would be in position to 'throw a spanner' into the Empire's works at the right time, the 'seven sided dice'. I have no doubt he was also pulling other threads destabilising to the Empire. We know that the plan to save the Kalorians was Jamie's alone and that somehow it all ended up being down to him, the 'official' resistance being shattered, and that Jamie had only a vague idea of what the original plan had been, if it was even still feasible or even a plan at all by that time. To me this suggests there were never any plans for even Jamie and Niklas to be Wizard and King, let alone Charlie and Giovanni, although Jamie being the only known potential wizard other than Loran at the time obviously meant attempts would be made for Jamie to be elevated.

    The point is, Jamie, Charlie and, I believe, Niklas were Croal's throw of the dice, thrown long before Alexander was out of the picture and although Croal was convinced Loran was inadequate for being a Wizard I don't think he in any way planned for Jamie to take over the 'official' wizard role. As I see it his plan was to recreate a de Valen - Agramos pairing, a Merlin and Arthur if you like, give them as big an advantage as possible through genetics, education and training and leave it to fate. Whether they became King and Wizard was immaterial to Croal's plans. As I posted earlier, Charlie was created to be a different and more powerful entity than Jamie, the one to really strike the death blow to the Empire, note that Charlie apparently has not developed the more physical wizardly powers like fire balls or a Tattoo, and certainly neither he nor Giovanni have had the same de Valen - Agramos type education and training. Put simply, in Croal's mind there was never a plan to make Jamie/Niklas or Charlie/Giovanni Wizard and King.

    I wonder how much, if any, of Jamie.wri's inspiration derives from the Arthurian prophecy, the Once and Future King? If you have never read T H White's The Once and Future King I would recommend you do.

  11. This is a difficult one to call. We know that Charlie is Croal's 'true' weapon and that Jamie is there firstly to distract any attention from Charlie and secondly to be Charlie's shield which I interpret as protector. One problem I have with the Charlie and Giovanni destined to be Wizard and King scenario is neither has been 'prepared' for that role. OK, we don't know what Charlie's powers are, except that they are different from Jamie's and that Charlie is much more powerful than Jamie in mental abilities. As I seem to recall there is a substantial difference between Jamie and Charlie in DNA terms, actual percentages mean little, a minute percentage difference can make a huge difference in ability. Giovanni apparently has had no training in anything. Both are young, I know, but both Niklas and Jamie were trained for their roles from the word go.

    Of course, it may well be that Charlie is not destined for any role regarding Icaria or Altinestra, his role may be against the Commonwealth or whatever events are portended by the Monastery of Infinity and the Tower. As it stands there are hints and flashes but on where near enough facts to base assumptions on.

  12. I had not picked up this story before because I did not like what I had seen of the author's earlier writing, but I have now started reading this story and I must say it is truly excellent, another potentially publishable book. By that I mean being picked up by a publishing house.

    There is a new (new to me, anyway) alternative way to potentially get one's work published to a potentially wide audience via Kindle Direct Publishing through places like Amazon, although Kindle prices are far too high. I do realise that pricing them according to production cost would quickly make 'real' books redundant, but that is probably inevitable anyway.

  13. I know when it's good, it's hard to wait. But remember that this has been a ten year project. You can not rush greatness. Quality creates it's own demand.

    I'm glad he takes the time to maintain the level of quality he has. Consistently throughout the entire story. This is not an easy write and it is extremely complex especially at this juncture of the story. Lines have to be drawn very carefully and deliberately.

    Rushing is not an option. Busting his chops for not meeting your demands for speed would be offensive to most. Particularly in a story of this complexity. If it is too slow for you then perhaps a sabbatical from reading until it is completed is the best answer for you, if you are so bothered that you have forgotten your manners.

    We have an old saying here, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

    Comments inferring that you are suffering from having to wait too long are flat ungrateful and ill mannered.

    I for one am pleased that he has shared it with us at all and if I exit this world before it is finished I'll have something to look forward to in my next life. Especially with the great joy it has added for me and so many others in this one.

    Hey TalonRider, can you add a large raspberry emoticon? You know, for those who can't recognise a wry comment not directed to the author but simply pointing to an unexplained 10 month hiatus. I would add that I probably would be dead before Jamie.wri finishes if this remains the case. And that would be a real disappointment.

    :P

  14. Yes, we could speculate about many things.

    If Loka is alive, it will be interesting to see how the meeting goes when Hippolito catches up with him. Hippolito has the Army and the Legion of Red and Black.

    But Loka can be expected to have ghosters and battlehovs and all the other Empire goodies, although probably not too many trained military. Well, no doubt we will see, assuming we live long enough -_-

  15. A good point, TalonRider, it might well have been a part of Jamie's reprogramming to re-site the barrier as a further insurance for when things returned to normal.

    Indeed, Ricky, the Empire is still there, as I mentioned above, presumably having come out of stasis on Argon at the same time as the others. The Commonwealth, however, I think that is what you were referring to Ricky, not the Empire which was Altinestran, is also still there and may itself have developed in less than ideal directions, who knows?

    Another possibility is the remnants of the Empire may have already returned to some remote location where they had arranged for the Throne armies to meet them in order to re-assert control of the planet. Perhaps Hippolito is actually off to join up with his mentor Loka, or make sure he is not going to be around any more. That would make for an interesting future.

    So many possibilities it is really not worth speculating. I don't suppose we are likely to get any answers this year, given current performance.

  16. So I see. Well that explains the timing shift and the re-siting of the force field. A bit contrived, I thought, especially the relocation of the force field, but there we are. Logically the force field should have either turned off completely or simply reset, still covering Taldor Valen. Less logically it could have reset to the original calibration covering Angel's Mount, least logically it would have conveniently enveloped the important bits of Altinestra. Still, the solution remains within the realms of reasonable probability, just.

    Not that it matters that much, the fact it occurred is the only thing of importance to the story, the how is unimportant.

    Still, it means that the remnants of the Empire can be assumed to be alive and well on Argon so I wonder why we haven't seen them reappear. Access to the interdicted area is presumably blocked, even by gates or else Jamie and co. would already be in the City of Light, but we know they had shuttle craft and we know that various gates outside of the barrier are active and available, so why haven't they appeared? Perhaps Gold will shed some light on that.

  17. I sincerely hope we are getting close to our yearly chapter of Kandric.

    I too, have been reading, have read "Fire and Ice". As interesting as the first four books were, I found the fifth book "A Dance With Dragons" rather boring and unexciting. Actually, about 1/4 way through it, I put it down and have had no desire to pick it up again.

    Oh well! Plenty of other reading to keep me occupied while waiting for Kyle and Jamie.

    I am only on book three at the moment. I had read another of his books some time ago but did not like the style of writing so I hadn't been tempted to read any more. Then I saw a trailer for 'A Game of Thrones' and thought I might try again. I am not too sure I like his style, even now. It is OK to break things into discrete bits around individual characters that have no particular connection at the time when dealing with such a complex story and so great a number of characters while trying to maintain a time line, but too many end on a cliffhanger or knife edge. I have the urge to flip through until I find the continuation of that thread, or I find I am still thinking about the previous chapter while the current chapter is not really penetrating. To avoid this I find I have to pause reading after each chapter, make a drink or post a comment somewhere or something.

    Anyway, back to Kandric as this is a Kandric thread. I think Kyle has done a very good job of coping with complexity without leaving cliffhangers everywhere. It is a little surprising that Martin follows the 'internet writing standard', for want of a better description, of ending each chapter up in the air, as it were, when he is writing for paper while Kyle follows the 'book writing standard' of generally tidy endings to chapters, especially since I am sure he wrote at one time he had no interest in seeking paper publication. I know there are no hard and fast rules, but I have read an awful amount both on line and in book form and there are definitely traditions, shall we say, on chapter endings as I have indicated.

    There was a lot in the last chapter that I was sorry to see not covered, Jamon's fight and the battle for Slome, the situation of the students and a bit more about Kandric's elf brother now serving the King, perhaps that will be rectified in the next instalment. That said, it was a hefty chapter after all, so I suppose I should be satisfied with what we had.

  18. Well, it is getting near the end of the year and I wonder if we will have a Christmas or New Year present from Kyle this time around. I hope so. Kyle is an excellent writer (slow, but definitely accomplished) and all his stories leave you wanting more. I think he once said 'Re-emergence' was his favourite story but it would be last on my list, which would be (with points out of ten):

    The Kandric Saga .............................. 9.75

    O'Connell's Grenadiers ........................ 9.70

    Brile ......................................... 9.65

    Defenders ..................................... 9.50

    Re-emergence .................................. 9.40

    I would point out that Brile and O'Connell's Grenadiers are really one story, at least they are in the same universe and time frame and appear to be merging.

    I have been reading George R R Martin's a Song of Ice and Fire and it reminded me very much of the Kandric Saga in character types, the same medieval levels of honour and depravity in some characters that makes you love and hate them at the same time.

  19. When I originally made that last post, I was referring to the end of the cliffhanger we've been waiting on.

    The last I've heard from Jamie was back in late August/early September. All the rain from Irene and then Lee screwed up his time here so we didn't get together for our annual visit. I've even chatted with his editor, AJ, whose wondering as well. He's sent Gold, the second edit back and is still waiting for the third.

    Uuummmm, I know. But if you look at the first post in this thread my last becomes clearer, or at least its antecedents do :D

    There are many possible reasons for delay, I know. Personal circumstances, health issues, simply too busy, writer's block, huge inconsistency suddenly found (I am sure I once saw a statistic that showed an unbelievable number of writers, even well known authors, that started one story and found they had finished a different story at the end of the book), lost interest, has got a publisher interested and is protecting future digital rights. It's just that I really would like to know.

    If you were going to suggest I ask Jamie directly, I did, very nicely, twice when he had the lonnnngggggg hiatus a couple of years ago. He was one of those that never replied unsure1

  20. THE END IS NEAR.

    I'm beginning to think your comment was more prophetic than you intended.

    A new school year has started so assuming Jamie is still lecturing things are looking more and more ominous.

    Are we going to see a Kyle - Kandric pattern settle in I wonder; one chapter a year, two if we are really lucky and each one leaves us asking, will there ever be any more?

    I wonder why it is that only about 0.001% of internet authors ever have the courtesy to advise readers there is or may be a delay, especially ones who generally have a regular posting schedule. I know we as readers tend not to show our constant appreciation, but the simple fact we read the stories shows we do indeed appreciate their efforts without having to resort to sycophantic messages. I would also point out that however politely I emailed authors to express my appreciation I hardly ever got a response, in fact I can only recall two which is the reason I no longer do it.

    I hope I haven't just pushed the cat into the pigeon loft, such was not my intention :)

  21. Interlude - The Seventh Bronze has been posted.

    Short, and sweet. It was nice to know what happened to Larrus. On the other hand it didn't actually advance the story or answer any of the unresolved questions. That Taldor Valen was an Imperial reserve was pretty much obvious, as I commented previously. It was also pretty obvious that Taldor Valen prospered, so, other than learning that Larrus lived to a ripe old age and never forgot Jamie, this interlude didn't tell us very much.

    Still it was a nice little addendum to the story, and it definitely had a high 'Aaaahh' quotient but did little to quiet those of us impatient for answers.

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