Lit Reading NJO...Again

There were a lot of issues with the caste system of the YV to understate it. Nom Anor started pulling from one end, Nen Yim from the other, eventually it snapped.

 

Wait, what do you mean there is nothing to discover? Wait, why can't I advance?

All it took were a few challenges to their beliefs, not because they did not believe it...hell, they crossed the void and formed a society based on conquest because they believed it.

After the void, after some huge victories, the assault stalled and beliefs hit the reality of the situation. If the Gods wanted us to have this galaxy, why are we stuck? Why are we frustrated? We have lost a lot of warriors that will take a generation to replenish. Was this the way? Could something we have been told to believe actually be, just an opinion? Son of a!

 

That also brings Jacen's relationship with the World Mind to the front, that was the point, the pivot. When he used his empathy to make the population of Yuuzhantar (sp?) question each ritual meant to reinforce their beliefs, that may have been the end. Maybe the YV lost as soon as they won...

 

Hi @spicewood,
you mean Jacen's relationship with the world brain. When it comes to translation of books into other languages, translating back those terms into the original language is not always easy to grasp, I know. You've got also a conversation mail from me you should read regarding double or multiple posts.

 

Will check, thanks, matey.

 

Apologies, the double posts will end now. Mohon maaf.

 

When Jacen overcame pain, found power in it, should we have been worried?

 

Well, this is the series that put out the unedited Star by Star very close to 9/11, so it might well sail that close to the edge.

 

@Sinrebirth,
Sometimes, when I write normal German words into my smartphone, autocorrection offers me male Turkish names instead. In your example it should be vice versa instead as well.

 

I've brought up my autocorrection that way, that when I write Ts, Tsavong appears automatically on the left side of the to-write word. Right of it - to my surprise - popped up the Czech flag, surely a hint to Czech YouTuber SFero who produced a nice video about the late Warmaster, unfortunately in Czech language.

 

If they did, (which I don't think really since the Vong have nothing in common with Islam, like at all, aside from maybe having some extremists who dislike tech, the saying "the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr" was used to try to shut down printing press in some Islamic places), then look at how it ends, people are able to come together despite their differences and make a new future. Violence against the different (which the Vong do represent in my view 'different' and all that entails), is not the answer, making peace with, not destorying something that makes either itself, but bringing them to an understanding and existence.

At least that is my view.

I also wonder if the timing of the release of SBS affected it's popularity, since well it came out at a time of dark hour.

 

The Vong aren’t remotely Islamic in either aesthetic or culture.

After all their polytheistic for one thing.

 

Pretty sure it was Star by Star that was delayed a few months by 9/11, so the series was already at the halfway mark as far as releases, likely much further along in terms of drafts for the following novels.

 

The Vong in the second half of NJO aren't portrayed as Islamic, but are certainly portrayed as "fundamentalists," which in the years following 9/11 was often how Islam and other traditional religions were portrayed (by the American right, by the "New Atheists," etc.). There is some of that contemporary criticism vibe in Traitor, where the Vong's great flaw is their uncompromising dogmatism. "Qurang Lah," however, only shows up in Edge of Victory II, which was published before 9/11.

 

Nope, publication date was October 2001. It was unusual that they didn't delay it, never mind as to what went on in the book.

 

Ah, thanks for the clarification. That was strange that they did not delay it.

 

I think the release date helped the books perception.

 

I never understood why books or films were delayed because of some grave events, unless the film studios were destroyed, of cause. My husband says that people don't want to see films about a pandemic during Corona times, because it would be so close. I instead would, exactly because it IS so close.

What do you think about, from where Nom Anor got his vast shaper knowledge. Did he fall in love with a shaper one time or was he taught from an illegitimate parent's side?

 

Yeah, if I recall, I was on Edge of Victory throughout Infantry School, then 9/11 happened a month after I finished training and checked into my unit. It did not make me stay away from the series, I enjoyed the escapism. I could certainly see it helping the series as a whole, point taken.

I was not aware Nom Anor had shaping skills, but his scheming skills...best Intendant ever lol.

Aside, whatever I choose for my next job, you all should do the opposite. I have the worst timing. Join the Marines...9/11 happens shortly after. Join the Peace Corps...a President hostile to the very idea of the PC is elected shortly after (all other politics be damned, not trying to derail a thread). Start teaching at an international school abroad, a semester later...COVID!

 

I really miss the scene, where Qurang Lah is delivering his report to his prominent crêche-brother about what happened at Yag D'hul in "Edge of Victory II" and especially Nom Anor's role there.

BTW, while writing the previous sentence, my auto-correction didn't propose me Quran, but now, where I have written Qurang twice on my smartphone, that YV name will be the first choice always, when I come to write Qur... .

@spicewood,
About Nom Anor's shaping abilities was written much in Pt. I (Vector Prime), VI (Balance Point) and XVIII (The Final Prophecy).

 

Reality and stories matching up a bit too closely is something I rarely care about, at least where SF and fantasy are concerned.

Where things cut a bit too close to real life was comedies like 2012, where a couple of characters were far too close to actual people, which undermined the humour a bit too much.

 

True, with sci-fi and fantasy we can basically do thought experiments, the worry about it being too close to RL kind of loses relevance when you remember we do not have laser swords and hyperspace travel. That is one of the reasons I love the genre, Star Wars especially.

Comedy is much more difficult. Someone will feel like the butt of the joke and react defensively. I think that is why we were given YJK Jacen. Not confusing Star Wars with comedy then lol.