# Pullman *The Urth list — 5 messages, 4 voices, 26 Apr 2001* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### akt *26 Apr 2001, 16:08* vizcacha: > The witches reminded me of the witches in the Kalevala, which is a > nice change > from the usual witches one meets in fantasy. The concept of the > daemons was > well-done and well-elaborated, with some unexpected but > well-thought-out > twists in the later books (e.g., why do _we_ not have daemons?). Well, sure! They're Lapland witches! Shakepeare, Milton and Goethe all refer to Lapland witches and I couldn't have been more thrilled to meet them, and so wonderfully described. A couple of the very best Xena eps have her running up against a Northern shamaness/witch. (I hope you appreciate the cultural juxtaposition.) There is also a rather pornographic Fuseli painting of them; you can find it on the Web--not Pullman's witches, for sure. And, hey, vizcacha, some of us on this list *do* have daemons--you do youself ;-) > Unfortunately, starting even in the first book, but getting worse in > the > second and still worse in the third, Pullman lets his fantasy get out > of > control. What many authors of fantasy forget is that if anything is > possible, nothing is interesting. Eventually so many rabbits are > pulled out > of so many hats that the dramatic tension in the story just vanishes, > and > all you are doing is following the plot to see how it works out. (The > SF > equivalent, I suppose, is the "inventing a space-drive using the > contents of > your junk drawer" story, or any Star Trek episode). To which Adam replied, making me LOL: > Or the protagonist suddenly discovering he can travel in spirit to > other > planets? Actually, the only place in the second book (perhaps aside from the many coincidences) that I thought went too far was the angels sending a message via Dr Malone's computer OTOH many people do find gremlins in their computers! Did you all like Hester? She was my favorite daemon. (I haven't yet read Book 3.) -alga --- ### William Ansley *26 Apr 2001, 23:09 · follows akt* > At 4:08 PM -0400 4/26/01, wrote: > Did you all like Hester? She was my favorite daemon. (I haven't yet read > Book 3.) alga, Hester was my favorite, too. I also thought the armored bears and the witches were very well done. I'm glad you are enjoying the books. I hope your enjoyment continues through book 3. William Ansley --- ### Alice Turner *28 Apr 2001, 11:09 · follows William Ansley* vizcacha inquired: > Which play is the Shakespeare reference in? And where in Milton? That's > interesting. I've always had a soft spot for Finnish mythology (which > I know > isn't quite the same as Lapland mythology, but hey...). When I was a > kid I > discovered Emil Petaja's series which was a thinly disguised > _Kalevala_, and > loved it. I have to admit I've only Xena'd a few times, and not seen > any > Lapland witches. One of my Everquest characters (admission of > addiction > here) is a shaman, and they are very fun to play. Sure, these are but imaginary wiles And Lapland sorcerers inhabit here. Comedy of Errors Act 4--hmm. that's not quite right; the girls are called witches several times in the same scene, and I think there's a reference, though it may be indirect, in Midsummer Night's Dream. Farr less abhorrd then these Vex'd SCYLLA bathing in the Sea that parts CALABRIA from the hoarce TRINACRIAN shore: Nor uglier follow the Night-Hag, when call'd In secret, riding through the Air she comes Lur'd with the smell of infant blood, to dance With LAPLAND Witches, while the labouring Moon Eclipses at thir charms. Paradise Lost, Book 2 What is Emil Petaja's series? The shamaness witch in Xena was a very bad hat, a worthy opponent, and the eps (3, I think) were quite thrilling, with a lot of wire work a la Crouching Tiger. I don't suppose Finnish and Lap mythology differs much, but "Finnish witches" doesn't have the uncanny sound of "Lapland witches." I'm 135 pages into Book 3 and already I feel that the writer is flagging. Those critters that Dr. Malone finds with the wheels and trunks seem plain silly to me, ditto the giant birds with the malevolent poops. -alga --- ### Alice Turner *29 May 2001, 20:29 · follows Alice Turner* Have you tried spelling Sir Charles Latrom's name backwards? -alga --- ### Spectacled Bear *30 May 2001, 10:47 · follows Alice Turner* > At 01:29 2001-05-30, Alice Turner wrote: > Have you tried spelling Sir Charles Latrom's name backwards? Indeed, though I'm not at all sure what the significance is! SBear. ---