A. I did a lot of research prior to writing the forging scene. Heck, I own an entire book just on how to polish a blade!
And yet Eragon makes lots of very basic, stupid mistakes with his weapons care (mostly out of laziness) that any military captain would have had him disciplined for.
I do try to research the stuff I’m unfamiliar with. It really helps in making the text feel a lot more real.
That must be why he had dirt-poor peasants eating chicken for breakfast before the advent of factory farming, and horses that can gallop all night without dropping dead, and a guy getting his hand lopped off and not spraying blood all over the place, and another guy getting flogged fifty times without going into septic shock, and…
and Eragon shoving dirty, bloodied armour under his mattress instead of cleaning it immediately
I really enjoy stories in all different genres, and I want to write quite a few of them myself.
*bracing for a Paolini bodice-ripper romance*
It's pretty difficult to hold all of the details of a large novel in my head, so I write everything down.
He writes it all down, then never references or read back through his notes to make sure he's being consistent... and then writes something completely different down on a separate page, and pretends that was the correct version all along.
The only real break with physics I had with my magic system was the assumption that living things could directly manipulate different forms of energy with their minds. That's it. That's magic. Everything else directly follows from that assumption. And as best I could, I tried to be consistent with that assumption.
I just love that pseudoscientific use of the word "energy". It's like crystal healers and feng shui decorators. They can't actually define what "energy" means, what it is or how it operates within the world.
So Paolini's assumption is based on non-scientific superstition, and then he pretends that it fits into "physics" somehow.
And his magic is so inconsistent that that last sentence is basically nonsense.
If magic were really only about telepathically manipulating "energy" in the actual physics sense, then spells would be limited to things like bending light, heating or cooling objects, gathering or dissipating electrical energy, and changing the rate of chemical and biochemical reactions. "Wards" are not energy in the science sense. Whatever the fuck happened to Elva isn't merely manipulation of "energy". Eldunari and consciousness that exists external to a functioning brain is not "energy". The ritual that results on the creation of a Shade is not based on energy as physics understands it.
Just... stop with the bulshit and just call it magic, Paolini. Honestly, nobody will judge you for having magic in a fantasy story, stop tryng to rationalise it.
I fear for whatever "technology" appears in the Space Opera.
"And in overall, how is this girl going to manage all the responsibilities you're placing on her shoulders?"
"girl"?! Arya is over a hundred in this series, an adult even by elf standards!
"humans from wild tribes"
Your colonialism is showing, Random Commenter.
"The elves don't care to expand their territory much beyond Du Weldenvarden."
Except for Ceunon, of course.
"Morzan actually held title over the lands of Palancar Valley at one point. When he died, Galbatorix assumed control over his properties."
Which raises the question, why the HELL Brom hide away from Morzan's supporters, the remaining foresworn, and Galby himself, in Morzan's own lands which Galby now controlled, without so much as changing his name or appearance?! That's just asking to be caught. And the only reason he wasn't is because of Galby's indifference.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2020-04-23 05:25 am (UTC)And yet Eragon makes lots of very basic, stupid mistakes with his weapons care (mostly out of laziness) that any military captain would have had him disciplined for.
I do try to research the stuff I’m unfamiliar with. It really helps in making the text feel a lot more real.
That must be why he had dirt-poor peasants eating chicken for breakfast before the advent of factory farming, and horses that can gallop all night without dropping dead, and a guy getting his hand lopped off and not spraying blood all over the place, and another guy getting flogged fifty times without going into septic shock, and…
and Eragon shoving dirty, bloodied armour under his mattress instead of cleaning it immediately
I really enjoy stories in all different genres, and I want to write quite a few of them myself.
*bracing for a Paolini bodice-ripper romance*
It's pretty difficult to hold all of the details of a large novel in my head, so I write everything down.
He writes it all down, then never references or read back through his notes to make sure he's being consistent... and then writes something completely different down on a separate page, and pretends that was the correct version all along.
The only real break with physics I had with my magic system was the assumption that living things could directly manipulate different forms of energy with their minds. That's it. That's magic. Everything else directly follows from that assumption. And as best I could, I tried to be consistent with that assumption.
I just love that pseudoscientific use of the word "energy". It's like crystal healers and feng shui decorators. They can't actually define what "energy" means, what it is or how it operates within the world.
So Paolini's assumption is based on non-scientific superstition, and then he pretends that it fits into "physics" somehow.
And his magic is so inconsistent that that last sentence is basically nonsense.
If magic were really only about telepathically manipulating "energy" in the actual physics sense, then spells would be limited to things like bending light, heating or cooling objects, gathering or dissipating electrical energy, and changing the rate of chemical and biochemical reactions. "Wards" are not energy in the science sense. Whatever the fuck happened to Elva isn't merely manipulation of "energy". Eldunari and consciousness that exists external to a functioning brain is not "energy". The ritual that results on the creation of a Shade is not based on energy as physics understands it.
Just... stop with the bulshit and just call it magic, Paolini. Honestly, nobody will judge you for having magic in a fantasy story, stop tryng to rationalise it.
I fear for whatever "technology" appears in the Space Opera.
"And in overall, how is this girl going to manage all the responsibilities you're placing on her shoulders?"
"girl"?! Arya is over a hundred in this series, an adult even by elf standards!
"humans from wild tribes"
Your colonialism is showing, Random Commenter.
"The elves don't care to expand their territory much beyond Du Weldenvarden."
Except for Ceunon, of course.
"Morzan actually held title over the lands of Palancar Valley at one point. When he died, Galbatorix assumed control over his properties."
Which raises the question, why the HELL Brom hide away from Morzan's supporters, the remaining foresworn, and Galby himself, in Morzan's own lands which Galby now controlled, without so much as changing his name or appearance?! That's just asking to be caught. And the only reason he wasn't is because of Galby's indifference.