BY HERESIES DISTRESSED — Snippet 44
BY HERESIES DISTRESSED — Snippet 44:
.V.
The Laughing Bride Tavern,
City of Tellesberg,
Kingdom of Charis
The man who stepped through the Laughing Bride’s front door was plainly dressed. The hot, humid February night was blacker than the inside of a boot, but thunder rumbled out over Howell Bay, and occasional flashes of lightning lit the banks of heavy cloud rolling steadily in across the city of Tellesberg. Even though no rain had fallen yet, the fact that the visitor wore a poncho was certainly understandable, despite the temperature, under the circumstances.
“Can I help you?” the tavern’s owner asked as he stepped across to personally greet the newcomer. It was late, and with the threatening weather, the Laughing Bride was scarcely packed.
“I’m looking for someone,” the man in the poncho said. “I was told to ask for Master Dahryus.”
“Ah.” Something might have flickered deep inside the publican’s eyes. If so, it disappeared as quickly as it had come, like one of the cloud-buried lightning flashes out over the Bay, and he nodded. “He’s taken the private taproom for the evening. Through that arch,” he pointed, “and down the hallway. Last door on the right.”
“Thank you.” The man in the poncho nodded and headed down the indicated hallway. He paused outside the door of the taproom for just a moment, almost as if he were drawing a deep breath. Then he knocked once, crisply.
The door opened quickly, and he found himself facing a youngish man dressed like a moderately successful merchant or shop owner.
“Yes?” the younger man said courteously.
“I have a message for Master Dahryus,” the man in the hallway said once more.
If there might have been a flicker of something in the tavern-owner’s eyes, the brief tightening of the younger man’s expression was unmistakable. But he stepped back courteously enough, inviting the other man into the small taproom, then closed the door behind him. There were just under a dozen other men present, and all of them turned their heads, looking at the newcomer with expressions which varied from calmness to obvious uneasiness. In some cases, possibly even fear.
“Ah, there you are!” another voice greeted the new arrival as yet another man — this one considerably older and rather better dressed than the fellow who had opened the door for him — looked up from a quietly intense conversation with one of the others seated around the small tables.
“I apologize for my tardiness . . . Master Dahryus,” the newcomer said. “It was a bit difficult to get away without raising any questions.”
“That wasn’t a criticism,” the man called “Master Dahryus” said reassuringly. “I’m just happy and relieved to see you after all.”
The man in the poncho bowed slightly, and Master Dahryus’ waving hand invited him over to take a seat.
“Seriously,” Dahryus continued as the late arrival obeyed his unspoken invitation, “I was beginning to feel a bit anxious. Baron Wave Thunder’s agents have proven even more effective than I’d anticipated.”
“I’ve noticed the same thing, My Lord.”
“I believe we might stay with simple ‘Master Dahryus,’ even here,” Dahryus said.
“Of course.” The man in the poncho colored very slightly, and Dahryus chuckled and reached across the table to pat him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it so much, my son. Old habits die hard, and this isn’t exactly something any of us expected to be facing, now is it?”
“No, it isn’t,” the other man said feelingly, and this time two or three of the others snorted or chuckled in harsh agreement.
“Unfortunately, we are facing it,” Dahryus continued, “and given that we’ve all just agreed that Wave Thunder’s agents appear to be everywhere, we’d all best get into the habits of successful conspirators. Which is why, even though I realize one or two of you already know one another, I think we’ll avoid using any names tonight. Agreed?”
Everyone nodded, and he smiled thinly.
“Very well, my friends. In that case, it’s time we were getting down to business. We have much to discuss — much which will come as a surprise to many of you, I suspect. And, as I promised when first we came together, the time to strike draws rapidly closer. Indeed, if tonight’s meeting goes as planned, that time is almost upon us.”
The others looked back at him in silence, their expressions a blend of excitement, anticipation, determination, and fear, and his smile grew broader and warmer.
“Yes, we do indeed have much to discuss and to plan. But first, will you join me in a moment of prayer?”
* * * * * * * * * *
“– confident you can see why the arrangements near the convent are critical to our success,” Master Dahryus said some hours later. “And given the location of your manor, you’re definitely the one of us best placed to see to those details. So, if you’re willing to shoulder the responsibility — and the risk — we’ll leave their arrangement in your hands. The most important thing to remember is that none of the rest of us can play our part until those arrangements are solidly in place. If any problem should arise, or if you should discover that you require additional funds or any other assistance, you must let us know promptly so we can adjust our schedule. Father Tairyn will know how to contact me at any time, should there be need. It may take some days for any message from him to reach me, but be assured that it will.”
“Of course, Master Dahryus,” the man to whom he’d been speaking said, and pushed back his chair. He stood, bowed to Dahryus and the two others who were still present, then left the taproom.
Even as he stepped through the doorway, the abrupt, torrential rush of a thunderstorm came pounding down on the Laughing Bride’s roof. Thunder crashed suddenly almost directly overhead, shaking the tavern about its bones, and Dahryus shook his head as the door closed behind the departing man.
“I fear Langhorne is providing an appropriate backdrop for this evening’s meeting,” he said.
“In more ways than one,” the man who’d arrived late agreed dourly.
“I’m not looking forward to the walk clear back to the Palace through this.”
This is a very evil thing to do on a Friday…
Comment by Lance — June 26, 2009 @ 1:09 am
Wonder who the Palace rat is.
Comment by E — June 26, 2009 @ 1:13 am
Any guesses for where the strike will be?
I am guessing by the way DW is introduced the players and the fact there is someone inside the palace involved that it will be a major plot.
I wonder if the keeper of the seal or another person from the council will be in on it?
Comment by Alistair — June 26, 2009 @ 1:16 am
hang that he seems to be a young man so maybe a junior officer or clerk…
Comment by Alistair — June 26, 2009 @ 1:19 am
though he has a manor of his own so he has wealth so maybe “my son” is a spiritual reference
Comment by Alistair — June 26, 2009 @ 1:22 am
Hmm. Audience for the backer is described as young and not too bad for money, I’m betting a guard or lower to mid-level staff. Just might be Sharleyan’s opportunity to get some practical application out of her gun hobby.
Comment by E — June 26, 2009 @ 1:24 am
What are we going to have ? A Honor Harrrington moment in the palace?
Comment by Virgil — June 26, 2009 @ 1:44 am
I wouldn’t so much call it an ‘Honor Moment’ so much as a ‘Weber Moment.’
Comment by David — June 26, 2009 @ 2:18 am
I can imagine a scenario where Merlin becomes aware of something going on at the last minute and has to rush over to foil whatever this group planned. That might set the stage for revealing his true nature to the Empress…. Maybe Merlin in a disguise, in order to not raise too many questions, comming to the rescue at this convention place from the outside, while the Empress holds of attackers with her gun? I just hope no important figure, like Sharleyan or the Bishop, are taken out of the story!
But somehow this snippet gives me the impression what is talked about is not a simple assassination attempt but an attempt to decapacitate the Empires government in Charis, followed by a takeover by the Lord in this group… who knows how high that Lord is in the hierarchy? Some indication something like that might be in the offing is that there obviously are two separate parts of the plan, one depending on the success of the other. The first almost certainly is designed to take out the empires leadership in Charis, the second has to be some design to take advantage of the resulting power-vacuum by someone who has “nothing to do” with what happens and maybe even is officially “horrified” by what happend.
Doing something like that would be highly attractive for temple-loyalists. It would almost certainly break up the empire and leave the kernel-kingdom and powerhouse of the empire in the hands of the temple-loyalists, even if they keep up a front of loyality to the Emperor for public consumption….
But whatever it is, I hope it gets foiled, because I would hate to see them succeed and what it would do to Caleb’s mind if he lost his new wife and/or the Bishop….
Comment by obelow — June 26, 2009 @ 2:46 am
I was thinking perhaps the uncle except for that quip about a manor next to the convent. So, I’m thinking it could be that factory owner / business man that was under discussion during the party. On the other hand the uncle could have rented / purchased a manor.
I think it’s too early for anyone to die. Get badly injured perhaps. I’ve thought about that medical equipment in Nimue’s cave which she figured she’d never use. Thus requiring exposing Merlins ability to fly, although if I were Merlin, after that bit about going in disguise with the Biship to the Monastary that he’d have Owl create him some colored lenses to hide his distinctive eyes.
Comment by Karina — June 26, 2009 @ 3:20 am
@10 She can’t change her eyes as Merlin, and she does not anticipate going about in disguise, or so it seems - perhaps part of the whole “simple tactical officer” background bit.
What might happen is that someone non-essential might die in a failed palace coup - perhaps having the old (good) industrialist die defending Sharleyan, with her uncle thrown in on the good side for good measure? Anyway, only a month or so until I get the book!
Comment by erispope — June 26, 2009 @ 4:30 am
Did you notice we have two tavern owners here, one to greet the stranger & one to admit him to the ’small taproom’? I assume we are still getting snippits from a pre-release version.
Kudos to whoever predicted a major action against Sharleyan back when Caleb was embarking!
CS
Comment by Chuck S. — June 26, 2009 @ 6:21 am
@11 No, Merlin can’t change eye color but he COULD (as he mused in BSRA) produce contact lenses for the same result. Still, I agree he’s probably not there. Bet there are SNARC’s around, though.
I don’t see Uncle being in on this. His opposition has been too open. I don’t see him skulking around in taverns plotting secretly.
Wouldn’t it be fun if Uncle were to witness/try to prevent an attack on Sharley only to witness her being saved by OWL’S high tech dressmaking??? It’s a miracle!!! Even more fun when Cayleb (or Merlin) needs to explain to her WHY she’s bullet proof.
Just my thoughts…
Comment by Maggie — June 26, 2009 @ 9:19 am
It’s the late-comer who is returning to the Palace not the one with the manor house near the convent. There 3 people left; one is returning to the palace (never described), one is master Dahryus (I suspect the Bishop turned insurgent) and one other (I suspect Tayree, the loyalist industrialist).
Is the first man the Sharley’s Uncle? I somehow doubt it, because Wave Thunder would have had him tailed to a fair-thee-well. Even if Wave Thunder hadn’t, Merlin would have planted a bug on him as matter of course. So, who is this mysterious denizen of the palace? Recall that at least one of the tap room occupants was afraid of him and most were uneasy. This argues for someone on the council.
Peter
Comment by Peter Z — June 26, 2009 @ 9:39 am
My Lord, My Son … it sounds like those people from the Church hierarchy, seen fleeing the town back at the start of the book, and advancing to Charis to preach among the apostates. Hence, “Father Tairyn” can find the Bishop, and the convent is cooperative.
Comment by George Phillies — June 26, 2009 @ 9:44 am
Hmm… Laughing Bride tavern.
Comment by E — June 26, 2009 @ 10:59 am
Would the Weeping Widower be too obvious?
Comment by Peter Z — June 26, 2009 @ 11:13 am
@12
No, just one tavern owner.
“If there might have been a flicker of something in the tavern-owner’s eyes, the brief tightening of the younger man’s expression was unmistakable.”
Comment by Paul — June 26, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
@1 I agree. But it is a typical scene switch a la DW.
I do not think that the plotter lives IN the Palace. Maggie is right about Sharly’s uncle. The “location of your manor” comment should be a give away, but who lives at that location? It is a red herring intended to point to the uncle, but that’s way too obvious.
I hate this.
Where’s the snark? Is this another missed item by Merlin?
Comment by robert — June 26, 2009 @ 1:17 pm
Pure spec here….
I wonder how long it takes Merlin/Nimue to pull a full gender shift/realignment. Does it take minutes/hours/days/what? I can see a scenario where he HAS to pull a rescue of Sharly but not wanting to let it be known that Merlin can travel thousands of miles in minutes he pulls a quick change on his way to Tellsburg arriving as Merlin’s “Twin Sister” Nimue… come out of seclusion for a quick rescue before returning to her convent/whatever and leaving it to the Archbishop to ’splane who exactly Nimue actually is….
Comment by KenJ — June 26, 2009 @ 1:38 pm
@20 Using that alias, Merlin can ‘explain’ the sources of information without lying. After all OWL does report to Lt. Commander Nimue Alban TFN, not Capt. Merlin Athrawes Imperial Guard, so Nimue IS the source of info. Nimue then comes out in the open to save Sharley and can be used to explain the source of info. For those that know Merlin has visions, it would not be surprising if Nimue also had them. Heck, Nimue may only ahve to show herself to Sharley and not anyone else. That way there are two secrets floating around.
Now, after we have finished rewriting DW book, does anyone think it will sell?
Peter
Comment by Peter Z — June 26, 2009 @ 2:00 pm
@20 Never in a million years would DW do that to his readers. He has sprung surprise moves on us, but there’re always hints that I didn’t pick up because I am too WYSIWYG’d. Like the cannon in Honor’s finger.
Predictions:
Look for Sharly’s bodyguard to get killed. Look for Sharly to blow the plotter’s brains out. Don’t look for Merlin to come crashing through the skylight again. Look for the traitorous clerics to be kraken crackers.
Comment by robert — June 26, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
I repeat my comment to Snippet 11..
We know that the skimmer can go about Mach 4 (that’s how fast it went getting Merlin to Duke of Tirian, which was an emergency). This is about 3,000 miles/hour (roughly, depends on air temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.). The distance from Manchyr to Tellesberg is about 6300 miles in a straight line. This is a minimum of 2 hours of just travel. Add the time to “sneak away” and any response would likely take 3-4 hours minimum.
Thus, no way can Merlin respond in minutes. Sharly and hers will have to handle this unless Merlin has more than a few hours notice.
Comment by Jerry — June 26, 2009 @ 4:55 pm
The skimmer must be able to beat that. It is spaceworthy, isn’t it? Or, is that the assault shuttle?
Comment by jgnfld — June 26, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
@22 : I agree that Seahamper is at hazard. DW spent way too much time setting him up as the loyal-since-her-childhood retainer for the poor guy to survive. Shades of Jamie McCandless! No pun intended.
Comment by Maggie — June 26, 2009 @ 7:11 pm
Merlin has SNARCs around Sharleyan. He can detonate three of them in an enemy eye or ear to kill or disable an attacker. It’d be a “hand of god” play that can be interpreted either way, but he wouldn’t have to lie about it to the important people. Sharleyan might have a few impenetrable robes as well. There are any number of ways that Weber can save Sharleyan if indeed she is the target seeing as we haven’t had a clue as to who it is that will be attacked and for all intents and purposes it could be the war council or Wave Thunder that is the real target seeing as attacking Sharleyan would back the Loyalists into a corner and cause desertions for all but the most hardcore supporters on the sidelines. Biggest gain from attacking Sharleyan would be killing Cayleb’s line of succession and prompting Chisholm to back out of the merger if they succeed.
Comment by E — June 26, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
What Merlin really needs if he has to return to save someone,
is a Mission Impossible Face Mask, Contacts (Green),& A New Sword.
This way he can be someone else without wasting time changing his body.
He can change his voice without to much trouble.
Comment by David H — June 27, 2009 @ 2:16 am
@26 Kill Sharleyan and Chisholm probably goes up in flames of a civil war whilst they “work out” the sucession? No direct heir, no younger siblings (or Sharleyan would’ve suffered an unfortunate “accident” by now) so working out who gets to claim the throne would probably get … messy …
Comment by Palmer Sperry — June 27, 2009 @ 6:51 am
@28 Sharly will not be killed, injured or even panic–see my comment @22. She will kill or have killed, imprison or hang, and otherwise totally destroy the plotters. Not one will remain loose. And no domestic threats will exist ever again when she gets done! Merlin will be VERY impressed, but Cayleb will just grin (through his nausea) when he hears of it. But first, angst away. That’s what I think, at any rate.
Comment by robert — June 27, 2009 @ 10:51 am
Why do I think Agent Seafarmer from Wave Thunder’s office is tied to this plot? Hmmmm… The Bishop seems to have a greater degree of success in his machinations that Nahrmahn, Hektor or anyone else plotting against Charis. Most of it has been due to Merlin, but the Charisian internal security is no slouch either. We already have Hausmyn warning Iron Hill about the threat, so this is not completely off the wall. Even so, they seem to fail rather regularly in stopping our insurrectionist Bishop or even spotting him.
That gentleman returning to the palace is either Seafarmer or someone in his office. I will entertain another hypothesis when someone can explain how Charisian intelligence has gotten so blind in viewing internal threats yet maintain their normal hawk sharp vision on all other areas.
Peter
Comment by Peter Z — June 27, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
@30 If an agent of Wave Thunder’s is involved, he is working as a spy for Charisian security.
Merlin has failed to spot security problems before. If you don’t know where or who, you can’t be SNARKy. This guy was the Bishop of Hanth who escaped ahead of the pitchforks and who knew where he went. So unless the traitor-to-discovered-later is being SNARKed, the good guys don’t know about the plot.
Oh dear, I have turned a noun into a verb…again.
Comment by robert — June 27, 2009 @ 2:08 pm
@29 I don’t think she’s going to get killed either, and probably no more serious an injury that having someone’s (quite possibly her loyal bodyguard’s) blood sprayed over her.
I was merely commenting that a successful assasination would do more that merely cause Chisholm to withdraw from the merger …
Comment by Palmer Sperry — June 27, 2009 @ 3:11 pm
Robert, although you may be right, please consider that this guy IS the Bishop of Hanth. Hardly a completely inconspicuous personage. He also has been busy burning down the college, attempting to have the Archbishop assassinated, printing and disseminating anti Church of Charis leaflets and raising significant amounts of funds. With all this activity and his slips like the “my son” comment in this snippet, why hasn’t someone mentioned such a character as he to Wave Thunder’s people? I suspect that people have provided such snippets of info. Even so he or someone fitting his description has never risen to cabinet level discussions. If these discussions appear off stage, that means either it was not considered important enough by the Imperial Cabinet to form policy descisions or DW deliberately hid important clues from his reader. I doubt both.
I suspect that the Imperial Cabinet has watered down info because someone inside the internal security dept of Wave Thunder’s is a Loyalist. He may not consider himself a traitor. Other loyalists may have convinced him that all they want is bring Charis back into the CoGA and this can be done without further bloodshed. Whatever the reasons, Wave Thunder’s people would have brought better intel on the loyalists if someone inside wasn’t dirty. Robert, the cabinet missed Tayree, a rich industrialist seeking the new military tech contracts. His competitors even know how strongly he leans pro CoGA but Iron Hill did not. Iron Hill hands out the bloody contracts on the new tech for heaven’s sake.
Too many holes in one area where other areas have very few. Merlin’s capability explains some of this but not all. Someone inside Wave Thunder’s org. has been turned.
Peter
Comment by Peter Z — June 27, 2009 @ 4:57 pm
@33 Peter, you may be right. We will probably not find out before the snippets end in mid-July. And then we will all be reading the book and not looking back on these web pages. So if you are right, you are very good. And if not, it really does not matter, you are still very good. And when the next book’s snippets start appearing, we will hopefully e-meet again.
As someone said: life is short so buy the hardcover to read. I see the paperback of BSRA is finally on the bookstore shelves. Imagine having to wait that long to find out who, if anyone, is the traitor.
Comment by robert — June 27, 2009 @ 6:38 pm
Depending on how you enjoy the book, visit Baen bar’s website. There will be many discussions about BHD in their Snerkers section. I plan on visiting to see the reactions of the Bar Flies. Always interesting and many times informative.
10 more days until BHD has arrived, just 10 more days..sleep on off, go kibitz around then 9 more days until BHD has arrived…
While the time away.
Peter
Comment by Peter Z — June 27, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
@31 SNARC (n)Self Navigating Autonomous Recon Computer. A surveillance device consisting of one self-propelled AI System and multiple deploy-able nano-bot parasite sensor systems.
(v) To place under continuous electronic surveillance (eg. He SNARCed Hektor because he was the leader of his opponent and a source of important intelligence)
Comment by KenJ — June 28, 2009 @ 3:07 am
My Speculation
Money seems to be a big thing in this snippet and in the first snippet relating to bishop halcom in this book.
Question what is the money (lots of it) going to do?
My suspicion is that most of it will not be used for bribery but for buying guns and swords etc
Bishop Halcom in his conversation with the Abbot said he had “sword arms a plenty” (How many is plenty?) but he needed lots of cash to be funneled to him.
Here he is talking about a convent and a manor house. My guess is that the convent and manor will be used as a training and staging area for a LARGE number of insurgents (in the hundreds) launching an attack upon the palace combined with a few rats helping from the inside.
In other words this will not just be another assassination team but a small army!
Apart from the fact that this would make it more interesting from readers perspective it also to my eye seem to fit a close reading of Bishop Halcoms comments
Comment by Alistair — June 28, 2009 @ 5:37 am
Let me suggest for the Empress Sharleyan that bulletproof unmentionables, recalling they are likely more extensive that what appears to be sold in Modern America, might be simpler to arrange, likely with indestructible pajamas for the rest of the day. Discovering after the event a couple of flattened bullets where she also has significant bruising might force a need for an explanation.
I suspect the Archbishop can try “It was a miracle, dear, though not precisely the one you believe it was.”
If the Bishop seen here avoided most contact other than indirect with prominent religious leaders, was reasonably cautious with hair dye, etc., and changed his dress, well, neither Merlin nor Wave Thunder is omniscient. Merlin may also have given an order to OWL not to bother reporting this sort of conversation when one of Wave Thunder’s agents is already present, which saves the load on him until the agent is disloyal.
As a minor aside, given the period and level of medical work, the comment form iirc Merlin that Cayleb and Sharleyan do not yet have an heir in the works may have some timing questions, namely anything within some interval before the sail would not yet have been apparent, though the sail to Corisande was long enough that perhaps it would certainly have become obvious at her end and thus to Merlin…assuming it occurred to OWL to mention a change in the EMpress’s medical condition that was a matter of good health, not bad health.
You may imagine OWL reporting that the Empress has survived, is in good condition, and medical technology needed to assess the state of health of the unborn is not deployed on the available probes. Does Merlin wish to wait some number of months until the birth? That’s a moderate number, by the way, the sail being much longer than a cross-Atlantic.
I will leave it to someone with more detail on medical statistics than I to estimate, given the time between the wedding and the sailing and the lack of modern precautions, whether Merlin and cave are starting to look necessary to arrange for an heir, for example to resolve a genetic incompatibility, or at least to resolve issues making one unlikely to happen spontaneously.
Comment by George Phillies — June 28, 2009 @ 5:57 am
@38 I think GP has a point worth considering. First, we know about the nifty medical facility in Nimue’s Cave; second, we know that Cayleb and Sharley have been going at it hammer and tongs since the wedding. I would be really surprised if there weren’t some prenatal issues raised. Counting down the days….
Comment by Maggie — June 28, 2009 @ 9:33 am
Counting down the hours….
Comment by E — June 28, 2009 @ 9:54 am
I’m so glad I work for B&N and will be reading it the moment it hits the store before even it hits the shelves.
Comment by Olegreyowl — June 28, 2009 @ 10:18 am
Let me try that one again
“You may imagine OWL reporting that the Empress has survived, is in good condition, and medical technology needed to assess the state of health of the unborn is not deployed on the available probes.”
Merlin and Cayleb: WHAT UNBORN?
OWL: The Empress’s unborn.
Cayleb: Merlin, is there some minor detail you have perhaps neglected to tell me about here?
Merlin: Unfortunately, no. OWL, I don’t recall a report that the Empress is with child.
OWL: There was no such report.
Merlin: OWL, I believe I was to be advised immediately about changes in the Empress’s Health.
OWL: You have been advised of ‘any negative change in the Empress’s health’ and I did, namely she is somewhat bruised where she was shot six times. She has also become somewhat mentally perturbed, namely she is perturbed that the bullets flattened against her chemise and left a lead spall behind. However, pregnancy is not a negative change in her health, so I did not waste your time with trivia.
Comment by George Phillies — June 28, 2009 @ 10:36 am
@38 George, I agree with you about the Bishop avoiding capture. I disagree that Wave Thunder’s people would have missed that someone is organizing the Loyalists. Someone raising funds enough to pose a threat and orgainizing activities. Think about this snippet. The Bishop cautioned everyone against using names and followed up by addressing the fellow he spoke to as my son. As cautious as he tries to be, he would have let something slip just like that. This would have been enough to generate some curiousity to uninvolved observers who would have talked and that talk would eventually end up in Wave Thunder’s network.
That we haven’t heard about this in cabinet level discussions means such info hasn’t made it that far or has been massaged into something seemingly benign. That we have only been made aware of high placed loyalists from outside the intel gathering network suggests that the network is either compromised or dreadfully inefficient. I am more comfortable suspecting the former given the magnitude of the implied inefficiency.
Combined with Alistair’s speculations @37 and I see something that waddles, quacks, lays eggs, has wings and really doesn’t look like a platipus.
Peter
Comment by Peter Z — June 28, 2009 @ 1:33 pm
@39 Maggie, you make it sound as if they were making a horseshoe, which I do not think they were.
@43 I don’t remember any of Wave Thunder’s intel being fodder for the cabinet meetings. What he and his people know, goes directly to Cayleb, unless Merlin has bypassed Imperial Intelligence and gone right to the monarch. In this case to Sharly. And then action is taken. It is a monarchy, not a republic. And Nahrmahn is not on hand either. So it is all on her for now.
@41 And we know that that’ll be prior to the publisher’s official release date so DON”T GIVE ANYTHING AWAY!!!!
Comment by robert — June 28, 2009 @ 2:47 pm
@ 44 Robert, Perish the thought! I like my life thank you, and all of my fellow Weberites would hunt me down and hang me for a traitor were I to spoil the book for them
Comment by Olegreyowl — June 28, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
Last year when BSRA was released, I had an amazon pre-order and I found it for sale in a local B+N a full week before the official release date.
The supply chain management is not as controlled as say a “Harry Potter” book.
Comment by Paul — June 28, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
@45 Through subterfuge and gaming the Amazon system, I managed to get my order changed from November to an estimated shipment date of July 13, one week after the “official” release date. And we will be snippeting until then per Drak B. So Olegreyowl, your mouth (keyboard?) is sealed after tomorrow’s snippet, I think. Enjoy the Words of Weber. I only hope that this isn’t as blabby and as “set up for the next book” as Storm From the Shadows was.
Comment by robert — June 28, 2009 @ 4:21 pm
@41 So, when is B&N expecting the book to arrive? July 7th or earlier?
Comment by Peter Z — June 28, 2009 @ 5:11 pm
My on-line B&N order says that it will ship on the 7th. [Cross-fingers]
Comment by Drak Bibliophile — June 28, 2009 @ 5:24 pm
It will be in prob thurs or friday. And the book is not catagorized as S.O.S. (Strict on Sale) So we are permitted by the publisher to put them on the shelf as soon as we want to once we have the, i.e. processed into inventory, figured out where we want to merch it etc… Harry Potter was very much S.O.S. they even told us we couldn’t even open the boxes before midnight on the day to get ready for the sale
Comment by Olegreyowl — June 28, 2009 @ 7:49 pm
@52 Whohoooooooo!!!!! I may get the book Friday! Time to start buttering up my local B&N store manager.
Comment by Peter Z — June 28, 2009 @ 8:24 pm
For what it’s worth - I got my shippping notice on Friday.
We’ll see how long it takes to get here!
Comment by Kurt — June 28, 2009 @ 9:50 pm
Okay…it’s 12:20+, who is asleep on the snippet!!!
Comment by Lance — June 29, 2009 @ 1:21 am
0030 … I need my fix ~_~
Comment by E — June 29, 2009 @ 1:30 am
Are we waiting for midnight in Hawaii?
Comment by robert — June 29, 2009 @ 1:48 am
Maybe Tokyo…
Comment by E — June 29, 2009 @ 2:00 am
Well, it is now midnight in Santa Fe and still no snippet. I thought we were assured of snippets 45 thru 48, but maybe the PTB have changed their minds. At least, time will tell.
Comment by Bret Hooper — June 29, 2009 @ 2:05 am
Maybe they got stuck in Sunday traffic?
Comment by robert — June 29, 2009 @ 2:17 am
Maybe they got stuck in Sunday coming home traffic?
Comment by robert — June 29, 2009 @ 2:18 am
Drug dealer I am desperate PLEASE give us our fix!!!
Comment by Alistair — June 29, 2009 @ 2:39 am
Or maybe they went away for the July 4th week and forgot about us…
Comment by robert — June 29, 2009 @ 3:09 am
Sob
Comment by Alistair — June 29, 2009 @ 3:20 am
Sob…Sob
Comment by Alistair — June 29, 2009 @ 3:55 am
@55 robert: It’s now past midnite in Hawaii & still no snippet. & so to bed.
bh
Comment by Bret Hooper — June 29, 2009 @ 4:05 am
There is no joy in Mudville.
Comment by Anonymouse — June 29, 2009 @ 4:52 am
damn…..where is my fix? lol
Comment by fixer — June 29, 2009 @ 5:37 am
Ok, we’re really asleep at the switches here loyal minions!!!!
Comment by Lance — June 29, 2009 @ 6:00 am
It was up on Baen’s Bar by 11:15pm eastern
Comment by Olegreyowl — June 29, 2009 @ 6:14 am
Sorry about the problem. It is up now.
Comment by Drak Bibliophile — June 29, 2009 @ 8:38 am