The Storm, David Drake

[Joy Beeson]

The Storm, David Drake

Monday, 12 August 2024

I returned _The Storm_ to the library Saturday. A lot of the time
that I spent reading _The Storm_ was time I should have been doing
something else, so I left _The Serpent_ in my pannier until just now.

I didn't see anything resembling a storm in the book. I hope that
someone more familiar with the matter of Britain can enlighten me.

The cover of _The Serpent_ says "Fight to Reclaim Civilization in a
Far Future of Wonder and War", and the other references to The Time of
Heros series are similar, but it's not *our* far future -- the
Ancients of this world are more like Norton's Forerunners, and the
magic has at least as much Merlin as Clarke in it.

There was no war in _The Storm_ -- thanks to Pal.

Pal's very good cook is named Fritz. The other names in the book are
made up to suit the culture, but "Fritz" is more here than Here. I
wonder whether it's a deliberate homage to Rex Stout.

----------

Finally time to read Usenet.

I've got to the place in _The Serpent_ where Pal finds an artifact
with a serpent engraved on it. I'm a little dubious about his method
of acquiring the artifact, but he did pay for the mummy before
noticing the fists.

[Joy Beeson]

Tuesday, 20 August 2024

I finished _The Serpent_ today, when I should have been preparing
supper.

The artifact with the serpent on it turned out to have nothing to do
with serpents, and I didn't see any anywhere else.

And it had very little to do with the plot, though it *was* very
valuable.

For that matter, there was no overall plot, just a bunch of
interlocking incidents. Which miraculously end with Pal still alive.

It's a pity that there will be no more incidents.

[Lynn McGuire]

Post by Joy Beeson
Tuesday, 20 August 2024
I finished _The Serpent_ today, when I should have been preparing
supper.
The artifact with the serpent on it turned out to have nothing to do
with serpents, and I didn't see any anywhere else.
And it had very little to do with the plot, though it *was* very
valuable.
For that matter, there was no overall plot, just a bunch of
interlocking incidents. Which miraculously end with Pal still alive.
It's a pity that there will be no more incidents.

Was this David Drake's last book ? If so, then he was probably in the
grasp of his disease while writing it.

Lynn

[Robert Woodward]

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Joy Beeson
Tuesday, 20 August 2024
I finished _The Serpent_ today, when I should have been preparing
supper.
The artifact with the serpent on it turned out to have nothing to do
with serpents, and I didn't see any anywhere else.
And it had very little to do with the plot, though it *was* very
valuable.
For that matter, there was no overall plot, just a bunch of
interlocking incidents. Which miraculously end with Pal still alive.
It's a pity that there will be no more incidents.

Was this David Drake's last book ? If so, then he was probably in the
grasp of his disease while writing it.

Yes, it was. BTW, it was significantly shorter than the two earlier
titles in that series.

[Paul S Person]

On Thu, 29 Aug 2024 21:53:06 -0700, Robert Woodward

Post by Robert Woodward

Post by Lynn McGuire

Post by Joy Beeson
Tuesday, 20 August 2024
I finished _The Serpent_ today, when I should have been preparing
supper.
The artifact with the serpent on it turned out to have nothing to do
with serpents, and I didn't see any anywhere else.
And it had very little to do with the plot, though it *was* very
valuable.
For that matter, there was no overall plot, just a bunch of
interlocking incidents. Which miraculously end with Pal still alive.
It's a pity that there will be no more incidents.

Was this David Drake's last book ? If so, then he was probably in the
grasp of his disease while writing it.

Yes, it was. BTW, it was significantly shorter than the two earlier
titles in that series.

Fleming, IIRC, wrote /The Man With The Golden Gun/ under similar
circumstances. And it is shorter that the novels preceding it.

But not shorter than his first four or so. This suggests the
possibility that he wrote all his novels that length, and the longer
ones were lengthened by adding the adjectives. Which didn't hurt them
at all, IMHO.