Thankyou for making my point…
Both of those are some of my all time favorite duels fought in lit. Esp. the sword showdown after the disaster on Grayson.
The duel on Grayson was fantastic and made sense in the context of Grayson society. It’s the role of dueling in the Manticoran culture that baffles/irks me. For that reason, it was hard to enjoy Honor’s duel with Pavel Young. But to each his own.
I’m planning to start book 7 tomorrow night. Looking forward to it!
Starbuccaneer,
I’ve been thinking about your original comment regarding that duels don’t fit such an advanced society on Manticore. Unfortunately I misread your initial comment and didn’t understand what you meant. After pondering your thoughts I would have to agree with you. Usually advanced societies tend to value life more, so a conflict resolution method of dueling wouldn’t be acceptable by that type of society. Whatever the disagreement was, taking another person’s life would seem too drastic especially without due process in a legal system. If the society was more frontier-like as you pointed out like that of the Firefly/Serenity ‘verses or even on a backwater planet like Star Wars’ Tatooine or a much younger society like Grayson in the Honorverse I could see dueling as far more acceptable.
However, even with that societal dueling flaw the scene painted by Honor Harrington outgunning the son of a bitch Pavel Young with a 20th century semi-automatic is very satisfying.
I’m currently on book 10, “War of Honor.” I remember having a very difficult time getting into the 7th book “In Enemy’s Hands.” I was sickened by how the 6th book ended and it took me a while to read large sections of book 7 at a time. However, the book became very interesting in the middle and I was able to breeze through it. I hope you enjoy!
~Shooter Out
Just wanted to say congrats to Haley/Arkansas Engineering Girl to being on the podcast. About halfway through it, and she is definitely adding some fun comments!
ok this is in reference to the eve comments. i run a 300+ man corp, and about 2 years ago i put a pair of… well space hookers on our payroll. i have to say moral in the mining division has never been better.
I’ve never made purposefully tricksy assignments, but I’ve tried to help students by having really clear instructions. And then they don’t read them, and get the assignment wrong. It makes me sad.
So, Twilight. While I’ve got other issues with the series that are just a question of personal taste, in larger terms I worry about teenage girls thinking that an emotionally abusive guy should be ideal. That said, I loved Dragonflight when I was a kid, and reading it as an adult I’m horrified by F’lar’s emotional manipulation of Lessa being presented as love. Did it make me terrible? no. But i do think that we need to be intentional about what messages media send to our youth. Sure, let them read it. But also discuss things with them. Give them space to explore their reactions to these thing, and a safe place to make mistakes.
Also, I love Feminist Ryan Gosling so much. It makes my day every time there’s a new post.
I am reading Dragonflight right now for the first time, and having some of the same thoughts re: F’lar and Lessa. It’s a big off putting, and seems kind of antiquated to me. But I’m going to try and keep reading, because I am enjoying the overall story.
Also laughing so much at the Siri and iPhone 4 comments!
So, Twilight. While I’ve got other issues with the series that are just a question of personal taste, in larger terms I worry about teenage girls thinking that an emotionally abusive guy should be ideal. That said, I loved Dragonflight when I was a kid, and reading it as an adult I’m horrified by F’lar’s emotional manipulation of Lessa being presented as love. Did it make me terrible? no. But i do think that we need to be intentional about what messages media send to our youth. Sure, let them read it. But also discuss things with them. Give them space to explore their reactions to these thing, and a safe place to make mistakes.
I’ve read a lot of Anne McCaffrey’s work, the Dragonrider’s series, the Acorna series, the Talent series, etc. And I realized after a while that the relationships (especially the romantic ones) leave me cold. I remember my little sister reading Dragonflight and asking me, “Why does F’lar keep shaking Lessa?” Maybe it’s because McCaffrey was born in the 1920s, and our ideas about what a relationship is supposed to look like changes with each generation. For example, whenever I watch a movie that was made in the 50s or 60s, I’m just horrified by the way women are treated.