The Internet Book Database of Fiction

Reede Kullervo wrote: Well, I didn't guees right passage, I took wrong place and conversation . Don't spare me, I'll kill myself definitely .

OK, so it was not the first conversation, but a second one a few pages later, with the same three participants. Somehow using your indications I did get to the correct page.
What should I say for myself? I thought I knew all the Vorkosigan Saga inside and out, and I did not even realize the discussion was about Ivan at all (I'm ashamed of myself beyond any possibility of redemption), let alone that Mark was present, or that it was in Mirror Dance. I still move that you deserve the Sherlock.

voralfred wrote: So I move that RK gets the Sherlock and the next question even though she gave the wrong speaker among the correct characters present. Won't you agree, Blackwing?

Agreed. A Sherlock for Reede Kullervo.

Thanks .
My favorite dialogue .

"With all the things you've forgotten, I could wish you'd have forgotten that," murmured xxx.
"No such luck," xxx murmured back.

Who? Which book?

Miles and Illyan, Memory, p. 401 of my paperback edition

Which character is introduced as follows:

She was neither young nor old, but matronly; her curling sand-colored hair escaped from falling braids to create a faint ferocious aureole around her breathless face, pink from either the insult, the evening's chill, or both.

It's Learned Hallana in The Hallowed Hunt (chapter 4).

When I first read the quote, I was at a complete loss... so much so that I wondered if LMB had written something I hadn't read!

At first I thought it might have been Harra's mother, but no. Then I was mentally going through all the story arcs trying to remember other matronly characters and getting nowhere. But when I focused on the chill night and insult part, I finally remembered Hallana's entry into the story.

Tough one, clong!

you are correct, risi

I knew it coudn't be in the Vorkosigan Saga!
I read Chalion and Paladin of Souls several times, but _HH_ only once and I did not remember that Hallana character.
Maybe we should agree on something: Vorkosigan Saga and World of Chalion series, but not the other books, not so many people read "Spirit Ring" or the short stories in "Dreamweaver's Dilemna" or the new "Sharing Knife" book. But _HH_ is OK, my fault for not having read it enough...

If this thread is still present next year or so, after both books of "Sharing Knife" are out, we could agree together to include them, too, but don't you agree to exclude "Beguilement" for the time being?

maybe you should wait for Ghost to weigh in on that.

Knowledge is what you're supposed to have coming out, not going in.

This sentiment (though not quite the exact same words) is expressed twice (at least).

Name the speaker, two receipients and two books.




---------------------
Excluded Books: Spirit Ring, Beguilement, Dreamweaver's Dilemma

risi wrote:

Knowledge is what you're supposed to have coming out, not going in.

This sentiment (though not quite the exact same words) is expressed twice (at least).

Name the speaker, two receipients and two books.




---------------------
Excluded Books: Spirit Ring, Beguilement, Dreamweaver's Dilemma

a)
Miles to Harra (née Mattulich) Csurik
in "Mountains of Mourning"

b) Miles to Ekaterin in Komarr

voralfred wrote:

risi wrote:

Knowledge is what you're supposed to have coming out, not going in.

This sentiment (though not quite the exact same words) is expressed twice (at least).

Name the speaker, two receipients and two books.




---------------------
Excluded Books: Spirit Ring, Beguilement, Dreamweaver's Dilemma

a)
Miles to Harra (née Mattulich) Csurik
in "Mountains of Mourning"

b) Miles to Ekaterin in Komarr

Well, also
Miles to Ekaterin in the first chpater of Civil Campaign ("on the job training" carries the same idea)

You said twice (at least)

I am almost sure it is also in Komarr but I amend my

b) Miles to Ekaterin, first chapter of _CC_, page 7 of my Hardcover Baen edition, through the expression "On the job training" "learning by doing"

voralfred wrote:a) Miles to Harra (née Mattulich) Csurik
in "Mountains of Mourning"

Correct.

voralfred wrote:You said twice (at least)

I am almost sure it is also in Komarr

The reason I added the (at least) is because I also think it appears in Komarr, during the conversation with Venier, but I couldn't remember how close a match it was and I hadn't felt like looking it up.

voralfred wrote:but I amend my

b) Miles to Ekaterin, first chapter of _CC_,

Also, correct.

voralfred wrote:page 7 of my Hardcover Baen edition, through the expression "On the job training" "learning by doing"

Wrong... back up a page. The statement I'm referring to happens earlier in the conversation when Ekaterin is talking about her course selections. However, you have the right characters and the right book, which is all I asked for, so you get the sherlock.


The exact statements are:

Knowledge is what you're supposed to have coming out, not going in. (MoM)

Educated is what you aim to be coming out, not going in. (ACC)

OK, so new quote

XXX's people would be gathering. YYY had once claimed XXX could carry on naked, and only make those around XXX feel overdressed. XXX was momentarily tempted to test YYY's assertion, but overcame the mordant vision,...

OK, so I changed a few pronouns, "XXX's" or "YYY's" is really "his" or "her" or "its", etc. but I don't want to tell you which, hence the rewriting. The original text flows much better, of course. In fcat, only the bold YYY is not a pronoun.

So the question is:
Who are XXX and YYY and what book?

risi, you are not allowed to post, but PM me the answer, if you get it in before anyone posts....

XXX's people would be gathering. YYY had once claimed XXX could carry on naked, and only make those around XXX feel overdressed. XXX was momentarily tempted to test YYY's assertion, but overcame the mordant vision,...

From your earlier quote, I assume YYY has to be Cordelia and XXX has to be Aral. I haven't read the Cordelia's Honor novels yet but I'm guessing that it might be from Barrayar. And that would make the inconsistency that you cited earlier the fact that if Cordelia only thought this, how would Aral know about it, much less think to himself that she had "claimed" it.

clong wrote:

XXX's people would be gathering. YYY had once claimed XXX could carry on naked, and only make those around XXX feel overdressed. XXX was momentarily tempted to test YYY's assertion, but overcame the mordant vision,...

From your earlier quote, I assume YYY has to be Cordelia and XXX has to be Aral. I haven't read the Cordelia's Honor novels yet but I'm guessing that it might be from Barrayar. And that would make the inconsistency that you cited earlier the fact that if Cordelia only thought this, how would Aral know about it, much less think to himself that she had "claimed" it.

Wrong!
Your assumption is erroneous!
I did say there was an inconsistency!
Well, OK, in the previous quote Cordelia only thought it, but she could easily have told him later. That is not in the text, but it is very reasonable. When I say the Sherlock Holmes aficionados explain inconsistencies away, it is very artificial. This inconsistency could also, marginally, be explained away, but not in such a simple way as "Later, Cordelia just told Aral her thoughts".

Besides, I did write above that it is either in "Miles, Mystery and Mayhem" or "Miles Errant", thus not in "Barrayar".

Come on, folks, it is not so hard! Only four novels and two novellas to look through.

voralfred wrote:If this thread is still present next year or so, after both books of "Sharing Knife" are out, we could agree together to include them, too, but don't you agree to exclude "Beguilement" for the time being?

I'm not sure about this. I'd tend to think that a brand new book should be excluded for some stated period after its release (3 months?) and then it becomes fair game. There's always a risk that someone will post a question that is so obscure nobody can answer it. That's why we have the "cold questions can be tabled and a new question inserted after so long" rule.

clong wrote:

voralfred wrote:If this thread is still present next year or so, after both books of "Sharing Knife" are out, we could agree together to include them, too, but don't you agree to exclude "Beguilement" for the time being?

I'm not sure about this. I'd tend to think that a brand new book should be excluded for some stated period after its release (3 months?) and then it becomes fair game. There's always a risk that someone will post a question that is so obscure nobody can answer it. That's why we have the "cold questions can be tabled and a new question inserted after so long" rule.

I'd say we agree! And because "Sharing Knife" is really a single book, I would like to keep "Beguilement" out until "Legacy" has also been released for some time, because some people might wait for "Legacy" before starting on "Beguilement", when I said

voralfred wrote: after both books of "Sharing Knife" are out,

I did not mean on that very day, but after some more time. So I would say we completely agree. Anyone else disagrees?

XXX's people would be gathering. YYY had once claimed XXX could carry on naked, and only make those around XXX feel overdressed. XXX was momentarily tempted to test YYY's assertion, but overcame the mordant vision,...

I can't believe this is getting so "cold". It really is not so hard! I'll give you one more hint: it is in "Miles Errant".

So only two novels, "Brothers in Arms" and "Mirror Dance", plus the novella "The Borders of Infinity" (that is, the story on Dagoola IV).

Pretty obvious who XXX is (not Aral, clearly). There are a few more possible choices for YYY, but not that many. Just by taking chances, yo uca nget it right! (Hey! two lysdexias in a single line, and I did not even do it on purpose- interchanging a letter with a blank counts, too!)

XXX's people would be gathering. YYY had once claimed XXX could carry on naked, and only make those around XXX feel overdressed. XXX was momentarily tempted to test YYY's assertion, but overcame the mordant vision,...

One more hint.

I said the inconsistency could be explained away, but in a very artificial way. The very same words (naked vs feel overdressed) will not jump to the mind of two different persons to describe two different ones, Even if one is the model (or the father) of the other, the probability is too small.
But if the "overdressed" business had become some kind of joke between Cordelia and Aral, maybe someone, namely YYY, who visited them could have heard it, made it his or her own but applied to XXX rather than Aral, later told it to XXX, and XXX remembers YYY telling it. Possible, but artificial. (I've seen worse interpretations of inconsistencies in the Sherlock Holmes Canon by aficionados.)

So this reduces considerably the number of possibilities for YYY: for instance, Bel Thorne whose personality might well have led it to say that, never went to Barrayar (so I omitted the "its" possessive)! Taura is out, too: the first time she goes to Barrayar is in 'Winterfair Gifts'", long after "Miles Errant".
Just taking pot luck you have a good chance to guess. (With this hint there are really very very few possible choices now...)

Reede Kullervo wrote:Miles and Quinn
Mirror Dance

Correct!
In chapter two, towards the end.
In the beginning of chapter 2, it is clear they are coming back from a visit to Barrayar. So Quinn could have heard Cordelia reminiscing about Aral and his supposedly "overdressed-feeling" associates, and Quinn had plenty of time, during the Escobar etap, for instance, to tell it to Miles directed to him rather than Aral. But it would be artificial.

Dear Lois, if you read this, what happened? Did you mean something like what I just described, or did you just forget these words had been in Cordelia's head?

Anyway, RK, next question is yours and I'll give you one full sherlock (but not one and a half, the question replaced the bonus of my old one, but does not add to it)