[Rob B]

Ok Folks here are Ms. Flewelling's replies:

(Members questions are BOLD, Ms. Flewelling's replies are ITALICIZED)

Eventine asked:
Q:Will LF go down the path of having the boyhood friends become lovers (there was a bit of foreshadowing of this with the whole mention of the soldiers "bunking" together)?

A: That relationship does develop over the next two books, but perhaps not quite the way you anticipate.


Q: How will Ki respond when he finds out his best friend isn't quite the man he thought he was (assuming he hasn't carked it)?

A: LOL! For that, you must read HIDDEN WARRIOR!


Q: How will Tobin treat Ki now? Will he start to get interested in guys and make an advance (in male form) on Ki? If so, will Ki feel obliged to respond based on Tharrin's comments about his relationship with Tobin's Dad

A: See above answer. ;-)


Q: I'm also interested in what the role of Brother will be in the next books. Helpful friend? Evil Demon? Fluffy cuddle toy?

A: Definitely not the latter. I have tried to make Brother as inhuman as possible. He is a spirt cut off from any human feeling, having died before he could even become flesh. He knows only his own pain, his own needs, and acts accordingly. Mostly.


Ladijen said:

Q: I do not have questions for Ms. Flewelling, but please pass on my praise and admiration; I am a new fan of her work


A: Thanks!


Nimea said:

Q: Do you already have an outline for your trilogy, with set points that you want to reach or are you just writing?

A: I have a general idea of what I want to do, but outlines simply don't work. The minute I try to pin myself down to specifics in advance the whole process falls apart.

Q: - What do you think about Tobin yourself?

A: There's a tremendous amount of my younger selves in Tobin. That's what I drew on to create him/her. Not literally in most cases, but lots of synthesis.

Q: - What would you say is the Tamir trilogy really about? (Ouch, sounds strange. But sometimes authors have an idea behind there writing, so . . .)

A: Duty, the greater good, and the search for identity.

Q: - Why that cliffhanger? (I really liked it, but we discussed about it, so . . .)

A: Yes, I've had lots of uh . . . comments on that. It just seemed like a good place to stop and my editor agreed.


Ntschotschi said:
Q: Are there any reasons why her writing imo seems much more mature and self-possessed such more leeway by the editors or more time for writing etc.?

A: Much more possessed than my earlier work, or other's writers's work? I can't claim any particular control over that. I write what comes to me. I do have quite a lot more experience now, of course. And people often interpret more serious subject matter as more "serious."


Q: Second question: Will the storylines of the two trilogys converse in some way sometime in the future? Is there an overall setting/storyarc regarding the two series?

A: This trilogy contains the roots of many things that are familiar to Nightrunner fans: in it we see the founding of the Third Oreska, the Watchers, Rhiminee . . . It's built o n backstory that I worked with creating the earlier books.

Ms. Flewelling also said: Thanks for reading my work. Hope you enjoy HIDDEN WARRIOR!

[Nimea]

Cool. :)
And these answers make me want to read Hidden Warrior even more - I already ordered it . . .

Many thanks to Fitz!

And thanks to Ms. Flewelling!

:)

[Beleg]

I finished Bone Doll's Twin yesterday night and loved it.

The book starts pretty weakly though. The first few chapters seemed like filler to me and only after the birth of Tobin did the story display any sense of fluidity. Flewelling is a very good character writer. I thought she did her best to give Tobin, and by extension, Brother, a realistic childhood given the prior development. While I wasn't creeped out as such, she's also very good at creating dramatic tension which often strays in the realm of surrealness and kept me at the edge of my seat for most of the castle parts.

I didn't like Lhel and Arkoniel's affair though. IMO, Arkoniel came out as a character, who in 31 years of his existance, had never thought of a girl that way - it seemed contrived.

The book reminds me a lot of two books - Robin Hobb's 'Shaman's Crossing' and Janny Wurts' 'Curse of the Mistwraith', though more interesting then both of them. It's great to see a coming of age story where the author doesn't shy away from sex, gore and grittiness. It adds an element of realism and bittersweatness that many supposedly 'young-adult' works lack.

Tobin's touchy-hugginess with Ki is pretty telling as well, methinks. (I am only a fifth of the way through Hidden Warrior so don't know how that pans out - but it is sure to be extremely entertaining keeping in mind the authors comments earlier)

[Severn]

***SPOILERS***

I just loved these.

I've read the whole trilogy, and I have to say Flewelling has created a beautiful, moving narrative throughout all three books. Her characters are sympathetic - loving the way she navigated Ki and Tobin's relationship through, and after, Tobin's true gender is revealed. From Ki's slow battle of acceptance, and Tobin's shame. I'd have to say I feel that their friendship is one of the more honest, and believable, friendships/love stories in the genre.

Tobin is one of my favourite female characters. I never had the sense that the author was pushing the 'she is really a she' card with the doll issue. The doll is obviously a mother-attachment. And as for the city 'doll-house' as I understood it, the city-scape is mainly for education purposes, as Tobin lives so far from the city. Ok, so he/she pushes toy people around, fine. Like boys with toy soldiers to me. Tobin struggles, and grows, and not just with her identity, but with her duty as well. And her many losses. Her struggle with Brother is a tender one - fear battling with a sense of kinship, guilt and grief.

I also admired the sense of duty-as-burden that came about when Tobin made her bid for the throne, and had to fight against her much loved cousin. The creation and destruction of that particular relationship was just marvellous. I love that Flewelling has somehow merged plot-based and character-based fiction so well. I couldn't really say which is the stronger bias. I think that, in essence, is what attaches me so strongly to the series. I loathe plot-based fiction with dry characters. Can't read it. I think that might be what I find so unattractive with Sci Fi (that might be a misconception on my part, though, not having read much Sci FI - only enough to turn me away from it). I somehow think that finding a balance between the two might be difficult. No problems in the Tamir Triad on that score.