Photo by Allison Curtis, Graffiti courtesy of Paarfi
Photo by Allison Curtis, Graffiti courtesy of Paarfi
Here are some of the things that'll happen, in order of probability: 1) I die before finishing them 2) I get tired of them, and have enough integrity to stop writing them. 3) I get tired of them but continue writing them anyway, so they suck. 4) I don't get tired of them, and end up with nineteen Vlad books: 1 for each House, a first one called TALTOS, and a last one called THE LAST CONTRACT. At the moment, I'm under contract for two more, and I'm still enjoying the hell out of the little sonofabitch.That seems pretty authoritative.
Of course things from his life worked their ways into the book. Normally this questions is addressed at the breakup of Vlad and Cawti. To that, Steve wrote, on June 7, 2002:
Oh, I've answered that one before. It was directly out of my life, only I didn't realize it at the time I was working on the book. I figured it out when I read the page proofs, and felt like a complete idiot.
It is true that, in Jar-head, there is a scene where Aliera appears looking rather happy. In that scene, we have just missed seeing Mario.Now, Jar-head is Steve's nickname for Jhereg. So, we know he is alive, and Steve has said that we haven't met any major character who is another character (aside from the events of Orca). I'm too lazy to find the precise quote...but here is one that will work, from December 4, 2002:
Er, what are you talking about? No character in the Vlad novels is secretly another character in the Vlad novels, at least that I know of. No character in the Vlad novels is secretly a character in any of my other novels, at least that I know of. No character in any of my other novels is secretly a character in any of the Vlad novels, at least that I know of. I think that covers it. I didn't know, when I made the comment to the effect of, "No one is anyone else," I was claiming I would never hide a character under an assumed name for a couple of chapters.
Steve also recently issued the definitive statement when he wrote on July 10, 2002, in response to Matthew Hunter:
>Have we met Mario face-to-face in the Vlad books (even if >disguised as someone else)? No.
Yes, but I'm not sure when.Update: As of February 2003 (and perhaps before then) the Book of Athyra is availaable.
That being said, he can occasionally be found at a poker room at a casino in Las Vegas. It is left as a exercise to the reader to determine which casino, and how to ask for him. Yes he has stated it on a public forum, and yes I feel like being obtuse.
Steve does have a contract for 2 more Vlad books, so they should come out eventually.
"Hey, Steven, is that a parrot on your shoulder or are you just happy to see
me?"
"If you're 'The Pirate', where is your parrot?"
Anyway, yes, as well as a dog he denies the existence of. June, 2002:
>>>You have a dog? Steve>> Nope. No dog here. No dogs anywhere nearby. That brown thing looking Steve>> brainless on my couch is, um, a lump of fabric. Yeah, yeah, that's it. >My friend in Las Vegas walks her dog behind her house and carries a pistol >in case of rattlers. Steve> I should do the same. That way, if my dog attacks a rattler, I can shoot Steve> the dog to protect the snake. >Oh yeah, I wondered about that - does John Henry Holliday truly tolerate >Miska? Steve> Yes, as long as Miska keeps those long, flappy ears out of beak-range. Steve> Doc sends his respects to Falco.
Devera's father is Kieron. This makes for an interesting family tree. If you look at it from a physical perspective, Adron's ancestor is Kieron. Adron is Aliera's father and Devera is Aliera's daughter. So, since Devera is the daughter to her grandfather's ancestor, she's probably her own cousin. It gets even more confusing if you look at it from a soul perspective, as Aliera is Kieron's brother, which would make Aliera her mother and aunt, and Kieron her father and uncle.
The best source for this appears to be here, where on April 24th, 1994, Joel Polowin wrote:
According to Steven's comments over on the Fido SF echo a year or two ago, Kieron is Devera's father. No hints on how this comes to be, of course.
Steve has also authoritatively muddled the situation as to how Devera gets to float around time (Decmber 10, 2002):
I see it like this: There is no time travel as it is usually understood by us skiffy types. But time can do strange things, especially in the Paths of the Dead, and Verra's Halls. Devera was conceived in the Paths of the Dead and was born in Verra's Halls. Time doesn't work for her the way it does for others, and she can often skip around in it. So, I guess, there is a limited sort quasi-time travel, in a way. I hope that cleared everything up. < tee hee >(Yes, he wrote tee hee). If you want to figure out the details of this, I urge you to give up. The author has just told you time does "strange things" which means you probably can't apply any logic to it and hope to win.
[...] Damn. Wish I'd caught that similarity in names so I could have changed Orlaan's. Oh, well. Too late now.
| Abbreviation | Meaning | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| TRiH | To Reign in Hell | Title of a book |
| POTD | Paths of the Dead | |
| FHYA | Five Hundred Years After | |
| TPG | The Phoenix Guards | |
| AFB | Away From Books | The person using this is telling you that they are working from memory and can not provide an exact cite. |
| AFAIK | As Far As I Know | The author's belief, but not necessarily proven |
When Sethra says she can't leave, what she means is that she can't leave on a long complicated quest that involves combat with an Athyra wizard in his keep. However, she can sneak out for 17 minutes to talk to Vlad.
Steve has indicated that he enjoys seeing the discussion on this, so getting an authoritative answer is unlikely.