Enchanter (Beta) Spoiler discussion thread

If you've grabbed a copy of Enchanter and want to vent, here's where you can do it.  If you haven't read it yet, don't read the comments here, because they will be laden with spoilers.

Sales have been stellar of the Beta version.  Enchanter debuted at 1054 on the total Kindle sales list, and jumped up to 662 before I had my coffee.  That's nice, because I'm feeling poorly after my transmission fiasco.  Good news on that is it might be a $20 fix, not a $2000 fix.  Gotta figure out which divinity specializes in transmissions so I can thank them properly,


  Some more artwork in process: a selection of traditional cummocks, the standard tool of arcane medical practice.

Go ahead, discuss.


Comments

  1. Well... shit. That was kind of my feeling at the end of the book. Loved it, but was definitely one of the darker books we've had. Also loved Ishi, she'll definitely be interesting to watch in the future. One thing that made me curious was the reference of invaders from beyond the void. Was humanity the only one who came to that world and actually asked nicely to settle there, or was it just the lack of the Celestial Mother that let them settle.

    Overall, I really liked this book, was great to see Sevendor and the mages develop, and with Min's personal tragedy as a background, made it all the more interesting. One question though, how many kids does Min have now, since it mentioned three bastards, though I only remember two.

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  2. Greg... I understood that conversation to mean that Min sired children in the past (off camera) say at the end of the Farisian campaign.

    Side Note - seconded on your thoughts at the end. Though I was more like Holy S**T!

    @Terry One of the maps in the books that shows more of the region.... Does that show the full extend of Sevendor's controlled domains? I ask because I could have SWORN the description of Trestdor was that it was SMALLER than Sevendor. Granted, they both acquired extra domains, but the scale seemed off.

    Of other note.... I think you have now expanded the 'Mad' remeran archtype. I didn't actually think Lorcas that that bad in Journeymage. So he mooned the gurvani's a bit.... I thought at that point Onranion was worse. I now stand corrected. :) (and I also thought it was PRICELESS when Min pointed out what conquering that domain REALLY meant)

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    1. haha yeah, it's easy to imagine the complete and utter horror on Lorcas's face when he realized, then to have Min 'kindly' offer to make all those problems go away... if he just swears the territory to sevendor and lets Min decide how to hand it out.

      Also, about the Trestdor being smaller, I think it was because a good chunk of it was under the Warbirds control at the time, so it less than we see now.

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    2. Trestendor is "smaller" in terms of population, development and arable land. It's actually larger in land area, but it's just about all uphill.

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    3. Will Min claim land further into the Uwarri's to expand the size of Sevendor. I realise that it is for the most part just mountain and rock but the combination of waystones and Skyriders make that a surmountable obstacle.
      If Min is about to embark a Shadow-War then I assume he will be accumulating more and more prisoners that he needs for various reasons. I could imagine him building a completely isolated and inaccessible prison out in the middle of the Uwarris and also building a SKyrider base out there. - Just a thought.

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    4. Second on that. Hidden Valley in interior of Uwarris? Very secure base/reatreat and prison?

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    5. Yes, Min & Co. will eventually explore the Uwarris in search of the lost Karshak ruin of Askerost (or however the hells I spelled it). Future book.

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    6. I think that Sevendor and "Uwarris Hidden Valley" will be sometime aerial assualted by Sharuel dragons. Dragons versus Hawkrider/Skyrider? New Battle of Engl.. Sorry, Sevendor? ;)

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    7. Oh man, I cant wait for all the stories!! This discussion has been great so far and has seen a lot more participation and has been a lot more interactive too! I guess it is time to find some forums that we can create for this. I have never really done that but I will look into it soon - it would be great to have all this a bit more organized.

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  3. When it comes time to do the audiobooks I want to audition!

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  4. Who is the power behind the Sea Folk, if all the Celestial Mothers are extinct?

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    1. You'll learn more about them later. But they are descendants of one of the the Celestial Mothers' "vassal" species.who survived the ancient conflicts and evolved into dominance.

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    2. that makes sense, so is there any old Human equipment still in space that Min's going to find after some research into some old human tech like a highly advance sat phone? Like idk, a kinetic kill device (ie falling space junk).

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    3. We'll see a little more humani teka in a few books. It will emerge slowly, because I don't want to overwhelm the medieval character of the series, but it is both inevitable and vital to the long-term plot.

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    4. Thank You, Terry - for not speeding full industrialization. Time of Social Change/Industrial Revolution is more interesting than true feudalism or full blown industrial age.

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  6. How come the confident and cool Min turned into a little wuss in this Book?
    He chose to wait and see every Time. When you only react to your enemies moves you're going to be late often.
    Great Book still but the MC regressed. Weakest Book out of the series for me. Still 5 Stars though.

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    1. well, If he's dealing with something like PDST, due to the assault on his person, that can take time to get over or at least fade into the background. Also his political positions in regards to his overlord limits what he see's as his options. But that's my 2 cents.

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    2. honestly, that wasn't the weakest part of the book for me. I mean, everything you said about min regressing is true, but come on, he was essentially raped. That sort of thing tends to fuck with your head

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    3. Exactly right. I didn't want to get preachy about it, but when people started calling Min too overpowered, too able to handle anything that came at him, I had to put him in a position where his magic and his wits just wouldn't be enough. When someone that confident takes a psychological hit that hard, no matter how well they have their heads together they are affected. Power and socio-economics have little to do with it, it's the struggle of the human psyche. Min had PTSD, essentially, and more than that. He had to deal with it. Men tend to work through their problems, so his indulgence in creation was part of him working through his issues. Hope that helps.

      He's confident now. And determined, committed, and wrathful. Should be a good show.

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    4. The scary thing is that Min has on the defense the entire time. What sorts of things is Min going to make for more power....Summon Duin ,creatures from Otherworlds. Change himself into something beyond mortal???

      The list is endless.

      BTW. I like how Min said that he didn't have enough money to build a duchy unless it was his duchy. Is this a hint????


      Yes I have nothing to do but theories about this series.

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    5. Hmm. I think that in this book Min become count - as counterpart to Dranus become Count of Moros - and Duke in two-three books in future. Step by step. But Mayby in next one?

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    6. There's only three Dukes at the point... one for each Province. Min would have to control a LOT more territory before that could every happen and the kingdom would have to allow for there to be more than the three current dukes. Even if that happened, I can't ever see Min becoming a Duke while Tavard lives. He won't stand to Min having the same social rank as himself.

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  7. well well well.

    I was wondering where that vicious streak of pure evil villainy had gone, since we haven't seen it since Kitsal hamlet...... soooooooo, thoughts

    1: The usual large number of misplaced or mispelled names, but I don't really mind those any more.

    2: I'm actually pretty irked that all that exposition about the progenitors of the sea folk apparently happened offscreen. Several such plot threads were left unaddressed. The spectacular property of the last snowclay pot that Briga burned in the everfire. The mixture that Ulin made with the everfire which is never explained but which has something to do with the snowflake,

    3: The reason your worldbuilding is so superb is because of how incredibly detailed and realistic you make all of your work. And in this book, when you stuck to describing the changes in the kingdom, human characters, most of the bits about the gods that were immediately humanocentric (mainly the entire discussion about the nature of Ishi), it was superb. But other than the bits building up Korbal, most of the non-human species oriented world building was not quite as detailed. Granted, its easy to understand why that is the case, but still.

    4: Most of the stuff about the species of the being that becomes the snowflake enegram. It is never confirmed or discussed, other than that they apparently had the power to move suns (which would be silly in a sci-fi epic let alone a fantasy one).

    5: Honestly, although the book delivered in a big way, I thought it didn't focus enough on what I thought would be the focus of the entire thing: the snowflake. Its tale is more of a subplot than anything else.

    I know I may be a bit harsh and I apologize. I just finished, and I'm still a little emotional about the ending. Plus I'm just that very special kind of depressed that comes from finishing a great book knowing that I'm not going to be productive today because I won't be able to think of anything else. This was an amazing read, worth every penny I spent on it, even considering my parents don't like me buying new books at school. Hell, it was such an engrossing read that I'm pretty sure for a while, I forgot to eat.

    I applaud your desire to prolong this series with more books, but you have to be careful that in your worldbuilding frenzy, you don't accidentally make the world too big to maintain the level of tightness, detail, logic, and emotion that makes your stories so incredibly heartwarming, funny and truly awesome to read.

    May Briga guide your magics,
    A MASSIVE fan of this series.

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    3. Thanks for the comments.

      1. This will be resolved for the most part in the final edit on July 1st.
      2. The Sea Folk exposition is left off-screen for long-term plot purposes. You'll understand why later. I know it's frustrating. It's supposed to be frustrating.
      3. Same thing for Korbal. We don't know the whole story about him and his rise, all we have is the Alka Alon and divine interpretations. Now that I've introduced him as a distant villain, we'll start to explore him more directly, particularly by Book 9, Shadowmage.
      4. It's never confirmed or discussed because it's hearsay and legend at this point. When their entire backstory is revealed it will put a much different light on human colonization of Callidore, in a historical context. But one tantalizing morsel at a time . . .
      5. Ah, the Snowflake. We witnessed the beginning of its enchantment, but not the end. When we get there and it wakes up, you'll know it.

      Don't worry about being harsh. I can take it. I'm purposefully manipulating your emotions to compel you to care about the characters - mission accomplished. I knew this book would be difficult for some readers, but it sets up the next plot arc in a big way and gives him motivation. the Snowflake soon becomes instrumental, but I can't reveal how yet without Min finding out.

      And don't worry about the world getting too big. In Court Wizard we go back to the Alshari Wilderlands for a bit, and then in Shadowmage we go to southern Alshar and the Land of Scars. By that time you'll appreciate what I'm doing, I hope.

      Thanks for reading and caring enough to comment!

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    4. About that....

      who exactly is shadowmage going to be about?
      I had thought it was about isily, especially after her chat with min at the begging during the fair, but now that she's.....oh screw politeness. now that the murderous psychotic evil BITCH is basically dead, it leaves a distinctly shadowmage shaped hole in the cast of characters.

      Also, remind me again the order of the next few books in the series is? The titles for the immediate future floating around this blog are

      (unnamed short story about tyndal, rondal, and the kasari)
      court mage
      Hawklady
      and shadowmage

      Did I get the timeline mixed up?

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    5. Oh and also, thanks for remembering my points from earlier about how dunselen was still the head of the scholarly order.
      Its big time narcissistic of me to think that my comment alone reminded you to do that, but it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to thing that I had actually contributed to this book. So I don't really mind lying to myself

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    6. Actually, I'll probably knock out Hawklady next, since it's just 90,000 words or so. Light summer writing. Then Court Wizard, set in North Alshar and covering Pentandra's exploits, then Shadowmage, which will deal with Tyndal and Rondal (and Lorcus & Friends) in the rebellious region of southern Alshar. Fighting the Brotherhood. THAT one will be a bloodbath. The shadowmage in question is the one they mentioned briefly in Enchanter, and he's a friend of Ruderal's.

      But don't despair - Min will make very important appearances in both of them that will further his fight against Korbal and his quest to restore Alya.

      Will probably get a couple of shorts out this summer, too.

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    7. Is Shadowmage based after the events of Enchanter or is it based during it - or a combination or both.

      Also will we find out what happened during Rondal, Tyndal and Runderal's first meeting in that book or is that destined for a as yet unreleased short story?

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  8. wow. this really sucks.
    I wrote a whole other diatribe about how I really truly did like this book, and about how I love that you actually focus on the marriage that results from the epic romance, instead of the epic romance itself, and that this series is and probably will remain, in my top 5 favorite series of all time even though I have been reading fiction since I was in kindergarden

    I just went back to correct a spelling error in a sentence about how Minalan is neck and neck with Harry Dresden of Jim Butcher's "The Dresden Files" series as my single favorite character of all time.

    But I ended up copy pasting the wrong paragraph before I deleted it, so now its all gone. Why can't we edit posts on this stupid website (blogspot.com not you terry)! its so much easier to handle than deleting the post and retyping it!

    oh well. I guess I still said my piece, if in fewer words than last time.

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  9. Hi Terry, I read the book. It was good. I would like to share some feedback, which may be harsh. Its my opinion based on my preferences, so it may not apply to everyone.

    1. Single POV: The whole book is from Minalian's POV. Now this scheme isnt bad, lot of books do it and i like IT. But I only like this in First few volumes in the series, when the world being introduced isn't huge. However as the series expands, by book 4-5, having just one POV can be very boring.

    I would love to have some small POV in MC's narration. This would definitely make it more interesting.

    For me, no matter how good a food, a song or a painting is, after watching/eating/listening the same thing/style over many times, it becomes stale. I no longer have same enjoyment as I did at the starting. Mind now wants something different.

    By including some different POV (of minor characters, or of protagonists), I think you will make experience much richer.

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  10. Point 2: Squeamish on Blood

    I think you are hesitant on showing blood. Not on the general sense (like X no of people were killed, X villages destroyed)...but of personal variety.

    When MC could solve many problems by simply killing the offenders, but he dosent do it. This is especially true for female characters, Like Lady Mask, or even Isily. I can understand Isily, but lady Mask should have been executed but on one pretext or another she wasent.

    I personally like MC who can dispense final justice quickly, with no hemming and hawing. May be that's b'coz I have read many eastern fiction works, but I think this trait makes MC seem weak.

    This is personal opinion, and may vary for other people

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    1. This book is the turning point for Min. This experience will have changed him tremendously. I think we will see much less forgiving Spellmonger from now on.

      This to me might be the last time we see min cry. God have mercy on Korbal soul. Prediction...Korbal is gonna have an eternity of suffering"

      Min is traveling a hard path and he will need an iron will to become the greatest Archmage of all time.

      Terry... will Mins interaction with Celestial Mother change how how he things, sees the word etc. As i can't see how he could get away with carrying such a powerful being without changes to his mind.

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    2. I really hope his character can me made more bad-ass, rather than happy go lucky.

      Also, I hope Terry can take some inspiration from Xianxia series (Stellar Transformation, Dragon Ball) where hero constantly powers up. That thing is really interesting to read, but unfortunately none of the western authors seem to do it.

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    3. Terry is doing a terrific job of balancing Min so far. Yes Min will one day be incredible powerful but currently even if he did have that power I don't think he wouldn't be able to use it effectively due to his inexperience and maturity. At most he will cause more problems like a new king flexing their muscles without restraint to show the nobility they are strong.

      The whole book we have beenn given the idea of "crafting tool to craft greater tools". Just like this idea i feel that opinion Min is being carefully crafted by forces unknown to us readers .Into a fulcrum which will span a number of spectrums consisting racial, political and magical. Who knows what being connect to the stone flake will do.

      Those series that you mentioned Arthur are able to continually power up because powerful beings are like grans of sand. I have read those series and enjoy then but not nearly as much as The spellmonger series.

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    4. I agree Terry's work is very enjoyable, that's why I am taking time to give feedback.

      Regarding "Power Up", can you tell me any popular Western work which has well defined power up like Xianxia Series?

      Even Jap Manga handle power-up's very well- like Naruto, One Piece. You can actually see how character's technique's and power level have progressed. They actually have Level's which MC slowly progresses in course of story.

      In contrast, their is no such level's in Western Literature. Eg: Harry Potter, or even SuperHero comics. If you have read eastern works (or read Naruto/One Piece) you will appreciate my POV.

      I understand its too late to introduce such concept in Current Spellmonger's world, but a nice idea for any future work.

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    6. In terms of power ups how is this idea for a more organic approach – I.e. one that is in keeping with the magics already explored in the book. They talked about mental discipline in this book and have already mentioned transgenic enchantments.
      The thing in this book however that had the most potential for me were some of the stones mined Rundeval Mountain. The Memory Stones combined with the perception stones would make an incredibly powerful tool when combined - even from a combat perspective. The ability to instantly analyse an opponent, scan their defences and then use the memory stone to access the knowledge to defeat an enemy would hold immense power. Also in everyday dealings the potential for increased efficiency and increased metal ability would be huge. You could remember every little detail about a region in an instant with an incredible level of detail. Also since the effect appears scalable you could have it constantly turned on while awake and could kick it up to a higher notch when in combat mode or when otherwise needed.

      Honestly I don't even want to see them crafted to an object of power - objects are just too vulnerable - see Mask stone Min's staff. I'd like to see a medium whereby they are directly grafted to our MC's body somehow. Throw in some Irionite grafted to the bone - of liquid Irionite in the blood - I don't know how that would work I’m taking a little creative licence - and we would truly begin to see the beginnings of an Archmage. I realise this could take effect over a series of books it’s just a though.

      Also a question for Terry - will Min's exploration of experimental magics lead to an extended lifespan?
      Also could we get a list of who has a Seven Stone?
      Not just the Spellmonger’s Seven but the Horkan Seven and Hessian Seven too?

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  11. This book was brilliant darker than any of the others and I could not put it down at all. Did not like the fact of alya losing her third child that could come back to haunt alya now min has his other kids near him could have throw in a bit of happy there at the end with the child surviving don't need alya with survival's guilt min marriage has had enough hardship's. But now I have so many new questions that need to be answered, like how will the people of of min's lands and other nobles see min's new children now that he has four at home will him? Could ruderal be one of the three of min's children that was mentioned by ishi ? Could min have sired him in his late teens? Will min go look for his other children as mentioned by ishi as we know he has a soft spot for kids and will they all have talent? The tease of the notes for sartha wood min's first clash with the enshawdowed . Him trying to be friendly with radine? Trading one evil bitch for another? The next books if you are doing them with another main character like penny and so on how much screen time so to say will min be getting in them. Like in knights magi where he has a few pages or a bit more involvement because I personally don't like when your favourite character in this case min has a few pages and is pushed to far in to the side lines of a story will he have chapters in the books coming next will it be a penny and min book like the Rondal and Tyndal of knights magi?

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    1. I am looking forward to the reactions of the characters regarding Min achievements.

      I hope we can get a short from the perspective of the dragonslayer since he is my second favorite character.

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  12. Very good book, Terry. Five star. :)

    And now some criticizm for improvement story... ;)

    1. Really sad and dark story for Min, very similar to what Jim Butcher did in Dresden Files. On the one hand Min hesitancy is annoying and retrogradely immature, but on the other hand in light of rape and longtime guilt is understandable and very human. My concerns is Min totally lack of defense versus mind magic. This is very stupid and arrogant that he not shielding his mind - at this level of power and capability - after previous experiences with Alka Alon and Dead God. Also is odd that Isily so easy get Min in Snowflake chamber. Min not anticipate attack with shadowmagic??? Pride penalty? Maybe intervention Gods or other Forces (beside Author of course - ;) )? Something in kind of event predicted as necessary for better future? Whatever this is, this is almost as deux ex machina event. Needful more explanation. Small minus.

    2. Too few Min interaction with simple vasals, yeomens and subject. Too many interaction with different wizards. Mixed feeling on enchanter terminology - maybe footnote instead of glossary.

    3. Would be worth - in my opinion - so that more emphasize impact of magical-industrial revolution on whole society of Castalshar.

    4. Ishi intervention in final act was needless. I think that better for story would be to kill Alya or kill only her child, but wounded or marred her - without contribution of goddess. Second almost like deux ex machina event. ;) Perhaps add - in 1 July version of book - more explanation and some early suggestions? I really think that beloved with amnesia and shattered mind is not needed to motivate Min.

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    1. I agree, I would love to see Magical Industrial rev and how Human society progresses as a whole. And How it impact's current govt structure. That would be cool.

      I would also have loved for Alya to have dies in last scene. Frankly, it would have a much dramatic impact on the story.

      Also, Alya is a weak character i.e. she is a commoner. So her death free's up Min for 2nd Marrige, which could include a romance with a top aristocrat/Ala Alon girl...some one who is much more significant and powerful. That could open up great story line for "star-crossed" lovers.

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    2. I like Min with Alya - his marriage is so loving, normal and sympathetic (very different from majority other fantasy stories). My criticism apply rather to final scene drama and sense. I preferably would like to see wounded Alya, but with sane mind. Only my second option is dead wife. In my opinion broken mind beloved wife is slightly cheap solution. Romantic and family tension Author may better build based on problem of first Min infidelity and issue raising of two new kids, eventually on issue marred wife. Additionally Ishi story arc is - as for me - weird. Maybe with more explanation and development this become more clear and understandable. Do I write already that I don`t like Ishi? Very...

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    3. Arthur,

      I'm not sure how you can say Ayla. Min is just as much a commoner as she is. They were both raised as commoners and both ran a business. All the subtext indicates that she's growing into a lady. Also, if you look at the conversations Min has had with Briga, having power and expressing power are two different things. Ayla may not be as directly powerfull as min, but she still has power. You can see it indirectly in the Epilogue. The people of Sevendor will just as easily rise to her defense as Min's. Maybe even more so as the people love her.

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    4. Ok sorry I have to through my two cents in here. I may be completely of but I think I can see where this is going with Alya and Min.

      1. Alay had a powerful reaction to the Snowflake and it is hinted in Magelord that she has at least a modicum of magical ability. Add to this the nature of the beginning used to enchant that artifact and I think I can see Alay pulling a phoenix a returning stronger than before. Becoming the shield to Mind sword.

      2. I can think of nothing that will motivate Min mover than the restoration of his wife. The desire to heal a loved one if as to the drive for revenge as the fires of a forge are to a flame thrower.
      Finally I don't know what you all have been reading but the idea of Min looking his wife and then going and getting remarried turns my stomach, especially after all the bell those two have been through.

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    5. I think Ayla got caught up between divine vengeance and Ishi's little revenge toward Minalan for reigning her in for Penny. There's always a price to pay when dealing with Gods, just as there's a price to pay in dealing with demons. Briga granted divine vengeance for Ayla and I'm of the opinion, Ishi got revenge on Minalan when he invoked her. Maybe if Minalan realizes invoking gods who he made permanent, might not be a good thing, especially one like Ishi, whom Herus and Briga says is the worst god to make permanent, people will stop invoking her.

      Min's smart but like Herus said, "boy, your dim" and Min does show just how dim he can be....Next god to appear? Trigg ... whom makes a deal with Min. Hopefully, Min isn't dim enough to keep that damn stone laying around anymore. Of all the stones he has, that one, making gods permanent, is the one thing could make the whole of Callidore go down the toilet. Imagine making the Celestial Mother Permanent? or any of those in Ghost Rock? or as the story says, the evil sentient entities imbued into necromantic raised dead, forever permanent.

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    6. Uh, ya he already made terry Celestial Mother permanent when he transformed her into the Snowflake and I think that once she is up and running she will be a great help to Min. Also on a side note any one else think motherboard?

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    7. @Andrew... I agree with your #2 point above.. in more ways than one. Even if Ayla was dead, having been in love with his wife, I don't think Min is the type who would settle for a 'noble' marriage. Actually, I think THAT would cause peasant revolt in Sevendor considering the way the people felt about Ayla.

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  13. That was a total blast, I love love loved the Magelord-esq first third of the book with the in-depth world building, celebrating achievements of Min & the Mages, (not forgetting Tal Alon) & everyone who turned up to the Magic Fayre. Olmeg et al deserved their knighthoods!

    Really like the new apprentice, although I'm wondering if he could be one of Mins unplanned bastards (just like Charles suggested in an earlier comment).

    Glad to catch up with Baron Arathanail, I hope Min manages to maintain his friendship there, he's one of my favourite characters.

    Really loved the tour of the domains, & hope that in a short, or next book, we'll get to see Min, or Sire Cei complete it.
    Also such a shame that Min didn't get to meet the 3 Gods that Herus recommended maybe the milk maid one can provide some healing Milk for Alya, or the herbalist will provide some remedies?

    Frustrated that we didn't find out the results of the bowls Briga fired in the Everfire with Min.

    I totally respect your decision to go really dark, especially at the end. It takes guts to do what you did to such a well loved character, I can't imagine how the citizens of Sevendor will fare without her diplomacy & leadership
    Penny was perfect for her new role, & I'm heartedly interested in reading about her exploits over the next few novels.

    I'm a bit disappointed that we have seen more of the Alka Alon, have you a short story planned to tell their tale?

    Overall, well done, another triumph, I've written a five star review for you on Amazon.co.uk

    P.s. I have some issues with my sight. Would it be possible to blog / facebook the maps? I's easier to covert & explore them in a large format, compared to my kindle screen!

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    1. I will be posting all of the art in Enchanter both here and on FB as soon as I've completed the final draft.

      The Alka Alon will be back. And we'll meet the Tera Alon. With (literally) a vengeance. We'll also see the interspecies mating/marriage play out. But right now the groom is still preparing his bower for his love, whose daddy is throwing his weight around on the Alka Alon council and doing all sorts of unsteady things.

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    2. Awesome! I am literally praying that break for re-editing the books would not be a long one and this would only start after this arc of the story is complete - please, please let it be this way :D.


      Regarding Ala Alon, one thing that has been bothering me is that the Alka Alon lord that reshapes and purifies Min's first Irionite stone, tells Min that he should seek out his duagther at the of SpellMonger but he seems to be ignoring that advice even after hearing about her in High Mage. I understand this is deliberate but Min ignoring instead of thinking of following up on that or participating the search for her is frustrating.

      Also Min has cultivated a bunch of Magi like Iyugi who we dont seem to hear about. Enchanter should make him hopefully realize the assets he has and bring them back into play now that he realizes that there is a lot going on that he cant keep an eye on everything at once i.e. he needs his cracker-jack spy system in place :D.

      I have a whole bunch of questions but before I post them or email them to you Terry, I am going to go back and re-read all books and consolidate them and then send them out. It would be great if we had a forum or some place to discuss these in a more organized manner. I know that some folks have been talking about it and the tv tropes thing is cool but I dont think it is ideal for this kind of discussion. Even here following comments is basically hunting based on the date/timestamp after a certain number of comments.

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    3. 1. I hope that re-editing the books not exclude writing many many short stories...

      2. On topic Aronin daughter and Spellmonger Honeymoon event:

      - This is very bothering in light elapsed time. How many years one may wandering around? We have only rumors that she travel with mage (brown mage?) and dragon. Alka Alon have planned send expedition for her - maybe some info?

      - In my opinion this is about time for read message from the past.

      3. On topic Iyugi. I miss him too. I think that this character create opportunity for very interesting story arc, similar to some motif from Feist series "Daughter of Empire". ;) I have idea that Min will send him in searches for his unknown children.

      4. Second on hope for forum. But this is dream of cut down head...

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    4. @adept : what do you think of https://www.proboards.com/free-forum-features?

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    5. Or http://createforumhosting.com

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  14. Fabulous! Pure torture! I disagree with some of theabove comments. Min needs Alya and sjshe needs to recover. I say this because I believe Alya is a sport. Her talent manifests as winning the support and admiration of the people around her. I have.little.support this thought other than how people.

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  15. A couple of notes.

    1. Ruderal was introduced to Ghost Rock when they were looking for intelligences for the magic rodes. But then you do it again in more detail later. Seems like Ruderal already knows about Ghost Rock, already used it.

    2. Lots of misused names. Particularly when you were dealing with the Rolone. You used Vorone instead of Rolone several times.

    3. I am a bit disappointed about Alya. I keep waiting to find what powers she has. She threw up on the snow stone creation night. Then in this books there is this strange scene where magi around Min convey that she has some kind of influence/power that they fear. Then she invokes three goddesses including Briga's vengeance aspect... and all we get out of this build up is a woman with broken wits.

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  16. Well, you weren't kidding when you said it would be Magelord 2. Not that that is a bad thing. So many stories sacrifice detail and sometimes common sense in favor of blood and war.
    It is rare to come across books like these and I treasure you for them. Im also pleased we live in an age where you can deliver them straight to us. A trad published series would be unlikely to have whole books just exploring the world and building things up. This way you satisfy a whole subset of readers with something fundamentally different, and we get a cool world to live in for a while.

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  17. I loved it. I only wonder about the Snowflake. Min made it with Briga. To imbue it with The Celestial Mother seems veering off from whence it was created & by whom. While I get what Herus said about the Seafolk and drawing the wrong attention, I just don't see how the Snowflake can work. It was created with Devine inspiration, With a sentient intelligence in it, it seemed to become an elemental, a construct.

    Now with Blue Stone , there's even more enemies, shadows, like Demons. Can't see how the Snowflake can work as a device for good.

    Also, loved the story twist with , Ayla... man, what a cliffhanger..

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  18. All right so I got my spleen vented and could off. First I'll to say I love this book and the entire series. I got it Friday and came down with a bad cold Saturday so I have been stuck in my house all weekend. I just want to thank you for this book which distracted me from my misery to the point I forgot I was sick. Now on to the opinions can't ding you for the grammar and other little hiccups as this is a beta release. I find of have to agree on mixing up the point of view during the stories mostly because I would like to hear things from the perspective of Sir Cay the dragon slayer. Many you could do a short from his perspective I get the feeling he has a very dry sense of humor and is a much deeper thinker than most probably give him credit fore, ( suggested title "Dragonhammer").
    Any way I really like that this has left us with a good cliff hanger and I have to agree that Min better be considerably harsher until he gets Alay back, and he will get her back if he has to topple the pillars of heaven and shatter the gates of bell to do so.
    Also I can see how he would need a capitalist like this to get him up and on the war path. Min has a kind heart and would rather live and let live if at all posible. However he is also the kind of man who is most profoundly enraged at an attack on his loved ones. Bell may have no furry like a woman scorned but Min is going to give her a good run for her momey. Although when Alya gets her marbles back where they need to be she is going to have some softening to do to rest or Min to the spellmonger we love and not an arctic force of destructive rage.

    Any way sorry to ramble on like that I love those books and am eagerly awaiting the next one.

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  19. I posted.before but accidently posted before my rant was complete. That's okay because Terry knows what he wants to do with the characters and what will become of them. I have.my preferences but so what. I love the series and think about different senerios and have fun doing so as i go about my day. My thoughts and ideas change as often as not. I really like Alya has she has risen to challenges she has no control of so therefore I'd like for her to recover but it is Terry's creation. He hasn't failed to move the story along although he just keeps adding more obstacles and the story line keeps.getting more complicated. Thanks Terry! Keep writing!

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  20. I could go on about how great this book was (which it was) but I rather point out one detail I found extremely frustrating.

    Defence. Personal defence, family defence. Just general protection.

    Min knows how important he is and how important his family is to him. protecting oneself and those closer to them should be his first priority. The longer he lives the longer he can improve peoples lives.

    He is attacked, his family is attacked and Min never looks to improve his defence mechanisms.

    Maybe it’s just me but I with the power Min has personal/family protection should have been first priority.

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    1. i think its more that he can't do much more than he already has. magic in this series isn't like some where you get to cast magic shield, and then get what amounts to god mode while you have the mana. you have to have very specific defenses in place.

      to block a fire ball, a mage can put up an energy shield... for a few seconds. or he can quickly see the spell before it is cast, then pull up a counter spell. problem is that the spell has to blocked in a customized way. For example, a mage could turn his magic into energy, then use that energy to make a concentrated fireball. or he can pull heat from around him to create the fire. or another million different ways, all with the same result.

      so the reason Min hasnt been shown into putting a lot of defenses on his house is that it is very difficult to guess every single way someone could attack. either min has to put a massive amount of mana just into guarding from the attacks, which would be difficult to hold up, or he has to spend HUGE amounts of time planning for anything to go wrong.

      For proof, look at how min has outfought the goblins. He never uses the same spells more than once or twice, and its always in a way that the goblins cant predict. if the dead god cant block everything min can throw at his armies with almost infinite mana, then it is hard to expect min to be able to do the same with far less mana.

      TL;DR - Min is not omnipotent, and a skilled mage can get around any defences given enough time.

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    2. @Greg. I wouldn't be surprised if that changes now. Given the conversation about how a Paraclete could be used in (I think it was a mageblade) to run defensive spells while the wielder ran the active ones, it should be possible to set up an enchantment with one to look for certain things; say check food for poison, possibly look for blue magic in its vicinity.

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    3. Hehehe, two words "Living Castle" tie the Snowflake into whatever boat load of enchantments Min will have built into his castle , ad sensory abilities and constructs that can be controlled remotely. And hay presto the ultimate in magical home security a house or rather giant mountain fortress that protects itself and its occupants.
      As militarily security I understand that Min can not predict and stop all attacks that come his way that is what sucks about defense you have to win every time the bad guy only has to win once. It is why we are trained to act and not react. Still we also take lessons learned from past failure and make ourselves stronger.

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  21. Wow. I go into the hospital for a few days, and the book blows up!

    Thanks, guys. Despite your concerns and issues, this was the reaction I was looking for in the book.

    A couple of points:

    1. Shadowmage will deal with the Tyndal/Rondal/Lorcus/Ruderal storyline, concurrent with Enchanter but also extending it. Min will show up in the last quarter of the book and move the Min/Alya storyline along. Similarly in Court Wizard, Pentandra will be the MC and the Penny/Arborn/Ishi/Anguin storyline will be continued, with Min showing up periodically and pushing forward his storyline. Yes, this is partially to keep y'all in suspense, and prepare for Book 10, which will resolve some of these storylines.

    2. Alya is where she is for a very specific reason - and Ishi's intervention was less retribution than an earnest (if misplaced) desire to "help". It did help, but not as she intended it to. Divine magic doesn't work with the same causality as thaumaturgic magic, unfortunately, as it gets filtered through thousands of accumulated subconscious points before it's expressed. Hence, Briga isn't able to help Min much with the Snowflake, because while she facilitated its creation it was Min's mind and subconscious that was the activating mechanism. This has frequently been an issue with powerful Divine magic; it does the job, but rarely in the way one thought it would. That's why there is such a hesitancy about invoking the gods to assist humanity - as Min is finding out. Guess he shouldn't have slept through theurgy class, huh?

    3. The kids (most of them) will have a role to play in Book 10. Min's new over-sized family is going to get troublesome, particularly as they get older and start to hit maturity. We have a little time before then, yet, but it will be quite interesting.

    4. The issue of the Greenflower estates will become more troublesome, too, as Min's legal right to confiscate them on behalf of the Arcane Orders is challenged. The sites Dunselen used for his experiments are kind of arcane "biohazard zones", and only the Arcane Orders can deal with them. But there are other claimants who are more concerned with the profitable estates and will try to press their claim.

    I'm profoundly pleased at the reception and the reviews of this book, as I was hesitant in taking the story into this dark place. But when folks start complaining that a rich, powerful wizard doesn't have any challenges left, I had to take issue. Power attracts its own problems, and some issues are going to hurt no matter what your social status is.

    While I also understand a lot of people are into Min's storyline, and I hate to disappoint you by doing my next three books with him as a character, not the MC, I also think that these excursions into other characters are necessary. You cannot really have "epic" fantasy without an epic storyline, and those rarely involve just one protagonist. What Pentandra, Alya, Tyndal and Rondal (and the rest) do is as important in its way as what Min does. I hope y'all can hang on long enough to see the resolution of the second cycle.

    Then we get back to the blood and gore.

    Thanks again for all of your interest, and here's to another dozen or so novels in the future. We're a long way from done, here, and thanks to the direct-to-consumer nature of Kindle I don't have to wait 6 months for a publisher to decide to release my books. Just consider how long it would have taken to read all of these if you had to wait! I appreciate the forbearance on the errors, and I promise I will do what I can to fix the bugs by the July 1 release date. And yes, that's when it will be released for Kindle Select as well. Also going to release Hawkmaiden on Kindle Select at that time.

    Terry

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    1. 1. I know that there was a comment about putting multiple POV inside a book but I like the way you are doing the different POV in different books.I like getting to know them.
      2. Alya is a good mother character to her people and family, a heavenly example ;). I hope you agree. Please don't go all GRRMartin. We have everyday RL for sad stories but this reader will put up with a couple of downer books so you can advance the conflict.
      3. Please, no Mordreds that's been done to death for 1000 yrs. Troubled? How could they not be? Taking a path his/her dad doesn't want/idealize for him, that's something most dad's have to deal with. Hateful? Minalin has a good family and his parents are there to help as are his in-laws. Doesn't Min have enough to contend with?

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  22. Great book Terry!
    1) Foot notes are a must, because it gets a bit confusing at times with all the new terms (I think someone else said that) or possibly Min explaining it to the reader? It wouldn't be the first time you've used Min to catch everyone up on specialist knowledge.

    2) Are the balls the Alka use to share magic just really good thaumatalogical (or however you spell that) glass?

    3) Could a brown Mage control an insect colony? I'm sure there are some military applications for a giant swarm of bees, or a swarm of giant bees, or a particularly motivated ant colony

    4) Would the Snowflake Celestial Mother be capable of something like an anti umbra? I thought it was going to happen, because you keep mentioning the over abundance of Sympathy Stones, and in Warmage (I think it might have been mentioned in Spellmonger as well) the goblins were using the "goblin stones to amplify their magic, so I figured a similar thing could be done with a whole load of Sympathy Stones and a whole lot of defensive magic

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    1. ''3) Could a brown Mage control an insect colony? I'm sure there are some military applications for a giant swarm of bees, or a swarm of giant bees, or a particularly motivated ant colony
      4) Would the Snowflake Celestial Mother be capable of something like an anti umbra? I thought it was going to happen, because you keep mentioning the over abundance of Sympathy Stones, and in Warmage (I think it might have been mentioned in Spellmonger as well) the goblins were using the "goblin stones to amplify their magic, so I figured a similar thing could be done with a whole load of Sympathy Stones and a whole lot of defensive magic''

      that is smart I like

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  23. Anyone else think Ruderal is Min's kid?

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    1. What an interesting theory. It would depend on exactly how old he is (11, at the time of Enchanter) and what Min was doing 12 years ago.

      Min is 30, at this point. At 18 he was just getting graduated/drafted . . . in Castal. So depending on the plotline of Ruderal's mom, who lives in Southern Alshar, on the other side of the Farisan Peninsula, there is at least a temporal possibility. On the other hand, Ruderal has said that his mom said his real father was a Seamage. So we'll see . . .

      Don't you hate it when an author does that to you?

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    2. EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do the good one always have that sadistic streek in them?

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    3. Hmm. Two kids from Alya, another two from Isily and three from unknown women... Seven Princes(-ess ) of Sevendor? ;) I have nasty suspicion that Gods were involved in Min live many year before time of Spellmonger, maybe even in his birth.

      P.s. Enchanter is like good wine - much better on second drink...

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    4. P.s.2. Story that father is seamage is as saying that father is seamen... ;)

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    5. Well Min did comment on how he just happened to be in Boval where the Gurvani just happened to make their first invasion attempt & Herus is the God of travellers who just happens to show up in Journeymage where Min just happens to get sick & create the Snowflake with Brigga's help.

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    6. "Magic is the Science of Coincidence." -- John Constantine

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    7. @Adept, I think that count is wrong - unless I've mis-read it. Min was told he had three children he's never met. I would think Isily would only count as 1 since she JUST got pregnant leaving two children off-camera that we don't know about, no?

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    8. “She surprised me. Tricked me. Trapped me. She drugged my wine and waited until I was vulnerable, and then she . . . used me. Twice. She got what she wanted – she’s pregnant again – and now I have another illegitimate child out there. According to Ishi, there are three more of my bastards out there in the world, somewhere, too.”

      Mancour, Terry (2015-06-17). Enchanter: Book Seven Of The Spellmonger Series (Kindle Locations 4134-4137). . Kindle Edition.

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    9. @Adept. Unfortunately, there's a conflict with the original conversation with Ishi. - around location 2279. Either that or Min is confused about the conversation. "And as far as the child goes, it's hardly the first bastard you've sired unwillingly, if not unknowingly. You've three children in he world you have never met.

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    10. @George. I think Adept is right. I think Min have three other bastards outside Ismina and Istlan. Don't forget that Ishi flashing three of the Min's past loves (while surely he have many past loves) that I believe would correspondent with his three bastards. While Ishi capricious and like to misdirect/fool mortal, in this case I think she just honest because five bastards is much more interesting than three bastards for Ishi's love of 'good scrap'
      Ps: my pet theory is that Pen's apprentice is Min's bastard with the brunette while Ruderal is Min's bastard with the redhead, or vice versa, the timing is tricky :p

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  24. That's what I was thinking too

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  25. Great book on second read, Please don't forget Trask cliffhanger! Expected at least an advance party for Alan Alta colony by Aerates or his son in law.

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  26. I understand why you didn't kill Isily and crazy up Alya but I agree that Min should have started learning blue magic and is past time that he learns fast reading blue spell... I loved the book

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  27. I just finished my re-read and something struck me that I'm a little confused about. After Min's stone is damaged in Rolone, someone else has to communicate to Dara for him even though he has Ironite on Blizard. That part made sense because as I understood it, that communication spell that Penny developed worked because all the stones came from the same source. However, if that's the case, how is Min communicating with the Mages who have Ironite from the Alka (like the Horkran 7, Hessian 7 and the Spellmongers 7). If the spell was developed to work with ANY ironite, then Min should have been able to the piece in Blizzard, no?

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    1. Good catch. Penny actually overcame that issue in High Mage, and essentially re-wrote the spell for everyone as a result. I didn't dwell on it, as it was a pretty natural progression of the magi's mastery of their new powers, but I did mention it briefly somewhere. And don't forget that Min was probably not thinking real clearly after the Battle of Rolone Castle. Having your most powerful personal magic item hit the pavement like an anvil is going to rattle even the best of magi. In Court Wizard we'll see how she develops the spell even more.

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    2. Terry,

      Still on the theme of the damaged whichstone there (and what happened to Dunsellen at the end)... Having demonstrated how vulnerable the witchstones make the high mages using them, and given how in Journey Mage Min learned how to keep a Hoxter pocket open for an extended period of time, Min should probably make a Decoy of his flashy floating sphere and stick the real one in a Hoxter pocket somewhere; so it can't be dropped or otherwise smashed. (if not that, have a backup piece there - could be usefull if someone actually thinks he's disarmed.)

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    3. Hi Terry

      I went back and reread High Mage - There's no mention of Pentandra rewriting the spell.

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  28. Quick question. If a magic annulment spell exists in this world, why doesn't every mundane lord, or at least the Dukes, have this under their belt when dealing with magelords? If the censorate could use it for Min's wedding, what's stopping Min's mundane enemies from copying Mask and rendering all of his clever enchantments useless?

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  29. I believe that lady mask said that the dark Alka taught some tricks to her and I think this was one of those and I believe that annulment spell is something that imperial magic theorized but not developed

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    1. But during Min and Alya's wedding the censorate used a null-magic staff to disrupt Alya and hold her hostage. It took Cei and the other mundane knights to save the day. So if the censorate can enchant an anti-magic staff and if Mask can cast a similar spell, anti-magic spells could theoretically become widespread (especially if the remnant censorate decide to take up their own Henry Fordesque enchantment factories).

      What's stopping a bitter censorate mage from distributing similar anti-magic staves to all of Min's neighbors? And if the anti-magic spell can be as widespread as the book, what's stopping the gurvani from casting something similar on the Pele towers that are held together by just magic?

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    2. Are the Pele towers actually held together by magic, or was magic used to fuse the stone together? An anti-magic field wouldn't un-fuse the latter.

      I would also think that the Area of Affect of an Anti-Magic field would be limited. Remember, Lady Mask had ironite, so she could probably make a bigger field than the Censors did in Talry. Since Min always has a few high mages around, providing anti-magic staves to his enemies would be of dubious value. battle fields are generally large areas. There's no guarantee every mage would be in one.

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    3. That makes sense regarding the Pele tower. Unfusing the stones would require more magic (or a really big boulder).

      For the Censors however, remember, they are being armed with ironite as well. It occurs to me that having an anti-magic field staff carried by some infantry or calvary which surrounds the unit might be an effective way to counter a warmage and his or her sorceries.

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    4. so they have to create a ward against a anti-magic field since the orders have more magi and more money and more experts I think they can

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    5. The censorate mages used an annulment enchantment during Min's wedding. I think that art is lost and will be rediscovered soon - this is probably a precursor for that :.

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    7. If I remember rightly the Annulment charm was one of the censorate's secrets. It was part of the list of proscribed magic that was only for their use. I would guess that crafting it would be a highly specialised skill.

      Also because its never been explained exactly how it works we don't know that having a witchstone would make any difference to the power of the effect - although it might make crafting it easier. Snowstone might effect the efficacy of the spell if its caused or partly caused by increase etheric density in an area for a limited period of time.

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    8. I wonder what the difference between charm and enchantment is.

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    9. That's explained - sort of. Enchantment is the act of giving supernatural qualities to an object.

      A Charm is a small piece of magic that when combined with others become spells

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    10. So how is charm different from a spell? I am re-reading all books and maybe I will figure it out.

      I am confused as to how a glyph is different from a rune and how they are different from an apis etc. I have some research to do.

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  30. Another nit (sorry, I got started and now I can't stop). If the redwood cones that Min gave to Olmeg were stored in the hoxter, shouldn't they be dead?

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    1. yes if they where stored in the hoxter

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    2. The line between living and dead could be different for something with a plant based respiratory system. We know it's been used to move cooked food for example. But look at a root vegetable - say potatoes & carrots. They're still alive after harvest - otherwise they couldn't sprout into another plant. But if you're putting them through a hoxter, what state would they be in on the other side. A carrot or Potato that couldn't sprout you 'probably' don't want to eat. I'm trying to think back to what plant based products min bought and shifted through the rods... I know wheat, but i'm assuming there MUST have been vegetables.

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    3. Sure, but the children's clothing that were acquired during the Journey were sterilized by the hoxter by killing the disease carrying viruses and bacteria. These simple and robust organisms routinely survive the vacuum and radiation of space. Also, any plants that Min picked up during the Journey was meant to be eaten, not re-grown. Once again, this is a small nit and could easily be fixed by saying that Min hid the cones in his cloak or something.

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    4. Remember, the hoxters strip off enneagrams, which are the magical manifestation of self-awareness, not life. A microorganism may have a infantesimal but still present self-awareness that a more complex multi-celled organism in a pre-sophic stage would have. A tomato would not have self-awareness - a tomato plant would. A tomato is an organelle, not an entity. Similarly non-living but animate creations like constructs (including the Thoughtful Knife) would be affected by the hoxter effect, when they were active and aware. Non-active, non-aware constructs could be transported and re-activated. Elementals would likewise be deactivated.

      So would gods, if they could not resist the hoxter effect.

      But a pinecone or seed? The microorganisms on it have more awareness, and therefore more vulnerability, than the unrealized potential for awareness in a floral seed, a myconic spore, or analogs. While living, it is potential awareness, not real awareness. It might seem like hair splitting, but that's the operating standard I'm working with. Expect the difference to become of significance in the future plot.

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    5. Terry thats evil... just evil... you can´t just say gods would die in the hoxters and go on like you haven´t said anything of importance... just evil... but that would not be a idea of ending to the big ball of green evil or the Alka Voldemort... (sorry couldn't pass the chance of doing the simile)

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    6. What? Y'all didn't consider that? Dang. And now the Enshadowed have the least of the three pocketstones. That might prove problematic, down the road. But I did say "a god unable to resist the hoxter".

      And as far as anulling enchantments go, they aren't unknown pre-Min, but they are difficult to build. Most unaugmented enchanters of the modern age wouldn't invest in such an elaborate enchantment without a patron who commissioned it. The Censorate has a small arsenal of such things, largely confiscated from families of Imperial magi who resisted the invaders, but they don't build them, just use them.

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    7. Terry you really think that I dont see that its obvious that cristal mopolar has to have some pocket stones in it and maybe thanks to the mother thing a god would be possible plausible victim since you make it a god killing thing, but what scary me the most is the fact that "Alka Voldemort" is like Alka Lord level power or more and if I understand correctly a genius magi and I was shivering with which he is capable of doing with it

      About ''anulling enchantments'' the answer is simple is "just" invent a ward against a anti-magic field as I said above

      ps thanks for answering me N°1 fan from Brazil

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    8. If the unique stone makes enneagramic patterns permanent ,would the pocket stone's strip a permanent enneagram pattern

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    9. That was the same question I had. So Ishi couldnt resist it and Min puts her in there, maybe she will lose the permanent enchantment. But this also makes me curious as to which gods can resist it and which cant.

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    10. I don't think it's possible to simply stripping Shereul's enneagrams because of the Umbra effect (he's literally godlike in the Umbra) and his molopor. I believe the solution is akin to long-range super-spell akin to ICBM with agent of delivery and/or some target agent to act as homing guidance.
      But, I think it's the most probable solution to Korbal problem. I think it's the climax of the Shadow War with Korbal unceremoniously thrown to special hoxter device. Thus also act as a warning to Ishi.

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    11. Its definitely a possibility and I had the same thought with respect to Korbal being part of the climax of the shawdow war (end of the current arc) and I expect him to be finally vanquished, which should establish Min as a dominant power with Alka Alon. I think he might also be feared by them after that :).

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    12. Penny's new badge of office, her bacculus, has its own stored ennagram and had a pocket in her ring to store it. Why was it's ennegram not stripped yet the thoughtful knife's would be?

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  31. question if people start building altars to Min he would become semidivine\demigod or would he become a god after death? I ask couse you talk about demigods in this book.

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  32. I wouldn't think building altars has anything specifically to do with it. If enough people starting praying for / to Min that could be enough. I'm thinking back to what Herus - at least I think it was Herus - said in Journeymage. He implied he was just walking along and Godhood was thrust upon him. A more interesting question would be what would he be a god of?

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    1. maybe minor god of war or god of warmagic or military strategy and maybe god of hope or survival, god of family/protector of children (couse the kids march), god of magic husbandry (sevendor), the high god of the magi and magic, god of enchantment, god of richness, god of agriculture or agricultural abundance... no other ideas

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    2. sorry when I said "building altars" I was talking about the process of "deityfication" and Briga said in High Lord that the tradicion is important to the well maintenedy divine intercession.
      I think that the tradition is important to a well maintained mortal/divine relationship you know making offerings, giving donations, building altars and temples, doing pilgrimages. I think that human natural need of a higher power create gods and prayers are what make gods individuals and tradicion is their "food" or what make them maintain their nature when in no corporeal state (that's why manifesting cost so much power), but I can be wrong

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    3. Kevin Hearne has something similar in his Iron Druid series. Because people believe , that "power of Belief" makes God's real.

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    4. Got a good point in the Kate Danials series, her aunt talks about powerful humans becoming God's. Said something about it altering thoughts. Hugh Min as the template for a God of magic and miracle that could be interesting. Or many something akin to Obi-One after he joined with the force in 5+6.

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  34. My only big complaint about the book is the same as with he last one when you are talking about the Mage Staff that was made in Journeymage and you have called it both Trailblazer and Pathfinder so my question is which is it? or is Min going Schizo

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    1. Lol! I think that is just Terry and not Min. He answered this somewhere - I cant find the comment :(. Hopefully the final edition will have this fixed. I am holding off my re-read until then.

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    2. No, I believe it's just typo, Pathfinder is the name of the first troop that led by Tyndal and act as scout in the Great March. Min's staff is called Trailblazer.

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  35. I have a few questions and unfortunately I may not get any answers until book 10 as the other books are not Min's (or at least he is not the MC).

    1a. Does Min a replacement witchsphere? I dont think he made use of all those Alka Alon goodness in it except in the Honeymoon novella. I am wondering if the replacement is gonna be larger, more potent in some form including more Alka Alon goodness. I am assuming he is going to get a replacement since he is told it is broken and cant be completely fixed.

    1b. I am assuming his understanding of irionite increases but does it increase to the point of manipulating it like Alka Alon, maybe not that extent but reshaping it and adding spells to it etc. Or will he only use Celestial Mother from now on. Also does he figure out what happened to Horka's stone?

    2. Celestial Mother (CM) - so many questions here. But the one that is stayed with me the longest is once an ennegram is retrieved from the ghost stone and put into a physical body, how is it protected from being taken over by other mages? I am probably gonna go re-read all books to figure this out but wanted to throw it out in case others know it already.

    3. So when CM is activated, will she have independence unlike other ennegrams brought to life? Usually they are given a task of protecting an egg or nest or something, which is only limited intelligence and independence. Also she is magical - so how would that affect the enchantment? Maybe she will protect Sevendor even in Min's absence if she is capable of independent action :)

    4. Since the CM ennegram passed through Min and he has been consuming food grown in snowstone soil, living around snowstone, breathing it etc along with handling witchsphere and other stones he has been controlling/handing out for so long, I am guessing he is ripe for modification to his DNA, just like other mentioned - I cant wait to see if this is true and what changes take place.

    5. Alya's talent - either as a sport or mage - I cant wait to see what happens. I am expecting that her recovery would be involved in her transformation and given that this happened in a place where real,world and otherworld (or whatever the right term is) overlapped, it could only be a potent transformation. Also her living around snowstone and effects of that (same as Min) would have an impact I guess. Her character has been growing a lot and I hope we get to see some shorts from her POV or her own book, for the future if she has some of transformation.

    6. There is a High Mage missing in action since after the first book. Min thinks of him (Rollo or some such name) in Magelord but no one seems to looking out for him. I hope he is not captured by the Dead God and is hanging out with Aronin's daughter and the dragon :).

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    1. Here's another question, is Minilan"s enneagramic pattern in the Grain of Pors? he's Bern in contact with it, so the assumption is he should be in there, ..as well as anyone who has made contact with it.

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    2. Oh, I am sure he is in there along with everyone else who handled it :). It would be interesting if that is every used by Min to create a doppelganger :).

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  36. Terry, btw, can you please push all updates you have on your books? I dont think any of the updates you have pushed made it to us. Hawkmainden is still showing the older cover for me even after trying to re-download it multiple times :(.

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    1. Same for me or at least last time I checked

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    2. You may have to reach out to Amazon support and ask then to push it to you. I had to do that for several of the books.

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    3. Oh, I see. I thought that was something the Authors have to do. Let me do that and see if I can get the update. Thanks!

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    4. Authors do have to push, but Automatic updates don't always work. :(

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    5. https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A1RGGPBKDR1BPZ was all I could find. Does anyone have a link where I can request for a book update?

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    6. open a support ticket on the regular Amazon website. You can ask them to push all the most recent copies of Terry's books. (you might want to wait until the updated Enchanter is out in a few days though)

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  37. At the end of high mage min was given a second domain in sashtalia what happened to that one?

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  38. Only one was in Sashtalia. The other was in Fleria I think.

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    1. Min's other problematic domain is Laripose in East Fleria and of course it's not continuous with Min's other land. Could someone direct me to Bulmont (the crest is a bull head with the background of a mountain?) and Kest? Because from my speculation, Bulmont and Kest are positioned in the west of West Fleria thus making it isolated from Sendaria's other land.

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    2. They are not labelled but Bulmont and Kest are the two domains that adjoin Bastidor

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    3. Ah, thank you, then it's true that now West Fleria is isolated from Sendaria's other domain. I wonder if that would influence future's story especially with potential war against East Fleria.

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    4. High mage Location 10759 " I was given another domain in sashtalia to add to my troubles".

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    5. I thought that was the Amel or the Atmel woods, no?

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    7. Oh, sorry pete, I missed that, and yeah there are two possibilities about that, either it's typo in the High Mage or .... the second domain is Peravanal. Because I wonder why Min bother to take Bulmont and Kest that's adding to his administrative headache especially in the eve of Shadow War, he said so that would give him a series of contiguous estates, but how that can be if Peravanal was Sashtalia domain that now became Sendaria domain after their war? In the map you could see that the road from Caolan's Pass is not going through Barat but through Peravanal first where it branched off to Barat and Avanal. I would think that Minalan would rather take Peravanal first before he built his Wall of Gold, otherwise how come he could move his troop to Amel Wood and Wall of Gold domains without observed or detained by Sashtalia forces in Peravanal? The logical conclusion is that at the end of High Mage, King Rard give Peravanal to Sevendor and maybe in Enchanter it got scrambled in the detail of author's work (his work after all near instantaneous in the term of writing schedule, I used to wait two to three years between books)

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    8. High mage Location 10759 " I was given another domain in sashtalia to add to my troubles".

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  39. A couple of humble notes to the author, Terry the Puppetmaster:
    1. There's some typo like Pathfinder/Trailblazer (cpt.6,16), Pirine/Perine (cpt.22), Rolone/Vorone (cpt.24,32,32), Duin/Huin (cpt.13,15,15), cummock/cummuck (cpt.29,29), Genthil/VVV (cpt.35,35), Avitalines/Avaltines (cpt.19*,28; *the mention of this cases are many thus make me uncertain if the god's name is Avital->Avitalines or Avaltin->Avaltines because the author already mentioned Avitalines, thus eliminating Avital->Avaltines), Sendaria domain of West Fleria instead of East Fleria in chapter 22, etc. In chapter 28 Brother Irthine say about Law of Duin and Huin, isn't this matter concerning the legality of Sire Lorcus's conquest of Rolone thus it concern with the Law of Duin (conquest) and Luin (legality)? But I believe the author will fixed them before final release.
    2. I wonder what kind of divine attribute that Uli (cpt.12), Aviril (cpt.13) and Morgon (cpt.24) have? Maybe Aviril is the derivative of Avital/Avaltin in Narasi lands? And Morgon is a name that usually used as dark god, although interestingly morgon is swedish for morning. For Uli, I think from Ruderal connection that he is Narasi god of sea (and also the mention of beard, for some reason many of historic and fantasy human’s sea god and monster favor beard attribute, including Cthulhu)
    3. Like anonemous said, in chapter 12 Ruderal already observed Grain of Pors, he even adept at determining the nature of the character of the pattern, picking out nuances and hidden dangers. With Ruderal’s help Minalan’s team learned how to navigate far better among the enneagrams, and came to a better understanding of how their position helped determine their nature and function. So when in chapter 29 Minalan explain the Grain of Pors to Ruderal like Ruderal never saw it in his life, it makes the plot very flawed, especially that in the course of chapter 12 to chapter 29 the plot is more appropriate for Ruderal’ ignorance with regards to Grain of Pors. Especially in chapter 27, when Onranion and Azhguri discussed the Snowflake problem with Minalan and they want to try picking the right enneagrams for the Grain of Pors. Because if Minalan already know to navigate far better among the enneagrams as implied in chapter 12 then he usually just done it himself or he could just called Ruderal to pick the enneagrams and then the author can re-write all of chapter 29 and beyond, a sordid affair that. I believe it’s just easier to re-write some paragraphs in chapter 12 to make Ruderal ignorant with regard to Grain of Pors (he is after all still too new, illiterate, and ignorant, most importantly he is still adapting to his new life, not a good condition to be suddenly thrust to advanced and intellectually intimidating Bouleuterion)

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    1. 4. Once again with regard to Ruderal, in the chapter 12 Dranus spent two days for initial examitation of Ruderal Talent and already found him potentially excellent. Then Minalan ask Dranus to take Ruderal for apprenticeship but Dranus declined (it’s implied about Count of Moros business). Minalan then said that if Ruderal proves successful after initial teaching, he might take Ruderal himself. But in chapter 17, Dranus once again discuss Ruderal assessments like he never discussed it with Minalan (at the very least Dranus should used the word comfirm, and also relating about his initial examination in chapter 12). Once again Minalan offering Ruderal to Dranus like they never discussed this matter in chapter 12, and in the end he reluctantly accept Ruderal as his apprentice after in the chapter 12 he assuredly told Dranus that he (Minalan) would take Ruderal if he prove successful after more assessment and teaching. This disparancy I think must be addressed by the author before final release.
      5. Will the author release more eye friendly maps in the blog, and maybe more neat maps from the previous books especially the grand map of five duchies? Will the author also release a rough chronology of humanity history in Callidore? I also want to ask what callendar system that currently used in Castalshar?
      Sorry for the long post and thank you to the author for Spellmonger series that managed to capture my imagination immensely. The only regret is that I am not live in Castalshar right now.

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  40. Am I just a huge Lord of the Rings fan or did any one else draw a connection between the Snowflake and the Arkenstone. Also as for using leftover human space craft or teck as weapons check Ann Micafries Dragon riders of Pern for repurposed teck, or Jim Butcher's Dresden Files for a kinetic weapon effect, big chunk of mettle+ angry wizard = somebody have a terminally bad day.

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  42. So, I'm re-reading Enchanter, (great job getting rid of the spelling errors in the final version btw) and 1 question really just comes up out of nowhere, even if it isn't exactly relevant.

    What. In The Hell. Is up with Lorcus' Fascination with worms? Why did he know what his heraldry would be within minutes of his ennobling. And even if a red apple with a bite out of the side is a fairly decent device, add in a worm and it just gets weird. Plus, in subsequent references to his device, the worm becomes more important than the apple! From a traditional fantasy perspective, mages associated with worms are necromancers, sooooo, kinda not digging that.

    As a side note, With all the digging Min and his Posse have been doing in the grain of Pors has HIS OWN ennegram become imprinted within it? Could he then make an enchantment using his own soul as a Paraclete? It would certainly give him someone trustworthy to confide in.

    Another aside: with all paracletian going around, when is someone going to start talking about the Staff of the Archmage. Wasn't that thing supposed to be a politician in its own right?

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    1. I think I have an answer to the worm question. You have to keep in mind that Lorcus is a little but nuts, ok more than a little. Any way, the worm is symbolic of a nasty surprise which is more or less his modes operandi. So you have to keep that in, the Apple is the bait the worm the trap that gets you.
      I have also been wondering about wether Mon has left an engram in the grain or if it will only pick up engrams of creatures that touched it before it fossilized like a mud blink preserving footprints.

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    2. I'm pretty sure it can still accept eneagrams. It I remember rightly the stone in the city of rainbows contains the patterns of powerful Alka Alon masters.

      As to whether Min's is in is yet I guess it depends on if the spell Min uses when using the stone impedes the imprinting process and if proximity is the only factor for imprinting to occur. Also we don't know if patterns can be erased from the stone or not.

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    3. Before them defining the eneagram as a woman I thought they were going accidentally use his own eneagram based on the initial description.

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  43. I didn't read every post so forgive me if I repeat a previous question. The celestial mother a.k.a. Min's future interface had a magical connection with thousands of species, is that going to translate to the usurping of penny's communication spell and the evolution of the magi as a whole?
    I get that Min is going to be changed by his connection to her but is the Allied magi going to be changed to make them more efficient also?

    I understand that ironite is a natural amplifier not a power source. Wouldn't mages without ironite be fanatical about creating an enchantment to achieve the same results? Yes I understand Min and company are working on creating a power source to rival the leviathans but the common mage would be all about using an enchantment to level the field.

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  44. I'm new to the series, I mostly listened to the Audiobooks

    and I'm saying this I'm sad that after Isily's build up she just gets her enneagram shattered.

    But the Spell Monger series is opne of the best books I have ever encountered so Far. Thanks Terry

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  45. Why? I was horrified by the fact that Minalan's wife because a vegetable. I loved that relationship, and after they finally fixed the rift between them she is taken away. Picturing her sitting in a chair with drool hanging out of her mouth really damages my image of her strength and womanly power. If I had seen this on TV I would have just assumed the actress wanted too much money and they wanted to get rid of her. It felt sudden and not really ideal, but I overall love the series up to this book.

    5 stars, but definitely not as enjoyable at the end as any of the other books.

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