Discussion post: Expectations on Crucible of Gold
As you may have heard, Naomi Novik has now finished the draft for Crucible of Gold and it is due some time in spring 2012. That's a year from now. So to entertain ourselves while we wait (and to try and blow some life into this comm) I thought we might have a little discussion on our expectations for book 7. What do you hope will happen? What/
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Comments 13
I want to see Laurence have some downtime. The poor man got put through the wringer in Tongues of Serpents. D: As much fun as it is to read about him being flustered, harried, etc., that last time was just hard.
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You're right, Laurence really deserves a break. Hopefully he will have had some relaxing quality time with Temeraire in Australia between the books so he's fit and ready for new adventures in the beginning of CoG:)
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Well, what I specifically asked her was whether she was planning on dealing with queerness and including queer characters where historically they might not have been, the way she has done with characters of colour, and her short answer was yes, she planned to. So it's not a promise that one of the characters is gay so much as a promise that at some point, there will presumably be at least one demonstrably, non-subtextually queer character. WHICH IS A HAIRSPLITTING DIFFERENCE, I know, but I figure we might as well be exact. ♥
As far as what I want from CoG, I guess I know what I'll spend my lunch hour today writing up. :D
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I'm looking forwards to a long list of interesting suggestions:P
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1. A queer female character. I mean, yes, in my ideal world, the books would end with Tharkay and Laurence confessing their love to each other and living in an inexplicable happily ever after world where a niece or nephew of Laurence's then became Temeraire's closest confidant after Laurence's death. Or an everyone-is-gay scenario, but that's meant for my silly modern AUs and little else, no doubt. But in a world where I foresee having one, maybe two queer characters tops (because I'd rather keep my expectations as low as possible), I'd rather we met a lesbian or bisexual woman. Lately, in the historical pieces I've read/watched, if there's a queer character, said character is inevitably a gay man, which leaves me feeling vaguely bitter and left out. The military here is still predominantly male, and there are explicit, well-known laws regarding sodomy, and so I see why a male character is tempting for creators. But I'd be happier to meet a lesbian ( ... )
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4. A glance at the (North) American West. The Old West is a subject I'm really interested in general, but I'm especially intrigued by what it must look like in a world where the story isn't going to be cowboys-n-Indians and where the Chinese presence will be much better documented by contemporary scholars. What themes will people in Temeraire's world associated with the West? Will the area even have a narrative the way it does in our world without manifest destiny to prop it up? We're a bit early by our timeline here in the real world (the term "manifest destiny" dates to the 1840s, iirc, and the Oregon Trail is established around the 1830s?), but there'd certainly be really interesting, exciting things happening there right now. So curious, so curious.
I just hope the changes don't include making it more steampunk, because there's nothing I find more tiresome than steampunk, ohgod.
5. Moar Tharkay. EVERYONE NEEDS MOAR THARKAY.
6. A plot that engages me. Chase plots, I really like, and thus I enjoyed ToS a lot. Military ( ... )
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I was going to say cowboy-dragons, but that would probably be quite disastrous:P Actually, I would like for Laurence and Temeraire to go all around the world, because I want to hear about everything that's been changed.
And yes, MORE THARKAY TO THE PEOPLE!
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Except for pirate dragons. Obviously. Or cowboy dinosaurs, but those are sadly unlikely, I feel.
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I really enjoy the steadfast trek into alternate history (yeah, I know, "real" history didn't have dragons - but you know what I mean!) esp w/ the badass Tswana SAILING TO RIO, omg. Thus, I am v. much looking forward to seeing the Inca, since Pizarro was apparently drop-kicked from Machu Picchu into the Pacific.
Also, a thriving Incan Empire? ... means Bling. OODLES OF BLING for Temeraire to ogle - it's going to be adorable!
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Oh, yes, Inca bling! It's a good thing this is not a fantasy world with magic, or the dragons would have to face the terrible temptation of cursed treasure:P
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