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Fifty thousand words on the new book, that’s what. The wordage rolled over this afternoon.
Arvid continues to be the “If it’s stuck, he’ll hook a chain on and drag the story out of the mudhole” character.
Mind you, this is now three books ahead of where you can actually read, so everything is a spoiler. You can know that Arvid stuck the end of a quarterstaff in someone’s gut, but you can’t (yet) know who, why, or where.
As my mother used to say in certain circumstances, “This hurts me more than it does you.”
Still. 50,000 words. Once books reach that length, they have enough mass to keep rolling on down the road.
Comment by Rune F. Akselsen — February 9, 2011 @ 4:06 am
I like the revelation of the fact that he survives until the fourth book. 🙂
Comment by elizabeth — February 9, 2011 @ 10:28 am
I know that only because this part of Book IV was shifted from Book III to shorten Book III. I have no idea how long he’ll survive, though–being a smart rogue–he may outlast more central characters. (And then be trapped into BEING a central character in some future story, bwah-hah-hah-hah…)
Comment by Linda — February 9, 2011 @ 11:06 am
I too am happy to hear he will still be around … congratulations on our word count!
Comment by Genko — February 9, 2011 @ 7:31 pm
Arvid definitely strikes me as being a survivor par excelence. And of course I can see him being a central character, much as he likes to stay in the shadows — only makes him even more interesting in some ways.
Comment by elizabeth — February 9, 2011 @ 10:55 pm
But you notice he doesn’t stay in the shadows. He pops out and does something and then fades away. He likes that moment of surprising people.
Comment by patrick — February 10, 2011 @ 4:13 pm
What I find interesting about Arvid is his personal integrity. Does not fit with the common stereotype for Thieves Guild members out for themselves. I wonder what environment allowed him to build such integrity while still holding firm and being satisfied with being an enforcer for the Thieves Guild.
Not that such an exploration is likely to fit into or advance the main story arc. 🙂
With such a rich tapestry of characters, there will always be untold back stories.
Comment by elizabeth — February 10, 2011 @ 4:36 pm
I conceive of this Thieves’ Guild not as a collection of the self-willed and selfish but as an organization that demands loyalty and application on the part of its members. Yes, its modalities are criminal…but a member of this guild–as the member of any other–is expected to put the organization at least second, and mostly first. There are rules to be followed, a hierarchy to be observed, and rewards for those who are loyal, hardworking and skilled as well as punishments for those who are disloyal, lazy, or ineffective.
A modern parallel might be the employees of a corporation engaged in activities some of us might think morally objectionable. These employees are working, we might think, for a bad operation–but the operation itself wants the same character traits in its employees as one doing work we admire.
Within such an organization, there will be leaders, bosses, mentors who bring out better character traits in their proteges than others do. Doing so can have unintended consequences. And yeah, some backstories will never be told…
Comment by arthur — February 11, 2011 @ 9:48 pm
This is Arthur. Arvid is having to accept that “There is more in heaven and earth, my dear Horatio, then is dreamed of in your philosophy.” Arvid has seen things that aren’t just magic, they’re something more. He saw Paks’s wound heal, and thought she was DEAD. It doesn’t get much more amazing than that.