Shayaan Mite
9 Jul 15 - 21:43
1-Many magicians dismiss their slaves without a pentacle and with a simple incantation like Mandrake with B (at the end of PG) and Ptolemy with B. Yet Khaba dismisses Faquarl and Mandrake dismisses B - in Amulet - with a pentacle. Why?
2-Spirits being summoned by magicians from far afield and able to fly (or swim) fast and well across the ocean makes me think that contact with the Americas was made much earlier than the 15th? century. What do you say?
Also, it's implied that the natives still control most of North America. Is it the same for South and Central America? Did the Incans and Maya beat back the Spanish?
3- B specifically mentions that slaves cannot directly harm their master by the terms of summoning. Why then does he threaten to kill Nat physically in Amulet after they escape from Jabor? Knowing his true name couldn't have allowed him to kill him or he would have done it when he first learned it.
4- How did Ammet kill Hiram so effortlessly? He was one of the strongest of the Seventeen and the king's vizier to boot; no pushover, even accounting that Ammet was a marid. He was powerful enough to challenge and criticise Khaba. I'd have expected him to have at least an afrit for protection.
Incidentally, was his green-eyed slave, Tybalt, an afrit?
5- Why has the average strength of magicians declined over the millenia? B keeps referring to the magical strength of ancient peoples like the Egyptians and Assyrians while looking on the current British crop with derision.
6- After the events of 'The Ring of Solomon', what steps did Solomon take to guard the Ring? Lots of people and spirits had seen that it was possible to steal the Ring so even more assassination attempts would have occurred.
7. In Golem's Eye, when B. is trying to escape the golem at the British Museum, he notices the nexus the magicians put up around the building and decides not to jump through it to escape, implying that it would have stopped/wounded him. Why was that, when in all other instances, nexuses acted as alarms?
8. Why did Devereaux force the entire government to attend theater, especially during the American war? He would have needed strong supporters to ensure he stayed in power. Seemed pretty stupid of him to potentially alienate allies, especially since he was said to be an astute politician. A lot of magicians couldn't have approved of his extravagances during the war or his war policies. In fact, I would guess that even if Makepeace hadn't taken over, Devereaux would have been soon overthrown in a coup led by other government magicians (possibly Whitwell or Mandrake).
And your books are fantastic! Right up there on my list with WoT, HP and Ice and Fire.
2-Spirits being summoned by magicians from far afield and able to fly (or swim) fast and well across the ocean makes me think that contact with the Americas was made much earlier than the 15th? century. What do you say?
Also, it's implied that the natives still control most of North America. Is it the same for South and Central America? Did the Incans and Maya beat back the Spanish?
3- B specifically mentions that slaves cannot directly harm their master by the terms of summoning. Why then does he threaten to kill Nat physically in Amulet after they escape from Jabor? Knowing his true name couldn't have allowed him to kill him or he would have done it when he first learned it.
4- How did Ammet kill Hiram so effortlessly? He was one of the strongest of the Seventeen and the king's vizier to boot; no pushover, even accounting that Ammet was a marid. He was powerful enough to challenge and criticise Khaba. I'd have expected him to have at least an afrit for protection.
Incidentally, was his green-eyed slave, Tybalt, an afrit?
5- Why has the average strength of magicians declined over the millenia? B keeps referring to the magical strength of ancient peoples like the Egyptians and Assyrians while looking on the current British crop with derision.
6- After the events of 'The Ring of Solomon', what steps did Solomon take to guard the Ring? Lots of people and spirits had seen that it was possible to steal the Ring so even more assassination attempts would have occurred.
7. In Golem's Eye, when B. is trying to escape the golem at the British Museum, he notices the nexus the magicians put up around the building and decides not to jump through it to escape, implying that it would have stopped/wounded him. Why was that, when in all other instances, nexuses acted as alarms?
8. Why did Devereaux force the entire government to attend theater, especially during the American war? He would have needed strong supporters to ensure he stayed in power. Seemed pretty stupid of him to potentially alienate allies, especially since he was said to be an astute politician. A lot of magicians couldn't have approved of his extravagances during the war or his war policies. In fact, I would guess that even if Makepeace hadn't taken over, Devereaux would have been soon overthrown in a coup led by other government magicians (possibly Whitwell or Mandrake).
And your books are fantastic! Right up there on my list with WoT, HP and Ice and Fire.