I think I’m finally getting somewhere…
Dazrin: yep, in retrospective labeling this book as science fiction changed the way y approached it and should be considered a spoiler; sorry CRussel, it wasn’t your fault, you did your best, pal
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Even though early on the dragons are described as being basically metallic, then an electric protection around a wizard’s crate is described and then an electric lamp is blatantly shoved in my face when reaching port, had I been told this was a fantasy book, I would probably have gone right along, without questioning too much the principles underlying such contraptions.
pdurrant: you are right, it is mentioned during the ship’s clearing, and the way Will walks screams “I’m carrying nitroglycerin!”. I guess I didn’t pay much attention to all the clues and also it was never mentioned that he was carrying liquids or how he was carrying them. I was thinking that Will had discovered black powder by accident, which is certainly plausible with medieval technology; but nitroglycerin is completely out of reach of an accidental discovery with the same technology.
But then DiapDealer mentions that
Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I think it's a mistake to assume that Willam's "magic" was limited to something as primitive as black powder. I get the distinct impression that his seemingly inherent chemical knowledge (albeit, perhaps, limited to things explosive in nature) is not at all basic.
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Now, this puts things in another light entirely; if Will was born with that knowledge, he got black powder at his first try without blowing himself up (well... sans two fingers), then got the hang of it and obtained nitroglycerin at first try without further incident. That still leaves the problem of how he obtained the materials, but hey, I’m not complaining, I take it, I got it
This last one ups the ante about the technology level that the wizards have, but at the same time explains nicely the stunt they pulled with the tortured soldier: he couldn’t give the information even though he tried, because his speech was utter nonsense. This raises the question of why a Wizard would bother encrypting the information that a random soldier holds, and… I know, I know, don’t roll your eyes at me
Overall, this discussions has helped me a lot in uderstanding this book, and has made think a little harder than usual when reading ficion,
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