Author Topic: PC084: Restless In My Hand  (Read 22164 times)

Kaa

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Reply #25 on: January 06, 2010, 05:21:03 PM
the kid turned out to be really ungrateful during the end.

Did you listen all the way to the end? The kid got it in the end, and sent his dad a sword to enable him to join him in the other world.

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Dave

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Reply #26 on: January 07, 2010, 12:29:34 AM
I whooped out loud when I realized this was one of my all-time favorite stories from RoF, and, frankly, from any publication ever. I've been waiting for my eldritch heirloom weapon to arrive in the mail for my entire life... maybe this week?

I think the point of this story is that Richard is the hero of the story, in a very real sense. I don't have children, and don't plan to; but that didn't stop me enjoying this story. I don't plan to race starships through an asteroid field or hunt pixies in a forest of sentient trees, but I've enjoyed stories about those things, too. Anyway, Richard consistently forsakes the typical "heroic" path in favor of the TRULY heroic path- consistently sacrifices his own desires to give his all to his family. And moreover, he spends the entire story wishing he could be "a man of purpose", a man who did something meaningful; while never realizing himself that this is EXACTLY what he IS doing. I'm self absorbed- I would have gone. Yet I can appreciate that Richard chose the harder path, not the safer one. Parenthood is fraught with far more peril than any fantasy war.

Also I'd point out that the story doesn't make it clear that Tyler won the war. I imagine that he, in fact, rekindled a war that had long been forgotten, and that it was still ongoing when his father comes to join him. But that's just my take.
« Last Edit: January 07, 2010, 12:46:08 AM by Dave »

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Reply #27 on: January 07, 2010, 04:39:25 AM
Also I'd point out that the story doesn't make it clear that Tyler won the war. I imagine that he, in fact, rekindled a war that had long been forgotten, and that it was still ongoing when his father comes to join him. But that's just my take.

Well, the "hematite fortress" was in ruins when Richard came through at the end, and it was summer/spring instead of rainy fall, and Tyler had settled down to have a child instead of being all warrior-y and going off to fight.  Seems to be a lot of indicators that the War is Over.



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Reply #28 on: January 08, 2010, 06:53:59 PM
the kid turned out to be really ungrateful during the end.

Did you listen all the way to the end? The kid got it in the end, and sent his dad a sword to enable him to join him in the other world.

I read that, but since the kid had a family of his own towards the end his first priority obviously wasnt to contact his dad, who had sacrificed everything for his family. Made the kid come off as very selfish in my opinion



Kaa

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Reply #29 on: January 08, 2010, 06:57:11 PM
Made the kid come off as very selfish in my opinion

...which I think is one of the defining characteristics of being a teenager. :)


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Swamp

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Reply #30 on: January 08, 2010, 07:21:12 PM
the kid turned out to be really ungrateful during the end.

Did you listen all the way to the end? The kid got it in the end, and sent his dad a sword to enable him to join him in the other world.

I read that, but since the kid had a family of his own towards the end his first priority obviously wasnt to contact his dad, who had sacrificed everything for his family. Made the kid come off as very selfish in my opinion

I think you are right, his dad wasn't his first priority, but then when Tyler had his own family, he understood the truth about his dad's actions

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danooli

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Reply #31 on: January 09, 2010, 04:33:13 PM
Made the kid come off as very selfish in my opinion

...which I think is one of the defining characteristics of being a teenager. :)



exactly.  teenagers and selfish behavior go hand in hand.



Dave

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Reply #32 on: January 09, 2010, 10:01:14 PM
Also I'd point out that the story doesn't make it clear that Tyler won the war. I imagine that he, in fact, rekindled a war that had long been forgotten, and that it was still ongoing when his father comes to join him. But that's just my take.

Well, the "hematite fortress" was in ruins when Richard came through at the end, and it was summer/spring instead of rainy fall, and Tyler had settled down to have a child instead of being all warrior-y and going off to fight.  Seems to be a lot of indicators that the War is Over.

It's a fair conclusion to draw. I just got the impression it was more the sort of war that lasts generations. The wormhair guy at the beginning said as much. But who knows, maybe the unexpected return of the Unnatural Axe in the hands of a True Heir was enough to catch the Ancient Enemy off guard once and for all.

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Oh, and Kaa, selfishness if one of the defining characteristics of being a human being.

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madmatt

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Reply #33 on: January 13, 2010, 02:55:39 AM
Awesome story (from a Dad who could really relate to the hero)

Does anyone else find all the "don't have kids, don't want kids" comments a bit sad?

Most people you meet who love fantasy are exactly the type of people who would make fantastic parents - am I wrong in thinking that few of us are breeding the next generation of imaginative youngsters?  It was my mothers love of fantasy and science fiction that sparked my love also.

Maybe those who made the comments are just too young to think about familys yet - I guess ten years ago had you asked me I would have said the same thing.



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Reply #34 on: January 13, 2010, 07:20:47 AM
Overall, I really liked this story, and I didn't mind the ending - fatherhood/family life was the main theme of the story, after all. But, as someone else pointed out above, it seemed like Tim Pratt sort of wrote himself into a corner with the mother. Basically, he needed her to have the affair to make the parallelism about the desire for adventure, and chosing family over it, but he also didn't want to keep her around - or otherwise the son would be abandoning two parents, one who had nothing to do with the axe, and that would change the meaning of that scene - so he had to kill her off in a totally unrelated way immediately after. Like Scattercat, my first inclination was to think she was somehow being manipulated by the axe, but the story never acknowledged that possiblity. So, either the axe did it but this was too subtle, or it was just a total coincidence and thus broke the internal believability of the story.

This isn't a big enough problem to seriously diminish my enjoyment of the story, but it felt like a misstep, and I think Pratt is a good enough writer to have avoided it.



Loz

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Reply #35 on: January 13, 2010, 01:18:20 PM
Does anyone else find all the "don't have kids, don't want kids" comments a bit sad?

Most people you meet who love fantasy are exactly the type of people who would make fantastic parents - am I wrong in thinking that few of us are breeding the next generation of imaginative youngsters?  It was my mothers love of fantasy and science fiction that sparked my love also.

Matt, have you heard of these strange creatures called Aunts, Uncles, Godparents or Family Friends? They can take part too. My parents encouraged me to read and took me to the library but, other than perhaps my Dad giving me his old copy of 'The Hobbit' when I was around six or seven (IIRC) I think they weren't particularly influential in my tastes as I grew up, though I've had some success in getting my Mum into Terry Pratchett in the last few years. And amongst my childfree friends, when the time came, they all seemed happy to step up and be kickass Aunts and Uncles.

Anyway... I did like this story, except for the penultimate scene when Tigh takes the axe and leaves Richard. There's too much interior dialogue that never escapes Richard's head about his feelings of responsibility that stopped him from taking up the battle himself. It took strength of will to choose his family responsibilities over the call of adventure, it took strength of will to choose to look after his son rather than the call of vengeance and, while the story made clear that Richard had regrets over his choices, I don't think it would have derailed the story to have him actually make the point that there are different types of strength and bravery. After all, in his letter at the end, Tigh recognises this himself.

And I second Scattercats 'darker story' idea, I was thinking that the driver was going to be a sleep-driving Richard himself.



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Reply #36 on: January 13, 2010, 03:03:32 PM
Does anyone else find all the "don't have kids, don't want kids" comments a bit sad?

Well, since I pretty much have the same feelings, not really.  :P  It's not that I think children are inherently bad or anything, but I don't think I'd make a particularly good parent, and with the world as overpopulated as it is already I don't think it's a bad thing for some people to choose not to reproduce.  I have a lovely niece born last year that I intend to give some fantasy books to when she's older though.  :)



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Reply #37 on: January 13, 2010, 05:24:10 PM
"...how are we going to keep him away from this thing?!"
"The same way we keep him from your porn and my vibrator. We *lock the door*."

And with that little exchange, Tim Pratt has skyrocketed up my list of favorite writers. Finally! A mother who knows what she's talking about. Love, love, love the story so far!

Okay, going back to listening to it now.

Edit: And I'm done. Wow. This story had everything! Humor, drama, sadness, angst, ennui, and an awesome ending that made me tear up. I had expected this to be a tale of lost chances and the regret that comes from it, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't turn out that way. Great story and great narration!
« Last Edit: January 13, 2010, 06:06:59 PM by LaShawn »

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Reply #38 on: January 13, 2010, 05:41:36 PM
This probably doesn't need to be said, since the "To Parent, or Not To Parent" conversation seems relatively civil. But I'd like to suggest that pointing at other commenters and calling their views "a bit sad" or whatever is territory I'd prefer we Not Go.

The topic itself is fine and I'd be happy to set up another thread for it somewhere (like Gallimaufry) but I'd prefer this thread be for the story (which for the most part, everyone's done. I just want it to continue that way).



 


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Reply #39 on: January 14, 2010, 04:41:40 AM
Awesome story (from a Dad who could really relate to the hero)

Does anyone else find all the "don't have kids, don't want kids" comments a bit sad?

No. 

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Reply #40 on: January 21, 2010, 06:10:45 AM
Just catching up on missed episodes.

I loved this one.   I'm still child-less myself (by choice), but I think those of my friends who do have children would love this one as well.




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Reply #41 on: January 21, 2010, 06:23:40 PM
Finally got around to this story and am not afraid to say I loved it. What the main character got at the end was an awesome present - both the verbal stuff and the physical stuff. This story tapped into my sometimes subconscious desire to chuck my job and go do something more fun and more interesting than what I do, but not doing so because I have a wife and kids that rely on me to be an adult and not give in to irresponsible impulses. Ah to be free to slice the air and step into another world. But then I wouldn't change a thing about my life now, so like our main character, I'd still be bound to stick around our world!



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Reply #42 on: January 23, 2010, 10:51:35 AM
I really liked this, which is not unexpected since it's by Tim Pratt, but I loved the reading, too!  Steve Anderson's voice has some quality about it that I can't really define, but I really enjoy hearing it.



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Reply #43 on: January 25, 2010, 01:59:37 PM
Tim Pratt is one of my favorite authors and this story doesn't disappoint! A story which is humorous and serious at the same time, and always entertaining.



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Reply #44 on: January 26, 2010, 04:22:07 PM
Just a great story. First one I listened to three days in a row. I am a father of two and can relate to that part of it but that's not that important, I just thought it was excellant. A parent is not a "hero" for putting the needs of their kids first. That is what parenting is all about. Doing what you should do doesn't make you a hero, just a decent person.



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Reply #45 on: January 28, 2010, 08:47:29 PM
Definitely a good listen, and I didn't really expect what happened at the end.  Maybe I've been listening to too many downer EP episodes. :)  You could really see the madness setting in, and the real struggle that he went through.  I did wonder, however if the axe was responsible for his wife's cheating and then her death, seeing her as an obstacle to its own mission.  I tended to interpret it as such, but maybe I'm wrong. 

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Reply #46 on: February 01, 2010, 07:10:03 PM
"...how are we going to keep him away from this thing?!"
"The same way we keep him from your porn and my vibrator. We *lock the door*."

Indeed. I really liked that part.

I echo everyone who had positive comments about the story.

I did feel the intro (Richard & weird dude on the front stoop) went on a TAD too long.

I didn't see what Scattercat et al did about the Axe possibly forcing the wife to have an affair; there was no historical evidence that female axe-holders were affected, and nothing related to that was mentioned anywhere in the story, so to me only the male heir could hear the axe.

I didn't realize that the Axe was going to talk to Tyler but in retrospect I should have because in the beginning they did say 15 years old = manhood, to the Axe. Good moment there. And I did like the ending.

I didn't like this particular choice of narrator; while he is a good narrator, his voice didn't work for me in this story. The voice he chose for the narration and Richard made the character seem wishy-washy.

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yicheng

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Reply #47 on: February 01, 2010, 11:19:17 PM
I can't decide whether to like this story as a fun romp, or love it as an father-as-hero metaphor.  It reminds of my favorite Neil Stephenson quote that (paraphrasing) "Every man up until about 35 secretly thinks that if he just works at it hard enough, he can be the most awesome bad-ass in the world".  I do martial arts so I suppose that's my own way of venting my "be-a-bad-ass" tendencies. Part of that training is also to continually bring your martial arts training into everyday life, so it's not all just about punching, kicking and throwing other people in a dojo.  I have a daughter she's already starting to imitate the stuff she sees me doing.  There's no prouder feeling than seeing your 4 year old try to smack a heavy-bag with her little punches.  Having said that, I do think that the father was a bit on the wimpy or at least passive side.  It felt like when he wasn't thinking about going off into "magical world of warcraft" he was just pretty much letting life go by him.

The closest real-life analogy to what happens in this story is maybe father and son joining a military (or being a policeman).   But even then, most of the stuff you actually do 95% of the time is pretty boring (guarding trucks, doing paper work, talking to people, settling petty squabbles, etc), and the heroic stuff is probably the stuff that'll give you PTSD and send you to the psychiatrist for years afterwards.



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Reply #48 on: March 01, 2010, 02:58:26 AM
This probably doesn't need to be said, since the "To Parent, or Not To Parent" conversation seems relatively civil. But I'd like to suggest that pointing at other commenters and calling their views "a bit sad" or whatever is territory I'd prefer we Not Go.

My apologies, it was not my intention to pass judgement on peoples life decisions, of course parenting is not for everyone - I just look at some of the people in my home country who are having kids who perhaps should not be (child abuse is a huge problem here in NZ, and it does seem to cause a cycle of abuse thats hard to break), and some of the people who chose not to have kids, as is their right, but who I believe would make fantastic parents and raise amazing kids, grandkids etc, and it just makes me feel a little sad.

Anyway as you stated, off topic, so I'll leave it at that.



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Reply #49 on: March 16, 2010, 03:45:21 PM
This probably doesn't need to be said, since the "To Parent, or Not To Parent" conversation seems relatively civil. But I'd like to suggest that pointing at other commenters and calling their views "a bit sad" or whatever is territory I'd prefer we Not Go.

My apologies, it was not my intention to pass judgement on peoples life decisions, of course parenting is not for everyone - I just look at some of the people in my home country who are having kids who perhaps should not be (child abuse is a huge problem here in NZ, and it does seem to cause a cycle of abuse thats hard to break), and some of the people who chose not to have kids, as is their right, but who I believe would make fantastic parents and raise amazing kids, grandkids etc, and it just makes me feel a little sad.

Anyway as you stated, off topic, so I'll leave it at that.

As a "not a parent" person, I thank you for clarifying that it is a "that's too bad, you'd make a great parent" situation rather than a "people who don't breed live poor lives" situation.  And I'll leave it at that for my part.

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