From: "Stacey Harris" <stacey.harris@slu.edu> To: "Science Glen Cook: Author, Fiction/Fantasy" <glencook-fans@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2018 10:32:47 PM Subject: Re: [Glencook-fans] Just finished Port of Shadows reply below ================== And what became of Laissa and Precious Pearl? Just lived out their lives quietly? But Laissa, properly cared for, might last centuries still--and, apparently, Precious Pearl had the Blessing. So, shipped off to the Tower at Charm? Who knows, maybe helped run the Empire after the Lady left. And the Kids? Ditto, maybe. I'm thoroughly taken with the notion of the Lady taking up a family relationship with Croaker--helps explain her penchant for him in later books. It's a fascinating addition to the story of Lady, the most fascinating member of the entire series. Stacey _______ Loose ends drive me crazy, but that's all we have. I half think that Lady left them all living in that castle, but that's Emotional Lady and we don't see much of her. Pragmatic Lady would Take Precious Pearl, or kill him as a potential threat. Or maybe, just maybe, leave him as a fallback in case the Dominator rises. That's the only way I can see her emotional and pragmatic sides cooperating to leave her "sister" and nephew (possible son?) alive in that castle - as a final defense against the Dominator rising. A sort of "you might have killed me, but you're not going to win" bit that Lady might smile at as Dominator kills her. The kids? Maybe the new Taken, maybe the people wearing Taken armour and trying to pass (from Silver Spike). Maybe they fought the Taken wars. It's hard to say. We just don't have many clues. And here's something that half bugs me - Glen Cook might not know either. He has said that he doesn't know who the third Female Taken was, because it didn't come and he doesn't decide on those details until they come up. It's a theory of writing he learnt from Fritz Leiber, not to plot everything out, leave the details until they are needed. I've seen an interview where he says that during the Dread Empire series he had mapped the world, then the Heroes had to run through impassable mountains because he had accidentally boxed them in. The fate of Precious Pearl, Laissa, and the kids might be forever in limbo unless a future story demands he details those fates, which is unlikely. Richard