ColumbusGuy

Haunting and possession--I need to work on the differences to make sure I've got it right. :) I just knew there would be something special about Horace's house, and now we know. I'd love to visit his home for a while and bask in the atmosphere and the company of his spirit. Our heroes and the Kinniston spirit? This is going to be one wild ride, and roller coasters have never been my favorites, but I'm in all the way for the duration!

The first thing I thought of when Ivor gave me the link to this new adventure was: 'That's the same title or nearly so of an original Star Trek episode involving mines and the Horta...' Of course, this is probably sheer coincidence, but with our dear Geron, I have my doubts it won't fit in in some way we don't expect. :) It'll be great to see Horace again, and his awesome ride!

Hm, Mitch's examination sounds a lot like the one I get when I go in for a check-up, minus the blood pressure reading. I'd have no problem trusting this doctor even now since he truly is concerned with his patients' welfare...today much is lost with the emphasis on seeing lots of people to meet costs and you seldom actually talk to the doctor for more than ten minutes now. Also, I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss some traditional remedies as those were based on the experience of generations of familiarity with natural herbs and their properties we are sometimes now just rediscovering. Perhaps now he'll talk to Will and begin thinking of a future with him...

I'd forgotten how long Lessa took to recover from her epic flight, or that it occurred so early in the series! Still, it would have to or the series would have been far shorter.... I really wish D'gar would find a way to resume his relationship with J'rud at some point; sure they'll both be haunted by his loss, but they'd also have the good times to share along with new memories. Third book, Mawgrim?

Hey G-Man, I think The Awakening Land and Legend of Lizzie Borden are both available on dvd, or perhaps to watch online. Try ebay for copies too. Legend also starred Katherine Helmond who was Jessica on the series Soap, but I liked her more in this movie. Another awesome miniseries starred Bette Davis as a matriarch in The Dark Secret of Harvest Home that came out around the same time as Land I think. That one gave me a new look on harvest festivals, I'll tell ya!

Perhaps Mitch is starting to regret his decision, but though Time heals all wounds, does he have enough left to reach that stage where he and Will are reunited? Not totally relevant, but something occurred to me while reading about the bridge building...took a minute to place it, but got it at last: this has a similar feel to an old television miniseries with Elizabeth Montgomery set back in the early settling of the Ohio Territory called The Awakening Land. She did far more than play Samantha on Bewitched! Her other great role was that of Lizzie Borden in the movie about her trial about murdering her father and stepmother....that might be the only role where she played nude scenes.

Okay, they've had their talk, marked their territories like the alpha dogs they are...now let's have some blurring of the borders they've drawn between each other. Will is fully aware of the spoken and unspoken things Mitch has said, and he's let it be known that he won't put up with that for long, then he'll make his own moves on the gambling table. Ham thought I'd say 'cards' right? :) Ante up, boys...place your bets and then we'll see who folds or calls.

I love watching these two learn about one another for the first time...just wish I'd had such a friend at that age! You've sort of figured it all out by the time you get to college, so while the joys are still there, the added bonus of it being all new is different....

This is a hard day for D'gar and J'rud, but also for us the rapt audience... It's been fourteen years since I lost three people close to me, my mother, a loved elder cousin...and my significant other of more than ten years. While all three were unexpected, only my mother's was a natural ending at relative peace. The cousin died of illness, and the last took his own life when the stresses from his parents and their coldness grew to be more than he could handle.... I'll never forget these losses over that long summer, and while I can sometimes go a few days without consciously thinking of them again, they come to mind if something happens I know they'd have liked to know about. Thank you Herebeth for getting D'gar to focus on life instead of Between.

On tenterhooks here wondering what's next, so keep the quills sharp, Ivor. Glad to see Weinerdog answered my question so I don't have to show my culinary ignorance despite my copy of Mrs. Beeton's Cookery Book....Far more familiar with medieval cookery and German than things with French names, and veggies are okay only in some forms like corn, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce and green beans. :) I think y'all call green beans haricots vert, but I only know that from the wonderful film 84 Charing Cross Road.

I'm trying to avoid a sense of foreboding, but since we know what will happen by Fall's end, it's hard to avoid. Then too, you've given us more players to worry about like G'ren who could easily not fight until the Pass has ended, but who knows now that Lessa's arrival will happen soon? The talk of their next birthdays being safe and looking forward to growing old together just is wrenchingly poignant for me...one of my nephews was only a couple years older than that when he took his own life.

This series just gets 'better and better' to paraphrase Lewis Carroll...but also 'c and c'. Kids today have so many more options than ones in my day for lubricants--at 14 I only had access to shampoo or bars of soap. :)

Damn it, why couldn't it be M'nan who got scored and put out of things rather than the far better N'rir? Still, his self-sacrifice fits with everything we know about him.... Maybe these new ideas will add more chapters so we don't face the end quite so soon?

Hey, you're early and I'm up way late... Okay, Mitch knows the full story now, so maybe the morning will give him time to think about another hike. I get him not wanting Will to sit around waiting for him to die...but back then there wasn't much to be done for most illnesses. That hits home for me because we did that for my mother back in 2007--because she refused dialysis, she went into palliative care the day before my birthday and died six days later after spending the last two in a coma. She wanted no machines or resuscitation attempts so it turned into a waiting game with my sisters and remaining cousins. She had seventy six good years though.... Come on, Mitch--wake up and smell the coffee!

I don't know why I keep reading this late, but by the time I do, there're way too many comments to listen to... I love this continuation of the Boone and Coy saga, and am awed by the way your language captures that of the era. What else is there to say when a great story is told by a great writer? I'll send wishes up above for a successful reunion for Mitch and Will, and hope Mitch has more time ahead of him than it looks at present. Hugs, my dear G-Man!

I'm glad to see some happy events in this chapter, particularly that D'gar's brother got to Impress a bronze. Seeing how well our trio are getting along gives me some comfort in knowing that the coming tragedy won't find them on the rocks emotionally when it happens. The way Thread injuries happen, I think it will be swift and less traumatic for S'brin at least....

I'm loving this series more with each installment, though I wish they were all in one place so they'd be easier to find. Gotta thank Ivor for the links when he posts a new story or I'd miss them. I'm not sure I'd like one of the boys to be GW, but I have to say that idea didn't occur to me at all, so good on yer Travlbug! To remark on his other parental comment, my mother once told me she would be fine if I was gay since I was her youngest and was almost lost by premature birth, but circumstances didn't permit me to confirm that before she died, yet I'm sure she knew as she never brought up girls or dating them. As for my father, he did find out just before we moved to separate places, and that was the last I heard from him until he died thirteen years later, finding out only after he died from an older sister who saw him several times a year... Eager for more, Ivor!

It makes my heart ache to know what's coming, and yet not knowing when, and it's no consolation when someone else meets their Fate instead. It galls to think of those lost due to chance, but more so when we lose promising riders due to sheer incompetence.... I guess it would be too much trouble to have S'brin magically survive at this point?

In the immortal words of Mr. Gumby--'My brain hurts! My brain hhurts!' Now where did I put my wellies and I seem to have lost my kerchief....

Hurrah--a sequel! With the fictional writer's moniker, I wonder if he'll tell the boys the truth? Spy cams? Parallel dimensions? Scrying? Eager for the next bit of this flight of fancy....

Definitely would like more of Craig and James' story some day! Can't wait for more tales from your fertile imagination....

I'm glad S'brin hasn't gone yet now that things are working with D'gar and J'rud... Herebeth will recover with time, and I'm going to miss this story when you finish it.

This is another example of Geron's amazing writing both in style and content. Long time fans know he can tackle serious subjects as well as tours de force like the Charlie Boone tales, so I knew from the title alone that this was going to be thought provoking, and I was right. I haven't read all the comments since I came late to the foray, but once the story began to unravel on the page, my first thought that I still hold is this: Michael was well on the way to becoming an effigy of his own creation; He accepted his sexuality, but in his own way feared it enough to hide it from those around him. Being confronted with the real thing at his own doorstep caused him to begin a journey of self-examination that led to him deciding to engage once more with those around him. Hatred is a subtle beast and can begin from innocuous sources like his parents not talking directly to him about concerns, and all it takes is one seed of doubt in a youth's mind for the roots to grow. Come on Michael, see what role Pat can play in your future!

Sadly, I think Greg will be the poster boy for the new policy, and with their disregard for proper servicing, I can see the company profits vanishing and causing the closure of cinemas rather than improving methodology. Take into the picture the rise of home movie services and real cinemas will struggle even more. I love dinosaurs! Always have since I was a kid watching Harryhousen movies for them, and then later Jim Henson's tv series that was a blast. Tech for me is a mix, except for my cable and pc, I've stayed away from it; my phone is a cordless that's styled like a phone from the 50s, and I still have a Walkman cassette player and a turntable that hooks into my stereo system. Of course, down in the public area I have my 100 or so year old Victrola wind up phonograph and 78s to play on it....

Wow, I can really picture the country life in this chapter where we finally meet more of the locals and their traditions. I wonder if there might eventually be Morris dancing at some point in the tale? I had to laugh my ass off at the comment 'they don't burn strangers in wicker cages anymore'...swear to God, the original British Lion Wicker Man has always been one of my favorite movies since I saw it at a drive-in a year or so after it came out! I have a limited edition of it by Anchor Bay I think with the shorter version, and the longest version left from all the compiled sources were edited. Nice wooden box too. Maybe it's some ancient spark in my DNA, but that movie stirs something deep in me regarding nature and our place in it which no modern religion can. I really want Craig to get his affairs in order so he can permanently join James in his own slice of Olde England.