[ SECRET POST #2473 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2473 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 012 secrets from Secret Submission Post #353.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

See, I didn't see it that way at all. Yes, you could read it that way if you wanted to, but I read it more as a story of someone learning about her own cultural prejudices and embracing a world that her ancestors had been part of. It's true, Harry had strong kelar, but Corlath's was just as strong. And while she did learn what she needed to in a rather short span of time, it wasn't as if she woke up one morning and BAM, magic sword-wielding powers. She was already established as physically capable and a good horsewoman, and she went through a harsh period of extremely intense training that was partially fueled by herbal drugs to keep her going longer. And she gets the hell beaten out of her in the process.

Harry also doesn't make the people of Damar go "oooh, look, her way of doing things is so much better." She acclimatizes fully to their way of life and embraces the culture she'd once thought of as foreign. The force she leads at the mountain pass is much, much smaller than Corlath's because it's composed of only friends and splinter groups; probably 90% of the Hillfolk were invested in Corlath's plan, not hers.

I hope I don't sound ranty--that's not my intention. I can see how OP would look at the book that way. But I honestly think there's more than one way to look at it, and it's still quite a good read if you go into it prepared to trust that the author didn't mean it to look like the kind of story OP mentioned. Just my two cents.

[(Anonymous)]

She was already established as physically capable and a good horsewoman, and she went through a harsh period of extremely intense training that was partially fueled by herbal drugs to keep her going longer. And she gets the hell beaten out of her in the process.

Was she a good horsewoman, though? In the beginning of the novel, she's riding a pony, and a placid one at that. She knows the basics of riding and is reckoned an excellent horsewoman "back Home", but the book makes it clear that those standards are not the standards of the Damar. Harry's not used to a stallion, she can't mount it by herself, she's not used to long rides (vs. short pleasure rides at an easy gait), etc.

Then yes, her training period was harsh and aided by drugs, but she becomes a warrior within a matter of weeks. And not just any warrior, but the best warrior, better than all the other contenders who've been riding and training for the better part of their lives. Nearly the equal of their leader, in fact, even though he's a grown man who, again, has been training his entire life. Does that seem realistic?


Harry also doesn't make the people of Damar go "oooh, look, her way of doing things is so much better." She acclimatizes fully to their way of life and embraces the culture she'd once thought of as foreign.

Well, yeah... but in "going native", Harry doesn't just acclimatize, she rises to the top of their ranks and is expected to play a key role in the salvation of the Damar. This is pretty much the same plot that gets heavily criticized in Dances with Wolves and Avatar, for pretty much the same reasons. I can see why the OP might've picked up on it, because it's the sort of thing that people notice a lot more nowadays, where you wouldn't blink at eye at it back when the novel was published.

[(Anonymous)]

If you can ride a pony, you can ride a horse. And mounting the horse by yourself is the very first thing you learn in your very first horse riding lesson. How tricky it is to ride a stallion depends on the stallion's personality and how well the horse was trained.

And, honestly, sometimes people are just naturally good at certain things, even if they've never done them before. It has something to do with the way their brains formed/developed during pregnancy. And yeah, I can think of at least four famous (historical) swordsmen who never touched a sword until they were in their teens or early twenties, had a seriously violent problem, and beat down the threat. THEN they were trained. So yeah, she very well *could* have just been good at it.

Plus, it was a very minor plot point that she didn't go native so much as go back to her maternal roots. She was a mixed-race child of a mixed race union.

[(Anonymous)]

And yeah, I can think of at least four famous (historical) swordsmen who never touched a sword until they were in their teens or early twenties, had a seriously violent problem, and beat down the threat. THEN they were trained.

Ooohhh, who were they? *likes interesting historical stuff*

[(Anonymous)]

If you can ride a pony, you can ride a horse

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[(Anonymous)]

If you can ride a pony, you can ride a horse.

No. Just... no. This is like saying that if you can drive a Volkswagon Beetle, you can drive an 18-wheeler. There's certainly an overlap in the basic skill set, but they're not the same thing and a pony is not a horse. But this is almost a moot point, because it's canon that Harry's previous experience riding a pony was NOT adequate preparation for riding a Damar horse, and she wasn't an expert rider by Damar standards. Yet within a matter of weeks, she becomes one.


And mounting the horse by yourself is the very first thing you learn in your very first horse riding lesson.

Uh huh. And mounting a quiet, biddable pony is different than getting yourself up on an eighteen hands high stallion, one ridden without stirrups or bridle per the book-- something that Harry was not able to do without help.


And, honestly, sometimes people are just naturally good at certain things, even if they've never done them before. It has something to do with the way their brains formed/developed during pregnancy. And yeah, I can think of at least four famous (historical) swordsmen who never touched a sword until they were in their teens or early twenties, had a seriously violent problem, and beat down the threat. THEN they were trained. So yeah, she very well *could* have just been good at it.

Did they go from never-held-a-sword-before to full-fledged top warrior in six weeks able to defeat trained opponents in a melee? Because that's what happens in the book. Come on, no amount of "naturally good" makes this scenario realistic and you're really stretching to try and make it so.