But leave the Hungarian name joke-telling to me, m, okay? Just a gentle, BFF-like suggestion. Others may be less kind.

Also, heads-up to all, re miaveiledlady@200: “Zelazny reference citations have all been chapter-only.” Poor–uh, make that a BFF-ly correct “imprecise”–choice of words by m. The citations have been chapter-*generalized* as opposed to page-*specific*, but they aren’t chapter-*only*, especially here in Iorich. Remember, our Zelazny source is the entire combined 1st and 2nd Chronicles of Amber–10 different books to keep straight from reference to reference.

Ahh, more feedback. Bless you. As long as we’re not driving you “out of the pool,” around the bend, or up the walls to hang from the chandelier and gibber like…well, like one of us, I’m content with the thought that we’ll suck you in eventually.

Credit knob_e for some of the more interesting *Jhegaala* posts. That book takes more effort to penetrate than *Iorich*, what with the whole Fen-garian Name Game going on, but it’s well worth a second read for those who didn’t realize on the first run-through that the not-like-anything-else-in-Fenario Merchants Guild is in fact an unaccredited foreign branch of House Jhegaala, or that Brust squeezed a whole chapter on the history of Europe into a few carefully chosen names, or that he snuck so many jokes into a few others. (Or, heh, what really happened to Vlad’s pinkie.)

I’m always happy to get more readers into *SM&S* for any reason, although I’ll also always think the game is the best part of it.

Tiny *SM&S* Hungarian name joke–*probably* not entirely intentional, but I try never to assume too much where Brust is concerned. Just out of curiosity, I entered Greg’s last name, Kovacs, in an online translation database, and did a double-take when I not only got an answer, but it turned out to be “forger.” Took me a while to realize: not forger as in falsifier of art works, but forger as in one who uses a forge. His name is Greg Smith.

Well, *I* thought it was funny.

I wanted to say Thanks – you got me to re-read Jhegaala, and I appreciated it a lot more on the second reading. Also, you got me to finally buy a copy of SM&S, which I’ve avoided over the years due to Steve’s own description of it, but am now enjoying a great deal.

I’ve also been enjoying the numbers gaming conversation (although I am admittedly too lazy to join in).

But Thanks again!

As long as your SM&S paperback is a trade edition, you should be good to go; as far as I know, that title has never been released in the smaller mass-market paperback format, but my trade copy is under the Orb imprint, not Ace–just to be on the safe side, look to see if yours ends with “Merry meet again” and “Kovacs ‘87″ on p. 203.

As for the Taltos series books, you’re best off if you have *Taltos*, *Phoenix*, and *Athyra* in the mass-market Ace paperback original editions. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to play if you’re stuck with the trade edition twofers, but you’ll have to work around some missing pieces. And, of course, you’ll have to miss out on some of Brust’s funniest tricks from the first set of references. With *Jhegaala* and *Iorich*, hardcover versus paperback doesn’t matter–the pagination is identical. I’m assuming the same will hold true for *Tiassa*. (And yes, folks, there should also be a fourth title to finish out this second set. Then again, it is a Brustian game. Don’t bet the farm.)

By the way, Zelazny reference citations have all been chapter-only so far, and I expect that to continue–there are just too many different editions of those books in circulation for Brust to rely on specific page citations.

If anyone is thinking of bailing on the *Iorich* numbers-gaming for lack of the right *Phoenix* source edition–what the heck, knob_e has already spilled that there are only two *Phoenix* references among our seven Deleted Scenes. Now I’ll add that you need specific page numbers for only the first numbers-gaming round, and it IS possible to skate by without them. In the second round–knob_e’s (ahem) “daisy chain”–Brust switches to chapter numbers for those same *Phoenix* references. He did something similar with the *Taltos* references in *Jhegaala*. I didn’t want to mention it then, because I was hoping someone else would catch on and report that little trick. It’s the page numbers that clinch the scarred-fingers match, but if you take a good look at the *chapter* numbers for those two pages, then at the *chapter* numbers for the kelsch-and-eddiberry match, you should see what I mean. A little Brustian accommodation for trade-twofer owners.

But I’m babbling, because–

Huzzah! The Eagle has landed, Mafeking is relieved, and we have found a kindred spirit at last!

Welcome to the game, Sharon C.

I have the Ace paperback of “Taltos” and the hardbacks of the most recent books. My copy of SM&S is Ace paperback. Does that title need to be in hardback too? Am I automatically unable to join the game due to lack of appropriate playing pieces?

Damn, I was so hoping we’d be picking up another gamer.

Thanks, though–to both you and Laurie@196–for letting me know somebody out there is at least checking in when I post. Don’t know about miaveiledlady, but I sometimes get the feeling that a “knob_e” tag is tantamount to hollering “leper-outcast-unclean!” Or maybe “everybody out of the pool!”

And sorry about the dizziness, Laurie. Trust me, you’re far from alone on that score.

1) I’m me.

2) I only wish I was that clever. I love the symmetry, though. I hadn’t even really thought about Vlad’s age as we near the end of the Vladiad, but it would be pretty awesome if it works out how you described.

Snarky, yeah. Don’t you be forgetting that again before the next time comes along.

A final, tiny bit of Brustian numbers-gaming for anyone who hasn’t already been bored stupid and wandered off in search of a rest cure. And you don’t need to know jack about SM&S to get this one:

Dennis @ 17 speculated that the Taltos series isn’t likely to stretch out for too many Dragaeran years beyond Iorich. Bet on that. Cash, if you have it. Iorich is set in the first half of 252 PI. Events in Vlad’s life are due to culminate sometime in 253. The year he turns 34 years old. Or, put in Brustian terms, Mystical Number 17 x 2. Remember: we learned in Taltos that he first became an assassin at age 17. And his birth year was 219, or 19 – 2 = Mystical 17. And it was in 234 that Noish-pa first set Vlad on the path that brought him and Loiosh together. He’s got a great line in Taltos about how the number 17 keeps popping up in his life, but I’m away from home and don’t have the book handy to quote it exactly. (Lucky you, right?)

Wait–Dennis @…17? How perfect is that? Whoever you are, Dennis, did you grab that comment space on purpose?