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From: brust@hyper.UUCP (Steven Brust)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: To Reign in Hell [SPOILER]
Message-ID: <197@hyper.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 13-May-85 16:31:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: hyper.197
Posted: Mon May 13 16:31:43 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 15-May-85 01:09:50 EDT
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> 
> .......................................... I would have said that Abdiel was
> driven (at the beginning) by ambition rather than fear, and kept that
> motivation all the way until he was discovered by all and sundry to have
> invented evil....................................................

Maybe.  It seems to me that a readers opinion on
something like this is at least as legitimate as
the authors.  But I was playing with an idea taken
from Will Shetterly's CATS HAVE NO LORD.  He had
a character (Lord Noring) who became an excellent
swordsman, and was forced into courageous actions,
because of his basic fear.  I turned that around
with Abdiel.  His actions (to me, at least) were
motivated by wanting to be in a position where
he could avoid direct battle with the flux.  He
schemed to take over Satan's role so he could
have a decision-making position, which led to,
as you put it, the invention of evil.


> 
> Also, wouldn't you say that Mephistopheles (my favorite character, I think)
> knew even more about what was going on than Lilith?
> 

Yes, but, until nearly the end, he refused to
take a side other than that of personal friendship,
which doesn't go very far in a revolutionary
situation.
		-- SKZB