Havemercy By Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett Discussed January 2010 Buy Havemercy from Amazon.com

Questions

Primary Characters:

• Margrave Royston
• Hal
• Thom
• Rook

Also:

• Th’Esar
• Adamo
• Airmen

Key Locations/People:

• Volstov
• Thremedon
• Ramathines
• Ke’Han
• Arlemagne

Other Works In This World:

• Shadow Magic – Jones & Bennett
• Dragon Soul (June 2010) – Jones & Bennett

1. Did you like or dislike the book? What elements led you to feel that way? Strengths/Weaknesses?
2. Both authors have expressed an interest in anime, and the book was intended to try to carry some of the “sense of anime” into literary form. Do you feel like the authors succeeded?
3. The book seemed to use fantasy reimaginings of real world cultures and events. Did you find that this modeling helped you to understand the story? Did it enhance or detract from the story for you?
4. Politics play a significant role in the story – both on a macro and micro level – from the three-legged power structure of Volstov to the diplomatic successes and failures with Arlemagne and Ke’Han. How well did you feel the authors represented the realities of political interplay?
5. The Airmen represented a very interesting microculture, and through Thom we saw an attempt to study how such a group operated sociologically and psychologically. How well did you think the authors “got it” in terms of group dynamics.
6. The interplay between the characters of Thom and Rook is played out against the parallel interplay between Hal and Royston, did you find yourself thinking those relationships were headed in the same direction? Do you think it was intended by the authors for the reader to do so?
7. The book earned a place on the short list of recommended works for the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards – what elements do you think contributed to that and do you think the judges were accurate when they selected it as a work with strong positive GLBT content?
8. What works did this book most remind you of and why?
9. Did you feel that the magic as presented – including the dragons – was internally consistent? Did you find it original or derivative?
10. Would you read the follow up books (Shadow Magic concerns itself with post-war diplomacy, Dragon Soul will be released this summer)