LMB Quote Game

Multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Lois McMaster Bujold is creator of the Miles Vorkosigan universe and the world of Chalion.

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Caroline Tredez
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by Caroline Tredez »

A clue, maybe?
No one should be allowed to break my heart but you, Madam XXX.
"XXX" is not an actual name, but here a nickname referring to an animal. Said animal would be associated with a goddess of wisdom in the "real world equivalent" (sort of) of the country from which "Madam XXX" originated.

So, any idea about speaker and listener?
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

Caroline Tredez wrote:A clue, maybe?
No one should be allowed to break my heart but you, Madam XXX.
"XXX" is not an actual name, but here a nickname referring to an animal. Said animal would be associated with a goddess of wisdom in the "real world equivalent" (sort of) of the country from which "Madam XXX" originated.

So, any idea about speaker and listener?

Well, you never asked for the book, so I could have answered earlier, I did guess it was Penric speaking to Madame Khatai.
But it took me longer to find the exact place, since there are three possibilities.
I finally found it in the first one Penric's Mission, where he calls her "Madame Owl".
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by Caroline Tredez »

The floor is yours ^^
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

"And... and how big does this XXX have to be, Sir?"


Book ?
Who is "Sir" ?
XXX ?

You don't have to specify who is speaking here, he is a very minor, unnamed character (only his job is mentioned, and the fact that he was very good at it).
Last edited by voralfred on Mon Jun 03, 2019 10:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

"And... and how big does this XXX have to be, Sir?"
A few hints
One does not actually see the character that says this in any book.
This quote is in fact within a reminiscence of the character called "Sir", told to a third party, a question that one of his subordinates asked him, a precision about the task that "Sir" had assigned to him.

The question is now
Book where this reminiscence is told ?
Who is "Sir" ?
XXX ?
To whom is this reminiscence told ?

You still don't have to specify the subordinate whose question is mentioned here, he is a very minor, unnamed character (only his job is mentioned, and the fact that he was very good at it).

Each bonus for 1/2 point

Bonus #1: Where exactly are "Sir" and the third party when "Sir" reminisces, and what are they trying to do at this time?

Bonus #2: They were not successful at reaching their aim in the "orthodox" way. What rather unorthodox way do they use a bit later, and do they succeed at that later time ?
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

voralfred wrote:
"And... and how big does this XXX have to be, Sir?"
...
Book where this reminiscence is told ?
...
I think I know the tale in the tale.
But to answer the other questions I'll have to search the book.
Patience, it won't hurt ...
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote: I think I know the tale in the tale.
...
Sorry, I was mistaken.
I got the tale right but the wrong book.
As Google then gave me the correct answers, I'm now disqualified.
Carry on.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

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E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:
E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote: I think I know the tale in the tale.
...
Sorry, I was mistaken.
I got the tale right but the wrong book.
As Google then gave me the correct answers, I'm now disqualified.
Carry on.

I appreciate your honesty, but since I trust you for having got the book by Google, I also trust that you guessed the "tale in the tale" by yourself.

And like King Salomon I will now give my verdict:
You are not disqualified, you get the next quote, but only 1/2 sherlock since you did not find the book.

Other players please note :
If you know the answer to my quote, you can post it to win the second 1/2 sherlock, in addition to the two bonuses which are of course still for grabs.
But the the "current" (or soon to be current) quote will be EPS's after he posts it.
If no answer is proposed after EPS's quote is posted and answered maybe he will put you all out of your collective misery ?
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

Sorry!
Like professor Zonnebloem (Professor Cuthbert Calculus) I've been absent-minded lately, because of trying to pencil-draw an elephant on a A1 sheet (23.4 x 33.1 in). Unbelievable how many pencils you wear out just sharpening (and sometimes dropping) them.

"And... and how big does this elephant have to be, Sir?"
The answer is not an A1 sheet. I was mistakenly placing the funny story of the ambassador and the elephant in Cetaganda. The ambassador and the elephant are correct but this tale is told by Simon in Memory.

Now to put us back on track (thanks for the gentle reminder, Voralfred), no new quote but just a question:

"Miles offered one of Zap's kittens to Ivan. When and where was that?"
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

I read on some website that Miles offered one of Zap's kitten to Ivan.

Actually I had no idea where and when that happened. I couldn't have answered my own question even though I searched my memory.

I decided not to use ImpSec to digitally search all of Lois's books which I too have in searchable format on my computer. I proceeded on my own with the software at hand.

Finally my copy of LibreOffice did find it. So I reread the relevant chapter.

Unfortunately I can't think of a cryptic hint that doesn't give away the answer, sorry!

Except that there's a subtle hint in this post nevertheless.

If by 27th June not even part of the solution is posted, I'll declare my question forfeited.
I'll then withdraw in favour of whomever first posts a new quote/question.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

Hmmmmmm...

I first thought that it was in _CC_ There is one scene towards the end where Ivan complains that after seeing many of his ex girl-friends getting married one after the other, they now start to get married in pairs (Olivia Koudelka and Count Dono). Though Ivan certainly was at some point Donna's lover, before she became Dono, I don't think he ever had such a relationship with Olivia. Anyway, I found out that he did not vent his frustration to Miles, but to Mark who did not even offer him a kitten but just some advice. Poor Ivan !
It can hardly be a later book, Ivan is practically absent of all later books but "Captain Voepatril's Alliance " and he certainly does not need a kitten then.

But your post seems to hint at a specific previous book, in not such a subtle manner. So I'll also search if i can remember in what book the kitten discussion did arise.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

Got it !

Book : Memory (as hinted in your post)
Place : Imperial Residence, Vorbarr Sultana, Barrayar
Time : Gregor and Laisa betrothal, during a Winterfair blizzard, after Ivan unsuccessfully proposed not just Delia (already with Galeni) but also Martya (not yet with anyone else, but ready to marry anyone but Ivan). Note that he did not mention proposing Olivia. Kareen is already with Mark, and Donna Vorrutyer, being only the younger sister of the ruling Count, was probably not even invited.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

voralfred wrote:Got it !

Book : Memory (as hinted in your post)
Place : Imperial Residence, Vorbarr Sultana, Barrayar
Time : Gregor and Laisa betrothal, during a Winterfair blizzard, after Ivan unsuccessfully proposed not just Delia (already with Galeni) but also Martya (not yet with anyone else, but ready to marry anyone but Ivan). Note that he did not mention proposing Olivia. Kareen is already with Mark, and Donna Vorrutyer, being only the younger sister of the ruling Count, was probably not even invited.
Quite correct.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

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"What do you want of me?" XXX demanded. Anger edged xxx’s voice. "To trust you?"
yyy’s lips thinned. "You don't trust anybody. You never had to. Yet you demand that others trust you."
xxx's and yyy's are just possessives (his, her or its) respectively corresponding to the first and the second (YYY) characters to speak

Book ?
XXX ? (if you guess by memory - and no, this is not a hint - you don't have to quote exactly the text, any unambiguous designation will do)
YYY?

Bonus/hint for 1/2 point
Why didn't XXX ever have to trust anybody ?
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by Caroline Tredez »

XXX would be Terence Cee and YYY Eli Quinn (not 100% sure, might be Ethan himself, but if I remember right it's Eli) in "Ethan of Athos". And Cee never had to trust anybody because he never had to *guess* or *believe* what someone thought or wanted, he *knew* it thanks to being a telepath.

If it's the scene I remember, it's when Eli is hesitant to trust Cee with Naismith's secret. She had to, but doesn't trust Cee to keep that secret. Soon after that scene, Cee replies that Eli's admiral's secret is of no interest to him, and not relevant to their situation anyway.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

Right answer to the main question and to the bonus.

Your description of the scene is almost correct, but at that point Ethan has already eaten the foods (rich in tyramine) Elli had bought for him and it is too late for Elli to change her mind, though she is indeed ambivalent about having trusted him. But I did not ask for such precise details.

1 1/2 points and the next quote.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by Caroline Tredez »

From the first book I grabbed:
"I grant you, age has improved nothing but my wits." And even they are suspect.
Who's talking to who ?
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

Since it is not Michel Galabru talking to Kad Merad in "Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis", maybe a little hint would help ?
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by Caroline Tredez »

Hint, then: This person's "wits" were suspects for a *long* time, actually, or at least considered such by their close ones. Second hint: I didn't ask the book because the one this person is talking to only appears in any significant manner in this book, as far as memory serves.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

Hmmmmm...
Thanks to your hint, I think I guessed whose "wits" have been suspect for a *long* time, and what book this is in (a *long* time : thus not the first book this character appears in).
But there are many characters in that book who appear only there (or anyway only "in any significant manner"), and I have no idea in which part of the book this line is (and of course, to whom it is said). So it might take some more time.

Others players, beware ! I'm on the track.....
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by E Pericoloso Sporgersi »

voralfred wrote:...
Others players, beware ! I'm on the track.....
I think I know.

I would be totally unsurprised if old AAA said this to younger BBB in an even younger book.

But because I'm becoming more and more lazy with advancing age, I just let my computer do the searching. So, again, I must disqualify myself and I can't name names nor book.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

Found him finally !

The person whose wits were "considered (suspect) by (her) close ones" was Ista, as I had guessed before.
The book is Paladin of Souls (*long* time)
Ista is talking to Arhys dy Lutez
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by Caroline Tredez »

Well found, the floor is yours.
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

This is my favorite quote. I use it regularly, in a more or less modified form.
"You know," xxx murmured, "good yyy never pass up a chance to aaa or bbb. (…).”
xxx is the personal pronoun corresponding to the gender of the speaker XXX
yyy is a noun (plural)
aaa and bbb are verbs

I have shortened XXX’s utterance, hence (…)

If you answer by memory, to get the next quote and a full sherlock you only have to answer
Book ?
XXX ?
yyy ?
Whom does XXX speak to ?

Bonus : for a 1/2 point give both verbs aaa and bbb, but not necessarily in the right order if you answer the bonus also by memory
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Re: LMB Quote Game

Post by voralfred »

The first sentence is my favorite quote. I use it regularly, in a more or less modified form. But now, I'll give you the entire line of the speaker.
"You know," xxx murmured, "good yyy never pass up a chance to aaa or bbb. They never know how much they'll be called on to do, before the next chance.”
xxx is the personal pronoun corresponding to the gender of the speaker XXX
yyy is a noun (plural)
aaa and bbb are verbs

If you answer by memory, to get the next quote and a full sherlock you only have to answer
Book ?
XXX ?
yyy ?
Whom does XXX speak to ?

Bonus : for a 1/2 point give both verbs aaa and bbb, but not necessarily in the right order if you answer the bonus also by memory.
Human is as human does....Animals don't weep, Nine

[i]LMB, The Labyrinth [/i]
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