Zack's Powers

[CRMorris]

So do you think Zack will end up a "Physical Keeley"? Essentially the same abilities minus the slaves, but more of a fighter. I see Keeley as more of a "mage" type. With a greater ability to travel he could use this, as he has done in the past, to teleport around the target and turn into a virtual whirlwind in battle.

[daniel1948]

Even though Darla tells Zack he has the potential to be a better fighter than Keeley, I don't see him becoming a fighter. It's not his nature. Zack is a peacemaker, not a fighter. He always strives to reconcile differences, and when that's clearly not possible, he walks away. His abilities are very different, though admittedly he's just coming into them. While Keeley is willing to take slaves when they've done bad things, Zack consistently abhors the idea of slavery. Keeley is not only willing, but eager to kill people who have done serious harm to her friends, while Zack kills only in immediate self-defense or defense of a helpless person, and then he feels bad about it. Their friendship has great potential, and more so because they are such different people.

[David]

It will be interesting to see where it goes. He is much nicer than Keeley and consistently in the Keeley books they say she is too nice for a demon, so I can't wait to see where he takes it.

Also, I am pretty sure Darla said he was already a better physical fight than keeley in his first session, not just potential, of course, when you add magic who knows...

Also, Keeley has to control her emotions at times, perhaps Zack tries not to kill people, but if you notice he didnt even bat an eyelash when people DO die around him. Maybe I havent read it in a while but I dont remember him feeling bad about it, except maybe that it wasnt his couch that the blood got on. So he has the potential to easily go dark. At least his father seemed to think so... Even Darla warned him about joining their side, so she sees it as well.

[Korwin]

[daniel1948]

[Ronald Dukarski]

Hey Daniel, welcome to the forum, by the way. I noticed in your post that you thought Zack' s protestations precluded him from the use of slavery, I disagree. In the same way that Keeley' s inadvertent taking of the Hsreth' s as slaves saved them, I think Zack could use that, intentionally, to do the same to protect someone as well. He may have to rationalize it, but still use it to his advantage in upcoming events. Don't know what Dale has in mind, never did, never do, but can't rule it out as a plot point.

[daniel1948]

Hi Ronald.

I, also, cannot predict what Dale will do. And since we're speaking of fictional characters, there's no "real" here, as in someone's true nature. We can speculate on what Dale will have Zack do, or we can make believe that Zack is a real person and discuss his character. It's in the latter sense that I assert that for Zack to take slaves would be entirely contrary to his nature. It could happen accidentally, but if it did, it would bother him, and he would refuse to order them around. A big difference between Zack and Keeley is that he is philosophically opposed to slavery and committed to the conventional morality of present-day American society. Keeley, while a good person, is more malleable and open to embracing a different set of morals for demons.

I'm always amused that people get so emotionally involved in the lives of fictional characters, since in one sense an author's story trajectory is no more "valid" than a reader's proposed alternative trajectory. And yet I find myself getting just as emotionally involved as the next person. I do not know why this is. I could make up an alternative story line (and often find myself doing this) and yet I am still affected by the story as written. I cried when Cordelia was hanged. I have no idea why a fictional story set hundreds of years ago should affect me so. And I have no idea why I should care about Zack, but I do, and I insist that he, at least as he exists after the first two volumes of Other Places, will never resort to violence except in self-defense or in defense of the innocent, and that he will never take slaves.

I hope Dale agrees with me.

[David]

Well, Keeley's first slave was a matter of life and death, part of her problem is she is just too damn good at it and picks them up either by accident, or in a deadly confrontation. It was until the last Keeley book her best and only defense and offense. For the most part she treats them like friends, with the exception of the rapist. Even the demon that tried to kill her is a friend now.

I don't know that Keeley is so happy with slavery either, but for her its that or death.

But you are right about Zack.

While none of the characters are real, Dale is consistent on how they act. I don't expect him to completely change either. But then he is going from starving, powerless, and physically weak to becoming a very physically strong demon with even more travel abilities and whatever other magics Dale decides he is good at. He will also have people attacking him left and right as word gets out. Like a real person, Dale's characters evolve, so he will change, at least a bit... right???

I dont think he will start killing or enslaving anyone that is nice to him, in fact I kind of expect him to remain a partial pushover in that regard. My only point was, like Keeley, he will have to try and hide this well enough so that the other demons dont smell blood in the water so to speak. WHen I said they think Keeley is too nice, that is what I meant. Being to nice puts them in danger, no weak demons allowed.

For the mean people though, I expect him to take drastic action and shrug it off, then eat a dozen donuts and perhaps an ice cream while they slowly die before him etc..

It's human nature to get invested in characters, if we didn't we wouldn't read. In fact it is my highest standard when reading a book. Perfect grammar, beautiful prose, sentence structure, world building all takes a second seat. If I don't care about the character (either like or hate) I won't like the book. All the rest is important too of course, but worthless without emotional investment. I can read a book lacking in the other areas to a certain extent as long as I like, or hate, the protagonist.

Just my opinion....

[CRMorris]

I agree that he will probably not enslave anyone....even unintentionally. But it would still be nice to see him to turn "Super Demon" on the elder demons...whether they be the "good guys" or the "bad". I know Keeley is probably lined up for that position, but it still doesn't hurt to add another POV.

I would really like to see him grow as a demon....take some time...maybe delve into the demon underworld some. I can relate to him slightly more than Keeley. Maybe eventually allow him to take control of the underworld.

By the way...please forgive any misspellings....too much Scotch.

[Ronald Dukarski]

Ok, I haven't read or re-read the books lately, so I'm a little fuzzy here. But, Zack still has his other self running around inside his head, doesn't he? I mean, the mean satirical one. But which is which. Is the "other" the real Zack or a coping mechanism? Or is the Zack we know the coping mechanism? Or is he another real person trapped inside Zack' s head? I can't recall it ever being explained completely. Of course at my age, it could just be old timers. It may be that our impression of Zack may completely change after we find out.