Talk:Lord Darcy (fiction)
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[edit] Later short stories
Is it possible to acquire the later short stories "The Bitter End" and "The Spell of War" without having to purchase a copy of the omnibus (since I already have the three previous books)? —Phil | Talk 15:53, July 14, 2005 (UTC)
"The Spell of War" is included in the volume "The Best of Randall Garrett". As far as I know, "The Bitter End" can only be obtained in the omnibus, or in its original 1978 magazine appearance.
[edit] Ossification?
Is it fair to say Lord Darcy's world is ossified? It's conservative, but it's not stagnant. Avalon 04:28, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Name
What's his actual name? Jooler 10:33, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not given in the stories by Garrett, as far as I can tell. (At least not in the Baen omnibus edition.) He's referred to as "Lord Darcy" in all except "The Spell of War", where he's referred to as "Lieutenant Darcy". -- Kazrak 17:50, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
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- He met someone and greeted him by his first name; the other called him "Darcy". In one story he thought that "Mama Darcy's little boy" might wind up fighting savages in New France. The only name we have ever seen for him is Darcy in some form or another. Steveha 05:46, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
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- Being addressed by his title is standard British usage (see Shakespeare, etc.). It is not impossible that he is, oh, Desiderius D'Arcy, Lord Darcy, but he could just as well be Aelfrid Holmes, Lord Darcy; Garrett doesn't seem to have left us any clues. --Orange Mike 20:38, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
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- One possible clue relates to his coat-of-arms as described near the end of Too Many Magicians. Unfortuantely, I don't know enough heraldry to interpret the description; can anyone help? Murray Langton 22:01, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
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- I don't have a copy of the novel handy; but if you transcribe the blazon, I'll try; I'm a fair book herald (35 years in the SCA and all).--Orange Mike 22:16, 13 December 2006 (UTC) (a/k/a Lord Inali of Tanasi, G.D.H.)
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- From the very last paragraph: "Lord Darcy's personal arms: Ermine, on a fess gules, a lion passant gardant or."Murray Langton 06:22, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
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That's a shield of ermine (white fur with little black tails), bisected by a broad red horizontal stripe taking up about one-third of the field. On that stripe is a gold heraldic lion walking, with his face turned towards you. The interesting thing about this is that the royal arms of England are Image:England-Richard-I-Arms.svg: three of the gold "lions of England" on red; so there is an implication of a link to the royal family, somewhere back in the past. Interesting, but no hint as to his name. --Orange Mike 14:47, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
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- I've heard that Garrett used that shield in the SCA before giving it to Darcy. —Tamfang 00:50, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
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[edit] List of in-jokes?
Randall Garrett loved to insert in-jokes, such as "Bontriomphe" for the character who is much like Archie "Goodwin". The preface to the combined Baen collection of Lord Darcy stories says that the novel Too Many Magicians contains three punning allusions to the TV show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. I just re-read the whole novel and I was unable to spot these puns... if anyone knows them, I'd love to see them listed in the Lord Darcy entry. There was a reference to the Pink Panther in a later story, and when I find it again, I'll put it in the entry. Steveha 04:53, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
- The Polish refugee Tia Einzig (Tia "Single" or "Solitary" or "Solo") is worried about her uncle, Neapeler Einzig (Napoleon Solo). She learns that he has escaped and is safe. She discovers he is on the Isle of Man. Her uncle is Napoleon Solo, the uncle from Man. Avalon 05:03, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
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- Capital! Thank you for that. I think "Neapleler Einzig" is one, "The Uncle from Man" is another; and you gave me the place to look and I easily found one more. Tia's uncle sent a friend to Tia. The friend was "Goodman Colin MacDavid". Napoleon Solo's partner was played by actor David McCallum. Steveha 05:42, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
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- also, Tia is Spanish for aunt. —Tamfang 00:52, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
- I'm not sure how many people are contract bridge players and Lord Darcy fans, but I've added one in-joke that would only make sense to a bridge player and which I've always recalled with pleasure. I've done this from memory, so if someone can identify the exact passage, that would be helpful. I'll make a note to dig out my copy of the collected Lord Darcy stories and identify the exact location. There are other glancing references to contract bridge, but I can't remember them sufficiently exactly to add them; one has something to do with a "forcing bid". Accounting4Taste 20:03, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
- Found my copy of the stories and one of the references; I've added it, and will continue to add them as I find them. Accounting4Taste 15:04, 28 May 2007 (UTC)
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- Found the other reference, in the same story. Accounting4Taste 01:18, 31 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Sherlock Holmes
The article says that Darcy resembles Sherlock Holmes in a number of ways, but I can't think of any, saving that both men are clever detectives and British. Darcy resembles Wimsey far more than he resembles Holmes. DavidJohns 03:00, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
- It's absolutely justified. Darcy is said to have the deductive facility in its highest form, and Holmes is always shown as a deductive reasoner. Holmes has a lazy but brilliant brother Mycroft; Darcy has a lazy but brilliant cousin, the Marquis de London (who is also very obviously a Nero Wolfe pastiche). Darcy on several occasions makes Holmes-esque comments (if I recall correctly, he once said something like "a relative of mine once said 'Once you have eliminated the impossible, what's left, however improbable, must be the truth.'" The quote is from Holmes.) Also, Darcy smokes a pipe, as does Holmes. (That one might be a stretch; lots of people smoke in the Lord Darcy stories. Darcy's favourite pipe was described but I'm not sure whether it matched Holmes' favourite pipe.) There are of course many differences; Holmes uses opium when bored and Darcy doesn't, Darcy is more prone to actual action than Holmes, and Holmes does all his own forensic investigation while Darcy relies on Master Sean. Holmes is a monomaniac who cares only for investigating crime (when Watson tells Holmes that the Earth orbits the Sun and not vice versa, Holmes replies that he will now attempt to forget this information as it is not applicable to investigating crime and he doesn't want to clutter his memory uselessly!) while Darcy is a more well-rounded figure. Steveha 05:06, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
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- Is Holmes's favorite pipe ever canonically described? —Tamfang 00:53, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
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- That's a subject that has triggered many an article! Briefly: no. He is quoted in one story taking down an "old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a counsellor"; and mentions a briar in one; but the non-canonical calabash was purely a creation of his stage and film imitators. --Orange Mike 17:02, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
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