Yes, this, all of this. I only recently picked the book up, and it's nice to see that others share my frustration.
I'm so confused as to what this match was meant to be. Was it an actual duel, with rules and such? If so, why didn't we get the ground rules, because if I were in charge, I would severely doubt that these crooks would know proper duelling etiquette. If it's to purely show off their combat ability? Why would it matter if they fought 'dirty'? And why the hell is an ASSASSIN the one complaining about fighting dirty? Heck, WHY IS SHE *NOT* THE ONE FIGHTING DIRTY? She doesn't sound like an assassin; she sounds more like a glory-hound gladiator.
As for the rapiers, I'm no HEMA practitioner, but I sporfled a bit at how they were used here. I sadly can't find the video now, but I remember watching a competitor in some sort of final accidentally whip his rapier into his opponent's when they both went in at the same time. Guess what happened? His rapier snapped. I just kept having an image of these twits freezing up in surprise as these beautiful, ornate swords just snapped and they're left with half a blade each.
(Mind you, those were modern day fencing rapiers they were using, which look a heck of a lot skinnier and less robust than their historical counterparts meant for actual battle, but you gotta find entertainment where you can. Real rapiers were actually quite formidable, and indeed could be used to deliver some devastating slashing blows. What annoys me the most, though, is that she singles out a rapier and then ABANDONS THE RAPIER'S KEY ADVANTAGE AS A BLADE: its range! You don't close in with a blade like that, you use it to keep opponents at a safe distance. I could understand it if he closed one of them closed the distance quickly and the sword clash and attempted grapple was the rushed counter, but I got no sense of that at all.)
Anyway, my two cents. Thanks for the entertaining commentary!
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Date: 2016-10-24 11:51 am (UTC)I'm so confused as to what this match was meant to be. Was it an actual duel, with rules and such? If so, why didn't we get the ground rules, because if I were in charge, I would severely doubt that these crooks would know proper duelling etiquette. If it's to purely show off their combat ability? Why would it matter if they fought 'dirty'? And why the hell is an ASSASSIN the one complaining about fighting dirty? Heck, WHY IS SHE *NOT* THE ONE FIGHTING DIRTY? She doesn't sound like an assassin; she sounds more like a glory-hound gladiator.
As for the rapiers, I'm no HEMA practitioner, but I sporfled a bit at how they were used here. I sadly can't find the video now, but I remember watching a competitor in some sort of final accidentally whip his rapier into his opponent's when they both went in at the same time. Guess what happened? His rapier snapped. I just kept having an image of these twits freezing up in surprise as these beautiful, ornate swords just snapped and they're left with half a blade each.
(Mind you, those were modern day fencing rapiers they were using, which look a heck of a lot skinnier and less robust than their historical counterparts meant for actual battle, but you gotta find entertainment where you can. Real rapiers were actually quite formidable, and indeed could be used to deliver some devastating slashing blows. What annoys me the most, though, is that she singles out a rapier and then ABANDONS THE RAPIER'S KEY ADVANTAGE AS A BLADE: its range! You don't close in with a blade like that, you use it to keep opponents at a safe distance. I could understand it if he closed one of them closed the distance quickly and the sword clash and attempted grapple was the rushed counter, but I got no sense of that at all.)
Anyway, my two cents. Thanks for the entertaining commentary!