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dr_mitch
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- dr_mitch
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Comments
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Definitely antagonists rather than characters in something I'm involved in. But I'm very very taken with them in that role, as mentioned in response to another question.
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There's no big baddie, but there are lots of petty villains...Trewas, Brother Umphred, Carfilhiot, Murgen, and King Casimir. They have human motivations, and to an extent relatable, but they're definitely nasty pieces of work. That said, much of the…
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There's one spectacular point of world-building here...Vance's approach to the fae. They're alien to humans, and vice-versa, dangerous but sometimes helpful, deceitful but bound by rules, and both powerful and weak. It's one of my two favourite trea…
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Concentrating just on fantasy (I've not read much Vance SF), Lyonesse doesn't have the cheerful nihilism of the Dying Earth. But it very much has Vance's writing style, his dry wit, instances of verbal logic taken to extremes, and the uncertainty of…
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Sailing to Sarentium was the first Guy Gavriel Kay I read (and Lord of Emperors the second; I remember rushing to the book store to start reading it immediately once I'd finished Sailing to Sarentium). I've not reread much Kay yet (I think Lions of…
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Hi @Loz and hello @Feral_Ink Nice to have you here.
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Ah, I hadn't counted rereads. Obviously, Lord of the Rings stood out, not just for being, well, Lord of the Rings, but it stood out amongst Lord of the Rings readings because of the way we read and discussed it as a slow read.
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(Quote) I'd absolutely love us to do an Asimov at some point. I think I've read every bit of science fiction he's written, and he obsessed me at one point. It would be great for me to revisit.
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Great idea. I've not read any of those books. I'd gladly read any of them. My lowest priorities might be the Clarke (I've never read a Clarke I've actually loved) and the Ballard (it's been ages since I've read Ballard, but I'm finding myself not i…
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Fahrenheit 451 actually doesn't do much for me. The Martian Chronicles are the best Bradbury I've read, and one of the best collections of linked short stories I've read. I also enjoyed Something Wicked this Way Comes.
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(Quote) Apart from the rules, there are similarities as we drew from the same sources, and took the same approach starting with "dark ages" history and using some elements of Arthurian myth. So both are post-Roman Britain settings with so…
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(Quote) Oh.... Padarn Redcoat was of course in Scotland (Gododdin), and his grandson was Cunedda Wledig, who founded Gwynedd. So that would make him a Pict, and presumably others who went with him to found the kingdom.
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There's definitely confusion between Picts and the little people. Though the Picts are a variant Celtic population, different to the Brythonic population of most of Britain and Ireland in that time.
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I quite like things being small scale. But maybe when it comes down to it, I really like the post-Roman period of history while not necessarily being so fussed by another retelling of the Arthur myth, the main notes of which are very familiar indeed.
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Thinking about it, Tyrion from Game of Thrones counts here.
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Yes, I do need to read the Jack Whyte series. There are others too I didn't mention but have read...David Gemmell comes to mind.
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I'll answer myself. In terms of post-Roman and early Dark Ages history, I've read a fair bit, and there's little to no evidence that Arthur is anything but pure fiction. There are plenty of authors who say otherwise, but no two agree, and they tend …
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I liked the fact that love and sex were plot elements, and Artos' encounter with Ygerna broke him. I also generally prefer to avoid sex scenes of the form "who did what to whom, and who stuck which body part where". I agree with @Apocryph…
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Oh yes, no round table. Though the Companions were Arthur's fellowship of knights. And of the knights only Lancelot/Bedivere (Bedwyr), Gawain (Gwalchmai, though much changed from other versions) and Cei (Kay) seem to be there. I did love the Arthur…
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I would definitely say that Bedwyr resembles the traditional Lancelot (aside from the name) more than Bedivere. I think the character's an amalgam.
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As said elsewhere, I'm pretty sure the little dark people aren't Unromanised Britons, but another population again, besides the Celtic Britons, the Roman Britons, the Scots (from Ireland), and the Saxons.
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The battles weren't the main thing which engaged me. I enjoyed the gruelling winter with disaster meaning food was almost gone, and everything involving Guenhumara.
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To make my "stand in for fairies" remark more clear, I'm thinking of them being a target of superstitious dread, living in hollow hills, moving without notice, and their miniature bows and poisoned arrows resembling elf-shot. But... in my…
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For me, there was tension in the book, or maybe a certain amount of dread at bad things which were certain to happen, but there was no tension in the battle scenes. I quite liked that they were "remote and hazy memories of battle" though. …
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(Quote) Oops. Fixed.
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The questions and threads are now here!
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No holy grail, no Lancelot, and no Merlin. Though there is a notable sword, rightfully belonging to the High King.
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Gotcha...one thread for each question. General comments on the book- it's so long ago I'd read it that I'd forgotten and just retained a few impressions. And this time it started off really slowly for me, feeling a bit of a struggle, wondering what…
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Jerry Grayson (author of Bastion, as mentioned by @Apocryphal above) has been writing RPGs for a while. I'm a fan of Hellas, his "ancient Greeks in space" setting (yes, really). He also wrote and published the current edition of Atlantis: …
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I'm away this weekend, but I'll post up the discussion questions on Monday 3rd December.