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I read 'To Die In Italbar', and while I wouldn't say it inspired D&D, the protagonist was the first character I thought of, when later coming across the Healer class in Rolemaster.
Having him take on the injuries and diseases of the afflicted, to suffer them himself while he healed his own body, was much more evocative than simply 'casting a cure spell', and sets a natural limit on the amount of times it can be done.
When the healing PC has to take on the pain of the patient, they're justified in rationing their gift, and asking their reckless, Chaotic Stupid associates 'Why should I be expected to bleed for your mistakes? Do you actually deserve to be healed?'.
Much more difficult to justify being parsimonious with the healing, when you have several wands hanging off your belt.
I read 'To Die In Italbar'
Love that one:
The main character is a geologist! Yay!And it's a sequel to Isle of the Dead! Double yay!
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And following from my previous note, I'd say that it's inevitable that this review project will throw up examples that cause players of today to cry out "That's not D&D!".
And that the most common dealbreaker in every book will be the (explicit or implied) magic system.
A swordswinger is a swordswinger, in any story, and the verisimilitude of the story hangs on whether the reader can believe a trained human can perform the daring deeds described.
No-one (or rather, no-one normal) is going to have their stopwatch out, decrying Leiber for "only giving Fafhrd two attacks per six seconds, when everyone knows he should have qualified for three, after accruing the experience points I calculated on this spreadsheet...<hnnnnnh>....Worst. Fight Scene. Ever. (pushes glasses back up nose)"
But woe betide an author, who describes spontaneous casting, by a character who self-identifies as a 'Wizard'...
The torches and pitchfork salesmen will be rubbing their hands in glee.
[Grumbles and kicks can coz I've got nothing to say. Maybe next week...]
I've read a short story that revolved around the character from Isle of the Dead
"Dismal Star," IIRC, was printed in one of the short story collections -- about Frank Sandow's relationship with his son. Zelazny apparently wrote it as a back-story while working on Isle of the Dead so he could get into the character's head better.
To Die in Italbar is kind of a stealth-sequel, because you don't realize that's the case until about halfway through, IIRC. It also apparently occurs semi-distantly in the future, compared to IotD
Next review is finally up -- Andre Norton's Forerunner. I haven't read this particular novel, but I've read the Witch World series more than once, because it contains some of the coolest fantasy ideas ever dreamed up -- unfortunately hidden by some of the most arid and stilted prose ever written.
Next review is finally up -- Andre Norton's Forerunner. I haven't read this particular novel, but I've read the Witch World series more than once, because it contains some of the coolest fantasy ideas ever dreamed up -- unfortunately hidden by some of the most arid and stilted prose ever written.
'Forerunner' sounds really, really cool - first book they've reviewed (that I've not read) that has definitely caught my eye.
I cut my SF/Fantasy teeth on Andre Norton and highly recommend anything she wrote.
Ooh ooh ooh!
Not only was yesterday's post on Elric, but there's also a whole Elric Reread feature on the same site which I get to link because I posted first.
Jack Williamson review up. I haven't read any of his stuff, but now I plan to. BONUS: Anyone who sends a copy of Legion of Musketeers in Space with Falstaff and Friends to my Kindle gets to be my new best friend forever!
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Shout out to Set re. the extended flashback in Zelazny's Lord of Light. It FINALLY arrived at the library after an interminable wait. I'm almost halfway in and I would have been totally confused if you hadn't mentioned the extended flashback, especially because...
Yay Lord of Light. =)
Shout out to Set re. the extended flashback in Zelazny's Lord of Light.
Reading Lord of Light before seeing Pulp Fiction, or vice versa, is definately a help in either case.
It's worth noting that Andre Norton repaid the favour to Gygax by writing two novels (or one and co-writing another) set in the GREYHAWK setting, which is quite cool.
LORD OF LIGHT is an astonishing novel.
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Shout out to Set re. the extended flashback in Zelazny's Lord of Light. It FINALLY arrived at the library after an interminable wait. I'm almost halfway in and I would have been totally confused if you hadn't mentioned the extended flashback, especially because... ** spoiler omitted ** So, thanks Set. I'm enjoying LoL so far, even if it took me awhile to figure out what was going on even with your warning.
Tons of great stuff in that book. Zelazny was amazing at tossing in throwaway bits that, in the hands of a writer like Tolkien or Robert Jordan would have probably been at least a chapter, if not an entire book, on their own.
The Rakshasa and the Mothers of the Terrible Glow, and the dozens of totally cool items, like Rudra's bow or Agni's wand. Gosh. Some epic power there! The 'bath' that Rild had been exposed to was reminiscent of Achilles being dipped in the river, or Siegfried bathing in the dragon's blood to become invulnerable, creating a surreal blending of different mythic archetypes.
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Lin Carter's The Warrior of World's End is the next review. I'd never heard of it, but the cover looks awesome. Metal eagle + flying cities FTW!
That sounds like an ace read!
Also, full marks to Lin for featuring a star sign called 'Bazonga', if the review is to be believed.
I love, love, love the exchange that starts with this quote:
As the game evolved and kind of solidified into what most people play as a relatively traditional fantasy setting, D&D lost some of the anything-goes bravado of its early incarnations.
I often miss that bravado!
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JOHN BELLAIRS! JOHN BELLAIRS!
Can you tell I'm a fan?
I mostly (okay, only) knew him from his YA works, but "The Face in the Frost" started it all. I think he would have been a good Miskatonic/Cthulhu fan-fiction writer, because of all the great "weird" elements he puts in his books.
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"Several centuries (or so) ago, in a country whose name doesn't matter, there was a tall, skinny, straggly-bearded old wizard named Prospero, and not the one you are thinking of, either."
OTOH, I think based on the stories he tells that Roger Bacon is indeed supposed to be the English monk.
I read "The Face in the Frost" to my kids when they were in the 8-11 range, and my daughter still loves it ten years later. Bellairs had a knack for prose that sounded good when spoken aloud. I also strongly disagree with Tim Callahan regarding the plot; I don't think it slows down or weakens at all in the last third.
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Continuing the Appendix N readings, there is a new entry on an author I'd never heard of before: Fred Saberhagen.
Berserkers!
I also strongly disagree with Tim Callahan regarding the plot; I don't think it slows down or weakens at all in the last third.
I'm with you. I love, love, LOVE Face in the Frost. Curses hidden in shifting lines of runes? The entire village of Five Dials
I can't rave enough about its awesomeness. The sheer eeriness and dread of the horror aspects, coupled with the humor and whimsy, in my mind combine to form a near-perfect fantasy blend.
Continuing the Appendix N readings, there is a new entry on an author I'd never heard of before: Fred Saberhagen.
I want to read that trilogy now! I loved Saberhagan's "Swords" trilogy, and a year or two ago sent my home group through a modified version of the underground Blue Temple from Book 2, which was a lot of fun (although I'm not sure anyone had read the books, so there were none of the "ah-ha!" moments I was hoping for).
I want to read that trilogy now! I loved Saberhagan's "Swords" trilogy, and a year or two ago sent my home group through a modified version of the underground Blue Temple from Book 2, which was a lot of fun (although I'm not sure anyone had read the books, so there were none of the "ah-ha!" moments I was hoping for).Continuing the Appendix N readings, there is a new entry on an author I'd never heard of before: Fred Saberhagen.
+1.
And reading that description linked...
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Yes! Ardneh is the main good deity in BoS, IIRC.
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Continuing the Appendix N readings, there is a new entry on an author I'd never heard of before: Fred Saberhagen.
But the reviewer mixed up which side was East and which was West in the story, which I found kind of jarring. I'm not sure if he twigged to what I thought of as the real Big Reveal regarding Ardneh, either.
Changeling Earth, incidentally, inspired what was (and still comes close to being) the best RPG campaign I ever played in.
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Yes! Ardneh is the main good deity in BoS, IIRC.
I thought so =) I have the books sitting on my shelves - I got the compilations of both Swords trilogies as an Xmas gift a few years back - but haven't been able to reread them recently. I might just have to do that soon.
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Changeling Earth, incidentally, inspired what was (and still comes close to being) the best RPG campaign I ever played in.
Now I definitely want to read it...
Changeling Earth, incidentally, inspired what was (and still comes close to being) the best RPG campaign I ever played in.Now I definitely want to read it...
+1 yet again. To the Kindle! ... when I get home >_>
I dropped the Swords themselves into my first actual campaign, pitting the PCs against a Cult of Tiamat to collect them, and the players seemed to have really enjoyed the ensuing story, at least from the multiple references back to it they've made in the years since. Helped that most of my group had also read the books and understood the kind of dangers they were playing with here, as well.
Anyone who hasn't read the books I'd recommend them, they're a pretty fun low-magic fantasy romp (well, low-magic except for the actual gods walking around in some of the middle and later books).
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Continuing the Appendix N readings, there is a new entry on an author I'd never heard of before: Fred Saberhagen.
To continue in my vein of pretentious author snobbery, Saberhagen's Swords books get all the press, but Empire of the East, IMO, is just a way better book.
I was already convinced to read them, Set; no need for the hard sell!
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Here is Callahan's damning-with-faint-praise review of The Best of Fredric Brown. I haven't read Brown's anthology, but it seems to me that maybe Callahan is a bit too tough on the guy.
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Haven't read Brown (another one! yay!), but Gygax was all about "pervert the tropes to screw with the players" (or, sometimes, simply "to screw the player characters"), so I can definitely see the connection.
Re: deCamp and Pratt, man, does Callahan HATE them! His ongoing screed against them spills over into his Brown review and dominates that, too! Which sure goes to show that tastes vary, because given a choice of one (1) paperback to bring to Army basic training, I packed deCamp & Pratt's collected "Compleat Enchanter" stories without much hesitation.
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Haven't read Brown (another one! yay!), but Gygax was all about "pervert the tropes to screw with the players" (or, sometimes, simply "to screw the player characters"), so I can definitely see the connection.
Re: deCamp and Pratt, man, does Callahan HATE them! His ongoing screed against them spills over into his Brown review and dominates that, too! Which sure goes to show that tastes vary, because given a choice of one (1) paperback to bring to Army basic training, I packed deCamp & Pratt's collected "Compleat Enchanter" stories without much hesitation.
I like some of Sprague de Camp, and Callahan's review detesting that particular one of his novels didn't phase me. But it annoys me too that Callahan's being PO'd at de Camp and Pratt spilled over into his review of Brown. The two had nothing to do with each other and it puts the Brown book in a somewhat false light. It's a bad comparison, like comparing Brown to Asimov or Heinlein would have been.
I DID like that Callahan referenced the episode of Star Trek where Kirk fights the Gorn. I own that one on DVD. :) Also, no way could I ever do basic training -- only 1 book?! Never! I'm a die-hard bibliophile, and you can take my books when you pry them from my dead, ink-stained fingers.
Also, no way could I ever do basic training -- only 1 book?! Never!
I didn't even get to read that one, as it turns out.
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Brown is an excellent representative of a particular strain of urban fantasy popular in the Thirties and Forties, and sits on a line that joins Saki, Henry Kuttner, to some extent Fritz Leiber, Avram Davidson, and (more recently) Michael Swanwick. His style is somewhat dated, yes, but I think he deserves better than the slagging he got from Callahan.
That said, I'm also not sure why Gygax included Brown in Appendix N. Though I really didn't like Callahan's speculations in that area. If I had to guess, I'd point to Brown's influence on Leiber and Kuttner, both of whom had a greater direct influence on the fantasy traditions that fed into D&D.
I love Saki. And Leiber. And deCamp & Pratt. Maybe I need to give Brown a try!
Re: Kuttner, I found The Dark World to be a tiresome retread of A. Merritt's much superior Dwellers in the Mirage (also in Appendix N!).
*takes notes of names for later investigation*
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I love Saki. And Leiber. And deCamp & Pratt. Maybe I need to give Brown a try!
Re: Kuttner, I found The Dark World to be a tiresome retread of A. Merritt's much superior Dwellers in the Mirage (also in Appendix N!).
My very first post on these here boards was to make a somewhat similar point, although as I said then I think Kuttner had better characterization. (I'd have to reread them both to be sure, but Kuttner may also have been...let's say inspired by Merritt's The Face in the Abyss when he wrote Valley of the Flame. At the very least the settings were similar.)
Something I hadn't realized until I went looking for the names of those last two novels was that Roger Zelazny claimed that The Dark World was one of his inspirations for the Amber books.
Something I hadn't realized until I went looking for the names of those last two novels was that Roger Zelazny claimed that The Dark World was one of his inspirations for the Amber books.
DW has a main character
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Haven't read Brown (another one! yay!), but Gygax was all about "pervert the tropes to screw with the players" (or, sometimes, simply "to screw the player characters"), so I can definitely see the connection.
Re: deCamp and Pratt, man, does Callahan HATE them! His ongoing screed against them spills over into his Brown review and dominates that, too! Which sure goes to show that tastes vary, because given a choice of one (1) paperback to bring to Army basic training, I packed deCamp & Pratt's collected "Compleat Enchanter" stories without much hesitation.
Harold Shea kicks ass! And so does The Well of the Unicorn!
Down with Callahan!
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Something I hadn't realized until I went looking for the names of those last two novels was that Roger Zelazny claimed that The Dark World was one of his inspirations for the Amber books.DW has a main character ** spoiler omitted **
What's kind of interesting to me is that those elements are part of the window dressing that distinguishes DW from Mirage; the core plots are nearly identical, down to the romance, but Kuttner hung some extra stuff on his version.
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"Bow-tied uncle" strikes me as a good all-purpose insult, though
"Damn you for a parcel of bow-tied uncles!"
"I mean, I'm broad-minded, but that sort of bow-tied uncle Hentai stuff... Euch!"
"Gold booty shorts... That weird twin-hairy-eggs hairdo... grinding up against Robin Thicke and doing goodness knows what with a foam finger - what a bow-tied uncle she is..."
I may have to borrow that.
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I finally read Jack Williamson's "With Folded Hands." It was like a good episode of The Twilight Zone. There are some unfortunate connotations with the "Humanoid mechanicals" being "small and black" and objects of fear or maybe they were intentionally described that way to play off of suburban mid-century American xenophobia (the story was written in 1947).
It's a fun read, with that lovely dissonance that mid-century sci-fi evokes between expected mechanical advances and reliance on known technical means (e.g. CRTs & nuclear fission exist side-by-side). There might even be a message in there for our own times, about reliance on technology (even if the Jetsons' Rosie isn't trying to take over the world).