[Lady Atheilen]

Have started the book and am enjoying it so far. The writing style is quite distinct and original. It's like a fun adventure story that actually succeeds in being fun for once.

Criticisms so far...
What's with the Incompetent Misogynist Father-In-Law? Sigh. Just once, I'd like to see some brilliant woman-haters or stupid feminists that are actually intentionally stupid. In the modern era, I'd think that anyone who thinks half the population is useless IS an idiot, but Back Then, most kings probably shared Iadon's opinions.

I keep waiting for Sarene to screw up in a big way, but somehow I don't think she will. Same with Raoden. Normally this would make me Really Mad, but right now I'm having too much fun to care. We shall see.

Hrathen might actually be interesting, from the the looks of things. *gasphorror* Usually, evil religious head priests bore me to tears, but well, I read ahead a bit, and now I'm anticipating something more.

[euol]

Hey, no worries, folks! I posted because I thought you made your points quite eloquently, and I couldn't resist throwing something in. You were critical, but your comments were informed, and the thread had more meat to it than simple insult trading.

Actually, I've been very impressed of what I've seen of this forum in general. It certainly seems more active than most that are attached to a particular writer.

Anyway, happy reading! Athi, once you’ve finished the book, I’d be very curious to hear your opinion. I have a lot of confidence in it, and certainly hope it doesn’t disappoint. But, if it does, I’d like to hear why.

Dark Daze--the greatest compliment you can pay an author is to read his work. Buying it is secondary, in my opinion. Not that I’d complain if you did. . . .

[Lady Atheilen]

LOL, well, maybe I should have been more clear. I didn't think the essay was bad. It just seems like on every single forum I attend, somebody has to bring up Tolkien and whether or not he was good/bad for the genre. It usually degenerates pretty quickly into OMGTolkienshouldneverhaveexisted!!!!111 Mieville is TEH ROXXORZ!!!!!! vs. HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE SACRED WORDS OF THE MASTER OMG???? MIEVILLE IS AN UPSTART!!!! (Mieville ALWAYS comes up.) As someone who likes both authors but isn't passionate about either, I get bored of this really quickly, so at any hint of it, I am on the defensive. Most of these posters don't make their point as well as you do, at least not past the first two posts.

Looking forward to starting the book. Will certainly post what I thought here. One of the reasons I have trepidation is that my expectations are high, so if it's merely okay I'll be disappointed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Athi

[euol]

quote:

I agree about Tolkien though - his prose wasn't very good, just longwinded and written as if he was writing the bible at times, but the description itself was usually described by the use of archaic, but simplistic, language

I don't know. I LOVE reading the Hobbit out-loud. There's a rhythm to Tolkien's prose, a beauty, that is very auditory. LotR can get a bit thick at times, but when it's good, I think it's really good.

All this talk of Wolfe reminds me of something my editor wrote on my manuscript once. I'd made a particularly good turn of phrase, using a somewhat obscure vocabulary word. By editor crossed out the word and said "You can't be Gene Wolfe for one sentence!"

I still disagree with that particular change, but I agree with the soul of his comment. I love stories, and I love to tell stories. That's why I became an author. If I let my attempts at writing pretty prose overshadow the story, then I'll end up with a mess--because I think I can write stories as good as (or better than) most of the people writing right now. However, I can't do prose like Mieville or Wolfe. And, if I try to put myself up next to them, I'll just end up making an idiot of myself.

I think, by the way, this is where genre fiction runs into so much trouble with the literary community. Many of them refuse to acknowledge that an excellent story with intentionally translucent prose can be as great a work of art as a meandering story with poetic prose.

[euol]

Whew! You guys are harsh. I didn't think this little essay was all THAT inflammatory. But, then, I guess I can see where you're coming from--I'm immediately wary whenever anyone mentions Tolkien. Generally, I think "Who is this joker, and what business does he have comparing himself to the master?"

Let's see...what can I say in my defense? I'm certainly not Michael Moorcock! He's a man whose writing and mind I respect greatly. Maybe after I've been doing this for thirty years, I'll be where he is. For now, I'm just the new kid on the block.

However, my essay wasn't meant to be a literary masterpiece. I simply noticed something interesting, and thought I'd comment on it. The soul of the essay was by no means meant to be a criticism of Tolkien. It just interested me that by being SO good SO early in the development of fantasy as a genre, he did some interesting things to...well, the development of fantasy as a genre.

I am familiar with China's comments on Tolkien, and I really don't agree with them. One of the reasons I wrote this little essay was to try and offer a different opinion--that, instead of being terrible and ruining fantasy, Tolkien was excellent and ruined fantasy. I admitted inside the essay itself, however, that I was overstating my case intentionally.

But, well, it's no masterpiece--I'll certainly give you that! It's more a blog entry than it is a literary essay. (If it's any consolation, I wrote it a while ago for a website run by a friend of mine. I didn't actually intend to post it to my site--but my brother and webmaster has been collecting a lot of my writings over the years and putting them together in one 'rants' section. I was amused that this was the essay that popped up the same month that my book was released--but, then, I didn't take it down, either. I still think the concept is interesting.)

Now, let's see. Lady Atheilen--I hope you don't end up thinking the purchase was a mistake! If it's any consolation, I've yet to have anyone read it and dislike it. George Martin thought the ending could use some work, and Kirkus thought that the names were awkward, but both generally liked the novel--and they were the harshest criticisms I've come by so far. I have no trouble in admitting that I’m better at fiction than I am at essays!

[Lady Atheilen]

*snerk*

I find the whole thing amusing because I like Mieville and Tolkien at roughly the same level and think they have the same strengths and weaknesses.

But maybe we should take this to another thread, if people still feel like discussing it...?

[Lady Atheilen]

Ainulindale- just to be clear, my comments about other debates were in no way directed at you, in case you thought so.

[Lady Atheilen]

Yeah, I bought it in hardcover cause of recommendations and my love for magic cities, but I've been hearing I might have made a mistake. Will let you know my thoughts.