Susano Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor Pshaw. I read through Xanth up to... either Ogre' date=' Orgre or Nightmare, I'm not sure which was the last before they utterly went to pieces and he really started reaching. I also read chunks of average drek fantasy, although my sister was big on McCafferty/Dragons of Pern I never got into it, nor was I able to swallow the bitter pill called [i']Yadda of Shannara[/i], which makes me a blasphemer in some circles. I read a lot more Jr. Lit than fantasy, and the bulk of the fantasy was mythology. I used to be a Xanth nut, and had around... a dozen of them before I realized how bad they were (okay the first three are fairly good for what they are, but afterwards?). I mean, Xanth in A Spell for Chameleon was a dangerous place where the inattentive could get killed simply by sleeping under the wrong trees! Later one, a toddler can wander around Xanth an not only not get killed, but befriend dragons and monsters! I also read The Sword of Shannara and was addicted to it in High School (the deluxe illustrated edition from the SFBC helped). I then read the first sequel and was totally unimpressed. Years later I tried to read Sword again and stopped maybe 1 1/2 pages in. It was that bad and quickly went on the Yard Sale pile. I read Dragonriders and owned many of the books and rather liked them -- especially in Middle School. These days? I sold off my books. I do recall reading a few Gor books but found them boring. I recently re-read my Elric books and am keeping them only to write-up various monsters, then they get dumped. On the flip side, I'm currently re-reading my Conan collection -- the new Del Ray ones, which are all the original REH stories with the original text, and those are keepers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor And isn't it strange how that wheel turns, though? I always feel like I'm the weird one because I lost so many dates (with women I'd probably rather not date, but hey) because I shrugged off most fantasy as garbage. I couldn't read it non-critically. Harry Potter - great example. Book One. It's new. I give it leeway because it's new; it's not brilliant, it's not bad, it plays with lots of archetypical themes and I really enjoy it for what it is. It's enjoyable, not the new gold standard of children's lit. It's not lit, it's pop, but entertaining pop. Things get darker. Darker. DARKER. Wow. Someone turn on a damn light. Then I read book six. And I am now bitter. Railroading, bad GMing (from a DM standpoint, the pacing is shot to pieces in book 6; all filler, no killer) and a tremendous obvious close that not only ticked me off, but was so poorly handled that I found myself biting my own tongue. "Gee, Harry better be around to see the big soliloquy, since the camera never ever leaves him." ARGH... I enjoy the books. True story, I enjoy them. I read each one cover to cover; but the last couple I've skimmed through the moray of teen drama to get to the actual... whaddyacallit... PLOT. I'd rather read lit. Or Tolstoy's Once & Future King. Or Morte D'Arthur. Then at least I know what I'm getting into. But please, keep your copies of Faerie Queen, I hate Spencer. Oh, side note. When I was in my teens, Riftwar was my favorite four book series ever. I don't know if it'd withstand the test of time as Faerie Tale did, but I found the entire thing to be extremely satisfying, with only minor bits of reaching in book four, when Pug/Milamber had become... well, a God. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hancock.tom Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor I never saw what the big deal was with Harry Potter. It always seemed like a very second rate Narnia to me, and now that the Narnia movie has come out, a lot of my friends who do like Harry Potter (nearly all females who didn't read fantasy pre-potter) want to borrow my Narnia books because the Narnia movie kicks the new potter movie's butt. Susano, I am also re-reading Conan in the new del ray books. They also have a great reprint of his solomon kane stories. I haven't checked out the bran mak morn compilation they did. Their new lovecraft compilations are also great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor The only Lovecraft I ever read was House of Birds or something - a graphic novel I must've reread two dozen times, now long lost amidst the flotsam of forgotten bits of my childhood. Pidgeons From Hell? That ring a bell for anyone? However, I think one of my favorite films ever (I'd have to see it again, I saw it once and it sort of stuck) was Cast A Deadly Spell, which was very Lovecraftian in its inspiration. I'm pretty sure if I saw it again it wouldn't stand up, but I remember being all agog at the time. I've also been told to rent the new Call of Cthulu videogame, that it's genuinely terrifying and absurdly unforgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor I never saw what the big deal was with Harry Potter. It always seemed like a very second rate Narnia to me, and now that the Narnia movie has come out, a lot of my friends who do like Harry Potter (nearly all females who didn't read fantasy pre-potter) want to borrow my Narnia books because the Narnia movie kicks the new potter movie's butt. Susano, I am also re-reading Conan in the new del ray books. They also have a great reprint of his solomon kane stories. I haven't checked out the bran mak morn compilation they did. Their new lovecraft compilations are also great. I own the whole run of Del Rey REH. Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane, and Conan. Pity they are stopping there. Didn't know they were doing anything new with Lovecraft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor The only Lovecraft I ever read was House of Birds or something - a graphic novel I must've reread two dozen times' date=' now long lost amidst the flotsam of forgotten bits of my childhood. [i']Pidgeons From Hell[/i]? That ring a bell for anyone? Pigeons From Hell is a Robert E Howard story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor Oh, hey, all the better. I was always under the impression it was Lovecraft. Meh, that's the ravages of time for you, and thanks for the clarification! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor I used to be a Xanth nut' date=' and had around... a dozen of them before I realized how bad they were (okay the first three are fairly good for what they are, but afterwards?). I mean, Xanth in [i']A Spell for Chameleon[/i] was a dangerous place where the inattentive could get killed simply by sleeping under the wrong trees! Later one, a toddler can wander around Xanth an not only not get killed, but befriend dragons and monsters! To be fair, that toddler had the freakin' Power Cosmic. And survived about six flavors of nigh-inevitable death only because she was, entirely unconsciously, mindwarping the biggest, baddest monster around from a savage killer into a fluffy pet... and loyal bodyguard. They had to retcon Princess Ivy's power in later books to work at full effect *only* if she was doing it unconsciously (the centipede's dilemna), because otherwise, she would have ascended to godhood. My own opinion is that the series start slipping after 'Crewel Lye', started really slipping after 'Golem in the Gears', and became absolutely unreadable about 3/4ths of the way through 'Man from Mundania'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor As for Shannara... OK, my opinions: Sword of Shannara -- Christopher Tolkien called, he wants his father's storyboards back. I mean, blatant. Elfstones of Shannara -- not half bad, actually. Nicely bittersweet anime ending. I can hear the sad electric violin from here. Well executed for that sort of thing. Wishsong of Shannara -- It created the character of Garet Jax (even if it had him die nobly in battle, *sniff*), and it had Allanon get eaten by demons. What's not to love? Everything Else of Shannara -- Jesus God, Brooks, just shut up already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor *stares at the empty wrapper, a forgotten remnant of his now destroyed roast beef sammich... and wonders if he's still hungry* But - what do you think of Feist's Riftwar Saga? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hancock.tom Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor But - what do you think of Feist's Riftwar Saga? Its not as funny as Pratchett's DISCWORLD novels. I know it isn't supposed to be, but i thought I would point that out. I don't know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor Riftwar? Only read the revised editions, and only the first two books. I really loved -- I mean, *really* loved -- the first half of Magician: Apprentice. I wanted to do a campaign set in the Duke's castle, with his court as the NPCs. Wonderfully-statted out little domain, full of interesting people. Then the main plot started. And I started to lose enthusiasm. I got a fresh dose of enthusiasm back when the whole business about the King and Court started up, but every time the action shifted to the other side of the gate and the alternate continuum, well, I kept judging the land of whichever (see how much it stuck with me?) against Rokugan, and it kept coming up second best. And Pug himself sort of... let's just say I think Harry Potter had the far better coming-of-age and into-great-power story, and I'm not exactly the biggest Potter fan. So, I stopped reading after Magician: Master. ... oh, and 'Martin Longbow is really the bastard son and the heir to the thronez0r!' I wanted to throw the book at the wall when I hit that one. Yeeesh. And don't get me started on Tomas and the armor of the ancient lord whichever. I ran better subplots in 1st edition AD&D, before I was sixteen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor See, those were the fantasy books that I loved - truly loved - although I'm not about to contest that it was pulp, at best. That's the joy of having read it in my teens and letting those memories stay with me. I never actually concerned myself with how many cliches Martin Longbow swam in, or his generally cliched personality. What I actually found interesting was the 'other' world because the concept hadn't occured to me up until that point, to do a world that had no metal, super strong ceramics, yadda yadda. Agreed, court politics made for some great opening plot and those characters were involved throughout the bulk of the plot. The one that made me twitch was that the "big bad army leader" with his Golden Eagle on black and the Noble Honest Duke had their falling out over a woman, and it carried into blah blah blah... *sigh* See? I was much happier with my memories, rather than trying to guage it against my current ability to story tell. Thanks for ruining a perfectly good childhood memory, CHUCK. I'm leaving you very negative feedback. Hmph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckg Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor Hey, you asked. Fortunately, my own childhood memories are of LotR and Narnia, and those two are just about unkillable by critics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor I read Narnia through multiple times; it amazes me how the book was so subtle in its allegory (I was young, I missed it) and the film was so blatant, all without making any effort whatsoever. True story. I did ask. Like a dumbass. Faerie Tale is still a good book, and you don't hear a lot of people calling Morte D'Arthur cliched, now do you? And as I said, the bulk of my fantasy were Grimm fairy tales. Speaking of which, did anyone see the film Brother's Grimm? Did it suck utterly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor Speaking of which' date=' did anyone see the film [i']Brother's Grimm[/i]? Did it suck utterly? I liked it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor I never saw what the big deal was with Harry Potter. It always seemed like a very second rate Narnia to me' date=' and now that the Narnia movie has come out, a lot of my friends who do like Harry Potter (nearly all females who didn't read fantasy pre-potter) want to borrow my Narnia books because the Narnia movie kicks the new potter movie's butt.[/quote'] Acutally Harry Potter is a gender-switched The Worst Witch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor I read Narnia through multiple times; it amazes me how the book was so subtle in its allegory (I was young' date=' I missed it) and the film was so blatant, all without making any effort whatsoever.[/quote'] Now that's thread drift for ya. Start with Gor, end with Narnia. It casts new light on what Aslan and the White Witch were getting up to, doesn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor "There's nothing that can be done, except drink until the part of the brain that makes mental pictures dies!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hancock.tom Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor Speaking of which' date=' did anyone see the film [i']Brother's Grimm[/i]? Did it suck utterly? Suck Utterly? It made the D&D movie look good. Brothers Grimm was funny, plenty of good action, a handful of neat special effects, and was chock full of original ideas. The movie had more plot holes than a microsoft product has security holes. It butchered all of the Grimm fairy tales. Six Words: Evil gingerbread man made of mud. Comparing the plot and its holes to swiss cheese or windows doesn't even do it justice. This thing was like watching your kid nephew baking cookies without a recipe. Lots of great ideas in there, some of them are really original and could have been great with an expert implementing them, but the end result is totally disorganized. Luckily, it doesn't appear we should be cursed with another one. The movie only grossed about 1/2 its budget in theaters, which is basically a death knell to the sequel. All that said, if you dont mind no plot it is fun. I had fun watching it. If you are the type that can have fun watching a bad film, this one is for you. Now, to relate this to the chronicles of Gor (because I would never hijack a thread), Are there any werewolves on Gor? Brothers Grimm had a werewolf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor Now that's thread drift for ya. Start with Gor, end with Narnia. It casts new light on what Aslan and the White Witch were getting up to, doesn't it? I'm with McCoy on this. I need a drink. You know... they did spend an awful lot of time in that tent... Now that I've destroyed another child hood memory... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmadanNaBriona Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor I'm with McCoy on this. I need a drink. You know... they did spend an awful lot of time in that tent... Now that I've destroyed another child hood memory... paraphrasing a joke, to fit the drift... Why did Aslan die on the mount? Because he forgot his safeword! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor O. M. G. I hate you for this. Seriously. Repped. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor I loved Narnia as a kid. Darn, you for the Narnia-Gor crossover. Must get mental picture out of mind....(badger gets bottle of pine sol and tries pouring in his ear in a desperate effort to clean his brain) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 Re: Chronicles of Gor It's like India Ink, dude. That **** don't come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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