Miscellaneous Chatter > Literature

Stephen R. Donaldson

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Wilshire:
Should anyone want to actually continue on topic please jump in at any time. Off topic conversations can be moved, but I'm to lazy to do it without reason.


--- Quote from: MSJ on January 04, 2018, 08:36:23 pm ---You'd definitely enjoy TRAITOR SON CYCLE, and another excellent series is TOWER OF BABEL, by Josiah Bancroft, which is unlike anything I've read in fantasy in a long time.

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I'm not sworn off fantasy, lots out there to read.
My problem is only reading 10 books a year lol.

 
--- Quote from: MSJ on January 04, 2018, 08:36:23 pm ---But, I agree. Most fantasy follows the Tolkien template.

--- End quote ---
Glad you agree. For some reason, fantasy appears to have this massive hero-worship-complex with Tolkien, and I think that stagnated the entire genre for decades.  Contrast that with Herbert or Asimov - those generally called the 'fathers' of scifi  - seem to enjoy much appreciation, but nothing close to the same reverence.

 
--- Quote from: MSJ on January 04, 2018, 08:36:23 pm ---T hats what has made me a Bakker fan boy. He uses elements of traditional fantasy, then turns them on their heads.

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Me too ;)

MSJ:

--- Quote from:  Wilshire ---I'm not sworn off fantasy, lots out there to read.
My problem is only reading 10 books a year lol.
--- End quote ---

Then I'd truly recommend TOWER OF BABEL, by Josiah Bancroft. Nothing traditional about it. And, the options are limitless in that setting.

Thing called Sarcellus:
The Gap Cycle is probably my favorite series, definitely my most read.  Donaldson in my opinion has an excellent grasp of the human psychology and does well to try to make the reader understand why it is that "bad" people do the terrible things they do.  That is one thing I find missing in The Seventh Decimate.  The characters seem flat and the story is so far quite generic.  (Potential spoiler) the main character has such a fierce hatred for sorcery that it seems blatantly obvious to me that he probably becomes some kind of super sorcerer.

BeardFisher-King:

--- Quote from: Thing called Sarcellus on January 05, 2018, 01:38:39 am ---The Gap Cycle is probably my favorite series, definitely my most read.  Donaldson in my opinion has an excellent grasp of the human psychology and does well to try to make the reader understand why it is that "bad" people do the terrible things they do.  That is one thing I find missing in The Seventh Decimate.  The characters seem flat and the story is so far quite generic.  (Potential spoiler) the main character has such a fierce hatred for sorcery that it seems blatantly obvious to me that he probably becomes some kind of super sorcerer.

--- End quote ---

I agree with you on Donaldson's grasp of human psychology. I don't actually own copies of the Gap Cycle novels, and since it's been at least 20 years since I've read them, perhaps a bibliographic increase is indicated chez BFK.

Donaldson's style is much more terse in SD, and some of his characters seem to be archetypes (assassin, seductress) rather than people. That is probably by design, imho. I think this story will grow as the conflict grows. Sorry, I don't see the main character becoming a sorcerer. Let's see which of us has guessed right in the coming years.

BeardFisher-King:
Stephen Donaldson's latest, Book 2 of "The Great God's War", entitled "The War Within", is available in bookstores now. I hope to start it soon.

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