Break The Spine.

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Rath Darkblade
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Re: Break The Spine.

Post by Rath Darkblade »

Um, sorry? What scene in Broken Sword 1? *confused* I played BS1 a few months ago, and I didn't notice anything to do with Wodehouse.

Or maybe my brain is just slow. (It is just 8am here, I'm on my second cup of tea, and I spent 5 hours writing and re-writing a new story yesterday ... and only got about a quarter done. :shock: The good news is that I finally got over my writer's block, and I know - roughly - what needs to be done. The bad news is that I now have to write it!) :P

And yes, I remember that TV series. Hugh as Bertie, and Stephen Fry as Jeeves. :D I watched an episode or two of it on YouTube, which is what finally got me to start reading Wodehouse. :)
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Re: Break The Spine.

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Here's a video to help you remember :)
Nejo learnt English from his Wodehouse tapes.
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Re: Break The Spine.

Post by Rath Darkblade »

Ah, yes ... about 3 minutes and 13 seconds in. "Toodle-pip, sir!" :lol:

Yes, now that I re-watch Nejo speak, I always thought his English was a little stiff and unnatural (but obviously suitable for a character who learns a language from watching a tape). :) I usually clicked through it to get on with the game. Thanks, BBP!
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Re: Break The Spine.

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(waves her thread necromancer wand)

Just wrapped up the Great Gatsby. I think I'll read it again to make sure I catched everything.
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Re: Break The Spine.

Post by Tawmis »

BBP wrote: Sat Aug 03, 2024 4:16 am (waves her thread necromancer wand)
:lol:
BBP wrote: Sat Aug 03, 2024 4:16 am Just wrapped up the Great Gatsby. I think I'll read it again to make sure I catched everything.
How was it? Good, I assume. I'd never read it. (Honestly, if it's not fantasy related, good chance I never read it, unless it was required reading for school).
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Re: Break The Spine.

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BBP wrote: Sat Aug 03, 2024 4:16 am (waves her thread necromancer wand)

Just wrapped up the Great Gatsby. I think I'll read it again to make sure I catched everything.
*hands BBP the obligatory Skull Ring of Necromancy.* ;) (Meanwhile, the thread awakens after 2 years of sleeping, stretches and mutters: "Oy, what a night!") :D

How was Mr Gatsby?

I recently read "Viking Women" by Lisa Hannett, a collection of Viking sagas that feature women in large roles. It's fun, but feels very far removed from modern life. (Yes, I know the Vikings were 1,000 years ago, but then, the Romans were 2,000 years ago, and we feel we know more about them than the Vikings ... not sure why).
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Re: Break The Spine.

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I enjoyed Gatsby but had trouble concentrating here and there to the point the final chapter became a it muddled, so I'm re-reading it making sure I got it.
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Re: Break The Spine.

Post by Rath Darkblade »

So ... earlier today I finished reading Medea: Queen of Witches (An Unauthorized Biography by Phil Matyszak. :)

Dr Matyszak (or Maty to his readers) studied Roman history at Oxford and has a DPhil (Doctor of Philosophy) from St John's College, Oxford, so he knows his stuff. I also have many of his previous books, and I know that he has a clear, concise writing style, and manages to hone in on the points he wishes to make, without confusing or overwhelming the reader. So, I was looking forward to reading this book. :)

I was especially looking forward to it because I read Maty's previous "Unathorized Biography", called Hercules: the First Superhero, in which Dr Matyszak -- using archaeological, literary and other sources -- draws together the life story of the mythical Hercules and how he affected other classical Greek heroes and kingdoms. I enjoyed it very much, and recommend it highly.

The Medea book, however, is a mixed bag. The story that Maty draws together is highly lucid and entertaining; 5 stars. Unfortunately, Dr Matyszak is let down by poor editing -- i.e. poor punctuation and superfluous words (e.g. one sentence repeats the word "be", as in "be be"). If this was an isolated example I'd be prepared to overlook it, but this sort of thing repeats through the book.

There's another spelling mistake that caught my eye; Dr Matyszak refers to the ancient Greek kingdom of Troezen, now a small town in the northeastern Peloponnese, Greece -- but in antiquity, it was the birthplace of the Greek hero Theseus, who killed the Minotaur of Crete. The first mention of this place is spelled correctly, but the rest of the book spells it "Trozen" (rhyming with "Frozen"), which was surprising and then irritating.

So, clearly Maty's editors let him down this time (which is strange, because I have never seen this in his books). But again, the overall story is excellent and very well-written, as usual. I recommend it and give it 4.5/5 stars, with half-a-star taken off because of the poor editing. (Sorry, Maty!)
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Re: Break The Spine.

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Rath Darkblade wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 6:17 am So, clearly Maty's editors let him down this time (which is strange, because I have never seen this in his books). But again, the overall story is excellent and very well-written, as usual. I recommend it and give it 4.5/5 stars, with half-a-star taken off because of the poor editing. (Sorry, Maty!)
Could it be he self-published the book? That may be why there's those kinds of mistakes if he had no actual editor and was his own proof-reader (which often leads to overlooking those kinds of mistakes).
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Re: Break The Spine.

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Just the other night, I finished reading Dragons of Eternity which is the final book in the latest trilogy. While I am normally not a fan of time travel type stories (even in comics), Weis & Hickman do a good job of keeping things clear (they did it with their Legends trilogy). Dragons of Eternity introduces several new characters, expands on characters who had mentions, and revisits old friends from Chronicles and the Legends trilogy. It's a very, very, very good book and a nice end to a fun trilogy.
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Re: Break The Spine.

Post by Rath Darkblade »

Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 12:08 pm
Rath Darkblade wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 6:17 am So, clearly Maty's editors let him down this time (which is strange, because I have never seen this in his books). But again, the overall story is excellent and very well-written, as usual. I recommend it and give it 4.5/5 stars, with half-a-star taken off because of the poor editing. (Sorry, Maty!)
Could it be he self-published the book? That may be why there's those kinds of mistakes if he had no actual editor and was his own proof-reader (which often leads to overlooking those kinds of mistakes).
Unlikely. The Amazon link I provided shows that the publisher is Monashee Mountain Publishing. (Tsk, tsk -- sloppy editing). ;) It's more surprising because they also published the Hercules book, and I can't remember that one having so many errors.
Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 12:11 pm Just the other night, I finished reading Dragons of Eternity which is the final book in the latest trilogy. While I am normally not a fan of time travel type stories (even in comics), Weis & Hickman do a good job of keeping things clear (they did it with their Legends trilogy). Dragons of Eternity introduces several new characters, expands on characters who had mentions, and revisits old friends from Chronicles and the Legends trilogy. It's a very, very, very good book and a nice end to a fun trilogy.
Hmm, is DoE a time-travel book? From the blurb I read, the adventurers just got back to their own time and find that evil rules the land, and now they must fix things, etc.

So where does the time-travel bit happen? Does it happen in the previous book, Dragons of Deceit? ;)
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Re: Break The Spine.

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Rath Darkblade wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:43 pm
Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 12:11 pm Just the other night, I finished reading Dragons of Eternity which is the final book in the latest trilogy. While I am normally not a fan of time travel type stories (even in comics), Weis & Hickman do a good job of keeping things clear (they did it with their Legends trilogy). Dragons of Eternity introduces several new characters, expands on characters who had mentions, and revisits old friends from Chronicles and the Legends trilogy. It's a very, very, very good book and a nice end to a fun trilogy.
Hmm, is DoE a time-travel book? From the blurb I read, the adventurers just got back to their own time and find that evil rules the land, and now they must fix things, etc.
So where does the time-travel bit happen? Does it happen in the previous book, Dragons of Deceit? ;)
Well... it all happens in the first book. Someone travels back in time to save someone who died in the present - and in doing so, effs up the past - and breaks the future. So then chaos (literally) happens - as they try to undo what they broke.
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Re: Break The Spine.

Post by Rath Darkblade »

Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 6:35 pm
Rath Darkblade wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:43 pm
Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 12:11 pm Just the other night, I finished reading Dragons of Eternity which is the final book in the latest trilogy. While I am normally not a fan of time travel type stories (even in comics), Weis & Hickman do a good job of keeping things clear (they did it with their Legends trilogy). Dragons of Eternity introduces several new characters, expands on characters who had mentions, and revisits old friends from Chronicles and the Legends trilogy. It's a very, very, very good book and a nice end to a fun trilogy.
Hmm, is DoE a time-travel book? From the blurb I read, the adventurers just got back to their own time and find that evil rules the land, and now they must fix things, etc.
So where does the time-travel bit happen? Does it happen in the previous book, Dragons of Deceit? ;)
Well... it all happens in the first book. Someone travels back in time to save someone who died in the present - and in doing so, effs up the past - and breaks the future. So then chaos (literally) happens - as they try to undo what they broke.
Oh, right. Yeah, time-travel to change the present is a cliche, to be honest. I can't recall who did it first, but I'm pretty sure that when someone first came up with the "Let's Travel Back In Time To Kill Hitler" shtick, time-travel was already cliche.
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Re: Break The Spine.

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Rath Darkblade wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 5:55 pm
Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 6:35 pm
Rath Darkblade wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:43 pm
Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 12:11 pm Just the other night, I finished reading Dragons of Eternity which is the final book in the latest trilogy. While I am normally not a fan of time travel type stories (even in comics), Weis & Hickman do a good job of keeping things clear (they did it with their Legends trilogy). Dragons of Eternity introduces several new characters, expands on characters who had mentions, and revisits old friends from Chronicles and the Legends trilogy. It's a very, very, very good book and a nice end to a fun trilogy.
Hmm, is DoE a time-travel book? From the blurb I read, the adventurers just got back to their own time and find that evil rules the land, and now they must fix things, etc.
So where does the time-travel bit happen? Does it happen in the previous book, Dragons of Deceit? ;)
Well... it all happens in the first book. Someone travels back in time to save someone who died in the present - and in doing so, effs up the past - and breaks the future. So then chaos (literally) happens - as they try to undo what they broke.
Oh, right. Yeah, time-travel to change the present is a cliche, to be honest. I can't recall who did it first, but I'm pretty sure that when someone first came up with the "Let's Travel Back In Time To Kill Hitler" shtick, time-travel was already cliche.
Well they say every idea is a spawn of the "7 original ideas" (the 7 basic plots - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots ) - It's what you do with it that counts. Weis & Hickman excel at developing amazing characters. And that's the true meat and bones of the story.
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Re: Break The Spine.

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Tawmis wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 6:16 pm
Rath Darkblade wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 5:55 pm
Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 6:35 pm
Rath Darkblade wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:43 pm
Tawmis wrote: Tue Sep 17, 2024 12:11 pm Just the other night, I finished reading Dragons of Eternity which is the final book in the latest trilogy. While I am normally not a fan of time travel type stories (even in comics), Weis & Hickman do a good job of keeping things clear (they did it with their Legends trilogy). Dragons of Eternity introduces several new characters, expands on characters who had mentions, and revisits old friends from Chronicles and the Legends trilogy. It's a very, very, very good book and a nice end to a fun trilogy.
Hmm, is DoE a time-travel book? From the blurb I read, the adventurers just got back to their own time and find that evil rules the land, and now they must fix things, etc.
So where does the time-travel bit happen? Does it happen in the previous book, Dragons of Deceit? ;)
Well... it all happens in the first book. Someone travels back in time to save someone who died in the present - and in doing so, effs up the past - and breaks the future. So then chaos (literally) happens - as they try to undo what they broke.
Oh, right. Yeah, time-travel to change the present is a cliche, to be honest. I can't recall who did it first, but I'm pretty sure that when someone first came up with the "Let's Travel Back In Time To Kill Hitler" shtick, time-travel was already cliche.
Well they say every idea is a spawn of the "7 original ideas" (the 7 basic plots - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots ) - It's what you do with it that counts. Weis & Hickman excel at developing amazing characters. And that's the true meat and bones of the story.
Yes, true. I've also heard of the seven basic plots, and used some of them in the past. I agree that although the basic ideas (e.g. Time-Travel, The Chosen One, etc.) are well-worn, it's how you present them that counts. :)

Yes, you do need to develop good characters, but you also need other things, like believable dialogue, knowing your audience and the genre expectations (obviously - for instance, not using sci-fi elements in a fantasy novel!), etc.

Maybe the most important is subverting your audience's expectations. :) If your audience reads the plot summary -- "heroes time-travel to the future to save a person in the present, and return to a present that is broken; now they have to fix it" -- they'll expect the story to go a certain way. Coming up with ways to subvert that, and surprise your audience (in a good way), is part of the challenge. :)

Yes, I know that can sound vague -- but here's an example: suppose one of your heroes is a paladin. If your paladin volunteers for a plan that emphasises skills you wouldn't expect a paladin to have (e.g. sneaking, a one-man infiltration behind enemy lines to gather intelligence), that subverts your audience expectation -- paladins aren't traditionally good at that, that's the job of a rogue. ;)

But now you've painted yourself into a corner: how will your paladin do that, in a believable way, and without your villains being complete idiots? :) There's the challenge. If you do it well, you surprise your audience in a good way, and they keep reading. Right? :)
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