I said elsewhere on occasion when his name would be brought up that I disliked his heavy-handed borrowing from historical sources, as it dried up my interest almost immediately, as I knew what would broadly happen, as I recognized the real-life analogues to the characters.
Haven't read Sarantium or Under Heaven. The thing with borrowing so heavily from real sources is that you're pretty much damned if you do and damned if you don't. Either you follow history as it really happened and then the most interested readers will also be the ones who already know what will happen. Or you deviate from history as it happened at a certain point, as in Lions of al-Rassan, and then those readers will be hypercritical about how realistic or plausible your departure from history is.
I loved how Jacqueline Carey did it, though - sufficiently far from real history that she could write her own stories without bothering the history buffs.
Is there a universally liked fantasy book?
06/04/2012 08:51:12 PM
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I like The Fionavar Tapestry, but I don't expect everybody does.
06/04/2012 09:08:18 PM
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Not really
07/04/2012 01:23:38 AM
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That surprises me. I would think you'd have enjoyed LIONS or TIGANA. *NM*
07/04/2012 07:39:08 AM
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I disliked Sarantium and Under Heaven
07/04/2012 07:49:50 AM
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Agreed in the case of Lions of al-Rassan.
07/04/2012 10:34:02 AM
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i love ggk. haven't read the other one. interesting question... curious to see what comes of it
07/04/2012 03:19:45 AM
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Simply--no.
07/04/2012 04:37:16 PM
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Hm. I think it'd be hard to hate David Eddings' The Belgariad
09/04/2012 06:32:49 PM
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That only counts for those who have nostalgic feelings for it, I'm afraid. *NM*
09/04/2012 08:45:48 PM
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Yes, trying to read it for the first time aged 19 wasn't an enjoyable experience.
10/04/2012 01:03:19 AM
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More like having your love for it curdle into hate after reading the Mallorean, Elenium & Tamuli
10/04/2012 02:42:49 PM
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Ha, at least in Mallorean it was a plot point (albeit a lame one)
10/04/2012 03:52:27 PM
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I would've thought Tigana.
10/04/2012 04:24:56 AM
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I love Tigana, but yeah, Wibble's not the only one who doesn't.
10/04/2012 07:13:00 PM
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Oh, that's a really good question.
10/04/2012 08:52:51 PM
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Re: Oh, that's a really good question.
10/04/2012 11:33:36 PM
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