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Re: Interesting scenario Larry Send a noteboard - 17/09/2012 06:28:57 PM
i've read both the trilogies and remember them with great warmth. I wouldn't read them again though and I definitely read them at the right time (early teens, playing RPG games etc)

I don't see what's wrong with them, they're no different to a comic book film or CGi fest or pop CD or chippy tea. it's not going to benefit your mind or body in any great way, but i enjoy it.


As I said above, I only read them (and reviewed them in this fashion) because a woman (okay, the one who controls rabid squirrels ;)) "asked" me to do so :P Otherwise, I'd have no interest, since I didn't when I was growing up, as these sorts of stories rarely, if ever, appeal to me. Matters of taste and all (although I do understand some of their appeal to others) :D

with no history of playing RPG/D&D games. you (one) wouldn't pick them out for their cover art unless the cover art appealed to them (others). once picking it up, the blurb wouldn't appeal to a passing bookshelf peruser. so you (actually you) are completely and utterly, unforgivably not the target audience.

Unforgivably? :P Maybe totally not, but unforgivably sounds rather like I'm being condemned to Hell for not being a target D&D person :P

Maybe i got a bit little carried away. i unforgive this insistent close friend of yours though.


I wouldn't do that. She's the one who controls the rabid squirrels (8

in fact it's not even the quality of the writing. would you have enjoyed those trilogies had they have been written (takes 10 minutes to research someone) by William Shakespeare...that shouldn't have needed research really, but you get my point

Interesting question. There are subject matters that I really do not enjoy reading (say, the profile of a pedophile), yet Vladimir Nabokov in Lolita wrote a classic. So perhaps the authors can, to a limited degree, transcend the chosen literary genre?

Lolita is a RomCom where the female lead happens to be a 12 year old girl and the male is a delusional, (what's the word where you deceive yourself, self-deceiving?) buffoon. had the content have been truly reflective of paedophilia and rape, from the perspective of Lolita...


I wouldn't use the term "romantic comedy" for Lolita. It's in part about the "banality of evil," but there's no comedy in the sense of laugh-out-loudness.

regardless of the style that would've been hard to stomach. however yours remains a very good point.

despite a lack of explicit description the reader knows the content and the themes involved, but due to presentation Lolita is a good book.


Yes. The D&D I was challenged to read had no good presentation, at least to me. It just felt like everything was bolted on and not crafted to fit into a well-told narrative.

would any writer have made that content interest to you? plus imagine if it was a dante or milton or james joyce. it would have been at least double again the length and possibly in prose (what rhymes with Guenhwyvar?) and would you really have enjoyed slogging through Raistlin's stream of consciousness using that stream of consciousness technique that James Joyce (born 1882, died 1941) perfected?

I like to think that my own humble sonnet was a bit more interesting than what Weis and Hickman wrote ;) But that's a good point. I think it depends upon reader tastes. I like a story written with a good style to it (one that fits the tale or perhaps transforms it), as style is integral to a tale (even Weis and Hickman have a style; it's just a very poorly-presented one :P) and I think Joyce so totally could have invented words that rhyme with Guenhwyvar :P

it wasn't. it is. it doesn't. you're wrong and most likely ;)

seriously though. no matter what the content i couldn't read a sonnet/poem about anything and really enjoy it. i have a Poe collection and i really didn't care all that much for The Raven, but the Pit and Pendulum? disturbing.

and you're right it does depend on the reader's taste, reading is completely subjective, which is why you opened such a can of worms with your original post.

i can't define why i like certain books or writers and i'm a pretty broad reader. i do know that what i admire most in a book is reduction and good editing. which is why the Malazan books will never be great, lovecraft, dick and other short story writers are geniuses, there's a difference between telling a story and constructing sentences and it is unforgivable (:P) when a writer uses more words than is needed to tell a story.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie

Je suis méchant.
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This may be one of the most dire reviews you shall ever read Larry - 09/09/2012 09:12:25 PM 2055 Views
Certainly one of the most original, you get points for that. Legolas - 09/09/2012 10:39:00 PM 1314 Views
Well... Larry - 09/09/2012 10:57:25 PM 1305 Views
A review of a D&D bestiary could be more dire. Stephen - 09/09/2012 11:29:17 PM 1164 Views
Perhaps Larry - 09/09/2012 11:50:20 PM 1262 Views
Hey now. Owlbears are awesome. lord-of-shadow - 11/09/2012 02:35:28 AM 1478 Views
That page is painful to behold Stephen - 11/09/2012 03:09:29 AM 1304 Views
They are popular as they are fun, easy reading books Wibble - 10/09/2012 12:11:24 AM 1243 Views
"Popular", "Fun," and "Easy" doesn't have to be equated with poorly-written Larry - 10/09/2012 12:16:27 AM 1389 Views
Poorly written by what standard? Wibble - 10/09/2012 12:29:17 AM 1334 Views
By the standards of what I enjoyed as a nine year-old? Larry - 10/09/2012 01:04:12 AM 1280 Views
So like I said, by the standards of Elitist Literary Snobs Wibble - 11/09/2012 12:03:08 AM 1384 Views
Nice attempt at sophistry, but alas, it fails Larry - 11/09/2012 12:38:24 AM 1272 Views
Was that meant to make any sense? Wibble - 11/09/2012 01:43:13 AM 1429 Views
Re: Was that meant to make any sense? Larry - 11/09/2012 01:54:23 AM 1283 Views
I'm with Wibble on this (big surprise) HyogaRott - 12/09/2012 03:07:53 PM 1393 Views
Heh. James - 12/09/2012 03:43:52 PM 1417 Views
Pretty much so Larry - 12/09/2012 04:19:35 PM 1410 Views
When did you put up that header? Stephen - 12/09/2012 04:35:20 PM 1293 Views
I didn't put it up Larry - 12/09/2012 04:51:32 PM 1193 Views
I shall tread lightly so. Stephen - 12/09/2012 06:15:51 PM 1327 Views
Larry - 12/09/2012 07:25:29 PM 1187 Views
+6 health? What game are you playing? Tom - 12/09/2012 07:52:52 PM 1232 Views
The Game of Life? Larry - 12/09/2012 08:23:53 PM 1307 Views
Re: Pretty much so HyogaRott - 12/09/2012 08:50:57 PM 1318 Views
You apparently do not read my blog/reviews much Larry - 12/09/2012 09:07:18 PM 1334 Views
Actually, I read them almost never HyogaRott - 13/09/2012 03:07:48 PM 1377 Views
I think my IQ dropped a little bit when I parsed what you said Larry - 13/09/2012 04:16:21 PM 1328 Views
Yep, your usual rebuttal... *NM* HyogaRott - 17/09/2012 02:14:56 PM 660 Views
No, not really Larry - 17/09/2012 06:25:15 PM 1170 Views
Yes, Yes, wrap yourself in arrogance and declare yourself correct until your opposite gets bored... HyogaRott - 17/09/2012 11:12:17 PM 1458 Views
Nah, I just wipe my ass with arrogance Larry - 18/09/2012 12:23:44 AM 1699 Views
The last word with me is rather difficult to obtain HyogaRott - 18/09/2012 02:48:03 PM 1229 Views
Don't try to argue with them. They've made their judgments. They are better than you. lord-of-shadow - 10/09/2012 09:36:17 PM 1297 Views
Defensive much? *NM* Larry - 10/09/2012 10:31:17 PM 705 Views
Perhaps. It's annoying, because I tend to agree with you guys - you and Tom and Stephen. lord-of-shadow - 11/09/2012 02:32:28 AM 1280 Views
The odd thing that there wasn't any belittling on my part -see other response. *NM* Larry - 11/09/2012 03:17:36 AM 655 Views
For the record, I wasn't trying to be condescending in my response. Tom - 11/09/2012 05:52:29 PM 1288 Views
He never said you couldn't enjoy it. Stephen - 10/09/2012 11:10:11 PM 1428 Views
Indeed Larry - 10/09/2012 11:17:20 PM 1284 Views
But they aren't. Wibble - 10/09/2012 11:48:14 PM 1325 Views
Prove it. *NM* Stephen - 11/09/2012 03:12:17 AM 637 Views
He also went on to compare liking the books to having the standards of a nine-year-old. lord-of-shadow - 11/09/2012 02:34:18 AM 1278 Views
You didn't read what I said very well then Larry - 11/09/2012 03:16:21 AM 1292 Views
You're right. In the context of this thread, I'm basically acting like a raving lunatic. lord-of-shadow - 11/09/2012 02:48:19 PM 1300 Views
It's not like any of us have ever been innocent 100% of the time Larry - 11/09/2012 03:49:22 PM 1236 Views
I believe that they were not meant for adults. Tom - 10/09/2012 12:30:05 AM 1287 Views
Very few of my friends were reading the books; some played the game, though Larry - 10/09/2012 01:06:07 AM 1253 Views
Basically, both get dubious kudos for trying something new by the dire standards of the day. Werthead - 10/09/2012 11:38:22 PM 1292 Views
Interesting point Larry - 11/09/2012 12:41:01 AM 1254 Views
Are you aware of the game's alignment rules? Some of the novels struggle with this. Werthead - 12/09/2012 10:58:37 PM 1272 Views
Not aware of it at all until now Larry - 12/09/2012 11:18:57 PM 1267 Views
How is that possible? Tom - 12/09/2012 11:28:33 PM 1212 Views
My dad was (and is) influenced by Evangelicals Larry - 13/09/2012 12:17:36 AM 1178 Views
Wait, so you didn't read the Chronicles first? Tom - 13/09/2012 02:12:13 PM 1168 Views
No Larry - 13/09/2012 02:18:03 PM 1240 Views
Well, it's sort of like starting Jordan at Lord of Chaos Tom - 13/09/2012 05:18:23 PM 1245 Views
Oddly enough, I started WoT at CoS in November 1997 Larry - 13/09/2012 05:56:04 PM 1192 Views
Chronicles is considerably weaker Werthead - 13/09/2012 11:14:38 PM 1271 Views
Needless to say, once I finish reading the Icewind Dale trilogy, I'm done with D&D Larry - 14/09/2012 12:38:47 AM 1382 Views
12 modules, not 15 Tom - 14/09/2012 02:55:39 PM 1406 Views
These threads are so much better than the rape threads! *NM* Dan - 12/09/2012 04:03:01 AM 733 Views
You're just waiting to see if I'll use hexameter in the next one *NM* Larry - 12/09/2012 04:32:31 AM 574 Views
When do we get to see some alexandrines? *NM* Stephen - 12/09/2012 12:41:29 PM 662 Views
Or quatrains? Larry - 12/09/2012 03:25:13 PM 1167 Views
And having now finished Dragonlance: Legends, its very own sonnet Larry - 13/09/2012 12:31:51 PM 1285 Views
At least you didn't read the Baldur's Gate novelizations beetnemesis - 14/09/2012 04:29:17 AM 1194 Views
Sssssh! Larry - 14/09/2012 05:10:19 AM 1255 Views
People become lesbians for no reason! beetnemesis - 17/09/2012 04:34:20 PM 1125 Views
I think my IQ dropped further upon learning of this Larry - 17/09/2012 06:29:29 PM 1164 Views
Baldurs Gate wooooo! Foxhead - 14/09/2012 04:13:34 PM 1317 Views
Eh, Star Wars Expanded Universe I could see reading. Some of them are supposed to be good beetnemesis - 17/09/2012 04:37:05 PM 1621 Views
Is the review dire because of the subject or the sonnet form? Foxhead - 14/09/2012 04:24:37 PM 1233 Views
Both Larry - 14/09/2012 04:36:59 PM 1211 Views
it would be unusual for someone to just randomly pick books like that up Foxhead - 14/09/2012 05:05:37 PM 1476 Views
Interesting scenario Larry - 14/09/2012 10:16:11 PM 1234 Views
Re: Interesting scenario Foxhead - 15/09/2012 09:55:59 AM 1423 Views
Re: Interesting scenario Larry - 17/09/2012 06:28:57 PM 1159 Views
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