Some time ago I did a blog post about how George R.R. Martin seemed to have gained some of his inspiration for his A Song of Ice and Fire novels from Tad Williams's series Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. Today while rereading A Clash of Kings, the second book of Martin's series, I came across a single line buried in the text that, in my opinion, was a direct homage to Tad Williams's books. It is on page 349 of the Bantam/Spectra paperback:
"Lord Willum's sons Josua and Elyas disputed heatedly about who would be first over the walls of King's Landing."
To me it doesn't get plainer than that, as the two main royal characters in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn are King Elias and his brother Josua. Taken with all the other similarities given in my old post, I don't think it can be disputed how much influence Williams had on Martin. I don't think it says anything wrong about Martin's story, as I actually enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire far more than I liked Williams's books, so Martin is certainly doing a great service to all of us who love terrific fantasy.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Writing in Tolkien's World
I'm republishing this ancient post, because almost no one read it way back then and it's one that I like.
I don't bother to read fan fiction, but I have to admit that I have been tempted to try it. I won't, though, simply because the act of writing is so time-consuming and difficult that I don't see the point in putting so much effort into something that won't be published.
For more than twenty years I have had what I think is a wonderful idea for a story that I will never write. It persists in nagging at my brain, so given that I will not write it, perhaps it doesn't hurt to give the outline here.
My favorite Tolkien book is the Silmarillion. Oh, I certainly love both the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but there is something of exquisite beauty about the entire history of Middle Earth that is presented in the Silmarillion that really takes my breath away. It is a high-level history, and that is wonderful, but I have always wanted to have some of the tales fleshed out into real novels.
I came up with my story idea from two of my favorite bits from the Silmarillion - the Dagor Bragollach (Battle of Sudden Flame) and the tale of Beren. As any fan of this work knows, the elves kept Morgoth's kingdom of Angband mostly surrounded for centuries, trying to contain his evil. The bit that fascinated me was a bare mention by Tolkien that some of the newly arrived men (Edain) also provided some troops to help with this defense. It is from this reference that I drew my main character, a young warrior of an Edain tribe living in Himlad. I named him Geldrath. He gets sent to Dorthonian during the winter along with others from his tribe. As he nears his objective he meets a pair of dwarven traders, bringing a wagonload of arms and armor to sell to the defenders. Geldrath befriends one of the dwarves, named Gorm.
Geldrath spends a week learning his new duties as one of the defenders of the eastern portion of Dorthonian. When the dwarven traders come by, Geldrath builds upon his friendship with Gorm. That very night the Dagor Bragollach begins. Gorm helps Geldrath by equipping him with Dwarven armor and weapons. The defenders near Geldrath are relatively lucky in that no balrogs or dragons come near them, so they mostly have to fight off orcs. Gorm's companion dwarf is slain along with many men when a huge troll comes over the ramparts. Gorm heroically slays the troll, but the troll crumples onto Gorm and Geldrath, rendering both unconscious. This saves their lives.
In the aftermath of the attack, orcs go through the devastation slaying any who yet live, but they fail to find Geldrath and Gorm beneath the dead troll. When the opportunity arises, the pair slips away and loses themselves in the Dorthonian wilds to the south. Over the next weeks, simply trying to survive, the pair see evidence of other survivors to the west, so they head in that direction, eventually stumbling upon the small band of men led by Barahir. They join Barahir and his men in the desperate attempt to save Finrod Felagund, the elven king who had brought an army from Nargothrond but had gotten trapped at the Fens of Serech. Geldrath and Gorm help Barahir save Finrod, who makes Barahir an elf-friend and gives him his ring of power.
Returning to Dorthonian, the band continues their insurgency against Morgoth's forces. Gorm and Geldrath befriend Barahir's son, Beren. When the group is betrayed and scattered, Gorm and Geldrath flee southward and try to find safety. They eventually encounter Beren, who leads them farther south in an attempt to pass beneath** the vast mountains of Ered Gorgoroth. They encounter many dangers, culminating in meeting spider descendants of Ungoliant. Gorm sacrifices himself to allow Beren and Geldrath to escape. The pair comes out of the mountains into Nan Dungortheb (the Valley of Dreadful Death). They are separated by an attack, so Beren goes off into Tolkien's history books by making his way into Doriath, while Geldrath picks his way eastward towards home, where he is greeted as a long-lost hero, marries the chief's daughter and eventually becomes chief himself.
I think this would be a spectacular and easy story to write, and it would be basically faithful to Tolkien's story. I sure wish it were possible to do it and have it published.
**I know the book makes it seem more like he passes over the mountains, but given how earlier in The Simlarillion Tolkien has Ungoliant pass through these mountains, leaving many of her hatchlings behind, I can't help but think that the passage through the mountains more likely involved passing both over and under, given that Ungoliant's children seem to prefer hiding themselves away in dark places.
I don't bother to read fan fiction, but I have to admit that I have been tempted to try it. I won't, though, simply because the act of writing is so time-consuming and difficult that I don't see the point in putting so much effort into something that won't be published.
For more than twenty years I have had what I think is a wonderful idea for a story that I will never write. It persists in nagging at my brain, so given that I will not write it, perhaps it doesn't hurt to give the outline here.
My favorite Tolkien book is the Silmarillion. Oh, I certainly love both the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but there is something of exquisite beauty about the entire history of Middle Earth that is presented in the Silmarillion that really takes my breath away. It is a high-level history, and that is wonderful, but I have always wanted to have some of the tales fleshed out into real novels.
I came up with my story idea from two of my favorite bits from the Silmarillion - the Dagor Bragollach (Battle of Sudden Flame) and the tale of Beren. As any fan of this work knows, the elves kept Morgoth's kingdom of Angband mostly surrounded for centuries, trying to contain his evil. The bit that fascinated me was a bare mention by Tolkien that some of the newly arrived men (Edain) also provided some troops to help with this defense. It is from this reference that I drew my main character, a young warrior of an Edain tribe living in Himlad. I named him Geldrath. He gets sent to Dorthonian during the winter along with others from his tribe. As he nears his objective he meets a pair of dwarven traders, bringing a wagonload of arms and armor to sell to the defenders. Geldrath befriends one of the dwarves, named Gorm.
Geldrath spends a week learning his new duties as one of the defenders of the eastern portion of Dorthonian. When the dwarven traders come by, Geldrath builds upon his friendship with Gorm. That very night the Dagor Bragollach begins. Gorm helps Geldrath by equipping him with Dwarven armor and weapons. The defenders near Geldrath are relatively lucky in that no balrogs or dragons come near them, so they mostly have to fight off orcs. Gorm's companion dwarf is slain along with many men when a huge troll comes over the ramparts. Gorm heroically slays the troll, but the troll crumples onto Gorm and Geldrath, rendering both unconscious. This saves their lives.
In the aftermath of the attack, orcs go through the devastation slaying any who yet live, but they fail to find Geldrath and Gorm beneath the dead troll. When the opportunity arises, the pair slips away and loses themselves in the Dorthonian wilds to the south. Over the next weeks, simply trying to survive, the pair see evidence of other survivors to the west, so they head in that direction, eventually stumbling upon the small band of men led by Barahir. They join Barahir and his men in the desperate attempt to save Finrod Felagund, the elven king who had brought an army from Nargothrond but had gotten trapped at the Fens of Serech. Geldrath and Gorm help Barahir save Finrod, who makes Barahir an elf-friend and gives him his ring of power.
Returning to Dorthonian, the band continues their insurgency against Morgoth's forces. Gorm and Geldrath befriend Barahir's son, Beren. When the group is betrayed and scattered, Gorm and Geldrath flee southward and try to find safety. They eventually encounter Beren, who leads them farther south in an attempt to pass beneath** the vast mountains of Ered Gorgoroth. They encounter many dangers, culminating in meeting spider descendants of Ungoliant. Gorm sacrifices himself to allow Beren and Geldrath to escape. The pair comes out of the mountains into Nan Dungortheb (the Valley of Dreadful Death). They are separated by an attack, so Beren goes off into Tolkien's history books by making his way into Doriath, while Geldrath picks his way eastward towards home, where he is greeted as a long-lost hero, marries the chief's daughter and eventually becomes chief himself.
I think this would be a spectacular and easy story to write, and it would be basically faithful to Tolkien's story. I sure wish it were possible to do it and have it published.
**I know the book makes it seem more like he passes over the mountains, but given how earlier in The Simlarillion Tolkien has Ungoliant pass through these mountains, leaving many of her hatchlings behind, I can't help but think that the passage through the mountains more likely involved passing both over and under, given that Ungoliant's children seem to prefer hiding themselves away in dark places.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Celebrity Sighting
He's a celebrity to me, though most of you wouldn't know him.
I was on the bus coming home from work when a couple got on and the woman sat near me. The bus was crowded so there weren't many places to sit. Since they were older than me, I decided to stand up and allow the man to sit down next to the woman I assumed was his wife. When I saw his face, though, I instantly recognized him as the famous American-Hungarian Grandmaster of chess Pal Benko.
Benko was a contemporary of the legendary American world champion Bobby Fischer. I saw Benko in 2008 in Reykjavik when he attended the Bobby Fischer Memorial Tournament (in which I did very well, almost beating an international master, though I messed it up and only got a draw instead). I didn't get to speak with Mr. Benko that time, but I did this time.
I said hello, and he asked if I recognized him. I said I always read his columns in Chess Life, and I told him that I saw him in Iceland. He asked where I worked, and I told him. He than asked if I was playing in the chess tournament series in Budapest. I told him I don't get much free time, but I did play in it last November. Sadly, my stop had already arrived, so I had to get off and couldn't speak further with him.
I would never want to bother someone like him, but he and his wife seemed nice. It would have been awesome to invite them to dinner or something, but I would never want to impose.
I was on the bus coming home from work when a couple got on and the woman sat near me. The bus was crowded so there weren't many places to sit. Since they were older than me, I decided to stand up and allow the man to sit down next to the woman I assumed was his wife. When I saw his face, though, I instantly recognized him as the famous American-Hungarian Grandmaster of chess Pal Benko.
I said hello, and he asked if I recognized him. I said I always read his columns in Chess Life, and I told him that I saw him in Iceland. He asked where I worked, and I told him. He than asked if I was playing in the chess tournament series in Budapest. I told him I don't get much free time, but I did play in it last November. Sadly, my stop had already arrived, so I had to get off and couldn't speak further with him.
I would never want to bother someone like him, but he and his wife seemed nice. It would have been awesome to invite them to dinner or something, but I would never want to impose.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Words Often Used Wrong
Prague was nice, and the Pearl Jam concert was cool, but it's nice to be back home in Budapest.
Every once in a while I post about odd English-language words that trip up many writers. I've done a few such posts, so this one will be a quick one dealing with a new one I've recently run across in my own writing.
Do you use awhile and a while interchangeably? You shouldn't! 'Awhile' is the adverb form of the phrase, though it can always also be used in the noun form 'for a while'. So you might say 'I ran awhile before going to work.' In this case 'awhile' modifies the verb 'to run' and is an adverb.
'A while' is a noun and is always accompanied by a preposition, so the above sentence could have been written 'I ran for a while before going to work.'
Yes, it's a tricky one, and I tend to use only the noun version myself, but it's good to know the difference.
Every once in a while I post about odd English-language words that trip up many writers. I've done a few such posts, so this one will be a quick one dealing with a new one I've recently run across in my own writing.
Do you use awhile and a while interchangeably? You shouldn't! 'Awhile' is the adverb form of the phrase, though it can always also be used in the noun form 'for a while'. So you might say 'I ran awhile before going to work.' In this case 'awhile' modifies the verb 'to run' and is an adverb.
'A while' is a noun and is always accompanied by a preposition, so the above sentence could have been written 'I ran for a while before going to work.'
Yes, it's a tricky one, and I tend to use only the noun version myself, but it's good to know the difference.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Letter to a Friend About My Fantasy Novel
A friend who has read the written portion of my sci-fi thriller novel has recently started reading my fantasy novel The Shard. He knew from previous correspondence that there was a connection between the two stories, and that some characters, such as the scientist Tyoma from The Immortality Game, are shared between the books. Given how vastly different the stories are, he wrote to me and asked for an explanation as to how any of this is possible. I thought the explanation I wrote was interesting as a summary even for me, so I decided to post it here, for the record as it were. Those who have read my previous postings about these things might find this summary helps to explain some things in more detail.
Letter to my friend:
Ah, that gets complicated. In The Immortality Game you see Tyoma use the name Xax (which is short for Xaxanakis--pronounced Zax AN a kiss) for his wizard character in his fantasy game. When the scientists' clones first arrive on the new world, they don't at first know that there are any significant differences in the way their bodies react to the new world, but over time they learn that there are differences. The red moon is the cause, though the scientists don't know this. The red moon is made of a substance unknown on Earth, and this substance is the cause of what comes to be called 'magic' on the world of The Shard. The scientists don't really consider it to be magic, but they use the word due to their love of the fantasy game, along with the fact that it does seem very much like magic. One of the scientists at some point discovers that if he looks a certain way at anything, he can see some sort of energy moving through it. As he practices, he learns that he can see this energy moving through everything, even the air, with greater or lesser strength. He also learns that the other scientists can be taught to see the same thing. As hard as they try, they cannot get any native of the planet to see it, so only the arrivals from Earth have this 'power'.
They eventually learn that many things they took for granted on Earth do not work the way they expect. They don't appear to be aging at all (though after thousands of years they realize that they are aging, but very slowly, i.e. after 6000 years Tyoma appears to have aged about 25 years). If they try to create electricity, it only offers a weak current. If they mix gunpowder, it only fizzles. Somehow the energy from the moon, causes many things taken for granted on Earth to work only very weakly, and this explains why so many modern technologies cannot be recreated on this world. Lastly, the scientists learn after much time that if they concentrate, they can actually manipulate the energy in certain ways. It takes them ages to keep learning new ways of manipulating the energy, but they come to realize that their group has become in a manner of speaking ‘wizards’. While some of the group retain their original names, others like Tyoma decide that they prefer to have a proper wizard name, and of course Tyoma already knows his--the one he had in the game back home, Xax.
There is more to it. The energy connects every atom in the universe, though it is stronger when near moons such as the one near this planet, and weaker around planets like Earth where this substance doesn't exist. Since the energy flows through every atom, it 'connects' everything and serves as a form of template. In other words, the evolution of life on a planet such as Earth is partly independent (such as we always believe it to be) but also influenced by the connective energy. In other words, when one planet capable of supporting life does develop life, the life on this planet influences the development of life on other nearby habitable planets. So if one planet develops a pine tree, it becomes very likely (though not certain) that other nearby habitable planets will evolve the same or very similar type of tree. This means that life on each of these worlds comes to closely resemble each other, only differing through subtle variations (dragons versus dinosaurs) or by cataclysmic sudden changes, such as the asteroid impacting Earth and killing off many large species.
A further effect of the energy takes place within the minds of creatures of higher intelligence. You see the effect on the scientists when they are surrounded by very strong amounts of the energy. Well on Earth, the energy is far weaker. Most humans have very little connection to the energy, but some minds have a stronger empathy with it. This is the root cause for many of our legends and myths. Some people 'see' or 'dream' of things that become stories, and they believe that they invented them all by themselves, never knowing that the energy caused them to 'see' things on nearby worlds. So some of these humans 'saw' things such as dragons or trolls or elves and such, and these become legends on Earth, while they were actually real things on other planets. There are planets with similar types of life as appear in legends of other races here on Earth, such as the Japanese or any other race. Differences in legends can be explained by both actual differences in creatures or plants on other habitable planets but also by simply cultural interpretations of such life.
Tolkien was probably the human with the greatest mental connection to the energy--he dreamed vividly of life on the world the scientists found, seeing elves and dragons and such, and writing elaborately about them. Note that there are no hobbits on this world, because The Hobbit wasn't initially written to be a part of Tolkien's elf history; he only melded them together later when he found it convenient to do so. So, while Tolkien thought he was having dreams influenced by our Earthly legends, he was in fact seeing life as it existed on this other planet, and he wrote fairly accurately about that life.
When the scientists first arrive on the world, elves have been there for many tens of thousands of years. They are slightly different than Tolkien writes about them; for instance, they don't have pointed ears, and they don't marry. The humanic creatures that the scientists encounter are primitive, much as our caveman ancestors were. The first such 'men' they encounter are terrified and react with violence, but they eventually find a peaceable tribe and begin to help them--to learn English, to become more civilized than other tribes, and to evolve much more quickly due to the scientists' influence. This is what leads to the development of the Greatlander people. They build a great city, but eventually they are cast out by a gathering of other tribes, who fear them, and they are brought to their current place, called The Known Lands, by their first king. Note that the Greatlanders develop a cultural personality of strong pragmatism but not so strong creativity. This is caused by not having to invent many things on their own, because the scientists slowly introduce things such as the wheel or book or stirrup to them without them having to discover these things on their own.
Other races have evolved from the various types of mannish tribes that originally came out of the south to pester the elves. There was much fighting between the differing types of man tribes, so some were wiped out. Others became humans, while still others evolved into dwarves, trolls, orcs, goblins, and so forth. The scientists had great trouble believing how closely all of this resembled their old stories and games from Earth. At first they could only imagine that God must be real (a hard thing to do considering they were all atheists), as they could not imagine any other way that life could have evolved in such a manner on another world. Later, once they became more familiar with the energy, they began to grasp the concepts of how the energy must manipulate things between the various habitable worlds.
One last note--I've had many readers tell me the characters speak in too modern a fashion. I understand that they are used to seeing medieval-type settings use archaic English, but this world developed from modern scientists speaking modern English, so it would actually be odd if the speech were too archaic.
Okay, I'll stop there for now!
Letter to my friend:
Ah, that gets complicated. In The Immortality Game you see Tyoma use the name Xax (which is short for Xaxanakis--pronounced Zax AN a kiss) for his wizard character in his fantasy game. When the scientists' clones first arrive on the new world, they don't at first know that there are any significant differences in the way their bodies react to the new world, but over time they learn that there are differences. The red moon is the cause, though the scientists don't know this. The red moon is made of a substance unknown on Earth, and this substance is the cause of what comes to be called 'magic' on the world of The Shard. The scientists don't really consider it to be magic, but they use the word due to their love of the fantasy game, along with the fact that it does seem very much like magic. One of the scientists at some point discovers that if he looks a certain way at anything, he can see some sort of energy moving through it. As he practices, he learns that he can see this energy moving through everything, even the air, with greater or lesser strength. He also learns that the other scientists can be taught to see the same thing. As hard as they try, they cannot get any native of the planet to see it, so only the arrivals from Earth have this 'power'.
They eventually learn that many things they took for granted on Earth do not work the way they expect. They don't appear to be aging at all (though after thousands of years they realize that they are aging, but very slowly, i.e. after 6000 years Tyoma appears to have aged about 25 years). If they try to create electricity, it only offers a weak current. If they mix gunpowder, it only fizzles. Somehow the energy from the moon, causes many things taken for granted on Earth to work only very weakly, and this explains why so many modern technologies cannot be recreated on this world. Lastly, the scientists learn after much time that if they concentrate, they can actually manipulate the energy in certain ways. It takes them ages to keep learning new ways of manipulating the energy, but they come to realize that their group has become in a manner of speaking ‘wizards’. While some of the group retain their original names, others like Tyoma decide that they prefer to have a proper wizard name, and of course Tyoma already knows his--the one he had in the game back home, Xax.
There is more to it. The energy connects every atom in the universe, though it is stronger when near moons such as the one near this planet, and weaker around planets like Earth where this substance doesn't exist. Since the energy flows through every atom, it 'connects' everything and serves as a form of template. In other words, the evolution of life on a planet such as Earth is partly independent (such as we always believe it to be) but also influenced by the connective energy. In other words, when one planet capable of supporting life does develop life, the life on this planet influences the development of life on other nearby habitable planets. So if one planet develops a pine tree, it becomes very likely (though not certain) that other nearby habitable planets will evolve the same or very similar type of tree. This means that life on each of these worlds comes to closely resemble each other, only differing through subtle variations (dragons versus dinosaurs) or by cataclysmic sudden changes, such as the asteroid impacting Earth and killing off many large species.
A further effect of the energy takes place within the minds of creatures of higher intelligence. You see the effect on the scientists when they are surrounded by very strong amounts of the energy. Well on Earth, the energy is far weaker. Most humans have very little connection to the energy, but some minds have a stronger empathy with it. This is the root cause for many of our legends and myths. Some people 'see' or 'dream' of things that become stories, and they believe that they invented them all by themselves, never knowing that the energy caused them to 'see' things on nearby worlds. So some of these humans 'saw' things such as dragons or trolls or elves and such, and these become legends on Earth, while they were actually real things on other planets. There are planets with similar types of life as appear in legends of other races here on Earth, such as the Japanese or any other race. Differences in legends can be explained by both actual differences in creatures or plants on other habitable planets but also by simply cultural interpretations of such life.
Tolkien was probably the human with the greatest mental connection to the energy--he dreamed vividly of life on the world the scientists found, seeing elves and dragons and such, and writing elaborately about them. Note that there are no hobbits on this world, because The Hobbit wasn't initially written to be a part of Tolkien's elf history; he only melded them together later when he found it convenient to do so. So, while Tolkien thought he was having dreams influenced by our Earthly legends, he was in fact seeing life as it existed on this other planet, and he wrote fairly accurately about that life.
When the scientists first arrive on the world, elves have been there for many tens of thousands of years. They are slightly different than Tolkien writes about them; for instance, they don't have pointed ears, and they don't marry. The humanic creatures that the scientists encounter are primitive, much as our caveman ancestors were. The first such 'men' they encounter are terrified and react with violence, but they eventually find a peaceable tribe and begin to help them--to learn English, to become more civilized than other tribes, and to evolve much more quickly due to the scientists' influence. This is what leads to the development of the Greatlander people. They build a great city, but eventually they are cast out by a gathering of other tribes, who fear them, and they are brought to their current place, called The Known Lands, by their first king. Note that the Greatlanders develop a cultural personality of strong pragmatism but not so strong creativity. This is caused by not having to invent many things on their own, because the scientists slowly introduce things such as the wheel or book or stirrup to them without them having to discover these things on their own.
Other races have evolved from the various types of mannish tribes that originally came out of the south to pester the elves. There was much fighting between the differing types of man tribes, so some were wiped out. Others became humans, while still others evolved into dwarves, trolls, orcs, goblins, and so forth. The scientists had great trouble believing how closely all of this resembled their old stories and games from Earth. At first they could only imagine that God must be real (a hard thing to do considering they were all atheists), as they could not imagine any other way that life could have evolved in such a manner on another world. Later, once they became more familiar with the energy, they began to grasp the concepts of how the energy must manipulate things between the various habitable worlds.
One last note--I've had many readers tell me the characters speak in too modern a fashion. I understand that they are used to seeing medieval-type settings use archaic English, but this world developed from modern scientists speaking modern English, so it would actually be odd if the speech were too archaic.
Okay, I'll stop there for now!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Aquincum
Before Budapest became Budapest, it was an important strategic city/fort for the Roman Empire. It's name was Aquincum, and it was the capital of the border province of Pannonia Inferior, protecting Rome from the barbarian tribes across the Danube. Empreror Marcus Auralius may have written some of his famous Meditations here. By the end of the 2nd century AD the town had between thirty to forty thousand residents.
When the Roman Empire collapsed, the old Roman city was eventually buried and only discovered again in the 18th century. There is a large military fort a few miles away from the town, and near the town is also an amphitheater larger in land size than the coliseum in Rome (though in FAR worse condition).
My family spent an enjoyable afternoon walking around the ruins of the civil town. In the photo above you can see the hot water plumbing under the floor of one of the buildings. There were baths all over the place, both public and private ones, showing just how much bathing meant to the Romans.
And here is a shot of me taken by my eldest son Anton. Rome is my favorite period from history, though I tend to prefer the Republic to the Empire. I hope my sons will come to love this history as much as I do. My younger son tried to read the brilliant Rome series by Colleen McCullough, but he was just too young for it for now. If you haven't read these books, I can't recommend them enough to anyone who loves history or historical fiction.
 |
| aerial view of part of the civil city of Aquincum |
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Unable to Predict Coming Trends?
Agents and publishers like to say that no one can predict coming trends. I've always thought that wasn't quite true. I knew with no shred of doubt several years ago that epic fantasy would start to become popular again right about now. I said as much in the query letters I sent out to agents at that time, and of course they ignored me.
I told them that the Game of Thrones HBO series and the Hobbit movies would produce a new wave of interest in epic fantasy, and since most of these people would have already purchased Tolkien's books after the LOTR movies came out, they would be looking for something new. I even posted about this at Absolute Write, and several people commented there that there was no way to know whether what I said was going to be true. Hogwash! I knew it absolutely. I knew Peter Jackson wouldn't suddenly lose his deft touch at producing Tolkien properly. I knew that George R.R. Martin loved his story too much to allow it to go forward in a shoddy manner.
So it is very frustrating to see posts by respected agents now, acting surprised that this trend has suddenly arrived. Why does no one ever listen to me!
/end rant
I told them that the Game of Thrones HBO series and the Hobbit movies would produce a new wave of interest in epic fantasy, and since most of these people would have already purchased Tolkien's books after the LOTR movies came out, they would be looking for something new. I even posted about this at Absolute Write, and several people commented there that there was no way to know whether what I said was going to be true. Hogwash! I knew it absolutely. I knew Peter Jackson wouldn't suddenly lose his deft touch at producing Tolkien properly. I knew that George R.R. Martin loved his story too much to allow it to go forward in a shoddy manner.
So it is very frustrating to see posts by respected agents now, acting surprised that this trend has suddenly arrived. Why does no one ever listen to me!
/end rant
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