Actually I can say with good confidence in Tolkien's case his insipration has been Kalevala (the finnish national epic for those who might not know). Tale of Hurin's children is pretty much retelling of Kullervo's tale, including unwitting incest, suicide in guilt and a talking sword.Col_Pladoh said:
Heh...Naidim said:Indeed, there is no happy ending for Thomas Covenant, which for me is one of the reasons I like it (and hate most movies to come out of Hollywood these days). Conquest is not always successful; endings, even when successful, are not always happy; and happiness is all about your point of view.
The stories made for enjoyable, unpredictable, reading.
I'd be so humble as to suggest "Daughter of Regals and Other Tales" first, and if you enjoy them, give chronicles another chance.
As to parallel worlds, Zelazny had it right with Amber long ago.
The Merciful said:Actually I can say with good confidence in Tolkien's case his insipration has been Kalevala (the finnish national epic for those who might not know). Tale of Hurin's children is pretty much retelling of Kullervo's tale, including unwitting incest, suicide in guilt and a talking sword.
Speaking of Kalevala, if you drop 'd' from Mordenkainen, you actually have a name you could fool a born Finn with. Not too bad for a foregner.
It is much more grim than The Hobbit. I would really like to recommend it to you (I just finished it this evening), but you've said that you don't like downers (although I do think that Turin is a much more noble character than Thomas Covenant).Col_Pladoh said:
I do not mean that Turin is "painfully noble" or "pedantically distressed," only that he is a more noble and manly character than the leprous rapist Thomas Covenant. Of course Elric isn't "painfully noble," he's painfully ignoble.Col_Pladoh said:Characters such as Elric, Shadow Jack, and Kugel are more interesting to me than painfully noble or pedantically distressed ones. Frankly, I thing the fantasy genre is for action and adventue, blood and thunder, swords and sorcery, not for some pot of message
Well maybe I'll take a look, but the authors one reviewer compared him with were not at all the sort that I find entertaining, such as Ursula Le Guin.ColonelHardisson said:
I beg your pardon, but I do not find Elric painful in any respect...in the initial two books in the series in any case. He is, as far as I am concerned, the ultimate model for an anti-hero, much as is Zelazny's Shadow Jack.dcas said:I do not mean that Turin is "painfully noble" or "pedantically distressed," only that he is a more noble and manly character than the leprous rapist Thomas Covenant. Of course Elric isn't "painfully noble," he's painfully ignoble.
Col_Pladoh said:
