(un)reason
Legend
Dragon Magazine Issue 248: June 1998
part 4/8
Wyrms of the north: Ed once again makes the exceptions more common than the rule in this column. This time, it's not even a proper dragon he's covering, but a person transformed into a dragon. Well, I suppose it keeps him from getting bored as much as it does us, even if it is cheating. Her tale is smaller in scale than Master Fire Worm's, but obviously has more of a personal element to it, as she has a pretty tough life even before being transformed. Mind you, as a priestess of Shar, you ought to expect demeaning treatment and backstabbing. And really, trying to get turned back by proving yourself valuable? That's not going to work. It just makes it all the more obvious that you're a better tool in your new form. (as well as a longer lasting one, likely. ) So this is another instance where they've been cursed with awesome, and are going to have to learn to live with that. Look on the bright side, you could simply be cursed. This once again shows that Ed can keep a topic interesting long after anyone else would have given up, become dull or started repeating themselves. The magazine would still be a poorer place without him.
Fiction: The quest for steel by Ben Bova. Orion makes his second appearance in the magazine. Following on from last time, where he helped out Beowulf and discovered Excalibur, he's now off to meet King Arthur. Only to find that when history is in flux, his incomplete memories can be as much a liability as a benefit. Unlike the first instalment, which was completely standalone, this not only makes much more sense when you've read it's precursor, but also obviously intends to have further follow-ups. And once again, the contrast between Orion being able to take on any physical threat, but all too helpless against the machinations of the creators is a big source of drama. The question is not if he'll succeed in what he tries, but what course of action he'll take, and the consequences it'll have. So really, this is better inspiration for something like Exalted or Nobilis than D&D. This doesn't have the novelty of the first one, so it doesn't thrill me as much as that, but it's still better than all the forgotten realms fiction they're suddenly bombarding us with. (which is itself better than the Dragonlance stuff from '96) And it does leave me wondering where they'll take this series next. They may have cut down on continuity in the comics, but between the fiction and the ecologies, the amount of recurring characters is increasing elsewhere in the magazine.
Bookwyrms: The masterharper of pern by Anne McCaffrey is a prequel set in her now very busy world, filling in the history of one of it's most well known characters. This of course means he has to face some fairly substantial challenges to grow up to be the badass we see in earlier books. There are some apparent continuity errors though, which can only really be resolved by making one or another of the narrators unreliable. Writer sloppiness, or intentional?
Wolf's Bane by Tara K Harper gets picked apart, with it's pacing flaws, inconsistent naming conventions and whiny main character. it has potential, but really needed an involved editor to hack big chunks off to make it a better story.
The dragonstone by Dennis L McKiernan gets an even more scathing review, as the entire main cast seem to be playing a stupid game involving passing multiple idiot balls around, blundering through their quest and engaging in awkward romantic pairings. Sounds like it would be most entertaining given an MST3K reading.
Wizard of the winds by Allan Cole is a fairly interesting arabian fantasy that also maintains a pretty nasty amount of genre appropriate IC sexism. (while making it clear that the author doesn't share these prejudices. ) If this isn't a deal-breaker, (and it is a woman doing these reviews) it is pretty good, and is left open to become an extended series. (or at least a trilogy, as googling reveals. )
The prestige by Christopher Priest does get a pretty positive review though. While it may seem to have flaws at first, the twists at the end make sense of them, and telling the story from multiple viewpoints is used to full effect to make the story more interesting. Do not switch your brain off when reading.
Shards of a broken crown by Raymond Feist gets a blue sidebar marking it out as a special recommendation. Well, they have increased the amount of colour quite a bit this year, why not do a little experimentation? They still say it's not quite as good a story as the previous instalment in the series, but it does make the setting better for other groups to adventure in. Not sure If I want to be tempted by that or not, but I am interested in googling more details.
part 4/8
Wyrms of the north: Ed once again makes the exceptions more common than the rule in this column. This time, it's not even a proper dragon he's covering, but a person transformed into a dragon. Well, I suppose it keeps him from getting bored as much as it does us, even if it is cheating. Her tale is smaller in scale than Master Fire Worm's, but obviously has more of a personal element to it, as she has a pretty tough life even before being transformed. Mind you, as a priestess of Shar, you ought to expect demeaning treatment and backstabbing. And really, trying to get turned back by proving yourself valuable? That's not going to work. It just makes it all the more obvious that you're a better tool in your new form. (as well as a longer lasting one, likely. ) So this is another instance where they've been cursed with awesome, and are going to have to learn to live with that. Look on the bright side, you could simply be cursed. This once again shows that Ed can keep a topic interesting long after anyone else would have given up, become dull or started repeating themselves. The magazine would still be a poorer place without him.
Fiction: The quest for steel by Ben Bova. Orion makes his second appearance in the magazine. Following on from last time, where he helped out Beowulf and discovered Excalibur, he's now off to meet King Arthur. Only to find that when history is in flux, his incomplete memories can be as much a liability as a benefit. Unlike the first instalment, which was completely standalone, this not only makes much more sense when you've read it's precursor, but also obviously intends to have further follow-ups. And once again, the contrast between Orion being able to take on any physical threat, but all too helpless against the machinations of the creators is a big source of drama. The question is not if he'll succeed in what he tries, but what course of action he'll take, and the consequences it'll have. So really, this is better inspiration for something like Exalted or Nobilis than D&D. This doesn't have the novelty of the first one, so it doesn't thrill me as much as that, but it's still better than all the forgotten realms fiction they're suddenly bombarding us with. (which is itself better than the Dragonlance stuff from '96) And it does leave me wondering where they'll take this series next. They may have cut down on continuity in the comics, but between the fiction and the ecologies, the amount of recurring characters is increasing elsewhere in the magazine.
Bookwyrms: The masterharper of pern by Anne McCaffrey is a prequel set in her now very busy world, filling in the history of one of it's most well known characters. This of course means he has to face some fairly substantial challenges to grow up to be the badass we see in earlier books. There are some apparent continuity errors though, which can only really be resolved by making one or another of the narrators unreliable. Writer sloppiness, or intentional?
Wolf's Bane by Tara K Harper gets picked apart, with it's pacing flaws, inconsistent naming conventions and whiny main character. it has potential, but really needed an involved editor to hack big chunks off to make it a better story.
The dragonstone by Dennis L McKiernan gets an even more scathing review, as the entire main cast seem to be playing a stupid game involving passing multiple idiot balls around, blundering through their quest and engaging in awkward romantic pairings. Sounds like it would be most entertaining given an MST3K reading.
Wizard of the winds by Allan Cole is a fairly interesting arabian fantasy that also maintains a pretty nasty amount of genre appropriate IC sexism. (while making it clear that the author doesn't share these prejudices. ) If this isn't a deal-breaker, (and it is a woman doing these reviews) it is pretty good, and is left open to become an extended series. (or at least a trilogy, as googling reveals. )
The prestige by Christopher Priest does get a pretty positive review though. While it may seem to have flaws at first, the twists at the end make sense of them, and telling the story from multiple viewpoints is used to full effect to make the story more interesting. Do not switch your brain off when reading.
Shards of a broken crown by Raymond Feist gets a blue sidebar marking it out as a special recommendation. Well, they have increased the amount of colour quite a bit this year, why not do a little experimentation? They still say it's not quite as good a story as the previous instalment in the series, but it does make the setting better for other groups to adventure in. Not sure If I want to be tempted by that or not, but I am interested in googling more details.