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I should have used the term IP constraint rather than editorial constraint. I was thinking of ideas in setting, character, etc. that an author can't use because of limitations set by the IP holder. I definitely don't have anything against editors. :) I also agree that deadlines can be good...

This is exactly the overall point I was trying to make. You expressed it much better than I did. I want to re-emphasize that I make no assumptions about the motivations of shared world authors. The following is the third item I wrote in a list of reasons that I feel some shared world...

:erm: Strangely, I don't see where I said originality was a replacement for good writing. I'm content reading well written books too, but I love when I stumble on a book that is innovative as well.

This is definitely true, but they account for a disproportionate amount of the books I consider to be very good or excellent. Back on Hobo's original topic; I don't have the perception that shared world fiction is of lesser quality than any other fiction. I do feel that unusual storylines and...

The phrase "labor of love" specifically means something that is done for personal enjoyment rather than material gain. I can love my job, but as long as I'm getting paid, it is not a labor of love. A book someone writes as a labor of love is usually in their spare time and not under contract...

I'll add another vote for Dan Abnett and his Warhammer 40k work in general. I also really liked the Witchunter books. I read two other of C.L. Werner's Warhammer novels, Runefang and Grey Seer, and they just weren't as good. I think William King's Gotrek and Felix books are also pretty good...

If this is in response to point 3 in my post, I never said that shared world writers didn't love the settings or their work. My point was that much of the best fiction starts as a personal labor of love rather than as contracted work with a deadline. A big name author working on a personal...

I enjoy shared world fiction, but I find it does tend towards the mediocre. Here's a list of some reasons I feel this tends to be. 1. The authors have limited investment in, and knowledge of, the setting. 2. Shared characters/places tend to be very different depending on author. 3. The book is...

My pre-ordered copy has arrived. :cool: I've read the prologue and I'm enjoying it so far.

Shutter Island is neither a horror movie, nor a crime drama. It really doesn't fit easily into a genre. I guess psychological drama with emphasis on its 50's setting would be the best description.

Because you can only pre-order it. B-)

I think this is a danger even good game stores run into. The good stores are usually owned and/or staffed by gamers. It is only natural that their friends and regular customers start hanging out in the store. These people can be a regular source of income, but they can make new or infrequent...

I guess I'm just lucky that both the gaming stores in my area seem to be good ones. Both have friendly staff and large gaming areas that are separate from the shopping area. One offers a 15% discount on all new gaming products that increases to 20% when buying $100 or more worth of stuff...

To be fair, WotC bought TSR and produced a new edition of an old game originally made by another company(TSR). Pathfinder is a new edition of an old game albeit much closer to D&D 3.5 than D&D 3 was to AD&D 2. It is very common for publishers not to own the company that does the actual...

U-571 wasn't captured by the Brits, it was sunk by some Australians. It was U-110 the Brits captured. At least they named the fictional movie to avoid confusion. ;) I don't think the movie U-571 was a remake either. I think a better analogy would be to imagine there had been a movie called the...

:confused: Wow :eek: So they don't want people to generically use the name of their generically named product. :-S I guess they should have thought of a less generic name. I can see them going after people/companies that put out competing products that use army builder in their name or...

The dialogue writing certainly didn't help. I also suspect the director had a lot to do with the acting problems. Young actors usually need more direction to get the best performance. The director's role is made more difficult by having large amounts of CGI and unusual sci-fi or fantasy type...

I buy more than 1 book every 3 or 4 weeks so that's more than a few percent savings at amazon. It does sound better than B&N and Books-A-Million's pay membership. There is a Borders in Dayton which I didn't know existed until I just used the store locator. Unfortunately, I'd waste more money...

I wouldn't be too sorry to see the big book stores in my area go. I hate the buy a membership to get a discount model they use. They're a major retailer, I shouldn't have to pay extra to pay less. I'm not a big fan of the chairs among the books. It's not a library. I'm not going to...

My father reads as much fantasy as I do, at least 3 novels a month. He has never expressed an opinion one way or the other on RPGs/D&D. He certainly never discouraged me or my brothers from playing. My mother isn't into fantasy, but she actually encouraged us to play. She knew there were far...