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Messages - maxonennis

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31
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Vote for Vin!
« on: March 08, 2011, 05:02:29 PM »
Long Live Barbarians! Go Logen!  :P

32
Writing Group / Unreliable Narrator Question
« on: March 01, 2011, 05:12:53 PM »
Okay, I writing a short story with a first person unreliable narrator, but what makes him unreliable is that he suffers from narcolepsy and sleepwalking (a combination I plan to use for comic affect). My question is this, if said narrator narrates in past tense, doesn’t that means that he is essentially recounting events later on? That being the case, it would be easy for him to come up with a suitable conclusion for when he (for example) feel asleep on the way to the bakery and ended up walking to the local library without admitting that he just feel asleep.

I ask that question to ask this one: would the character not be more unreliable if his narration was in present tense? I would think it would be the difference between a rehearsed lie, and telling a lie on the spot with someone putting pressure on you. Because of that, I'm leaning towards writing this in present tense, but I wanted to get other people's opinions on the narration device.

So, is present tense for an reliable character with this disposition a good idea, or a bad one?

33
Writing Group / Re: Fallen Fantasist
« on: February 23, 2011, 06:50:46 PM »
I have to agree with all of you.  This guy has no idea what he's talking about and he's overreacting.  Western civilization isn't going to collapse because of a few fantasy sub-genres.  Grim needs to grow a pair.

I wouldn’t have a problem with the article if it were only an account of his dislike of darker fantasy novels. If someone doesn’t like that subgenre (which started with Robert A. Howard), that’s perfectly fine, but from his article he goes on a rant against any mildly successful fantasy novel sold in the last twenty years. If you don’t like fantasy, that’s fine also, but saying that you love the genre and then trying to denounce the whole genre is cheap ‘journalism’.

If the writer of the article had actually said what he meant instead of pretending not to say what he did, than I wouldn’t have had a problem with it. . . . If that makes sense.

34
Writing Group / Re: Fallen Fantasist
« on: February 22, 2011, 06:52:37 PM »
"Elf-colored glasses" is my new favorite phrase.

I'm rather fond of Abercrombie's entire pargraph that goes as such:

Quote
It’s a very simple argument he advances, really.  A kind of literary battle of good against evil, you might say.  On one side are the towering mythic geniuses of Tolkien and Howard, who wrote “in blood and lighting” according to Leo, although presumably on extremely hardwearing paper.  On the other side are, well, me, Steve Erikson, Michael Swanwick, and Matthew Woodring Stover, apparently.  I’ve never met those guys, or read any of their work, I must admit.  But that doesn’t mean they’re not down here with me in the evil postmodern myth-destruction bunker.  It’s a big old bunker we’ve got, and there’s lots of us down here.  Though I’m not entirely sure who.

Which is made hilarious due to Grin's general hate for fantasy and labeling anything beyond the cardboard cut out "postmodern blasphemies against our mythic heritage'.  ::)

35
Writing Group / Re: Fallen Fantasist
« on: February 21, 2011, 11:22:48 PM »
First off, the article is bad. The author obviously is living in the past and wants nothing but tLOR rewrites to read (look closely at what he writes and you can see this for yourself), regardless of character. Second, The First Law series is amazingly good, and you know what you're in for in the first pargraph. I have no pity for anyone who continues to read beyond that and then complains. Third, the series isn't half as bad as Mr. Grin puts it. Fourth, the writer doesn't know the genre. Fifth, Black Gate is a third rate literary mag that targets high schoolers. Sixth, there are still a hundred times as many generic, happy-go-lucky fantasy novels as there are any other kind.

The core of the problem with that article is that Mr. Grin doesn't actually like fantasy at all to begin with and is using Abercrombie as a strawman to blast the genre as a whole.

Anyway, about this 'darker fantasy' as a whole. I think that there is a place for it, just as there is a place for the happy-go-lucky, but the vast majority of the fantasy published today is somewhere in the middle, the way I believe it is supposed to be. In every genre there books that toe the line of no return, and I think that that is a good thing. I believe that part of the importance of fiction is being able to experience things that you would never actually do, for good or bad. But then again, as one who writes fiction I have an overinflated sense of value for fiction.

36
Books / Re: Truly unique fantasy worlds
« on: January 11, 2011, 06:17:17 PM »
The Fade by Chris Wooding features a subterranean society because the surface of the world gets too hot with two suns for human habitation. It doesn't really fit in any existing human cultures, but there are actually many fantasy novels with cultures based on Eastern societies it's just that the market for those books isn't as large as compared to the medieval European type so they don't tend to get as big a push in marketing, but they're there.

37
Books / Re: longest book
« on: January 03, 2011, 05:58:22 PM »
I believe that both the Count of Monte Crisco and Les Miserables

Freud got your tongue?    ;D
Quote

If he did Cinnamon Buns would've come out instead of 'Crisco'.  ;)

38
Books / Re: longest book
« on: December 27, 2010, 06:22:21 PM »
I believe that both the Count of Monte Crisco and Les Miserables were serial novels, which accounts in large part to their length. Serial novels, a lot like Japanese manga, is about telling the story while trying to make it last as long as possible while the story is still alive. That led to the length of many of the novels from that era.

Oh, and I've read the unabridged of both.  ;D

39
Books / Re: What are you reading, part 3
« on: December 16, 2010, 09:08:48 PM »
I'm reading Ronin by Frank Miller (a comic from the early 80's). An entertaining story, but everyonce in awhile one of the characters does or says something that just throws me right out of the story.

40
Books / Re: Authors undeserving of their fame.....possibly
« on: November 04, 2009, 12:35:09 AM »
I personally thought Eragon was pretty decent. Yes, unorginal, but since it was written by a 15 year old, I'm willing to put that aside. It was an entertaining read. The other two however. You'd think he'd get better as he got older. You'd think he'd get more original. But no. No, he doesn't. If anything, he gets worse. That's saying something...

I agree with this. The biggest problem with Eragon is that someone published it (which is entirely not the kid's fault). I would never show my face to the world if someone published my first book.

41
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« on: June 12, 2009, 06:58:35 PM »
hello, who's ahan? and ten soon? just finish reading the adobe acrobat version... got me hooked for about 8 hours, and its my first time reading a sanderson... i must admit tho, i wonder how the WoT rendition wud turn out, now that iv read one of his books.. the humor is good, particularly Lightsong's chapters.. but... I hope he'l get Mat Cuathon right...

Sorry about that, I didn't lable it. Those are Mistborn 2 and Elantris spoilers.  :-[

42
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« on: June 12, 2009, 06:44:39 PM »
*Mistborn, Elantris, & Warbreaker Spoilers*

Ahan, Denith, and Ten Soon (I don't know if that's spelled right) all served the same perpose. Each of them had different personalities and motives, but they did the same thing so it really doesn't matter.

43
Rofl. Guess he's branching out, eh?

I don't know if it would be considered too big a branch out after Alcatraz.  8)

44
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« on: June 11, 2009, 08:21:10 PM »


It seems to me that Denth and Ahan are completely difference characters.  Denth intended to be evil from the start of the book.  Ahan was just stupid.  Different motivation, different skills.  Denth is a whole lot scarier.

Motives are different, results are the same= it doesn't matter.

45
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Warbreaker: Free Ebook
« on: June 11, 2009, 06:58:03 PM »
I was COMPLETELY taken in by Denth. It was great. I was right there with Vivenna going "WHAT?!" I was forming this whole different picture of him in my mind and then, wham! He turns out to be the bad guy! I love being surprised like that. I love getting so caught up in the story with the characters that I also don't pick up on stuff that they should have.

I actually guessed this plot twist. *Elantris Spoilers* I had guessed that Denth would pull an Ahan. It made too much sense.

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