Hey John, this is the first thing I stumbled upon after seeing you away from Lotus Eaters for so long. I should've seen it coming considering your excellent dissections of ghibli films and V for Vendetta on there among other things. Although I haven't completely gone through all articles, I must say pretty great job. I will be looking forward to other things you might be doing in the future. Cheers Mate!
This is a first! I've never mentioned this in public before but after reading John's assessment of Stephen Donaldson's first novel I thought it might be appropriate to describe (briefly) the time I spent with Stephen way back in 1988 at the World Fantasy Convention in London. The theme of the convention was Jack the Ripper as it was the centenary of the infamous murders in the East End. But that's another story..
I had only two published novels to my name at the time but I was paired with Stephen as we shared the same publisher. On one occasion he and I went to a restaurant where Stephen's eyes widened at the sight of Burt Kwouk (the pugnacious Cato from the Pink Panther film series) sitting nearby. Stephen, who was customarily a sober, serious guy, was clearly entranced to a child-at-Christmas depth by the sight of a celebrity. His response was "I *love* England! That was a side of him that never appeared in Lord Foul's Bane!
But to the point. Later that evening, Stephen talked at length about his love of opera, particularly Wagner and Mahler, and I got the strong impression that it was opera, rather than Tolkien and Peake, that was the engine behind Stephen's early writing. This, I feel, explains a lot!
P.S. I wish you every success in publishing your own work, John. You certainly have all the makings of a fine author.
Always wondered what the Thomas Covenant books were like after finding out they were the favourite books of Drew Planten. He raped and murdered Stephanie Bennett in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is suspected of further crimes. Hanged himself in prison I believe. Anyway, thanks for giving me a good read while sparing me from a terrible one.
Kevin! Oh dear. Was this perhaps a wildly misplaced joke, or a personal vendetta on the part of the author? One wonders which Kevin in his life warranted such slanderous attribution. Or perhaps - a more generous interpretation - is to say that the enemy of fiction is reality, and he was being meta. Either way, what a jarring choice outside of a comedy. It reminded me of Elvenquest, a fantasy epic parody / pastiche. Coincidentally, Kevin Eldon's quite fun in that, and a lot of the dry humour is from jarring real-world references bulldozing their way into the epic tale.
Hey John, this is the first thing I stumbled upon after seeing you away from Lotus Eaters for so long. I should've seen it coming considering your excellent dissections of ghibli films and V for Vendetta on there among other things. Although I haven't completely gone through all articles, I must say pretty great job. I will be looking forward to other things you might be doing in the future. Cheers Mate!
This is a first! I've never mentioned this in public before but after reading John's assessment of Stephen Donaldson's first novel I thought it might be appropriate to describe (briefly) the time I spent with Stephen way back in 1988 at the World Fantasy Convention in London. The theme of the convention was Jack the Ripper as it was the centenary of the infamous murders in the East End. But that's another story..
I had only two published novels to my name at the time but I was paired with Stephen as we shared the same publisher. On one occasion he and I went to a restaurant where Stephen's eyes widened at the sight of Burt Kwouk (the pugnacious Cato from the Pink Panther film series) sitting nearby. Stephen, who was customarily a sober, serious guy, was clearly entranced to a child-at-Christmas depth by the sight of a celebrity. His response was "I *love* England! That was a side of him that never appeared in Lord Foul's Bane!
But to the point. Later that evening, Stephen talked at length about his love of opera, particularly Wagner and Mahler, and I got the strong impression that it was opera, rather than Tolkien and Peake, that was the engine behind Stephen's early writing. This, I feel, explains a lot!
P.S. I wish you every success in publishing your own work, John. You certainly have all the makings of a fine author.
Excelsior
Always wondered what the Thomas Covenant books were like after finding out they were the favourite books of Drew Planten. He raped and murdered Stephanie Bennett in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is suspected of further crimes. Hanged himself in prison I believe. Anyway, thanks for giving me a good read while sparing me from a terrible one.
Kevin! Oh dear. Was this perhaps a wildly misplaced joke, or a personal vendetta on the part of the author? One wonders which Kevin in his life warranted such slanderous attribution. Or perhaps - a more generous interpretation - is to say that the enemy of fiction is reality, and he was being meta. Either way, what a jarring choice outside of a comedy. It reminded me of Elvenquest, a fantasy epic parody / pastiche. Coincidentally, Kevin Eldon's quite fun in that, and a lot of the dry humour is from jarring real-world references bulldozing their way into the epic tale.