Summer holidays

[wiseheart]

My wayward kids left primary school forever, and holidays have now arrived. Of course, Mum had to drag me to the cemetery on my first free day, but that's not surprising. She seems to suffer when she can't ruin my weekend with something. Ah, well.

I've been working on some research for the Adnromeda/TNG crossover. Basically, a crew manifest for the Enterprise-D in the first two years. I also assumed that some of the supporting characters who appeared later had benn already aboard in Seasons 1 and 2. I got as much as 130 crewmembers. It's unlikely that I'll ever use more than a dozen or so, but it's my obsession to know the background to everything I write.

Birthright 3 - The Lady of the Lake is going on nicely. I've started Chapter 4 today. I'm also gradually posting Birthright 2 - The Gathering to FF.Net, ritually crossing my fingers every time I update. Let's hope the rest.

I took a closer look at my TNG-AU series today as well. The first story, The Neutral Zone, actually doesn't look bad. It's a parody, more or less, but not forcibly "funny", at least so I hope. I might start posting it, soon.

Some readers I didn't even know to exist asked me when I will update Alternate Caretaker and The Prisoner of Dol Guldur. Well, to be honest, I don't know. I've sort of run out of ideas. But I'll see what I can do. The main reason not posting the TNG AU is that I actually want to finish at least one story before I start a new one. And fans of Crossroads, my Original Trek/Original Galactica crossover, really have been waiting patiently. I owe them to finish that one during this summer. Especially that I only need to translate the frigging story.

I'm reading The Icewind Dale Trilogy by R. Salvatore, right now. It's not bad as fantasy novels go, but it clearly shows the difference between modest talent and genius. Salvatore has modest talent. Tolkien was a genius. So was Larry Alexander (Prydain Chronicles) and so is Ursula K. Le Guin. 'Nuff said.

Karri, I don't know whether this is enough for that game you've tagged me for. But in case it isn't, I've also watched Andromeda reruns and Stargate - Atlantis on TV and had a Funny Farewell party with my kids where we were all clad as witches. If I knew how to post pics to LJ, I'd show you some. :))

Comments

[jilba.livejournal.com]

So many sci-fi/fantasy novels are re-hashs of other people's ideas. Tolkien really started the genre, so how can we go past him?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Second try, as LJ suddenly went into maintenance mode at the first time.

I agree with you about the above. It's just so that stealing the concept of mithril and hairy Halfling feet from the Professor and post it in an original novel is a bit, well, shameless.

Worse is, the author just can't make me care for his characters. They leave me completely untouched. Even though they are supposed to be the good guys, it doesn't matter to me whether they live or die. Even Terry Brooks' characters in the mightily crappy Shannara cycle made me more involved with their fate.

Also, for me good fantasy should be about the characters, their personalities and the actions that are rooted in said personalities. Not about the various techniques of disemboweling idiotic monsters and totally illogical magic gadgets.

I think I should try another Forgotten Realms author, maybe this time a female one, before I give up on the entire thing. There has to be something in this universe that makes so many people love it...

[gone2thedogs.livejournal.com]

Sorry your holiday started off on such an annoying note, but at least you're on holiday, yipee!

I'm happy to find someone else who thought the Shannara cycle was horrid, talk about a hack writer. The reason these books are so wildly popular is because of their repeating formula. The reader gets comfortable, knows what to expect and so therefore it's safe and a bit mindless. I don't fault the writer so much, it's what most of the reading public wants, heaven forbid you should shock the audience with something out of the box. This happens in other genre's as well, romance novels and dectective novels come to mind as the biggest users of this formula.

I haven't read anything in "Forgotten Realms", I haven't been big into the fantasy realm for several years, but it sounds like an idea that was tried in the mid eighties where a group of authors wrote a story or stories based on a mythical town called Santuary, each had their own characters, but they interacted with the other writers characters. I found that rather original at the time.

Wow, this is long, geez, give a girl a LJ and watch her just jabber on. Anyway my two cents. L-L

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I've been a big fantasy fan from my very youth (although it wasn't called fantasy back then). I read the Shannara cycle first in German translation, in the earle 1980's. Wasn't impressed very much, but at least there were a few characters I genuinely liked. Like Menion Leah. And the Elves riding giant eagles or whatnot for a living were interesting.

I find the idea of "Forgotten Realms" interesting, too. Some of the "Andromeda" writers are doing the same - writing different stories in shared settings. I'll have to try another FR author - maybe it's just R. Salvatore I can't get interested in.