Henry Farrell writes:
Crooked Timber: Commonplace book : From Steven Brust, The Lord of Castle Black, p.128.
“It is sad,” observed Grassfog, “that our friend here is dead, and we have no wine.”
“It is your custom,” inquired Piro, “to become drunk when a friend dies?”
“Not in the least,” said Grassfog. “I was merely making an observation about two conditions that are both true, and both regrettable."
And why isn't there another George R.R. Martin "Song of Ice and Fire" book yet? I do need to be extremely, extremely wary about purchasing books that are part of unfinished series--I've been burned too often by authors whose behavior has no plausible explanation other than "let's see if we can stretch out the franchise." But Martin is very good indeed:
"Let me give you some counsel, bastard," Lannister said. "Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you."
Jon was in no mood for anyone's counsel. "What do you know about being a bastard?"
"All dwarfs are bastards in their fathers' eyes."
"You are your mother's true-born son of Lannister."
"Am I?" the dwarf replied, sardonic. Do tell my lord father. My mother died birthing me, and he's never been sure."
"I don't even know who my mother was," Jon said.
"Some woman, no doubt. Most of them are." He favored Jon with a rueful grin. "Remember this, boy. All dwarfs may be bastards, but not all bastards need be dwarfs." And with that he turned and sauntered back into the feast, whistling atune. When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.
George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords.
Posted by DeLong at April 7, 2004 07:48 AM | TrackBack | | Other weblogs commenting on this postI became very suspicious of Martin's plans when I realized that in a series which seems, structually, highly likely to extend from its late-summer beginning to a resolution either in midwinter (if things turn out badly) or spring (if they turn out well) I had read three large books and the season had advanced only from very late summer to very early autumn. At the rate the seasons are advancing, this is a 12-20 book project, which means that I doubt it will be finished.
I do wonder if he's planning to carry through the rough Wars of the Roses parallel to the end, which would have the paraplegic Stark kid eventually assuming the throne as Richard III, only to be deposed by some distant Lannister connection as Henry VII.
Posted by: LizardBreath on April 7, 2004 05:18 PMHe's said previously that there's a BIG time-gap between _Swords_ and _Crows_.
Posted by: schwa on April 7, 2004 07:03 PM>He's said previously that there's a BIG time-gap between _Swords_ and _Crows_.
Not quite. As I recall, he claims that he had originally planned for a big gap between Swords and "A Dance of Dragons," which was supposed to be the next volume in the series. But then he discovered that there was lots of background stuff that he needed to fill in about the immediate aftermath, and thus is writing Crows as a stopgap novel in-between.
As you can tell, I too am waiting for the next damn volume, as well as are most of my family, my friends, and my wife's friends (who don't read fantasy as a rule, but have got sucked in). My fear was not that he was going to spin things out - he seems to have a reasonably well-controlled plot - but that he was going to expire before finishing the damn series. He had an exceedingly unhealthy looking photo on his website for a while. But I saw him in the life at Torcon last September, and he looked to me as though he should have another volume or three in him. Selfish way to look at things I know, but that's what I'm reduced to.
Posted by: Henry Farrell on April 7, 2004 07:22 PMProf. DeLong, if you like that bit from Brust, then you'll *really* like Jack Vance. Particularly the fantasy novels: Dying Earth, the Cugel Books, Rhialto.
Also, Brust is an admirer (early in his career, a slavish admirer) of Roger Zelazny, also a good 'un.
Posted by: Andy Lowry on April 8, 2004 05:41 AMGeorge is currently chained to his antique word processor, slaving away to finish "Crows." Parris McBride, his slave driver/significant other, has forbidden him to attend conventions until the book is finished. At this point, his attendance at ConQuesT 35 in Kansas City this Memorial Day weekend seems unlikely, alas.
Posted by: James J. Murray on April 8, 2004 06:07 AMBrad, imagine the problem when you are waiting for those books in another country than the states. I am french. I used to wait for the translations of my favorite series but has now switched to english books (there are still problems of successfully finding them)...
Currently i am waiting for the next Eriksson (ok, i am a bit harsh, the last appeared two months ago, sigh!), the next Martin, the next Guy Gavriel Kay, etc...
We need to introduce back some slavery laws for good writers as i am sure they are doing many things worthless in their free time
Damn you Lowry, you got in ahead of me! Yes, I have to say that Vance does that arch, poised, yet hilarious dialogue better than anyone else. I'll add to your list: Read "Lyonesse" before _anything_ else he wrote.
Posted by: fatwhiteduke on April 8, 2004 10:32 AMIf you like George R.R. Martin's current stuff, you should try to track down some of his 70's short stories. "And Seven Times Never Kill Man...", "Sandkings", "A Song for Lya"... powerful stuff from when he was young and hopeful. As the years went on his stuff got darker and more cynical. I've bought his current doorstop series, but still wonder what would have happened if he hadn't had such hard times in his younger days that soured him so much on humanity.
'Armageddon Rag' is another wonderful G.R.R.M. novel. And, in my opinion at least, there is no greater Zelazny than 'Lord of Light'.
Posted by: Unseelie on April 8, 2004 09:35 PMLizardBreath, in ASOIAF, the seasons are variable and somewhat out of control. Summer could last years, as could other seasons, and the length is never guaranteed.(hence the Starks rather grim House words "Winter is coming.") The reason for this isn't really specified, to the best of my knowledge. Please don't give up! :)
Other excellent GRRM works are "Dying of the Light", a downbeat SF novel with some very interesting and evocative world-building, and "Fevre Dream", and Mark-Twain-era steamboat supernatural yarn. Both are great.
Posted by: Mark on April 9, 2004 10:41 AMOnline Casino Directory
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Mea culpa - My mistake