Tag Archives: Malazan Book of the Fallen
Happy Lord of the Rings Day
I recently started reading a book entitled The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. It is historical fiction, immaculately detailed, with three excellent protagonists surrounded by a band of almost as admirable allies navigating a middle-era Spain in which three powerful … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Life notes
Tagged fantasy fiction, fiction, Guy Gavriel Kay, JRR Tolkien, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson, The Lions of Al-Rassan, The Lord of the Rings
Comments Off on Happy Lord of the Rings Day
The idea of doing right by the US
After US troops withdrew from Afghanistan after two decades in 2021, the Taliban returned to power. In its oppressive regime many groups of people, but especially women, girls, and minorities, have lost most of their civil rights. In this time, … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Culture
Tagged Afghanistan, COP29, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Marzieh Hamidi, Steven Erikson, Taliban
Comments Off on The idea of doing right by the US
Happy Lord of the Rings Day
War is on all our minds these days. There is a war happening in Ukraine and something barely resembling a war (because it’s a genocide) in Gaza. Governments have been fond of casting our collective responses – such as they … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Life notes
Tagged fantasy fiction, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Rings day, Malazan Book of the Fallen, military fantasy, Steven Erikson, war
Comments Off on Happy Lord of the Rings Day
Lord of the Rings Day
Happy Lord of the Rings Day. 🙂 About a week ago, I began rereading book 7 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. This followed my realisation earlier this year that I had somehow lost the ability to read … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Life notes
Tagged books, epic fantasy, fiction, high fantasy, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Rings day, M John Harrison, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Reaper's Gale, Steven Erikson
Comments Off on Lord of the Rings Day
The names of our dragons
The first piece of very-popular epic fantasy fiction I read was J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth saga, which, among many things, reminded me how much the American and British writers of ‘high fantasy’ owed the ancient mythologies of the people of … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
Tagged Babylonian mythology, J. R. R. Tolkien, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Comics, Steven Erikson, The Eternals, Tiamut the Communicator
Comments Off on The names of our dragons
Lord of the Rings Day
A happy Lord of the Rings Day to you! (Previous editions: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014) Every year I pen a commemorative piece about Lord of the Rings, and share something about the books and films that I think about … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Life notes
Tagged Black Leopard Red Wolf, Deepanjana Pal, Denethor, Discworld, ergodic, fantasy, fantasy fiction, Faramir, Gautam Shenoy, inventiveness, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Steven Erikson, Supriya Nair, Ted Chiang, Terry Pratchett, Thomas Manuel
Comments Off on Lord of the Rings Day
The calculus of creative discipline
Every moment of a science fiction story must represent the triumph of writing over world-building. World-building is dull. World-building literalises the urge to invent. World-building gives an unnecessary permission for acts of writing (indeed, for acts of reading). World-building numbs … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds
Tagged classical mechanics, creative discipline, critical points, Dan Shechtman, differential calculus, EPR paradox, fantasy fiction, Imre Lakatos, JK Rowling, Karl Popper, literary criticism, M John Harrison, Malazan Book of the Fallen, mathematical analysis, nerdism, Niels Bohr, Paul Feyerabend, Philosophy of Science, quasicrystals, replication crisis, smooth functions, Steven Erikson, Thomas Kuhn, Viriconium, world-building
Comments Off on The calculus of creative discipline
Happy Lord of the Rings Day!
The Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy series exhibited a rabid yet desirable iconoclasm, through which its author Steven Erikson elucidated every trope of epic fantasy and then shit on it. I came out of reading the series feeling like … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes
Tagged fantasy fiction, gateway drugs, Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Rings day, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Manitoba shlimbo, reading, Steven Erikson
Comments Off on Happy Lord of the Rings Day!
Happy Lord of the Rings Day
On this day, let’s read a chapter or two from the trilogy and remember what an enlightening experience reading the books was. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Amon Amarth, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Rings day, Malazan Book of the Fallen, Mount Doom, reading, Steven Erikson, warcraft
Comments Off on Happy Lord of the Rings Day
A happy Lord of the Rings Day to you
The LotR trilogy made for the first modern great epic fantasy, its guiding light so very bright that even those who came after struggled to match its success. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged fantasy fiction, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings day, Malazan Book of the Fallen, One Ring, Steven Erikson, World of Warcraft
Comments Off on A happy Lord of the Rings Day to you