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Agreed in the case of Lions of al-Rassan. Legolas Send a noteboard - 07/04/2012 10:34:02 AM
I said elsewhere on occasion when his name would be brought up that I disliked his heavy-handed borrowing from historical sources, as it dried up my interest almost immediately, as I knew what would broadly happen, as I recognized the real-life analogues to the characters.

Haven't read Sarantium or Under Heaven. The thing with borrowing so heavily from real sources is that you're pretty much damned if you do and damned if you don't. Either you follow history as it really happened and then the most interested readers will also be the ones who already know what will happen. Or you deviate from history as it happened at a certain point, as in Lions of al-Rassan, and then those readers will be hypercritical about how realistic or plausible your departure from history is.

I loved how Jacqueline Carey did it, though - sufficiently far from real history that she could write her own stories without bothering the history buffs.
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Is there a universally liked fantasy book? - 06/04/2012 08:51:12 PM 1879 Views
I like The Fionavar Tapestry, but I don't expect everybody does. - 06/04/2012 09:08:18 PM 1311 Views
Not really - 07/04/2012 01:23:38 AM 1210 Views
That surprises me. I would think you'd have enjoyed LIONS or TIGANA. *NM* - 07/04/2012 07:39:08 AM 485 Views
I disliked Sarantium and Under Heaven - 07/04/2012 07:49:50 AM 1200 Views
Agreed in the case of Lions of al-Rassan. - 07/04/2012 10:34:02 AM 1126 Views
Seems a silly question to ask. - 07/04/2012 07:37:44 AM 1118 Views
Simply--no. - 07/04/2012 04:37:16 PM 1526 Views
Except for LOTR wasn't that original. - 07/04/2012 05:14:49 PM 1014 Views
Perhaps. - 08/04/2012 04:33:07 PM 1199 Views
Re: Perhaps. - 09/04/2012 02:39:42 AM 1037 Views
Agreed. Tolkien is the closest you'll get. - 09/04/2012 12:46:04 AM 1169 Views
I agree about Tolkien - 11/04/2012 12:35:51 AM 1135 Views
Sword of Truth series. *NM* - 07/04/2012 06:11:27 PM 443 Views
Seconded. We should all grow yurds. *NM* - 09/04/2012 07:33:00 PM 560 Views
I haven't read either of those - 07/04/2012 11:52:47 PM 1064 Views
I would've thought Tigana. - 10/04/2012 04:24:56 AM 1016 Views
Horrendous Book - 10/04/2012 12:16:55 PM 1090 Views
I love Tigana, but yeah, Wibble's not the only one who doesn't. - 10/04/2012 07:13:00 PM 1025 Views
Good to know. - 16/04/2012 04:56:48 AM 1367 Views
I read Tigana very recently - 16/04/2012 02:12:38 PM 1147 Views
Well, like I said, it's not one of my faves. - 10/05/2012 03:53:49 AM 1204 Views
Oh, that's a really good question. - 10/04/2012 08:52:51 PM 1117 Views
Re: Oh, that's a really good question. - 10/04/2012 11:33:36 PM 1047 Views
I had Hobb recommende to me - 11/04/2012 03:38:35 AM 1073 Views
Same here. - 16/04/2012 02:14:06 PM 1095 Views
so the tawny man onwards kind of sucked - 01/05/2012 10:27:41 PM 1233 Views
ursula le guin - earthsea? *NM* - 01/05/2012 10:28:35 PM 596 Views
The first one, at least, should be liked by everyone. (IMO) - 01/05/2012 10:59:34 PM 1056 Views

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