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Interesting. Ghavrel Send a noteboard - 07/12/2009 02:15:37 AM
Bringing down fantasy from epic scope to a character-based level doesn't really start happening until the time of Cook, if not Cook himself. There are still really strong ties between his work and present works. As you pointed out, Erikson is Black Company 2.0.


I am not disputing this. What I said was that Cook's influence cannot be that great as he was not published outside of North America for many years (until just a few years ago, in fact), whilst what he did for American fantasy was mirrored by what David Gemmell was doing in Britain and arguably Andrzej Sapkowski in Europe at the same time (the late 1980s/early 1990s).

It's a bit like Matt Stover, whose own books have never been published in Europe. Having people going on about the Caine books and how influential/important they are results in a lot of bemusement from British SF&F fans, whose reaction is mainly, "Who, that STAR WARS guy? What?"
"We feel safe when we read what we recognise, what does not challenge our way of thinking.... a steady acceptance of pre-arranged patterns leads to the inability to question what we are told."
~Camilla

Ghavrel is Ghavrel is Ghavrel

*MySmiley*

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Six best fantasy novels? - 04/12/2009 05:54:54 AM 1852 Views
Best fantasy authors - 04/12/2009 07:01:48 AM 1533 Views
Have you read Robin Hobb? *NM* - 04/12/2009 04:01:23 PM 770 Views
I have, and wasn't really impressed - 04/12/2009 10:08:25 PM 1365 Views
You definitely read the wrong stuff first - 05/12/2009 12:12:07 AM 1465 Views
Agreed. - 09/12/2009 09:55:12 PM 1367 Views
Only read two. Book of the New Sun definitely deserves that spot. Mieville, not so much. - 04/12/2009 08:06:45 AM 1538 Views
Interesting. - 04/12/2009 05:21:04 PM 1401 Views
Why Mieville, if I may ask? *NM* - 04/12/2009 08:33:43 PM 775 Views
I didn't mean that to be a reply to you, but still - 05/12/2009 03:15:36 AM 1526 Views
No worries. - 05/12/2009 03:52:11 AM 1413 Views
But the list was for favorite books, not favorite or most important authors - 05/12/2009 10:25:13 AM 1357 Views
It was for "best" books. I realize that has a lot of meanings, though. *NM* - 05/12/2009 08:37:01 PM 620 Views
Hm... good point - 06/12/2009 02:19:13 AM 1151 Views
Glen Cook is radically overrated. - 05/12/2009 04:09:07 PM 1493 Views
Well, he's at least part of the wave that humanized fantasy. - 05/12/2009 08:36:29 PM 1263 Views
In the US, yes. Elsewhere, no, because they didn't know about him. - 06/12/2009 04:36:31 PM 1356 Views
Interesting. - 07/12/2009 02:15:37 AM 1319 Views
Two years? It was published in 2000... *NM* - 05/12/2009 09:03:33 PM 526 Views
Nine years is like two. *NM* - 06/12/2009 12:25:49 AM 706 Views
I've yet to read a Gene Wolfe. - 06/12/2009 02:26:54 AM 1288 Views
Yes, yes, yes. - 06/12/2009 02:35:45 AM 1246 Views
You know I directly added almost all of those Wolfe quotes there, right? - 06/12/2009 05:26:40 AM 1388 Views
I just find Mieville's prose exceptionally standard. - 06/12/2009 07:25:05 AM 1389 Views
Isn't that almost a contradiction of terms there? - 06/12/2009 07:45:47 AM 1317 Views
It's remarkable for its normalcy because so many people praise it? - 06/12/2009 09:11:18 AM 1236 Views
Who the heck are these people? *NM* - 04/12/2009 12:46:48 PM 752 Views
I've never heard of any of them either.... *NM* - 05/12/2009 02:58:11 AM 1056 Views
Literati - 06/12/2009 05:27:28 AM 1231 Views
Yeah you're so much better than us *NM* - 06/12/2009 12:00:27 PM 686 Views
I'm very ambivalent about A Wizard of Earthsea - 04/12/2009 05:18:00 PM 1297 Views
Possibly has to do with the times in which it was written/read - 06/12/2009 05:29:27 AM 1264 Views
My Best Six best fantasy novels - 04/12/2009 07:44:12 PM 1050 Views
Re: My Best Six best fantasy novels *NM* - 04/12/2009 07:45:25 PM 598 Views
oops! *NM* - 04/12/2009 07:46:34 PM 641 Views
Re: Six best fantasy novels? - 04/12/2009 09:06:18 PM 1398 Views
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Calenture - 05/12/2009 12:44:14 AM 1160 Views
Ooh, I need to get my hands on Calenture. *NM* - 06/12/2009 02:27:34 AM 679 Views
And ha! I thought it might be you. *NM* - 06/12/2009 02:29:13 AM 675 Views
I'll eventually get to those in the near future - 06/12/2009 05:31:29 AM 1306 Views
I don't read or buy books anymore. - 06/12/2009 11:45:33 PM 1299 Views
I understand that - 07/12/2009 12:55:46 AM 1342 Views
Okay, I'll give it a shot - 04/12/2009 10:12:47 PM 1387 Views
You might more mythopoeic material in your fantasies, don't you? *NM* - 04/12/2009 11:22:33 PM 715 Views
Mythopoeic? Who...me? - 05/12/2009 02:19:03 AM 1180 Views
Yes, you - 05/12/2009 03:51:25 AM 1331 Views
The Blogger Seems to Agree With You. - 05/12/2009 10:10:07 PM 1325 Views
Book of the New Sun is very early 80's and is almost inarguably a classic of the genre. - 06/12/2009 12:26:55 AM 1349 Views
Never Read It, But All Accounts Support That View. - 06/12/2009 02:44:17 PM 1443 Views
Bending the terms a bit... - 04/12/2009 11:21:33 PM 1416 Views
n/a *NM* - 05/12/2009 12:46:45 AM 608 Views
I like Grossman's list a lot more than Henry's. *NM* - 04/12/2009 11:41:36 PM 666 Views
Here are mine, but I probably haven't really read enough fantasy to have a top 5 - 05/12/2009 12:16:13 AM 1199 Views
Have you tried any standalones recently? - 06/12/2009 05:33:41 AM 1291 Views
I always end up wanting more - 06/12/2009 05:53:11 AM 1278 Views
The only one on his list I would think about agreeing with is Meiville. - 05/12/2009 03:11:25 AM 1347 Views
Have you tried Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves yet? - 06/12/2009 05:34:48 AM 1213 Views
No list is complete without Goodkind *NM* - 05/12/2009 07:59:22 AM 723 Views
Sorry, I can't help it- no *porn* list is complete without Goodkind... *NM* - 06/12/2009 02:21:22 AM 567 Views
For me....: - 05/12/2009 10:36:42 AM 1382 Views
He certainly has a specific kind of taste. - 06/12/2009 02:20:30 AM 1218 Views
Pfft! - 06/12/2009 06:54:24 AM 1121 Views
Who are you asking?? - 07/12/2009 08:09:25 PM 1238 Views
Might give this a go myself... - 06/12/2009 02:24:52 AM 1282 Views

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