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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 1908 Views
Best fantasy authors - 04/12/2009 07:01:48 AM 1601 Views
Have you read Robin Hobb? *NM* - 04/12/2009 04:01:23 PM 797 Views
I have, and wasn't really impressed - 04/12/2009 10:08:25 PM 1414 Views
You definitely read the wrong stuff first - 05/12/2009 12:12:07 AM 1523 Views
Agreed. - 09/12/2009 09:55:12 PM 1401 Views
Only read two. Book of the New Sun definitely deserves that spot. Mieville, not so much. - 04/12/2009 08:06:45 AM 1590 Views
Interesting. - 04/12/2009 05:21:04 PM 1449 Views
Why Mieville, if I may ask? *NM* - 04/12/2009 08:33:43 PM 806 Views
I didn't mean that to be a reply to you, but still - 05/12/2009 03:15:36 AM 1570 Views
No worries. - 05/12/2009 03:52:11 AM 1466 Views
But the list was for favorite books, not favorite or most important authors - 05/12/2009 10:25:13 AM 1406 Views
It was for "best" books. I realize that has a lot of meanings, though. *NM* - 05/12/2009 08:37:01 PM 647 Views
Hm... good point - 06/12/2009 02:19:13 AM 1199 Views
Glen Cook is radically overrated. - 05/12/2009 04:09:07 PM 1542 Views
Well, he's at least part of the wave that humanized fantasy. - 05/12/2009 08:36:29 PM 1320 Views
In the US, yes. Elsewhere, no, because they didn't know about him. - 06/12/2009 04:36:31 PM 1412 Views
Interesting. - 07/12/2009 02:15:37 AM 1366 Views
Two years? It was published in 2000... *NM* - 05/12/2009 09:03:33 PM 558 Views
Nine years is like two. *NM* - 06/12/2009 12:25:49 AM 730 Views
I've yet to read a Gene Wolfe. - 06/12/2009 02:26:54 AM 1344 Views
Yes, yes, yes. - 06/12/2009 02:35:45 AM 1292 Views
You know I directly added almost all of those Wolfe quotes there, right? - 06/12/2009 05:26:40 AM 1429 Views
I just find Mieville's prose exceptionally standard. - 06/12/2009 07:25:05 AM 1447 Views
Isn't that almost a contradiction of terms there? - 06/12/2009 07:45:47 AM 1370 Views
It's remarkable for its normalcy because so many people praise it? - 06/12/2009 09:11:18 AM 1284 Views
Who the heck are these people? *NM* - 04/12/2009 12:46:48 PM 781 Views
I've never heard of any of them either.... *NM* - 05/12/2009 02:58:11 AM 1092 Views
Literati - 06/12/2009 05:27:28 AM 1286 Views
Yeah you're so much better than us *NM* - 06/12/2009 12:00:27 PM 712 Views
I'm very ambivalent about A Wizard of Earthsea - 04/12/2009 05:18:00 PM 1344 Views
Possibly has to do with the times in which it was written/read - 06/12/2009 05:29:27 AM 1313 Views
My Best Six best fantasy novels - 04/12/2009 07:44:12 PM 1089 Views
Re: My Best Six best fantasy novels *NM* - 04/12/2009 07:45:25 PM 625 Views
oops! *NM* - 04/12/2009 07:46:34 PM 666 Views
Re: Six best fantasy novels? - 04/12/2009 09:06:18 PM 1459 Views
I really need to get around to reading Mists of Avalon. - 04/12/2009 09:50:54 PM 1250 Views
Calenture - 05/12/2009 12:44:14 AM 1212 Views
Ooh, I need to get my hands on Calenture. *NM* - 06/12/2009 02:27:34 AM 710 Views
And ha! I thought it might be you. *NM* - 06/12/2009 02:29:13 AM 703 Views
I'll eventually get to those in the near future - 06/12/2009 05:31:29 AM 1358 Views
I don't read or buy books anymore. - 06/12/2009 11:45:33 PM 1352 Views
I understand that - 07/12/2009 12:55:46 AM 1393 Views
Okay, I'll give it a shot - 04/12/2009 10:12:47 PM 1440 Views
You might more mythopoeic material in your fantasies, don't you? *NM* - 04/12/2009 11:22:33 PM 740 Views
Mythopoeic? Who...me? - 05/12/2009 02:19:03 AM 1225 Views
Yes, you - 05/12/2009 03:51:25 AM 1378 Views
The Blogger Seems to Agree With You. - 05/12/2009 10:10:07 PM 1378 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 1400 Views
Never Read It, But All Accounts Support That View. - 06/12/2009 02:44:17 PM 1494 Views
Bending the terms a bit... - 04/12/2009 11:21:33 PM 1471 Views
n/a *NM* - 05/12/2009 12:46:45 AM 635 Views
I like Grossman's list a lot more than Henry's. *NM* - 04/12/2009 11:41:36 PM 695 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 1240 Views
Have you tried any standalones recently? - 06/12/2009 05:33:41 AM 1346 Views
I always end up wanting more - 06/12/2009 05:53:11 AM 1325 Views
The only one on his list I would think about agreeing with is Meiville. - 05/12/2009 03:11:25 AM 1396 Views
Have you tried Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves yet? - 06/12/2009 05:34:48 AM 1256 Views
No list is complete without Goodkind *NM* - 05/12/2009 07:59:22 AM 749 Views
Sorry, I can't help it- no *porn* list is complete without Goodkind... *NM* - 06/12/2009 02:21:22 AM 589 Views
For me....: - 05/12/2009 10:36:42 AM 1429 Views
He certainly has a specific kind of taste. - 06/12/2009 02:20:30 AM 1268 Views
Pfft! - 06/12/2009 06:54:24 AM 1170 Views
Who are you asking?? - 07/12/2009 08:09:25 PM 1289 Views
Might give this a go myself... - 06/12/2009 02:24:52 AM 1328 Views

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