Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Magic Story

Fantasy games with deep lore behind them are not uncommon, as what is great Fantasy without a rich, complex, and compelling universe? Not worth the time in my view, and the sophisticated, book-worthy story is what I love about so many games. RuneScape, Golden Sun (which has my heart in a way few books even do), Fire Emblem, Radiant Historia, Suikoden Tierkreis and a couple others. 

Yet the justly and globally popular card game Magic: the Gathering has done more. They have actually written the story, easily a novel's worth or more of text, which is why I am making a post out of this. I am going to read it all. A major endeavor, to be sure, to say nothing of the fact that I already have Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time to tackle but well worth it to explore and the wonders and do battle across the Multiverse. (How quickly I finish, though, is another matter entirely 😅)

A toast to the planeswalkers Gideon Jura, Nissa Revane, Jace Beleren, Chandra Nalaar, Liliana Vess (the not entirely trustworthy necromancer), Ajani Goldmane, Teferi. and Kaya.

Monday, September 16, 2019

My father and I just finished reading Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell

My father and I just finished reading Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskell.

Do not let the tittle fool you, for it is written in an irony that becomes plain as the story evolves. Speaking of story, Haskell has for the third time proven that while she not as skilled as Jones or McKillip, she is equally incapable of writing an ordinary tale. So join the lame-footed Princess of Alder Brook as kidnapping blends with running away with two friends and would-be dragon slayers. Only what they find is the Wild Hunt, a marvelous pair of metal horses, and dark sorcerer. But mostly a reality about Dragons, themselves, and that love is most keenly felt when shown from all parties. As the Hunter says, “ignorance does not make the wrong choice into the right one”, and such choices can make a terrible tangle when other kinds of trouble comes; but unraveling tangles both personal and mystical is what Merrie Haskell does best.

Cheers to Most Illustrious Princess Matilda of Alder Brook, Judith, Parz, Sir Hermanus, Father Ropertus, and Curschin.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Earthsea TV Series

Lookfar approaches the Dragon of Pendor
His Dark Materials. The Wheel of Time. The Lord of the Rings. Now Earthsea. One thing we owe GRRM, the popularity of HBO's Game of Thrones broke the barrier between the Fantastic and TV Series.
 
But Earthsea is special. The characters are non-white, the landscape is an archipelago, and the emphasis is on understanding nature and human nature rather than possessing power over them. Ursula K. Le Guin was a master, so let us pray to Segoy and the freed soul of Erreth-Akbe that the TV Series will be worthy of her.

"When it rained Ogion would not even say the spell that every weather-worker knows, to send the storm aside. In a land where sorcerers come thick, like Gont or the Enlades, you may see a raincloud blundering slowly from side to side and place to place as one spell shunts it on to the next, till at last it is buffeted out over the sea where it can rain in peace. But Ogion let the rain fall where it would." – The Wizard of Earthsea

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

The red ship draws nearer...

The editing of the Fantasy series I wrote is now finished. All that remains to be done is formatting along with the sadly many and varied other little tasks required before sending it out to a publisher. That and several related logistical decisions. But the lion's share of labor is complete.