tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post6063607882410430264..comments2024-03-29T07:58:31.156-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Cartographer and LinguistJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-41279166936673789142023-01-07T03:01:29.018-05:002023-01-07T03:01:29.018-05:00Cherryh's The Dreamstone and The Tree of Sword...Cherryh's <i>The Dreamstone</i> and <i>The Tree of Swords and Jewels</i> (together as <i>Arafel's Saga</i> or with revisions as <i>The Dreaming Tree</i>) is one of my favorite fantasies, up there with Tanith Lee's Flat Earth and Birthgrave stories, Howard's Conan, Leiber's Fafhrd and Mouser, and Moore's Jirel of Joiry, among others.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-43092992546011972302023-01-06T17:02:08.237-05:002023-01-06T17:02:08.237-05:00Yea, for the longest time, this was a criteria I u...Yea, for the longest time, this was a criteria I used to filter the books I would read. I rarely felt misled, finding almost every book that had a map to be a good read.<br /><br />Too bad I don't have much time for reading anymore so these days I limit myself to C.J. Cherryh and Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson series) for fiction.Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15855679156477779666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-11404205823827467292023-01-04T13:36:22.533-05:002023-01-04T13:36:22.533-05:00A friend of mine once described the sort of fictio...A friend of mine once described the sort of fiction he liked as "books with maps", and I have adopted that as one of my genres of choice as well.faoladhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03691952430041394614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-58890360339854776582023-01-04T11:12:12.312-05:002023-01-04T11:12:12.312-05:00Great quote. Great quote. Mallius Vanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017597212038657943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-54595423859357468322023-01-03T21:27:22.795-05:002023-01-03T21:27:22.795-05:00The depth and care of Tolkien's development of...The depth and care of Tolkien's development of fantastic languages is undeniable, but I have far less enthusiasm for his cartographic or geographic contributions to the fantasy genre.Sterlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08163131298685381872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51011637795904780802023-01-03T21:21:09.187-05:002023-01-03T21:21:09.187-05:00Both Tolkein and RE Howard recognised the usefulne...Both Tolkein and RE Howard recognised the usefulness of maps - they are far better at explaining geography than verbal descriptions. Both RE Howard's map of the Hyborian age and Tolkein's map of Middle Earth were vital in establishing their respective worlds as coherent and thought-out, and both set standards that others would do well to aspire to. John Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16945534608747334150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-38408943251834775822023-01-03T19:41:01.862-05:002023-01-03T19:41:01.862-05:00Barker definitely put a lot of effort into his con...Barker definitely put a lot of effort into his constructed languages, but I'm not sure he can be called all that significant in the field of fantasy literature.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-39834061743744420142023-01-03T19:26:51.068-05:002023-01-03T19:26:51.068-05:00"While I am hard pressed to think any signifi..."While I am hard pressed to think any significant post-Tolkien fantasy author who has put as much effort into developing constructed languages as he did" - maybe Barker?<br />As for Moorcock, after reading his comment on LotR one wonders if he read the books.Corathonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15453135801686019143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-80143994238040089672023-01-03T18:45:23.556-05:002023-01-03T18:45:23.556-05:00James---
If you haven't read it yet, the rela...James---<br /><br />If you haven't read it yet, the relatively-recently-published _A Secret Vice: Tolkien on Invented Languages_ (2019) is a great read on this topic: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Vice-J-R-Tolkien/dp/000834809X/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Vice-J-R-Tolkien/dp/000834809X/</a>.<br /><br />Allan.grodoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11800184312511280050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-91509458777338389862023-01-03T18:09:18.278-05:002023-01-03T18:09:18.278-05:00“J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, app...“J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.”<br /><br />― Terry PratchettJean-François Lebretonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07310676119910035535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24674841062476969872023-01-03T17:16:37.056-05:002023-01-03T17:16:37.056-05:00It is not an exaggeration to say that I love JRR T...It is not an exaggeration to say that I love JRR Tolkien- both the man and his work. So I greatly appreciate your honoring him on his birthday. His influence is undeniable. Happy New Year and best wishes to everyone in 2023. We're (over)due for a good year...Norwegian Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06449040444591006529noreply@blogger.com