She was the last of the Kr’yylia, and did not know her power…
I’ve ranted on The Secret Lair about how modern fantasy novels are pretty much cookie-cutter pieces of shite, especially when the blurb on the back goes something like this:
She is (insert Celtic-ish name here), an orphan girl in the land of (insert made up word, usually ending in -ia). Pursued by (insert bad guy with too many apostrophes in his name), who knows that she was the answer to prophecy and understands that she holds his doom. Now, she comes into her own power, as a priestess of (insert Greek or Celtic goddess here)…
…and she will save, or damn, the world.
Keeping that in mind, you can see why I loved today’s xkcd:
October 1st, 2008 at 9:21 am
I concur except I disagree with his ding on Anathem in the title/alt/tooltip punch.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:24 am
True. I’m finding the way Stephenson is handling the made up words to be decent. I can follow it.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:31 am
You’re right, you’re right – but once in awhile I like them anyway.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:28 am
From the reviews that I’ve read, it looks like Neal did a good job with the language in the book, I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion. But I have to agree with you Chris, I hate most fantasy that has come out in the last 20 years.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I *guess* I resemble that remark. Except for the fact that I hate Silly Name Disease just as much as the rest of you. But I think the law is that if you are a fantasy author you have a blindspot about what is Silly.