Jolt Country

Ever gone on vacation to a remote cabin? One that's supposed to have wifi but it ain't working? Well, relaxing and reading in a remote cabin happens to be what my wife considers a vacation whereas I'd rather play a video game or do internet stuff. Oh well, let's see what the cabin owner left for us to do: a paltry selection of old books and dvd's. Wife won't let me watch tv while she's reading so grabbed a book with the cover ripped off but a sci-fi sounding title:

"Gardens of the Moon"



666 pages long, this shit ain't sci-fi. First impression was, is this Magic the Gathering fan fiction?

Wanna read a book where every line a character speaks is followed by something like: "she snapped", "he growled", "he sneered", etc?
Wanna read a book where at least every other page has the word "sweat"? As in, "her hair was matted on her neck with sweat", "he mopped sweat off his brow", "he glistened with sweat", etc.

I won't bore you with the plot, there's Wiki for that but broad strokes is that this is the story of a medieval empire completing it's takeover of the last few "free cities" in it's realm. The empire is headed by an Empress who has usurped the throne from her now dead husband the Emperor. She holds power using Magic, having magicians, sorcerers (sorceresses) and an anti-sorceress whose power is to suck up magic thrown at her, all on payroll along with an army of mostly miserable conscripts (like Russia). Everyone is backstabbing each other, and the Empress has a campaign to kill all the old guard of sorcerers and army officers who worked for her husband because she doesn't trust their loyalty. There's an anti-magic devil powered group that is working to take down the Empress by releasing huge mule sized devil hounds and possessing a little fishing village girl. There are lots of fun characters like Sargent WhiskyJack, a talking snotty magical female giant raven, and even a marionette with the soul of a dead sorcerer. There's a flying magic castle city filled with a flock of the aforementioned giant magical ravens that loses a battle and has to fly away.There's also good bit of fat woman love and lovin and lots and lots of blood and gore.

It's a wild ride with multiple concurrent stories and some flashbacks. The way I read, I take my time and envision what is going on so this seemed like a cheesy fantasy movie to me. I never got into role playing games like Magic (not really even D&D which was at least less ridiculous) so this was a nice exposure to something I would never ever intentionally pick up. I only made it to page 364 so when I got home I had to download it so I can finish as I can.

And . . . I was right. This book was written by this guy:

Stephen Erikson, an anthropologist, wrote this as a script for a movie meant to support an "adult magic fantasy game". The script and game never got picked up so he hacked it into a 666 page book which didn't get published for another 10 years. But when it did, oh boy. This guy has made millions and gotten mega fame in the fantasy writing community for something that could be done better by transcribing a Zoom Magic the Gathering gameplay. I guess all those kids from elementary school wearing all black grew up and had money for books, good for them.

I believe I have some of his works on a cd full of books. Maybe I'll check out his folder. Does not sound very promising to read his stuff though.

Casual Observer wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:55 am she's reading so grabbed a book with the cover ripped off but a sci-fi sounding title:
"Gardens of the Moon"

A book with the cover ripped off may be an indication of a "stripped book." When books don't sell, instead of returning the book, the retailer is instructed to strip the covers off of them, then nail the covers back to the publisher for credit. The books are supposed to be put in trash (or paper recycling), but some sellers would make a little cash by selling them to a re-distributor who sells them in poorer places.

Casual Observer wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:55 am666 pages long, this shit ain't sci-fi. First impression was, is this Magic the Gathering fan fiction?

The category now is "F & SF" or Fantasy and Science Fiction. After all, consider Clarke's law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Then there's the anonymous response, "If it is distinguishable, it's not advanced enough."

Casual Observer wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:55 am
Wanna read a book where every line a character speaks is followed by something like: "she snapped", "he growled", "he sneered", etc?

This is a sign of a writer who doesn't understand describing a conversation. When a conversation opens, you identify the speaker, then the respondent. Using "he said/she said/they said" is a perfectly reasonable way to describe the action. Then you quote then, back and forth, on;y identifying the speaker when it might be unclear who's talking.

Also, trying to use fanciful language is a sign of an inexperienced writer. They're trying to use "purple prose" (overly pompous words), perhaps using that to try to cover up weak writing. A writer should know the character's intent and motivation, then describe that, and it should flow from there. The writer should be trying to paint a picture in words sufficient to cause the reader to experience a "willing suspension of disbelief," and can accept the idea of what is happening as believable.