The Rough Guide to Fantasyland... musings.

[seawasp]

I have recently finished reading this book (thanks to my Loyal Lieutenant for providing me with a copy). Its popularity... puzzles me.

It's basically something like the Devil's Dictionary with a focus on standard fantasy tropes. I was hoping for something more like a guide in the sense of a real travel guide, rather than what is mostly a set of parodic definitions.

Certainly some of the commentary/implied definitions are spot-on, and point up some of the weaknesses of what is commonly called EFP (Extruded Fantasy Product). A lot of them, though, seem more specific to some particular subgroup of these which I've never read (the "Gay Wizard" bit, for instance, is totally out of left field; I can't think of a single example), and others seem to refer to "problems" which are more a matter of stylistic or practical choice than anything else. (questions of the "ecology" of the world, for instance; many writers -- myself included -- often aren't going to include details on flora and fauna unless it's germane to the plot, so you will see very few, if any, creatures described in the text unless they're something to eat, or something to fight.)

Overall, I found it a lightly amusing read but hardly anything that struck me as the "must read" book which it is often touted as. It's not clear enough on the whys and wherefores of the problems it attacks to be something useful to those who don't already know they exist, nor is it nearly as funny as it might be; perhaps the most hysterically funny treatment of most of the central problems of EFP *and* bad SF is "The Well-Tempered Plot Device" (by Nick Lowe back in '87; there are copies all over the web, the first I found was at http://news.ansible.co.uk/plotdev.html).

So, it's not bad, but I don't see the fuss.

Comments

[cordova829.livejournal.com]

I've seen a gay wizard.

Of course, I accidently left out the "R" on my character sheet because I was in a hurry, and the whole cmpaigned revolved around my wizard saying "It's fabulous!" whenever he saw tapestries.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

::swats you with a pink owl::

[cordova829.livejournal.com]

No, it was a pink cat that I was NOT allowed to touch.

Damn DM...

[xyzzysqrl]

Wasn't the "gay wizard" bit a riff on Mercedes Lackey? I seem to remember that as a young fan of hers and the like, I read that book and thought "...this is really quite lame."

Possibly.

[seawasp]

I don't think I've ever read any of hers, so it wouldn't register. The closest possible approach I can think of in the stories I've read was probably Antryg Windrose in Hambly's Darkmage dualogy, and I don't think he was very close to that at all.

Re: Possibly.

[ross-teneyck.livejournal.com]

I think the only Mercedes Lackey I read was the Magic's P* trilogy, where the main character was in fact a gay wizard.

So the main character was gay, and that was fine; and of course it followed that the people he formed beautiful but ultimately tragic liaisons with were also gay. But I remember by the end of the trilogy wondering whether there were actually any straight people in that world at all, because Wossname sure didn't seem to meet any of them.

[jcfiala.livejournal.com]

I generally agree with you - I had hunted down a copy at the library and started to read it, but eventually found it boring and obvious, and didn't bother to check it out.

[lavenderbard.livejournal.com]

Me too. I found it mildly amusing at first but it sure didn't hold my interest. Too much description, and not enough plot.

I strongly preferred _Dark Lord of Derkholm_.

[illian.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the Gay Wizard bit is a dig at Vanyel Ashkevron in Lackey's series. There was another one further down that world's timeline also. I'm sure it wasn't intentional but there was a sense that Awesome Magical Power = Homosexual in that universe.

There have been a couple of other books by different people have done where I got a sense that that meme/concept got pressed in deep somewhere in their gray matter. Tanya Huff has a couple of books that could be wedged into the Gay Wizard category (with some effort, in at least a few cases). Those are the only ones that come to mind at the moment though. I'd have to go hunting for more examples.

[rugor.livejournal.com]

If I remember right (after 15-20 years) some of Diane Duane's characters fit too.

[denubis.livejournal.com]

I've read (and for superfluffy books which take no real cycles) enjoyed her books. I didn't get that impression at all. Which books in particular are you talking about?

[kgbooklog.livejournal.com]

In her Door Into _____ series all characters are bisexual, usually with a strong preference for the same gender.

[shana.livejournal.com]

It is a lightly amusing read; more so if you have read lots of EFP.

But _I_ wanted you to read it so you would get my Sam's snarky remarks when she found herself in Fantasyland...

Personally, I like the bit about the pollinating horses...

[supermouse.livejournal.com]

I liked it a lot, but wasn't at all grabbed by the ansible article. I suppose it's horses for courses. RGtF kept on and on striking chords with me, and I want another copy so I can use it to churn out EFP for fun.