Ok, i'll admit that American Idol isn't the first thing you think about when you're trying to corral a blog about Fantasy, but hear me out here. I've always been compelled by the emotions that people have about songs that, to be frank, HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE BETTER! Not that i'm truely clueless, but really, what's the point?Take, for example, the fine performance of Jason Castro. Albeit a fine performance, but not Jeff Buckley for sure. Although, to be fair, no one can top what Buckley did. My whole point about that is the pain invovled with the song. Now i'm not going to claim to be an pseudo-typical white kid with a guitar, but even i've seen that legendary vid of Johnny Cash doing nine-inch nail's hurt. If you've seen that vid (hint, it's on youtube, hint) you know what i'm talking about. It's not the fact that the guy's singing about pain that brings people to tears, it's the fact that the guy lived through the damn thing. It's his hard voice, that old man pouring his heart out. Hell, when i first heard the song, i didn't even know it was johnny cash (cause i heard it through the radio) but i thought it was a BRILLANT piece of music.
Tieing this in, (this is the fantasy part of the blog, keep up!) this reminds me of series like Robin Hobb's The Farseers and even George R. R. Martin's current series, The Game of Thrones. There's pain there, especially in Hobb's work. If you've ever read those books, starting with the assasin's quest, you know what i'm talking about. I kept reading the book in teh vain hope that something, just something, might save the poor main character from painful after painful experience, but, as i didn't know, that point would never come. That's the thing about pain, it's more interesting than happy-go-lucky storylines *cough* Anne M *cough*
Ok, I lied about that last part. By the time Robin Hobb got to the last book, it had become so depressing that the pain she inflicted on the last character wasn't as driven as the earlier books. Not to mention her next novels blew ass, being as interesting as water evaporating.
Yet, more and more, I come to think about the translation of the feeling you achieve from a musical medium, and its translation to the page, especially fantasy. I've been on a tangent recently, picking book after book of new writers hopping that i'll find the next George R.R. M. and get swept up in a tale that i'll look forward to. (At least until GRRM releases his next book)Gail Z. Martain, One of the new L.E. Modiesett books and even picked up one of the earlier R. Jordan books i've never heard, and still it feels like the same old stuff. Not only that, its predictable.
I can remember the last time i read a book and was genuinely surprised, and that was GRRM's books. You'd be reading along, entranced by GRRM's sweeping landscapes and orantly flawed characters, then get caught up in the fantasy of it all and then start to think that the hero will defeat the villan ... then BOOM GRRM would kill off the very character you were rooting for. Caught off guard the first time, I honestly said, "Well that can't happen again, well done Mr. Martain" Then BOOM the next three chapters are of all of main characters dying, until "literally" one is left.
Does it have to be that drastic? Still, i'd settle for more emotion and less wishfulfillment authors in the market. Damn J.K. Damn Harry Potter. And damn the lemming publishers.
Tieing this in, (this is the fantasy part of the blog, keep up!) this reminds me of series like Robin Hobb's The Farseers and even George R. R. Martin's current series, The Game of Thrones. There's pain there, especially in Hobb's work. If you've ever read those books, starting with the assasin's quest, you know what i'm talking about. I kept reading the book in teh vain hope that something, just something, might save the poor main character from painful after painful experience, but, as i didn't know, that point would never come. That's the thing about pain, it's more interesting than happy-go-lucky storylines *cough* Anne M *cough*
Ok, I lied about that last part. By the time Robin Hobb got to the last book, it had become so depressing that the pain she inflicted on the last character wasn't as driven as the earlier books. Not to mention her next novels blew ass, being as interesting as water evaporating.
Yet, more and more, I come to think about the translation of the feeling you achieve from a musical medium, and its translation to the page, especially fantasy. I've been on a tangent recently, picking book after book of new writers hopping that i'll find the next George R.R. M. and get swept up in a tale that i'll look forward to. (At least until GRRM releases his next book)Gail Z. Martain, One of the new L.E. Modiesett books and even picked up one of the earlier R. Jordan books i've never heard, and still it feels like the same old stuff. Not only that, its predictable.
I can remember the last time i read a book and was genuinely surprised, and that was GRRM's books. You'd be reading along, entranced by GRRM's sweeping landscapes and orantly flawed characters, then get caught up in the fantasy of it all and then start to think that the hero will defeat the villan ... then BOOM GRRM would kill off the very character you were rooting for. Caught off guard the first time, I honestly said, "Well that can't happen again, well done Mr. Martain" Then BOOM the next three chapters are of all of main characters dying, until "literally" one is left.
Does it have to be that drastic? Still, i'd settle for more emotion and less wishfulfillment authors in the market. Damn J.K. Damn Harry Potter. And damn the lemming publishers.
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