quote for the afternoon

Erik Kain

Erik writes about video games at Forbes and politics at Mother Jones. He's the contributor of The League though he hasn't written much here lately. He can be found occasionally composing 140 character cultural analysis on Twitter.

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3 Responses

  1. ChrisWWW says:

    I always roll my eyes whenever I see one of those “Believe” posters at sporting events and political rallies…Report

  2. nadezhda says:

    Very pleased you like the Bakker recommendation. The next volumes in the first trilogy get grimmer and a bit less “fantastical” in that they’re more historical in two senses. First, he draws a lot on histories of the Crusades, esp the 2nd (grim, grim, grim), which for some readers makes it harder to stay as emotionally connected with the characters. (I didn’t have any complaints but the characters’ motivations and behavior are a bit less accessible than in the 1st volume.) And the history of his world continues to be fleshed out bit by bit, with the action more connected to the emerging history.

    Looking at the list of other fantasies that were earlier recommended for you, if you have a taste for books that “create a world that is familiar yet disconcertingly unfamiliar at the same time”, you may want to try Guy Gavriel Kay’s alt-histories (not his earlier fantasies). Although they’re less rub-your-nose-in-it gritty than Bakker, they each involve people caught up in a violent clash of religions or cultures. And Kay’s prose is splendid. The Lions of Al-Rassan, which is a lightly fantastical retelling of the Reconquista, has a somewhat similar mood to Bakker’s, with a gripping story and gut-wrenching finale.Report

    • E.D. Kain in reply to nadezhda says:

      It’s a great series so far. My only complaint is that it does get a little too dark, and I wish I could like some of the characters better. Martin does this much better than Bakker – though I’m just glad I can finally hold up some other books next to Martin’s and compare and contrast on an equal footing.Report