Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

With summer coming around you may be thinking about embarking on a new adventure. And barring a vacation in a European Medieval Castle there are few ways as rewarding as starting a new series of fantasy books. In this post I give you my opinion as to the top 5 series of all time (longevity and popularity are the keys for this selection and I just leave Lord of the Rings right out of it. No need for me to cover that one. It is head and shoulders above all the rest and is in a category all by itself.)

I haven’t placed these series in order of importance

Terry Brooks: The books of Shannara series.

There are currently twenty books in the Shannara series and they are roughly broken down into trilogys. It all began in 1977 with the release of the first book The Sword of Shannara This series of books is often heralded as the rightful heir to the Lord of the Rings and I have to agree I read the first book when it came out and fell in love with the series. The books all take place in Shannara but cover a lot of time and a lot of different characters. If you are considering an adventure into Shannara you should start right here with the first book of the first trilogy. The second book is The Elfstones of Shannara which is currently being made into a major motion picture. The third book of the trilogy is The Wishsong of Shannara.

Robert Jordan Wheel of Time series

This is a series of books that currently number 11. The twelfth and final book is scheduled to be out in the Fall of 2009. Robert Jordan passed away while working on this final book but he has extensive interviews and work with Brandon Sanderson who will complete the work for him. It’s a wonderful series of books and is extremely large! The page count of each book goes anywhere from 700 to 1100 pages. I personally devoured the first five books in the series one right after the other. After reading the first I ordered the second and so on right through the first five. Never got a chance to go past the fifth. Had to try other things. Well written and very complex. Nice stuff but does get some criticism for tending to keep you hanging all the time. I would say this series is a bit more serious than the Shannara series. The Second Book is The Great Hunt.

Terry GoodKind Sword of Truth Series

The first book in this series is Wizards First Rule. I have read the first three books in this series and thoroughly enjoyed them. I will get to the others eventually. The Very first book (Wizards First Rule) is just phenomenal. It was released in 1994 to much critical acclaim. You may want to get the box set of the first three novels. You are going to burn through the first one pretty quick. The Sword of Truth,  Books 1-3: Wizard’s First Rule, Blood of the Fold ,Stone of Tears

Stephen Donaldson The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever:

Lord Foul’s Bane; The Illearth War; The Power That Preserves ) - Of all the series I have read this is my absolute favorite. I have read through the whole series twice. This world stands apart from the others for a couple of reasons. True it is a fantasy work with all the usual things like magic, wizards, big battles and well you know. But it is also very sharply balanced by a peculiar main character - Covenant. He is a leper and a bit of an anti-hero. For a portion of the story he doesn’t believe what is happening and he doesn’t want to be the hero. There is a very strong internal conflict in him and it goes nicely with the external conflict. Love these books. The first one isLord Foul’s Bane Book 1) and it was released in 1977. There are currently eight books in the series and two more are scheduled.

George R.R. Martin: A Song of Ice and Fire Series

This is a series of currently four books and the first book is A Game of Thrones published in 1996. There are three more books planned for the series and several prequel novellas. The fifth book in the series (A Dance with Dragons) is scheduled to be released in Sep 2008) This series of books is more contemporary than the other series; It was started in 1996. And it tends to have much more of a Medieval Europe flavor to it. Political intrigue and the maneuverings between various factions play a big part in the story.

If you are a big fan of epic fantasy you might want to check out The Fantasy Guide which gives you guides to lots of fantasy fiction including hero and heroine guides.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Eragon (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Last night, I decided to take a break from all the website stuff and rent a movie. Whaddaya know, a sunday night and I’m going to take a break from work.

I didn’t have anything in mind, I just wanted something “good” so I browsed through the stuff and of course Eragon was there, just staring me in the face so I picked it up thinking “I have put it off long enough”.

I have had a little bit of trepidation about this movie because I just knew it wasn’t going to be something that really jazzed me - It’s no Lord of the Rings but then again what is?

Well anyway, the movie didn’t disappoint me in the fact that it did disappoint me. Pretty much exactly what I expected. Just another story about a farm boy that finds out he has a destiny to save the world. Of course he has magic powers that he has to learn how to control too. This movie just doesn’t bring anything new to the genre of fantasy. Everything is old hat. Here’s some major points (they are going to sound very familiar in that they have all been done before).

• Farm boy has destiny
• Farm boy refuses destiny briefly but takes up the challenge
• Unknown to him farm boy has magic powers
• Farm boy uses his new found magic powers and almost gets himself killed
• Farm boy finds wise mentor to teach him the ways of the force errr… magic
• Farm boy lives with uncle who gets killed by bad guys - (hmm… Luke Skywalker?)
• Farm boy’s parents are a mystery - Again with the Luke Skywalker? Betcha 20 bucks in the next movie the bad guy turns up to be Farm boys father (I’m your father luke!)

Okay, you must be getting the picture by now. There is nothing original in the movie. And for me, and my passion for fantasy and medieval things I was quite disappointed. There wasn’t even any real conflict and I almost laughed at one point in the movie - let me explain.

Joseph Campbell delineated the steps that a hero must take in order to achieve his fulfillment. This is well known by writers and by film makers. And one of the steps is the refusal of the call. This is where “farm boy” says: ” Hey, I am just an average person. I can’t do this! - No way!” And typically there is conflict and soul searching while the potential hero comes around to facing his destiny. He finds the courage to go for it. And this is something that is not lightly done. It takes time, work and thought to bring our hero onto his destined path.

But, in this movie this step lasted exactly 30 seconds. Eragon, when faced with his future, tells his mentor that he is just a farm boy and he can’t do any of this. His mentor gives him a two sentence speech and low and behold Eragon changes his mind and is ready to conquer the world. - very disappointing and I almost laughed.

Okie, I have panned this movie enough and here is what I say. The dragon is beautiful, some of the dragon riding scenes are fun, and there is some light yet fun action. This is simply a fantasy movie that doesn’t try to be anything else. If you are looking for a world to inspire you like LOTR, or something to evoke courage and passion like 300 then this movie isn’t that. If you just want to watch a movie on a sunday night to unwind from all the work without having to think then this is it.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Conan - The Complete Quest (Conan The Barbarian/The Destroyer)

The Riddle of Steel - “Crom is strong! If I die, I have to go before him, and he will ask me, ‘What is the riddle of steel?’ If I don’t know it, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me.” ~Conan the Barbarian

The Name of Conan’s Sword is “The Atlantean”

The Conan Sword is of course wielded by Conan who is a character created by a writer named Robert E. Howard.

An interesting observation about the sword. It is very similar to a flamberge which was a two-handed sword from the middle ages and the unique thing about the flamberge was the wielder could hold it in the normal way and swing it with both hands much like it was a baseball bat. But the Flamberge had a special section above the crosspiece which was wrapped in leather. This allowed the wielder to choke up on it and swing it in tighter circles. The Atlantean has this same kind of structure. You can see in the picture from the movie above that conan’s left hand is on the choked up section. The atlantean didn’t have a leather wrapping here it was metal.

Conan Swords at Amazon.com

Official Conan The Barbarian Sword

Valor - Sword Conan Stainless Hilt 41.25″

When did the sword first appear?

Conan first appeared in the Magazine “Weird Tales” in 1932 in a story called “The Phoenix on the Sword”. And the sword made its first movie appearance in the movie Conan the Barbarian in 1982 with Arnold Schwarzenegger playing Conan. Here is a scene from the first movie with Conan doing a Kata with Atlaantean.

About the Movies:

Schwarzenegger made two Conan movies:

• Conan the Barbarian - Collector’s Edition (1982)
• Conan the Destroyer (1984)   Other Conan works:

  Conan the Adventurer 1997 TV Series

  Conan Unchained: The making of Conan the Barbarian

  Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures Computer Game

   

  Conan Books

  The major portion of Conan stories appeared in Weird Tales magazines in the 1930’s

  Conan the Barbarian
  Author and creator Robert E. Howard

  Conan the Barbarian was born in the land of Cimmeria in the world of Hyboria in the Hyborean age. Created by Robert E. Howard Conan made his first appearance in the story The Phoenix on the Sword published in Weird Tales in 1932.

  Conan is famous for his physical stature and strength. He stood Six foot six and weighed two hundred pounds. He was an adventurer that traveled across the land of Hyboria encountering evil wizards, monsters and princesses. He eventually became the King of Aquilonia which was the most powerful kingdom in Hyboria.

  Conan Books at AmazonConan stories published by Howard:

  The Phoenix on the Sword (Dec 1932)
  The Scarlet Citadel (Jan 1933)
  The Tower of the Elephant (Mar 1933)
  Black Colossus (Jun 1933)
  Xuthal of the Dusk. Published in Weird Tales as The Slithering Shadow (Sep 1933)
  The Pool of the Black One (Oct 1933)
  Rogues in the House (Jan 1934)
  Iron Shadows in the Moon. Published in Weird Tales as Shadows in the Moonlight (Apr 1934)
  Queen of the Black Coast (May 1934)
  The Devil in Iron (Aug 1934)
  The People of the Black Circle (Sep/Oct/Nov 1934)
  A Witch Shall be Born (Dec 1934)
  Jewels of Gwahlur (Mar 1935)
  Beyond the Black River (May/Jun 1935)
  Shadows in Zamboula (Nov 1935)
  The Hour of the Dragon (Dec 35/Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr 1936). Novel.
  Red Nails (Jul/Aug/Sep 1936)

  Conan Books -

  • The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 1)
  • The Bloody Crown of Conan (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 2)
  • the Conquering Sword of Conan   

Popularity: 21% [?]