Lit MACLUNKY -- The Lit Forum Maclunky Thread, v3

So what kinds of skins were they?

 

As seen here

 

Ursine. Interesting, wonder if there is any connection to the norse tradition of wearing bear skins.


Also, I did not know there were bears and large cats in Italy, much less enough to meet the needs of the Roman military.

 

You can thank the Romans for that

 

Ah, I see, that makes sense, thanks.

Thinking about it, between such things and the capture of exotic animals for collections and gladiator games, not to mention the ivory trade, there must have quite the hunting industry. I wonder if there are any good works on that...

 

In Ancient Rome urine was used to clean clothes because of the ammonia it contains.

 

In Ancient Rome, Emperor assassinates you.

 

In Ancient Rome they used goat dung as an energy drink.

 

In ancient Rome they cosplayed from Greek Mythology

 

Btw, GrandAdmiralJello, and anyone who likes stories with court intrigues, I'm halfway through "The Goblin Emperor" by Katherine Addison and it's a book I'd definitely recommend.

Basic premise:
*A world popular by (snow)white-skinned Elves (reminiscent in fashion of South Asian cultures) and (obsidian)black-skinned Goblins (who seem more Native American or Mongolian so far, with some Hindu/Buddhist spiritual influences as well, but we haven't gone too far into them yet where I am), and it's in the beginnings of an industrial revolution with airships being the main mode of transportation for the nobility and royalty in the Elflands (which has a solid but bitter peace with the Goblin country of Barizhan), with the wealthy landowners who deal in silk in the east and the up-and-coming industrial sector in the west
*the arrogant Emperor of the Elflands was forced into a political marriage with a Princess of the Goblins while in mourning after the death of his beloved third wife, immediately regretted it, and had her sent away to a remote castle (though she bears him a son from their wedding night, our gray-skinned protagonist, Maia)
*she was kind and later died when Maia was about 10, her funeral was the only time he met his father, who just called him as ugly as she was, and placed Maia (his unwanted 4th son) in the custody of a cruel cousin in another remote castle
*when Maia is 18, when this story begins, he learns that the airship carrying his father and three half-brothers crashed (and later learns it was sabotage)... making him the most-unexpected (and unprepared) Emperor of the Elflands

The worldbuilding is superb (though the names and conventions and customs are rather elaborate, they're not too hard to intuitively grasp soon enough, and there's a couple appendices at the end), but the humble and kindhearted protagonist Maia is the true heart. Also, there's no "black and white," there's no dark lord, there's no war or coming apocalypse. Which makes it refreshing and original, and just as immersive. It's really all about character studies, court intrigue (very well-developed here with the chancellor, secretaries, bodyguards, servants, ministers, marriage alliances, competing noble families, unrest with half-siblings and in-laws, etc.), a murder mystery, and themes of power and abuse, how to rule, what it means to be a good ruler, oppression and bigotry, courage, social justice combined with political wisdom/cunning, and more. It's also very well-written, and has a very optimistic tone because of humble and kindhearted Maia, despite some of the miserable conditions of this byzantine court and world he finds himself at the center of. And unlike most fantasy stories where some outsider becomes king, vanquishes some enemy, then is automatically a great king... this really gets in the nuance of daily life and how he goes from an outcast to an emperor, what he learns, how it all really works (the letters to answer and how, answering petitioners, interacting with everyone from the master wardrober and kitchen staff to the ministers to the Goblin ambassador to the rampaging sister-in-law, sitting in on cabinet meetings, the archaic language of the Elves, protocols of addressing others with proper etiquette and titles and hats, etc.) all make the world feel very real and believable. I'm not done with it yet, but I'd already highly recommend it.

Spoiler: Related Image Dump

The author's map sketch on her website:




Some fanart since it came out in 2014:

 

https://mewo2.com/notes/terrain/

On that note, the above is a great generator for that sort of map.

 

Better men then you have tried.

 

RT says of "The Last Witch Hunter":

"Grim, plodding, and an overall ill fit for Vin Diesel's particular charms, The Last Witch Hunter will bore and/or confuse all but the least demanding action-fantasy fans."

And thus I have identified myself as one of the least demanding action-fantasy fans, as I rather enjoyed it. Its basically Highlander or Underworld by way of Harry Potter.

But, then, I have a soft spot for Vin Diesel and flaming swords.

EDIT: That's a point, what happened to that Highlander reboot that was meant to be happening?

 

The Goblin Emperor is notably on my to-read list!

 

Finished it!

Took me 5 days to read the first half... one day to read the second half!

I like that it stayed true to form... sometimes I hate it when an original story suddenly decides at the last minute to go back to genre clichés (perhaps due to publisher demands), but this doesn't happen here in The Goblin Emperor. There's definitely surprises and interesting new information in the resolution of the plotlines, but it stays true to form. Both realistic but like some progress is definitely being made, enough to even feel optimistic in this world. She says this book won't have a sequel, but there might be future books in this world and even with many of the same characters. I'd definitely like to learn more about this world, and some of its characters' backstories and futures.

The only thing is I can see the language (both the fictional titles/places, the use of archaic English and the royal "we") being an obstacle to reading for some, but it was easy for me to get a sense of it and the official guide and in-book explanations helped. That's truly my only complaint. Some might be disappointed it's not a clone of LOTR or the typical fantasy story, but that's why I really enjoyed it.

9.5/10

(It also won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and was nominated for the Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy Awards... and I can definitely see why.)

Here's a good quote that sums up Maia, and how he's fundamentally kind, even after everything he's been put through... it's even more remarkable when you learn who he's talking about and what they've done when you get to that point in the book:

Lastly, here's a sample of the first 4 chapters (out of 35):
http://www.tor.com/2014/03/17/the-goblin-emperor-chapters-1-4-excerpt-katherine-addison/

 

Between Jello and watching Many a True Nerd on YouTube, I have learned far more about Ancient Rome than I ever planned on.

 

I also know a thing or two about Ancient Rome, like the fact they basically developed the first tank in the form of the ballista quadrirotis, a ballista on a 360 degree cart mount drawn by horses clad in armor similar to cataphracts, among many other technological achievements, but no where near as much as Jello.

 

Just got the sketch for the cover of my second space opera novel, Lucifer's Star.

There may be some...influences...from Star Wars.