I'm currently re-reading a fantasy series written by the American author Melanie Rawn. The first book of the sequence is called Dragon Prince.
Although it looks and sounds a little cheesy it's something of a masterpiece within the genre and has held up pretty well to the years and to repeated reads. It's something of a fore-runner of the gritty political fantasy by George R R Martin (which is shortly to grace the small screen in adapted form) and the back cover of the first book makes comparisons to Frank Herbert's Dune.
Rawn's work is perhaps a little rose-tinted in the manner of many fantasy works written in the 1980s but it that doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken seriously. Ultimately it is a story about power - how it can be abused, and how it can be used wisely. The first series of books is focused around the rise to power of a young prince and how he comes to lead a nation. There isn't a lot of swashbuckling, but there is a lot of discussion of leadership, morals and ethics.
It's hard to recall exactly when I first read these books. My mother has always been a fan of fantasy novels, and what she's lacked for in discernment over the years she's made up for with her voracious reading speed and appetite. She handed me this particular series when I was perhaps 12 or 13, several years after my father left and broke up our family unit, but during a period in which he lived nearby and was engaged in constant conflict with my mother over visiting rights and maintenance payments.
As I re-read these books it's interesting to see just how much of an impression they made on me at the time. Not wishing to follow my father's poor example I clearly took a great deal of inspiration from the main character of the books. My general attitude in thinking and analysing before acting, my internal self-discipline and sense of honour, and my appreciation for intelligent, red-headed ladies can all be traced back to this single work of fiction. You could probably learn more about me from reading these books than from perhaps any other source.
In fact, the impact of these (and other) stories have been so great on my psyche that sometimes I feel a little dislocation. Like I was born to be a leader, in charge of something important, but somehow I fell off the path that I was supposed to be on. I'm pretty certain that if an apocalypse came to pass within my lifetime, were I to survive it I'd be much more use to the human race than I am now...
Although it looks and sounds a little cheesy it's something of a masterpiece within the genre and has held up pretty well to the years and to repeated reads. It's something of a fore-runner of the gritty political fantasy by George R R Martin (which is shortly to grace the small screen in adapted form) and the back cover of the first book makes comparisons to Frank Herbert's Dune.
Rawn's work is perhaps a little rose-tinted in the manner of many fantasy works written in the 1980s but it that doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken seriously. Ultimately it is a story about power - how it can be abused, and how it can be used wisely. The first series of books is focused around the rise to power of a young prince and how he comes to lead a nation. There isn't a lot of swashbuckling, but there is a lot of discussion of leadership, morals and ethics.
It's hard to recall exactly when I first read these books. My mother has always been a fan of fantasy novels, and what she's lacked for in discernment over the years she's made up for with her voracious reading speed and appetite. She handed me this particular series when I was perhaps 12 or 13, several years after my father left and broke up our family unit, but during a period in which he lived nearby and was engaged in constant conflict with my mother over visiting rights and maintenance payments.
As I re-read these books it's interesting to see just how much of an impression they made on me at the time. Not wishing to follow my father's poor example I clearly took a great deal of inspiration from the main character of the books. My general attitude in thinking and analysing before acting, my internal self-discipline and sense of honour, and my appreciation for intelligent, red-headed ladies can all be traced back to this single work of fiction. You could probably learn more about me from reading these books than from perhaps any other source.
In fact, the impact of these (and other) stories have been so great on my psyche that sometimes I feel a little dislocation. Like I was born to be a leader, in charge of something important, but somehow I fell off the path that I was supposed to be on. I'm pretty certain that if an apocalypse came to pass within my lifetime, were I to survive it I'd be much more use to the human race than I am now...
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
I've only been following Witchblade really and only since they rebooted it with #100 and did away with the whole t and a vibe and Ron Marz started writing it, plus the art by stjepan sejic is amazing. I think it shows that pretty much the entire Topcow universe is being overseen by one writer since all the pieces he's put into play are coming together First Born and Broken Trinity were really good concise events and Artifacts actually seems way more worthy of attention than Marvels latest Big Event.
although I think that might be the night shifts...