posted by [identity profile] sheldrake.livejournal.com at 05:57am on 08/09/2004
It's great, isn't it?

I suppose there's that mythic element to the books, but I'm more drawn to how it's contextualized in those small human ways.

Yes, I know what you're saying, and I totally agree. But what she says about the magical or mythical element in TDIR really struck a chord with me. The magic in TDIR has always seemed very fluid to me, something that can be slipped in and out of; it's unpredictable and you feel it's always just below the surface of things. That's something that's always really appealed to me about the books. Very different from say, HP magic, which I feel is (or at least is intended to be) quite precise and controlled. Although of course that has its own appeal, especially when it's explored in fic.

But there's so much good stuff in this interview. I like how she talks about Arthur as the "Dark Age war leader" and the sense of an England that's constantly threatened with invasion... those things come across very strongly in the books, I think.

Btw, I've been meaning to e-mail you for nigh on a year now. Every time I begin I forget totally what it was I was going to talk about. I'm afraid I suffer from Weird Email Angst, which is a terrible modern infliction. :)
 
posted by [identity profile] kestrelsan.livejournal.com at 08:37pm on 13/09/2004
Oh, good point about the fluidity of magic in DIR--maybe that's what I really mean, the way it's so integral to the characters and plot, and not something separate and lofty. Even when it is--I'm thinking of that scene in The Grey King where Bran and Will are being tested in the mountain by the three lords--there's a very human element that makes it that much more significant to me.

And like you say, while HP is fun, the magic is very technological in nature and not necessarily integral to, well, *being*, I guess--the way it is in DIR, and the Earthsea books, say.

But there's so much good stuff in this interview. I like how she talks about Arthur as the "Dark Age war leader" and the sense of an England that's constantly threatened with invasion... those things come across very strongly in the books, I think.

Oh yes; it strips away the romanticization of the Arthur story and makes it very real, I think.

Btw, I've been meaning to e-mail you for nigh on a year now. Every time I begin I forget totally what it was I was going to talk about. I'm afraid I suffer from Weird Email Angst, which is a terrible modern infliction. :)

LOL! I know that feeling intimately *g*. I absolve you of any email angst, particularly as you know I'm terrible at timely replies. I do wish I could get my head back into writing DIR, and I think you should do so as well, purely for selfish reasons *g*.
 
posted by [identity profile] sheldrake.livejournal.com at 07:15am on 19/09/2004
I absolve you of any email angst, particularly as you know I'm terrible at timely replies.

Ah, thank you. *relief* *g*

I do wish I could get my head back into writing DIR, and I think you should do so as well, purely for selfish reasons *g*.

Heh, thanks. I think you should write more DIR, too. I know how you feel, though. I'd love to write more DIR, I'd love to get my head back into writing anything! My long and epic DIR WIP has, I believe, finally fallen by the wayside. It's just too old and stale now. I've had a another couple of false starts since then. Maybe something quick and snappy is the answer? I swear, I start a new fic every other day, and every time the amount of words I can write before I give it up as a bad job gets smaller. *tears out hair slightly* :(

May

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
        1
 
2
 
3
 
4
 
5
 
6
 
7
 
8
 
9 10
 
11
 
12
 
13
 
14
 
15
 
16
 
17
 
18
 
19
 
20
 
21
 
22
 
23
 
24
 
25
 
26
 
27
 
28
 
29
 
30
 
31