Ha, I knew you were going to talk about Seyonne. ^_^ Point Number 6 is my favorite. "Oh, sure, the fact that my master is an occasionally nice guy negates the fact that I have, uh, NO FREEDOM." Ridiculous.
As for the next rant: what about author-specific ranting? I know you've done positive praisings of Carol Berg, Martin, and I think Guy Gavriel Kay, but I can't recall if you've done an entire entry devoted to the COMPLETE AND UTTER WRONGNESS that is Jordan or Goodkind. That way, instead of analyzing an individual aspect of fantasy, you can analyze how these faulty parts combine to make a really dreadful whole, or something of that nature. Just a suggestion. ^_^
I'd love to hear a Jordan and Goodkind rant, I must agree. Oof. Arrrrg.
Another unrelated point: 6) bugs me hugely as well. I just read a book called "Souls in the Great Machine," all about a post-apocalyptic Australian society. A lot of it was interesting, a lot of the theories and world-facts were well thought out, plot-wise the book read like a NaNo novel--improvised. But boy, did it destroy the illusion when "units" in the "Calculor"--i.e. slaves forced to do simple mind-numbing calculations every day--decided that they loved their world and tasks so much they didn't leave when given freedom.
I'd like to see the ultimate Limyaael list of which authors are good and which aren't. (For my own reading purposes as much as anything-- I like having an opinion that I can actually trust to recommend books I should read, and while Limyaael's taste in books is simply her own taste, I find it way more in accord with mine than my friends who suggest Mercedes Lackey.)
Hmmm, let's see here, Dragonaria has indentured service, generally selling yourself to pay your debts. There's worse, but the main political body believes it suitable for many crimes to brand the criminal as outcast. He doesn't exist in society anymore, and there's generally someone somewhere sadistic enough to take advantage of that to satisfy dark apetites.
In the beginning stories, the slave Races are taken becuase of physical advantages they have over the Slavers(anaerobic respiration for underground work, simple strenth combined with enough brain power to do complex tasks). Psychology is used most often, conditioning the minds to be subservient. Hundreds of years later when the slavery has essentially ceased to exist, they still think, and are thought to be, inferior. Technological development was a key point, it being considered cheaper to breed and use slaves than to develop robots.
Re: A reason why the slaves might be happymaureenlycaonNovember 4 2004, 22:15:04 UTC
Hate to be contrary here, but in real life 24/7 sexual slavery doesn't work out for most submissives and masochists. (There are plenty who think it will, until they actually get a chance to try it . . .)
Re: A reason why the slaves might be happylimyaaelNovember 6 2004, 20:39:55 UTC
Why would the slaves need to pretend that they're really slaves, though? There would have to be some compelling reason. It's the same reason I don't usually find societies where women, or hidden mages, or what-have-you, are the hidden power brokers convincing; most of the time it doesn't seem as though they have strong enough opposition to force them to conduct this elaborate charade.
Things I've encountered while writing about slaveskadariaNovember 4 2004, 21:24:08 UTC
> Don’t portray slaves as happy to serve their mastersWell, it can swing either way but it all really depends on the placement of the character
( ... )
Please do a rant about Jordan or Goodkind. God, do I have issues with these writers. The Wheel of Time series has four transitional books (two of them in a row), the most recent book, Crossroads of Twilight, is so filled with name-dropping that it's unreadable unless you are looking at Encyclopedia WoT and can check who the various characters are, and all of the characters have similiar names. For example, there are Moira Elward, Moiraine, Mora, Mordeth, Mordrellen, Morelin, Moressin, Morgase, Moria Karentanis, Moridin, Morsa and Morvrin. There are also Malind, Malind Nachenin, Malindare and Malindhe; Maigan, Maigan Nem and Maighdin; Mili Skane, Milla al'Azar, Milli Ayellin, Millin and Millis Fendry. And that's just a few examples
( ... )
I've had the first book of the Sword of Truth sitting on my shelf for many months. I could never quite muster up the will to read it. I couldn't figure out why. Now I know. I've spent so much time on the internet reading Sues and Stus and horrid fiction I've developed a sixth sense that detected the suck emanating from it and subconsciously refused to allow me to do that to myself.
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As for the next rant: what about author-specific ranting? I know you've done positive praisings of Carol Berg, Martin, and I think Guy Gavriel Kay, but I can't recall if you've done an entire entry devoted to the COMPLETE AND UTTER WRONGNESS that is Jordan or Goodkind. That way, instead of analyzing an individual aspect of fantasy, you can analyze how these faulty parts combine to make a really dreadful whole, or something of that nature. Just a suggestion. ^_^
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Another unrelated point: 6) bugs me hugely as well. I just read a book called "Souls in the Great Machine," all about a post-apocalyptic Australian society. A lot of it was interesting, a lot of the theories and world-facts were well thought out, plot-wise the book read like a NaNo novel--improvised. But boy, did it destroy the illusion when "units" in the "Calculor"--i.e. slaves forced to do simple mind-numbing calculations every day--decided that they loved their world and tasks so much they didn't leave when given freedom.
And this was supposed to be *inspiring!*
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Like Mad Max? ;)
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In the beginning stories, the slave Races are taken becuase of physical advantages they have over the Slavers(anaerobic respiration for underground work, simple strenth combined with enough brain power to do complex tasks). Psychology is used most often, conditioning the minds to be subservient. Hundreds of years later when the slavery has essentially ceased to exist, they still think, and are thought to be, inferior. Technological development was a key point, it being considered cheaper to breed and use slaves than to develop robots.
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A society in which the people who appeared to be slaves were actually in charge would be pretty cool, though.
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Now, I know that I never, ever will.
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Thank you for saving me from the Evil that is this series!
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