Re: OT: Super OT: Re: CHAT: JRRT

On Sat, Mar 06, 2004 at 03:42:39PM +0000, Tim May wrote:
> Now, I certainly agree that there are better writers than Tolkien,
> both outside the field of fantasy and within it.  But I must consider
> your wife's taste in literature highly peculiar if she counts David
> Eddings among them.
Eh, I don't think it's that peculiar - and recall that I really like
Tolkien.  Sure, on the surface, the _Belgariad_ is just another LoTR
rip-off, but I would say it represents some improvements on the model:
the writing style is more accessible (while still maintaining the epic
feel), and each of the characters is given more depth of personality.
(IMHO, with the exception of the Hobbitagonists, Tolkien's characters
tended to have a fractal dimension closer to 2 than 3, admittedly in
large part because there were just so darn many of them.)

But it is, after all, purely a matter of taste.

-Mark