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I live! The stars are right, and after aeons of slumber Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic rises from the depths like a deep scary rising thing.
I wish I could say I was doing something interesting during my absence, like traveling the world or slowly digging my way to freedom after my overburdened and dangerously shoddy bookshelves collapsed and buried me alive under my Poul Anderson collection, but the reality is that it was simply a combination of computer problems, other time-consuming projects that took up my attention, and various family crises. To people who enjoy this blog (yes, both of you), my apologies. I’ve got new stuff in the works, so stay tuned.
Found the test via Andrew Wheeler. I’m actually not a big Moorcock reader, but this still seems right somehow. I’m not sure I’d call myself “high-brow,” but the rest of it- violent, traditional, cynical, ruggedly manly facial hair- all fit. If you try out the test yourself, let me know what you get in the comments.
Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?…
Michael Moorcock (b. 1939)
19 High-Brow, 21 Violent, -17 Experimental and 21 Cynical!
Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Violent, Traditional and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.
Michael Moorcock is one of the most influential fantasy writers of all times, his impact rivalling that of Tolkien’s. Perhaps China Miéville described it best when he said: “I think we are all post-Moorcock.” Apart from being the editor of New Worlds twice in the 60s and 70s, thereby being instrumental in bringing on the so-called “new wave” of science fiction which changed all fantastic literature forever, Moorcock’s own work has been an inspiration to more recent writers. He is also known for not hiding or blunting his views on fiction which he regards as inferior, a trait which has lead him to apply harsh criticism on authors such as J R R Tolkien, C S Lewis an H P Lovecraft.
His most popular work are the Elric books. Elric was originally conceived as a sort of critical comment to or even parody of R E Howard’s Conan, but the character and his world soon grew to form a tragic and somewhat fatalistic drama. Elric’s world is, in turn, only a small part of the huge Multiverse, a set of stories from all sorts of worlds (including our own) which is forever locked in a struggle between the two powers of Law and Chaos. Whenever one of these powers is threatening to become too powerful, an incarnation of the Eternal Champion, a group of warriors possessing the same spirit, is forced to fight to maintain the delicate balance between the two. Moorcock has worked several of his heroes into this cycle of books, including Hawkmoon, Corum and, of course, Elric.
Moorcock’s stories are often stories about warriors, however reluctant they may be, and are usually explicitly violent, even if the purpose of all the hacking and slashing is to free humans and other beings from oppression and, ultimately, fear. There is little happiness, though, for those who are forced to do the fighting and all they can hope for is a short time of respite, sometimes in the town of Tanelorn, the only place in the multiverse that the eternal struggle between Law and Chaos can’t reach.
It should also be mentioned that, even though Moorcock has done quite some experimenting in his days, it can’t be ignored that a major part of his books are traditional adventure stories that become more than that by their inclusion into a grand vision. A little ironically , perhaps, for an author who has criticized the “world-building school” of fantasy, Moorcock achieves much of his popularity through building, if not a world, a world vision.
You are also a lot like China Miéville
If you want something more gentle, try Ursula K le Guin
If you’d like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Katharine Kerr
Your score
This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetic, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you’re at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn’t mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.
High-Brow vs. Low-Brow
You received 19 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.
Violent vs. Peaceful
You received 21 points, making you more Violent than Peaceful. Please note that violent in this context does not mean that you, personally, are prone to violence. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you are, and you do, then you are violent as defined here. At their best, violent people are the heroes who don’t hesitate to stop the villain threatening innocents by means of a good kick. At their worst, they are the villains themselves.
Experimental vs. Traditional
You received -17 points, making you more Traditional than Experimental. Your position on this scale indicates if you’re more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, traditional people don’t change winning concepts, favouring storytelling over empty poses. At their worst, they are somewhat narrow-minded.
Cynical vs. Romantic
You received 21 points, making you more Cynical than Romantic. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you’ll find the sentence “you are also a lot like x” above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, cynical people are able to see through lies and spot crucial flaws in plans and schemes. At their worst, they are overly negative, bringing everybody else down.
Author image by Catriona Sparks from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Michael_Moorcock.jpg Click for license info.
Life is full of surprises. Some people consider this one of its charms, a position that’s always been baffling to me. Case in point: Thursday afternoon, while I was inoffensively going about my business, a flower pot that someone had evidently positioned insecurely fell from its perch and hit me. Luckily it hit me in the shoulder instead of the head, but it’s still a hell of a shock to have a heavy object whack you from out of nowhere from above and cover you in a shower of dirt.
So basically, my life has turned into a cartoon. And, sadly, it’s a traditional American cartoon based around subjecting the protagonist to sadistic and increasingly outlandish physical abuse, not one of the Japanese ones about an endearingly nerby schlub forced by circumstances to pilot some sort of 50-foot battle robot and/or share a house with a group of foxy female stock characters who are inexplicably attracted to him. Life is not fair.
This is not even tangentially related to this site’s subject, but there’s little point to having your own blog if you can’t follow your own arbitrary whims from time to time. I’m planning on getting a cat from the animal shelter within a week or two, and I’d wanted to post something in memory of my old cat for a while, so now seems like the time.
I got Kira from a local shelter in 2000, when she was about 9 months old. I noticed her when I was walking past the rows of cages, and she reached out her front paw and touched me, then pushed her cheek against the cage bars and tried to rub against my hand. Quite a stroke of good fortune for both of us- she had been abandoned there for a while, and was a few days away from being euthanized. Despite being fairly skittish with most people, she seemed to take to me quickly, and so I adopted her.
She loved to sit by the windows, where she could enjoy the sunlight and watch the birds. Once she got used to company, she liked to come up to people, sit nearby, and stick one of her paws out and rest it on the person’s hand. She would always sleep in someone’s bed, preferably with someone in it. She was quite noisy; she had a very loud rumbling purr and would greet people she liked with a sort of chirping sound.
She died too soon. On June 30th of 2008, a tumor that had been growing in her stomach suddenly burst. She had no chance of recovery, and she was put down the same day. It was very sudden; she continued on happily with her usual activities until the last few hours of her life. I’m grateful for that small mercy.
She was a wonderful cat, and I was lucky to have her in my life for 8 years. The woman in charge of the cats at the shelter (I’ve always mentally referred to her as the “cat wrangler,” though sadly her real job title probably wasn’t as cool) said she had been neglected and possibly abused by her prior owners, so I guess I was able to give her something better than she would have had otherwise. I hope I did. She deserved it.
I just wanted to assure any readers wondering about my absence that I have not been slain in a gangland assassination or died an ironic death entombed beneath a pile of old Jack Vance paperbacks that came crashing down on me when their weight proved too much for my cheap self-assembled bookshelves to withstand. I’ve just been plagued with computer problems, and my computer usage has thus been limited. I should be fully operational and writing on a timelier schedule soon, though, provided the damn thing doesn’t become sentient and murder me in my sleep. Which, considering my usual luck with electronics, is a serious possibility.
My apologies for the slow posting lately. I’ve got a chapter in a forthcoming book, and I’ve been busy looking over the proofs. I’ll be more active shortly.
Back in the late Jurassic era, I was tagged with a book meme by John at Grasping for the Wind, and I figure better late than never.
Nightstand/Table: Nothing. I don’t like to read in bed.
Reading at the Moment: I like to read a lot of books concurrently, usually a few fiction and a few nonfiction. That way I can jump around according to my mood. Currently reading:
Saturn Returns, Sean Williams
Soldier, Ask Not, Gordon R. Dickson (Nostalgic for me- read a bunch of Dorsai books from the library when I was a kid and just starting out with science fiction.)
Bone Song, John Meaney
The Constitution of Liberty, F.A. Hayek (Last read this one in high school. Quite the chick magnet, I was.)
Unholy Domain, Dan Ronco
Annals, Tacitus (Which now has a largish Guinness stain on it, due to my fondness for reading at the bar and my poor hand-eye coordination.)
Political Writings, Benjamin Constant (Compilation of several works, including The Spirit of Conquest and Usurpation and Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments)
Can’t Put Down:
Gathering Dust: I have two used bookstores within a relatively short distance of my house. When I take an interest in an author, I head to the used bookstore, find their supply of that author, and just clean them out. I then stockpile these books in my home, like a survivalist accumulating ammunition and canned food to sustain him in case a Russian first strike wipes out civilization. Thus, I have a truly colossal backlog of books I have yet to read. I’m trying to pick up my reading pace, because I don’t want to accidentally knock over one of my stacked cheap plastic storage boxes and meet my doom buried alive beneath an avalanche of Jack Vance paperbacks.
Secret Indulgence: Faeries’ Landing, an appallingly cute manga series. It looks a bit odd on the shelf next to my Hammer’s Slammers books, but it’s funny, and I like cute, damn it.
Looking Forward To: The January Dancer by Michael Flynn, The Devil’s Eye by Jack McDevitt, The Gods Return by David Drake
I’m always taking notes- about things I’ve read, things I want to write, and just general ideas and thoughts. I mostly do this at my computer, but I have a notebook as well if I’m reading while away from home. When neither are at hand and I’m in a hurry, I’ll just use scrap paper or write on whatever documents- usually work-related- happen to be lying around.
The downside is that if I scribble something down on a spare piece of paper, the context is often missing. This morning, for instance, I pulled a copy of the agenda for a recent government meeting out of my briefcase and saw that, just below the Village Attorney’s Report, I had written, “Romero zombie traditional voodoo zombie.” I soon remembered why I had written that a few days prior and what it referred to, but I spent a rather surreal moment trying to figure out why I was accusing the Board of Trustees of being infested with the undead.
Well, one of my bookshelves collapsed today. I was jolted awake at about 6 A.M. by a loud thudding noise, which turned out to have been caused by the middle tier of the shelves breaking off, sending dozens of books tumbling forward to the floor, resulting in a scene of devastation and chaos of Biblical proportions. (Pun not intended, I swear.) I’d like to be be able to boast that the sheer awe-inspiring size of my book collection is to blame, but this is probably just the price I pay for shopping at Target and buying the cheapest shelves they had.
I love the 4th of July. Growing up, several of my summers revolved principally around the massive horde of illegal fireworks and flammable materials my friend who lived next door possessed, so this is usually a great day for me. Unfortunately, the universe delivered an emotional straight knee directly to my groin earlier this week, so I’m less celebratory than usual. Neither getting a copy of Neal Asher’s Polity Agent from ebay nor spending last night at my local bar getting Phenylethylamine Girl (previously introduced here) to laugh at my goofy childhood anecdotes has been able to lift me out of my bad mood.
On the plus side, I see that Tobias Buckell linked to my Crystal Rain review at Crucial Taunt. Look for the next edition of my column there in a few days, and a new review here as well. Reading Buckell actually helped some poorly organized thoughts I’d been having for a while about race and science fiction to finally congeal, so watch for that too.