11-03-2003, 07:01 PM
Do you understand the literary requirement of internal consistency? Do you understand The intersection of the primary and secondary worlds with reality? Rhydd does, or seems to.
Rhydd is hardly "raising race as an issue" but his very brief outline fits with well established scenarios used by already published authors. You might want to read the "Thieves World" books, for one, consider the reality of the Moors and their impact on Spain, and in short, consider why Dragonlance is internally inconsistent and not particularly good literature, for all of its popularity with the RPG crowd.
The internal inconsistency in Dragonlance is not so much race based, though the ethnic predilections of the elves get some mention, but on more fundamental structural elements.
For example: steel and iron do not make good coins, since they tend to corrode and there are better uses for steel and iron in a Swords and Sorcery setting. The complete FUBAR Hickman and Weiss pulled, beyond the idiotic paradox of the Kender, was to present an Earthlike world where steel was used for armor and weaponry while at the same time trying to present iron as a rare enough element suitable for coinage. (For all that, I enjoyed the Twins stories and a few others in the Dragonlance world.) Contrast with Robin Hobb, whose stories, whether you like their tone or not, are in general internally consistent. Not too many "deus ex machina" there.
All Rhydd's outline suggests is that he chooses to try to create a realistic bit of fan fic that touches on the reality of the relationship between the conqueror and the conquered: sort of the like the relationship between the Romans and the Gauls, the Russians of the Golden Horde and the Mongols, or the Americans and the Native tribes and nations of aboriginals on this continent.
Why do you have a problem with that?
Rhydd is hardly "raising race as an issue" but his very brief outline fits with well established scenarios used by already published authors. You might want to read the "Thieves World" books, for one, consider the reality of the Moors and their impact on Spain, and in short, consider why Dragonlance is internally inconsistent and not particularly good literature, for all of its popularity with the RPG crowd.
The internal inconsistency in Dragonlance is not so much race based, though the ethnic predilections of the elves get some mention, but on more fundamental structural elements.
For example: steel and iron do not make good coins, since they tend to corrode and there are better uses for steel and iron in a Swords and Sorcery setting. The complete FUBAR Hickman and Weiss pulled, beyond the idiotic paradox of the Kender, was to present an Earthlike world where steel was used for armor and weaponry while at the same time trying to present iron as a rare enough element suitable for coinage. (For all that, I enjoyed the Twins stories and a few others in the Dragonlance world.) Contrast with Robin Hobb, whose stories, whether you like their tone or not, are in general internally consistent. Not too many "deus ex machina" there.
All Rhydd's outline suggests is that he chooses to try to create a realistic bit of fan fic that touches on the reality of the relationship between the conqueror and the conquered: sort of the like the relationship between the Romans and the Gauls, the Russians of the Golden Horde and the Mongols, or the Americans and the Native tribes and nations of aboriginals on this continent.
Why do you have a problem with that?
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete