I don’t normally do Friday Five’s, but this looked like a fun one.
1. Name your ten favorite fictional characters of all time and what book, movie, or tv show they came from.
a. Alice. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
b. Aeriel. The Darkangel Trilogy
c. Kitsune. Various folklore
d. Oona. Legend
e. The Fool. Assassin Tril., Liveship Tril. & Tawny Man Tril.
f. Shakespeare’s fools (Puck, Touchstone, Clowne, Fool, etc.)
g. Death. Sandman series
h. The Baker’s Wife. Into the Woods
i. Martha. The Secret Garden
j. Kelson. The various Deryni trilogies.
2. Name five fictional characters that you would like to have an affair with and/or marry, plus the source. You may disregard any pre-existing attachments for these characters.
a. Kelson. The various Deryni trilogies.
b. Jack the Ripper. A night in the Lonesome October.
c. Kate Winslet in pretty much any role she’s ever been in.
d. Several of ancientwisdom’s characters (Feather, the Duke, Villefort, Julian. Damn that boy is hot).
e. Morrolan. The Vlad Taltos novels
3. Name five books/literary works that you would like to live in.
a. Gwynedd from the Deryni books (but like every fangirl, I’d have to be Deryni. I’m so predictable).
b. Bordertown (from the series with the same name)
c. Newford (Charles DeLint’s town)
d. Underground from Neverwhere
e. Shadowrun universe
4. What five classic/critically acclaimed work(s) of literature do you fully appreciate the artistic merits of but hate nonetheless?
a. Ulysses. James Joyce
b. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. James Joyce
c. The Dubliners. James Joyce
d. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
And…
e. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I’m going to get such shit for this).
5. Name five books [ed. of fiction] that you would recommend people read.
a. The Darkangel Trilogy, by Meredith Anne Pierce
b. Alice in Wonderland and Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
c. The Fox Wife by Kij Johnson
d. Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman
e. The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
Alyc Helms 
e. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I’m going to get such shit for this).
Nah. The question is: do you dislike it as much as China Mieville does?
“Tolkien is the wen on the arse of fantasy literature. His oeuvre is massive and contagious – you can’t ignore it, so don’t even try. The best you can do is consciously try to lance the boil. And there’s a lot to dislike – his cod-Wagnerian pomposity, his boys-own-adventure glorying in war, his small-minded and reactionary love for hierarchical status-quos, his belief in absolute morality that blurs moral and political complexity. Tolkien’s clichés – elves ‘n’ dwarfs ‘n’ magic rings – have spread like viruses. He wrote that the function of fantasy was ‘consolation’, thereby making it an article of policy that a fantasy writer should mollycoddle the reader. That is a revolting idea…”
And I’d mock you for your Morrolan answer, except then I’d feel bad ’cause I always kinda had a thing for Aliera.
Hmm…no, I don’t hate him as much as Mieville, but I do take issue to some of the same things. I merely don’t go so far as to blame Tolkein for the mediocre derivations of other fantasy writers. I do, however, think that a writer can write a tolkein-inspired work that addresses these issues.
As for the Morrolan thing, Brust just published two new Adrilanka books, and both of them have mad Morrolan action (including finding out about his origins and why he and Aliera are always fighting). Woot.
Is it just mad Morrolan action or is there mad Aliera action too? Cause, you know… I have my priorities.
Mmmmm…Dragonlords with Blackwands…..neato….
I personaly adore Sethra Lavode….but more in a great giddiness at her creep-factor than physical lust ^.~
Not so big on the James Joyce eh?
Personally never read him, come to think of it I have never read any of the books on that list.
Oh well,
S.
e. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (I’m going to get such shit for this).
You might have if it weren’t such a common sentiment. You people are weird.