Silverthorn resembles...

[Fake Vencar]

I was rather bored late last night, so i sat down and had a brief look through Silverthorn yet again. This time, i realised that it vaguely resembles the parts of Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King:

*Arutha and co leave Krondor in secret, with decoys. This resembles Frodo and co leaving in secret, with Fatty staying to ward people away.
*Start getting chased by the Moredhel Black Slayers, who can only be killed in a certain way. Frodo and co get chased by Ringwraiths, who happen to be described in a similar way and can only be killed in a unique way.
*After brief encounter, they make it to Ylith and meet Baru, who saves them from trouble. This is like Frodo and co going to Bree and meeting Aragorn, who saves them from trouble also, admittedly a bit further on.
*After another close encounter, they get to Elvandar which is a lot like LothLorian (spelling). Admittedly i've missed out the Sarth Abbey, which could be Rivendell as they get the quest there and get chased by the Black Slayers to the door. However, this is before they meet Baru so the Rivendell and Bree have been swapped.
*From Elvandar they travel to the Lake. To get there they need to get underneath in the caves, an alternate way. This is like Frodo and Sam going past Shelob which is the strange creature Jimmy fights.
*Get the plant, alternate to destroying the ring, and make the long journey home.

Well, there are some different things, like the destruction of the Moredhel captain after getting the plant compared to the Witch King before the destruction of the ring. But i can see lots of things that are common here.

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

I suppose people read into things what they want to. I didn't really see any literal connection bar that which most modern fantasy owes to Lord of the Rings (orcs, dwarves, elves, trolls etc)

Let's face it. It would be a pretty boring (and short) story if it was "We need a specific plant which only grows in a certain place." Party goes there, journey takes 2 weeks and is uneventful. Party find said plant which grows plentifully. Party returns home uneventfully and produce cure. The end.

 

[Fake Vencar]

People do interpret stories differently, i'll agree with you there.I was rather bored.

I just happened to read Feist's article on Wiki that one of his major "heroes" was Tolkien so i just wondered if any of his works vaguely resembles one of Tolkien's.

Still, it would have been very boring without it all

 

[Kulgan]

I think the fantasy genre almost HAS to follow certain formulae to be fantasy - and a lot of that formulae was developed by Tollkein who arguably was the first great, 'in depth' fantasy writer of the 20th century. Probably every good fant writer out there read LOTR somewhere down the line - probably in his/her early years - and that it had had some influence on their writings.

I can also see the similarities, tho you'll see a lot of the same plot settings in other novels, not just REF's. You almost have to have..

An evil leader of some kind, bent on conquering the world thru the use of magick and/or force.

An army of nasties, usually, but not always, linked to the big nasty.

A magickal talisman or two (or three) like the One Ring, the plant Silverthorn, the Sword of Shannara, etc, etc.

A protagonist who is, or is working with, a magician. (Arutha and Pug, Frodo and Gandalph, Flick Ohlmsford and Allanon.)

The similarities are there, but fortunately, good writers can take the same basic themes and create worlds that are unique enough to keep us interested.

Well... most of them can keep us interested. I know a place where the Wheel of Time keeps turning, and turning.. and turning..... and is still going nowhere. lol

 

[Fake Vencar]

I agree fully Kulgan. Fantasy always has to have a quest in my eyes, and most seem to be based around the plan you have just wrote

 

[Kulgan]

Thank you for the kind words, my friend. I've been a fant fan for many years, which does not necessairly make me an authority, but I've always been a discriminating reader who can seperate the good from the bad (and the ugly)

I think anyone who's a devotee of the genre sees the formula, but after all, that's why we read the stuff - because we like to get lost in those kind of worlds.

I was a dedicated sci-fi reader for years and another thing I like about Ray's work is his ability to insert a bit of that into his books. His use of the Hall of the Worlds, the idea of travel between different dimensions, etc, are a mingling of sci-fi with fantasy.

Have U also noticed that members of the Tsuranni Assembly push a button on a hand-held 'device' to move from one place to another? This sounds more like a miniature 'transporter' than anything strictly magickal. 'Scotty' would love it and 'Bones' would probably be scared to death of it. lol

 

[Fake Vencar]

I've a strange feeling the Tsurani Transporters are commercially made and the magicians just put the magic in them. Strange how they are metal, when they haven't much metal in the first place!

 

[Kulgan]

That's a good point, and one that I have wondered about myself. I guess since the Assembly pretty much reigns supreme on the planet and is above the law, they can take whatever precious metal can be found, whenever they want, to make their transporter devices. And of course during the time that free trade flourished between Midkemia and Tsurannuanni there was an opportunity to acquire a lot more metal.

 

[Fake Vencar]

I agree with all you say, but i interpreted that there wasn't much metal at all before the trading.

Unless they were all jewel? One big diamond!

 

[Kulgan]

I had a slightly diferent take on the situation, intrepreting it as, there were some metals to be found, but they were as scarce on that planet as say, diamonds or gold is here on earth - relatively rare but still available.

Interesting how different readers intrepret a situation - but that's what makes the books so special - we all create a slightly different world in our minds that we feel comfortable living in while we're reading.

And if they were made of bifg diamonds, I'd love to be a blacksmuith on Midkemia. I'd trade metal swords, shovels, hoes, etc, all day long for their equivalent weight in diamonds...