So, I figure I might need some sort of series here; something to fall back on when I have nothing in particular to review and no other topics I want to discuss. To this end, I wanted to tap into two of my main interests as far as literature goes.
I’ve said before that I’m a fairly avid fantasy fan. While I can’t exactly claim to be an expert on the genre, I have read a decent amount, from a variety of different eras. I’ve also noted that I like looking at the histories of stories and genres, how works react to and build off of each other. To put these two together, I thought it might be interesting to look at some older fantasy titles that people might not have heard of. Not even necessarily actually forgotten works, in spite of the title, because some of the series I was thinking about were definitely well-known in their day, but I don’t see people talking about them too much anymore.
That’s actually the one double-bind that I find myself in when trying to put together a list for this series; I want to talk about relatively unknown things, but most of the pieces I want to discuss I’ve gotten to through word of mouth: small mentions in blog comments, authors discussing influences, offhand comparisons in posts, etc. So I need to establish some criteria here, because if a work is completely unknown I’m never going to have heard of it. So, on that note, I think:
1) The series needs to be an older one. I’m thinking 90’s or earlier, at least for the first book, because that, sadly, takes us almost two decades into the past.
2) The series needs to not be a blockbuster hit. So no Harry Potter, no A Song of Ice and Fire, no Conan the Barbarian, even. Either it’s old enough that any star it may have had has faded, or it was never that popular to begin with.
I might add more to this as I develop things a little further, but those should be the two basic ones. From there I’m thinking just a general discussion format. The general idea of the series, what I found interesting about it, what I liked and didn’t, and so on and so forth. I may even get ambitious and try to discuss its place in the canon or why I think it’s not more popular. Hell, I may even do some research!
And on another note, while I do have a starting list here, it’s nowhere near long enough to sustain the series for more than a couple of months, let alone to make it the regular thing I want to make of it. So, if anyone has any recommendations or requests, it may take me a while to track them down and read them, but I’m definitely willing to hear them.
Sound good?
And as always, until next week, happy reading!
ljtreads 