... history is written by the winners. That's the philosophy behind "The Last Ringbearer," a novel set during and after the end of the War of the Ring... and told from the point of view of the losers. ... In Yeskov's retelling, the wizard Gandalf is a war-monger intent on crushing the scientific and technological initiative of Mordor and its southern allies because science "destroys the harmony of the world and dries up the souls of men!"
posted by Joe Beese
on Feb 15, 2011 -
90 comments
This is all rooted in a vision I had, of William S. Burroughs as a CIA agent, and Philip K. Dick as his young henchman, going head-to-head with notorious gangster and pervert Adolf Hitler somewhere in Hamburg to find out where Hitler is shipping all the computers he can get his hands on. - In another world Charles Stross wrote
this sprawling work of
Alternate History instead of the
Merchant Princes books. Fictional books are of course themselves a common them in Alternative History stories, from The Grasshopper Lies Heavy in
The Man in the High Castle to Adolf Hitlers pulp novel
Lord of the Swastika in
The Iron Dream. Stanisław Lem was particularly enamoured with the idea of the fictional book, and wrote two volumes of reviews and introductions for them, lovingly described
here by Bruce Sterling.
posted by Artw
on Sep 23, 2010 -
87 comments
"Meanwhile, down in Vaginaland, Mr Condom's beginning to feel a bit iffy. He's overheating. For some reason, the shagging seems to be twice as fast this evening, and he grimaces as he gets flung willy-nilly in and out of the pink tunnel. He starts getting friction burns, hanging onto Bobby's stiff penis for dear life, headbutting Georgie's cervix at 180 beats per minute. 'Help me!' he yells in the darkness, feeling himself melting."
This year's worst sex. [NSFW or post-turkey family reading] [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam
on Nov 25, 2009 -
44 comments
Although it's commonplace nowadays to assume that J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was the primary source of inspiration for Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax when they created the world's first tabletop roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons, a careful examination of the game suggests otherwise... James Maliszewski on
The Books That Founded D&D. Some
disagreement.
posted by Artw
on Nov 24, 2009 -
109 comments
Matt Helm is a fictional character created by author Donald Hamilton. He is a U.S. government counter-agent—a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of the term as used in spy thrillers. ... The character appeared in 27 books over a 33-year period beginning in 1960... A movie series was made in the mid-to-late 1960s starring Dean Martin... the series bore no resemblance at all to the character, atmosphere, or themes of Hamilton's original books, nor to the hard-edged action of Bond. One reason was the attitude of the filmmakers that the only way to compete with the Bond films was to parody them. -
Wikipedia (links may be mildly NSFW) [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese
on Oct 14, 2009 -
17 comments
Like
others before him
Benjamin Rosenbaum is making his debut short story collection,
The Ant King And Other Stories, available from his publishers,
Small Beer, as a
free download. More than this though, he is holding a
competition to find the best derivative work inspired by it. These include "translations, plays, movies, radio plays, audiobooks, flashmob happenings, horticultural installations, visual artworks, slash fanfic epics, robot operas, sequels, webcomics, ASCII art, text adventure games, roleplaying campaigns, knitting projects, handmade shoes, or anything else you feel like."
[more inside]
posted by ninebelow
on Sep 19, 2008 -
19 comments
Goosebumps. Rotten School. Mostly Ghostly. The Nightmare Room. Fear Street. If you were born after about 1980 and had nightmares, there's a good chance
R.L. Stine had something to do with it. (
And he's certainly had a number of his own.) He's been called
the Stephen King of children's literature, one of Forbes'
top-40 best paid entertainers (beating out Michael Douglas, U2, and Bill Cosby, among others), and
America's best selling author.
It's an interesting place to end up for this
Ohio State grad, who was editor of the campus humor magazine,
The Sundial, and who has written humor under the pen name Jovial Bob Stein (including
The Ghostbusters 2 Storybook and
How to Wash a Duck and How to Do Everything Else). The
very prolific author (who
shares some credit with
Tom Perrotta), plans to be around
until the day the "kids stop reading." Until then, might I suggest getting them a nightlight?
posted by NotMyselfRightNow
on Aug 5, 2008 -
30 comments
Ladies, have you ever dreamt of being
whisked away kidnapped by a dashing young Prince? Or being swept off your feet and losing your virginity to a dark and mysterious
stranger, who happens to be a Sheikh? Or how about being sold to an Arab aristocracy and living off the rest of your days in married
bliss. No? Then how about considering a Royal who is so
down-to-earth you won't meet anyone else quite like him? Much better than the alternative of marrying his
polar opposite, don't you think? Of course, you can always
try and keep it platonic if you wanted to. Welcome to the wonderful world of
Sheikhs and Desert Love, where all of your
fantasies can come true!
(via)
posted by hadjiboy
on Mar 15, 2008 -
44 comments
Looking for something to read this summer? Well, if you like crime fiction
The Rap Sheet has some recommendations for you.
posted by otio
on Jul 8, 2007 -
4 comments
FBI 101 -- "Essentials for Writers," an "exciting and informative" interactive workshop for writers being offered to members of my union -- the Writers Guild of America, East - by the FBI Office of Public Affairs and FBI New York. ... -- Very interesting account of a workshop the FBI puts on for writers in NY.
What's in it for the FBI?
...The only question we have for you is 'Will it show us in a good light?'" ...
posted by amberglow
on Jun 9, 2007 -
13 comments
After an abysmal, embarrasing
attempt at collaborative fiction by Penguin Books, a new site takes a stab at the
Wikinovel, this time, it appears, with a little better organization and planning. Though, still no users.
posted by nospecialfx
on May 30, 2007 -
31 comments
Booktribes is a new site from the creators of
writing site Abctales where bibliophiles can compile lists of every book they've ever read. Replete with a simple, intuitive interface, compiling your life's reading list becomes strangely addictive, and for the whole of March, the best comment of the day on this as-yet underpopulated site wins a copy of David Mitchell's
Black Swan Green, with the best comment of the month winning the entire 21 volume Sceptre Collection. And if you're worried your reading list isn't up to scratch, don't panic -
you can always cheat.
posted by RokkitNite
on Mar 3, 2007 -
20 comments
The Literature Map. Type in an author, and it tells you who wrote similar stuff. Includes a nifty floaty effect. And you know, I never knew that Jane Austen and Socrates had so much
in common.
posted by JanetLand
on Mar 24, 2006 -
57 comments
A young man comes to the city. He has no name, no home, no work: he has come to the city to write. He writes. Or, more exactly, he does not write. He starves to the point of death.
The city is Christiania (Oslo); the year is 1890. The young man wanders through the streets: the city is a labyrinth of hunger, and all his days are the same. He writes unsolicited articles for a local paper. He worries about his rent, his disintegrating clothes, the difficulty of finding his next meal. He suffers. He nearly goes mad. He is never more than one step from collapse.
Still, he writes.
In From the Cold: The Return of
Knut Hamsun.
posted by matteo
on Dec 19, 2005 -
17 comments
Don't believe the hype Debunking the so-called genius of Prince, The Sopranos and 'Blade Runner'. Amusingly harsh yet convincing cases all round. Can I add 'Goodfellas' to the list? Never has so much been written about a film so lacking. I prefered 'Casino'.
posted by feelinglistless
on Dec 4, 2004 -
135 comments
Janet Frame , New Zealand writer, is dead at 79. More information about her life,
here, and obituary notice
here. Nominated for the Nobel Prize for Fiction last year, I had hoped she might yet win. RIP.
posted by jokeefe
on Jan 29, 2004 -
5 comments
