u/rdesgtj45

Rereading The First Law, and also having reread both some Pratchett and The Blacktongue Thief recently, I’ve come to a conclusion: I like my fantasy witty. I especially love the sort of wry, Chandleresque voice Abercrombie and Buehlmann’s characters have. I tried to read Starling’s The Starving Saints and found it a struggle: no humour at all. Similarly, The Straight Razor Cure by Polansky, my next pick, lacks clever wit. Grimdark or no, which writers bring wit to the genre in your opinion?

I’m rereading TFL and I was really moved by both the deaths of Cathill and Three Trees. The abruptness of the first, with the Dogman putting his hands on her warm cheeks and asking for a blanket, was really sudden and caught me off guard with the delicacy of the language. The latter, when Harding Grim spoke - perhaps a cliché to have the most taciturn of characters speak up to heighten the emotional impact, but one that worked for me. Which other moments have you found moving?

While I enjoyed the plot of the Age of Madness trilogy much more than that of The First Law, I don’t think Abercrombie has managed to establish his characters’ voices as memorably. Show me two sentences of TFL and I can tell straight away if it’s Logan’s or Glotka’s or the Dogman’s or Jezal’s POV. And really original. Character voices as clear and distinct as Chandler’s Philip Marlowe novels. I think TAoM is doing something really original, and commenting on all sorts of modern dilemmas and political issues, but I just don’t feel for the characters as much. I’d read TAoM trilogy again over TFL, but I’ll be wishing it were narrated by Glotka.

I read The First Law then The Age of Madness. I’m now digging into the standalone novels. I’m on Red Country. Just got to Lamb saying “You have to be realistic, Shy.” Man, those fucking kidnappers don’t stand a chance.

Legend in the Mist is a rustic fantasy game: recipes, journeys, challenges, character change are emphasised. Which settings would it be cool to play in? The world created by Christopher Buehlman in the black tongue thief for me would be fun: grim, dark, full of folkloric and magical weirdness. Same for the circle of the world (Joe Abercrombie). You could definitely play in the Warhammer old world, though that setting has more than one rpg to its name. Mythological Ancient Greece would be great. Middle Earth. Where would you set a game?

I took a big break from playing RPGs: 25 years! Since coming back, I’ve enjoyed reading rpghorrorstories - hoping to avoid the obvious mistakes! I’m struck by the fact that (almost) all involve DnD 5e. Is this because DnD 5e dominates the hobby almost completely? Does it attract “problem” players? Does it encourage players to act out “problem” behaviours? Interested to hear opinions.