Diplomacy Zine -- Chapter Eight EP #272 From: Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com Date: Sun, 10 May 1992 17:33:45 +0000 Issue #272 of ELECTRONIC PROTOCOL: ************************************************************************* NEW NEVADA BUSINESS TAX MAY BE PUT BEFORE VOTERS CARSON CITY (AP) -- A referendum drive against Nevada's new business tax cleared the first hurdle Friday in a signature verification process that could put the tax repeal question on the November ballot. Secretary of State Cheryl Lau said referendum petitions filed in six counties had 34,035 signatures, above the legal minimum of 32,596 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. The next step is a random sampling by county clerks to determine the number of registered voters who signed the documents. That will be done over the next 15 days and will eliminate still more names. The business tax raises about $55 million a year for the state. Gov. Bob Miller has said that if the tax is repealed, the state would have to cut services or the 1993 Legislature would have to approve other taxes to balance the budget. ************************************************************************* Chapter One contains: BAGHDAD, BLITZKRIEG II, KING'S GAMBIT, PASSCHENDAELE, DRAGONS, BLACK OCTOBER, OPERATION DESERT STORM, THE SOMME And is published by uunet!cti1!rlister or rlister@cti.com/Russ Lister Chapter Two contains: BATAAN, BOADICEA, CONAN, CROATIA, CUBIT, DAGGER, DIEN, DRAM, EMU, EYLAU, FONTENOY, GIGGLES, HASTINGS, IONA, KHAFJI, MARENGO, OSIJEK, PARIS, PORTNOY, QUEBEC, TIBERIUS, VEGA And is published by loeb@geocub.greco-prog.fr/Daniel E. Loeb Chapter Three contains: SQUALANE, BRUSILOV OFFENSIVE II, CULLODEN, GANDALF'S REVENGE, GOODBYE BLUE SKY, MASTERS OF DECEIT, PANDORA, NOW AND ZEN And is published by mad-2@kub.nl/Constantijn Wekx Chapter Four contains: DEADLY DAGGERS, MONTREUIL-SUR-MER, FIRE WHEN READY, THUNDERDOME, And needs a publisher. Chapter Five contains: YALTA And needs a publisher. Chapter Six contains: BERLIN WALL, HIROSHIMA, GENGHIS KHAN, SEA LION And is published by barry@brahms.udel.edu/Barry Fausnaugh. Chapter Seven contains: RIYADH'S RECKONING And needs a publisher. Chapter Eight contains: TIBERIUS, BETELGEUSE, IRON CROSS, GUERNICA, TEUNISGEK, WOLF BLITZER, THE COMMANDERS, THE SUTHERLAND CONFLICT, NOW AND ZEN ------------- Chapter Eight ------------- Table of Contents: CANCON V DIXIECON VI DIXIECON II: THE TRADITION CONTINUES By David Hood 1992 Runestone Poll Letter from "M.N" Nelson <amt5man@sun.leeds.ac.uk> ---- JOIN US FOR CANADA'S NATIONAL DIPLOMACY CONVENTION! _____ _____ __ __ _____ _____ __ __ __ __ | __|/ _ \| \| || __|| _ || \| | | \/ | | |__ | || || |__ | |_| || | \ / |_____||__|__||__|\__||_____||_____||__|\__| \__/ Where: CanCon V will again be held at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus. When: July 30 to August 2, 1992. We will be offering our usual exciting Diplomacy Tournament, but this year we will be restricting play to one game per day, so as to leave lots of time for socializing. There will also be a Gunboat tourney as well as our popular Facts in Five tournament. Other games will also be available for your enjoyment. The entry fee is $20, and rooms are available on site for $30 (Canadian) per night. The rooms come complete with kitchen and are available from July 29 to August 6, 1992. For more information, contact either: Cal While Doug Acheson 1 Turnberry Avenue or Unit 5, Suite 330 Toronto, Ontario 320 Yonge St. M6N 1P6 Barrie, Ontario L4N 4C8 _____ __ __ __ __ _____ _____ _____ __ __ __ __ __ | _ \| || \/ || || ___|| __|| _ || \| | | \/ || | | |_| || | > < | || ___|| |__ | |_| || | \ / | | |_____/|__||__/\__||__||_____||_____||_____||__|\__| \__/ |__| This three-round tournament features some of the best Diplomacy players in the country. In addition to the showcase tournament, there will also be events in variant Diplomacy, Titan, United, rail games and military miniatures. Please send the form below ASAP if you are interested in attending. A booklet with more specific information will go out to all preregistrants in late April. The first official round will begin at 10:00 am on Saturday morning, with unofficial gaming to take place on Friday night. Rooms are available for rent on Friday and/or Saturday night at the rate of $26 per room. A limited number of rooms are available for Thursday and Sunday nights as well. The rooms are air-conditioned, and feature free linen service (though you should bring a blanket yourself). Please indicate on the form whether you want a room to yourself, or if you would rather share with someone. Also indicate if you have a roommate already lined up. Free shuttle service will be available to those who fly into Raleigh- Durham International Airport, or to those who take Amtrak to either Raleigh or Greensboro. Please get in touch with David Hood if you need assistance with your travel plans. ____________________________________________________________________ | | | DIXIECON VI REGISTRATION FORM | | | | Name: | | | | Address: | | | | | | | | Phone: | | | | Fees Enclosed: $13/night for a double room [ ] | | $26/night for a single room [ ] | | $15 for registration fee [ ] | | | | Checks payable to David Hood | | | | Please send to: David Hood, 2905 20th Street NE, Hickory NC 28601 | |____________________________________________________________________| The following was submited by Eric Brosius/72060.1540@CompuServe.COM: The following is an e-mail version of the 1992 Runestone Poll ballot. The Runestone Poll is a popular survey of North American postal and e-mail gaming zines, subzines, and GMs. If you would like to vote, just fill out the ballot and send it to me. My INTERNET address is 72060.1540@@Compuserve.COM and my CompuServe address is 72060,1540. Please shorten this file by editing out unused portions before you send it to me---for instance, you can delete the names of zines and subzines that you aren't voting for. Eric Brosius -------------------------------------------- ******************************* * * * The 1992 Runestone Poll * * * ******************************* *** ZINE POLL *** You may rate any amateur postal or e-mail zine that you've read enough of to rate fairly. This means you've seen (or would have seen if not for delays) *at least* two issues since July 1, 1991. Only North American zines are eligible, but anyone may vote. Rate each zine from 0 (the worst) to 10 (the best)---no fractions, please. Do not rate your own zine. Blanks are for zines I forgot to list. __ Absolute! __ The Abyssinian Prince __ Acropolis __ Against the Odds __ Alpha & Omega __ Angst United __ The Appalachian General __ ark __ The Armchair Diplomat __ The Assassin's Blade __ Autumn Madness __ Batyville Gazette __ Benzene __ Blade Wars __ Blind Ambition __ Boast __ Buckeye Rail Gazette __ The Canadian Diplomat __ Canyon __ Carolina Cmd & Cmntry __ Caveat Emptor __ Cheesecake __ The Coach Express __ Comrades in Arms __ Concordia __ The Continual Crisis __ Costaguana __ Countermeasures __ Crimson Sky __ The Curator __ Dipadeedoodah! __ Diplodocus __ Diplomacy Digest __ Diplomacy Downs __ Diplomacy World __ Diplomag __ Dippy __ Disease City __ Disoriented Express __ DOGS of War __ Down at the Mouth __ Electric Trains __ Electronic Protocol __ Empire __ The Encounter __ Excelsior __ Eyewitness News __ fast trax __ Frueh's Folly __ The Gamer's Zine __ Get Them Dots Now! __ GOL! __ Gonzo Rails __ Graustark __ Heroes of Olympus __ The Home Office __ Hoodwink __ Kathy's Korner __ Kempelen's Turk __ Lemon Curry __ Loco Motives __ Lord of Hosts __ Mad Dog __ Maelstrom __ Maniac's Paradise __ The Metadiplomat __ Niccolo __ Northern Flame __ Orphan Son __ ...Pedro... __ Penguin Dip __ Pennant Madness __ Perelandra __ Perestroika __ Pilot Light __ Pirate __ Pontevedria __ The Prince __ Protocol __ Protozoan __ Quest for Power __ Rails by Mail __ Rambling Way __ Ramblings by Moonlight __ Rebel __ So I Lied! __ Son of Flip __ The Spindle __ Starwood __ Suicide Squeeze __ The Tactful Assassin __ Ter-ran __ 36 Miles of Trouble __ This Train... __ Touche __ Twains __ Upstart __ Vertigo __ War Fair __ Well, Martha... __ Where's Kevin Tighe? __ White House Mania __ Why Me? __ World Diplomacy __ Your Zine of Zines __ The Zine Register __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ *** ADVERTISEMENT *** For the main lists (zines, subzines, and GMs) send 50 cents, two 29 cent U.S. stamps, or an issue of your zine in which you publish a ballot to Eric Brosius, 41 Hayward St., Milford MA 01757. Check here __ for lists in order of finish or here __ for lists in alphabetical order. For the Poll publication, send $5.00 or more and check here __ . Last year's publication was 101 pages long. It contained main lists, articles, statistical analysis, and lots more! Thanks for your donations; they really help. *** SUBZINE POLL *** A subzine is a regular section of a zine which is (a) edited by someone other than the zine editor(s), or (b) edited by the zine editor(s), but devoted to a specific hobby service. Any subzine of a North American zine is eligible. The other instructions are the same as those for the Zine Poll. __ analYSIS __ Asterion __ Baseball Mania __ The Blind Wars __ CDO News __ Close Your Eyes... __ DIDOES __ The Eccentric Diplomat __ Feral Dogs __ The First Negotiator __ Fred's Column __ Hounds of Hell __ It's Good to be Right __ It's Me Again __ Metropolis __ No Fac Number __ Notes from the Bunker __ Poll Talk __ The Popular Front __ Reginald Maudling's Elbow __ Ring Finger in Rear __ Seriously Folks __ Slappy's Sports Section __ Sorcerers and Strategists __ Sports Beat __ Standard Deviation __ Subwithnoname __ The Unabashed Bo(t) __ The Unzine Voice __ Water on the Knee __ You're the One __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ *** GM POLL *** You may rate any GM under whom you played any postal or e-mail game since July 1, 1991 for long enough to judge him or her fairly. Only North American GMs are eligible, but anyone may vote. List GMs alphabetically by name (not zine). Rate each GM from 0 (the worst) to 10 (the best)---no fractions, please. GMs may not rate themselves. __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ __ ___________ Your ballot must arrive by June 30, 1992. Please vote early if you can. Indicate one way in which you take part in the North American postal or e-mail gaming hobby (sub to zine XXX, play in game 1992YY, etc.) ________________________________________________________________ Signature (not necessary on an e-mail ballot! However, I need a real name on the line below.) Print your name neatly ____________________________ (If I can't tell who you are, your ballot may not be counted!) Check here __ if you do not want your name on the list of voters. *** RUNESTONE POLL CONTEST *** Guess the Zine Poll winner---the prize is a travel Diplomacy board with magnetic pieces. To be eligible you must vote in the Poll and correctly guess the winning zine; I will pick the contest winner at random from the set of eligible entrants. The names of the winner and any other eligible entrants will be published in the Poll publication. To enter, print your mailing address neatly so I know where to send the prize if you win: __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ The zine you think will win: ______________________ The following was first published in EP #60: Taken from Diplomacy World #52: DIXIECON II: THE TRADITION CONTINUES By David Hood Memorial Day weekend 1988 again saw an influx of Diplomacy players into Chapel Hill. The University of North Carolian, under the auspices of the Carolian Amateur Diplomats, hosted DIXIECON II, a two-day tournament for Diplomacy and variant gaming. Once again, I had the pleasure of hosting the event and running the tournament. The fun began on the Friday night before the Con, when we had unofficial gaming for early arrivals at the home of CAD secretary Mike Lowrey. There was a lively Titan game, involving Wisconsin's James Wall and Marc Peters, CAD member Chris Kremer, and CAD- Charlotte member Dan Sellers. In the other room, a deadly stab-fest was going on in the form of a Diplomacy game. Participants included well-known PBM players John Crosby, and Mike Gonsalves, as well as the 1987 DIXIECON champ Morgan Gurley. The game ended in an Italian- German two-way, between Gonsalves and CAD member Mike Pinkerton. Early the next morning, more Dipsters began to arrive, eventually filling two Diplomacy games by 1100. The first of these was concluded as a four-way draw, as a strong Austrian-Turkish alliance was thrwarted by English-French cooperation. The members of the draw were Kremer, CAD members Bob O'Dear and Mark Stegeman, and CAD- Charlotte member Chris Kiker. Game B had a quite different endgame, as Russia attempted to force a win at the expense of an English- French alliance. Unfortunately, for DW Variants Editor Dave McCrumb, his Russia was stopped at 13 centers by Gurley's France and Wall's England. He was forced to give in to an English-French two-way draw. Game C started roughly two hours after A and B, and featured a three- way draw between Austria, England, and Russia. PBMer Stan Plummer was able to stymie the advance of Austria and Russia, played by Sellers and Virginia FTFer Rob McCarter. The second game of Round Two, Game D, was played at the same time the Gunboat tournament was raging. It featured a strong French-German alliance facing a weak and divided east with no strong alliance bonds. Wall and Peters collected their two-way, as Gonsalves' attempts as Turkey to create a "united front" failed to win the support of his neighbors. The Gunboat Tournament this year featured the SkinnyDip vairant instead of the normal Diplomacy board. Two full games were played under the expert gamemastering of David McCrumb. The eventual winner was Realeigh, NC newcomer Andrew Chilton. All decided that the game would probably make a good one with negotiations, but as a gunboat variant it was rather tedious. My thanks to McCrumb for his excellently drawn SkinnyDip boards and for running the mini- tournament. Sunday morning at 0930 marked the beginning of Round Three in the Diplomacy Tournament. Twenty-one players stood ready to do battle, as three boards filled up. Game E proved to be a decisive one for Best Country awards: England and France swept to a two-way and the Best Country Awards for their respective nations. Gonsalves and McCrumb were able to prevent an eastern push to stalemate them, much to the chagrin of Kiker's Austria and Pinkerton's Turkey. Game F decided the fate of the First Place Prize, as Mark Stegeman pulled off the only solo win of the tournament as Russia. Seller's Italy chose to attack France and Germany rather than Russia in mid- game, precipitating a move by myself and Wall's Germany to give Stegeman the wine. Sellers came in second with ten centers. Game G put Gurley in Second Place overall as his Turkey allied with Kremer's Russia to sweep to a two-way. They were helped in this endeavor by McCarter's Germany, over the frantic cries of Lowery's France to "turn and face the RT!" My congratulations to all those who placed at this year's tournament. In addition to our exciting and competitive Diplomacy and SkinnyDip tournaments, there were also several games of Titan played, as well as Chess and Axis and Allies. In general, things went well this year -- no police came to evict us at midnight, like they did last year. DIXIECON III will be held once again next year on Memorial Day weekend 1989. Be there! From: "M.N" Nelson <amt5man@sun.leeds.ac.uk> Subject: Re: Issue #271 Dear Eric, Avalon Hill have licensed different companies to produce diplomacy in different countries. In the UK diplomacy is distributed by Gibson Games Ltd who have rewritten the rules on several ocassions in an attempt to make them clearer. There is only one rule difference between the UK and US game. In the most recent version of the US game (released circa 1987) players can specify in advance if an army is moving by land or sea. This means that that a player ordering A(Bel)-Hol who suspects that an unwanted convoy might be offered can order `A(Bel)-Hol (by land)'. The UK rules remain true to the spirit of the 1971 rules (the best! accept no alternative). Incidentally it has always been my opinion there the unwanted convoy is legitimate and that you can not refuse it. Many, many words have been written on the subject --- it has only occured in one or two games out of the many thousands that have been plyed by post or FtF! Once again I have to complain that your scribes are not telling us from what zines they are retyping material and when they were first published. Essential information. As it is I am fairly certain that Ron Cameron's article firstappeared in Passchendaele circa 1989/1990. ((Sometimes when I reprint something from a zine, they don't attribute the original source or the author has simply given them direct permission to reprint their article so I don't know that it's a reprint.)) I could email you a copy of the text that went into my new snail zine --- The Mark Nelson Experience. However I don't really think that *any* of your other readers would appreciate it as it contains comments on the state of the UK Hobby and new/reviews/general fannish gossip. However here is something that first appeared in a UK snail mail zine DGR (can't remember what the initials stand for as it is a German zine). It first appeared in Issue 5 (December 1991) ========================================================================= THE LORD OF THE RINGS: A personal view by Iain Bowen. It had been some five years since I last left Samwise Gamgee on his doorstep after returning from the Mithlond and I counted them as years well spent. Aragorn, son of Arathorn did not brood over any of my roleplaying games, the word Ranger had passed into mythology and I did not greet the dusk with cries of A Elbereth ! Gilthoniel ! I had grown, as all Politically Correct people must do, to despise the Lord of the Rings for its racism, its pre-determination, its sexism (that's enough isms - ed). However, my political correctness faded unto the status of q Telegraph reading junior manager with a serious hatred of C2s and I came around to several points of view. One of which is that you should always give something a fair trial, so I went to Waterstone's and amongst the books I bought there (they are many, their name is Legion) was Mr Tolkien's grand opus (not his Magnum Opus, that remains the Quenta Silmarillion)and armed with many cancer-sticks, much Messican beer, biscuits and TV dinners I read. After a slow start, I followed the Hobbits through to Bree where they meet that terribly roguish chap Strider (what happens to him btw, there's this chap Aragorn who fits the description but permanently needs a dose of Pride's Purge), proceed to Amon Sul, where they seem to have met the new Turbo Black Riders and thence to Imladris where there is a terribly tedious council meeting. Teatime saw me at Caradhras the Cruel and I munched a Chicken Biriani through Lothlorien. By the time I had to go down to the pub, we'd had the terribly dramatic running around at Amon Hen and the Fellowship was split, thank Eris. Book III was jolly interesting as we followed various people through various strange places in Calenhardon, flowed well with lots of action and few attacks of the poesy Mr Tolkien appears to be so fond of (this nasty, rhyming alliterative stuff). Book IV was as vile as ever, I trudged towards lunch with it, hoping that Gollum would make off with the Ring and kill the nasty hobbitssess, especially the oikish one with the regional accent. There was an entertaining appearance by Aragorn wannabe Faramir and the Spider was classy, but dammit they got away again. Book V had its points, plucky little Gondor was assaulted by the massed Orcs, darkies and unwashed of Middle Earth and beat them back causing within a few pages both the best and worst lines in the book (Worst - Eowyn's speech to the Lord of the Nazgul, Best the description that starts : And on the leading ship, a great standard broke, and n it was a white tree and that was for Gondor, but above it was a high crown and seven stars, the signs of Elendil that no Lord had borne for years beyond count.. ) that one always sends a chill down the spine but I'm a patron of lost causes. Mind you, I used to cry over it, so I've gotten better. Book VI was a complete washout, the hobbits made it, a combination of Dei ex Machinae were used to input the Ring into the fire, the hobbits got clapped on the back for being stout chaps, this nob Aragorn got a throne and a woman, the Shire was scoured (a real Norman Vincent Peale that one) and that sensitive wimpo Frodo ran away from it all. The point is that LotR is not a particularly good book. Parts of it stand out as being of quality (The Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Lothlorien, A Stab in the Dark) but much of the rest is dross. However it has several merits within its genre. Its genre is, I'm afraid, the extended fantasy novel, not the history behind the invented English Folk Myth of the Silmarillion, and as this it succeeds rather well, indeed in terms of writing style, invention and high drama it is way, way ahead of most of the field. But this is hardly a field in which fine quality word smithying abounds and compared to other writers Tolkien comes off looking less of the paladin. It is true to say that there are very few grammatical errors in LotR save for those deliberately utilised for effect (The Orcs, Gollum). But the style is a vague combination of many others, the descriptive passages remind me in places of both The Natural History of Selbourne and White Fang, whilst conversational passages rely too much on what Tolkien felt to be the vernacular of whosoever he was typecasting at the time: the Rohirrim use translated Anglo-Saxonisms such as "Sister-son", the Gondorians use a prose style that fell out of fashion in Languedoc during the twelfth century, the Hobbits use a very Trollope style save where a peasant is being brought in, where Hardy's Wessex and Cold Comfort Farm are intertwined with a Middle English structure that is more familiar to those who live in the Black Country. The Dunedain of the North and the Elves speak an upper class RP with the odd archaism. There is nothing wrong with this, but it , like many of the aspects of culture involved for such people is strongly derivative which destroys the myth of the sub-creator. Transplanter like Hardy or Trollope maybe, sub-creator no. The poetry is hardly original in style either, much of it has taken rhyme and metre from the Middle English or the Old Norse. Ann-thennath, indeed, same damn scheme as the Battle of Maldon (JRRT, translator thereof). Nor is its content impressive, much of which we are given "The Rhymes of Lore" are little scraps of doggerel that a grammar school child would be proud of, the hobbitish bits are quite trite and vile or as it was once put in the hobby, The Road goes for ever on : "doesn't it just". I suppose that we are supposed to be impressed by the "Lay of Beren and Luthien" and other similar passages, but to someone who cut his teeth on Blake, it is poor fare. but it is easily comprehensible and straightforward to those with a little wit and reminds lots of many of the ennobled amateur Victorian poets which are occasionally restored to fame as a literary joke or because they were women or gay or something trendy. Its problem is that as a novel, compared to other novels of a similar period it reads as being dated, the action in LotR is the sort of action one would expect from a Dornford Yates book or Kipling or a bowdlerised George MacDonald Fraser. It represents in the full flower of its glory the "Little Englander" for that is, after all, what halflings are nothing but a portrayal of both the peasantry and bourgeoisie(sic) of the 20s and 30s with a plucky few grammar school bods like Merry, Pippin and Frodo to drag them through it all. They, of course, have to be rescued by gentlemen (the Wise, the Dunedain et al) and they are fighting against the overtaking of English life by forces of industry and commerce (Saruman) backed by an old enemy (the urban working class). All this explains why there are an absence of certain things from the books: women (get in the way, old chap); economics (not our class dear); society (a nasty left-wing concept, what LotR has is breeding, which has been in vogue in England since the Norman Conquest) nor religion (the Valar are about as vague as the CofE). It is a world in which tradition outranks need, where custom is the practice, where everyone knows their place and simple values remain important. It is a true Daily Telegraph of the book world. Many more ideologically sound than I, have commented on the gender gap in LotR. To Tolkien, sex does not rear its head, love does. Love consists of a chap and chapess meeting, falling in love immediately and marrying when he has satisfied her parents. No sex, no wishy washy romance, no pouting Jezebels like Scarlett O'Hara. And, give Tolkien his due, all women are perfect ladies, there are no slatternly Slatteries, no pill's like Suellen O'Hara, all there are is beautiful, gentle, homebodies like Melanie Wilkes (Arwen), women who try on their own but realise their place but are allowed to do so because they are of good blood (Galadriel, Eowyn)and old ladies full of wisdom like Mammy (Ioreth). One could go on to comment on the subliminal homosexuality implied in this virtually women-free world, but that theory's a load of tosh. Anyway Aragorn wouldn't fit in as Rhett Butler, although Faramir might pass off as Ashley Wilkes. How much this can be blamed on Tolkien's Catholicism and Madonna/Whore polarisation in a question for such scum as sociologists. I mentioned moral grey areas. There is absolutely no doubt who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. there is little that lies inbetween, he who is not with me is against me and all that guff. The entire world is split between "dupes of the enemy" and "dupes of the Valar", it is both idealised and polarised. I will concede that the peasantry are ill-informed and therefore not able to make the moral choices, "I know a fat innkeeper in Bree who were he not ceaselessly guarded...", however, even these people know of the name of Mordor and why they should fear it. The only real ambiguity in a world seemingly free of treachery is possibly the role of Isildur. Isildur is the firebrand, possibly in some ways of greater moral purity than Elendil, although Elendil gets all the good lines ("Out of the Great Sea to Middle Earth, I have come, and here I and my heirs will abide until the ending of this world"). Isildur is of the highest blood and the highest purity, is counselled by the wise and yet still takes the Ring. Now this could be due to its seductive nature ("Of all his works I hold this one the only fair"), but is it, if Aragorn can stand its presence why not Isildur? It is a giant Boy's Own Story and as such should be appreciated as such. Now this might be a literary critique, but is isn't a diatribe, when taken on this reduced level then it is a jolly good book, which is what it was intended to be. And to the children of the nineties beset by pollution and grime, by crime and the nanny state, a return to this fictionalised idyll, where plucky chaps could still change the world on their own and then settle back to an English country life will become more and more popular. But does it compare to another novel written by a language expert and professor, The Name of the Rose, no, it cannot even hold a candle to it, but The Name of the Rose is the LotR of the eighties. it does however thrash Donaldson, Moorcock, this Pratchett chappie, Terry Brooks, the Gor novels, the Dragonlance trash and even well thought out stuff like Storm Constantine's Wraeththu trilogy or that C J Cherryh stuff. This leaves us with the question of Ms Kurtz, whom in my arrogant opinion I rate as being better in the shlock fantasy market than JRRT. This is a subjective opinion, her writing is certainly not as technically correct as JRRT's (she's American and therefore insists on spelling things wrong) and her mercifully few poetic passages are dire. However, JRRT's overly purpled descriptive prose is cut to nice short style with description occurring as required by the plot rather than as the main point of some areas. The characters have real life problems and talk about real life things like sex, money and horses rather than of age old squabbles. All in all the 11 Deryni books provide most of the things that Tolkien does and manages to produce heroes with foibles, problems and realism. There is even the odd mention of, gasp, economics. =============================================================================== This was my response, some of which was printed in Issue 6 (January 1992) LoC DGB 5 (December 1991) MARK NELSON (Postgraduate), Department of Applied Mathematics, Leeds University, Leeds. WEST RIDING LS2 9JT ENGLAND 18.12.91 Paul, I really enjoyed Iain's article on LoTR although at the last York Hobbymeet he complained about your editing of it. I wonder if I am capable of discussing LoTR in a non-biased way. Like many people in the Hobby I had an interest in legends and mythology before I came across *THE* book, in particular I was interested in Norse Mythology. Not suprisingly I enjoyed the book, for the story but even more for the background. Like many other people LoTR was also my first excursion into fantasy and it's also a book that I (like many others) have read many times. Given this background, can I really discuss LoTR in the same way that I discuss other books? Digressing for a moment, one thing that I find interesting is how the critics reception to Tolkien has changed over the years. Initially, on first production, it received great press with hostile critics being few and far between. It has only been comparatively recently, since the first publication in the States in the late 1960's, that the book has been granted a more critical reception. I believe that there is something in the cynical response that the critics only 'turned' on Tolkien once the band of Tolien fans had widened from the original small elite group of critis into the popular 'fandom' that exisats today. Even today I feel that most negative citicism of Tolkien stems from a dislike of Tolkien's popularity rather than a dislike of the book. In reviewing the LoTR the most important question is from where does one review it? Does one review it as a piece of fantasy, as a piece of Norse based fantasy, as a piece of mainstream fiction, as a children's tale or whatever? Given Tolkien's own interests I believe that the book should is best reviewed from the perspective of a recorded 'Saga'. There are, of course, people who rally do dislike Tolkien because of it's racism and sexism. This is no harder to except then that there are people who really believe that being political correct is something to aspire to. The change in spoken language is perhaps too blatent, perhapes too obvious. Still, it does add a flavour to the book and attempts to do something that few other writers consider. Ironic, that Iain should make so many criticisims of everyday things that Tolkien didn't cover and also to criticise him for covering things do add realism... :-) Iain's biggest folly is when he states that Tolkien is no Blake, well *really*! If Tolkien's poetic abilities were comparable to Blakes I rather think we might have seen a good bit more of it being published to a rather good reception. Similialry I am speachless that Iain has discovered that Tolkiens Tolklien's rhyme and metre is based on that of the Old Norse and the Middle English. This is something that just would not be apparent to most Tolkien readers who know so little about Tolkien's background. For a book which is best compared to Norse Sagas, poetry being based on Norse metre is bit of a cheat really. I do not consider that any serious discussion of Tolkien's literary fauls, for there are many to discuss, will linger long on the poetry. Similiarly to Iains comments on the gender gap in Middle-Earth my in-depth and considered comment is something along the lines of so-what? I think that I will have to reread some Norse Sagas, these are world renowned in their political correctness. The comparison to a certain Italian professor is interesting, but rather unilluminating. Sooo, both of them were professors and both of them are/were linguistics and both of them wrote books. It therefore follows that their books are comparable. I might accept this pittiful standar of logic from such as Tobby Harris who have difficuly reading and writing but not from Iain! Pittiful. Tolkien does portray a rather black and white world, a world without human emotion and where events fall into rather well-formed chunks for no real reason. Middle Earth is not a land which replicates the world that we live in. It is not Western Europe with dragons and dwarves (and of course hobbits). But then, as I hope I have shown, I do not feal that this is the right way to approach Tolkien. I believe that Tollkien stands out from the mass of followers that published with increasing gusto from the early 1970's. Primarily because they are writing in a fantasy tradition which has become (more or less) defined by Tolkien whereas he defined the tradition by writing a 'saga', and where better for him to turn when devising his spoken saga than the tradition inwhich he worked? Yours, Mark ========================================================================= Publisher comments: Quote is from page 2 of the May 11, 1992 issue of Investor's Business Daily. The AP left out the massive legal suits that we have initiated against various public and private agencies as well as public and private individuals that did their best to stop us. They went so far as to throw our petitioners off public sidewalks and threaten our petitioners with jail sentences. Because of the actions taken against us, the petition will get by even if we are short a few signatures. We will also likely get between five and six figures compensation for the evils that were done against us. A little background on the issue: The Nevadan government stole 50 bucks from me (not including lawyer and hardware costs) for the crime of driving at a reasonable speed. So I gave a five figure contribution to this petition drive, guaranteeing that it would succeed. This will turn the 50 buck fine into a -53 million dollar fine. Hee hee. Oh, if you vote in the Runestone Poll for a GM or for this zine, please be nice. Also, it would be great if the Judge program got a lot of votes. It's about time that an artifical GM did well in the contest. Would a Judge player please check out my game opening message that I post on rec.games.pbm and rec.games.board and tell me how to alter it so that it refers people to all relevant Judge games? I want to guide my gunboat players to Judge gunboat games, etc. ****************************************************************************** To join in the fun, send your name, home address, home and work phone numbers, and country preferences to Eric_S_Klien@cup.portal.com. ****************************************************************************** Up