tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post7304665687655951663..comments2024-01-23T19:26:48.882-05:00Comments on Julian Perez Conquers the Universe!: Aaron Allston's "Doc Sidhe"Julian Perezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16276143599750947248noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post-22064207744044567142010-03-12T02:41:47.650-05:002010-03-12T02:41:47.650-05:00Eddie -
Yeah, that was his name, Eric Willis, th...Eddie - <br /><br />Yeah, that was his name, Eric Willis, the mortal private dick that got ahold of the Casket of Winters.Julian Perezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16276143599750947248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post-27599572141357933092010-03-06T15:55:11.217-05:002010-03-06T15:55:11.217-05:00Is the guy you're talking about named Eric Wil...Is the guy you're talking about named Eric Willis? I remember him and his son Roger being mentioned in Malekith's entry in Marvel Universe Handbooks and I've always wanted to read the stories he was in.Eduardo M.http://www.myspace.com/edfreynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post-23159815380530372682010-03-02T21:48:47.550-05:002010-03-02T21:48:47.550-05:00I haven't read Simonson's Thor since the m...I haven't read Simonson's Thor since the mid-80s, so yeah, I'd forgotten that scene. I do remember that PI, though, or anyway I remember that he was a Korean War vet and I really liked him. In a book full of immortals, it was cool to have a guy you could really worry -- and thus care -- about.<br /><br />I've been holding off on revisiting those books in hopes Marvel will issue the whole run as an Omnibus. Rumors are it may happen.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13840878272493564209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post-57022450232018379272010-03-02T16:28:03.837-05:002010-03-02T16:28:03.837-05:00Yeah, fairies are allergic to iron! And you should...Yeah, fairies are allergic to iron! And you should know that, because of the Walt Simonson Thor. Remember when Malefik the Dark Elf was shot by that private detective that stowed away along with Thor to investigate the Wild Hunt? <br /><br />That bullet really smarted. Malefik cried out, "Iron! A mortal weapon!"<br /><br />I once had a friend in High School that used to write all these macho, Conan the Barbarian fighting adventures involving his obsession with medieval weaponry, who was sort of like the historical version of the kind of guys you're talking about. Thanks to him, I know everything there is to know about medieval weaponry, including what a "ranseur" is and what it was used for. It was a pretty transparent kind of war-porn for him.Julian Perezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16276143599750947248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post-56180625862489808292010-03-02T08:56:48.583-05:002010-03-02T08:56:48.583-05:00Fairies are allergic to iron? Good to know.
Kidd...Fairies are allergic to iron? Good to know.<br /><br />Kidding aside, I do appreciate your sharing your thoughts on the book, so I don't have to read it. Some books are like high school reunions for me; I want to know what happens, but not enough to actually show up. The Fabio hair and dragons on the cover would probably have been enough to keep me away from this book, and a mention of "fairies" on the back cover would've cinched it.<br /><br />The "Hitler Won" books I saw seemed to be geared not toward political commentary (pro or con) so much as fantasy-oriented "men's adventures", for armchair mercenaries who like to daydream about waging guerrilla warfare against the Nazis using modern weaponry ("Boy if we only had Uzi's in WWII, what we could've done...).Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13840878272493564209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post-22713982908868322652010-03-01T22:55:25.537-05:002010-03-01T22:55:25.537-05:00David -
To answer your question about the magica...David - <br /><br />To answer your question about the magical powers of fairies...according to the book, most people don't have a superpower, to the point where an infrastructure that provides transportation and housing is necessary. <br /><br />Like I said, except for a few opening jokes, I decided to go easy on the book, because while this kind of world is cliche today, at the time it was innovative.Julian Perezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16276143599750947248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post-60212588856604452112010-03-01T15:06:07.292-05:002010-03-01T15:06:07.292-05:00Man, this is cause of that (admittedly) gratuitous...Man, this is cause of that (admittedly) gratuitous little dig at the South, isn't it? Don't I get any David Points for mentioning that the South is specifically NOT responsible for Anglophilia? The true culprits are of course, weaselly argyle wearing skinny Brooklyn hipsters on mopeds. <br /><br />In the interest of giving credit where credit is due, the way that "Doc Sidhe" approached this was to say that as society became more complex and the scientific method was discovered, "magic" became just another discipline of science, alongside chemistry, biology, and anthropology. When humans from our world use the term magic, the fairies get a little peeved, as it was an attack on the professionalism of their discipline. <br /><br />They also did put some thought on what a world would be like where everyone is allergic to iron. Guns jam all the time because bullets are made of brass. Steel is required for skyscrapers and tall buildings, and steel frames have to be covered. In poorer districts, where construction is shoddy, people die of iron poisoning all the time.<br /><br />I've been really wanting to do a blog post in the future on my favorite "Hitler won" alternate history novels. <br /><br />My all time favorite was "Swastika Night," which was actually written in the 1930s, so it's actually more speculative science fiction instead of alternate history. Hitler said his Reich would last for a thousand years and people had no real reason to disbelieve him. It was a weird future world with no Jews or Christians and the official religion was a weird state Hitler-worship, involving pilgrimages to the sacred airplane that Hitler personally flew to attack Moscow. <br /><br />It was apparently a feminist novel about how fascists treat women terribly, which I find bizarre, since when you make a list of the groups Hitler picked on, it would be pretty long before it gets to women.Julian Perezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16276143599750947248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250269071385467004.post-53680701978639882522010-03-01T13:39:02.953-05:002010-03-01T13:39:02.953-05:00This is my favorite phrase of the day:
a down on ...This is my favorite phrase of the day:<br /><br /><i>a down on his luck kickboxer</i><br /><br />You always picture those guys having such an idyllic life. :-)<br /><br />This kind of thing is so NOT up my alley it's not funny, but from what little I know of fairies, I was under the impression they had magical powers. If so, why do they need skyscrapers or airships, and why would they endure prejudice? If you have magical powers, why "progress" even to the technology of the 30s? Who needs vacuum tubes and steam engines when you can conjure up everything you want, or fly or teleport wherever you want to go?<br /><br />The only "alternative history" things I even halfway considered buying were the ones that dealt with "what if Hitler won the war" and that sort of thing. They were everywhere in the late 90s but I haven't seen them in a while. I remember seeing one on alternate presidential histories, and the cover showed a smiling Thomas Dewey holding up a newspaper with the headline, "Truman Defeats Dewey." But then I figured it's already sad enough that I read more historical fiction than true history, so reading "alternative" historical fiction would just slide me down another wrung.<br /><br /><i>Darker-skinned fairies are unfortunately treated as shabbily in the fairy world as they were in the real 1930s for instance.</i><br /><br />See, this is why I need to read more history. I had no idea dark-skinned fairies were treated badly in the 30s. Thankfully they fixed that by the 50s, allowing Little Richard's career to thrive.<br /><br />Continuing in the nit-picky groove, it's neat how you use the author's full name almost every time you mention him. Bob Dole likes this.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13840878272493564209noreply@blogger.com