the archives
dusted off in read-only
dusted off in read-only
Hello... I love your books. You are the greatest! Don't sleep! Stay up and write more books! Um... ahem... sorry. Anyway, I was wondering if you had a deliberate theory of history and the evolution of cultures involved in the backstory creation for Earwa. From Seswatha's memories, and from Kellhus, Moenghus, and Conphas, it seems very great-man-theory-of-history, but I wondered if you had something more elaborate (since the world's history and cultures appear to be so complex). view post
The 'great figure' theory is definitely the most conducive to narrative - you gotta have characters! A narrativist approach such as Tolkien's is almost inevitable. Add to that my strange love affair with Harold Lamb... But if you think about it, the organizing principle of history in Earwa as opposed to Middle-earth is actually more hermeneutic and Braudelesque: not only are their interpretative questions, the impersonal has a powerful role to play in the production of events as well. I think this explains why my stuff feels more historical and less mythic than Tolkien's. view post