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Post by sapphire on Feb 26, 2013 22:12:22 GMT -6
Legit fantasy name: Drizzt Daermon N'a'shezbaernon, from the Forgotten Realms books by R.A. Salvatore. Loved those books back in middle/high school. Now I realize that Drizzt was a bit of a Gary-Stu.  |
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Post by Genesis on Feb 26, 2013 22:30:31 GMT -6
Drizzt is probably my favorite book character EVER
...i stopped during the thousand orcs trilogy though, it was getting too predictable
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Post by sapphire on Feb 26, 2013 22:59:26 GMT -6
I do still like him, but he's more of a guilty pleasure now. I also stopped reading the series somewhere around The Orc King and never had the chance to pick it back up.
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Post by Zoom on Feb 27, 2013 6:55:21 GMT -6
Once upon a time, Gary Stu and Mary Sue had a baby named Unicorn Magicpants. Uni was born at five years old and she was so pretty even then that all the boys in the world wanted to hold her hand. She had magic powers, and amnesia, which is why she forgot for twelve years that she was actually the only descendent of Parrrai the Moon-god. She can kill bad guys with a single blink of her gorgeous violet eyes.
I just googled this Drizzle guy and he seems pretty cool, gotta say.
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Post by sapphire on Feb 27, 2013 11:59:33 GMT -6
You forgot that part where she gets kidnapped by the Evil Overlord and remembers that she descended from the Moon-god just in time to blink at him, and then frees her hands from the ropes all by herself, because she's just talented like that.  He is very cool. I just never found a real fault in his character. Except for his tendency to sacrifice himself for others, which... Not really a fault. |
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Spectre
Storyteller
"You can't be sure if Internet quotes are accurate." -Abraham Lincoln
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Post by Spectre on Feb 27, 2013 12:32:00 GMT -6
I agree- he didn't really have flaws to his character, but I thought it was balanced out really well by things that happened to others because of him. That guilt really drove it; I read some of those quite a few years ago, but I remember his incredible guilt.
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Jade
Storyteller
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Post by Jade on Feb 27, 2013 13:59:05 GMT -6
I think made up names are just something you get used to - and it doesn't really matter how you pronounce them. Personally, I found the names in Elantris to be pretty easy, but that's probably because I read fantasy a lot and have seen names far more complicated. (In case you haven't noticed, there is very good reason for each character to have the name that they have.) I'm glad you're enjoying the story, anyway, Toni. He does talk about slime a lot, but... So would you, if you lived in it. He could divvy up his words and say sludge and grime. I don't read fantasy that often mostly because if I prefer names I can glance at and know how it's pronounced, not struggle a couple times to get it right. The books not bad, but I'm having a hard time keeping religious factions apart and half the time I know nothing about them. It's difficult to read fantasy when I'm reading it like a writer not reading it like a reader. v.v The names to me sound too made up. Elantris is fine; Sarene is fine; Raoden is fine, but Hrathen and Dilaf and Fjordell make me twitch. Same with Shu-Dereth and Shu-Korath, Shu-Keseg and Svarkiss and Svorden. I think it's because the way I pronounce them they don't sound all that awesome and naming is everything to me. It has to sound nice. This feel over-the-top and cram several of them into a sentence and I feel brain tying in a knot. |
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Post by sapphire on Mar 1, 2013 23:16:02 GMT -6
It's funny that you say you have difficulty with it because you're reading like a writer - I have that same issue, but his books are among the few fantasy books that I can still enjoy because they are so well done. That's not to say they're perfect - nothing is - but they're a far cry above most of the commercial fiction out there. (Have you read Francine Prose's book Reading Like a Writer? I only ask because of that phrase... Honestly, I couldn't stand the book. Wouldn't have finished it if it hadn't been required for class.) As for the names, think about how different languages use different sounds. One of the things I actually admire most about Sanderson is that he does choose his names based on dialect. Pretty names are nice, sure, but not all languages are pretty, so why should their names be? The Fjordell language is a harsh one. Anyway, part of reading fantasy is letting go of trying too hard to pronounce the names correctly and just saying them the way that's easiest for you. For example, you could try to work the H into Hrathen, but you could also just make it silent. (Have you ever browsed a baby name website? A lot of those names sound made up, too.) Of course, if you don't like the book, then you don't like the book.  |
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Spectre
Storyteller
"You can't be sure if Internet quotes are accurate." -Abraham Lincoln
Posts: 274
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Post by Spectre on Mar 2, 2013 2:24:20 GMT -6
I always thought those names (Hrathen and such) were based off Scandinavian languages; Norwegian, Swedish, stuff like that. Could be wrong.
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Post by Raphael on Mar 2, 2013 6:15:02 GMT -6
Ok so i just finished the Alloy of Law (also by brandon Sanderson) and i have to say i loved the book but the ending. I think that it ruined the main character for me.
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Jade
Storyteller
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Post by Jade on Mar 2, 2013 12:48:32 GMT -6
Of course, if you don't like the book, then you don't like the book. It's not that I don't like the book, I'm just so anal about names. I think part of it is because sometimes I have no idea what he's talking about and why it's important because it's a whole other language. Another language is cool, but I guess I just haven't been able to overlook fantasy names yet. Will you spoil it for me? |
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Post by Raphael on Mar 2, 2013 13:28:24 GMT -6
I wasn’t planning on it. It was one of those decisions that realistically makes sense but the romanticist side of me hated. It was a good book though.
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Jade
Storyteller
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Post by Jade on Mar 2, 2013 14:53:29 GMT -6
I wasn’t planning on it. It was one of those decisions that realistically makes sense but the romanticist side of me hated. It was a good book though. Ah, well that sort of explains it. I'm a moderate romantic. Lol. |
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Post by Raphael on Mar 2, 2013 15:02:20 GMT -6
It's one of those endings that tries to say it's a real life story and not a fantasy tale
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Post by sapphire on Mar 2, 2013 16:54:34 GMT -6
I thought the same about the names, Spectre. Definitely made me think of Swedish.
Ah, yes, the ending of The Alloy of Law disappointed me, too... Actually, it was probably my least favorite book of his overall, but considering how much I love the others, that doesn't say much. I don't even remember the end that clearly, actually. I read it once pretty much right when it came out and haven't had time to go back.
Actually, I think that's a trend in the Mistborn universe. The ending of the original trilogy was more realistic than romantic, too, though in a completely different way that I actually loved and thought was brilliant.
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)) xD
