September 21, 2005
In the seventies, Stephen R. Donaldson wrote a pretty good series of fantasy books called The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I read them a few years ago, and assumed that the story had been finished. Not so. Two more books have come out, and I started them yesterday. The plot is original and interesting, and the books are considered one of the cornerstones of the current fantasy genre.
But.
I just can't get over the name of the bad guy. It's so awful, I can barely even utter it aloud.
Lord Foul.
Oh, that's hideous. Mr. Donaldson! Shame on you! Couldn't you up with anything less... I don't know - OBVIOUS?
This is why I hide my fantasy books when company comes over.
And don't bother looking under my bed, because that's not where I stash them. Seriously. Don't look.
Trust me.
Nothing to see there, folks. Just move along.
Oooooohhhh...and with all the dust bunnies there too! Hey, there's all kinds of junk under here! Sheeesh...she's right folks, don't look under here, aside from the fantasy books, there's nothing of interest here...
Posted by: SonofThunder at September 21, 2005 01:27 PMTwo new ones? Omigoodness... you better let your dad know... he's the one who turned me onto the Covenant trilogy... he was in the Navy at the time... and I resisted his urging for the longest time because I KNEW nothing could compare to Dune or the Lord of the Rings...
but...
when I finally caved... the Thomas Covenant books turned out to be my all-time favorites... and I was ever afterward trust his recommendations on books above anyone else I know...
Posted by: Aunt Vickie at September 21, 2005 03:36 PMI'm a fan, too...read 'em way back when they came out - hard to believe it was so damn long ago - and plow through both trilogies every five years or so. Haven't bought the new one yet, but surely will soon.
Posted by: david at September 21, 2005 07:45 PMI've never read 'em, but I want to. Anyway, if you think Lord Foul is a bad name, let's just think about some other villain names of the past.
Fastastic Four's "Dr. Doom" (DOOOM!!!)
Fastastic Four's "Moleman" (Who fears a mole?!)
Godzilla's "Monster X" (Run out of names?)
Well, I thought of a few more, but they were supposed to be cheesy (Dr. Evil, Mysterio, etc.). You get the point - it certainly AIN'T the first time we've had some corny names!
Posted by: Gatlin at September 21, 2005 11:33 PM