Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site topaz.ARPA Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!columbia!topaz!mberkman From: mberkman@bbnccs Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Guardians of the Flame Message-ID: <3074@topaz.ARPA> Date: Fri, 2-Aug-85 20:58:50 EDT Article-I.D.: topaz.3074 Posted: Fri Aug 2 20:58:50 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 4-Aug-85 05:54:02 EDT Sender: daemon@topaz.ARPA Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 22 From: Melinda Berkman As I am sure several people will mention, Robert Silverberg did not write Guardians of the Flame. It would be difficult to imagine Silverberg writing something as non-depressing as this wonderful series. Joel Rosenberg takes the credit. He takes a plot that has been done horribly several other times, the "game players suddenly find themselves in the world of the game" shtick, and makes it work, in the process creating characters that are the most believable fantasy characters that I've found since Tolkien. But I don't think that this series could have been generated from a game-playing session. The obsession that motivates the characters simply isn't strong enough for the basis of the usual D&D campaign. Players seem to get restless if they're not saving the world. Just leading good safe productive lives, which is the goal of some of the characters in the series, is hardly the sort of thing that rouses the blood of weekend adventurers. Rosenberg's other book, Ties of Blood and Silver, is also very good. I cried at the end and then called my mother and told her the story, leaving out the nasty parts. You will have a good feeling when you finish reading this book. Melinda Berkman