[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Returning the fairy tale (or mythic), I was reading Peter Pan and I was struck that Pan might well be the model for Tolkien's elves.

My recollection is that Tolkien went to great lengths to disassociate his elves from the traditional fairy type ones ... even or especially dark ones like Pan can be.

I'm reading Hoffman's the Sandman and I'm struck how similar its style is to The Nightland.

I loved The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson, which I presume you are referring to?

The world lost a great author when he got killed so young, during the War.

I was not aware of how far back the Sandman went, very interesting, thanks for that. Not familiar with Hoffman either.

So I agree with Moorcock's insight, but not his ctiticism. Fueling a powerful fantasy work on a child's fairy story is not a failing. It may be a necessity. And those old fairy stories, unlike the sanitized works of today, contained much that was dark...

I am currently reading the first Witcher novel (The Last Wish), nearly finished, and I am struck by a few parallels, with both Elric and Conan ... and a heavy dose of the old dark fairy tales we all grew up with. The author has done a great blending and reinvention, and made it seem all his own.

For those who don't know - While 'Geralt of Rivia' is an albino and sword master, plus he can cast spells, he is not really an anti-hero in the vein of Elric or even like Conan in that regard, though I find him more like Conan than Elric. In fact, I don't think you can really call him an anti-hero. Geralt has two swords, neither of them magic, one just being Silver and the other Iron from a meteorite. He is a monster killer for hire, and sometimes those monsters come in human form. Any magic is really in him and how he was nurtured and taught. He can see in the dark for instance, and has lightning reflexes well beyond a humans. He is described as some kind of mutation.

Despite how many in the stories judge him, he serves good, but is often forced to choose the lesser of two evils ... hence much of the negative Witcher reputation.

Anyway, for those who like Elric, Conan and the like, he is a very mature approach to Sword & Fantasy. I like the very deep thinking that often transpires ... and the related sense of mystery. Don't judge a book by its cover so-to-speak.