Tears of Lys Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Tolkien and Frank Herbert.Totally agree. Tolkien, not because he had more to add to his "sub-creation," just diddling around with it and adding flourishes here and there, but I would've loved to see his finally reaping some serious rewards from his efforts. And Herbert because the world needs more minds like his still around. Carl Sagan.Love this man. Also, Dickens. I think his later books were really his best. His late-in-life experiences show up in books like "Our Mutual Friend," where sexual longing and obsession were starting to be addressed, (undoubtedly inspired by his unrequited love affair with Ellen Ternan) and I would have loved to see how much further his dynamic and creative mind developed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Totally agree. Tolkien, not because he had more to add to his "sub-creation," just diddling around with it and adding flourishes here and there, but I would've loved to see his finally reaping some serious rewards from his efforts. He did, from the mid-1960s at least. He was able to indulge his fondness for fancy waistcoats, for starters. He did run into some issues with the tax department, but he was certainly very comfortable towards the end of his life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 RBPL,Had Tolkien lived to see the film, videogames, and other sundry media made out of his work would he have gotten much direct benefit from it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Would we have got those had he lived though? (A genuine question as i dont know whether he would sell the rights) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 HEM,That's partly where my question to RBPL comes from. Those media exist because Tolkien sold those rights. Would he have gotten royalties from those projects or had he sold his rights completely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 RBPL,Had Tolkien lived to see the film, videogames, and other sundry media made out of his work would he have gotten much direct benefit from it?He'd have got no royalties at all from the merchandise rights (he sold those while he was still alive). Film rights gave him (now the Estate) a percentage of the gross profits. I have no idea how profitable the 1978 Bakshi adaption was (IIRC Bakshi blew the budget on the rotoscoping), and Tolkien would have to live to 111 years old to see the Jackson adaptions.Tolkien Senior was actually a lot more pragmatic than Christopher in the money department. His only bottom line was that Disney were off-limits - apart from that, it was "give me lots of money or give me a veto on stuff I don't like". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pro Augustis Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 He doesn't fit into SF, but for me the most heartbreaking authorial passing would definitely have to be David Foster Wallace for me. I read Infinite Jest at a very dark time in my life and found incredible solace in seeing DFW's brilliant mind not only having trod those psychic paths before but often having provided answers or at least reflections along the way. To finish the book and then read the manner of his passing then felt like a tragedy, a confirmation that even those who seem for a time to rise above depression and have such wisdom about it may not ultimately escape. On a literary level, his passing also meant we never got the whole of The Pale King, which even if not a fantasy novel certainly looks, along with IJ, enough like a doorstopper to blend in on my shelves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotcat Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Iain Banks, Robert Jordan & (most recently) Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Stephen King's near death on the road. While he made it, it was still quite shocking to me. He's my favorite author and I didn't have a lot of experience with authors dying on me yet.Robert Jordan.Iain Banks. I discovered him recently thanks to the fine people on this board and read the first two of the Culture novels. I was blown away, since I've never encountered a writer quite like him. Then I researched him and was quite shocked to discover that he died years ago. I'm a long time sci fi reader, but I'm often out of the loop and I had no idea he existed.Joel Rosenberg. I loved his guardian of the flame novels. I noticed he wasn't writing anymore, but I got him confused with Joel C. Rosenberg, who writes about Jihadis a ton. I figured he changed his focus. Years later I researched him on a whim and discovered they were two separate people and that Joel Rosenberg of the guardian of the flame novels was dead several years ago. Quite a shock.Robert Aspirin of the Myth books and Thieve's World editor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Roger Zelazny. Like Iain Banks, he died way too young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 McCaffrey let her son fuck stuff up long before she passed.And it wasn't enough for her to excise him from the will...more is the pity... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Castel Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Totally agree. Tolkien, not because he had more to add to his "sub-creation," just diddling around with it and adding flourishes here and there, but I would've loved to see his finally reaping some serious rewards from his efforts. And Herbert because the world needs more minds like his still around. And his death left room for his son to slip in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubies & Jade Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Zelazny and Butler are the two that come to mind for me as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentRoamer Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I have nothing new to add:David Gemmell as he basically pulled me into my love of SFF, I was really sad when Gemmell died and its part of the reason I have avoided re-reading any Gemmell.Free Northman Rob - I also found Troy to be a bit "by the book" and it didn't capture the Gemmell feel as well as some earlier stuff but I think from a technical and plotting perspective it was his most superior work.Robert Jordan - I would have liked WoT completed as intended without the "power ups" that Sanderson seemed to bring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redeagl Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 H.P LovecraftRobert Jordan I thought that Sanderson's books were excellent but i would have liked to see more books by Robery Jordan in general either it be Wheel of time or any new series.Terry PratchettDavid Gemmell Ian m.banksRobert E.HowardJ.R.R Tolkien i would have liked so much to see more books in the Midde earthRodger Zelazy and Mervyn Peake too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnar of Skagos Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 He'd have got no royalties at all from the merchandise rights (he sold those while he was still alive). Film rights gave him (now the Estate) a percentage of the gross profits. I have no idea how profitable the 1978 Bakshi adaption was (IIRC Bakshi blew the budget on the rotoscoping), and Tolkien would have to live to 111 years old to see the Jackson adaptions.Tolkien Senior was actually a lot more pragmatic than Christopher in the money department. His only bottom line was that Disney were off-limits - apart from that, it was "give me lots of money or give me a veto on stuff I don't like". Why didn't Tolkien like Disney? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shifter Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Robert Jordan and Joel Rosenberg.WOT was ruined for me by Sanderson in the last books,just never felt right and really mangled Mat`s character.Outside of fantasy and sci-fi the obvious author lost too young is Hemmingway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonebender Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Even though I wouldn't say I was a huge fan, I have to go with Jordan as well. I would've finished reading WOT if he could've finished writing it, while Infinity of Heaven had my interest piqued even more so. Strictly based on the art that was lost to time I would come up with different names, but given that Jordan passed while I was actively following his work for a pretty long while made the situation feel "personal" in a manner that I don't get from looking at, say, a Peake or Zelazny who's work I discovered after the fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Ronan Storm Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Michael Crichton. Not my favorite author, but I read anything he put out and always found it entertaining as hell, and also very educational. He taught me more about science-y stuff than any of the teachers I've had in my life, and he was the most dependable author I've read so far. I always knew what I'd get from him: a plot that kept me reading from cover to cover and his profound lack of characterization. Seriously, every character in every Crichton novel is a robot. And he reuses the same names/surnames over and over, like he can't be arsed to flesh out his people. But it was endearing to me. Quite a few years after his death, I got a hold of his Travels, which is sort of an autobiography, and it just depressed me all over again. I related to the man so intensely on an intellectual level and I'll never get to meet him and talk with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaldanya Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Terry Pratchett. Losing his mind - the very thing that made him such a wonderful author. Just heartbreaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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