Jump to content

C.T. Phipps

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    4,549

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by C.T. Phipps

    Amazing Book Deals: The Fourth

    in Literature

    Posted

    A bunch of Star Trek books for sale for 99c until the 31st

    https://www.simonandschuster.com/p/star-trek-ebook-deals

    * Uhura's Song
    * Inception
    * Troublesome Minds
    * Ex Machina
    * Vanguard #1: Harbinger
    * Legacies #2: Best Defense
    * Survivors
    * Takedown
    * Make it So: Leadership Lessons from Star Trek: The next Generation
    * The Badlands: Book One
    * Homecoming
    * The Murdered Sun
    * The Nanotech War
    * To Lose Earth
    * Unity
    * Fearful Symmetry
    * The Long Mirage
    * Legends of the Ferengi
    * Typhon Pact #2: Seize the Fire
    * Strange New Worlds II
    * Strange New Worlds IV

    Sauron and Saruman - The Tragedy of Good Intentions

    in Literature

    Posted

    22 hours ago, TrackerNeil said:

    Absolutely, and in fact I think Sauron is more of a change agent than Gandalf, who really just wants to take Middle-Earth back to the days of Numenorean rule. Obviously, Gandalf is more benevolent than the Dark Lord, but he's really advocating a return to the past, while Sauron wants a radically different (and terrible) future.

    Some years ago I published a paper on this very topic, which used to be free online but now I can't find it. (Or else I am too lazy to search hard.) It goes way beyond Sauron and Gandalf, but I lay out in greater the detail that in Middle-Earth, the heroes--Gandalf, Elrond, Aragorn--were really just protecting the status quo.

    Fascinating take!

    I'd argue that Gandalf's renewal of Gondor is actually purely to renew toward High Gondor rather than Numenor. Aragorn has many qualities of past kings like Isildur and Beren both but I'd argue that he doesn't have many qualities akin to Numenor. He actually rejects imperialism and generally makes peace versus conquest of the whole of humanity as a goal. The general suspicion of elves, idolatry, and imperialism that is the core of the Numenorean experience is absent and the "best" of Numenor happened after its collapse with the loyalist survivors.

    But this may well be semantics on my part.

    Which would be my only argument that the status quo is something that Tolkien gets argued as advocating but that is less than people think because the status quo is something Tolkien depicts as unsustainable. Also, what people are often advocating as the greatness of the past is often suicidal and self-destructive.

    * Gondorians are obsessed with ancient glories and actually build elaborate tombs versus anything new.

    * Gondorians are obsessed with Ancient Numenor when Tolkien depicts it as a place literally struck down by God for its perfidy.

    * The attempt to rebuild ancient Moira is an utter disaster.

    * The Hobbits get ignored as rural throwbacks but Tolkien actually has them as the future. The genteel English 19th century country life is actually depicted as far superior to ancient feudalism.

    Tolkien is suspicious of modernization for its own sake but he's also a man who has experienced the tail end of the Industrial Revolution and WW1 so he's going for a "Golden Mien" between casting aside the idealized memories of the past and the wholesale embrace of a destructive technocracy.

    Sauron and Saruman - The Tragedy of Good Intentions

    in Literature

    Posted · Edited by C.T. Phipps

    The delusion of the ends justifying the means is something that certainly exists in the Lord of the Rings but it's something that is mostly reserved for mortal characters like Boromir. Sauron certainly doesn't have that as a problem by the Third Age because he's still convincing mortals to worship Morgoth as a god because he's afraid of his master returning and certainly making no entreaties to Eru.

    Saruman, I tend to interpret as having planned to eventually overthrow Sauron and never being a servant of him with their alliance being a highly unstable one. Sauron was already planning to send some people to punish Saruman and he was searching for the One Ring for himself.

    Tolkien's intro suggested that in a "realistic" LOTR, Saruman would have gotten the Ring knowledge he needed to bond his essence to a One Ring of his own and the world would have ended up divided between the two.

    But Saruman was also willing to surrender to Sauron before the One Ring became an option.

    “A new Power is rising. Against it the old allies and policies will not avail us at all. There is no hope left in Elves or dying Númenor. This then is one choice before you, before us. We may join with that Power. It would be wise, Gandalf. There is hope that way. Its victory is at hand; and there will be rich reward for those that aided it. As the Power grows, its proved friends will also grow; and the Wise, such as you and I, may with patience come at last to direct its courses, to control it. We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends. There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means.”

    Sauron and Saruman - The Tragedy of Good Intentions

    in Literature

    Posted

    There's a certain level of "Good people turned bad" in Tolkien and "no one starts out as a monster" but I also feel like the fact that Tolkien's sympathy is actually somewhat limited. Redemption is something the good guys continuously offer but there's a very real sense that it's almost never taken by the people involved and after a certain point becomes more or less impossible.

    In the case of Sauron, he joins with Morgoth during the initial rebellion and is fascinated with all of the corrosive and terrible arts that his master practices. He's a mad doctor and scientist who wants to establish "order" but there's never any sense that Sauron's particular brand of order is anything other than horrifying. Good intentions are something that you must stretch your limits a good deal to actually apply to Sauron because his intentions aren't really that good.

    Sauron is better than Morgoth and falls less than his master because he still wants to rule the world and not destroy it but that's damning with faint praise. Even Sauron's attempt to redeem himself only goes so far as willing to ask for forgiveness from his friend but not someone who actually has authority over him. Which implies that any guilt or remorse he might have felt was limited to being sorry he lost the war.

    This is a contrast to Denethor and Feanor who are by far more sympathetic beings held down by their monumental personal flaws but actually do have GOOD intentions. Denethor isn't that good of a person, being what you'd call a racist colonialist who viewed Gondorians as a separate order of men from the rest of humanity (Tolkien gets some "fair for his day" criticisms here that the British IdealTM is no better than the people they look down on ala the Rohan). Feanor being the enemy of Morgoth is his redeeming quality despite being a kinslayer.

    What Saruman's motivations are is also something that remains somewhat mysterious. He's clearly working with Sauron but it seems very likely that he has plans of turning against him and possibly using the One Ring or his copy of it (which he's already made it seems by the events of LOTR) to overthrow Sauron. Alternatively, Saruman may have simply given up on the War of Good vs. Evil after believing defeating Sauron for good.

    Official Blatant but Honest Self Promotion Thread

    in Literature

    Posted

    I just got the preorder up for MOON COPS ON THE MOON, which I think fans of humorous sci-fi will really enjoy. It's also 99c because I want to hit the ground running with this series and share with as many people as possible. Nov 13th is the release date. The worst (best?) cops in the galaxy in the galaxy's worst precinct!

    https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Cops-C-T.../dp/B0CD7QKBQJ/

    Amazing Book Deals: The Fourth

    in Literature

    Posted

    Some fantastic books on sale around $5 and slightly above.

    https://www.audible.com/ep/only-from-audible-sale-sff?ref_pageloadid=4SPojUXvHblIJxHD&page=9

    * Steamborn by Eric Asher
    * Differently Morphous by Yahtzee Croshaw
    * Paradox Bound by Peter Clines
    * Space Force by Jeremy Robinson (LOVE this book! So hilariously)
    * Will Destroy Galaxy for Cash by Yahtzee Croshaw
    * Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike
    * Aching God by Mike Shel
    * Red Bounty by JN Chaney and Terry Maggert
    * Rebel Fleet by BV Larson
    * Cthulhu Armageddon by CT Phipps (I've heard good things about this guy!)
    * Conviction by Glynn Stewart
    * The Tinderbox: Soldier of Indira by RC Bray (Love this one too!)
    * Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar (Buy this one!)

     

    Dragons of Deceit/Fate

    in Literature

    Posted · Edited by C.T. Phipps

    Here's my review of DRAGONS OF FATE.

    https://beforewegoblog.com/review-dragons-of-fate-by-margaret-weis-and-tracy-hickman/

    Spoiler

    I am a lifelong fan of Dragonlance and a story heavily focused on the history of the setting as well as how a bunch of time-travelers may muck it up is squarely in my wheelhouse. So, I was very excited about this book after finishing the previous DRAGONS OF DECEIT. While I had come issues with the first book, mostly its excessive humor, I have to say this book compensates for it as well as makes use of two of my favorite characters: Sturm and Raistlin.

    The premise is Sturm, Raistlin, Tasslehoff, and Destina have found themselves in Solamnia during the Era of Huma Dragonbane. They have the Graygem of Gargath and it is leaking Chaos into the world. It’s not a great situation and despite our heroes attempts not to change anything, things start adding up as their moralities as well as confusion over what to do with their circumstance keep making little alterations to the timeline.

    If you’re not familiar with Huma or the War of the Lance, this book probably won’t hit you as hard as it should. This is definitely a book for longtime fans of the series and the more you know about what a High Clerist’s Tower is or why the Blue Lady showing up on a certain day is a very bad thing, the more you will enjoy the book. Fans with a more passing familiarity will still enjoy the book, though, and the strength of the characters shines through.

    I complained about Destina’s characterization last book as she seemed, bluntly, a bit on the thick side mentally. Here, she’s much improved by being more realistic about her actions as well as the potential consequences for her failure. I’m a bit saddened that she and Tasslehoff don’t continue their romance, though, since that was an unexpected twist I really enjoyed in the previous book. It may have been under false pretenses but I think she couldn’t do better than a Hero of the Lance. Tasslehoff has saved the world, after all. Three times!

    The real star of the book is Raistlin Majere, though, and I have to say it’s fascinating to see him post-Legends. While stripped of about 90% of his magic, Raistlin is still a cunning adversary but he’s also learned a valuable lesson in humility. We also realize that Fistandantilus was influencing our hero the entire time that he was having his misadventures. This doesn’t make Raistlin innocent but it calls into question just what sort of person he might have been if not for that dark influence. It’s interesting to see Sturm and Raistlin start to develop a friendship under their strange new circumstances.

    Supporting characters like Human Dragonbane, Magius, Gwyneth, and others all make the book quite entertaining. Seeing our protagonists play off what were only figures of legend to them is interesting. I also appreciated the fact we finally got to see the difference between Sturm and Huma. It turns out that, compared to Huma, Sturm is a bit of a wet blanket. Magius also indicates that Raistlin really may have just needed another wizard in the party.

    This is only the second book in a trilogy and obviously ends in a cliffhanger. I will say that I am very excited about this series and am anxious to see how the setting will be changed by the final results. Definitely check this out if you’re a longtime Dragonlance fan. If you’re not, I think you’ll still enjoy it if you liked Dragons of Deceit (or even if you didn’t).

     

×
×
  • Create New...