Survivor: Surviving the Minor Works

[Estelyn Telcontar]

For someone who has "Art" in his name, that wizard has no sense of aesthetic taste. Imagine choosing to patch his trousers with a piece of window-curtain, orange with black spots?! He's given patchwork a bad name, he has. For that atrocity alone I vote to remove

++Artaxerxes


As to the idea of expelling the Faerie King Alf just because some stupid alien later chose the same name - that's not his fault! He was there first...

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Celuien

Let's not push our point of agreement too far with attacks on a very lovely story, okay?

Sorry, Cel, but that's a matter of opinion. Farmer Giles of Ham has Knights, Dragons and Giants and a well-defined plot with an intriguing twist. What does Smith of Wootton Major offer? A Faerie King posing as a Pastry Chef and dreadfully dull dreamer who wanders inconsequentially around Faerie for a bit, neglecting his family. Nothing actually happens!

I cannot speak for the other tales.

I can understand why you and lmp were identified with Smith in that personality test. But, really, you both have more character in your little fingers than Smith developed over an entire tale.

And, as I said, I hold Alf, named as the "mover and shaker" in such a sorry tale, as responsible.

[Celuien]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

I can understand why you and lmp were identified with Smith in that personality test. But, really, you both have more character in your little fingers than Smith developed over an entire tale.

Is it really that obvious? I can think of a few posts from the Books forum that would me away, but that's a little harder to pick up than my RL habits of daydreaming and wandering in the woods down the road from my house (which obviously isn't something known to most inhabitants of this forum. ) And I had no way of manipulating the results since I didn't read the story before taking the test!

The idea of going to Faerie resonates with me. I would love to have the chance to wander there, if only it truly did exist, and catch glimpses of a world filled with magic and beauty beyond what ordinary life has to offer. It's here in some way, I think, in the blue sky of a spring morning, the quiet of the woods, reflections of the autumn leaves in a lake. But not the same as visiting Faerie. That's the charm of Smith of Wootton Major, along with the bittersweet realization that the gift to visit can't be kept forever, and must ultimately be passed to the next person intended to have the rare privilege to go where few mortals can.

I still like Smith.

[Bêthberry]

He's remarkably close to the t'axe man and I dislike anyone who has an obligatory right to separate me from my money, especially this time of year--that I prefer to do myself.

+ + The Wizard Artaxerxes

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Celuien

The idea of going to Faerie resonates with me. I would love to have the chance to wander there, if only it truly did exist, and catch glimpses of a world filled with magic and beauty beyond what ordinary life has to offer.

No doubt it would be delightful and charming, albeit somewhat perilous, if experienced in person. But, if I am to read about it, I would rather something, anything, interesting actually happened there.

And surely it cannot be denied that Smith's character development is virtually nil.

Perhaps that is the point. But it just doesn't appeal to me. I would rather tales of dragons to be fought, rings to be destroyed and treasure to be won than an account of some dull chap's uneventful travels in Faerie.

[Alcarillo]

++The Wizard Artaxerxes

May the Persian be stuffed, skinned, and put on display!

[Celuien]

I suppose my sympathies with the character Smith and a wish for enchantment allow me to overlook perceived flaws in the tale.

Regarding the irritating furball known as Alf: it isn't necessarily my theory that the identical names are mere coincidence. Rather, I suspect that Alf the Prentice underwent a metamorphosis into the alien creature at some point, perhaps after reading too much Kafka.