Talk:Stephen R. Donaldson

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Contents 1 Gap titles punctuation 2 titles for the rest of the Third Chronicles 3 Duplication? 4 Donaldson VS Tolkien 5 essay on Epic Fantasy 6 Gap Cycle 7 FanLit.net link 8 ISBN numbers

[edit] Gap titles punctuation

The Gap titles have a line break in the title in my editions -- which we can't put in a page title here. However we do ntted something, they look odd otherwise. A dash maybe? The Gap into Conflict - The Real Story -- Tarquin

Those titles originally had dashes, I took them out, I thought dashes didn't work in 'pedia headings. Am I wrong? -- Zoe

(slaps self for not using Talk page). Erm. Not sure. only one way to find out I suppose. I wonder what his publishers do for their listing -- maybe that would be the answer. -- Tarquin

Hmph! they cheat. http://www.fireandwater.com/books/default.asp?id=8866

Library of Congress uses colons, as does ISFDB. (LoC also puts the 'Gap' phrase after the remainder of the titme, but this seems counter to the usage in the books themselves.)

[edit] titles for the rest of the Third Chronicles

I've added the tentative titles for the rest of the Third Chronicles, which I got from [1] and also from [2] where there's rather more actual substance. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm excited at the prospect of finding out what happened next. Phil 11:59, Nov 28, 2003 (UTC)

You're not alone. I heard SRD read from Runes of the Earth at Bubonicon a few months ago... Salsa Shark 01:17, 13 Dec 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Duplication?

Is there a reason there are two "The Man Who Tried to Get Away" entries, one for 1990 and one for 2004? Is this an error, or are the two printings different in some way? Clarification is needed. -- Belross

[edit] Donaldson VS Tolkien

Does anyone really compare Donaldson to Tolkien? Tolkien is uplifting and empowering, the Covenant books just made me morose and depressed. No matter how bad things get for Covenant - they will always get worse.Avalon 03:59, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

The Thomas Covenant books are comparable to Tolkien's work in that they're heroic fantasy centered around a very powerful ring. That's not much basis for comparison, but the majority of the comparison may come from people less familar with fantasy fiction. Korvac 20:26, Oct 05 2005 (UTC)

I tend to feel there's very little basis for comparison between the two. But, the comparison has been made (just look at the covers and blurbs of many of his books - it seems to be all some fools can talk about). It's notable that so many critics have (wrongly, in my opinion) compared Donaldson to Tolkien.

If anyone here is interested, my reasons for feeling there's little comparison between Donaldson and Tolkien can be read here. Kasreyn 17:24, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Donaldson, if not very similar to Tolkien, is bound to be compared to him. Why? Well, Tolkien something like the Hitler of fantasy; just like any world leader worth his salt will be compared to Hitler, any fantasy author garnering (or trying to garner) any attention will most likely draw comparisons to Tolkien. When the mythical average person thinks of fantasy, they will most likely think of Tolkien, or more recently Harry Potter - it takes a very specific kind of book to fit the Harry Potter title, so Tolkien is a lot easier. Seriously - how many bestselling fantasies have you seen which don't reference Tolkien in their reviews and comments?--Mr Bucket 03:51, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

My copies of his book all have the blurb "Comparable to Tolkien at his best" across the front cover ... Besides, both LoTR and the Covenant series are the kind of books which require a map of an imaginary land, and a glossary. Maybe this was still rare in 1977? JöG (talk) 15:45, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] essay on Epic Fantasy

Is it appropriate to make people aware of the availability of Donaldson's essay on Epic Fantasy in his website? Or is it enough to only list his website as an external link? Jimmysuzuki 05:00, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Might be better to link directly to the essay. Donaldson's website seems to have compatibility problems with several browsers, including Firefox. I can only access certain parts of the site by loading Internet Explorer. Since Wikipedia is for everyone, not just IE users, some may have navigation problems there and won't be able to find the essay, so let's just link directly to it. Kasreyn 17:21, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gap Cycle

I just created articles for each book of The Gap Cycle and they are in dire need of plots, images of the cover art and other useful info RoyBatty42 23:41, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] FanLit.net link

I added a link to FanLit.net because it's a better resource than what is present. I think editors don't like that it's a newer resource, but it is better than those up here that have ads and not much useful content. This is the kind of information readers want -- book covers, publication dates, reviews. I am a user of the website and find it very helpful. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chraak (talk • contribs) 14:43, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Chraak, I am glad you enjoy fanlit site, and I find it interesting, but I don't agree that it should stay here as an external link.

• Book covers and publication dates are already available in the Wikipedia articles on the specific books.
• The site does have some lengthy personal reviews by readers, however that feature is not unique. Such reviews are available in multiple locations on the web. Are these particular reviews of higher value?
• The pages have a lot of advertising and affiliate links to commercial websites. Advertising does not automatically disqualify a site, but all other things being equal it is a negative. See Wikipedia:External_links for more on the subject.

But I'll leave the link on the main page for other editors to evaluate. Carboncopy (talk) 16:57, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] ISBN numbers

Does it really make sense to identify his books by ISBN numbers? They change between hardback and paperback, between US and foreign printings. I haven't seen ISBN used this much in other articles ... JöG (talk) 15:15, 1 March 2008 (UTC)