Random Acts of Senseless Stuff

Villains

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:02:58 GMT

Good discussion of villains at Slacktivist's latest Left Behind post, particulalrly here.

The thing that ties all these villains together is that they have a clear effect, not just on the opinions or allegiances or ideologies of those around them, but on their personalities. Their children are mentally ill; their followers are self-destructive; their chosen friends are callous and irresponsible. Being around them harms people.

(Kit Whitfield)

Book Covers

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:45:53 GMT

A couple of scans I did tonight. Two classic Penguin SF covers by Alfred Chesterman: The Demolished Man and Tiger! Tiger! (aka. The Stars My Destination)

I'd do something about it, but....

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:11:14 GMT

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Low

The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com

Mental Note

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:01:10 GMT

Don't start to write something 40 minutes before I'm due to go off to fencing club if I don't want to be an hour late.

(How did that happen, anyway?)

The Galleryan Moons of Juniper, and the Sex Lives of the Gamineans

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:10:47 GMT

The Galleryan Moons of Juniper are, in no particular order: Gamine, Eupheme, Calisthene and Iodine. (The final syllable "-ne" or "-me" is pronounced in all cases; stress is on the second syllable.)

The Gamineans are a viviparous, homiform, sapient, hermaphrodite species. Curiously, their hermaphroditism comes in two forms, or genders, which in modern Pan-Gaminean are derived from an ancient Gamine language meaning "over" and "under".

Each Gaminean develops two sets of reproductive organs at puberty; one male set of penis and internal testes, one female set of vagina, uterus and ovaries. These organs are arranged one above the other, but half of the population has the male organs above the female, and half with the vagina above the penis. (In Pan-Gaminean, overs have their penis higher than the vagina, and unders vice versa. Apparently this is a reversal of the nomenclature from ancient Gazebo Gaminean from which the modern terms derive, where the words referred to the relative position of the female organ.)

Developmental problems may arise during puberty which result in an adolescent Gaminean forming two sets of male or female organs, and these are usually sterile. Such people have been regarded with both awe and hostility historically, but modern Gaminean medicine can correct these problems hormonally when detected early enough, and rarely require surgery.

The numbers of unders and overs retain parity because unders may only reproduce with overs, and the offspring's genders are random, determined by the interaction of the parents' K and J chromosomes. Sexual interaction between two unders or two overs does not result in offspring, a fact which has been dealt with, historically, in two ways. In ancient, marginal tribes, sexual intercourse between two unders or two overs was strictly forbidden; all intercourse had to be reproductive in intent. Such laws were typically strict, with transgressions punished by means this writer is too squeamish to mention.

In less marginal tribes, the approach to same-gender sexual relations has tended to be more relaxed, with formalised relationships between opposite gendered pairs who wish to have children existing alongside same-gender relationships in the same individuals. It is a widespread tradition, still followed in modern times, for Gamineans to have predominantly homogendered sex until marriage, and then to have predominantly heterogendered sex thereafter, but Gamineans rarely follow one behaviour exclusively, and the discovery of hormone-based contraception has led to even less exclusivity.

Gamineans who stick to either homogendered or heterogendered sex throughout their lives are viewed as a bit odd by society in general, but suffer little open prejudice, except the former may suffer from the more orthodox remnants of those ancient, marginal tribes mentioned earlier who survive into the present day.

Gaminean societies tend to adopt clothing and make-up conventions to mark one's gender, but these have always been subject to fashion and will often change within a generation, if not more quickly. In general, though, this is often more marked in casual clothing than working and business wear, which tend towards neutrality in gender.

From time to time, beliefs spring up in Gaminean societies holding that one gender is more marked by certain behaviours, talents, or proclivities than the other. However, as each of these sets of beliefs contradicts every other, and seemingly change almost as often as gender-marked couture, they are rarely taken seriously.

In the Fight

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:30:16 GMT

A beautiful picture I saw over at the Life site:

Women fighting fires at Pearl Harbor, 1941.

Gallery here.

IAT '08 pix

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:01:24 GMT

DSCF0770
Originally uploaded by NelC.

Finally put up the pictures from the International Air Tattoo from last year. That was the one that got called off due to heavy rain flooding the car parks. However, the aircraft were already there, and others were booked to attend, so they turned up, and some actually did some routines for the spectators who turned up anyway. At right, a B-1B arrives at Fairford.

Link to the set here.

Empire Dreams

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:55:01 GMT

In a thread about Your favourite Star Wars movies I produced this:

In my dreams, the Ewoks are chameleoid lizards with inscrutable expressions and the ability to hide from the Empire in plain sight. Their wood and stone weapons are expertly worked, looking like weapons from a real culture instead of the 'Hollywood primitive' aesthetic where every bit of wood is bent and gnarly and tied together with vines that are apparently still growing. The first meeting with the rebels is filled with menace as the expressionless lizards drop their camouflage and emerge from the forest's gloom. As is the moment when they attack the Empire's installation, when a thousand lizards reveal themselves on the Empire's doorstep, bearing the weapons they have stolen from the Clone Troopers and kept in reserve until that moment.

That movie I'd place above Empire, but since it doesn't exist, Empire gets my vote.

That Arthur Dent feeling

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:33:07 GMT

Walking home from the library this evening, walking into the brassy sunset, the sky a deepening blue above, a Chinese love song seguing into Jean Michel Jarre on my iPod; I felt I could let go of the Earth and slip into the sky....

An Infinite Number of Dan Browns

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:15:43 GMT

A mysterious cipher whose key is somewhere in Boston.

A murderous cult determined to protect it.

A desperate race to uncover the Daughters of the American Revolution's darkest secret.

The Forgotten Mark

When world-famous Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to Paul Revere's grave to analyze a mysterious geometric form—imprinted on a gold ring lying next to the disfigured form of the head docent—he discovers evidence of the unthinkable: the resurgence of the ancient cult of the Diablonistas, a secret branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution that has surfaced from the shadows to carry out its legendary vendetta against its mortal enemy, the Vatican.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed when a messenger from the Diablonistas appears at the Arnold Arboretum to deliver a grim ultimatum: Turn over the archbishop, or one cherub will disappear from the Sistine Chapel every day. With only three days to foil their plot, Langdon joins forces with the statuesque and charming daughter of the murdered docent in a desperate bid to crack the code that will reveal the cult's secret plan.

Embarking on a frantic hunt, Langdon and his companion follow a 900-year-old trail through Boston's most historic statues and sacred libraries, pursued by a rented assassin the cult has sent to thwart them. What they discover threatens to expose a conspiracy that goes all the way back to Susan B. Anthony and the very founding of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Dan Brown Plot Generator

Out in Africa

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:54:06 GMT

Still five days left of the Out in Africa Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in Cape Town, if anybody happens to be in that neck of the woods.

The reason I'm blogging this is because some whatever-they-call-unpleasant-people-in-South-Africa tore down all 700 of the nice posters that were put up for the festival, which was a most uncivilised action. So I thought I'd add a little more weight to their site in the search-engine rankings, just a little.

Seen in boingboing.

Charity Appeal for the Unappealing

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:03:55 GMT

Reminded by PZ Myers' recent blog about excarnation (warning: the blog links to a NSFW site (I mean besides the vultures)), by coincidence having just reread Neil Gaiman's Petrafax's Story in Vol 8 of The Sandman, I looked up how India's vultures are doing these days. The answer is "not well".

A few years ago, the authorities in India were alarmed by the swift die-back of India's vulture populations. At the time, they were looking for a mysterious virus or bacteria that could overcome the vulture's hardy immune system, or some continent-wide pollutant that might be adversely affecting them. The culprit turned out to be diclofenac, or Voltaren, an anti-inflammatory drug widely used on humans and cattle. Vultures feeding on the carcasses of cattle (or humans) who had been treated with the drug would suffer acute renal failure and die.

Since the drug was widely used (it's since been banned for use in India), and feeding on only one so-treated carcass could kill a whole flock of vultures, this led to an astounding 97% crash in all Indian vulture populations, and 99.9% in certain species. Let me just rephrase that, in the space of only a few years, vulture populations crashed to one-thirtieth of their previous levels, with some species dropping to one-thousandth.

Why this is bad: well, the ecology, man. More specifically, with one major carrion-eater effectively vanished from the Indian ecology, the slack is being taken up by the next most populous carrion-eater, the dog. A rise in the wild dog population that will come from this will almost certainly lead to problems down the line, as dogs aren't just carrion-eaters but also pack hunting carnivores. This will impact on cattle and on humans. I'm sure your imagination can fill in the grisly details. India does not need another 10 million feral dogs.

Now, vultures aren't the most photogenic animals out there. They aren't as majestic as whales, definitely not as cute as pandas, and their table manners, well, let's not dwell on them. They are ugly and they do an ugly job, by our lights. But it's a necessary job and they do it well.

The RSPB have a vulture appeal to help breed more vultures. I predict that it will not raise a lot of money, because of the aforementioned ugliness. But despite that, if you have a dollar or two to spare it might do relatively more good here than in many other places. Just a suggestion. Ugly animals need love, too.

Click the link to send them some money.

Good afternoon, hideous porn pustules.

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:31:52 GMT

Talklikewarrenellis.com

Ouch!

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:46:45 GMT

I have a nasty black bruise on my left index finger knuckle from where a fencing sabre tapped it last Wednesday. (How the devil did he hit it when it was behind my back?)

Jesus Christ, Try the Kanji

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:21:09 GMT

Definitely not Kanji Word of the Day. From tgies, quoting Dan Brown's Digital Fortress:

For two hours, Becker interpreted an endless stream of Mandarin symbols. But each time he gave them a translation, the cryptographers shook their heads in despair. Apparently the code was not making sense. Eager to help, Becker pointed out that all the characters they'd shown him had a common trait-they were also part of the Kanji language. Instantly the bustle in the room fell silent. The man in charge, a lanky chain-smoker named Morante, turned to Becker in disbelief.

"You mean these symbols have multiple meanings?"

Becker nodded. He explained that Kanji was a Japanese language [apparently this was revised to read "writing system" in later editions; "Kanji language", above, remained - ed.] based on modified Chinese characters. He'd been giving Mandarin translations because that's what they'd asked for.

"Jesus Christ." Morante coughed. "Let's try the Kanji."

Like magic, everything fell into place.

The cryptographers were duly impressed, but nonetheless, they still made Becker work on the characters out of sequence. "It's for your own safety" Morante said. "This way, you won't know what you're translating."

Becker laughed. Then he noticed nobody else was laughing.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Go read the comments.

There is No Face-palm Macro Big Enough

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:31:35 GMT

How House Bill Runs Over Grandma, IBD editorials, 31st July 2009:

People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.

Is there no cosmic censorship law to shield us from this singularity of stupid that is opposed to any kind of solution to the US health-care crisis?

Pterry calls for assisted suicide law

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:42:16 GMT

Terry Pratchett in the Daily Mail:

'I believe that if the burden gets too great, those who wish should be allowed to be shown the door,' he said. 'In my case, in the fullness of time, I hope it will be in the garden under an English sky. Or, if wet, the library.'

The Professional

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:12:27 GMT

Your result for The Supervillain Archetype Test...

The Professional

Cool, Levelheaded, Lethal

The Professional is the most dangerous of all villains. You do what you do better than anyone, because, as a Professional, you have standards.

The Professional is like the Crook in that they both desire money. But the Professional wants more than that. The Professional wants job satisfaction. It isn't sadism really, he just wants to be sure that the job is done, and done well. No hard feelings, it's just business. Professionals prefer to work alone, but will work in groups if given incentive.

The greatest weakness of a Professional is risk. A Professional is business-like, but can't resist a challenge. They often use the word "worthy opponent". People like that are easily baited. And if a Professional is eventually cornered (not easy to do), they might lose it.

Sample Professionals: Deathstroke, Bullseye, Revanche

Take The Supervillain Archetype Test at HelloQuizzy

Air Tattoo 09

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 21:42:13 GMT

I think I'm going to make a run for Fairford tomorrow. It looks like the weather will be lousy, but at least that means that the aircraft will be flying low, so I might get some good shots. And it'll be just like Farnborough 72, the first time I saw a Vulcan.

Charging my rechargeables now. If I can rouse myself early enough, I'll grab some cash, spare batteries and sandwiches tomorrow morning, and we'll see how it goes. At least I won't need sunscreen.

Crazy!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:54:37 GMT

My LiveJournal Sitcom
Being NelC (FX, 6:30): NelC (Jim Henson) and apneatic (Josephine Baker) find a lost parakeet at the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards, sex108 (Steve Martin) marries ffutures (Geoffrey Blake)'s grandmother. Later that day, antipope_cats (Jada Pinkett) keeps accidentally stepping on ninja (Michael Moore)'s foot. Also, keikotakamura (David Hyde Pierce) causes problems at work when a file from feorag (Alan Rickman) has a virus. That weekend, west32 (Rosie O'Donnell) is allergic to slammerkinbabe (Tupac Shakur)'s sweatshirt. Crazy results follow.
What's Your LiveJournal Sitcom? (by rfreebern)

My LiveJournal Sitcom

Being NelC (FX, 6:30): NelC (Jim Henson) and apneatic (Josephine Baker) find a lost parakeet at the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards, sex108 (Steve Martin) marries ffutures (Geoffrey Blake)'s grandmother. Later that day, antipope_cats (Jada Pinkett) keeps accidentally stepping on ninja (Michael Moore)'s foot. Also, keikotakamura (David Hyde Pierce) causes problems at work when a file from feorag (Alan Rickman) has a virus. That weekend, west32 (Rosie O'Donnell) is allergic to slammerkinbabe (Tupac Shakur)'s sweatshirt. Crazy results follow.

What's Your LiveJournal Sitcom? (by rfreebern)

10th Grade Blog

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:16:40 GMT

NelC's Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 10
Average number of words per sentence:	19.02
Average number of syllables per word:	1.55
Total words in sample:	3366
Analyze your journal! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern

What's that, age 15? Not bad for a blog, I guess.

The Moons of Juniper

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:54:56 GMT

Seen on the Kennebecasis Naturalist Society site.

Juniper has 16 fairly well-known moons, and probably a number of minor ones. The four largest are Callisto, Europa, Io and Ganymede. The 12 others, which are much smaller, are Adrastea, Amalthea, Ananke, Carme, Elera, Himalea, Leda, Lysithea, Metis, Pasiphae, Sinope and Thebe.

I feel an urge to write a whimsical story about Juniper.

Get me Joss Whedon's Number

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:11:06 GMT

So, over in RPG.net, in a thread about making Firefly's astrography sensible, or at least playable in an RPG, a sub-thread broke out about whether faster-than-light communications were canon or not. They certainly appear to be, since there's no time-lag apparent in the Serenity movie where one might expect there to be. Whether it was intended, or was just a slip, is another matter.

But an argument was made that though the comms were shown with no time-lag, this was just a cinematic convention, since it isn't possible to write a scene showing speed-of-light communications over inter-planetary or greater distances without losing the audience.

I thought this was rubbish and wrote the following particles (can't really call them vignettes). A couple of posters liked them (The word "Awesome" was used once or twice :) ), so I thought I'd repost them here:

Here are some relatively painless ways to show speed-of-light communications:

Episode X: Mal says "Wash, how far away is our oh-so-respectable-and-solvent client? Ninety light minutes? Send him a message asking why the guay his money transfer hasn't come through yet! Me and Kaylee are going out to work on the stabilizer vane again. I feel a powerful urge to hit something with a hammer for three hours. Call me if you get his reply before we're finished."

Episode Y: Mal receives a desperate call from an old acquaintance on one of the Rim Worlds. "Well, they're a light-month away, no need to rush off unprepared. Either it's already happened, or it can wait a while longer while we divert to pick up some heavy equipment of the breaking things variety. Jayne, I want to borrow one of your catalogs, and not the ladies' lingerie one."

Episode Z: Mal has been woken up to answer a call. He's wearing his pyjamas, has bedroom hair and looks half-asleep. His interlocutor introduces himself and asks if Firefly is available for hire. Mal replies that it certainly is, reels off his standard rates and asks what the client has in mind. Jump-cut to the client who says that it's a simple job needing no more than a few resources, and not much time, so a cheap rate would be appropriate. Jump-cut to:

Mal is now dressed, shaven, hair combed and is holding a glass of synthetic OJ and a piece of toast. He asks for a few more details, such as the location of the job. The client names a Border World. Jump-cut to:

Mal is now wearing overalls, his sleeves are rolled up, his hands covered with grease and he's fiddling with a doohickey. He points out to the client that that planet has been under Alliance interdiction since they broke the planet's terraforming in the war, and quotes Serenity's "Sneaking past Alliance frigates and landing in blizzards" rate. The client demurs, and suggests a much lower rate while forwarding a guaranteed reliable fake science mission transponder code. Jump-cut to:

Mal has a distinct five o'clock shadow and is looking even greasier than before, except for his hands, which are relatively clean. He picks at his bowl of noodles while he speaks, suggesting that the transponder code won't be much help with landing in a world-wide snowstorm, and quotes a rate half-way between the previous figures. The client sighs and gives in, telling Mal where to find and where to deliver the McGuffin. Jump-cut to:

Mal is clean again, though damp, and is wearing a bathrobe. He tells the client that it's a deal, sends Serenity's account number for the transfer of the first half of the fee, confirms a date to drop off the McGuffin and signs off. "Jian gui! I do hate these long, drawn-out negotiations with a passion. Kaylee! Can't you make something to make the radio work faster?" "Oh, I'll just rewrite the laws of physics: it'll be easier!"

For extra comedic effect, the client is conservatively dressed in a business suit, immaculately groomed and manicured, and sitting behind an empty desk in every shot of him. The only thing that subtley changes in his office between shots is the ambient lighting as the day passes.

Doing it this way is no more painful than any other piece of exposition, and it would establish the principle of SOL comms in a way never before seen in a sci-fi show. And seeing things I've never seen before is an important feature of watching sci-fi shows for me. It really isn't a difficult thing to keep communications time-lag in mind while working out a plot; no more so than the thousands of other things a writer has to bear in mind.

I've also had the "It can't be written or filmed any other way" argument when the subject comes up of space warfare in movies looking like WWII or Napoleonic naval warfare. But I've yet to write a counter to one of those.

That's a Bit More Like It

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:42:32 GMT

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Philip Pullman (b.1946)

7 High-Brow, -21 Violent, 11 Experimental and 27 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Peaceful, Experimental and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.

Philip Pullman was already a prominent author of children's books when he published his most praised work to date, the trilogy known as His Dark Materials (1995-2000). In this work, set both in parallel worlds and our own, Pullman made a courageous attempt to write a book for young readers which incorporated a whole vision of the universe, as well as a discussion of ethical issues. He managed to combine this with a burst of thought-provoking and entertaining imagination, bringing to life a Europe where the church is still in control, "souls" that have been externalised as animal presences, intelligent, sentient polar bears and much more. The series have been described as a sort of "anti-Narnia", as Pullman's attempt to write an updated variant of the kind of books C S Lewis, whom Pullman has criticized for having racist, misogynic and preaching tendencies, wanted to write. His Dark Materials has also spawned some controversy among Christians, who see the the work as an attack against Christianity, Pullman being one of Britain's most outspoken atheists. Other Christians have, however, claimed to have found spirituality in the books.

Either way, Pullman's combination of renewal and expansion of the genre, his profound messages on the value of life and his refusal to under-estimate his young readers' ability to see life as it is makes Pullman one of the most interesting and important writers of modern fantasy.

You are also a lot like Tove Jansson.

If you want something some action, try Gene Wolfe.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, J R R Tolkien.

Your score

This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.

High-Brow vs Low-Brow

You received 7 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received -21 points, making you more Peaceful than Violent. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you aren't, and you don't, then you are peaceful as defined here. At their best, peaceful people are the ones who encourage dialogue and understanding as a means of solving conflicts. At their worst, they are standing passively by as they or third parties are hurt by less scrupulous individuals.

Experimental vs. Traditional

You received 11 points, making you more Experimental than Traditional. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, experimental people are the ones who show humanity the way forward. At their worst, they provoke for the sake of provocation only.

Cynical vs Romantic

You received 27 points, making you more Cynical than Romantic. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, cynical people are able to see through lies and spot crucial flaws in plans and schemes. At their worst, they are overly negative, bringing everybody else down.

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy

But I Love Gene Wolfe!

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:22:49 GMT

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Robert Jordan (1948-2007)

-1 High-Brow, -11 Violent, -1 Experimental and 13 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are Low-Brow, Peaceful, Traditional and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.

Robert Jordan, the pen name for James Oliver Rigney, Jr, was the author of the best-selling Wheel of Time series. This gargantuan piece of fiction, set in a world where half the source of magic has been tainted by the Evil One, so that only women can do magic without turning insane, was published between 1990 and 2005. It is scheduled to be finished by 2011 by author Brandon Sanderson, who will be working from Jordan's extensive notes, since the latter's tragic and premature death in cardiac amyloidosis made it impossible for him to finish the series by himself.

Fantasy readers across the world will remember Jordan as the creator of one of the most detailed secondary worlds ever imagined by a single person, with carefully crafted cultures, legends and conflicts. This he used as the setting for a grand epic tale of the traditional fantasy theme of Good against Evil and seemingly insignificant people discovering that they are destined to play an important role in this struggle. Although the plot centres around conflict and several important characters are warriors, be it by choice or necessity, Jordan does not bask in gory details of violence and war is described as something evil that essentially does more harm than good. However, he is able to discern the forces that might push countries into conflict, leaving little room for over-romantic notions of ever-lasting peace.

All this makes Jordan's epic tale the choice for those who are not daunted by the scope and length of what is, perhaps, the longest story ever written. There are plenty who would say that it is also one of the best.

You are also a lot like J K Rowling.

If you want some action, try David Eddings.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Gene Wolfe.

Your score

High-Brow vs. Low-Brow

You received -1 points, making you more Low-Brow than High-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, while a typical low-brow would favour the best-selling kind. At their best, low-brows are honest enough to read what they like, regardless of what "experts" and academics say is good for them. At their worst, they are more likely to read what their neighbours like than what they would choose themselves.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received -11 points, making you more Peaceful than Violent. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you aren't, and you don't, then you are peaceful as defined here. At their best, peaceful people are the ones who encourage dialogue and understanding as a means of solving conflicts. At their worst, they are standing passively by as they or third parties are hurt by less scrupulous individuals.

Experimental vs. Traditional

You received -1 points, making you more Traditional than Experimental. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, traditional people don't change winning concepts, favouring storytelling over empty poses. At their worst, they are somewhat narrow-minded.

Cynical vs. Romantic

You received 13 points, making you more Cynical than Romantic. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, cynical people are able to see through lies and spot crucial flaws in plans and schemes. At their worst, they are overly negative, bringing everybody else down.

Author picture from Wikipedia. Licensed under the following conditions: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy