On naming

Sep. 24th, 2009 11:52 am
bellinghman: (Default)
[personal profile] bellinghman
In a certain rather good fantasy novel{*} that I have just finished reading, I am somewhat amused by the name of one character: Seolfor.

Which is the Anglo-Saxon word from which the modern word 'silver' is derived.

Said character is specifically described as having silver hair.

{*} [livejournal.com profile] mizkit/C E Murphy's The Pretender's Crown. Strongly recommended, though do read its predecessor first.

Date: 2009-09-24 10:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mizkit.livejournal.com
I was weak. :)

Date: 2009-09-24 11:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com
And I was helpless!

What particularly led me to noticing the name's meaning was today's revelation of that cache of gold and silver discovered up in Staffordshire (as mentioned on Kari's LJ).

Ahem: when I last mentioned your mixing of genres, I hadn't anticipated Seolfor's gifts. That's sneaky: it's a time travel alternate history. Except without the time travel, and without actually being an alternate history either. (What does GGK call his The Sarantine Mosaic?)

Date: 2009-09-24 01:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mizkit.livejournal.com
I've actually always, right from the inception of the series, thought of it as SF. Or sci-fantasy, if one must, since it's definitely not *hard* SF, but that's where it resides in my brain. It's just that by setting it four hundred years ago it looks like magic... :)

(I donno what GGK calls the Mosaic, but I call it wonderful!)

Date: 2009-09-24 01:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com
I may have to go back and reread part 1 (oh, the tedium! *snort*), but it's much less obvious in that one that it isn't trying to be a fantasy historical. On the other hand, the prologue to this one pretty well states up front that we're in SF.

Date: 2009-09-24 01:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mizkit.livejournal.com
Yeah, it's only at the very end of TQB that there's really any indication that it's not straight-out historical fantasy. It'll be at the other end of the spectrum by the final book...

Date: 2009-09-24 04:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] catness.livejournal.com
Heh. I discovered your books through one of bellinghman's reviews here on LJ, and now have several. However, I haven't seen this series in the stores. I will have to look closer or maybe special order.

Thanks to both of you, for increasing my good reading in recent months.

Date: 2009-09-24 04:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mizkit.livejournal.com
Oh, well, you're very welcome! And thank you! :)

Date: 2009-09-24 04:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com
I'm glad to hear it: it's nice to know one has turned someone onto a new writer that they enjoy.

Date: 2009-09-24 04:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] liasbluestone.livejournal.com
You *keep* doing it to us.
We now have THREE of [livejournal.com profile] mizkit's to which we need to get Vol.2, when we have an Amazon budget again.
Not to mention a certain Mr. Stross, and Scott Lynch (at least he doesn't have a back-catalogue).

Date: 2009-09-24 03:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sbp.livejournal.com
I was somewhat amused by the name of this month's Vagabond's DJ - Andy Ravensable. I mean, stereotypically goth or what?

Date: 2009-09-24 04:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bellinghman.livejournal.com
It could be a real name, I suppose ... oh, tell me it actually is, and it's a case of nominative determinism.
Edited Date: 2009-09-24 04:23 pm (UTC)

Date: 2009-09-24 05:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] silly-swordsman.livejournal.com
IRTA contraction of "rave ensemble" and got confused as I thought they usually had brightly coloured clothes...

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