February's Fabulous Feast Of Fully Formidable Fiction

[mosaix]

Originally Posted by Mouse

Heh heh! My avatar looks appalled.

Not as appalled as the assistant will look when I go into Waterstone's and ask for the book!

[J-Sun]

Originally Posted by Mouse

Please tell me that's a typo. Or some sort of parody?!

Nope, sorry. That's what I meant in my earlier post (on The City of the Chasch) when I said his "facility for invented terms" sometimes failed him.

(It's supposed to be a perfectly innocent, arbitrary name for an alien race. Chasch, Wankh, Dirdir, Pnume.

I'd heard it had been retitled in at least one UK edition but that is apparently myth, as I can't find any evidence of it. A US edition abridges the title of the first two volumes as Chasch and Wankh, leaving the race-names unchanged.)

[Alex, The G and T]

Originally Posted by HareBrain

Ah, I never knew the BOTR cover was taking off a particular LOTR one. This is the same edition I bought (new) in about 1985, so it was obviously around for a while.

You made me look: http://lotrscrapbook.bookloaf.net/ga...s/pages/04.htm

There have been a couple of more recent editions of the parody with different covers.

****
Now I'm tempted to hunt up my copy of Doon But that one just doesn't have the same spark.
http://lotrscrapbook.bookloaf.net/ga...s/pages/04.htm

[Alex, The G and T]

Correct link to Doon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lampoon's_Doon

[J-Sun]

Getting kind of lost here. Vance's Tschai 1 started poorly but, before I could give up, it got good. Then Tschai 2 was not so good and I wasn't looking forward to Tschai 3 (The Dirdir) but I finished it today and it was pretty excellent right out of the gate - the best of the three - until it faltered at the end. So now on to Tschai 4 and I have no idea what to expect.

[Connavar]

Originally Posted by J-Sun

Getting kind of lost here. Vance's Tschai 1 started poorly but, before I could give up, it got good. Then Tschai 2 was not so good and I wasn't looking forward to Tschai 3 (The Dirdir) but I finished it today and it was pretty excellent right out of the gate - the best of the three - until it faltered at the end. So now on to Tschai 4 and I have no idea what to expect.

The Dirdir is my fav book in the series and more quality adventure than the others.

The last book is different,darker. I thought it started slowly but it is a strong ending to the series.

[Grunkins]

I really enjoyed the Wankh.

[Extollager]

Originally Posted by J-Sun

Nope, sorry. That's what I meant in my earlier post (on The City of the Chasch) when I said his "facility for invented terms" sometimes failed him.

(It's supposed to be a perfectly innocent, arbitrary name for an alien race. Chasch, Wankh, Dirdir, Pnume.

I'd heard it had been retitled in at least one UK edition but that is apparently myth, as I can't find any evidence of it. A US edition abridges the title of the first two volumes as Chasch and Wankh, leaving the race-names unchanged.)

Does the slang term "wanker" go back to the time when Vance wrote the books and his publishers issued them? I don't remember seeing the slang term earlier than the mid-Seventies or so. I should think that, if Vance had any existing word in mind, it was "ankh."

[HareBrain]

Originally Posted by Extollager

Does the slang term "wanker" go back to the time when Vance wrote the books and his publishers issued them?

You can't say it! It's rude.

It's 1940s British slang, apparently. Must have taken some time to cross the Atlantic. (Perhaps because the seamen were otherwise engaged.)

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by Grunkins

I really enjoyed the Wankh.

Originally Posted by HareBrain

You can't say it! It's rude.

It's 1940s British slang, apparently. Must have taken some time to cross the Atlantic. (Perhaps because the seamen were otherwise engaged.)

I feel like I'm playing innuendo bingo.

[J-Sun]

Originally Posted by Connavar

The Dirdir is my fav book in the series and more quality adventure than the others.

The last book is different,darker. I thought it started slowly but it is a strong ending to the series.

Yeah, for the bulk of it, The Dirdir was definitely my favorite, too. I'm hoping The Pnume will end up being my favorite, though, just because the series as a whole needs a boost. There's so much to like in it but things keep preventing me from completely enjoying it. So far so good for The Pnume and I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Originally Posted by Extollager

I should think that, if Vance had any existing word in mind, it was "ankh."

Excellent point and, if so, it wouldn't be a silent 'h' but would be pronounced more like an inoffensive, slightly aspirated "wonk".

Originally Posted by Mouse

I feel like I'm playing innuendo bingo.

lol

[Grunkins]

Originally Posted by HareBrain

You can't say it! It's rude.

It's 1940s British slang, apparently. Must have taken some time to cross the Atlantic. (Perhaps because the seamen were otherwise engaged.)

He was actually unaware of the term and he was just making up a name. When, later, he was clued into it's more vulgar association he wanted to go back and change the name (and I think in later publications Wankh was in fact changed to another name, can't recall what though).

edit: Here we are, from the Wiki

The editors of the Vance Integral Edition restored the author's preferred title for the first book: The Chasch. They also altered the second to The Wannek and replaced 'Wankh' with 'Wannek' throughout the text. Vance was convinced to change the name after being informed of the meaning of the word 'wank' in British and Commonwealth slang.

2nd edit: BTW, I finished A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay, and loved it. Gorgeous novel. And I'm starting Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds.

[dask]

I kinda like the new term.

[Diggler]

Originally Posted by Grunkins

He was actually unaware of the term and he was just making up a name. When, later, he was clued into it's more vulgar association he wanted to go back and change the name (and I think in later publications Wankh was in fact changed to another name, can't recall what though).

That's a shame, I found it quite novel, especially seeing I come from a country where the term is used both as an insult and a compliment

I have bought The Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey. I have been informed it is quite a good series of novella's, and at $5 for the Ebook, well I just had to have it.

I also got The Survivors: Book 1 (Life After War) by Angela White. I have read that the grammar is terrible, but hey, my grammar is terrible also. Plus it cost a whole lot of nothing to get the ebook off Amazon.

[J-Sun]

Originally Posted by Connavar

The Dirdir is my fav book in the series and more quality adventure than the others.

The last book is different,darker. I thought it started slowly but it is a strong ending to the series.

Now that I've finished the whole set with The Pnume, I completely agree - The Dirdir was the most exhilarating, thrilling, etc. The Pnume is much more claustrophobic, unsurprisingly, but really intense and, yeah, it ends it all well. Like I say, I found the series a bumpy ride but, having finished it and looking back over it, while I still think my complaints along the way are valid, they seem less important. The rough patches get smoothed over in the long run. Good stuff.

Originally Posted by Grunkins

edit: Here we are, from the Wiki

That may have been what I was thinking of.

Originally Posted by dask

I kinda like the new term.

Wannek? Mmm, it has two syllables (which an article also points out) and isn't as exotic. Wenkh or Nankh or something would be enough, I'd think. But I also agree with the article on the point that Vance is an American and not responsible for how UK folks might take it - some of his words may be outright profanity in, e.g., Basque but he can't be expected to take it and every other language and dialect in the world into account. Corporations often do that sort of thing for multi-million dollar products and, if the publisher wanted to, I guess they could, but Vance shouldn't be expected to.