I've just finished The Eternal Champion omnibus, which is back in print at long last, which means I'm almost finished with the original UK series of 14 (still need to read Count Brass, and Sailing to Utopia is out of print and damn near impossible to find).
When I was reading the 2nd Corum trilogy, I enjoyed it a great deal (well, OK, I hated the ending, but I can see why you wrote it that way), but I did notice that my enjoyment was lessened slightly by overfamiliarity with roleplaying games.
These books were written in the mid-70s, before Dungeons and Dragons, and before Legend of Zelda. But I'm only getting to them now. And I can't help but view the plots of the books (as well as, to a lesser extend, The Dragon in the Sword) as "Go on quest, find item, item leads you to other item. As you gather items you fight greater and greater enemies till you get the one big item that allows you to defeat the 'boss' enemy."
This is, of course, the difficulty with reading older works after a cliche has become common. You can't really wrap your head around the fact that at the time, this wasn't as predictable as it seems. I wonder if 20 years from now, people will be playing their computer games that have the players use Chaos Theory and Post-Modernism to defeat the enemy, and regard works like The War Against the Angels as a cliched roleplaying plot?
Secondly, I noticed while reading Dragon in the Sword another Brother/Sister who are destined to be lovers subplot. This does seem to feature a great deal in your work. Jerry and Catherine are the most obvious examples, but Elric, the End of Time books, etc. all have aspects of it.
I admit I am not as familair with ancient myths and legends as I should be. How prevalent is incest in our ancient tales? And is it always as 'squicky' a taboo as it is today?
Lastly, I finished Firing the Cathedral, and was greatly relieved to see Jerry back in 'The English Assassin' mode. I enjoy all the Jerry stories, but I admit that I prefer him as an active, involved character. Seeing him in the 80s and 90s as a rather sick, passive, and desperate person was simply not as fun to read. I didn't really want to root for him (as much as one can root for someone as ambiguous as Jerry).
Yet Firing the Cathedral almost seemed a Phoenix Rising type of thing, showing Jerry returning to prominence, and also managing to exist with Catherine without them seeming like balanced scales (one must always be weak when the other is strong, etc.). I found that inspiring.
Sorry to ramble on. I should be reading Count Brass next, which remains in print.
When I was reading the 2nd Corum trilogy, I enjoyed it a great deal (well, OK, I hated the ending, but I can see why you wrote it that way), but I did notice that my enjoyment was lessened slightly by overfamiliarity with roleplaying games.
These books were written in the mid-70s, before Dungeons and Dragons, and before Legend of Zelda. But I'm only getting to them now. And I can't help but view the plots of the books (as well as, to a lesser extend, The Dragon in the Sword) as "Go on quest, find item, item leads you to other item. As you gather items you fight greater and greater enemies till you get the one big item that allows you to defeat the 'boss' enemy."
This is, of course, the difficulty with reading older works after a cliche has become common. You can't really wrap your head around the fact that at the time, this wasn't as predictable as it seems. I wonder if 20 years from now, people will be playing their computer games that have the players use Chaos Theory and Post-Modernism to defeat the enemy, and regard works like The War Against the Angels as a cliched roleplaying plot?

Secondly, I noticed while reading Dragon in the Sword another Brother/Sister who are destined to be lovers subplot. This does seem to feature a great deal in your work. Jerry and Catherine are the most obvious examples, but Elric, the End of Time books, etc. all have aspects of it.
I admit I am not as familair with ancient myths and legends as I should be. How prevalent is incest in our ancient tales? And is it always as 'squicky' a taboo as it is today?
Lastly, I finished Firing the Cathedral, and was greatly relieved to see Jerry back in 'The English Assassin' mode. I enjoy all the Jerry stories, but I admit that I prefer him as an active, involved character. Seeing him in the 80s and 90s as a rather sick, passive, and desperate person was simply not as fun to read. I didn't really want to root for him (as much as one can root for someone as ambiguous as Jerry).
Yet Firing the Cathedral almost seemed a Phoenix Rising type of thing, showing Jerry returning to prominence, and also managing to exist with Catherine without them seeming like balanced scales (one must always be weak when the other is strong, etc.). I found that inspiring.
Sorry to ramble on. I should be reading Count Brass next, which remains in print.
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