LogFAQs > #937537673

Flatland: Wow, 1884, huh? I didnt realize Flatland was that old. So the premise is that the world is two-dimensional, and all of the characters are lines or shapes. Women are just lines, who sometimes run into men point-first and kill them, and men are shapes, and the number of sides you have determines your role in society. Flatland itself is surrounded by Pointland, a land of just one point, and Spaceland, a land of three dimensions, and the rulers of Flatland forbid talking about the others. The social satire here is obvious, I approve. Now that this seminal classic of science-fiction has earned the Anagram Seal of Approval, its author can finally rest in peace.

Space Jam: Why did Space Jam add Lola Bunny? Was it just to have a girl? Thats it, isnt it? Because Loony Toons didnt have any girls. Eh. The only thing about Space Jam anyone remembers is the theme song, anyway.

Eberron: Eberron was D&Ds first attempt at a setting that, like, makes sense. A lot of shade is thrown at Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk for basically not making any sense at all, and most of it is fair. Eberron did its best to be sensible, to somewhat okayish results. I like that theres actually an explanation for why elves dont marry rich humans to inherit all of their stuff, which shocked me to learn. Eberron might also be the origin of noble savage orcs, I think it predates Warcraft III, but Im too lazy to look it up. I like that its like at a quasi-just-beginning industrial revolution instead of a medieval setting like most fantasy settings. What I dont like is that it feels a need to subvert almost everything. Halflings are normally like farmers or whatever, so lets making them rampaging barbarians lol. At some point, people need to just accept that halflings are boring. They fill the same design space as humans and dwarves, but humans and dwarves do their gimmicks better. Anyway, I also like the way religion is handled. Its all very ambiguous and weird. Im not thrilled with the Catholic Church pope being a six-year-old girl, but fine. Your setting can have one magical anime girl or whatever.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Universe: You know what JK Rowlings strength as a writer is? Coming up with lots of really cool ideas. You know what her weakness as a writer is? Making any amount of logical sense whatsoever. Imagine if you had someone who had those same attributes, but wrote comedy. Youd get the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It almost defies talking about because its so silly and the rules dont matter. I think we all love the restaurant at the end of time, which just exists so you can see the universe end, or the spaceship that operates on bistro mathematics, or the Vogon poetry. Too bad about the book written after Douglas Adams death, though. Written by someone who understood the appeal of the books but didnt have the ability to capture it. It cared way too much about rules and continuity and logic, to the point of a random joke about Thor being a Grade-A god being extended to talk about other grades of gods and making minor joke characters in previous books become main characters now. It just didnt get it at all.

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Started: July 6, 2005