On Jul 11, 2014, at 10:33 PM, Brian <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Ray, > > I'm Brian Martin, long time fan and admirer, and a long time lurker here. I > have a few queries into what sources you researched and used for the warfare > in your Midkemian series. I'm a student of history (literally, my degree > will be BA in History, MSU Denver) and also a disabled Veteran, and I > couldn't help but notice a lot of the military engagments, i.e. Arutha > commanding at Crydee's siege, Erik and the Crimson Eagles' training and > subsequent deployments, and Nicolas' sea battles, all have a ring of > historical familiarity. Did you use any references to the Roman Legions > and/or Spartan training? French Foreign Legion? Athenian Hoplite formation > fighting techniques? Henry V's victory at the Battle of Agincourt? Nelson's > victories at Trafalgar? I'm very curious about the "diamond" formations of > the CE's at the Battle of Nightmare ridge. > > I do understand that answering these questions could be a huge consession > and burden on your part because you are a very busy man. I just wanted you > to know that there's someone who's paying very close attention to how you > bring setting and characterization together. Also, I'm grateful that you > gave of your imagination and shared some insight into your Thursday and > Friday Nighter's sessions. > > Hope to hear from you. > > Brian M. > > -- > Stupidity is it's own reward.
I used the UCSD Central Library for a number of years until the World Wide Web started offering online sources. The thing about “research” is that you don’t have to be an expert on whatever it is you’re writing about; all you need to do is make things “make sense” contextually, so it’s “skimming research” if that makes sense. So, to answer, no, I didn’t “research,” but rather did whatever made sense in the narrative. Arutha’s defense of Crydee was just some basics of 12th-13th century siege warfare (early sappers, flaming oil, heated sand,etc.), but at first I put the “camera” on Arutha, because combat is chaos, and I didn’t want to turn the chapter into a lecture on semi-mideval warcraft or a game of military miniatures. The diamond battle formation was how Alfred the Great broke the Danes at the Battle of Edington, forcing them to retreat to their stronghold where he starved them into submission. The naval stuff is as much courtesy of C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brien as it is sources like Mostert’s The Line Upon The Wind. You “graze” on the subject matter, spindling this and that to make it look like you know what you’re talking about. The key for me is to keep focused on how the characters are dealing with what’s going on emotionally as well as how they think about it. Erik, for example, never thought much of his own skills, yet he was one of the finest generals in the history of the Kingdom. So his approach was always to get into details so he could insure his side the best chance of winning. Arutha, on the other hand, always look at conflict as a problem which had a solution. Anyway, thank you for your service and glad you enjoyed the work. Best,R.E.F. Raymond Feist [email protected]
