Hi Ray and Company, With the success of Game of Thrones, you'd think a company like HBO would be looking to make a Magician Series, I'd love to watch that.
I'm certain that Ray would win in a straight fight with George R-R, I'd like to see that too:) Best Tony /Tony On Sat, Jul 12, 2014 at 9:42 AM, Raymond Feist <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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] > > > >
