[Lord Raziel]

Hey guys , been a while since I last made a post here, Ive been job hunting and working on some game design. Hope to post more frequently , but to get to my point...

I ended up picking up the first book of the Death Gate Cycle last week, I couldn't get into it the first time. And after finishing it I go the next two in the series. Now after sixty-six pages into the second book Elven Star I came across this passage where the crazy wizard with the dragon is talking to the elf Paithan

"Perhaps you could tell me where. It's your dragon , you see.
He seems -"

"Overprotective? A butler in a grade-B movie? Someones Jewish mother? You got it," said the old man in gloomy tones.
"Always happens when he's spellboun. Drives me crazy. I like him better the other way, but he has an irritating habit of eating people if I don't keep a leash on him."

Why did they include this in the book. What does b-movies and Jewish mothers have to do with a fantasy world? Am I missing something or did the authors just throw that in for the fum of it. If any of you that have read this can help explain this weird and unneeded dialogue it would be much appreciated.

PS Aleya if you read this glad I could help with website thing. Having a site of my own , I know sometimes things like that happen and appreciate it when someone lets me know. I was just returning the curtesy.



[This message has been edited by Lord Raziel (edited August 22, 2001).]

[Eventine]

Spoliers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As far as I see it there are a few ways to explain this, all of which are hinted at in the book:

a) The Death Gate world is a future earth, with Zifnab being one of the only survivors of the split.

b)The other options is that Zifnab is a god. I haven't read any of their other works, but apparently Weiss and Hickman have a god name Fizban in another of their books. You will note that at one stage Zifnab begins to introduce himself as Fizban, then decides against it.

[Shehzad]

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Get used to it, Raziel. At points, Zifnab will introduce himself as James Bond, Han Solo (or was it Luke Skywalker) and various other characters from our times.

[FitzChivalry]

Lord Raziel, you'll have to read Dragonlance Chronicles by the same authors to fully appreciate those little comic reliefs from Zifnab, too bad you didn't read Dragonlance Chronicles before Deathgate Cycle, would have made your reading experience a lot more fun.

[wastra]

I remember reading that- I beieve the whole point was that Zifnab (or whatever the name was) was suppsoed to be mad, insane- those are all things the people in a fantasy world would have no clue about, hence, he seems crazy.

And it's another example of why Fantasy authors should not try to be funny.

DGC- I liked the series, best one Weis & Hickman have done, and the only one-in my opinion- that truly shows their talent as writers.

[sanclemente99]

Interesting aside there that I had never considered. Why shouldn't fantasy writers try to be funny?

[wastra]

I suppose they're welcome to try, But I've never read one who was successful. They always come off being "cute" or "childish", which I don't find funny at all.

I suppose that 75% of humor is in the delivery, and it's VERY hard to properly deliver humor in such formats.

It's all personal opinion, that comment was meant tongue-in-cheek.

[This message has been edited by wastra (edited August 23, 2001).]

[FitzChivalry]

Actually, Zifnab is not supposed to be crazy.
Read Dragonlance Chronicles to find out more.

[Cygnus]

I thought this seemingly out of context dialogue was great. It was a wonderful comic relief and it brought the point home that Zifnab is much more than he seems. How powerful must he be to know of our world in addition to these fantasy worlds?

I should say that I AM biased since the Death Gate Cycle is my favorite series of all time, and Zifnab is my favorite character. My advice is to just go with it and don't try to over-analyze it. Hopefully you'll learn to enjoy it.

[FitzChivalry]

I'm with you Cygnus, great series and those Zifnab comic reliefs were funny.
Weis & Hickman are good and that.

[This message has been edited by FitzChivlary (edited August 23, 2001).]