Slaine the Exile

[Leigh S]

Saw this in Forbidden Planet today - bigger than the usual Black Flame books - 400 plus pages..

Anyway, I was flicking through it to see if Ukko turns up in it, and my eye was caught by reference to Slaines mother, who...

is killed by Skull Swords, as opposed to in the chariot race

Seems a bit weird that they got something so fundamental 'wrong' and was enough (if any more was needed) to dissuade me from purchase - after all, the real draw for me as a fan of the comic is to discover more about Slaines past - if what we already know is portrayed incorrectly...!

Why the hell Pat wasn't writing this I don't know, especially given that he claims his pitch for the series is exactly the same - though presumably without the glaring errors...

Shame, as the early Slaine years could make a great read.

[IndigoPrime]

Um, OK. Exactly how difficult would it have been for the author to, you know, actually read the original comics. Classic Slaine (i.e. pre-Horned God) can easily be read in its entirety in a few hours.

[W. R. Logan]

on Amazon.com its titled:

Slaine: The Exile (The Lay of Slaine Mac Roth)http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/1844163873.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V63319246_.jpg">

[I, Cosh]

Why the hell Pat wasn't writing this I don't know, especially given that he claims his pitch for the series is exactly the same

H'mm. Well known and respected writer with a reputation for being bolshy and wanting a good deal for his work or jobsworth hack who'll pony up 100,000 words in a fortnight and not bother with any of that overwrought political subtext?

[I, Cosh]

That cover's awful too.

[Wils]

That cover...oh, dear. :s

"She wrapped herself around his legs and Slaine let loose with 10ccs into her hair (she didn't think it too many)."

[The Amstor Computer]

Where's the Slaine Street Team, then?






;-)

[Art]

SLAINE Vs GOR!

[ThryllSeekyr]

Damn, sounds like this won't be the volume it should have been. Shame.

I will still buy it though.

The Watcher........

Slaine's Mother, Macha getting run over, after Belly-Shaker ( His real name  slips my mind. Though it's obvious that he wasn't called Belly Shaker at this stage.) boasts that she could out run a chariot is actually based on another well known Celtic legend ( As you may find with a few of the other Slaine stories.) about a Celtic goddess of the same name. Where she had to outrun a chariot while pregnant. ( She won too.)  However, because she was forced to race in the first place, she cursed all the men of Ulster to suffer the pain of childbirth for five days and nights. She gave birth to twins by the way. Of course there are other variations of this tale.

The Slaine version was a tragedy.

*********SPOILER**WARNING*************************

As for Macha being murdered by Skullswords. Well, I don't know how that happens exactly. Was there a Chariot involved?

 Anyway before anybody answers that question. Don't! I will be reading it myself pretty soon, hopefully.

As I had mentioned on another thread, I was hoping this novel would be tieing up all the loose ends I had found with the comics in the beginning of the Slaine saga. You' know stuff like how did Slaine actualley meet up with Ukko and why does he suffer to let him hang around him all the time.

Anyway, if Pat Mills the original Co-creator of the character of Slaine won't write this novel and Stevne Saville wont' write it properly. Who can? Could somebody else here on this forum do it.

As I now know the Pat Mills forbids fan fiction based on his character, then why does it appear that this old story has now been re-written, expanded upon and adpated in a way that alieninates the original content rather than complimenting it?

As for cover. I quite like it. I can see that Naimh is trying to avoid getting her eyes poked out right there.

[Funt Solo]

::"As I now know the Pat Mills forbids fan fiction based on his character, then why does it appear that this old story has now been re-written, expanded upon and adpated in a way that alieninates the original content rather than complimenting it?"

My rough guess: he had no choice in the matter because he doesn't own the rights to the character.  Should he and Jimmy "Blood Throne" Savile ever meet on a message board I imagine scenes reminiscent of a similar meeting regarding fiction based on [censored] Inc.

---

The cover is pish.  "My axe, tooth-picker, shall not floss thee gently!"

[ThryllSeekyr]

"Doesn't own the rights to the character"

Now this reminds me, of the times when I used to play Dungeons And Dragons. I would make up a character according to the rules of the game as the game master understands them, but would flesh out and play the character myself, in a world created from the game rules and the imagination of the gamemaster.

Now it's hard to see who really owns the character. Me, who plays the character or the game master who controls the world that it exists in.

I just think that this parrallels with the dilema here. Anyway, I have always liked that analogy and wanted to make use of it here.

Back on the subject of this novel.

 I had just read the review for 'Slaine: The Exile' on Amazon.com and I am now alittle lost as I think this piece of work has been wasted.

Just a question for those that have started reading. Is the book written from a particular character's point of view, perspective? Is this character part of the the same world as the protagonist Slaine or are they detached? Is the anrrator, if there is one Slaine himself? Slaine wouldn'd be such a bad chioce for thisr as he has shown some Bardic skill in the comics of him I have read. I thought Ukko would be a better storyteller though as he had been made to write his own account detailing the life and travels of his taller warrior companion in the 'Horned God Saga'. Anyway the perspective is always better from someone other than the main character or supportingn characters. So I suppose Nest, Naimh, Cathbad. Perhaps the arch Druid is the better choice as he is a learned man who  knows and sees all. I still think the Ukko is a better choice. He was there with him all along. He could be telling the whole tale in retrospect in his own humerous manner, like the jester he sometimes is.

Addressing Funt Solo's comment about Slain's axe on the cover. I would agree. I does alot like a shiny metal plated candy cane with axe head attached and the grip looks wrong as well.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Slaine-Exile-Steven-Savile/dp/1844163873" target="_blank">Read the reveiw here, if that interests you.

[Art]

So, um, did anyone ever pay you any money for your D&D character?

[ThryllSeekyr]

um, I'm not sure if money has any thing to do with with it.

But if does, your character can earn money, and experience. Finding treasure in gold coins. It's not real though.

As for getting actual money for a character in a roleplaying game that you have created, trained, and leveled up to a respectably powerful level. It was possible with those Multi-Player Online RPG's. I don't know how it is done. But EBAY was good place for lot of nembie gamers with more money than sence to go character shopping. Characters with lots of magical items who are of high enough level (20th-50th or 60th level) fetch alot of money.

I use to play 'Asherons Call', 'Everquest Two' and 'Dark Age of Camelot'. I never got this far  before threw it in.

Anyway,  I think this is banned now or considered  a illegal practice.

[Funt Solo]

People sell their EVE Online characters (NOT their game accounts) on E-Bay with a disclaimer that points out that they're not selling what belongs to the game company (that part is being given away free) - what they're selling is the time they invested in the game.

I presume it's all above board, as the game has a method for swapping characters between accounts for a nominal fee.

[Richmond Clements]

So, um, did anyone ever pay you any money for your D&D character?


I don't see how this is relevant. Slaine does not belong to Pat Mills, no matter how much he, or anybody else, brays about it.