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TTMC
Jul 25, 2010 13:52:33 GMT
Post by Craig Herbertson on Jul 25, 2010 13:52:33 GMT
well worth reading Burton. The man who introduced the Kamasutra to the west wins in my book.
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TTMC
Jul 25, 2010 14:35:29 GMT
Post by benedictjjones on Jul 25, 2010 14:35:29 GMT
caleb carr (the guy who wrote 'the alienist') did an exellent book about an american officer in the ever victorious army 'the devil soldier'
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TTMC
Jul 25, 2010 15:15:10 GMT
Post by Craig Herbertson on Jul 25, 2010 15:15:10 GMT
Not heard of him. I'm a big fan of history generally. Probably most sf writers are.
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TTMC
Jul 25, 2010 16:49:17 GMT
Post by benedictjjones on Jul 25, 2010 16:49:17 GMT
yes, i've always been a massive history buff.
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TTMC
Jul 25, 2010 16:51:13 GMT
Post by Craig Herbertson on Jul 25, 2010 16:51:13 GMT
I've always thought its something to do with not liking the present. I've always been interested in the future, the past, fantasy worlds and other dimensions. The present has generally seemed dull but of course that can't really be true because it was once the future and will become the past.
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TTMC
Jul 25, 2010 21:43:21 GMT
Post by benedictjjones on Jul 25, 2010 21:43:21 GMT
^spot on! i've always thought of any other period or any other world as being more interesting than the one in which i seem confined!
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TTMC
Jul 25, 2010 22:58:13 GMT
Post by colwynquaffer on Jul 25, 2010 22:58:13 GMT
I love history too and suffered the same delusion of thinking my time/space continuum must be the most boring one ever to have happened. I think it's down to the way our parents go misty eyed and mysterious when they talk of events that have happened in their lifetimes, giving the said events that extra dash of glamour. Apparently everybody knew where they were when they found out that JFK had been assassinated, but will we be saying the same thing about, (for example) Lady Di's demise or 9/11? Probably. Sad innit?
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TTMC
Jul 26, 2010 8:09:08 GMT
Post by benedictjjones on Jul 26, 2010 8:09:08 GMT
^strangely enough i know where i was for both!
di - sleeping off a hangover, my mum woke me p to tell me, i growled and went back to sleep.
7/7 - late for work and cursing the tube...
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TTMC
Jul 26, 2010 10:46:32 GMT
Post by Craig Herbertson on Jul 26, 2010 10:46:32 GMT
I have a crap memory. I do remember driving home through Manchester when they were burying that poor girl. It's the first time I ever thought I might be arrested for some amorphous crime like sacrilege or failure to observe some kind of ritual. It was very strange.
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TTMC
Jul 26, 2010 12:07:56 GMT
Post by colwynquaffer on Jul 26, 2010 12:07:56 GMT
Benedict my wife woke me up from sleeping off a hangover to tell me about Di's "accident", lol. For the twin towers attack I was at home looking after the kids when a mate phoned to tell me to put CNN on.
Craig, I live in Germany and my neighbours couldn't understand why I wasn't in deep mourning for Di's demise. It really was an event that touched millions.
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TTMC
Jul 26, 2010 17:48:48 GMT
Post by karswell on Jul 26, 2010 17:48:48 GMT
I'm a history fan too - particularly WW1 which tends to crop up a lot in my stories. I was on holiday in Barcelona on 9/11, got back to the hotel room to watch the footage on Spanish TV (they had no english speaking channels) - very surreal.
Heard of Di's death on the radio in bed, the only other thing I remember of the day is that the queue in the video rental store that night was the biggest I'd ever seen...
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TTMC
Jul 26, 2010 19:19:26 GMT
Post by benedictjjones on Jul 26, 2010 19:19:26 GMT
for 9/11 my dad woke me up (from a hangover - i can see a theme developing...) when the first plane hit.
the historic mileau im desperate to write a story in is the great game part of the Victorian period
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TTMC
Jul 27, 2010 5:27:58 GMT
Post by colwynquaffer on Jul 27, 2010 5:27:58 GMT
Well I can't lie. I had to Google that one up, though when I read about it I knew what it was.
I started writing a novel last year set in 1817. Napoleon had beaten the Brts and Germans at Waterloo and France ruled Europe. Now if you think that's a wacky background, well that's only the beginning. However, the point I'm trying to make was that I needed to read up a lot about the Napoleonic wars and it was surprisingly interesting and slightly disturbing; especially when you think how close we were to losing at Waterloo. Who knows, we might all have ended up speaking French as a first language... perish the thought.
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TTMC
Jul 27, 2010 8:54:44 GMT
Post by franklinmarsh on Jul 27, 2010 8:54:44 GMT
I started writing a novel last year set in 1817. Napoleon had beaten the Brts and Germans at Waterloo and France ruled Europe. Now if you think that's a wacky background, well that's only the beginning. However, the point I'm trying to make was that I needed to read up a lot about the Napoleonic wars and it was surprisingly interesting and slightly disturbing; especially when you think how close we were to losing at Waterloo. Who knows, we might all have ended up speaking French as a first language... perish the thought. That sounds like a very interesting idea. I've enjoyed books like Fatherland, SS-GB and The Man In The High Castle - you know, the 'what if the Allies had lost WWII' type stuff, and Michael Moorcock's Nomad Of Time alternate histories... Hmmmm. What if the Americans had lost the Revolutionary War?
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TTMC
Jul 27, 2010 9:32:23 GMT
Post by benedictjjones on Jul 27, 2010 9:32:23 GMT
'the years of salt and rice' by ki stanle robinson was quit interesting - a 'what if' Europe was wiped out by the black death and china and the islamic world were the dominant forces rather than european ones, at it's centre is buddhist philosophy with characters being reincarnated throughout history
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