Lord Winterborne's Fantasy

Book 1 of The Runelords: The Sum of all Men is the fantasy debut by newcomer David Farland. CRAP!!! David Farland, the emerging star of the genre, doesnt even exist. Its a penname. The man behind the bullshit is Dave Wolverton (if thats his real name) and hes been around for donkeys. This is no budding young talent, this isnt a fantasy debut, Wolvertons written a whole score of stuff over the last fifteen years.

Apparently, Dave Wolverton is something of a marketing expert. Before he wrote the first book of the series, he developed the world, the magic and an idea of the art and imagery. This isnt unusual, but in conjunction with pennames and false debuts, one can almost see a pattern forming.

Consider this: When The Sum of all Men was released in 1998, the first thing I noticed was the fantastic cover-art by Darrell K Sweet. Dazza is a god by anyones standards; his fantasy art has helped people visualize worlds created by such fantasy greats as J.R.R Tolkien, Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks. But how does my friend Dazza fit into the picture?

Cover-art can be one of the most distinguishing features of a fantasy novel, and Darrell K. Sweet is the best, so who wouldnt use him to help average work rise to undeserved levels of fame?

I'm being harsh, I know. And you may be thinking, What has the Lord Winterborne done thats so great. Thats a fair call, too. But I do know fantasy, and the work of Dave Wolverton feels more like a process than a narrative. Something just doesnt feel natural.

In an article by Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Wolverton reveals: I've recognized for years that fantasy was on the cusp, and that [eventually] the audience would be ripe for it." (Www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/entertainment/movies/ 8208121.htm? Template=contentModules/printstory.jsp)

Doesn't this smack of shrewd and cunning business tactics? Have ruthless marketing tactics now replaced honest, and heart-felt storytelling?
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The fact that this man has entrepreneurial genius is without question. Wolverton is now an international best seller, with a website, comic books, and an $80 million dollar movie on the way. But it must also be said that he had another ace up his sleeve, a single concept so unique that it would provide the foundation for this whole series. Let me explain:

A commoner in service to his King and country can bestow any member of the nobility with a number of additional endowments. Wit, brawn, grace, voice, stamina, sight, hearing, smell, glamour or metabolism all can be transferred from one person to another with magical forcibles.

Depending on the endowment, the process in turn reduces the donor to a drooling idiot, renders them ugly in the extreme, blinds them and so on. The recipient retains a rune, branded into their skin by the process, which signifies the endowments that person has received. Hence, we have our superhuman heroes or villains, The Runelords.

This is the concept that had everyone talking, and it is Dave Wolvertons only saving grace as far as Im concerned. Certainly these books would have been nothing without it. The characters are shallow, the plot is tepid, and the suspense is lost downstream.

Alas, we live in an Age of Literature where endless, 10-book sagas are written at the expense of a decent story, where plots are directed by profits, and quality is replaced by quantity. And so the great marketing machine continues to consume all things sacred and beautiful, till everything is left stained and blackened.

Even my beloved Fantasy.

The series so far:
Book 1: The Sum of all Men
Book 2: The Brotherhood of the Wolf
Book 3: Wizardborn
Book 4: Lair of Bones

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