A Clear Win…For Me

by brentweeks on Jul.28, 2009, under Brent Weeks and Joe Abercrombie

Clearly, you lurk in darker corners of the internet than I do, Joe. Congratulations, you found an angry person on the web. Actually, I hadn’t seen those sites. But look, before these guys are hanged, let’s admit there might be a teeny, tiny reason why they FEEL misled. (Read from the bottom up and note the years passing for the full effect.)

And I’m surprised that you missed a particular word I used in my last post. I thought it might be a favorite of yours: “I.” That’s why I phrased it “What I owe readers.” “I,” as in, I.

So I don’t mean to leave you without a leg to stand on, Joe, but I spit flecky disdain on your best-served-lukewarm beer. This is probably the kind of tricky false dichotomy your vengeful Inigo Monza presents to the bad guys, huh? Erm, I mean the a-little-bit-worse-guys-than-the-main-guys. Look, George could obviously teach me a thing or fifty about writing. That doesn’t make him a master of Public Relations. Just like the fact that you’re British doesn’t make you a prat. Shoot, bad example. Let me leave you with this utterly devastating point, after which you have my permission to throw yourself on the blade itself.

Okay, we brawled for a week on that, I won, let’s call it the last argument of kings and move on.

Joe, which video game do you think has the best story? And what made it so good? Or if you hate my idea, I guess you could talk about THIS. (I didn’t know you had your own t-shirts! Who’s the model?)

p.s. In case you have no idea what that last video was, click here. Now the nerdy kids won’t laugh at you anymore for not knowing their 1337 lingo. The cool kids, however…well, sorry.

Are you game?
Video game novels are trendy. Warcraft, Halo, Gear of War & Bioshock are games with novel tie-ins out or coming soon. So, Brent & Joe, to hypothetically assume the luxury of spare time, is there any franchise out there for which you’d want to write a novel? Or, even better…...
Best Video Game Stories Ever
Brent and Joe discuss which video games have the best stories....
Why Brent Weeks is so WRONG About Blogging
Brent, I have to violently disagree with you, and not just because we’ve framed this as a literary deathmatch, but also because you’re WRONG, so WRONG. Your examples are poor. JRR would definitely have blogged had he had the technology available, but he was totally a console guy, played way...
Why You Rule
Brent & Joe, It has been a blast having you on Babel Clash. Thank you for sharing your battle of wits. With your last post or two, do you want to close with one final argument? Say, hypothetically, that a reader can only read one fantastic, brilliant book this summer....
On Mortals’ Praises and Genii’s Duties
Brent Weeks shows his clear rhetorical dominance over Joe Abercrombie. Again....

:Borders, Brent Weeks, Fantasy, Joe Abercrombie

6 Comments for this entry

dyginc
July 28th, 2009 on 12:29 pm
love the rickroll…nice touch
mpotts
July 28th, 2009 on 1:56 pm
“And I’m surprised that you missed a particular word I used in my last post. I thought it might be a favorite of yours: “I.””

Very classy.

Go Brent!

ps. now if you only had a blog or twitter account…
morgan
July 28th, 2009 on 10:19 pm
The Force Unleashed featured a Star Wars story of cinematic proportions. The story of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice was excellent as both a video game and a novel.

Bioshock has another good story and a brilliant steampunk setting. I’m curious what the upcoming Bioshock novel will be like. If it captures any of the spooky creativity of the game, then it will be a wild ride.
Hillsy
July 29th, 2009 on 5:46 am
Though Mass Effect was pretty good, just for that tingly feeling I get whenever I think about it, I’ve got to go with ‘Final Fantasy 8′.

OK perhaps it’s not the most adult, or particularly emotionally subtle in the world, but it’s bare-faced honest of what it does with characters I think is charming. The plot is pretty complex with enough shock/horror moments. A number of characters go through significant genesis. I don’t think the charm of its settings will ever be matched as the ‘adult’ world and the ‘family’ world, in all types of media, very noticable in film, diverge (when was the last family film you saw that didn’t have 1 stupid character who was only there for comic relief???).

Moreover than anything else, in my opinion, it’s the atmosphere that makes the story so wonderful. It has a very real ‘feeling’, not of any particular emotion but a permeating awareness of depth and reality so few games have. To make the fantastical believable is the aim of any fantasy writer, and to do that with a real focus on characters and societies, without smothering the whole thing in heavy-handed emotions (It does a bit at the end I grant you but you’re addicted by then), and then to lump that uncompromising view on technology all FF games have into the mix, is a real achievement. I’m getting all misty just thinking about it.

That blend of tech and magic the final fantasy series produces gives any story within it such strong foundations, and FF8 is the best balance. There will be a load of FF7 fans polishing rifles now, but I played FF8 first and there’s always something special about that first time……*sigh*
Dane
July 29th, 2009 on 8:22 am
A Rick Roll? The mark of a champion or the last ditch attempt at a victory by a desperate man? Feels a little “Battle of the Bulge” to me….

As for video games, I concur with Bioshock and can’t wait for Bioshock 2: Electric Boogaloo (subtitle still in the works…)
CJ
July 30th, 2009 on 9:49 am
A Rickroll? Ouch! Nice move Brent.

What next? Going to throw in..THE GAME? Which, by the way, I just lost. xD

Let’s see what game you think has the best story, Brent? ..A NIGHT ANGEL VIDEO GAME, you say? *Shot*