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masterghandalfWarning: This post contains discussion of all the gross and squicky elements of the Chronicles of Blood and Stone.
And so, everyone, we have come at long last to the end of Robert Newcomb’s Chronicles of Blood and Stone. What have we learned on our journey? Mostly that Robert Newcomb is a hack writer utterly undeserving of the hype he initially got as a major new voice in fantasy, that he has some very disturbing views on women, a very gross fascination with gore and edge, can barely string a story together to save his life, and that his ultimate fall into obscurity was very well deserved. What more is there to say? But before we go, let’s take a look back at both the trilogy as a whole and The Scrolls of the Ancients in particular, to not only see just what is so bad about Newcomb’s writing but also why, and maybe if there are any lessons we can take away from his writing about how to do this stuff better (aside from the obvious “don’t be Robert Newcomb”).
To start with, we’ll go back over some of the elements specific to Scrolls (but I think by this point we’ve all got a pretty good handle on the issues Newcomb has with characters, plot, writing, theme etc.) and then zoom out a bit to take a look at the Chronicles in their entirety, now that we’ve completed our trip through them. Onward!
( The Scrolls of the Ancients Final Thoughts )
( Chronicles of Blood and Stone Final Thoughts )
And so, everyone, we have come at long last to the end of Robert Newcomb’s Chronicles of Blood and Stone. What have we learned on our journey? Mostly that Robert Newcomb is a hack writer utterly undeserving of the hype he initially got as a major new voice in fantasy, that he has some very disturbing views on women, a very gross fascination with gore and edge, can barely string a story together to save his life, and that his ultimate fall into obscurity was very well deserved. What more is there to say? But before we go, let’s take a look back at both the trilogy as a whole and The Scrolls of the Ancients in particular, to not only see just what is so bad about Newcomb’s writing but also why, and maybe if there are any lessons we can take away from his writing about how to do this stuff better (aside from the obvious “don’t be Robert Newcomb”).
To start with, we’ll go back over some of the elements specific to Scrolls (but I think by this point we’ve all got a pretty good handle on the issues Newcomb has with characters, plot, writing, theme etc.) and then zoom out a bit to take a look at the Chronicles in their entirety, now that we’ve completed our trip through them. Onward!
( The Scrolls of the Ancients Final Thoughts )
( Chronicles of Blood and Stone Final Thoughts )
