This is topic Guess the Author Game -- Round . . . uh, what round is it? Oh right -- Twenty-Three in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.
quote: Samakah was on an island once. To this day, the locals still call it "the island city." In a way, they are still right.
The wall is the first clue that Samakah does not belong in the desert. One hundred feet tall, the structure was built countless generations ago with smooth stones only found near the shore. The blue and green stones even have the illusion of holding water, defying the dry, yellow sand around them. Some say that the wall was built to withstand tidal waves. Now it protects the city from desert winds, standing as a monument to the former glory of the landscape.
A lonely desert traveler, completely covered to protect himself against the blistering sandstorm, can see Samakah through his veil, a bright blue spot in the middle of yellow nothingness. He moves mechanically towards it, towards the blue place, hoping for fresh water and a good meal. Just looking at it makes him feel less thirsty. Maybe it was the blank landscape, or the traveler wasn't paying attention. But he failed to see the deep chasm surrounding Samakah and its wall. And there he slipped into the yellow nothing, unable to reach the dazzling blue wall.
Samakah was on an island once. In a way, it still is.
Five points for a correct guess with either rationale for the guess or a critique of the story Two points for any guess with a critique One point for any guess with a rationale A blank stare for any guess with neither critique nor rationale
[ October 08, 2003, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: dkw ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Welcome back, dkw. (((((Dana)))))
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Wow, I really like this. Great word choices, and economy of phrase. Wonderful images. And very subtle -- I wasn't expecting that ending!
Hmm. TomD?
[ October 08, 2003, 05:01 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
Okay, I will have a constantly edited list of people already guessed here. That way, people won't have to scroll down to see the impromtu already-guessed lists.
This passage would make a good introduction, I think, but it needs more if it wants to make it as a stand-alone story. I'll guess saxon75.
The Official Already-Guessed-And-Confirmed-Wrong List saxon75 Tom Davidson ScottR Ryuko Geoff celia Slash the Berzerker T_Smith Icarus
The Official Guessed-And-Not-Yet-Confirmed-Wrong-With-The-Small-Yet-Still-Noticable-Possibility-Of-Being-Right List
PS. Welcome back dkw!
[ October 09, 2003, 01:07 AM: Message edited by: sarcasticmuppet ]
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
The Official Sorry, You're Wrong List rivka sarcastic muppet
(edit: Thanks for the welcome backs)
[ October 08, 2003, 05:07 PM: Message edited by: dkw ]
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
I love it! Well, everything but this line
quote: And there he slipped into the yellow nothing, unable to reach the dazzling blue wall.
It has almost an epic feel. Ryuko?
P.S. Thank you, thank you for continuing this dkw It has been fun!
[ October 08, 2003, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: Christy ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Could I have a colon after my name in the current score list? Everyone else has one . . . *sniffle*
Maybe it's me, but the more I look at this sentence
quote: Maybe it was the blank landscape, or the traveler wasn't paying attention.
the more it seems to me that it's missing a word, somewhere. Not sure what word, precisely.
ScottR?
Posted by msakaseg (Member # 3826) on :
Muppet, would it bother you terribly if I continued to use my own spreadsheet?
Excellent intro to a fantasy epic. Or it could be a chapter intro later in the story. Very good use of imagery and descriptive language. Actually, it reminds me a bit of one of OSC's drafts of the beginning of Ender's Shadow, the one where he talks about Rotterdam. OSC eventually chose to favor an opener that was more character-driven, though, which may be something for the author to think about. The description vaguely reminds me of the image I have of the city of Rak Cthol in Eddings' Belgariad series, although it is better written.
Nothing to immediately say whether the author is male or female. The author is obviously someone who has read a fair amount of fantasy. I also think that it's someone who's had a more than a little experience with writing. The style is very sure.
My guess: Geoffrey Card.
Posted by msakaseg (Member # 3826) on :
By the way, welcome back, Dana. I hope you're doing alright.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
whatever floats your boat msakaseg, I didn't know Spreadsheet would be useful in this situation. But I suppose Spreadsheet for some is the answer to all of life's ills. Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Aaaaah!!! I forgot to re-order the score list! And three people are missing their colons! (Which sounds like a very serious problem!)
Edit to add: no to all.
[ October 08, 2003, 05:20 PM: Message edited by: dkw ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
It has a twist right at the end. This makes me think . . . celia.
Posted by msakaseg (Member # 3826) on :
Any of the Overlook Campaign addicts... er, enthusiasts... will know that Slash is very good at establishing tone and using imagery.
Which is why he's my next guess.
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
I somehow imagine the author being a HP/LotR fan. I'm gonna guess my habiibi T.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
No to all.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
The contrast between water and sand, blue and yellow, is very striking.
I guess Icarus.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
No.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I like this... I'm a sucker for twists... But it looks to me like the tense changed in the middle from "a lonely traveler can..." to "the traveler wasn't..." I think it would be best to put the middle paragraph in past tense.
That said, it sounds arabic-y, so I'm going to guess sarcasticmuppet...
[ October 09, 2003, 01:16 AM: Message edited by: Ryuko ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Interesting. I notice a number of alliteratively paired words: smooth stones, defying the dry, completely covered, etc.
Belle?
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
Dang it all, Ryuko. I was hoping this round would take forever.
And in case anyone was wondering, "Samakah" is Arabic for 'fish.' I wrote this over a year ago for an excercise based on Calvino's Invisible Cities. That book is an imaginary conversation between Marco Polo and Kubla Khan, and it has dozens of these tiny stories about cities he has visited.
Anyway, the critiques have all been really helpful. I was hoping this round would last a little longer so I could get more of them, but alas. I've been working on a story set in Samakah, but it's been difficult for some completely unknown reason.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Good going, Ryuko! Nice piece, sm!
*applauds*
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
^___^ Huzzah! It was a good guess!!
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
what's weird is that Ryuko said it was definetely "arabic-y" and I wrote this over a year before I gained any knowledge of Arabic or the MidEast. I found the word "Samakah" in a USNews or something. It's a mnemonic device. When you think of the word 'samakah' think of smaking a fish. Smack--samakah.
And Ilhamdu lillaah for noone trying to assume that the author was male. I couldn't have borne the shame!
[ October 09, 2003, 02:05 AM: Message edited by: sarcasticmuppet ]
Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :
The funny thing is that I thought the name sounded a bit arabic-ky, but I never would have guessed it meant fish. I thought more of a feminine name, sort of like Samantha. *laugh*
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Well, everything but this line