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My interest in science fiction and fantasy goes back further than I can remember and is most likely due to a vivid imagination which developed at an early age. However, I can actually pinpoint two events that had a momentous impact on my life. The first was when I was 11 years old. Some time in mid 1977 I saw Star Wars for the first time. The second was when I was 13 and my English teacher - Mr. Somerville - introduced me to The Lord of the Rings. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, These two lines from The Lord of the Rings are written in a special Tolkien typeface but you will need to have the correct fonts installed on your system to see them. Download the latest updated set of 14 Fantasy style fonts - they look superb. |
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| The Lord of the Rings had
the same effect with fantasy fiction as Star Wars did for me with
Sci-Fi. I was enthralled by the sheer scale of it. JRR Tolkien didn't
just write a good book, he invented an entire world. The Hobbit of
course is a great little story in itself but it also serves as an
aperitif for the main course. Through LOTR,
The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and other books, Middle Earth's inhabitants have
languages, cultures and politics that can be traced back through
Tolkien's elaborately conceived and perfectly orchestrated 'history'.
Though a certain friend may disagree LOTR is the benchmark by which all fantasy books are measured and rightly deserves the accolade of being awarded both Book of the Century and the UK's No.1 Big Read. I have read it about 5 times and am in absolute awe of the Peter Jackson films. Pop over to my Sci-Fi Page for what I thought of them. The Tolkien signature rune tattoo on my back has now been enhanced by the 'One Ring....' inscription added around it, as per the picture right. I think it's rather good! ---> Favourite books by other authors include Raymond Feist's Magician trilogy, Terry Brooks' Shannara series and most recently the excellent Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind. |
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When I was at Polytechnic in 1985 I discovered AD&D -
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy role playing. It really caught my imagination big time and
many an afternoon > evening > night since has passed immersed in it
with several like minded friends. Any of you who are into it will appreciate
how attached you become to your characters and over the years I have had
several memorable ones. I have mostly enjoyed playing elven ranger types
but I do diversify and at the moment my alter ego is 'Frillinix
the Magnificent'. He is a 15 inch tall Fremlin kak-handed thief/mage. Often his attempts at 'helpful' magic
spells go wrong with totally unpredictable, alarming or hilarious
results thanks to Dave P the DM's customised wild magic rules. Luckily
Frilli is totally impervious to all non-magical damage
and so can survive all manner of unpleasant attacks, incidents and accidents.
He really is a complete hoot to role play and keeps everyone
amused and on their toes.
Despite my friends trying to get me to play other RPG systems over the years none of them have ever really appealed to me, surprisingly not even the Star Wars or Middle Earth ones. We have now managed to arrange a semi regular monthly slot for gaming so I am really getting into it again. Frilli is regulary causing total havoc and I think it's more likely the party will be desperate to find a way to neutralise him before any foe does! Take a look at adventuring in the Forgotten Realms from Frilli's unique perspective. |
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When I left Poly I began to write a silly story based on
my original characters and am now publishing it here on my website for
all to see. Click the link right for that and more on my AD&D interest. READ PARTS 1-11 NOW >> |
AD&D - The Memoirs of Father Shiron |
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A few years ago amongst the 2000AD &
Dark Horse titles at my local comic shop (see my sci-fi page) I discovered the 'Magic' CCG (collectible card game). Me and a couple of
mates really got into it and spent way too much money and time on it and
now I've got boxes of the things. We OD'd on it though and stopped
playing suddenly, going cold turkey. Now after a break I am
feeling like having another go at it again but I'm not
planning on going on a massive card buying spree even though I see from
the Wizards of the Coast website that they have brought out a ton of new
expansions in the
meantime.
I've still got my favourite decks made up, my blue/black 'Steal & Subvert' deck used to drive my mate round the bend and my animal lovers green/red 'Bite & Burn' deck was a hoot! |
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As well as using my computer to develop this website and cruise the web I also enjoy wasting a ridiculous amount of time playing games. When I get totally immersed in a game I play it for hours on end and just don't get anything else done. My favourite genres are FPS and action/adventure. I am totally sold on Unreal and it's sequels - they're absolutely fantastic and in my opinion the top FPS titles. I have fought my way right through Unreal, Return to Na Pali and Unreal Tournament and am now engrossed in Unreal 2 as my new system is well above min spec and runs it superbly. I am currently replaying the original Tombraider and also getting well into Lego Star Wars that I got for Christmas, what a surprisingly great game! These are my favourites.
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Have a look at some great fantasy artwork. I do not wish to offend any of the featured artists by displaying their work illegally or without permission and wherever possible I have included links to the artists' own sites on my Links page. However, please mail me if I am displaying your work and you want it removed or, better still, send me a link to your official site because I've looked hard and can't find it! |
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