The Sword and Laser discussion

TTDoJ has so many little references to other works of literature and myths from all over the world. the obvious is the vampire. but there are more. jade cups of immortality, a compass that points to whatever you desire. Time to show off your hunting skills and literary knowledge. what Easter eggs did you find in TTDoJ? even if you don't know the source material. anything just kind of sound familiar.

I'm really enjoying the Blue Chests playing Fallout 76 ;-)

Ian wrote: "I'm really enjoying the Blue Chests playing Fallout 76 ;-)"

Wait what??

Veronica wrote: "Ian wrote: "I'm really enjoying the Blue Chests playing Fallout 76 ;-)"

Wait what??"

You lose one of your gamer cred points there Veronica 😉
and you played Fallout 🤔

😉

(view spoiler)[The blue treasure chest that January finds presents left by her dad. That he put in another distant chest.

They're exactly like how the storage chests work in Fallout, Resident Evil and many other RPG games. Store in one chest and access from other chests (hide spoiler)]

If my copy of Fallout had ever let me out of the bunker, I might’ve noticed that. :p

Mr Lockes house is based on the Inn at Shelburne

https://www.flickr.com/photos/feedman...

I actually recognized it from her description

Tassie Dave wrote: "Veronica wrote: "Ian wrote: "I'm really enjoying the Blue Chests playing Fallout 76 ;-)"

Wait what??"

You lose one of your gamer cred points there Veronica 😉
and you played Fallout 🤔

OH that is not even a FALLOUT Easter egg, c'mon! That's just a general game convention.

😉

The blu..."

On the subject of "sound kind of familiar" the Wereleopardess world made me think of Tasherit the werelioness from Gail Carriger's Custard Protocol books.

I really enjoyed the reference to Discworld in Chapter 3 "continents are carried on the backs of vast turtles"

Discworld is one of my favorite series.

Terry Pratchett didn't make that up. He borrowed the world turtle and the elephants from mythology.

It is a Hindu myth and also features in other countries mythology around the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_T...

I mentioned this in the Discord, but some turns of phrase made me think of Walter Moers' Zamonia novels - there's a bit where (view spoiler)[the book's (hide spoiler)] smell is described as "burnt wood and cinnamon", which is close how Moers describes "the smell of adventure", and he's written several whole books about (view spoiler)[book-filled catacombs under a city of readers and scholars. (hide spoiler)]

Of course those could all be coincidences, but I wouldn't be surprised if Harrow were familiar with his work.

The first and most obvious one is Chronicles of Narnia with the portals. I say "most obvious" because portal fiction is fairly common. Just off the top of my head that also includes World of Tiers, the Barsoom books (John Carter looks at Mars from Earth and appears there,) and Oz. In fact both Narnia and Oz include a transition space, that is dangerous: In Narnia you can fall asleep forever, whereas for Oz the desert may kill you.

There's a straight up Star Wars Han Solo riff where January is tempted to say "I love you" but instead says "I know."

And in the "probably not it" category, the cutting scene made me flash on Queensryche's album Operation Mindcrime. Specifically the song "The Needle Lies" where Nikki says "Carved my cure with the blade that left me in scars."

BTW I freely admit I didn't get a stack of references near the end. Winged cats that spoke in riddles is probably Sphinxes, although I still thought of LeGuin's book Catwings. Sea dragons with mother of pearl scales? Dunno. Green cities that floated high above the clouds? Maybe Jack in the Beanstalk, or could be any of a dozen dozen other fairy tales. Men and women made of granite and alabaster? Whoosh.

Then there's major leaveouts like Lord of the Rings, The Little Prince and Don Quixote, none of which made the slightest appearance from what I can tell.

John (Taloni) wrote: "The first and most obvious one is Chronicles of Narnia with the portals. I say "most obvious" because portal fiction is fairly common. Just off the top of my head that also includes World of Tiers,..."

I think the big three for portal fiction are Oz, Narnia and Wonderland, but the work I was most reminded of was Monsters Inc.

Hah! Sorry, I just got a vision of Bad as the unknown Boo of the story, unknowingly providing the energy source for January's door opening. Always be kind to animals...

For me, I got flashes of Among Others (escapism into reading) and A Little Princess (absentee father, before/after treatment after trauma).

It's probably not on purpose, but the whole thing with the mother and the scene on the pier reminded me a lot of (view spoiler)[the Aquaman movie (hide spoiler)]

Veronica wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "Veronica wrote: "Ian wrote: "I'm really enjoying the Blue Chests playing Fallout 76 ;-)"

Wait what??"

You lose one of your gamer cred points there Veronica 😉
and you played Fa..."

You all know I was making a joke, right?
I didn't even think it was possible that Harrow got the idea of the blue chests from Fallout 76's Stash Boxes.

One of my favorite portal fantasies is The Dark Tower by Stephen King!

Is it my imagination or is this whole book an homage to the Locke and Key series by Joe Hill? :)

Charles wrote: "Is it my imagination or is this whole book an homage to the Locke and Key series by Joe Hill? :)"

Yes, I thought exactly the same thing.

AndrewP wrote: "Charles wrote: "Is it my imagination or is this whole book an homage to the Locke and Key series by Joe Hill? :)"

Yes, I thought exactly the same thing."

I had just watched the Netflix series & read some of the comics when I heard about TTDoJ & thought "Hey", but I was definitely interested. I hope this gets a series too.

Lee wrote: "TTDoJ has so many little references to other works of literature and myths from all over the world. the obvious is the vampire. but there are more. jade cups of immortality, a compass that points t..."

I'm intrigued. What literature or myth reference jade cups of immortality or a compass that points to whatever you desire?

Frank wrote: "Lee wrote: "I'm intrigued. What literature or myth reference jade cups of immortality or a compass that points to whatever you desire?"

I don’t know about the cups, aside from “jade = immortality” in Chinese mythology, but the compass is probably a reference to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

I actually don’t recall either object from the book, but it’s been a minute since I read it.