90. (July 2020) The Great Eastern by Howard Rodman — The Tabletop Roleplayers' Book Club

The Great Eastern Q1: Re-incarnation

Apocryphal — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:39:40 +0000

In his review of this book in the Los Angeles Review of Book, Brian Evenson reflects that

"One remarkable thing about books is the way they start all over again, freshly renewed, each time we reread them. The character that dies in the final pages springs back to life again to spool through the same rituals of action and emotion in a way that the reader can still somehow find satisfying. A character in a book is never truly dead — as long as someone can turn back to the beginning, that character’s life is not even past."

In this book, the characters are not simply re-born in their old roles, but re-incarnated into new stories that their authors never imagined. Is this a worthwhile exercise? Do you want to read new stories about classic literary characters? What, if anything, separates this from 'fan fiction'?

The Great Eastern Q3: Story

Apocryphal — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:42:41 +0000

Language and larger concerns aside, what did you think of The Great Eastern as a story? Was it the pulpy, swashbuckling, page-turner you were led to expect? In its rising action, climax, denouement, etc. did it satisfy?

The Great Eastern Q4: Setting

Apocryphal — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:43:37 +0000

In an interview I heard with the author, it was pointed out that “The world is larger than we can imagine”. What do you think was meant by this? What did you think of the world presented in The Great Eastern? Was it convincing as the real world, or a veneer against which the story was presented?

The Great Eastern Q7: Further Reading

Apocryphal — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:56:52 +0000

What other books can you recommend along these lines? We've read a few here at the club that played fast and loose with historical characters:

The Bronze God of Rhodes by L. Sprague de Camp was a more successful example in which several historical characters were mashed togeether in a sprawling adventure to save the city of Rhodes.
Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith, a sort of swash-buckling biblical effort which pitted a fictional hero against Herod, was less successful.
Not a book club pick, but earlier this year I read the rather good The Broken Hours by Jacqueline Baker, in which a fictional lodger rents a room in the house of H.P. Lovecraft.
And in the Brian Evenson's review mentioned in one of the other questions, he compares The Great Eastern to another book that features a Post-Pequod Ahab: Ahab's Return, or The Last Voyage, by Jeffrey Ford - an Author I did not know despite his having earned several awards in the genres I usually follow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Ford

What else can we add?

The Great Eastern Q5: The Great Age of Wreckage

Apocryphal — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:45:48 +0000

The author described the 19th C. as The Great Age of Wreckage in an interview. How does the novel capture that idea? Do you agree with the sentiment? Do you know of any other literary or gaming settings that see the 19th C. this way?

The Great Eastern Q6: Gaming

Apocryphal — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:46:38 +0000

Have you ever used or seen well known historical or literary characters played in your gaming? How did that work? Was it fun? If you haven't done it - would you?

The Great Eastern Q2: Writing

Apocryphal — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:41:54 +0000

The Great Eastern is an homage to both Herman Melville and Jules Verne. The author took great care to capture the voices of Ahab and Captain Nemo. Did you find his efforts convincing? How do the two literary characters differ in terms of the treatment the author gave them? How does Brunel, the character who actually lived, fit into this?