[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 1.29 MB, 892x1200, conan_the_barbarian.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
437020 No.437020 [Reply] [Original]

Ok c/lit/s, I've been batting around an idea for a character for awhile now and I figured I'd run it by you. So i'm a big fan of adventure stories like the Conan short stories and characters like Indiana Jones, and I got the idea to do a series of short stories based around a character who's kind of like the "anti-Conan". Rather than being a brawny barbarian dealing with the evils of "civilized" society, he's a scholarly type from a very civilized, high-minded society that keeps itself cut off from the rest of the world (think Japan prior to the 1800s) who leaves his country to explore and research the rest of the world. It'd have a low fantasy kind of setting, with pirates, monsters, etc.

What do you think?

>> No.437039

Sounds like it could be interesting.

>> No.437048

so its Elric

>> No.437056

>Japan prior to the 1800s

anime detected

>> No.437069

Startling Accounts of the World Beyond, Seige of Cracks Duom by the Beings from the Outer Darkness, and a Summer with the Pirates Ilmar by Jakob Feb, Esq.

>> No.437070

>>437020

To close to the truth mate

>> No.437074

>>437070

Im out

>> No.437081

>>437056
Not really. Just an example. A big part of the inspiration for this character comes from the 15th century Chinese admiral Zhou Man, who was commissioned by the Chinese emperor to explore the world, because they didn't know much about the world beyond China.

>>437048
Not really.

>> No.437083

gulliver's travels

>> No.437094

>>437083
Another big inspiration for the idea.

>> No.437100

OP you're asking for a Picaresque novel set in an old fashioned Sword & Sorcery setting

>> No.437116

>>437100
Basically, yes. Kind of a bookish explorer lost in a world that's much less civilized than what he's always known.

>> No.437121
File: 54 KB, 614x475, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
437121

>> No.437124 [DELETED] 
File: 291 KB, 799x594, The Book of the New Sun.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
437124

>> No.437131

I think it could be fun. Bonus points if the peregrinating nerd isn't too unintentionally racist. That could get old pretty quick.

>> No.437136

>>437124
How am I supposed to take this author seriously when his books look like this?

>> No.437142
File: 18 KB, 220x163, ralph.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
437142

>>437136
>Who is Gene Wolfe?

>> No.437149

>>437136
By not judging a book by its cover. They teach that one to little kids - I'm surprised you haven't picked up on it before.

>>437116
I like the idea, OP. I would read a series like that. Please write it so I can read it.

>> No.437155
File: 254 KB, 250x227, 1266534030570.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
437155

>>437142

>> No.437249

Eaters of the Dead. The narrator is an educated Arab.

>> No.437250

Bump for some more feedback. Any suggestions? What kind of things would you like to see in a story like this /lit/?

>> No.437257

>>437249
Haven't read the book, but I saw The 13th Warrior. That's very much the kind of character I'm thinking of.

>> No.437306

>>437250

The South China Sea has some extraordinary potential, but you need to get some solid research in - try:

Chinese treasure ships
The Bugis and other pirate nations (ostensibly the origin of the word "boogeyman")
Burmese Empire (maybe good uber-villains unless you're gonna use the Japs).
Malaysia

>> No.437323

>>437149 By not judging a book by its cover. They teach that one to little kids - I'm surprised you haven't picked up on it before.

That's only because little kids haven't read enough books to do it effectively.