• Wertheimer [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    It was indeed unironic. Became a staple of fantasy conventions over the years. Back in the day I played a drinking game where we tried to read it aloud without laughing. The fun is lessened a bit when we learn that it was a 17-year-old's first attempt at a novel that somehow made it out into the world . . . but it did make it out into the world, and it does contain the line "You make love well wench" so I think it's fair game.

    • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      a 17-year-old’s first attempt at a novel that somehow made it out into the world

      Oh, that does take away most of the humor. I'm happy that nothing I did as a teenager exists in the digital world. I'd die of cringe.

      • Wertheimer [any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I first discovered it when I was around that age, and thought it was the funniest thing ever, but that was more than half a lifetime ago so now I cringe somewhat on Theis's behalf rather than in mockery of him. But he died in 2002 so now it's the property of humankind, right? It's a conundrum.

        • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
          ·
          2 years ago

          But he died in 2002 so now it’s the property of humankind, right? It’s a conundrum.

          I'll read it in a different way. I'll laugh at the text but not the author. I hate to think that in some alternate universe I wrote an equally awful sci-fi novel as a 17 year-old and everybody laughs at it.