tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395408718428935037.post6646022095537248927..comments2023-04-26T02:25:00.179-07:00Comments on The Frothy Friar: Audio Book Review: The Elfish GeneThe Frothy Friarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11239287980636452197noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395408718428935037.post-2507140457277021772011-12-27T02:50:11.479-08:002011-12-27T02:50:11.479-08:00Hey, Brian.
Can I ask if you read an American vers...Hey, Brian.<br />Can I ask if you read an American version of the audiobook and, if you did, where you got it from.<br />I hear there is one and I don't know where it's come from.<br />MMark Barrowcliffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08003208596219750876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395408718428935037.post-15732907135088390522011-10-26T17:19:01.560-07:002011-10-26T17:19:01.560-07:00Wow, I certainly didn't expect THAT comment! V...Wow, I certainly didn't expect THAT comment! Very nice to meet you Mr. Barrowcliff. I have to say, without that last chapter, it was a very fun book. The feelings of longing for the game to an almost obsessive point reminded me of myself when I was very young and didn't know anything about life outside of pictures of dragons and adventurers. It brought back a lot of memories, good and embarrassing. :)<br /><br />I think you did just wind up with a bunch of people that were a poor influence on you. Not that they coaxed you into doing anything wrong, but they set bad examples in their attitudes and the way they treated others around them. I could definitely see that as more of the cause for you straying into drugs and the occult more than the game itself.<br /><br />To me, the game is just that. It's neither good nor evil, it's just words and pictures. What the reader decides to do with that information however, determines its worth in life. I grew up with a D&D obsession just like you did, but I had some good influences in my life that helped me to realize that there are other things than JUST the game. <br /><br />I'm 41 now and I still play and I still spend way too much time involved in the game, but I have other things in my life to make me more well rounded. It sounds like you really didn't anyone to show you that when you were young. People really don't realize how much influence others have on them until much later on in life.<br /><br />Everything in moderation.<br /><br />Overall, I have to say I really enjoyed your book. I wouldn't mind hearing more about your "mis-spent" D&D youth. I loved hearing about going to those magical hobby stores. I still remember going to The Game Keeper when I was young and how overwhelming it was to see all the products that were available. I'll never forget buying the Aftermath! boxed set with my saved up allowance. There was a wall full of D&D modules and I could barely take in all the colors and amazing pictures.<br /><br />I can definitely relate to 99% of everything you wrote.<br /><br />Btw...thanks for the clarification on breeks. I thought the reader just didn't know what he was talking about.<br /><br />I'm going to look up your other works and sample some of your writing.<br /><br />Take care<br />BrianThe Frothy Friarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11239287980636452197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395408718428935037.post-23684639490364920772011-10-25T12:46:55.633-07:002011-10-25T12:46:55.633-07:00Brian: Mark Barrowcliffe here - thanks for your co...Brian: Mark Barrowcliffe here - thanks for your comments. I do regret the last chapter now - guess I just had bad luck with the group I went to. I also regret the first chapter. I'm intrigued you say an American reads it. I'm not aware of an American recording and the cover you post looks like the one I recorded.<br />Breeks are, in fact, breeks.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/breeks<br />It says in the dictionary that it's a Scots word for trousers but I thought the use was wider - an archaic form of breeches. Anyway, thanks for your kind review. I've got back into fantasy and have had a couple of fantasy novels published by Pyr now under a pen name - MD Lachlan.<br />I think in the book I'm reflecting on my obsession, rather than the game as a whole. And, as the book says, really the only way D&D was responsible for anything was in giving a lot of dysfunctional boys a reason to sit in the same room being horrible to each other for seven years.<br />Yours Mark Barrowcliffemdlachlanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07960209598067358298noreply@blogger.com