Fanatic Infects Others at Bookstore

I love the authors you find by accident, or that you feel you have “discovered”.  It makes them somehow more personal.  You feel a sense of ownership and prides in these authors.  You actively try to get others to share the joy of your discovery, through lending books out, or, (in the case of how I was introduced to Dave Duncan), you accost complete strangers in the bookstore.

There I was, innocently scanning the bookshelves, when this stranger began talking to me.  He asked what authors I liked, what books I had read, and in the way most people react when complete strangers show an unexpected, enthusiastic interest in your person, I started to plan escape routes.  When he pushed The Reluctant Swordsman at me, I agreed to buy it, just to escape the situation

Boy, am I ever glad that madman approached me in the store.  The book had old school art, and was the kind I would never have picked up on my own, but since reading this series, I pick up any book with Duncan’s name on it. At first glance, his books are very classic, and perhaps even predictable.  They begin with a reluctant hero, an unlikely quest, with even more unlikely companions, which ends in getting the girl, saving the world, or both at the same time.

But Dave Duncan’s books are so much more than that.  The Great Game series stands out the most to me as a series with the deeper themes of what religion means in the human race:  why we have it, how it changes us, and how we shape it, and how prophecy can screw you over.  It explores interesting possibilities relating to a pantheon of Greek-like gods (all powerful, with all too-human emotions and motives) to new insights into Christianity.  This series made me want to take a world religions course, just so I could be sure to catch everything I was sure I had missed the first time through.

My favorite works are the earlier ones: A Handful of Men, A Man of His Word, The Great Game, and the Reluctant Swordsman.  Many of the newer books seem a little forced and while still a decent read, they don’t seem to have the philosophy of the earlier works.  I love the early works because though they may take me to a familiar ending, the ride is always surprising, insightful and fun, and no matter how many times I read them, I get the joy of discovering new details, insights and references I missed on previous readings.  Thank you for sharing your passion, stranger from the bookstore:  it turns out your enthusiasm is catching!