Not saying he's one of the most interesting characters, but definitely the sexist.

She was voiced by Claire Danes. Gillian Anderson voiced the mother wolf spirit.

Except for the pointy ear thing. That was never in any Tolkien description.

I slightly disagree. The show set out from the beginning to make Jaime a nuanced character. The fact that he killed the Targaryen king that murdered Ned's father and brother comes up in the first few episodes. Also, that the king was crazy and deserved to die was something that came up quite early. You never realize…

First time a really weird show was also popular.

My biggest complaint is when they change a character's character (is there a better way to say that?). I understand the need to change plots in order streamline a story, but there is no need to make a character who was good (looking at you Peter Jackson's Faramir), bad, or character who totally loves and idolized his…

I really enjoy listening to the NPR podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, but I'm starting to get a little testy with the main host, Linda Holmes, who basically has no interest in some of the most fundamental parts of nerd culture. She couldn't get past the first few pages of The Hobbit (much less the rest of LOTR. In fact,…

The shipwreck is nearer to the island of Kythera (near the small uninhabited island of Antikythera to be more precise, hence the name), more so than Crete.

Regarding #2, I think that's why I was so fascinated by the depiction of elves in the Dragon Age franchise. Not only are elves portrayed in most media as ethereal, nature demi-gods, but they're always depicted as better than humans, on a higher spiritual plane. The elves in Dragon Age are sort of like African…

Whether Kvothe from The Kingkiller Chronicle is a Mary Sue or not. I feel Patrick Rothfuss is too smart to fall into that trap... the story so far is meant to be taken as a meta commentary of how Kvothe portrays himself.

I'd like to know what really brought about the end of the Greek Bronze Age, ie, the Mycenaeans (as well as many other Bronze Age civilizations, although who knows if it was all for the same reasons). Also, who were the Minoans on Crete? What language is Linear A? How hippy-dippy, Earth Mother-loving were they really?…

My only response to this (especially if you've only read the first book) is that I also didn't quite see what the big deal was after Book 1. He goes to school, and does some stuff, and plays some music, and listens to some stories. But once you get into Book 2, I started realizing that all the stories and songs from…

What I was trying to say, but you said it much better. Like I said, I reserve judgment whether he's a real Mary Sue. I really believe Rothfuss is too smart for that.

With the series unfinished, I am choosing to reserve judgment of whether he's a Mary Sue. Remember, all the things you mentioned about him is coming from Kvothe himself, who admits to adding flourish to his stories on purpose to build himself up. He's not doing so hot within the frame story, so I'm curious to see how…

One of the best examples of "storytelling" and all that it can encompass, from the truth behind stories, manipulation, unreliable narrators, folk tales, epics, legends, myths, memories, memorization, music, framing vs. flashback, oral vs. written traditions, etc, etc.

Wholeheartedly agree. Best show ever made on TV, and continuously pushed me to look at life in a different (and unfortunately, more pessimistic) way.

So many words! Weird, SAT words that makes me feel like he's showing off his vocabulary. This is based on the only book of his I read, Perdido Street Station, and it took me FOREVER to get through that book. It was so grinding!

I agre with eregyrn: finding a priceless artifact at a site makes that site MORE appealing to looters, not less. Putting it on display in a museum makes more people aware of a site's existence, rather than a select few treasure hunters. Also, museums are somewhat to blame for this as well. Recent examples of the Met…

The Ancient Greeks considered large penises to be ugly and a sign of barbarians and uncivilized people. They were also weirdly fascinated/disgusted with circumcision. Hence Greeks are always shown in art with small, pointy penises. Also, during the Hellenistic period when the Greeks were in charge of the Middle East,…

My father explained evolution to me one evening while watching some sort of PBS show like Nova. I thought it made perfect sense. When I went to school the next day (this was the fourth grade I believe), I remember telling some of my classmates about it. One of them made fun of me and said something to the effect of…