Goblin Quest Book Discussion

[cathschaffstump]

Since my day was spent moving with the rest of the English department, tonight I bring you the cut and past method of journaling, and give you the low down on our reading group’s discussion of Goblin Quest, as well as Jim’s answers to various questions from the group. Enjoy, and I’ll be back with a little world building tomorrow. And, a word count.

Speaking of word counts, there’s A LOT of Jim Hines under the cut. A LOT.

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Ian wondered how much editing happened to the book, as it seemed that the characters traveled fairly quickly from the death of the dragon on. Michele felt that this was a pretty good emulation of the D&D style, and that the “game” just wrapped up after the main character was finished killing the monster.

Most of the readers are also gamers, and they appreciated the allusions to a gaming campaign. The characters were all characters that they had encountered in their gaming taken to an extreme–the dwarf particularly pendantic, the fighter particularly arrogant, and the magician particularly mad. There was some discussion of some of the things readers had wished for, including gelatinous cubes, but on the whole they were pleased.

Michelle wondered if Jig and the goblins should have been more different than humans. Mark suggested that humor must be based on familiarity. Michele (yes, a different Michele) suggested that she felt the mix between the familiar and different was good, and the portrayal of goblins was what you’d guess from their threat level and their hit points.

Ian talked about how he could chart the growth of Jig as a character. About the time Jig ran out of tunnel to lead them through is about the time he stands up for himself. Cath suggested that she was really into the book for Jig’s evolution. That, and Tymalous Shadowstar. Ian really liked Shadowstar as well. Cath plugged Jim’s third book.

As a final note, Michele mentioned that her husband Jon blames Cath for introducing her to the books, and that he’s staying up late reading them. Cath mentioned that her job at their home is done.

Read below the cut for more of Jim’s responses to reading questions.

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Originally published at Writer Tamago. You can comment here or there.