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Friday, March 10, 2023

Gnydrion

Tom Kidd


I finally decided (well, at least decided for the time being) on a name for a previously nameless science fantasy setting I've blogged about a few times over the years. The planet will be named Gnydrion (with a silent "g", I think) inspired by Clark Ashton Smith's original name for Zothique, Gyndron.

Here's a selection of a couple of posts in the setting:

Science Fantasy Hexcrawl Inspirations

Two Towns

And the post where I collated more of them can be found here.
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5 comments:

  1. Dick McGeeMarch 10, 2023 at 2:35 PM

    Seems like a good name. Solid roots, anyway.

    Where's the art from? Familiar but I can't place it.

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  2. TreyMarch 10, 2023 at 2:41 PM

    It's an illustration from the anthology of stories on Vance's Dying Earth done by other authors.

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  3. Dick McGeeMarch 10, 2023 at 9:12 PM

    Hmmm. Don't own that one, but I might easily have seen it in a library at some point.

    Just finished reading The Gray Prince, which was as delightful as Vance always is. I believe that leaves me with just two of his novels to look forward to a first read of. Good thing he's a pleasure to re-read as well.

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  4. TreyMarch 11, 2023 at 10:57 AM

    You're a more dedicated Vance scholar than I! I've really only scratched the surface with the Dying Earth books, the Planet of Adventure series, and the first Durdane book. I do own The Gray Prince, though.

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  5. Dick McGeeMarch 12, 2023 at 11:58 AM

    I had the good fortune of being introduced to Vance's work when I was young - nine or ten IIRC - and his books were still readily available in stores and libraries. It's given me forty-five years to track down everything and read (and re-read) it at a leisurely pace. :)

    I can honestly say I've never read anything by him that I didn't enjoy, although of course there are ones I like better than others. Gray Prince is one of those odd Vance books that doesn't seem like it should work when you analyze the events of the book but leaves you feeling satisfied in wistful sort of way regardless. He's a master of breaking the conventional rules of writing while still producing a captivating read, and his world-building is second to none. Gray Prince was a pleasant surprise for its commentary on idealism versus pragmatism. Not something I've seen much of in Vance's work, at least not so pointedly.

    If you're a fan of the Tschai and Dying Earth stories, I'd recommend the Five Demon Princes books as well. They're more conventional adventures than many of his later standalone books.

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