Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 21:11:53 -0400
From: mark <whitroth at 5-cent.us>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: [WSFA] "I hate knights" - actually, sf/fantasy related....
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

I'm tired of fantasy, but this one I really want to read.

Excerpt:
Author Sebastien de Castell dislikes knights \342\200\224 well, dislike may be too
mild a word for it \342\200\224 and loves justice. Does that sound mildly
contradictory to you? De Castell explains why it is not, and how his novel
Traitor\342\200\231s Blade aims for that justice through a new and unexpected class
of hero.

SEBASTIEN de CASTELL:

I hate knights.

How is it that the biggest bunch of self-involved bullies in all of
European history became the most prominent heroes in fantasy literature?
These are the same brutish and brutal thugs who murdered, raped, and
pillaged their way across Europe and the Middle East in the name of God
(thanks a lot, Pope Urban II). Which pre-Madison Avenue public relations
firm managed to convince us that knights \342\200\223 I mean, fucking  knights - were
the paragons of honour and virtue in the Middle Ages?

Were there any  good knights? Sure. William Marshall, sometimes called the
\342\200\230Flower of Chivalry\342\200\231 was probably an alright fellow, but he\342\200\231s the
exception that proves the rule. The vast majority of medieval knighthood
was made up of noble-born thugs whose most positive contribution to
society was due to the occasional accidental death that comes from
charging at each other with long sticks on horseback for the entertainment
of slack-jawed yokels.

The hell with knights. I\342\200\231d rather write about heroes.
--- end excerpt ---

<http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/07/15/the-big-idea-sebastien-de-castell/>