Tales of Earthsea

[A Black Falcon]

As opposed to what? I mean, the modern fantasy genre does originate from England really (Tolkien defined it, and changed it from past things such as fairy tales, etc), but... um... yeah... I have no words... well, just this: Given how many fantasy games you play, it's amazing that you know nothing about fantasy books. Same for science fiction. (Final Fantasy <-- Wizardry (and perhaps Akalabeth/Ultima and a few others, but Wizardry was the first truly popular big computer RPG (1979 I believe) that tried to be computer D&D, like they all do ultimately) <-- Dungeons & Dragons <-- Tolkien-inspired fantasy writers (not Tolkien himself so much, from what I understand, as the genre that resulted after his works became popular in the US in the sixties (I seem to recall some interview with Gary Gygax, I think, where he said that it wasn't Tolkien specifically that he was basing it off, but other writers in the genre)) and military wargames (miniatures battle simulation games, a type of game that goes back several centuries at least).)

I have never seen it referenced in Saturday Night Live, the Simpsons, The Daily Show, etc... I have never seen a commercial for it, nor do a large number of web sites speak about it in their daily journals.

The Earthsea books are from the seventies and perhaps eighties I believe, so that's not overly surprising...

Of course, I know in other categories I'm quite ignorant of things (music being the primary one, though TV... SNL for instance? Not sure if I've ever watched a complete episode. And that's because of lack of interest.), but fantasy and science fiction books are one I know quite well and have read for many years... and they seem to tie in so well with fantasy videogames in themes and things... and the same goes for sci-fi in both mediums.