Forum posts to 'General Discussion'

Re: Pun-tastic pleasure!

Kodanshi — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:17:39 +0000

Yes, Lincoln Green sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it! Thanks for that. I also liked the fact you can pick up a Black Pearl, and it has the ability 'curse'. Curse of the Black Pearl? Nice!

There are some hilarious references in the second book. I'll have to put together a list of my favourite ones and stick it on this thread! E.g. a giant club called Nelson's column. Also, I'm pretty sure there's a Bob Dylan reference, in the form of Desolation robes = 'Desolation Row' from Highway 61 Revisited!

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Re: Pun-tastic pleasure!

T-man — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 00:18:48 +0000

My brother and I were huge Def Leppard fans as kids, though I didn't know the British pronunciation. Or that a hymn called Rock of Ages came long before. Did not make the Sheffield connection between band and author -- pretty cool.

Although I never read Tolkien or saw the movies, even I appreciated the "My Precious" ring that let you "Vanish". Naming the monstrous two-headed giant The Brothers Grimm was cute. Dr. Lichenstein was an obvious Dr. Frankenstein parody, but what really made it clever was that lichen is a composite of different organisms, like Franken/Lichenstein's monster.

But I think my favorite reference in the first book was finding a chest item called Lincoln Green on a dead ranger in the raptor pit. Lincoln Green being the color associated with the most famous forest warriors, Robin Hood and the Merry Men.

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Pun-tastic pleasure!

Kodanshi — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 20:46:52 +0000

So then. These books are filled to the brim with references, some sly, some brazen, as well as hilarious puns. What are some of your favourites?

Since I'm on a Legion of Shadow re-read, I'll mention two of my favs in that book:

1. You can pick up an item called 'Steel gear solid'. Metal Gear Solid, anyone?

2. One of the later items is called 'Wrath of Ages'. Since we're English, not American, it would be pronounced 'roth', which makes it sound a bit like 'Rock of Ages'. That was a hit song in the '80s for the Rock band Def Leppard.

Funnily enough, Def Leppard - like the author (Da Boss) - are from Sheffield!

What are some of your favourite in-jokes, references and puns in these excellent books?

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