A very well stated post, Cudae. In another thread, I can't remember which one (valid criticisms?) I presented an analogy of high mountains each of which represented a source of story; from them spout springs, pure and either hot or cold, and the streams of pure story pour down the mountains. One such mountain is "Norse mythos & Germanic languages"; another is "Celtic mythos"; another is "Hebrew mythos"; and so on. Some writers draw the water for their "soup of story" from streams high up in the mountains. Further downstream, the streams mix in confluences, where the water drawn is not quite as "pure". From such lower foothills one might say that Robert E. Howard drew his fascinating mix of sword and sorcery genre; from higher in the mountains, Tolkien drew Middle Earth. Many of our modern writers seem to be drawing their water from rather close to the mouth of the Hudson, so to speak. Each writer is free to draw her/his water from whatever point she/he wishes; let the reader beware of the landscape from which the particular book's soup of story was concocted. It would help if the publishing industry had a better understanding of these distinctions, but they apparently don't - so the reader must beware. Please do realize that reader tastes do run the gamut, and there are a lot of readers who actually like New York Harbor water for their soup. Believe it or not. You, Cudae, might dislike it, and I bet I probably do, too, but that's because we have climbed to the heights whereas some readers have never been there, or, perhaps, have become so used to the briny, polluted waters down on the seaboard, that they actually cannot stomach the pure, refreshing waters near the springs.
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