[Suzerain of Sheol]

*Gets dragged in by Quiet*

I think this is my first post in this sub-forum....

Anyway, on the subject of philosophy, I'll admit to having a bit of a chip on my shoulder to the whole field. Philosophers just seem so self-aggrandizing (going all the way back to Plato's Philosopher-Kings) the way they make their work so ridiculously difficult to read and comprehend, when the ideas themselves aren't actually that complicated. It's just so elitist.

As for mythology, it's all just so... strange. The stories are full of literal Deus ex Machinae, but, it is a different form of story-telling, so I've never held that against it. They just don't function on the level most "stories" do today, which is largely due to the mutable nature of the myths. Not to mention, you're talking about a cultural tradition reinterpreted hundreds and thousands of times over its lifetime, not a single crafted narrative. Still, really weird plot devices in most myths.

And, as for book recommendations, I've literally never been able to sell someone on Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen (despite raving about it to everyone I ever talk to). It is the most beautiful, moving, majestic piece of literature I've ever encountered, all the more so for being a fantasy series. I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough, though I imagine the length (ten books, roughly 1k pages a piece, half as much again in spin-off books) is off-putting to a lot of people. Never stopped me, though, I've re-read the whole things four times now.