Ahh, the end of August. When sundown comes earlier, the nights get cooler, and the thoughts of children and teens turn to school. And the thoughts of those who teach them turn to… drinking.
Art by dawnflower8
Sooo, FanLit fans, teachers or not, drinkers or teetotalers, what sort of drinking game related to fantasy writing do you think would be the most fun (or perhaps the most dangerous)?
For instance, let’s say I were reading a particular fantasy series and decided to take a drink every time a particular character tugged on her braid. My wife might, after not too long (really, hardly any time at all), wonder why I was suddenly giggling and having a hard time hanging onto the book in my hands.
Or maybe everyone pulls a fantasy novel off the shelf and opens to a random page: whoever finds a name with an apostrophe on that page drinks. A swallow for each apostrophes name on the page…
So how about it — as simple or as complex as you’d like to make it — let’s play! Suggest an excellent SFF drinking game. The creator of the game we like best chooses a book from our stacks.
Each person has a well-read (at least by everyone playing the game) book and opens to a random page and reads some dialog. If you guess the character on the first line, drink once; guess correction on the second line, drink twice and so on.
Open up any of the Conan stories by Robert E. Howard. Every time the big guy utters the word “Crom!,” it’s time to take a snort….
Read Anne Bishop’s “Black Jewels” trilogy and take a drink each time either the line, “Everything has its price” or some variation of is written. Oh, and don’t forget to take a drink when either Daemon or Saetan leans back in his chair, crosses his legs, and steeples his fingers. Just one drink, not one drink per action. These characters never seem to do one without both of the others.
If we did a shot every time a character in Simon R Greene’s “Nightside” series marched up and “crashed to a halt,” we’d be on the floor in about an hour. So maybe it should be just a sip of beer each time.
Pick any book by Simon R Green. Take a drink every time something is described exactly the same way it was in a previous book. Take two drinks if the previous book was not from the same series.
Read Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five and drink a shot every time he says “So it goes.” Maybe this one doesn’t count because he did it on purpose, but it would still be fun and getting drunk while reading Slaughterhouse Five would not be a bad thing, I think.
Say one thing about Logan Ninefingers, say he knows how to get drunk.
While reading The First law, drink anytime you have to say one thing about someone.
Read Watership Down and drink every time you wish you were a rabbit.
Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series is a great favourite, but the hip-cocking has really gone over the top. At least 8 or ten instances of “… cocked her hip … ” in the last few volumes (and it’s not just Ivy doing it now!) Do people really do this consciously to — erm — make some kind of a statement?
Open a page of any of the Song of Ice and Fire books. If violence is occurring, drink.
or
Open a random fantasy book. If something magical is occurring on that page, drink.
Read anything by H.P Lovecraft. Have one drink for the more general adjectives such as Loathsome/ Hideous/ Blasphemous/anything starting with “Un-“(mentionable/thinkable…) etc. Two drinks for the more specific adjectives (Gibbous/ Cyclopean etc.)
From a stack of commonly known books choose a random quote and people guess who the author is, drink for every incorrect guess.
Molly Mortensen, if you live in the USA, you win a book of your choice from our stacks.
Please contact me (Marion) with your choice and a US address. Happy reading!