Unintended Knightmare references in books

[MagicMiranda]

I've been reading Terry Pratchett a fair bit recently and in one of his books (Equal Rites I think) it mentions the Powers That Be.

[MoanaLiza]

I've heard Powers That Be and Opposition mentioned quite a bit by various different people.

[darkDescender]

Yes. *Nods sagely* Poloticians like to refer to the rival parties as "The Opposition".

[MoanaLiza]

And sometimes PTB references are made to peoples boses or company directors.

[angelordevil4585]

I recently read a book called 'Young Wives' and the characters lived in a town called Marblehead

[Drassil]

In Complicity by Iain Banks, when one character mentions Arthur Scargill, another responds by describing him as 'bumptious'. The full description is too obscene to quote here; but it's pleasing to see the connection being made, even if unintentionally. If you're not sure what I mean, I recommend doing a little research into Arthur Scargill, and listening to him speak via videos online.

[Pooka]

[Drassil]

According to (a review of) Ruby Wax's book A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled, she once sought treatment for depression from a woman who wore medieval dress and claimed to channel Merlin. I wonder if this was before or after Quest 4 of Series 2, when ruby and wax appeared among the clue objects in Merlin's room.

Ruby Wax Knightmare.jpg (7.72 KiB) Viewed 28175 times

[Pooka]

I've been on this forum since 2002 and, 15 years later, I've finally remembered to mention that the phrase "Enter, stranger" appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

Six books later, Harry and his friends discover what else there is beneath the floors of Gringotts: a dragon, on whose back they end up flying - including over landscapes such as mountains and lakes.

[Canadanne]

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

Did anyone else just read this with Treguard's "dungeon ditty" voice in their head?

[Drassil]

The opening paragraph of Vintage Stuff by Tom Sharpe introduces a character called Oscar Motley Clyde-Browne.

[Pooka]

I've recently found out that there's actually a series of children's books called "Knightmare!". They are about a young boy training to be a knight. Presumably, he's already earned his Silver Spurs of Squiredom.

[Drassil]

Belatedly for International Gamebook Day, which was on 27th August:

The Fighting Fantasy gamebook Dead of Night, published in 1989, has a cover that reminds me of the Knightmare Series 1-5 intro.

Fighting Fantasy 40.jpg (212.55 KiB) Viewed 17739 times

Dead of Night was the 40th in the series. Perhaps the cover would have been better suited to Fighting Fantasy #25: Beneath Nightmare Castle.

[JamesA]

Speaking of International Gamebook Day: the cover art to another Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Keep of the Lich-Lord, has its main character donning headgear which looks remarkably similar to the original Helmet of Justice.

Interestingly, this book was co-written by a certain Dave Morris.

[Drassil]

The Recycled Joke Book, launched on 7th September 1989 and put together in 36 hours as part of a Challenge Anneka challenge, includes this joke submitted by Charlotte Westmidge of Gosport:

Why did the punk cross the road?
Because he was stapled to the chicken.

Perhaps you recognise it as also being the joke told to Motley by dungeoneer Martin of Series 3 Team 11. Although many of us would have been introduced to the joke via Knightmare in December 1989, Martin's telling of it would have been filmed in Summer 1989, predating the joke book.