End-of-Week Kelly (5/25/18): Dark Castle

This past weekend, I went to one of the few remaining used book traders in my area of the world. As is my wont, I went seeking some old pulpy genre fiction from bygone eras.

While slipping through delightfully tight aisles of shelving that towered over me on both sides, I came upon a stack of books by Tanith Lee from the 1970s. I've never read any of her work, so I decided to take a chance and picked up a couple of the books.

The cover art of one novel called Dark Castle, White Horse was done by the talented Ken Kelly. I thought it was very cool, evocative, and suitably pulpy! I'm not sure how good the book actually is, but I'll report back in on my thoughts when I'm done with it!

End-of-Week Elmore (3/25/16) - Son of the Black Sword Cover

I love this cover illo by Larry!

I had seen a new fantasy novel called Son of the Black Sword in the local library, but had mostly ignored it for a while. I have to admit that I'm something of a fantasy snob. 

The title put me off, and my : "Son of the Black Sword? Bah, sounds like Bane of the Black Sword, the Elric novel. Ripoff! Another fantasy novel with an evil sword? Come on!"

But if I'm a snob, I'm also a curious one. I had to at least look at the book, to confirm my disdain had merit!

Lo and behold, I flipped open the cover of the hardback, and right inside I discovered Larry Elmore's art staring back at me! I had to at least try to read the damn book!

I've read  the first chapter or so, and it's not bad so far. I also found it funny that the author's first name is also Larry (Correia)! Larry and Larry working together!

The setting seems to be somewhat Asian-flavored, especially due to the fact that the protagonist was wearing lamellar armor (however, Elmore's illo makes it look more like steel, I have to say) and there's a rigid caste system in place that includes untouchables).

And because I'm a roleplaying maniac, I was reminded of the setting from Scarlet Heroes.

Anyway, let's see if the book can hold my interest as deeply as the cover captivated me!

End-of-Week Conan Score! (6/12/15)

I love library book sales! My county's library system has a massive sale a couple times a year at the large main branch, and I always try to get there for at least a quick glance over the tables. And I usually find some treasure hidden there. 

For instance, the annual summer sale just happened to be held this week, when I'm off between jobs. Low and behold, as I stopped by and perused, my eye fell upon the beauty pictured above: a collection of Howard tales, a book club edition from 1977. 

(It's not shiny cause it's awesome, it's shiny cause someone covered it in plastic!)

Cover artist is Ken Kelly, of course. For a long time I mistook his work for that of Frazetta. As it turns out, that was for good reason: Kelly is the nephew of Frazetta's wife! So Kelly had access to study Frazetta's work pretty directly.

The book also has some interior art from Conan's Weird Tales days:

THAT'S RIGHT, you didn't read that wrong: this bad boy was edited by none other than Karl Edward Wagner!

And don't let the title fool you, there's more inside than Howard's great "Red Nails":

And check out the sweet map of Hyboria:

Just thought I'd share! Have you ever had a sweet score from an old book sale? 

Have a great gaming weekend, all! 

Delving into The Barrow

"They moved in the dark...Sharpened bone spears dipped in shit and poison, curved swords and wicked implements of pain and war, fierce masks of horn and brass, short horn bows pulled with fire-sharpened arrows..."

Sounds like a description of a small horde of orcs tracking a group of adventurers through a dungeon, doesn't it?

That's an excerpt from a novel I picked up recently called The Barrow. I'd read a couple reviews of the book that compared it, in some ways, to a D&D dungeon crawl. Several of those reviews didn't mean that as a compliment, or see that as a good thing.

Now, I know that dungeon crawls don't always translate to great fiction! I've (tried) to read some of the more questionable Wizards of the Coast fiction, trust me. So I know that trying to depict the dungeon crawl in fiction can come to very bad ends, from a fiction standpoint.

At any rate, as I dug further into the lore of The Barrow, I discovered the author, Mark Smylie, is also a visual artist. And when I saw his work, I realized he contributed greatly to one of the campaign setting books I own: Midgard. Here's an example of his work:

I wonder what sort of author he makes. I'll let you know when I read the novel! The illo above is from a comic series that Smylie created a while back. I haven't read those...

Anyway, as I usually do, I started wondering about his created world's viability as an RPG setting. You know, because I'm an insane person that can't seem to separate his fantasy novel reading from his RPG obsession. Nevermind that I haven't read the damn novel yet! Oy vey, my mind...

Well, sure enough, when I went to the website for The Barrow, I discovered that an RPG already exists! And, a second edition is in the works.

Sheesh, I don't have enough time at the moment to go deeper into this rabbit hole. But I intend to write more here as I read the novel and explore Smylie's world.

Note: go here if you want to read an excerpt from the novel.

Review: Talus and the Frozen King

I'm about to break a cardinal rule when it comes to books, and I'm going to do a bit of cover-judging. BUT, not in the way you think. I'm going to reverse it, and judge the cover in relation to the book. The cover depicts a man in very Medieval-looking armor, with equally Medieval-looking sword and shield.

 

Why, you ask, is this a problem? Well, I'm not sure if the following is a spoiler, but here is your warning that the following may be a small spoiler in the minds of some readers:

 

The story is set in the Neolithic Age. That's right, we're dealing with characters who are not much beyond the cave man stage of human evolution. So, in the book, we see a lot of people wearing furs, wielding tools and weapons made of bone and stone, etc.

 

So, why the cover with the guy in the Medieval garb and with Medieval weaponry?! I'm going to guess that some marketing person decided that depicting Stone Age folks on the cover wouldn't grab the attention of readers. Well, I disagree. Actually, I believe the reverse would be true: I think many fantasy readers are tired of seeing another Medieval scene depicted on fantasy novel covers. If you threw some cave men on that cover, you might get MORE readers! Just a thought. Maybe if there's another printing, the cover can be changed to a truer reflection of the content of the book.

 

So, beyond what I thought was a poor choice of cover art, how was the book itself?

 

Well, I liked Edwards' concept of basically transplanting Sherlock Holmes into the Stone Age, right along with a Watson-esque partner. I also liked Edwards' turns of phrase; the man is very capable of creating vivid imagery.

 

In all, he definitely has the chops to write a good novel. I'm just not sure Talus and the Frozen Kind (hereafter referred to as TatFK) is that good novel. It seemed to be a fairly bog-standard mystery yarn. There's a king that is murdered, and that king has a lot of sons who might have motivation to kill him. Okay, not the most original idea I suppose.

 

There were a lot of characters, and Edwards made an effort to distinguish the sons of the king from one another. Talus himself is an inquisitive and talented bard who has the traits one might associate with someone who has preternatural powers of observation and deduction: Talus is "strange" and socially awkward. Love is a mystery to him, as are the passions that might make someone commit murder. Yes, by now we've all encountered the character of this sort, an outsider and observer of human experience who is quirky, perhaps even somewhere on the autistic spectrum (like Will Graham from the "Hannibal" TV show). So, his character isn't entirely original, but I still appreciated how Edwards depicted Talus.

 

What I did find interesting is the overarching quest that Talus and his partner Bran are pursuing. They come upon the mystery of the king's murder on their journey to a specific destination, and their motivation for finding said destination is intriguing. I found myself wishing the story had been focused more on their quest, rather than this stop-over in some obscure village to solve a king's murder. However, I can see how I, as the reader, needed to see Talus in action while simultaneously learning about the overarching quest.

 

Ultimately, I think Edwards is a good writer, but he's still in search of a plot that will be more engaging, and a world that is more fully fleshed out. I felt at times he might have depended too much on a "gee whiz" factor when it comes to his setting in the Neolithic. But that gee whiz will only get you so far. I'm not saying that the world of Talus doesn't have potential. It just needs more flesh on the bones, and perhaps Edwards can add said flesh in subsequent writings.

 

So, perhaps Edwards had a clever idea and just didn't execute it all that well. That's my overall opinion about the book: good concept, lackluster execution. But then again, I'm not the biggest fan of mystery novels, so I could also be biased against the plot of TatFK.

 

Speaking of genre, this book is in the sci-fi/fantasy category on the Barnes & Noble bookshelves. However, there wasn't anything overtly magical or fantastical in the novel. There are hints of the supernatural, but that could just be the perception and beliefs of the characters. 

 

Bottom line: TatFK was a good quick read, a lighter bit of fiction that started out slow but picked up the pace as the story progressed. The plot was somewhat predictable and clunky in execution, but the author has an obvious talent for storytelling and vivid description. I would definitely try another novel by Graham Edwards, to see how his style evolves over time.

Oh, and he needs to insist on more accurate cover art! The mismatch between the cover and the content was jarring. Cover art may not be the reason one should buy a book, but good cover art that reflects the story well can enhance the experience of reading a novel. It also seemed like a blatant marketing ploy to lure fantasy fans into buying the book.

Another tour with The Black Company...

So, as part of my usual frenetic shifting between reading materials (thank you so much, ADD), I've decided to go on campaign again with The Black Company. It's been a while since I last journeyed with them. I really love the beginning of the first book, during their dissatisfying stint in Beryl, then subsequently meeting Soulcatcher and heading north. However, I feel that the tale bogs down a bit when they reach Oar. But I suppose that part of the story gives a good glimpse into the infighting between the Taken, and the beginnings of the doubts that the Company has about their new employer, The Lady.

 

Have you read about the deeds of The Black Company? If so, please share your memories of the tales, what moments/scenes might have stuck in your mind, etc. Also, have you ever gamed in the world in which the stories are set?

End-of-Week Swanland (10/18/13)

Lack of focus is my great nemesis in this life.

 

Perhaps it's Adult ADD. Perhaps not. I've never been formally diagnosed.

 

But, here I am today, having jumped onto another book in my library...having jumped away from my long, slow reading of Jack Vance's Dying Earth. It was back in May that I vowed, after Mr. Vance's death, to finally finish reading his Dying Earth tales.

 

Sooo, yeah...now it's October. And I'm not done reading Mr. Vance's seminal work.

 

Oops.

 

I'm also jumping around between various other fiction and non-fiction works.

 

Oops again.

 

So, I've resolved to give myself some reading structure. I'm going to push myself to start reading all the books I haven't read in my collection, using my bookcases at home as a guide. Meaning, I'm starting with the books on the top of my bookcase, and reading only what's on that shelf until all the books there are done. Then I will move down to the next shelf, and so on.

 

I am DETERMINED to do this! I am determined to find the time to read again. If this means less TV and other distractions, all the better, right?

 

Wish me luck. Oh, this brings me back to the cover art for the Chronicles of the Black Company omnibus. Surreal art by Raymond Swanland. Initially, as I saw Mr. Swanland's work begin to grace fantasy book covers, I was a bit turned off by his pieces. But his work has grown on me.

 

Folks, I hope you have a great weekend! If you're going to be gaming, roll some dice for me!

Farewell, Mr. Vance

I wanted to add my voice to the growing chorus of bloggers who are mourning the passing of Jack Vance.

 

Like some of my fellow RPG bloggers, I've come late in life to an appreciation of Vance's fiction and the seminal role they played in many aspects of the D&D game (I won't repeat them here, as you probably know those influences he had on the game). Though, like everyone else who played 1E AD&D, I was exposed to the vaunted Appendix N list, as a youth I didn't really have access to the more obscure tomes it referenced. What was readily available were the D&D novels, in particular the Dragonlance novels. As I've said before, those were my first real foray into fantasy fiction, for better or worse (I'm personally fine with my path to fantasy fiction, but I'm sure some readers are shaking their head in pity right now).

 

But with age comes wisdom, as well as money, the ability to drive to a bookstore, and also the ability to scour the Internet for old editions of books. Yes, over time, I came to discover the books that Gygax set forth in Appendix N, and added many to my personal home library. Sadly, I haven't read all of them as of yet. I'm quite easily distracted, you see, and my library is home to everything from the latest escapist offerings of new authors to the old tales of the founding masters of the genre.

 

But, I'm committed to changing my reading schedule to finally, for good and all, complete my reading of the works of Vance and other members of the old guard (Leiber, Moorcock, Le Guin, etc). It sometimes takes a passing like this to remind one of the need to focus on the priorities, you know? So, I'm starting up again with my reading of The Dying Earth. I've started reading my Science Fiction Book Club edition in the past but stopped due to my short attention span (and not for any lack of enjoyment on my part when it came to Vance's writing).

 

Farewell, Mr. Vance. As you sail into the beyond, I hope the sound of our thoughts and prayers speed your passage into eternity. You showed us the worlds you dreamed, and thus inspired countless other dreams, many of which no doubt manifested themselves in other fictional works as well as a good number of game tables.

The Mongoliad: A Hidden Gem?

Has anyone out there heard of The Mongoliad? I love digging around libraries in search of books I haven't heard of, because I'm usually obsessive-compulsive about keeping an eye on upcoming fiction. So I was digging through the audiobooks section of my local library branch, and found an unabridged recording of The Mongoliad, Book One. I'd never heard of this book, and that's awesome!

So far, it's a pretty cool. The story takes place in the 13th century, and follows a motley group of warriors as they help the fight against the Mongol hordes. Pretty good stuff. Apparently, it's been co-authored by a list of authors including well-known names like Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear. It began life as a serialized online story, but was eventually published in dead-tree format (and, of course, made it onto a good number of audio CDs).

You can read more about The Mongoliad here.

I'm enjoying the tale so far. Has anyone else read this book? At this point, I would recommend checking it out. I'm hoping that I won't change that opinion as I get further into the book!

Fantasy Authors Play 1E at ConFusion

I hope everyone reading this - including those outside the US - has a great Thanksgiving weekend! You don't have to be a US citizen to give thanks, right? Anyway, I stumbled upon the video above, so I decided to share. You'll see authors like Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, Patrick Rothfuss, and others playing 1st Edition D&D! It's edited down to a half-hour video (apparently they played for about three hours or so) but it's pretty entertaining. Below is another video of the authors talking about RPGs. Enjoy.

The House of the Wolfings

I might be one of the last people in the gaming blogosphere to learn about this book, but The House of the Wolfings is apparently one of the books that probably inspired J.R.R. Tolkien. You can download the book for free here at the awesome Project Gutenberg site. You can also get a print copy here.

So, has anyone heard of this book? Has anyone read it? I'd love to get some impressions of its merits/flaws.

On the Slaying of Dragons

So, more than a year after receiving A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin in the mail (from the now defunct Borders, may they rest in peace), I've finally finished reading it.

First of all, I was in no rush to finish this one. Why? Because who knows when GRRM will finish the next book in the series! What's my motivation to finish? So I can sit around for years waiting for the next installment? No thanks. So I took my time with this book.

What did I think of it, now that my year-long read is over? Well, I'm very torn. And frustrated. Martin is, to me, a Pygmalion figure. Like the aforementioned Greek legend, he's fallen in love with his creation. Which is fine, I suppose. I am sure I would feel the same as Martin were I in his shoes. I mean, we're talking a legacy in the making here. His writing is still superb.

And that's what's so frustrating: his work is incredible, but the way he's told his tale in this novel (and the novel before this one) has become bogged down in detail and secondary characters.

I understand if Martin wants to cement his legacy as someone who elevated the fantasy genre to new literary heights. I understand how someone would want to show off a world they have painstakingly created. Heck, isn't that what any GM worthy of his binder wants to do at some point? And part of me was very curious and excited to see more of Martin's world.

But does all of the above really make for a great story that still engages long-time readers? I'm not so sure about that. Is it possible that Martin could have show us his world in a more focused, shorter narrative? I think so.

The books in the Song of Ice and Fire series have always been long, but the last two have included an increasingly large number of viewpoint characters, some of whom were minor figures in earlier novels. I know that such events occur often in real life, where individuals can be thrust into the spotlight after the demise of those who stand above them. But does this serve a story when it happens over and over? Much is made of how willing Martin is to kill off characters, but can this attrition go too far? I think you can kill off reader interest if you kill too many central characters, or if those characters live but are laid low (i.e. become down on their luck figures) over and over by events.

It can also be very jarring to have to reorient oneself in space and time at the beginning of each chapter, due to Martin's huge cast being spread out across two continents. The series has seemingly become a travelogue. We see characters on journeys that never seem to end. I know this is supposed to be fairly realistic with regard to travel in a medieval world. But is all this realism starting to undermine the story? Ultimately, readers want a cohesive narrative that moves forward at a good pace. The backdrop is secondary. Yes, we want a lived-in, authentic-feeling world in which the characters and plot to exist. But when the world begins to overwhelm the story, things become muddled.

One other nitpick: the repetition of certain phrases is irritating. Words are wind. Much and more. Little and less. Leal (meaning loyal) subject. Dark wings, dark words. Mummer's farce. Over and over and over.

I read the first Ice and Fire novel, A Game of Thrones, around 2002. Long before the series gained its current notoriety. I'm a long-time fan. I really want Martin's series to succeed as a coherent body of work that will stand for years to come as a paragon of the genre. But I also want it to end, and end well. All good things must do so. I just hope that he doesn't drag this on much longer.

The Walking Duh!

I love the Walking Dead television show. The comic books...well, they're OK.

Look, I think the comic is pretty good. I know a lot of people worship the comic. But there's some things that bug me about it. I'll try to articulate my feelings but it's sort of hard to put my finger on how to describe exactly how I feel. I know this is just my opinion, but I need to vent (I guess you could consider this a pseudo-review/critique of the entire series thus far).

I know that I should be backing up my statements with some concrete excerpts/examples from the comic, but I don't have the time to do so at the moment. I would really like to do a follow-up post where I give some examples. I guess I really wanted to write this and see if anyone else feels like I do. My only issue is that I don't own any of the comics or trade paperbacks. I've been borrowing the trades from my local library system, and they're always in big demand, so it's hard to have them around for long in order to reference for something like this.

That being said, here goes:

1) The characters seem to jump to these extremes that are totally...well, they seem almost bipolar. They'll find a new place to live and immediately say "this is it, this is where we can set up a life! Our struggle is over!" And I mean someone literally says that out loud, which is a no-no in good writing. There's a lot of moments where I'm like "show me, don't tell me." I mean, they come over a hill and see a town down below, and someone just starts assuming right away that they've found the promised land. Hey, here's an idea: have a character say the place is "paradise" AFTER they've lived there for a while. I know, what I've just described has happened, but there are instances where they're jumping to huge conclusions. These people instantaneously go from being cautious survivors to extreme optimists. This can be summed up in one sentence: "Nobody talks like that!"

Look, I know these people are supposed to be living through the end of the world, and yeah that would make people behave pretty irrationally and have big mood swings. Would they have moments where they would jump to conclusions and have flights of fancy because they desperately need hope? Yes. But there are a lot of times when the comic comes on strong with the notion that, despite the adversity, Rick's group is pretty focused and most of them have the ability to think rationally. So these moments of naivety are really jarring.

2) There are these pretty unrealistic moments where characters, mostly Rick, go off on these monologues about the situation of the survivors. It's really off-putting. I mean, he just starts holding forth on this really deep stuff for long stretches, and I'm left thinking "wow, this sounds like something someone would prepare for addressing a crowd at a town gathering, and not something that one would come up with whole cloth right after killing a bunch of zombies." I'll say it again: "Nobody talks like that!"

3) Then there's moments when they meet new people and tell these new people "we don't trust you" without an explanation. I would be like "listen, a few months back we got attacked by some maniac called the Governor who almost killed all of us." Give these newcomers concrete, detailed examples of what you've actually been through. Don't just tell someone you don't trust someone and not tell them why. Rick and the gang keep meeting people who've been lucky enough to be relatively sheltered from the undead hordes. Rick's people have come to the conclusion (rightly so) that they're more battle hardened than many of the people they meet. It would be a good idea to discuss this fact with new people they meet, so that they don't just seem like maniacs with no motivation other than being a paranoid gang. "Hey, if we seem like we're nuts, here's why." That would solve a lot of first contact problems for all involved, I think. Rick and the gang are looking for some humanity and some remnants of civilization, but when they meet other living people they lose all capacity to communicate clearly.

That's all I can muster right now. Again, I think the comic is a cool exploration of what happens when the dead rise and the world as we know it ends, and it most definitely has the ability to have a much wider scope than the TV show ever could. But there are definite moments when I'm reading the books that I'm kicked out of my immersion in the story.

P.S. I think the fact that the show's "reality" has diverged significantly from the comic book's reality is a huge plus. It gives us some "alternate universe" possibilities when it comes to the characters.

Review: The New Death and Others by James Hutchings

The New Death and Others is a collection of stories and poems by James Hutchings at the Teleleli blog. It's quite an eclectic mix of genres and written in a range of lengths, from extremely short vignettes to longer stories and everything in between.

I found Mr. Hutchings' decision to combine all of these genres and formats in one package somewhat jarring at first. I wasn't sure how to approach this collection. On one hand, it could be seen as a bold way to throw off convention and disregard order, to throw off the shackles that would normally dictate that genres be divided up in an orderly fashion. Another part of me wondered if this approach isn't already the norm in this age of self-publishing, a way for someone to showcase their range of creative abilities, interests, and strengths in one fell swoop.

But then again, it could be argued that Mr. Hutchings has put all of his proverbial eggs in one basket. He might have been better served by splitting up the pieces into more focused, separate publications.

Then I found myself wondering if he collected these together because all of the pieces were meditations on the same theme. I was wondering if Death wasn't supposed to be this theme, given the title of the collection and the appearance of death as a subject or a personified being in some of the pieces.

In all, I found that I enjoyed the fact that the collection made me ponder all of the above. That has to say something, doesn't it?

"Well," you ask, "that's well and good to get all "meta" about a piece of work, but what about the writing itself?"

In general, I found that I enjoyed a good portion of what Mr. Hutchings had to offer. There seemed to be much meditation on aspects of humanity (more often than not given concrete form), godhood, and yes, death.

Some of the more pithy items presented, such as the short opening piece "The God of the Poor," could be seen as throw aways, or as interludes. I think "The God of the Poor" is more the latter. Indeed, the majority of the short (some ony a few sentences) offerings in the collection were pithy in a good way, and I saw most of them as nice breaks from the longer works therein. Someone makes a love connection with a personified human trait in "A Date With Destiny" (Hutchings returns to the use of such personification with "The Doom That Was Laid Upon Fame" later in the collection).

The tales seem to be mostly in the realm of fantasy or horror, but with traces of other elements mixed in. You have the dramatic fantasy of "How the Isle of Cats Got Its Name" and the campy horror of "The End" (where it seems like monsters like to go camping and tell scary human stories). There's the dreamlike bizarreness of "The Enemy Within" that made me think of those brief and strange extremely-short stories that Lovecraft wrote such as "Polaris." There's the snarky irony of "Everlasting Fire" that follows the doomed romance of Lilly, a demonic office worker in Hell.

Speaking of Lovecraft as I mentioned above, it seems that Mr. Hutchings is definitely a fan of said author. He includes a poem based on Lovecraft's Beneath the Pyramids. And stories like "The Scholar and the Moon" definitely show the influence of that old man from Providence, but not in a bad way. Oh, and there's also a nod to Clark Ashton Smith and Lord Dunsany amongst the offerings.

The poetry was less to my liking, but I did find some pieces that entertained. "If My Life Was Filmed" is a quicky snarky ditty. My biggest issue with the poetry is that I wish there was less rhyming. But when it comes to sharp-tongued works like "Unprotected" (that one made me go "ouch") Mr. Hutchings can be forgiven the preponderance of rhyme.

I'd have to say that some of my favorite selections included the very engaging tale called simply "Todd," "The Adventure of the Murdered Philanthropist," "The Producer," the parable called "The Bird and the Two Trees," "The Death of the Artist," and the eponymous "The New Death" (yeah, in reflecting on how much an anthropomorphic Death pops up in the collection, I'd say I'm sensing a theme here).

In all, I'd suggest you do yourself a favor and check out The New Death and Others. It's definitely worth your time to take a read and have Mr. Hutchings bend your mind this way and that with his words. You may not be thrown into the stratosphere by what you read, but you'll definitely find yourself musing deeply upon a darker side of things. For me, that's worth the coin that is my precious free time.

Regarding All Things Martian

I've been meaning to get into some sword and planet stuff for a while now, long before word of the upcoming John Carter movie hit the streets.

(And why can't they call the movie John Carter of Mars?! Just calling it John Carter seems really stupid.)

I was in the Barnes and Noble near my work today, and as I was heading back to work I spotted a really awesome-looking John Carter of Mars collection sitting in the bargain book area. Here's the cover:

Awesome, right?! I flipped through this thing and it is full of incredible illustrations, just a beautiful book! I am definitely going to go back and get it ASAP. It's good for me that the thing is a bargain book, but it makes me sad to see a big stack of beautifully-crafted classic collections going unsold. Maybe the movie will fuel some interested in the John Carter stories. If you can find this thing, take a look and tell me if you don't think it's sweet.

Note: I already have a Science Fiction Book Club collection of the books, but it don't look nothin' like the one pictured above!

On a related note, has anyone else heard of Warriors of the Red Planet? It's an RPG that seems to have been quietly under development for some time now. This also looks pretty darn cool! (UPDATE: I just figured out that Al of Beyond the Black Gate is the mind behind Warriors of the Red Planet! Duh, me!)

Oh, about the movie: what I've seen of the previews looks encouraging, and I'm holding out hope that it will be good.

That's all for now, earthlings!

Checking in from the depths of a long weekend...

Hail, one and all! I hope all my fellow Americans are enjoying a long weekend, such as I am enjoying. I am having a great time with family, and also loving that I have time to do some casual reading.

I'm assuming that most of you know about the Chronicles of Prydain. I for one find it superior to the Chronicles of Narnia, but both have their merits. It's a matter of personal taste, of course. At any rate, I've decided to reread the Prydain Chronicles, and I'm really enjoying The Book of Three. I'm almost done, and can't wait to move on to The Black Cauldron. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to appreciate Prydain, Narnia, and Middle Earth, so I can read these wonderful tales with them.

I am also working my way through The New Death and Others by James Hutchings. I'll be writing a review of Jame's work soon (and perhaps a deeper discussion of Prydain).

Anyway, time to run off and do some more holiday relaxing, etc. Hope one and all are well out there!

P.S. One of the Encore channels on cable is showing all three Lord of the Rings movies all day long. I love the holidays! You can tune in at random times to such marathons and just drift away...

Let's Dance!

If you're like me, and probably millions of other addicts, tomorrow is something of a religious holiday. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you're not one of the lost souls who have been waiting in purgatory for a certain novel.

Yes, I'm talking about A Dance with Dragons.

It hits the US tomorrow. I pre-ordered mine months ago, of course. Mine is coming direct to my door. But tomorrow, I will stop by the Barnes & Noble near my work and see if I can't find a copy to thumb through during lunch. Just to see what I can expect when the tome gets to me.

So, is it safe to assume that the RPG blogosphere has more than its share of Song of Ice and Fire fans? If you're out there, please chime in and share your personal tale of obsession. What does the series mean to you? What is your favorite or least favorite book in the series? What did you think of the HBO series? And perhaps the most important question: are you or have you ever been involved in a campaign based in the world of Westeros?

For me, this series has been a huge part of my life for years now. It's been at times both a love affair and a bit of frustration. I'm not one of those who thought A Feast for Crows was far inferior to the first three novels. But at the same time, I can tell you that there were times that books 2 through 4 felt a lot like the author was almost too in love with his creation. I'm holding out hope that Martin will carry this series through to the end in a manner that delivers on the promise of the books. I await the fifth book with an open mind, and I am trying to temper my expectations. The HBO series did a decent job, but it's hard when you know how much detail had to be left out. And as for gaming in Westeros, so far I've only played the Fantasy Flight board game. But you can be sure that I've contemplated roleplaying in Martin's creation.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you crazy kids out there!

And for those of you who actually came here for the Bacon, here you go:

Hitting 50, Cyberpunk, and Technoir

Hey now, I've reached 50 followers! Nice! Not bad for a fat kid from South Jersey! ;-) Seriously though, it's pretty cool to feel like there are people that value one's words. I hope it's because my rekindled passion for the hobby is coming through in my posts. It really is important to me to give something of value back to our little community here, even if it is just the tale of my musings on the hobby and stories of my actual gaming experiences. Anyway, I'll spare you the Sally Field act...

Now on to my other topic for this post:

My other great love besides fantasy fiction is cyberpunk. I don't care what the genre fiction pundits have to say about the supposed death of cyberpunk as a science fiction subgenre. It will always be alive in me as a fan. Gibson's Neuromancer is one of the books I've reread the most in my life (about 10 times). As I get older, I get something new out of it every time. I don't care about how the passage of time and the progression of technology makes some aspects of the book outdated. There is such a possibility as alternate futures and divergent technological development, just like there are alternate pasts to be explored (see cyberpunk's "sister" genre, steampunk).

I've owned the Cyberpunk 2020 RPG for over a decade but never played it. Same with Shadowrun (but frankly I couldn't stand the combination of magic and technology). I played Rifts here and there, but that also put too much emphasis on magic. I've considered using the Shadowrun and Rifts systems/worlds and stripping out the magic, however.

It's been one of my holy gaming grails to do some cyberpunk gaming someday. I was tempted to run a Matrix movie game using the online free system based on the D6 System that's been on the web for years now. But again, this never came to pass, due to the myriad circumstances I've talked about in my testimonial.

I just heard that there's a new game called Technoir in development, and it looks interesting. There's a beta that's been released, and I'm trying to find the time to delve into it. There's also a fund that's raising money to publish the game.

So, maybe once I get a goodly bit of fantasy gaming under my belt to really cement my return to the hobby, I can move on over to exploring some cyperpunk gaming. See you in the matrix (not the one inhabited by Keanu Reeves, either)!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lovecraft!

Howard Philips Lovecraft was born on August 20th, 1890. I discovered his weird writings as a teenager and have been hooked ever since. I have a few of the Del Rey reprints of his stories in my personal library. Every year around Halloween it's a ritual for me, taking those books off the shelf and delving into them. I read them on the train to work or in a park, and as the words shift my reality into the strange, I look about at those around me and wonder if we're all just scurrying insects under the poised crushing thumb of some unknowable terror...

I think I might have to check out The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft sometime soon! Ron Howard was heard sometime last year, I think, talking about adapting this comic series into a movie.

And then there's word that Guillermo del Toro is doing a big screen treatment of "At the Mountains of Madness." However it happens, I hope Lovecraft does finally get a good film that introduces him to a wider audience. Cthulhu knows there's been a plethora of terrible B movies created from his work.

So take a moment today and check out the H.P. Lovecraft Archive, which is probaby the best website about Lovecraft that I've come across. Let's celebrate the man who is one of the inspirations for James Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess RPG, which I'll be running soon!

Thanks Mr. Lovecraft!

The Definition of Epic?

I was just over at Black Gate, a great blog for the magazine of the same name that you should definitely be reading (both the blog and the magazine). I read a post about Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series that shocked me. I can't believe that monster is almost finished! The last book in the series, The Crippled God, will be published early in 2011. I remember reading this review at SFSite years ago—OVER A DECADE AGO!—about a book you couldn't get in the US that was supposedly something totally new in the realm of fantasy fiction. And according to that long-ago review, Erikson had been working on Gardens of the Moon, the first book, for six years! So that takes us way back into the olden days of the early 1990s, folks! Unbelievable!

Anyway, it seems like two people at Tor are going to be re-reading the ENTIRE Malazan series and blogging their efforts (similar to what another person has been doing for the Wheel of Time series). Good luck and god speed to those intrepid souls! I've read Gardens of the Moon, and have the next four books in the series sitting on my bookshelf. I'm so intimidated by those bricks, they sit there and mock me, daring me to read their thousands of pages!

Whether or not you like Erikson's work, it has to be admitted that his books are truly a monumental achievement of epic fantasy literature. When stood up against the books of would-be fantasy masters Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind, and the late Robert Jordan, I think many will agree that Erikson comes out on top for sheer scope of vision and the simple daring of attempting such a massive effort. Brooks may have published more books, and the books of Jordan and especially Goodkind may be just as thick as Erikson's, but I don't think they can match the magnitude of the Malazan series.

I have to admit that I'm very divided about Erikson's series. I have to admire him for his tenacity, and the fact that he has delivered on a promise to write ten books in his main series (there are several offshoot books written by Erikson and collaborator Ian Cameron Esslemont). He's nearly finished, making the authors of other (incomplete) series that are supposed to be "epic" fantasy look somewhat pitiful. This "crazy" Canadian guy (apologies to James at Grognardia ;-) has (somewhat) quietly taken the epic crown. BUT, when I consider trying to read his books, with their huge page counts and multitudes of characters and plotlines, I get a little wobbly in the knees. I picture myself as an old man finishing the last book and falling over dead. Sorry, I can be melodramatic (how strange for a roleplayer ;-).

Anyway, that's enough of my jibber jabber for now. In the meantime, I'd love for anyone and everyone to chime in about their thoughts on the Malazan series.