Grandpa and Daily Kos

I don't want to blog about politics here, but I thought I'd at least post a link to a diary I wrote on Daily Kos about my grandpa and the values I learned from him.

On Basilisk Station by David Weber

Recently, a friend passed a bunch of books to me. (Thanks, Sean!) Among them were some military science fiction novels by David Weber which feature his popular character Honor Harrington. Knowing I was going to write a science fiction novel, and generally liking books with female protags, I set these aside. Not long ago, I finished the first in the series, On Basilisk Station, which introduces Honor and her milieu.

It was great. I was a bit put off at first by the jumps from one point of view to another without breaks, but I got over it. This helped me realize that the modern emphasis on single points of view is not the only way to tell a story. The setting was well done and believable, with consistent scifi science and a believable political world. The best thing about this novel is the heroine and the way her relationship with her new crew develops. Some of the politics reflected contemporary struggles and ideologies that almost got annoying, but never got quite there. Weber manages to present the situation from the characters' points of view without making you feel dissed whether you are a conservative or a progressive. Politics is definitely a background issue.

The plot manages to be big and bold without shattering the setting entirely. Honor Harrington is the new captain of an old battle-ax of a warship. Somehow she and her crew manage a strong showing during a wargame at the beginning of the novel. However, in doing this they manage to piss off the wrong people and get themselves sent to Basilisk Station, the watchtower of a backwater world. Meanwhile, an enemy government based in a different part of the galaxy has its sights set on Basilisk Station for strategic reasons. Unfortunately for them, the most dedicated, brilliant officer in the Royal Navy is on a collision course with the planned invasion. =) The last part of this novel features an edge-of-the-seat, omg, wtf, kick-ass space battle that stands up easily to the classics of the genre in film or print.

Honor Harrington is a great character, way more real and interesting than Voyager's Janeway. In fact I hesitate to even make that comparison, but if you think Star Trek had untapped potential and would like to check out some science fiction that kicks ass and lives up to the hype, check out On Basilisk Station.

Bottom line: An inspiring protagonist, interesting supporting cast, hair-raising battles, intrigue and scifi goodness.

National Novel Writing Month 2008

Yes, that's right, Demons of the Neverwoods is on hiatus for the time being while I devote myself to National Novel Writing Month 2008. My intention is to show this blog some love as well. I want to broaden the scope a bit to talk about the music that inspires me.

The year for nanowrimo, I'm writing a science fiction novel called Birthright. It is inspired by the song of the same name by the band Celldweller. It will have elements of cyberpunk and space opera, I think. In preparation I've been reading a couple of science fiction novels by Tanya Huff, David Weber, and Frank Herbert. I recently got the audiobook of Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams, and I'd like to check that out again. Currently I'm listening to the Deathstalker
by Simon R Green. 

Again, this one deals with some dark stuff. The protagonist lives on the streets, a hardcore addict and more. But the action begins when people start to take an interest in him for no reason he can understand, kidnapping him and hurling into a deadly intergalactic power struggle. Lucky for him, he's the bastard son of a technology guru and has a super computer buried in his brain. =) I know there's going to be a surly captain of a spaceliner called Black Rose who has an interesting relationship with the ship's AI.

I should re-read some  Gibson maybe. Definitely want to go for the glitz of mega-interactive-advertizing over the festering ooze of Blade Runner.

b.out

Seventy-thousand words

This may get boring, but right now I am focusing on some real basic goals. My weight is one. That's going good. As of this week, the other goal, writing, is going well, too. Tonight I made it to 70k. There are two sections for a total of just over 30 scenes left to write.  The good news is all that is plotted out. I always leave room to riff and embellish, but I've known where the story was headed for a long time.

If the writing gods smile upon me, the "prologue" to the novel will be in the November issue of Flashing Swords magazine. Since Lords of Justice is "delayed", the Neverwoods story will be my first published tale. Keep your fingers crossed.

More to come. I'm just getting warmed up again.

It's life, Jim, but not as we know it...

Ok, so if nothing else, I am nearing the 70k mark. That should happen tomorrow night. I will celebrate a little then. For now, it's just another night's work.

Today I finished On Basilisk Station by David Weber. It was a fun and interesting book. The tone was similar to the Temeraire novels of Naomi Novik, in as much as they both draw inspiration from the Horatio Hornblower novels. The Honor Harrington novels, of which Basilisk Station is the first, are military science fiction, with a female protagonist. She's great, stronger and more interesting to me than Janeway on Star Trek. The plot and setting were well detailed.

The most interesting thing about Basilisk Station from a writing standpoint was the POV. It skipped from paragraph to paragraph sometimes, even between people in different places. But it all flowed quite nicely and gave the impression of an action film cutting between all the different pieces of the story mosaic. I'll be reading some Herbert soon, and I am interested to see if this omniscient POV is something that is more accepted in scifi writing, as it is very much poopooed in my usual writing hangouts.

More words...

Two days and three thousand words or so more on the Neverwoods novel. 

So what distracts your humble wannabe writer? I mean, besides working for a living.

Well, recently I had an extreme bout of video game addiction as I played through Mass Effect. Its an amazing game, like playing through a great season of Star Trek, with a bit of Rainbow Six for the action.

Lots of excuses, not a lot of words.

But here is the new goal: Finish the Neverwoods in September. Read some science fiction in October and spend November writing a scifi book for NaNoWriMo. That makes 2009 the year of the edits! It sucks to miss my original goals for the year, but it's time to just move on and keep writing.

More to come.

Where the Hell have you been?

Good question. I fell of the reading/writing wagon there for a while. I have quirky interests and basically between being a political junkie and a video game freak, I kinda got into those interests hard core for a while. Now I need to take a break from politics and the games. My wife is a she-geek and so it is really easy to get into the teamwork and fun of playing vids together, as opposed to the solitary life of the writer.

Anyway, I have managed to put a couple more thousand words on Demons of the Neverwoods. That's good. Now I want to keep working on that, finish up my reviews of Return of the Sword, and get back into reading.

Oh, and I worked on a little website for Flashing Swords Press. =)

"The Hand that Holds the Crown" by Nathan Meyer from Return of the Sword

This is the story of a battle to the death between two armored warriors for the right to rule their land. More than just a duel or some sort noble spectacle out of Ivanhoe, the setup is clever and the point of view twists with the story, until the brutal clash of arms.

Meyer has written an awesome fight scene, pulling off the neat literary feat of giving us the fight from both men's perspectives in a battle that crackles with visceral force. HIs ease with the details of armor and sensory descriptions really bring the scene to life.

There's not a great deal of characterization or backstory here, but there were some tantalizing details that spelled out interesting motivations and history between the two combatants. "The Hand that Holds the Crown" is a rocking tale with much more to it than I can give away here. Check it out.

There were a couple of printing errors. One part seemed like it needed a section break, but it may be I was just catching on to the way the PoV would shift. It was hardly a distraction at all from the action, though. This is a story I will read again, and one of the best in an excellent volume of action stories. I hesitate to call this one fantasy, because it could very easily be historical fiction. The only magic is at the end, but it is of an entirely human nature. ;)


Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
EE Knight's Announcement
A Review

"Guardian of Rage" by Thomas M. MacKay from Return of the Sword

The next story in Return of the Sword is the prologue to a novel, though it tells a complete tale. It's a good action piece that brings us back to the Elder Darkness themes of swords and sorcery fiction. Jack, the hero of this tale is well drawn, a fighter as well as mystic, though I was so caught up in the chase and vivid setting (a dark ancient sewer) that I never quite got what exactly Jack was doing, the bigger picture. I'm sure the novel will help flesh that out.

Jack's situation has two major complications. First he's being hunted by a group of wicked cultists with freaky monsters at their command, who want the relic he possesses. Second, he has a six year old girl in tow, who's family were killed by the cult. The girl could have been more fleshed out, she was more of a complication than another human being, but that is an afterthought. As I said, the adventure and the gruesome details really held my attention. The story built effective tension with the chase through the dark sewers and the... creature .... thing. heh

The magic was well done, exotic, yet clearly presented. And it was essential to the story, which is in large part about Jack's meditative resolve being eaten away by his frustration and rage. Could be a very interesting character to follow.

Another fine story.



Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
Thomas M. MacKay
EE Knight's Announcement
A Review

"To Destroy All Flesh" by Michael Ehart from Return of the Sword

This story has a lot of humanity in it. That's the best word for it. From the agonizing deaths to the moral question at its core, this story looks at the human costs of the magic, mayhem and pure human malice that make up heroic fiction. The hero, Ninshi, is Ehart's titular hero from the novel Servant of the Manthycore. In this tale, a group of mountain bandits stand between her and the herb she must have to free herself from the Manthycore's arcane shackles.

As complicated as that would suggest, Ehart handles it all skillfully. His choice for the point-of-view character works perfectly. We get the back story with just enough detail to set the stage, without burdening us with boring memories. And instead of two dimensional bandits, we get real human beings with circumstances that make this more than just a hack-em-up tale. I love those, but when a story delivers with theme, a textured world, and characters that seem alive, well that's a kick-ass story. This is one of them.

Ehart goes for the throat with a gripping, desperate fight right at the opening. From the stark clarity of that scene, the situation gets murkier and more complex, in all the right ways. I recently read Ken Follet's masterpiece Pillars of the Earth and though "To Destroy All Flesh" is orders of magnitude shorter, it manages to hit on some of the same historical and emotional revelations I felt during that novel.

The previous Servant story, "Stand, Stand, Shall they Cry" was good, but did not move me the way this one did. From his posts on the SFReader forum, I get the impression Ehart takes historical research very seriously. That's a strong selling point for me. Now that I have seen more of the sense of humanity in this character, I'm sold. I've ordered his novel Servant of the Manthycore.


Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
Michael Ehart's blog
EE Knight's Announcement
A Review

"The Red Worm's Way" by James Enge from Return of the Sword

I'm already a fan of James Enge's stories about Morlock Ambrosius, a gnarled sorcerer whose magic seems largely to be the art of giving the semblance of life to golems... and their parts, though his knowledge of the world and its mysteries is also vast. In this tale, Morlock is down on his luck, and winds up sitting watch over a corpse to protect it from flesh eating creatures, some of whom might be the very townspeople who hired him to sit watch.

It's impossible to be impartial here, as a new Morlock tale was one of my chief points of interest in the book. See, I'm partial to the sorcerers. Even given the dark fates most sword and sorcery mages meet, I'd still go with the sorcerers if I were ever sucked down the magic vortex. Even as a skeptic, I've always quested for a sign of the supernatural. Maybe that's why fantasy has so much appeal. Enge's Morlock stories provide an excellent foil to the warrior tales so far in this volume. Where it's refreshing to have a hero who thinks his way out of trouble, like Sigurd from Jeff Stewart's "Mountain Scarab, with Morlock, all he has is his mind.

Any time magic is involved, the rules become an issue. James does a great job of establishing the kinds of things Morlock can do, just a twist of magic, without making Morlock a demigod. The world also benefits from the deft writing, plumbing historical periods and myths a bit off the beaten path. This particular story has a bit of italian flavor, and I get the sense in general that Morlock's world is roughly European, after the fall of the roman empire. It's a fantasy world, but this story has a rustic, old-world feel. The magic provides an extra layer of surprise, and as with other Morlock stories there are some pleasant switchbacks at the end of this one, particularly the crow coin. ;)

One great thing James does in this story, is deliver elements of Morlock's history, without telling us all the details. This let's us see into Morlock's motivations, while still giving him an aura of mystery, keeping the reader wondering about the "rest" of the story. I'm really hoping to see a Morlock collection or novel someday. I already see that knowing more of Morlock's past won't spoil these stories, it will enhance them.

For my money, Morlock the Maker is one of the truly iconic characters to emerge from the current struggling renaissance of swords and sorcery fiction. This story is another strong reason to pick up Return of the Sword.

Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
James Enge's site, full of Morlockian goodnessEE Knight's Announcement
A Review

"Storytelling" by E.E. Knight from Return of the Sword

I was a bit skeptical of an essay on storytelling in the middle of this anthology of swords and sorcery stories that is just cooking along. But as usual with Return of the Sword, I was in for a surprise. Knight strikes a mentor's tone, but leavens it with a ton of humor. My wife was giving me annoyed looks I was chuckling so much during the reading.

The best thing is that the humor highlights an excellent perspective on writing fiction, and the writer's life. I read an embarrassing amount of process books. Knight echoes and distills a great deal of advice I've read in other sources, while laying out the basic building blocks of storytelling in a clear, concise manner. It's an excellent essay, and I can't wait to discuss it and use the ideas there for our discussions at SFReader.

"Dump truck of despair..." what a hoot!



Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
EE Knight's Announcement
A Review

"To Be A Man" by Robert Rhodes from Return of the Sword

Wow. Return of the Sword hits another high point with this tale of a red-maned warrior woman. As summaries go, I can't do better than this one from E.E. Knight's blog.

“To Be A Man” - The thief Vasili has enjoyed a rich and ribald life with his partner, the notorious Titania Brashnova. But when Titania finally goes too far, Vasili must attempt his greatest con yet: ending their partnership ... without ending himself.

So, I've been keeping up with Red Sonja through Dynamite's comics line and frankly I'm pretty disappointed with the stories, mainly because Sonja is so two dimensional. In this story we are treated to a lusty tale that recalls the passion and intensity of Howard's Swordswoman. Titania is way larger than life, but it's such a refreshing take. You see, instead of being a chaste ice-princess, Titania is an insatiable love-tiger.

This is the first story in the collection to use first person narration. I haven't been so keen on this style for a while now, but it works so well here. I just glanced at the first few sentences and I was caught up. Vasili's personality is so vivid, the narration confident and playful. In fact the humor in the story camouflages a strong theme and dramatic development of character as Vasili wrestles with his conscience. This story has a moral core that caught me off guard and lifts it from the realm of pure entertainment. It's sexy and mature, and that is part of the artfulness of the tale. What could possibly go wrong with being the partner to a beautiful, ass-kicking, sexually insatiable amazon? The answer may surprise you.

Fantastic!


Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
Robert Rhodes
EE Knight's Announcement
A Review

"Lair of the Cherufe" by Angeline Hawkes from Return of the Sword

If I didn't know better, I would say this is a story from the classic age of pulps. It has a fun style that reminded me of Fritz Leiber. Our hero, in this case, is Kabar of el Hazzar and the setting is a mythic middle east. The tale really cooks along, establishing character and setting while Kabar is being summoned by the local king, an old fighting buddy of Kabar's, whose daughter has been kidnapped. She is to be sacrificed to some gigantic monster in a volcano, unless Kabar can save her.

If there is one thing that puzzles me, its the presence of two other characters, Kabar's brother and a friend. They don't accomplish much and I think the story would be shorter and sweeter without them. However, looking at Ms. Hawkes website, it seems this is one of many stories featuring these characters, and in this case, her fans would probably like to know what's going on with these two. That's understandable, especially from an established author. It's an interesting group, and I could certainly read more of their stories.

There's another magic blade in this tale, the Singing Sword. That's pretty familiar territory, and in fact there are few surprises here. The hero is very confident and it comes as no shock when things go his way... mostly. =) But overall it is an entertaining yarn that stands out for its unique and fully-formed voice and its classic pulp feel.


Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
Angeline Hawkes
EE Knight's Announcement
A Review

"Mountain Scarab" by Jeff Stewart from Return of the Sword

This is an excellent tale with the feel of the old Conan stories. It starts off in the midst of a caravan raid:

The first guard died with an arrow in his throat.

Bam! That got my attention.

We soon meet the northern sailor Sigurd, who is embroiled with a group of raiders. When a young woman is captured during the raid, he finds himself torn between his personal honor and the need to keep his skin. The plot moves along effortlessly. Each step makes sense, without giving itself away. The two leads, Sigurd and the girl Simone are fully realized, as well as a couple of supporting characters. The setting is concise and vivid. I could see the yellow firelight on the faces of the encamped raiders as they watch events unfold.

Unfortunately the beginning is a little uneven. My major gripe, really, is that the author uses the word "wiry" to describe the Peshmerga raiders at least three times. A little thing, but it cooled my initial excitement at the story's dramatic opening. When the hero first enters, I would almost prefer a more removed description. The word Valkyrion is cool, but it sounds pretty austentatious when the character is introduced, larger than life. When what we get is a believable, down on his luck viking/barbarian who relies on his wits as much as his axe.

But the story gripped my attention and I was eager to find out what would happen to Sigurd and Simone.

On the craft side of things, this story is told in third person omnitient. I was a bit jarred at first when the point of view would move between characters, but it worked. I found myself thinking that my only real problem with it is that so many people tell you not to write that way. It was good enough for Frank Herbert, though. Ultimately, I enjoyed being able to see the story from the different perspectives. I'd be very interested to read what others think of the story and its mode.



Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
EE Knight's Announcement

Infected, a novel by Scott Sigler

Back in the fall of 2005, followed an apple email to the new iTunes section with podcasts. A bit like a radio show, podcasts allowed me to catch up on things that my busy life (tm) left little time for. My mainstays are Democracy Now, Escape Pod, and Scott Sigler. 

Some time soon I will rant on the whole "webscabs" thing, but right now I can say one thing about it. Scott Sigler has given me four free audiobooks in podcast form. The fifth, Nocturnal is in progress. Scott's books simply kick ass and I freakin' love the guy. He's earned a fan for life, who will buy every book he puts out, the day it is released, no questions asked. Scott Sigler books are thriller-scifi-horror stew with gnarly fucking monsters, realistic characters, heroes, villains and lots--AND LOTS-- of violence. But we're not talking one dimensional gorefests here. Scott builds the horror with the bricks of real science and an intense narrative voice. 

Today, Infected hit the store shelves. It's Scott Sigler's first hardcover, so I am celebrating and honoring the future high overlord's demand for photos.

The Borders I got to in Stockton, CA. I know I'm not supposed to like the big chains, but I like this particular store.

What no Sigler?

Okay, Scott. For all the kick ass stories, here is me embarrassing myself in front of the internet and a friendly Borders clerk. Sure glad my wife loves me for my brains. =P

I humbly suggest that the bookstores get big stacks of Infected and display them prominently. The cover image is truly striking, and the book delivers.

Congratulations, Scott. You've been working your ass off to entertain us. The least I can do is buy your book.

Bryan Hitchcock,
Original Junkie

"Deep in the Land of the Ice and Snow" by Ty Johnston from RotS

This story didn't do it for me. The hero Belgad of the Thunder Clan, his opponents and other characters suffer in comparison to the preceding stories. I don't want to belabor the point, because it is a good action piece, and there's some twist to it at the end, but the story didn't bring anything new or deliver the goods with any particular flare. Wolves? That territory's been covered.

I was very intrigued by the witch Belgad is sent to slay. When I think of a witch in a frozen wasteland with an odd hut, I'm thinking Baba Yaga--something twisted and cool. Unfortunately, this witch is no Baba Yaga.

It will be interesting to read what other readers have to say about these stories.

More words! A break for progress.

My major preoccupation these days is my novel Demons of the Neverwoods. Tonight I managed to hammer out another 900 words or so, which is a major achievement for me, lately. It's very rough, what I call zero draft, material, but I am determined to hit the 100k mark with this one. Then begins the major Odyssey of editing, but that's a ways off.

So anyway, I'm just glad to get a bit more of the story written.

"Fatefist at Torkas Nahl" by David Pitchford from RotS

A large cast of characters and an epic storyline give this tale grandeur and depth. The world seems so much wider than the city and battleground of the immediate setting. Fans of Steven Erikson will surely enjoy this piece, though it may leave them itching for more. I make that comparison because of the way Pitchford just dunks the reader into the world with its exotic names, as well as the detail he devotes to the varieties of military units within the competing armies.

There is a bit of a curveball, in the tradition of some Conan stories, in that the title character makes his appearance after the story is underway. Arnoux Trav, the Fatefist from the title is an interesting character. Bound by a vow of silence in his first scene, he seems to be undergoing a kind of spiritual and social transformation, from a monk-scholar of war and wisdom, to an outright warrior. Indeed, we first see him shrouded in a robe while later he is outfitted in custom armor. It seems a bit odd at first that an "un-blooded" soldier could be so proficient, but Pitchford serves the battles to us as intellectual puzzles for Trav to solve, and it works. Very interesting to read about a hero whose wits and wisdom are more important than brawn. There are some truly funny moments as the wise monks advise an impetuous young prince more eager for glory than assuring victory.

Again, we are treated to a magic blade in this story, though this time it is in the hands of the piece's biggest villain. This makes for a great battle at the end, but if there is one thing I would have liked to see, its a more vivid introduction to Rajan Vace and the sword Angra Mainyu. There is a report of his body count from the first day, but it is almost too high to be believed. "Fatefist at Torkas Nahl" is one of those short stories that is completely satisfying as a short, but is rife with implications and possibilities for a longer work. There are a few places where the dialog is a bit too cryptic, and even after a re-read I wondered exactly why some things happened, but that kind of fits with the "wiser-than-mere-mortals" mystique of the Mikari.

As a writer, I think this story excels at providing a sense of a much wider world through the exotic names and the writer's fearlessness with diving into the thick of things with people and places that demand we step into that world. The emphasis on combat as a struggle of body AND mind, also makes it stand out. I know of Mr. Pitchford as part of the Pitch-Black team. Now I know to keep an eye out for his writing, as well.

Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
David Pitchford
EE Knight's Announcement

"What Heroes Leave Behind" by Nicholas Ian Hawkins from RotS

In this story, we meet Tolasun, an aging hero. He's a memorable character and the story conveys the toll of the years on his body as well as the weight of his deeds on the world. Songs are sung for this guy, but he knows the end is coming, so when an old flame comes with tidings of an evil that has taken root in the ruins of a crumbling fortress and endangers a local monastery, he jumps at the chance to go out swinging.

There are excellent scenes with minor characters, the old flame, the monk, that pass information as well as giving us a sense of who these people are. This is a lesson to remember and a story to come back to. Even the "minor" characters have personality.

This story has it all: fast, brutal action and a fully realized characters. Even the captured raider has grit and history. Nice touches. The biggest strength is Tolasun, who has a lot of history which comes out naturally in the story, and his physical struggles. Fighting a horde of raiders seems an easy feat compared to the ten hour march up the mountain! Tolasun's struggle with his age was spot on. Tolasun is like a hero from myth, or from a D&D game, who just does what he does because he is needed. But, the barren results of his nomadic, bachelor ways bring him vividly to life.

Add an epic final battle of mythic scope and blam! That's a kickass story.

Buy the book! The Return of the Sword: An Anthology of Heroic Adventure
Nicholas Ian Hawkins
EE Knight's Announcement