A Dribble of Ink

Cover Art | The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (UK Edition)

aidan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:04:16 +0000

In SF Signal’s most recent Mind Meld, we were asked about recent covers that, on an artistic level, blew us. One of my choices was the beautiful cover for Ian McDonald’s The Dervish House. As he usually does, Lou Anders and Jacqueline Cooke at Pyr Books took some wonderful Stephan Martiniere artwork and crafted a sublime cover around it.

Above, you have the UK edition of The Dervish House. It’s nice, and I like that it wears the influences of its setting on its sleeve; but, if you ask me, it’s one of those rare occasions when the UK cover has to work a bit harder against its US counterpart… and comes up a bit short.

Which do you prefer?

An Aside | News on ‘The Way of Kings’ by Brandon Sanderson

aidan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:32:53 +0000

With Sanderson’s focus on promoting (and writing) the Wheel of Time novels, news on The Way of Kings has been few and far between. Now that The Gathering Storm is on store shelves, and the upcoming August, 2010 release of The Way of Kings, focus will begin to shift back to Sanderson’s original work.

On his blog, Sanderson spills some beans about the novel:

POINT ONE: This book is the start of a longer epic.

KINGS stands at 425,000 words right now. I’ll be trimming that down to (hopefully) 380–390k when I do the next draft. (Which will be the final draft.) That will put it at roughly double the length of MISTBORN or ELANTRIS. The series is called the Stormlight Archive, and Tor purchased four books from me. I’m not planning that to be the end, though I’m cautious at locking myself into a certain number of books. (Though I do have the entire series plotted, and am fairly certain I know exactly how many books it will be.) For now, let me just say that it won’t be as long as the Wheel of Time, but will be longer than anything I’ve attempted so far.

Consider this: a novel is defined as a piece of fiction containing 40,000+ words. The average Fantasy novel is likely between 90,000 and 120,000 words. Sanderson hopes to cut up to 45,000 words. That’s a whole novel worth of material. Nuts.

Won’t be as long as The Wheel of Time? Haven’t we heard that before? Just kidding. Sanderson’s shown himself as being more than capable of crafting stories and keeping them within the bounds he’s set. Mistborn was confined to a trilogy, Warbreaker and Elantris were stand alone novels.

POINT TWO: It is not a replacement for the Wheel of Time.

I will be sorry to see the Wheel of Time end, just like many of you will be. It will be difficult for me on two levels, both as a fan and as a writer. I’ve been reading these books since I was fifteen. More than half of my life, now, has been spent with Rand and company. My career has been shaped by them, and several years of my life recently have been dominated by their stories.

However, I don’t intend to replace the series. I have to be my own person, approach storytelling in my own way, and write with my own voice. To intentionally set out to replace the Wheel of Time would be monumentous hubris. The Wheel of Time doesn’t need replacing. It’s still there, on our shelves, just like it’s always been. Once it’s complete, that will be (in many ways) even better. We’ll be able to read it straight through, beginning to end, without waiting.

As someone who hasn’t read Wheel of Time since the seventh volume, I’m much more excited about Sanderson’s original work. I’m curious to see how he manages to balance finishing off Wheel of Time and continuing work on The Stormlight Archives. He’d potentially have to write 800,000 – 1,000,000 words a year (especially when one considers how much extra material he writes and then cuts during the editing process.)

POINT THREE: I think KINGS is one of the best books I’ve ever written.

I think the characters are incredible, the magic imaginative, the scope and history of the world impressive. I think the story is exciting, and has a depth beyond what I’ve been able to do before. I’m trying some new, exciting things for me—some nonlinear storytelling, some great internal artwork, and layers of depth to the storytelling.

Well, that’s encouraging. Still, one can’t expect him to air his worries before the novel’s release.

POINT FOUR: However, the book is just a book.

My editor, bless his heart, compared THE WAY OF KINGS to DUNE and LORD OF THE RINGS in the catalogue copy that he wrote. He’s a wonderful man, but I cringe when any new book is compared to masterworks like those. DUNE and LotR have proven themselves over decades, passing the test of time. They had monumental influences on their respective genres.

No new novel has the right to claim such a comparison out of the gate. If you go into KINGS expecting the next LORD OF THE RINGS or DUNE, you will be disappointed. I am not Tolkien or Herbert. I am what I am—a largely unproven writer still in the early days of his career.

Early in my drafting process for this book, I fell into some traps by putting too much weight upon the future of this novel. I began to think that KINGS would be the book that would define my solo career, and I began to worry (with all of the recent eyes that have been watching me) that this book needed to be something incredibly jaw-dropping and earth-shattering, otherwise it would be a failure.

That’s a bad way to be thinking as you write a book, and probably an even worse way to be thinking as you start reading a book. The Wheel of Time didn’t start to really make its mark until book three or four; it was the same for Harry Potter. Series like this take time to build. Beyond that, you can’t go into a series with the mind-set that it needs to be a huge blockbuster to be successful.

I’m not sure what I want people to think about this book. I want them to read it, enjoy it, and say nice things about it. I want them to anticipate it and talk about it on blogs, waiting for the day it is released. But in the end, it’s just a book. Let’s not hype this thing to death.

I have to smile at this one. Editors, Marketers and Publishers can be very trigger happy with the comparisons leading up to a book’s release. Sure, The Stormlight Archives could light the genre on fire like Tolkien and Herbert. It probably won’t. I’m always impressed by Sanderson’s humble attitude towards his writing.

POINT FIVE: Have I mentioned that it’s big?

I started working on THE WAY OF KINGS fifteen years ago. I wrote the first version of the book in full back in 2003. It was always planned to be big. You don’t grow up reading Robert Jordan, Tad Williams, and Melanie Rawn without wanting to do your own big epic. When I showed it to my editor back in ’03, he thought it was too ambitious to be published, at least as my second novel.

There are thirty magic systems in this world, depending on how you count them, and around six thousand years of history I’ve mapped out. There are dozens of cultures, a continent of enormous scope, and a deep, rich mythology. However, when I say things like that, you have to realize that very little of it will end up in the first book. The best fantasy epics I’ve read begin with a personal look at the characters in the early books, then have a steady expansion into epic scope.

I’ve spent many years thinking about the epic fantasy genre, what makes it work, what I love about it, and how to deal with its inherent weaknesses. And so I’m trying to make use of the form of the novel (meaning how I place chapters and which viewpoints I put where) in order to convey the scope without distracting from the main stories I wish to tell.

Anyway, I don’t jump between dozens of characters in this novel. There are three central viewpoints, with two or so primary supporting viewpoints. I intend the first book to be its own story, focused and personal. I don’t want this to be the “Wow! Thirty Magic Systems!” series. I want it to be a series about a group of characters you care about, with a lush and real world that has solid and expansive depth.

In other words, I promise you a variety of magics, mythology, history, and cultures . . . but not all in the first book.

Thirty magic systems? Dozens of cultures? Six thousand years of history? I worry that Sanderson’s biting off more than he can chew (despite impressing in his previous work). Still, the mention of three central characters and the emphasis on focussed story telling is a good sign.

I find it interesting that Sanderson leads with ‘There are thirty magic systems in the world, [...] around six thousand years of history [and] dozens of cultures’… and then goes on to say ‘I don’t want this to be the “Wow! Thirty Magic Systems!” series.’ Perhaps he should revise that elevator pitch?

In any case, count me excited for The Way of Kings, even if only to find out how well Sanderson manages to pull together so many strings.

Cover Art | ‘Side Jobs’ by Jim Butcher

aidan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:42:03 +0000

I’ve not read any short fiction by Butcher, but something tells me his style would be well suited to the tighter word counts. As always, the art is done by the lovely Chris McGrath.

An Aside | SFX Magazine’s Top 25 Novels

aidan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:16:11 +0000

SFX polled their readers, asking them to vote for the top 25 Science Fiction and Fantasy novels of all time. The results are… odd.

25 – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
24 – The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester
23 – Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
22 – Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
21 – It by Stephen King
20 – Legend by David Gemmell
19 – Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
18 – The Stand by Stephen King
17 – Hyperion by Dan Simmons
16 – Magician by Raymond E. Feist
15 – Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
14 – I am Legend by Richard Matheson
13 – Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
12 – The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
11 – Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
10 – A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
9 – His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
8 – The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
7 – American Gods by Neil Gaiman
6 – Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
5 – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

All of the Harry Potter books received a fair number of votes, but by far the most popular was the third book, with it time travelling shenanigans and werewolves. The book probably marks the perfect balance between the rollicking children’s adventure stories of the earlier books and the growing angst and complex plots of the later books. It’s also the last Potter book you didn’t need a fork lift truck to get it home from the book shop.
4 – The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

The oldest book in this top 25, and it fully deserves its top five position. Not just because of its historical importance – the first alien invasion novel, you realise – but because it is full of the most amazingly evocative imagery: the Martian ship landing on Horsell Common; the Martian slowly emerging; the three-legged war machines; the attack on the Thunder Child (a ship full of escaping humans); the red weed. This was blockbuster science fiction in literary form. And all written in such splendidly Victorian prose.
3 – Dune by Frank Herbert

The glory of Dune is that it’s so clever, so full of ingenious ideas, so packed with exciting set pieces, so blessed with colourful characters, that even if you plough through the increasingly dire sequels, nothing tarnishes your memories of the original. A space opera on an audacious scale, with plots that have been hatching for centuries, political intrigue and some mindboggling SF concepts, Dune is a milestone in science fiction. When the desert planet of Arakis – so tangibly evoked you can almost feel the heat and dust on your cheeks – becomes the battleground for an intergalactic power struggle, the young heir to a dynasty in decline goes native. Oh yeah, and there are some space nuns who can predict the future who’ve set up a very special breeding program in the hope of creating a saviour.
2 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Adams is funny. Really funny. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly funny he is. You may think Red Dwarf is the height of comedy sci fi, but that’s just peanuts compared to Adams. On the other hand, don’t let the fact that Adams is probably the wittiest writer ever to have turned his attention to spaceships and all that gubbins get in the way of the fact that he’s also a damned fine SF author too. Behind the gags about digital watches, towels and morphing whales in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy are some pretty weighty SF concepts of which Philip K Dick would be proud. The main difference is that Dick could write an entire novel based on a concept that Adams throws away in a passing comment. As we all know, Hitchhiker’s started as a radio show, but it was the books based on the series (six in all, or five and a half if you don’t consider Salmon of Doubt – a posthumous collection of previously uncollected material by Douglas Adams – a proper book) that really extended Adams’s bonkers universe and fired the imagination of his fans.
1 – The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Yes, it’s won again. Though Hitchhiker’s put in a valiant effort, The Lord Of the Rings remains SFX readers’ favourite book. Or trilogy. Or six books if you’re a real LOTR pedant. The power of Tolkein’s folly to enchant readers just never seems to fade, and the Peter Jackson movie trilogy cleary hasn’t done its reputation any damage. The breed of sniffy, snobby literary types (many of whom you suspect haven’t even read his work) who dismiss Tolkein as nonsense, are, frankly, missing the point. Tolkien wasn’t interested so much in writing great literature – he wanted to create a modern myth. And in this regard he succeeded spectacularly – Middle-earth is so fully realised that it feels just as authentic and ancient as Greek mytholgy or stone circles. So, with this in mind, perhaps his finest work is actually The Silmarillion, published posthumously in 1977 (and edited by his son Christopher), as it details the legends and history of Middle-earth in prose so evocative that it’s hard to picture any other book reaching such heights – Tolkien even constructed new languages. It was a labour that, thankfully, the readers also loved. When it comes to epic fantasy Tolkien wrote the rule book, and any new fantasy author can either embrace Tolkien or kick against him. What they can’t do is ignore him.

Certainly a slant towards British authors, though that could be expected from a UK-based magazine. Still, the list reads like a bunch of readers voting for what they think they should vote for, gearing the list towards higher profile, more mainstream choices. Not to say all the books listed aren’t of top quality, but, for instance, A Game of Thrones being included over the superior A Storm of Swords seems a little silly. In any case, I suppose it could function as a decent, if predictable, jumping off point for anyone new to the genre.

For comparison, you can find SFX’s list of ‘Top 100 Authors’ HERE.

Cover Art | Shadowheart by Tad Williams

aidan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:46:21 +0000

Gorgeous, huh? I’d seen the artwork a few weeks ago, which is easily Todd Lockwood’s best in the Shadowmarch ‘trilogy’, and couldn’t wait to see the final cover. This image was pulled from the Daw Fall 2010 catalog, and hopefully indicates that we’ll be getting a proper look at the cover soon.

Shadowheart will be released in November, 2010.

Cover Art | Gauntlgrym by RA Salvatore

aidan — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:36:30 +0000

You know you’re big news when your publisher lets you name your novel Gauntlgrym. Reminds me of Paolini and Brisingr. That said, with Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms, ‘New York Times Best-Selling Author’, and R.A Salvatore on the cover, it probably doesn’t matter what the title is.

Gauntlgrym, the 7,345th volume of the Drizzt Do’Urden saga, hits shelves in October.

An Aside | I’m a part of the Suvudu Cage Matches!

aidan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:08:11 +0000

Spawned from geeky twitter conversations that pit famous fantasy characters in a battle to the death, Suvudu has created a full-fledged Cage Match bracket to determine, once and for all, the biggest badass in the genre.

Suvudu was kind enough to contact me and extend me the responsibility of handling two of the fights. With tongue firmly in cheek, I came up with profiles, special attacks and a predicted outcome, written in the form of a quick story. I hope you’ll have as much fun reading my scenarios as I had writing them. I’ve already managed to piss off a large contingent of Terry Goodkind fans…. Oops.

Some matchups include: Rand al’Thor vs. Locke Lamora, Raistlin vs. Ender, Roland of Gilead vs. Elric and Jaime Lannister vs. Hermione Granger.

My cage matches:

Kahlan Amnell vs. Drizzt Do’Urden
Kvothe vs. Garet Jax

You can find the full bracket (with links to each of the fights) HERE.

So go get voting!

An Aside | Ten Rules for Writing Fiction by Daniel Abraham

aidan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:47:53 +0000

Spurred on by a similar article from The Guardian, which collected bits of wisdom from a gaggle of living-legend-status writers, Daniel Abraham, author of The Long Price Quartet,

“Show, don’t tell” is a beginner’s strategy. Dramatize when it’s time to dramatize, summarize when it’s time to summarize. Knowing the difference is the job description.

Be concrete and specific.

Don’t fear infodumps; telling people what’s going on includes them in on the story. Just don’t make them boring.

Withholding information breeds confusion. Providing information builds tension. (“The essential fact is to get real suspense you must let the audience have information.” –Alfred Hitchcock)

Gentle emotions are more powerful than violent ones.

Think about how things smell and taste.

Write fast, edit ruthlessly.

Trust your readers to be as smart as you are, but don’t assume they can read your mind.

Narrators aren’t evil, nor are they sinless. Tell the story in a voice, but not about the voice.

Get out of the way. The more I use fiction to show everyone how clever I am, the more I compromise my story.

As with any list of ‘rules’, one must always approach them with a grain of salt and take only what is useful to them as a writer. Still, given my penchant for Abraham’s writing, there’s certainly an amount of wisdom to be found in his advice.

An Aside | Press Release: Essay Contest hosted by Pyr Books

aidan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:05:29 +0000

From the Pyr Blog:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2010

Pyr Celebrates 5th Anniversary With Essay Contest

Grand Prize Winner Embarks on a ‘Pyr and Dragons Adventure’

Amherst, NY — To celebrate their 5th anniversary, Pyr, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Prometheus Books, will sponsor a contest that incorporates things they hold dear: creative and powerful writing, a passion for reading genre fiction, and this year’s special number, five.

For their Pyr and Dragons Adventure 5th Anniversary Contest, Pyr invites readers and fans to submit a short essay on the theme: Five reasons why science fiction and fantasy is important to you.

Eligibility requirements follow*. Any essay submissions that do not meet these guidelines will be disqualified:

- Entrants must reside in the Continental United States and be at least 21 years of age.
- Essays must be no longer than 1500 words.
- Essays must be emailed to publicity@prometheusbooks.com as a Word document attachment, with the subject line “Pyr and Dragons Adventure Essay Submission.”
- The body of the submission email must clearly identify the entrant’s full name, address (within the Continental United States), phone number and email address.
- All submissions must be received between April 1, 2010 and June 1, 2010.

*For complete list of rules and regulations see http://www.pyrsf.com/.

All eligible essays will be read and reviewed by publishing staff at Prometheus Books. Not all of these preliminary readers will be science fiction and fantasy fans, so outstanding essays will likely be those that pique their interest in the genre and make them want to read it too. The top twenty-five essays as determined by these industry professionals will be read by Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders, who will select the top three.

The writer of the Third Place essay will win a commemorative Pyr 5th anniversary keepsake and five complimentary books of their choice from the Pyr catalog.

The writer of the Second Place essay will win a complete set of Pyr books as published by the contest end date of June 1, 2010 (one copy of each title, without duplicating those that appear in more than one binding) and a commemorative Pyr 5th anniversary keepsake.

The Grand Prize Winner will embark on a “Pyr and Dragons Adventure” that includes*:

- A round-trip flight to Atlanta, GA during Dragon*Con, one of the largest multi-media, popular culture conventions focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US. Dragon*Con 2010 will be held September 3 – 6, 2010 (Labor Day weekend).
- Two nights hotel accommodation in Atlanta, GA, Sept. 3 and 4, 2010.
- Dragon*Con membership/entry badge.
- Dinner with Special Pyr Author Guests and Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders—details to be announced!

The grand prize winning essay will be posted at the Pyr-o-mania blog, and may be promoted by the publisher by other means, including but not limited to their other blogs, websites, e-newsletters and social networking pages.

Prometheus Books—a provocative, progressive and independent publisher of nonfiction since 1969—launched Pyr in March 2005 to complement its strength in popular science. The imprint rather quickly earned acclaim, awards, and loyal fans, including Pulitzer Prize–winning author Junot Díaz, who called Pyr “the imprint to beat in the science fiction and fantasy fields.”

With an emphasis on quality, Pyr helped to introduce readers to some authors then little-known in the U.S., such as John Meaney, Ian McDonald, Joel Shepherd, Justina Robson, and Joe Abercrombie. Pyr has also published such established authors as Mike Resnick, Robert Silverberg and Michael Moorcock. Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Editor Long Form for three consecutive years. In 2009, Prometheus Books and Pyr launched a major e-book initiative, with titles available on Kindle and programs with many different e-reader platforms in the works. In 2010, in addition to celebrating its five-year anniversary, Pyr will publish its 100th title.

# # #

For a complete list of contest rules and regulations see http://www.pyrsf.com/

What a great opportunity! You can be sure I’ll be entering.

Cover Art | The Design Process in two minutes or less!

aidan — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:40:57 +0000

Orbit Books has a reputation for being openly candid about the design process behind their covers, often showing off handfuls of alternate covers and revisions. Now, they’ve taken it to the next step. Lauren Panepinto, the woman behind many of their covers, hit record as she spent over six hours designing the cover for Blameless, the third novel in Gail Carriger’s Alexia Tarabotti series, then, through the wonders of computer magic and movie trickery, condensed it down into an easily digestible minute and 53 seconds. If you’ve ever been curious about how covers are made, the video is absolutely worth a viewing.

Panepinto on the cover and the video:

Over 6 hours of my onscreen compositing, retouching, color correction, type obsessing, all condensed down to a slim sexy one minute 55 seconds of cover design. Trust me, no one wants to watch it in real-time…and even then I left out the not-as-riveting-onscreen stages of my cover design process, such as reading the manuscript, sifting through Alexia photoshoot outtakes, background photo research, etc. And since this is a series look that has already been established for Soulless and Changeless, there weren’t the usual batches and rounds of versions of different designs that happen with standalone or first-in-a-new-series covers. That would be a weeklong video!

And, finally, the finished cover:

Pretty cool, huh? Let’s hope Orbit keeps putting together such great features about their novels. I know I certainly enjoy the peek behind the curtain.

An Aside | Sam Sykes Interviews… Me!

aidan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:06:23 +0000

Sam Sykes, author of the soon-to-be-released Tome of the Undergates, has been rounding up some of his ~~most hated~~ favourite bloggers and pinning them down for a few questions. Last week, I was the victim.

So, let’s talk about your blog for a bit. You’re pretty connected to the news of the fantasy world, able to get interviews with such greats as Blake Charlton and even deign to speak with such no-names like Joe Abercrombie, your reviews tend to be viewed as honest and affable and you’re a writer yourself. You’re officially one of the big names in blogging. Do you think your success is undeserved? And if not, don’t you think you should? What’s next for A Dribble of Ink?

Okay, first I should clear some things up about Abercrombie. He came to me. Both times, on hands and knees, no less. I don’t know why he was so desperate, his books are pretty popular, but he hounded me excessively, begging me to allow him on the blog.

One night, at three in the morning, I got a phone call. On the other end, through the static of the trans-atlantic phonelines, I could hear heavy breath, like the person was breathing only through their mouth, and the gentle scrape of a comb running through a well-tended neck-beard.

He uttered a single phrase, which I will not appear here, that sent a chill down my spine and haunting my dreamscapes with visions of Logen, Friendly and Ferro having unending threesomes. Ever since then, he’s been allowed to come on my blog and rant, in hopes that the dreams may one day cease.

As for the success of my blog, well, I work hard on it and pour a very substantial part of myself into it, so in that respect, yeah, I think the success is deserved. That said, my official answer is: ‘I’m nothing more than a humble guy just doin’ his thing. I didn’t even know people read my blog, I guess that’s kinda neat!’. There, now I don’t sound like an asshole.

What’s next? Onwards and upwards. This year I hope to cover more short fiction and conduct more interviews. Hopefully there’s good news on my own writing, also. Then I can turn A Dribble of Ink into a platform to shill my own material. That would be good, no?

You can read the full interview HERE. Alternatively, the tables were turned when I interviewed Sykes HERE.

Free Readin’ | Kraken by China Mieville

aidan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:34:06 +0000

The sea is full of saints. You know that? You know that: you’re a big boy.

The sea’s full of saints and it’s been full of saints for years. Since longer than anything. Saints were there before there were even gods. They were waiting for them, and they’re still there now.

Saints eat fish and shellfish. Some of them catch jellyfish and some of them eat rubbish. Some saints eat anything they can find. They hide under rocks; they turn themselves inside out; they spit up spirals. There’s nothing saints don’t do.

Make this shape with your hands. Like that. Move your fingers. There, you made a saint. Look out, here comes another one! Now they’re fighting! Yours won.

There aren’t any big corkscrew saints any more, but there are still ones like sacks and ones like coils, and ones like robes with flapping sleeves. What’s your favourite saint? I’ll tell you mine. But wait a minute, first, do you know what it is makes them all saints? They’re all a holy family, they’re all cousins. Of each other, and of . . . you know what else they’re cousins of?

That’s right. Of gods.

Alright now. Who was it made you? You know what to say.

Who made you?

Thanks to Speculative Horizons for the tip.

I was first introduced to China Mieville with The City & The City, a novel I never reviewed, but only barely missed my Top 5 of 2009 list. A slim, quick novel, The City & The City gave me a taste of Mieville’s writing and left me wanting more. All said, I’m greatly looking forward to Kraken, a novel turned in to Mieville’s publisher at around the same time as The City & The City, which, by all signs, looks to be Mieville’s most accessible novel yet (outside Un Lun Dun, his Young Adult novel, perhaps).

Mieville’s best know for his New Crobuzon novels (including Perdido Street Station and The Scar), but, as The City & The City proved, it’s always interesting to have his eye for weirdness aimed at the world we live in.

You can read the sample of Kraken HERE.

Cover Art | A Trio of Peter F. Hamilton Novels

aidan — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:54:02 +0000

Source: Walker of Worlds

I’ve not read Hamilton’s work, so I can’t comment on the tone of the covers (which I’ve heard are a little off, at least in regards to the less militaristic nature of Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained), but I’ve always felt that Steve Stone’s art is better suited for Science Fiction than Fantasy, though browsing his portfolio shows some impressive work.

Free Readin’ | Changes by Jim Butcher

aidan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:03:37 +0000

Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden’s lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.

Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry’s not fighting to save the world…

He’s fighting to save his child.

Can’t read it myself (I’ve only finished the first book from The Dresden Files, but Jim Butcher has posted the first chapter in Changes, the 12th volume in the series, to sate his ravenous fans.

You can read the chapter HERE.

Cover Art | Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

aidan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:05:39 +0000

Well, this is certainly different! It’s fantastic to see Tor continuing to push these new covers in new directions. Though it’s not exactly practical, it suits the medium, and will be an interesting practice once we see more e-readers with full colour, dynamic screens.

Artist Greg Manchess on the cover:

I told Irene that I was offering to do a grander, wider scene so that the viewer could explore the battle. It would stretch far enough to break the borders of the square, but to compensate, I composed it so that we could pick a ‘sweet spot’ to place on the cover. I let that spot dictate the broader POV.

As I stretched the scene, stage left, I found myself able to include more of what was happening in the story. I wanted to give a sense of distance to the landscape, while bringing figures forward enough that they’re almost on top of you. But the closer the figure, the more they block. And explosions take up a lot of real estate in a painting.

I had to pick the moment carefully. Depict a moment too far in advance of the mayhem and it weakens the excitement. Too far after the initial firestorm and I’d be depicting heaps of charred meat. I chose the moment just before the detonations went rending through the ranks completely. The wave is just starting to sweep over the Aiel, but as timing isn’t quite so precise, I depicted the flames cresting quickly from right to left, allowing the viewer “time” to see what was about to come. Utter flaming chaos.

Manchess absolutely nails the Battle of Dumai’s Well, one of the most intense and immediately recognizable scenes in the entire Wheel of Time series. My favourite in the series so far is still The Fires of Heaven, but it’s nice to see Tor change pace and provide a frenetic action scene to accompany the mostly characters-based covers for the previous volumes.