The Eternal Champion

Today's SF Signal Mind Meld asks what "Science Fiction Biographies We Would Like to See Published" There are great answers from John Joseph Adams, Gardner Dozois, Gary Farber, Gordon Van Gelder, and Farah Mendlesohn. I'm also in there, somewhere in the middle, giving my usual spiel about why Michael Moorcock is the single most important figure in 20th Century Literature and how the entire multiverse would come unraveled if you went back in time and prevented his birth. There are two great books that deal with Moorcock already, both written by Colin Greenland. The first is Entropy Exhibition: Michael Moorcock and the British 'New Wave' in Science Fiction, written in 1983 and being the first critical assessment of the New Wave movement, and the second is Michael Moorcock: Death Is No Obstacle, a book length interview with Moorcock. Both are long out of print, and I'd like to see them both reissued, at least in ebook format. But neither is quite a biography of the great man.

Good Old Girl

Marian Call says she didn't have the TARDIS specifically in mind when she wrote "Good Old Girl," but there was obviously some timey-wimey stuff going on when she wrote this:



"Good Old Girl" appears on the album Got to Fly.

Why Did No One Tell me Joe Lansdale is Batman?

Author Joe Lansdale demonstrates his martial arts system, Shen Chuan, on the Funky Werepig show.

Painting Process: The Making of "Omens"

Cynthia Sheppard is a wonderful artist, who, incidentally, did our covers for Mirror Mazeand Hunter and Fox.

In this YouTube video, she shows us the process for creating one of her paintings. It's a fascinating and beautiful 10 minutes well worth your time.

XKCD: Click and Drag

This recent edition of XKCD is astounding. It may also be that really, truly rare thing called "something new." I cannot imagine the work that went into this. I'm stunned. (Also, make sure you go underground).

New Hobbit Trailer

I don't understand the people grousing about The Hobbit being stretched from two to three films. Usually, when a book gets adapted to the screen, you hear complaints about how much was left out. With work as rich as Tolkien's, I want as much of what is on the page to appear on the screen as possible. Also, is this a shot of Sylvester McCoy? Awesome!

RPGs, Fantasy Fiction, and Monte Cook's Numenera

I played a lot of RPGs as a kid: AD&D, Gamma World, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Gangbusters, Boot Hill, Call of Cthulhu, and the James Bond Role Playing Game. I haven't gamed in years (pen & paper that is. I'm 97 hours into
Skyrim on the PS3). But for some time the relationship between RPGs and fantasy fiction, especially sword & sorcery fiction, has been fascinating me. Moreover, I'm very interested in the number of fantasy authors who are gamers and the effect that has on their world (hint: I think it's a positive one).
Lately I've been collecting and perusing RPG manuals again, even if I don't have time to play them. Here's a shot of the bookshelf next to my bed:




I'm also in pretty deep to Monte Cook's Kickstarter project Numenera. For those who haven't heard, this is a new role playing game being done by one of the shining lights of the RPG world. I am a sucker for world-building and campaign settings anyway, and his "dying earth" style sci-fantasy really pushed my buttons. Monte has said he's drawing on the works of Jack Vance, Mike Moorcock, and others for inspiration, and I was curious enough to pitch in. But this campaign has gone crazy big--it's currently over $375,000 with three days to go ($75,000 of that was raised since Monday), and Monte keeps throwing in stretch goals. The amount of Cool Stuff you get as a backer has just gotten unbelievable. Here's what $60 gets you:
THE REAL DEAL $60 Level
App (Android, iOS, or PC)
Name in the back of the corebook
Player's Guide PDF
Numenera corebook PDF
The Devil's Spine 32-page adventure PDF
The Mechanized Tomb 32-page adventure PDF
The Other Side of the Maelstrom 32-page adventure PDF
The Ninth World Bestiary 160-page PDF
Sir Arthur's Compendium 160-page PDF
Numenera 3D Paper Fold-Up Terrain PDF
GM's Screen PDF
Cypher, Creature, and XP Deck PDFs
Numenera corebook in print
Ninth World Guidebook PDF
That's 16 pieces of content -- 14 in PDF form, one 400 page full-color hardcover, and an app! And there are all kinds of optional add-ons, like mats, cards, GM screens, and (the one I picked) custom dice!
If you are a gamer, you probably already know about this. But if you don't, you've got three days left to get in. Monte's kickstarted a whole product line now--so you'll be able to get all this stuff commercially later--but not for anything like $60!

Age of the Dragons

When I was in Hollywood, "Moby Dick in Space" was constantly being bandied about as an idea. Sometimes seriously, sometimes as a joke. Now it seems that I've missed Danny Glover, as Captain Ahab, in a retelling of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, in which the White Whale is a White Dragon, going direct to DVD. Has anybody seen this? Is it any good?

LEAVING MEGALOPOLIS

We're in the last twenty-five hours for Gail Simone and Jim Calafiore's Leaving Megapolis. For those who don't know, this the celebrated writer and artist team on DC's Secret Six(and many other separate projects), coming together for their first Kickstarter project. I was in early, because hey it sounds amazing, but this whole campaign has been blowing me away.

They were asking for $34,000 to make produce a graphic novel, and they are currently at $106,965.  The graphic novel was going to be 80 pages, but due to the level of support it's now over 112. And the digital version was going to be a PDF but now will include a download code on ComiXology! I love Kickstarter and find the pledge drive as exciting as the product. But for this one, where the minimum pledge level for both comic and digital comic is just $15 (or $9 for just the digital), how can you not?. Here's the pitch. I'd get in now if you haven't already.

Easy as Pie Promo - The Return of Sifl & Olly!

Mother Bleeping Pie - oh how this makes me happy. Sifl & Olly was absolutely the last bit of Mtv programming that I could stomach. It was brilliant, hysterical, completely over the top, mad genius insane -  and must have slipped under the radar of the executives interested in axing anything worthwhile. I'm so in for this.

Dragon*Con 2012

Lisa and Meghan erect the booth scaffolding.

This past Labor Day weekend, August 30th to September 3rd, was Dragon*Con, an event that has become the highlight of my convention year, and a show that's becoming like a giant family reunion where even the weird uncles are really cool. For the third year in a row, Pyr has exhibited at the show. We were back in the same spot in the Marriott Marquis Ballroom, in booth 709/711 (yes, we have a huge double booth).

The booth complete.

I got up early on Thursday and made the drive to Atlanta, where I was joined by two of parent-company Prometheus Books' employees, Meghan Quinn and Lisa Kay Michalski. Both Meghan and Lisa were embarking on -- not only their first Dragon*Con appearance -- but their first genre convention of any kind! We met in the morning and headed over to the Exhibit Hall to assemble the Pyr booth. We broke for lunch at the Metro Cafe Diner,  where we were joined by authors Sam Sykes, Clay Griffith, and Susan Griffith. Then all six of us went back and assembled the booth. That night saw us eating at (my personal favorite local restaurant, because it's a brewery) Max Lager's, and then out to the Marriott Marquis' High Velocity bar for a very late night. John Picacio, who was in town for just Thursday night to Saturday morning, joined us for the evening. We ended the night around 3am, plenty of time to rest up and still make my 11:30 am panel.

Meghan encounters Flying Spaghetti Monster

The panel in question was "Gimme a Break--Breaking in and Breaking Out." Like all Dragon*Con panels, it was well attended. The room had 120 chairs and there were at least another 20 folks standing along the back wall. More I couldn't see to count accurately were sitting in the aisles. Afterwards, I raced to the Exhibit Hall for the first day of sales.

Improvised Name Signage

2:30 pm was the Pyr Rising panel. I was up on stage with Philippa Ballantine, Andrew P. Mayer, Sam Sykes, K.D. McEntire, E.C. Myers, and (arriving directly from the airport without even checking into his hotel first) Jon Sprunk. The room had a live feed to the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago, where we were able to see and interact with James Enge and Brenda Cooper. Thanks to the tech crew that made that link happen. It was wonderful to be able to speak to the World Con audience too and to get to see and talk with James and Brenda.

Nom nom nom.

Then it was back in the Exhibit Hall working the booth until 7pm. Followed by another dinner at Max Lager's and another night, this one out until 3:30 am, at High Velocity.  Somewhere in there was a heated and enjoyable discussion of why The Dark Knight Rises sucks (my position) or was brilliant (the opposing side) with comics artist and creator, Ted Naifeh. We found more common ground with discussions of the animated Batman incarnations, but the whole discussion was fun. It was also good to see Hugo-nominated Dan Dos Santos briefly that evening.

Todd Lockwood and Lisa Kay Michalski

Saturday I didn't have any panels, so it was a marathon all-day selling session. We had printed about a thousand Pyr Sampler books as freebies (Update: we printed 2,186!!!). They were GONE GONE GONE by noon. So too was John Picacio, who was in for the morning, then took off to (!) fly to World Con for the Hugo Awards, but at any time we had four or more authors in the booth with us. A special shout out to KD McEntire's husband Jake, who came to the rescue with a portable hotspot when ours went out! Jake saved our bacon. He also proved to be quite a salesman, which really was above and beyond the call. Meanwhile, the crowds at Dragon*Con have to be seen to be believed, and it's incredibly rewarding to see how many people love our books and look for us each year now. The fan interaction the con affords our staff and our authors is just incredible.

For dinner, I went with Sam Sykes, Lisa Kay Michalski, Meghan Quinn, and famous illustrator Todd Lockwood for pizza at Azio Downtown, then back to High Velocity again, where we met up with several of Lockwood's friends, for an evening that we cut short at 2:45 am. Or maybe it was 3am.

Saturday Night.

And what of our con newbies Lisa and Meghan? They were old pros by the second day, and both fell in immediately with the vibe of the show. I'm so glad they took to it so well, had such fun working hard, and "got" what Dragon*Con was all about for us. You two are incredible! I hope you can come back next year! 

Steam Ensemble

Meanwhile, Sunday was another incredible day in the booth, followed by an 8:30 pm panel called "Editors and Agents Tell All," which was scheduled around the time the Hugo Ceremony in Chicago was starting up. (Apologies for all those nervous glances at my Twitter feed). The panel was just as packed as the previous and a lot of fun to do.

Then it was back to High Velocity, where I had no cell access, no bandwidth, no ability to IM or check Twitter. It was nerve racking, but finally my agent was able to get word to me that "You didn't win. Picacio did." And I was thrilled for my friend John Picacio, long one of the top artists of our field, but now officially a Hugo-award winning illustrator!

Our Last Night

Sunday night was also the last time the gang was out together. It was a wonderful evening, and a somewhat emotional one as well. Dragon*Con is a marvelous show for us because we have a base of operations in the Pyr booth. We get to interact directly with our readers, by the hundreds, every day and see the effect of what we do has on people. It's a great show because of its attendees, who are all ages and ethnicities and genders, and who are all passionate about science fiction and fantasy in all its permutations. It's such a high energy show, where you work hard and play hard for five straight days. No one ever believes me until they come out--even if they believe me they don't believe me--and they come away enthralled. But what really makes this show is the Pyr family. Jon (and now wife Jenny), Sam, Andrew, Clay, Susan, Eugene, Katie, David, Cooper, Will, Lisa Meghan, Pip, Gabrielle--you are all wonderful.

A Dragon's Eye from Hunter and Fox

Monday Lisa, Meghan, Eugene, Clay, Susan, copyeditor Gabrielle Harbowy, and I worked the booth. We managed to sell out Eugene (EC Myer's) last copy of Fair Coinwithin a minute of his departure time for the airport. We also sold out books by Sam Sykes, Andrew P. Mayer, Justina Robson, Jon Sprunk, Dave Freer, KD McEntire, and others. What a show. Lisa and Meghan stayed right up until the Exhibit Hall closed, then took off to the airport.

When it ended, Lisa, Meghan, Clay, Susan, Gabrielle, and friends David Alaister Hayden, Cooper Chun, and Will Cockrell and I disassembled the booth and packaged all remaining stock in under an hour - a record! - and went out (sadly sans Gabrielle, who had other plans) to the Landmark Diner, which, since we ate there after take-down last year too, is I suppose a new tradition. And then it was time to say goodbye.

Stuffed Animal Gown

Deep thanks to Regina Kirby, Nancy Knight, Susan Phillips for great programming, and to all the con runners! It was an amazing con. I loved seeing everyone - old friends and new. Cons are made up of people and these people made the con! Emotional things were said, a lot of them late Sunday night, that are simply not for this blog, but I love these people and always will. Thank you all for making this weekend, this magical Brigadoon that calls us all together once a year, one of the best convention experiences ever.

Dragon*Con Schedule

This weekend is Dragon*Con (August 31 to September 3rd), in Atlanta, Georgia. As previously stated, Pyr will will be exhibiting in booth 709 in the Marriott Marquis Ballroom. On hand will be our authors Philippa Ballantine, Clay & Susan Griffith, Andrew P. Mayer, K.D. McEntire, E.C. Myers, Jon Sprunk, and Sam Sykes.

Meanwhile, my own panel schedule is as follows:

Title: Gimme a Break--Breaking In and Breaking Out
Description: The pros talk about breaking in--selling your first book or story and breaking out--finding a bestseller audience.
Time: Fri 11:30 am Location: Embassy D-F - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
-------------------
Title: Pyr Rising
Description: Pyr Publishing presents its up & coming writers and selections.
Time: Fri 02:30 pm Location: Regency V - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
-------------------
Title: Editors and Agents Tell All
Description: Here's a chance to learn direct from the horse's...er, editor/agent's mouth how to sell your novels.
Time: Sun 08:30 pm Location: Embassy D-F - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
-

Pyr Author Appearances at Dragon*Con

Dragon*Con is next weekend, August 31 to September 3rd, in Atlanta, Georgia. We will be exhibiting in booth 709 in the Marriott Marquis Ballroom. On hand will be our authors Philippa Ballantine, Clay & Susan Griffith, Andrew P. Mayer, K.D. McEntire, E.C. Myers, Jon Sprunk, and Sam Sykes. Additionally, artist John Picacio will be around on Friday.

They'll be authors in and around the booth throughout the convention, but here is our signing schedule so you can be sure to get your books autographed at these times. Additionally, be sure to check out the "Pyr Rising" from 2:30 to 3:30 in the Hyatt Regency V room. We'll be showing lots of debut artwork and talking about our recent and forthcoming books.

Friday, August 31

2:30 – 3:30       Pyr Rising panel w/Lou Anders, Philippa Ballantine, K.D. McEntire, Sam Sykes, Jon Sprunk, and Andrew Mayer.  Location: Regency V – Hyatt

(LIZ- to fit master schedule signs you can cut all the participant names and just have time, panel name and location.)

4:00 pm – 4:45 pm        Artist JOHN PICACIO

4:00 – 5:00 pm              CLAY and SUSAN GRIFFITH

5:00 – 6:00 pm             K.D. McENTIRE

5:00 – 6:00 pm              SAM SYKES

Saturday, September 1

11:00 am - Noon           K.D. McENTIRE

11:00 am - Noon           JON SPRUNK

Noon – 1:00 pm            SAM SYKES

           

Noon – 1:00 pm            PHILIPPA BALLANTINE

1:00 – 2:00 pm             ANDREW MAYER

2:00 – 3:00 pm              CLAY and SUSAN GRIFFITH

                       

3:00 – 4:00 pm              JON SPRUNK

           

4:00 – 5:00 pm              E.C. MYERS

5:00 – 6:00 pm  ANDREW MAYER

Sunday, September 2

11:00 am - Noon           SAM SYKES

11:00 am - Noon           JON SPRUNK

Noon – 1:00 pm            ANDREW MAYER

1:00 – 2:00 pm              K.D. McENTIRE

           

1:00 – 2:00 pm              E.C. MYERS

2:00 – 3:00 pm              CLAY and SUSAN GRIFFITH

4:00 – 5:00 pm             PHILIPPA BALLANTINE

Update: On Saturday from 1:00 – 3:00 pm, E.C. Myers is signing at the SFWA table and so will not be appearing in the Pyr booth at that time.

Tales of the Emerald Serpent

Tales of the Emerald Serpent (Ghosts of Taux)is a shared world anthology, very much in the tradition of Robert Lynn Asprin's  Thieves' Worldseries. It's the brainchild of Scott Taylor, a blogger and senior editor at Black Gate magazine. And it's a Kickstarter funded project, raising an impressive $13,418.

The book features stories from authors Lynn Flewelling, Harry Connolly, Todd Lockwood, Juliet E. McKenna, Michael Tousignant, Martha Wells, Julie Czerneda, Scott Taylor himself, and Rob Mancebo. The cover art is by Todd Lockwood, with interior art by Jeff Laubenstein and Todd Lockwood.

I confess to funding it out of curiosity to see just what was possible on Kickstarter, more an act of research than one of pleasure. However, I finished reading Tales of the Emerald Serpent this past Saturday, and my verdict is that I'm very impressed.

It's worth noting that I funded a second book project around the same time. That one achieved ten times its funding goal this past April, and two months past its estimated delivery goal, has yet to materialize.

By contrast, Tales of the Emerald Serpent made its funding on April 18th and had shipped out all copies of it's digital edition by June 26th. The delivery process was professional and efficient, with daily updates explaining which reward levels were being delivered when.

The book itself (and I've seen the physical edition though I speak here of the ebook edition) is a thing of beauty. Todd Lockwood's cover is absolutely gorgeous, and the cover is reproduced inside the ebook and - most importantly - at a decent resolution. The ebook also includes all the interior art, also at a high level of resolution, and has an embedded back cover. It's a good deal better packaged and presented than a good many books coming out of professional houses.

Also, note the medallions in the corners of the front cover. You'll see that three are in sepia tones, while the fourth, in the upper right corner, is in color. These medallions indicate what era of Scott's enormous history these stories occur in. This is similar to what the Star Wars books do, with the icons on the novels telling you where a story takes place in the Old Republic or the New Jedi Order, etc... It's a device that I've been kicking around in my own head for a while now, considering for a project I'm working on, and frankly I'm jealous Scott's beat me to it.

I would like it if there was some sort of introduction that placed this city in context. Perhaps some notes on how the idea came about (I've heard that it was the setting for a RPG campaign but nothing in the book confirms or denies this) or some background on the world in which the city of Taux resides. A glossary would also have been nice. More importantly, the book has a lot of invented races, the Aspara, the Jai-Ruk, the Kin. Wonderful pencil illustrations of these creatures were included in email updates sent out to the Kickstarter backers, but the book itself would really have been served by including them. I found myself logging on to Kickstarter throughout the reading experience to see who was what, and I imagine someone who wasn't a backer, and thus couldn't access the posted art, might have been even more confused. But given that few "traditionally published" anthologies even have interior art, Tales of the Emerald Serpent still comes out at the head of the pack.

Are there nitpicks? Sure. But speaking just in terms of the professionalism of the product, from its "customer service" to its presentation, I give this one an A-. And that's a very high grade.

Now on to the fiction...

The stories in Tales of the Emerald Serpent don't just share a location, they sometimes share characters. The various events described weave together in much the same way that the tales of Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novels do. They weave and wind through the Emerald Serpent tavern, the Silk Purse brothel, and the Raised Market, and events in one story are often alluded to in another. This adds a level of reality and credibility to the setting that makes me long for a detailed map of the city and another of the continent it's set on. What we do know of Taux we have to glean from the stories themselves. Taux is a sort of faux-Aztec or Mayan style city, whose original inhabitants suddenly vanished one day under mysterious, and presumably horrendous, circumstances. The city has been repopulated by immigrants from other cultures, though one wonders about the intelligence of anyone willing to live in a city where the stones whisper. To live in Taux is to convince yourself that whatever happened to them couldn't possibly happen to you. Having spent six years living above a fault line, I don't have any problem buying into this. Meanwhile, the way the book hints at something under the city and the very real possibility that something dire could be coming to a head is just delicious.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the best stories are by the most experienced contributors. Lynn Flewelling, Juliet E. McKenna, Martha Wells, and Julie Czerneda's tales are all excellent--Czerneda's in particular--while Harry Connolly's "The One Thing You Can Never Trust" is worth the price of the whole anthology by itself. His is the tale of Emil Lacosta, a merchant who deals in love potions (and whose best customer is the madame of the aforementioned Silk Purse), who is approached by a client with a very unusual request. I won't spoil it, but this was the story that made me sit up and take notice.

The big surprise for me was artist Todd Lockwood, who contributes the story "Between." Todd labored under the constraints of having to tie his tale directly into two other stories, but he does an admirable job. More importantly, his character of Torrent (the woman pictured center on the cover above) is marvelous--he can really write character--and I hope he gets to write about her again. Lockwood has long been regarded as one of the top illustrators of our genre, but I suspect, with his recent novel sale to DAW, that he will soon have a reputation as a writer as well.

There was only one story that I felt was below professional quality, though I won't say which one. Finally, Rob Mancebo's story suffers from essentially ending with a big "To Be Continued". It's a set up with no pay off, and I wish the book didn't end that way. But I liked eight out of nine stories in the volume, and that's an amazing average.

I'd highly recommend Tales of the Emerald Serpent. I like what it does and how it goes about it. It's a smart, good looking package with some real gems of fiction inside. I have no knowledge of a sequel in the works, but I'd certainly fund a Tales of the Emerald Serpent 2.

Just a thought...

When I look backwards at my accomplishments, I feel old. When I look forward towards my plans, I feel young.

Hungry for SF

The Library Journal has a big article on SF&F today called, "Hungry for SF: Genre Crossovers Retain Fans and Attract New Readers."

I'm quoted along with Tim Holman (Orbit), Paula Guran (Prime), Daren Turpin (Angry Robot), Diana Gill (Harper), Susan Allison (Berkley). But I get the last word.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Just a thought...

I'm all for change that benefits the consumer--after all I'm a big consumer myself--but only to the degree that it doesn't impact the creator. Tor's move to remove DRM is laudable and, more to the point, probably inevitable. Hachette's attempt to pressure authors to demand it be restored isn't great PR. But Hachette is correct that they will see sales erode in their territory from Tor books sold into non-US countries. This will increase pressure on other publishers to dispense with DRM. But another side effect will be pressure on publishers to only acquire World English rights to a title. This will be good for publishers and good for readers. But it will be bad for authors and agents, who will see an additional revenue stream go away. In an age of shrinking advances, our creators will be paid less. Of course, the ability to sell the ebooks unrestricted across multiple territories may see higher royalties. Or will it? See yesterday's thoughts about book sales. I'm frequently told, by pirates, that they *had to steal* the book because it wasn't being offered in their territory. Now that it is, will they pay for it? We need to make sure we support our creators adequately if we want them to go on creating.

Just a thought....

Something that bothers me in the endless debate about the pricing of ebooks: It is a fallacy to assume that just because something can be *sold* indefinitely that it will automatically be *bought* indefinitely. The vast majority of books published will never break 10,000 sales. And the majority of most books sales occur in the first six weeks of its release. So let's remove the phrase "you can sell it forever" from the discussion.

Video read-through of the Pyr Fall-Winter 2012-2013 catalog

Samuel Montgomery-Blinn, of the wonderful Bull Spec magazine, does a video read-through of the latest Pyr catalog. He gets excited about quite a few things, admits to needing to read a lot more, and bags on one cover. But we appreciate the love, the attention, and the opinions! Thanks, Sam.

A Guile of Dragons featured in Kirkus "Not-to-miss" list!

Kirkus Reviews has posted their "11 Not-to-miss Science Fiction and Fantasy books for August." Of some 150 books out this month, James Enge's A GUILE OF DRAGONS makes -- and tops -- this list. They say:
"Enge is not only a writer of fantasy, he's a devoted fan educated in its history and evolution. That's no more apparent than in his adventures of Morlock Ambrosius, a swordsman wandering a world rife with various magical disciplines. In A Guile of Dragons, Enge takes us back to show us the origins of his hero, as the Longest War—the war between dwarves and dragons presumed to have been over and done with—reignites with the return of the dragons."

Of course they'll be giant robots...

When I was in college, I saw a debate between Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and a prominent scientist on the subject of whether or not we would ever create an android as sophisticated as Commander Data. Or at least that's what the debate was supposed to be about. Roddenberry spent the whole time reminiscing about how great he was for creating the original Trek, and the scientist, whose name I forget, was completely closed to the idea of humanoid robots. He said that the currently-existing robots were all single purpose devices -- like the arms used in automobile assembly plants -- and thus there was no need to ever create something that aped the human body.

Years later, when I would actually stand on the sets of Deep Space Nine and Voyager interacting with the casts and crews of those shows, I was glad to have at least been in the room with Roddenberry once.  But at the time, I came away extremely disappointed. I was disappointed in Roddenberry for refraining from saying anything of substance whatsoever, and I was disappointed in the scientist for having no grasp whatsoever of human nature.

Sure, he couldn't see utilitarian reason for building a robot.  But what the hell do we have pyramids and videogames and water slides for? I knew then, and this was a long time ago, that of course there would be robots and starships and ray guns and holodecks and everything else. Not because it was necessary, but because some fan would be in the driver's seat of the technical development. Is anyone surprised that every dot com billionaire is busy funding their own space ship? Come on.

So, in that spirit, here's why it will all be real one day:

Exhibit A: The real life Batcave home theatre. This article in the Daily Mail is confusing, as it shows two different designs, and claims to be an actual home theater designed by Elite Home Theater Systems, stating that it's been built by a rich fan in Greenwich, Connecticut for a cost of $2 million.

The Daily Mail article then shows two different theater set ups: one that fuses the Batcave with gothic architecture from Gotham City and aspects of Wayne Manor, and one that is all cave, sans bookshelves, fireplace and computers.

Elite Home Theatre's own page only shows the first cave, says they only did the design, and that the actual construction is being done by another firm for a resident in California. So the article may have conflated two different Batcave style home theaters.

My guess is that they provided two different concepts and one of them was chosen, or these were two different designs for two different clients, one in Connecticut and one in California.  Elite's page also indicates that while they only provided the design, construction is under way. Okay, so this thing does/will exist and there are possibly two of them. I seriously want there to be a third, and I know right where it goes.


Meanwhile, here's why Voltron: Defender of the Universe will fly in our skies one day.  Japanese robotics expert Wataru Yoshizaki and artist Kogoru Kurata have created a robot that you can ride and battle in. The Kuratas costs a mere $2.37 million dollars and shoots rubber BB pellets (for now), runs on diesel fuel and goes up to 10 mph. You can ride inside it or control it from your smart phone. How long until Japanese girls in crash helmets and shorts are policing the streets of Tokyo in these babies?



So yeah, the Enterprise, from NCC-1701, through every A, B, C, D, and E, will absolutely exist one day. Not because it's the best design for a space ship, but just because some fan somewhere in the position to do so will make the call.

The Politics of Fantasy

Cover art by Steve Stone

The latest Pyr newsletter, the Pyr-A-Zine, has an amazing Q&A with James Enge, discussing his just released novel, A Guile of Dragons (A Tournament of Shadows, Book 1), that is very worth checking out.

One of the interesting questions concerns the anarchic politic system of the Graith of Guardians, which lead to a discussion of why so many fantasy novels operate in monarchies. James answer is very interesting. You'll have to go to the newsletter for the full response, but he begins by saying, "There's a complaint about imaginary-world fantasy which is partly valid and partly nonsense. The complaint runs something like this: Always with the kings, and the dukes, and the princesses. Where's the pluralistic democracy? Do you fantasy people HATE FREEDOM? Personally, I love political freedom so much that someday I'm going to buy some for myself."

Meanwhile, an excerpt from the Q&A has sparked a very interesting debate in the comments section on io9, when they used the interview as a springboard to ask, "Why do epic fantasies always take place in monarchies, instead of democracies?"

So the newsletter, the io9 debate, and, of course, the book itself, are all well worth checking out! 

A GUILE OF DRAGONS hits shelves!

It's here!! James Enge's A GUILE OF DRAGONS is on shelves now!! "Excellent epic fantasy"--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY starred review. Cover art by Steve Stone.




It's dwarves versus dragons in this origin story for Enge's signature character, Morlock Ambrosius!

Before history began, the dwarves of Thrymhaiam fought against the dragons as the Longest War raged in the deep roads beneath the Northhold. Now the dragons have returned, allied with the dead kings of Cor and backed by the masked gods of Fate and Chaos.

The dwarves are cut off from the Graith of Guardians in the south. Their defenders are taken prisoner or corrupted by dragonspells. The weight of guarding the Northhold now rests on the crooked shoulders of a traitor's son, Morlock syr Theorn (also called Ambrosius).

But his wounded mind has learned a dark secret in the hidden ways under the mountains. Regin and Fafnir were brothers, and the Longest War can never be over. . . .

BISG Report Finds More E-book Buyers Buying Print Books

An article in Publishers Weekly entitled "BISG Report Finds More E-book Buyers Buying Print Books," has this interesting statistic:

"...the percentage of e-book consumers who exclusively or mostly purchase e-books fell from nearly 70% in August 2011 to 60% in May 2012. Over the same period, the percentage of survey respondents who have no preference for either e-book or print formats, or who buy some genres in e-book format and others in print, rose from 25% percent to 34%."

The article also notes that the Kindle Fire has overtaken the iPad among ebook consumers. No surprise there, though iBooks remains my personal preferred reader.  I am hopeful that iTunes will eventually include ebooks in their iMatch service so I have Cloud storage for my non-iBookstore purchased epub titles.

Under Pressure (Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert)

Bowie and Annie Lennox!

Even Pissed, Bowie is cool...

Having watched a number of interviews with classic rock stars, it does seem like UK journalists of the 60s and 70s were jerks. And Bowie, even when insulted and irritated, is never less than poised and in control:

On Writing

You don't get to be a master thief by walking through a succession of open doors. You get to be a master thief by learning to pick a succession of locks.

San Diego Comic Con

Another San Diego Comic Con has come and gone, leaving me in a state of post-con withdrawal and well-earned exhaustion. This was probably my most enjoyable comic con to date, made so entirely by the people that I spent it with.

I roomed, as has become the tradition, with good friends John Picacio and Paul Cornell, two guys I can never see enough of. My plane Wednesday was late, but I got in just in time to make my dinner with editors Ann Sowards, Diana Gill and Ann Groell, illustrator John Picacio, and (unexpected arrival) author Paolo Bacigalupi (The Drowned Cities). io9's Charlie Jane Anders (no relation but one of my favorite people) and Annalee Newitz (also fav) dropped in at the end, making for a great night at Rocking Baja Lobster. Then it was off to the Grand Lobby Bar at the Hyatt, where I bumped into my friend Bill Willingham (Fables, Down the Mysterly River) and had drinks until late with Picacio and Paolo.

Thursday my dear friend Stephenson Crossley took the train down from LA, just for four hours, to hang. We paled around the con, the met up with Pierce Watters (Paizo), Michael Rowley (Ebury), and James Parker (Hastings) for dinner at JSix.  Great meal with great conversation with great people. Afterwards, we walked to Bootlegger for the Random House Party, which was the most comfortable location for a publishing party I've thus far attended in San Diego. Then back to the Grand Lobby Bar at the Hyatt, where Paul Cornell was nice enough to introduce John Picacio and I to some of the organizers from Convergence, a convention at which Picacio and I will both sit as Guest of Honor next year.

Friday started off with a breakfast with my buddy filmmaker Kenny Golde,  then a lunch with John Picacio and Matt Gagnon, Editor-in-Chief of BOOM! Studios. Matt and I share some authors in common and our jobs are remarkable similar across our related fields, so it's always fun to catch up with him. Afterwards I met up with Joseph Mallozzi (of Stargate fame, in town to sign his comic book, Dark Matter) and the lovely Akemi, then had drinks with Michael Alan Nelson (HEXED, Fall of Cthulhu). Midway through drinks, my friend James Waugh of Blizzard Entertainment showed up.

Then it was off to dinner at Searsucker with Joseph Mallozzi, Akemi, John Picacio and Marjorie M. Liu (Dirk & Steele, Astonishing X-Men), where Mallozzi had prairie oysters. I wasn't *afraid* to join him, as he implies on his blog; I just don't eat beef ! I was all set to dig in when I realized that a bull's testicles are still technically red meat.

Afterwards we all went to the Hilton where we met up with Night Shade Books’ Jeremy Lassen and others. But it was at the Hilton that I got to see the true and ugly cost of fame. Picacio and I were talking to George RR Martin, and I glanced down to look at my cell phone. I glanced back up, to find someone standing in front of me and moving their lips without making a sound. I wasn't sure what they were doing, and when I leaned forward, thinking I just couldn't hear them in all the ambient noise, they explained that "I'm just moving my lips so it will look like I am in the same conversation as George Martin." O-kaaaaay.

Saturday was a lunch with Marjorie M. Liu, more walking the floor with Mallozzi and Akemi, and then afternoon drinks with my good friends Miles Homes (lead designer with Gameloft) and Matt Wilson (Creative Director, Privateer Press). Drinks with Miles & Matt is an annual Comic Con tradition, now in its third year, and frankly, has come to be the cornerstone of my whole SDCC experience. Great guys who've become good friends. Oh, and Matt just wrote and directed his first short film, called Level 7.

Then it was dinner at Fleming's with some of my favorite artists: Todd Lockwood (and his wife), Stephan Martiniere (and his daughter and friend), John Picacio, and Dave Seeley (and his son), as well as with my friend Mike Colbert, who is releasing his first graphic novel soon. (It's called Crazy Mary - check it out!) Comic illustrator J.K. Woodward joined us later. Then it was off to the Westin for a last drink and then to bed.

If it sounds like San Diego Comic Con was just four days spent with a slew of people that I think are all great folk, that's because it was.