Reading Journal | 1-30-2012

I know I said I'd do it weekly. I GUESS I LIED. (Or, I didn't read anything last week.)


I know I also said I was reading Marquise de Sade, but I can't read that type of prose at this stage in my editing and revisions. So that's shelved for now.

In related news, I got a late Xmas gift of a KINDLE. Which means I get all sorts of new variety in my non-fiction and classic fiction, which enhances my TBR pile significantly. In a good way. I'm excited.

Here's what I've read this past fortnight.

The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett. 2009. (Epic Fantasy, New Author, Male, Series)

From the Amazon page: 

"As darkness falls after sunset, the corelings rise—demons who possess supernatural powers and burn with a consuming hatred of humanity. For hundreds of years the demons have terrorized the night, slowly culling the human herd that shelters behind magical wards—symbols of power whose origins are lost in myth and whose protection is terrifyingly fragile. It was not always this way. Once, men and women battled the corelings on equal terms, but those days are gone. Night by night the demons grow stronger, while human numbers dwindle under their relentless assault. Now, with hope for the future fading, three young survivors of vicious demon attacks will dare the impossible, stepping beyond the crumbling safety of the wards to risk everything in a desperate quest to regain the secrets of the past. Together, they will stand against the night." 

I was pretty excited to finally get this - it's educational to see what publishers (especially big ones like Del Rey) are looking for in debut novelists. As debut novels go, this was pretty strong. The worldbuilding was elaborate and very well-construed.

It was a curious thing to watch the children become adults - something that we don't see enough of in this genre - but I'm not sure I was ever truly concerned for their life, despite plenty of opportunities to cheer or gasp for the protagonists.

The magic system (of wards) is excellent - perhaps the best part of the world-building, and the story is told well enough such that you're not asking, "Really? No one thought of this or that before now?" (Well, some might.)

The next book in the series is The Desert Spear.

- and -

Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie. 2008. (Epic Fantasy, Male, Series)

Back cover:

The end is coming.

Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him-but it's going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the king of the Northmen still stands firm, and there's only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy: it's time for the Bloody-Nine to come home.

With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war. A secret struggle in which no one is safe, and no one can be trusted. As his days with a sword are far behind him, it's fortunate that he's deadly with his remaining weapons: blackmail, threats, and torture.

Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is too painful an undertaking and turned his back on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too-and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man when he least expects it.

The king of the Union lies on his deathbed, the peasants revolt, and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No one believes that the shadow of war is about to fall across the heart of the Union. Only the First of the Magi can save the world, but there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, than to break the First Law...

Mr. Abercrombie can weave a dark, fantastic tale. If there's anyone out there talking about "dark, gritty, realistic fantasy" - they're comparing it to him. Had I not read the trilogy to its beautifully honest conclusion, I would never have believed that any author had the talent to take absolutely villainous miscreants and make them sympathetic. The cost of war, the cost of choices, the cost of dark magic - everything handled brilliantly, fairly. Characters are seen through to the end: nothing is as it seems, but it's quite exactly as it should be.

Prose, worldbuilding, plot - all excellent. Characters stumble, grow, fail, get beat up, grow some more.

Also, confession: I'm jealous of the dialect and prose of the Northmen. It's perfect. I want it in my head.

Could I read 50 books like this? No, no, no. But I'll be reading more Abercrombie, or rereading this series. Because sometimes fairies and miracles and magic swords DON'T save the day. Not for the faint of heart whatsoever, but if you hear people talking about 'dark fantasy' and want to see exactly how it should be done? Start here: The Blade Itself: The First Law: Book One . Thank me afterwards.

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This week - Non-fiction, and something light in fiction. Have to tinker with the Kindle, dontcha know?

Before They Are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie

From Joe Abercrombie's website:

Superior Glokta has a problem. How do you defend a city surrounded by enemies and riddled with traitors, when your allies can by no means be trusted, and your predecessor vanished without a trace? It’s enough to make a torturer want to run – if he could even walk without a stick.

Northmen have spilled over the border of Angland and are spreading fire and death across the frozen country. Crown Prince Ladisla is poised to drive them back and win undying glory. There is only one problem – he commands the worst-armed, worst-trained, worst-led army in the world.

And Bayaz, the First of the Magi, is leading a party of bold adventurers on a perilous mission through the ruins of the past. The most hated woman in the South, the most feared man in the North, and the most selfish boy in the Union make a strange alliance, but a deadly one. They might even stand a chance of saving mankind from the Eaters. If they didn’t hate each other quite so much.

Ancient secrets will be uncovered. Bloody battles will be won and lost. Bitter enemies will be forgiven – but not before they are hanged.

Well, Joe, you did it to me again. Left me wanting more.

This time, however, I'm not mad about it. I expected it - which gave me a chance to value the story for the telling. Still a page turner.

If you read The Blade Itself, then you're going to want to read this. Some folks might say that it suffers from "middle book syndrome", that of a lot of arcs and webs woven from beginning to end.

I wouldn't say that here. What we have here is character development. We spent a lot of time with the cast in book one, and by the end of book two, we know them a bit better. Much better. If you sniff really hard, you can see some foreshadowing for bigger troubles in Last Argument of Kings [The First Law: Book Three], the next and final installment in the series.

"We're a lot different, you and me. Different in all kind of ways. I see you don't have much respect for my kind, or for me in particular, and I don't much blame you. The dead know I got my shortcomings, and I ain't entirely ignorant of 'em. You may think you're a clever man, and I'm a stupid one, and I daresay you're right. There's sure to be a very many things that you know more about than I do. But when it comes to fighting, I'm sorry to say, there's few men with a wider experience than me. No offence, but we both know you're not one of 'em. No one made me the leader, but this is the task that needs doing." He stepped closer still, his great paw gripping Jezal's shoulder with a fatherly firmness, halfway between reassurance and threat. "Is that a worry?"

Jezal thought about it for a moment. He was out of his depth, and the events of the past few minutes had demonstrated beyond question just how far. He looked down at the man that Ninefingers had killed only a moment before, and the cleft in the back of his head yawned wide. Perhaps for the moment, it would be best if he simply did as he was told.

"No worry," he said.

- pg 173

It's hard to discuss the story without spoiling. Joe is true to his characters. He peels away the layers and sticks to their core truths, the hints of which were only evident in The Blade Itself. And ends the same way. There are surprises along the way, and they're either reasonable or cruel, depending on how sadistic you are.

Seems to me that Abercrombie's voice and writing style improves heavily in the second book. His descriptions are lush and stirring, capturing and foretelling moments through the physical manifestations of the scene's setting. Even more notable is that the prose matches the character's perspective as POV's shift throughout the story - something that I've only ever seen G.R.R.M. pull off well - Abercrombie nails it.

Within the shifting perspectives and ideas of a huge cast of characters, we see just how dark Joe can go - and I suspect he will go darker yet. Love and loss and sacrifice. Blood and death and murder and rape. The events that shape a character, change them. The reader suffers - or rejoices - right along with the characters throughout. Even when the outcome is most likely to be grim or unexpected, the reader still gets to experience that, connect with the character. In short, despite much of the tale leading up to even more dramatic events, yet to be revealed, this is damn good storytelling.

I do wonder if this series is too grim and bloody for the average fantasy reader. Yes, there's humor interspersed within, and intrigue, and clever complications, and even ... sex. Mostly though, a growing black cloud grows over the entire arc and all the characters as they work their way into ... running out of excuses to not confront their issues straight on, as they will have to in the next book.

Truly, I have to give Abercrombie credit where it's due. He beats the hell out of his characters, and shows them no mercy... no mercy at all. This series isn't for the faint of heart... which is why I'm liking it so damn much.

Reading Journal, Borgias, Thrones

Monday morning musings...

Finished The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One) last night. Damn it. Super duper cliffhangers. Rawr. Grrrrr.


Moving on to positivity, here's what Mr. Abercrombie accomplishes in his breakout novel. He does write excellent fight scenes, by the way (noted in one of the back cover blurbs). He compels the reader to root for the underdog. That's a skill, a talent. There's a nice balance between action and narrative, the plot moves forward and the protagonists' lives become interwoven in an interesting way.

He breaks many of the rules that we unpublished writers read again and again in all these ever-so-helpful writing tip blogs. That, in and of itself, is a statement. If you have the talent, it will show. He does. So, instead of taking everyone's advice and having your unique style and voice get washed out in a vanilla coated style compendium of zero risk storytelling - just do what you're gonna do.


This is the lesson I'm finding, again and again, every time I pick up a genre novel. At the end of the day, you cannot argue with success.


Having said that, I get really frustrated with reading 500 pages and not having any resolutions. I won't be doing that. That's not likely to stop me from picking up Before They Are Hanged (The First Law: Book Two). Dang it. :-p

*


Ah, the Borgias. They're going down! I think they rather dragged out last night's episode, considering next week is the season finale... hmm. They're going to leave me on a cliffhanger, too, aren't they?


Damn it.


What can I say after last night's episode? I like Holliday Grainger all the more these days.


And, I told you so, Juan Borgia's an idiot. "Hey, let's just wait for the cannons to fire!" Actually what he said was, "Who gives the order to charge?"


Which, really, says more than any commentary I could add at this point.


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Thrones.


Last night captured the essence of the relationship between Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon superbly well. And while *I* don't think Maisie Williams looks much like a boy at all, considering the parallel historical time period, I think it's clever that the viewer gets that perspective: she's dirty and not in a dress = boy with long hair.


I think it's a little funny that "sex scene" = "exposition and backstory time". It's almost insulting! (Truly, a good whore is going to piss off her client? Even if she's trying to be cheeky, repeat business insures her income.) I guess it's a reasonable time to chit chat, but the scene with Cersei and Robert was much better.


Ser Loras and Ser Renly. Varys and Illyrio. I weep. Television forces the giant HERE IT IS spotlight, where a novel allows and encourages the reader to take the clues, the hints and draw their own conclusions. Read the book.


I can appreciate that we didn't see Jon Snow or Daenerys Targaryen in this episode, though the timing for Dany is a bit off. Crossing the Dothraki Sea should've taken a whole episode. The action should have clung to her more tightly once they arrived at Vaes Dothrak (which they did in the last episode, as I recall.)


But the Wall? No, the viewer can assume that the four new friends are bonding, being beaten up by Aliser Thorne and teaching Ser Piggy how to fight - the next episode will be a good time to let them take their vows. Their lack of presence in this most recent episode works.


Aside! Apparently some viewers were upset by the demise of direwolf Lady in episode 2. GRRM has addressed that on his Not A Blog, in a manner which I must fully endorse. Spoiler alert: There's going to be a lot more death before the end of the season.


*


Not to get overly meta, but lately I have seen a number of stories where the perceived ruler is fat and decadent. Is this a trope? Or is this a statement towards modern governments - those we choose become bloated, indulgent and selfish, and the countries are actually run by appointed bureaucrats, who are completely out of touch with (and unaccountable to) the common folks?

I do not like the trope. Medieval times were too harsh. A man (or woman) who could not hold their kingdom would lose it. Having said that, it certainly makes sense as a plot point - because at least the reader can appreciate why the ridiculous ruler is going to see war (there is always war).
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What's next for me to read? I'm deciding between Dune, Songs of Love and Death: All Original Tales of Star Crossed Love, and Kushiel's Scion (Kushiel's Legacy).


In other (personal and irrelevant) news, this weekend marked the first time in two weeks that I was able to eat and not feel pain. The Crohn's has gone back into remission. Huzzah! Now to be a little indulgent myself and regain the weight I've lost... and edit the beast, dang it. ;-)

Reading Journal - Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

I got called in early to work today, so this will be a brief post. I'm no longer doing "reviews", per se (at least that is my mood this year, ha), but I've seen a few blogs doing reading journals. Let's try that. One doesn't need to reinvent the wheel.

The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One) is, from what I understand, Abercrombie's debut novel.

It's pretty good. I see a lot of references to Abercrombie in my reading - they say that if you want gritty, dirty, crude fantasy fiction, he's the man to read.

Yes, that is so. Along the lines of GRRM, which I've also seen mentioned.

I'm about halfway through The Blade Itself, and what the strength and draw of this novel is, to me, is the characterizations.

Because these are some despicable characters. Crude, arrogant, ugly, distinctly unlikable. And YET, Abercrombie makes them all entirely sympathetic.

Now I went into this knowing it's the first book in a trilogy, which is to say, the protagonists' motives aren't entirely clear. Seems they'd be happy just to make it through one of their miserable days without dying or suffering or being called to task.

As the story progresses, they get motivated or involved in what's going on - and about a third of the way through the story, you begin to see moments of why these characters were chosen, and how their paths are very likely to cross later.

So, yes, I'm enjoying it.

As far as my writing goes, this has inspired rather an opposite effect on me. While reading this, it occurred to me to make my antagonist more sympathetic. My protagonists are fine (they need some work in the revisions of course); but I've really enjoyed how Abercrombie has made his roguish unlikables - likable. I've been putting it off in my own WIP primarily for the purpose of length - at 140k words, it's too lengthy for a debut novel. Adding more chapters is not helpful.

But perhaps a few chapters here and there... yes, indeed.

Anyway, so off to work for me. It's a good time for things to swirl around and solidify in my head. Have a great weekend!

New York Comic Con - Fantasy Author Panel

Two vimeo videos, below - just over an hour total - which I have ungraciously borrowed from suvudu.com.

NYCC Panel Video: Fantasy Authors from Suvudu on Vimeo.

NYCC Panel Video: Fantasy Authors Part II from Suvudu on Vimeo.

I thought the Tolkien question was reasonably asked and addressed. I was particularly surprised/relieved at the multiple G.R.R.M. references as well. I'm biased, of course, as I see those two as my own biggest influences.

Naomi Novik hit it on the head, more or less, in her response to the "influence of gaming on writing" question. I think it's important now, and will continue to be increasingly so, that with modern technology, readers can find a world that they can immerse themselves into.

The other questions and answers were interesting, but more or less expected. It was enjoyable to watch for me, so I thought I'd share.

Happy Monday.