Tuesday, 28 July 2009

What's Dungeons and Dragons?

So an interesting thing happened to me the other day. Well, probably not THAT interesting, of itself, but it got me thinking. Some of our new neighbours came round for a drink, brought their son with them, who I'd guess is about 10 or 11 years old. I forget exactly how it came up, but he was talking about what he was in to (guitar playing and xbox, mainly) and I said something like, oh, you know, all I did at your age was play dungeons and dragons. I was prepared for various responses, such as, "dungeons and dragons sucks ass, man, what I like is getting girls PREGNANT", or, "dungeons and dragons, that's WEAK! I'm into KNIFE CRIME." I was not, however, prepared for what he actually did, which was to give me this baffled look and say:

"What's Dungeons and Dragons?"

Oh, the horror. I was massively into role-playing games as a kid, in fact it was probably my main leisure activity between the ages of about 10 and 14. Alright, 9 and 16. Alright, 8 and 18. Some D&D, early on, then later a lot of MERP (Middle Earth Role Play, noobs) and some Runequest, along with sundry others, and, as a GM (gamesmaster, noobs), Warhammer Fantasy Role Play. All this stuff was a big influence on me, in fact it might be fair to say that fantasy filtered through the lens of roleplaying in the form of endless rather cheesy supplements and adventures was as big an influence as actual written fantasy fiction. Gamesmastering, in particular, has an awful lot in common with storytelling of the fictional sort. It certainly did in my games, where characters were barely presented with the illusion of choice, let alone actual choice.

It's probably not much of a revelation to observe that many of today's leading writers of fantasy share my deep roots in RPGs. Off the top of my head I believe (and forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong) that the worlds in which Ray Feist and Steven Erikson write were both originally gaming worlds. Scott Lynch wrote roleplaying supplements before selling a novel. I do not doubt that many more, if not most, of today's fantasy writers have more than a passing acquaintance with a d20.

Now I guess I'd always assumed that dice and paper roleplaying would gradually wither as computer-based roleplaying games became more and more immersive and effective. But on my recent trip to Scandinavia, where I visited a good few very impressive F&SF bookshops, I was assured that some areas of the old RPG scene are still in rude commercial health. I'm now wondering, though, whether a lot of that stuff gets bought by old soldiers like me, and Scott Lynch, and Ray Feist, wanting to read them while having a poo to see where the games have gone, rather than actually to run them in a proper session with, like, actual players (they always were the most irritating part of RPGs anyway, weren't they, though?).

My neighbours question of "what's D&D?" certainly implies RPGs have nothing like the wide cultural purchase they used to. In my day, there were plenty of kids who wouldn't have touched them with a shitty stick. Who'd have played sports, or played in the garden, or gone out on their bikes or some other Chaotic Evil activity instead. Who'd have thrown stones at kids who played D&D, stole their glasses and laughed when blood came out of their heads. But even if they hated, scorned, and secretly feared it, they knew what it was.

I guess my train of thought creakily goes in this direction - if dice and paper roleplaying dies out, what will be the equivalent influences on the next generation of fantasy writers? Video game equivalents seem the obvious thing. World of Warcraft and the like. Now far be it from me to bemoan the influence of computer games, as I've been a keen fan my whole life, though not necessarily of the online variety. But there's a world of difference between the imaginative effort of summoning up a world and characters out of one's own head (not to mention the social effort of dealing with other players) and a computer-based world where the detail is already coded and can be viewed from every angle (not to mention that the social involvement rarely goes further than OMG YOU ******* NOOB PUSH THE ******* BUTTON YOU ******* NOOB **** **** NOOB **** DO YOU WANT TO BUY A SWORD?). Undoubtedly, playing computer based RPGs is just an awful lot more passive than having to gamesmaster yourself.

I find that idea oddly worrying. Well, not in a - OH MY GOD WITHIN SIX MONTHS WE'LL ALL BE LIVING LIKE IN CORMACK MCCARTHY'S THE ROAD IF WE'RE ALIVE AT ALL - sort of a way, but a bit worrying nonetheless. The creativity you need to gamesmaster is a useful step on the way to the creativity you need to write. Without GMing myself, I'm not sure I'd ever have thought about the possibility of taking the next step and trying to write fiction. I daresay there's nothing one can do about it - except to hope that the computer generated fantasy worlds that replace RPGs are as clever and innovative as they can be, rather than the rather ill-conceived smorgasbord of cliches we often get served up (I'm looking at you, Oblivion). And hey, there are an awful lot of other ways for writers to find their creativity (like reading other people's books, for instance).

But still. Can I shed just a little tear for The Keep on the Borderlands? Can YOU?

Labels: games, influences

Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Radio Ga Ga/Verbal Smackdown

So it would appear I am due to be guesting on a Radio 5 Live spot hosted by Dotun Adebayo on the morning of Monday 27th of July all about fantasy fiction. Well, it's kind of the night of the 26th, unless you get up really, really early, since it's taking place between 0200 and 0330 on the morning of the 27th. What time did you think they'd be talking about fantasy fiction on the radio? Anyway, discussion will focus on a recent book and a classic, in this case Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains (Woo! Read it!) and Fritz Leiber's stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser (shit, I've read some of those too, what were the chances!) And then will wander into the realms of caller's questions and who knows what fantastical lands (not too far afield, I hope, lest I quickly end up somewhere I don't know what I'm talking about). Tune in, if awake, and I'm sure I can soon send you off to the land of nod.

In other news, the first exploratory chest-slaps in my heavyweight verbal wrassling match with Brent Weeks have already taken place at Border's Babel Clash, with heeeelarious consequences. Currently we're arguing about whether writers should blog or not, but I daresay the topic will shift rapidly to other pastures. Hey, why not stop by and lay down some smack of your own? You could even suggest some different subject matter for us to linguistically suplex each other over...

Labels: appearances, news

Monday, 20 July 2009

Day. Made.

One opinion I didn't quite get to in the last post:

"Joe Abercrombie's BEST SERVED COLD is a bloody and relentless epic of vengeance and obsession in the grand tradition, a kind of splatterpunk sword 'n sorcery COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, Dumas by way of Moorcock. His cast features tyrants and torturers, a pair of poisoners, a serial killer, a treacherous drunk, a red-handed warrior and a blood-soaked mercenary captain. And those are the good guys. Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, could teach even Gully Foyle and Kirth Gerson a few things about revenge. The battles are vivid and visceral, the action brutal, the pace headlong, and Abercrombie piles the betrayals, reversals, and plot twists one atop another to keep us guessing how it will all come out. This is his best book yet. All that's missing is a map."

George R.R. Martin

Colour me extremely pleased, not only because it's a great quote, not only because commercially I couldn't get a better endorsement, but also because Martin is an author I greatly admire and his Game of Thrones was a big inspiration to me when I read it back in the 90s, made me realise that you could write an epic fantasy that was gritty, deep, unpredictable, and character-focused. I doubt my writing would be the same without having read that, if I'd decided to start at all. Makes me feel a bit giggly to think of him reading my stuff and liking it...

Tee hee hee.

Labels: reviews

America Catches Up! (and reviews)

Great news for Americans! Finally, you have caught up with the British. No, not in economic, diplomatic, industrial, constitutional, military, scientific, sporting or cultural ways, obviously, but in something FAR MORE IMPORTANT. Yes, indeed, it would appear that you can now get a US Hardcover of Best Served Cold, for as far as I can tell amazon.com are now shipping the book.

No doubt the US release will lead to a new wave of reviews and opinions, which I am naturally chomping at the bit to see. A few have floated past my consciousness in the last month or so, though. Interzone did an in-depth review and interview this month, and said, among other things:

"Abercrombie's narrative twists and turns, playing with but also against the reader's expectations. His characters do likewise; as a result it is easier initially to indetify with them, but their realistic unpredictability means that it's almost impossible to determine what will eventually happen. Rather, in fact, like life, and for me, one of the great pleasures of Joe Abercrombie's fiction is that his characters are lifelike."

Come forth and be pleasured. By lifelike characterisation. Writer Tim Stretton has also had a look at the book over at sf&fantasy enthusiasts. He is enthusiastic:

"Best Served Cold is every bit as bleak, gory, funny and accomplished as its predecessors ... this is a vigorous, morally complex book, vivid in its depictions of war and its grown-up cousin diplomacy. Best Served Cold is highly recommended."

But I dunno, are you allowed to be unenthusiastic over there? You can certainly be unenthusiastic at Neth Space, though, and Ken was, just a little, in his review of Best Served Cold:

"The First Law Trilogy was a refreshing offering in the often stale genre of epic fantasy. Hoping for an equally refreshing read in Best Served Cold, I found that any novelty remaining quickly wore off."

Hmm. This complaint about everything feeling a little familiar feels a little familiar. Where did I read it before, now? Ah! In Ken's review of Before They are Hanged.

"Before They Are Hanged does all this (and more), but since this is the second book of the trilogy, the novelty of the approach has worn off. With the novelty gone, things almost become tiresome in places."

Hmm. One might almost be tempted to say something like - "the more-of-same approach of Ken's reviews entertains, yet becomes tedious at times and unfortunately left me wanting more of that special something that I'm convinced he can give." But of course I've got way more class than that. WAY MORE. Not as much as the folks at ferretbrain, though, who are prone to write some criticism both insightful, amusing, and well-written while yet being conversational (yes, I can be nice when I'm in the rare mood). And there's a very interesting and in-depth reaction to Best Served Cold from Kyra Smith , who you could say has a love it/hate it relationship to my work, and finds herself once again conflicted:

"By the end I wasn't entirely sure what I thought, although the fact I got there at the speed I did proves one thing at least: the man can write a gripping story. And, even though I have yet to fully establish whether I actually like what he writes, I'm still hopelessly intrigued by his books."

Well, I guess that's a lot better than being hopelessly bored by 'em, eh? She finishes with a conclusion not dissimilar to Ken's actually, though perhaps more positively expressed:

"It's set in the same world, it has a similar approach, similar characters and, hell, even the same damn cover. It has the comparable strengths and weaknesses of The First Law Trilogy, except the weaknesses bothered me less and the strengths seemed more pronounced. In short, if Joe Abercrombie is a one trick pony, it'll be a fucking stallion by the time he's done."

Hi ho silver!

And finally, to possibly the strangest review of my works I've ever come across, from BC Woods at Dunce Upon a Time, an amusing yet slightly scary piece which begins with an examination of the First Law and ends (or perhaps I was hallucinating) with the torture of giant talking Penises. For real. And he really liked the books. I can only imagine what he has to say about books he doesn't like. Actually, scratch that. I CAN'T imagine it.

Labels: news, reviews

Tuesday, 14 July 2009

Weeks's Bane

Will you lookee here. Overnight-sensation fantasy-wunderkind extended-NYT-bestselling-author-of-Way-of-Shadows Brent Weeks has thrown down the gauntlet, and I is going to be opening a can of proverbial verbal whoop-ass on his ... ass. Apparently. There are, in fact, some factual inaccuracies in his post. Chiefly that I haven't weighed ten stone since 1992. But also his assertion that I wear lily-white trunks when everyone knows I go for pink leopard print with gold and silver tassles. I am FAMOUS for my trunks, and he KNOWS this.


Just look at him. Just LOOK at him. Mr book-every-month, with his oh-so-carefully manicured chinny beard. Doesn't he know that Brent is a London Borough, not a proper christian name at all? I mean what's next, an edgy fantasy duology written by Camden Months? A twelve-book series released over twelve hours by Marylebone Years?

And do you know what else? I don't reckon he really can write a book a month. I mean who does he think he is, Brandon Sanderson? I reckon he spent ages writing all three books, and then they just released them over a three month period! Yeah! How about THAT?

Anyway, to the point. Me and Brent will be sharing guest duties at the Border's Book Blog (sfnal section) for a month from, I believe, the 21st July, where they have already enjoyed starring appearances from writers such as the aforementioned Brandon Sanderson, China Mieville, Kim Harrison et al. Never before however have they hosted a DUEL TO THE DEATH (or mild embarrasment) between two GIANTS OF THE FIELD (or pygmies of the subgenre). Probably we'll actually agree on everything of importance but we'll do it in a REALLY ADVERSARIAL WAY. Anyway, drop by, comment, join in the fun as we TEAR EACH OTHERS BEARDS OUT HAIR BY HAIR. Or perhaps just discuss the fine points of authorial responsibility in a civilised manner.

Nice shirt, by the way. I think MY GRANDAD HAD ONE.

Labels: news

Friday, 10 July 2009

more e-books - Kindle

Following hot on the heels of e-books in the uk, and since a couple of folks were asking about the chances of a Kindle version in response to the other post, it would appear Best Served Cold will be available on Kindle via Orbit in the US at the same time as the US hardcover version (July 29th).

And this one will cost you but 10 bucks, which will almost certainly be cheaper than the hardcover, even heavily discounted. Which seems much more realistic and attractive pricing to me - a lot closer to the business model I'd like to see. I reckon now is the time - while the technology is still in its infancy - to be bringing people into the fold with pricing that seems generous. That way people will buy readers knowing there'll be a decent amount of books available at a decent price (after all, an e-reader's only as good as the books you can get on it), and hopefully get into the habit of buying them legitimately. Rather than encouraging folks to pilfer them off the darknet via prohibitive pricing, and making that a more and more widely used and accepted way of doing things. It seems publishers and booksellers are prone to see this as a threat rather than an opportunity. Clearly books and music aren't quite in the same boat, as a paper book still offers advantages that an e-reader probably won't for some time to come, while a downloaded song and one played from cd are pretty much identical, but it would be a shame if we were to repeat the mistakes of the music industry...

Labels: news

Thursday, 9 July 2009

Forthcoming Appearances

Notification of a few writerly trips, some considerable time in advance, and all subject to change, of course:

17th-18th October: Fantastyval in the Netherlands. Yes, I have been invited back to Holland to speak, panel, and read once again. My second book is coming out there in translation in September, I believe, so it is in some senses timely. They're still at the organisational stage, so more details as I learn them.

5th-6th February 2010: The SFX Weekender at Pontins, no less, Camber Sands, Sussex. This is an extensive cross-genre event organised by the magazine SFX, and includes all manner of film, tv, comic and book related fun from everything Sfnal and Fantastic. And if none of that works for you, you've still got the British seaside in early February! Score! Also already announced on the bill are writers like China Mieville, Peter F. Hamilton and Paul Cornell, actors like that John Barrowman and that James Marsters, and no doubt many more to be confirmed. You shall know when I shall know.

10th-13th March 2010: The Dubai Literary Festival. Ha ha. No, I'm not joking. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's some kind of mistake, though, as my name does not appear on their list of already confirmed writers. Maybe they just can't believe they've landed such a big literary fish as me, and dare not announce it for fear the dream will end. Or maybe they just don't want it to be the first name that appears on the list before Martin Amis, since, you know, I am the king of alphabetisation. Shut up, Abbot! So, any keen followers of this blog who were planning to attend the Dubai Literary Festival (yeah, right), I'll let you know more as and when (and if)...

Labels: appearances

Thursday, 2 July 2009

e-books, limited editions, and exciting anthologies

Pleased to note that Best Served Cold, and the First Law Trilogy, are now available on e-book via Waterstones.com:

The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings
Best Served Cold

The prices are a tad disappointing - £10 and change for Best Served Cold when a hardback is selling at £8.50, and around £6 for the First Law books when mass-market paperbacks are available for a mere £4.

My own feeling about e-piracy and so forth is that it's virtually impossible to put a stop to - the more popular you are the more torrents will endlessly spring up, and most of them in places where folks don't respond to a polite email. The only effective way to combat it is to provide people with a higher quality service than pirates do, more easily available and at a price that seems reasonable. Then I think most will be happy to pay.

One problem is that a lot of users somehow think that e-books, since they don't have to be printed, are pure profit for the publisher and should therefore be virtually free whereas, of course, the great majority of the costs that go into making a paper book (commissioning, editing, artwork, marketing, repping, promoting and, erm, paying the author) still apply with an ebook. Champions of a revolutionary future of free-love filesharing where writers and readers will all be liberated from the shackles of publishers tend to forget the vital role they play as gatekeepers and ensurers of a certain level of quality (you may think some books that are published are rubbish but believe me, until you've seen a slush pile you really have no idea).

Even so, selling ebooks at more than the cost of the paper books is going to look just a wee bit like taking the piss to some buyers, I suspect. I'd like to see them retail at most at the same price as the paper equivalents, and ideally somewhat lower. At the moment most publishers and booksellers are still focused on the paper market where heavy discounts are applying more and more widely, making ebooks something of a speciality item and hence relatively more expensive. Hopefully in due course that will change, and I'll certainly be pressing them to lower the price as soon and as much as possible but, hey, it's a start.

In other news, I am delighted to relate that Subterranean Press, purveyors of high quality limited and special editions to the world's bibliophiles, will be publishing a signed limited edition illustrated hardcover of The Blade Itself. If it does well, and let's all hope it does, they will follow up with the rest of the trilogy. Not sure of the details yet - how many shall be the print run, who shall be the artist, how many and what style of plates shall be involved, but they have a great track record of involving the author closely so you will know when I know. Believe me, these guys make some beautiful books.

And finally, I probably mentioned a little while ago that I was writing a short story for a Sword and Sorcery anthology. Just heard a list of names of some of the other authors who will be contributing, and it's a strong line-up. VERY strong. Can't give any names yet, but I think lovers of edgy and interesting fantasy both old and new will get quite excited about this one...

Labels: announcements, news