Fantasy Tropes

Back in 2012, one of my polls (here and here) involved Fantasy tropes (and it was one of my most popular poll). My question was about the most common Fantasy tropes found in our beloved genre and from a list of my own, you chose which of them you were tired the most of. Here's the list:

Empires

Righteous thieves/assassins 

Elder races

Elves/dwarves (or other races)

Prophecies

Evil dark lords

Farm boy saving the world

Medievalism

Middle-east references

Dragons

Unevolved old worlds

Artifact/sword McGuffin

Apostrophes/names with G's and K's

Black-cowled assassins covers

All of them

None

The answer that stood out from the crowd was the farm boy saving the world. Recently, in three separate posts, io9 (andToybox) revived the topic. The discussion is not centered solely around Fantasy literature but in my case, my comments will be. They tackled the following subjects related to tropes:

10 Tropes Involving Fantasy Weapons That Should Die In A Fire
What Common Medieval Fantasy Tropes Have No Basis In Actual History?
7 Worldbuilding Tropes Science Fiction and Fantasy needs to Stop using

Just for sharing and the sake of discussion (wouldn't it be nice with a cold dark beer in hand, in pint format evidently!), here's my thoughts on the first list.  Feel free to comment!

1. The Reforged Weapon
Indeed, and it's a trope dating back to Tolkien with Anduril/Narsil. Even if this one could grow tiresome, I'm not aware of much recent Fantasy books resolving around the reforging of an ancient weapon? What about you?

2. The Secret Legend in Your Back Pocket
This one I agree completely.  This is kind of absurd but as with each trope, it still can be twisted for the benefit of the story.

3. Mystical Materials
I'm not tired of this one.  I think that mystical materials are an inherent part of Fantasy. When you created a world with magic or supernatural elements... that's kind of a necessity....

4. The Absurdly Sharp Blade
Can't deny, that's true, but even more so when you put the "absurdly" adjective in the name of the trope...

5. The Rusted and Dented Swords of Evil
This is found more often in movies/series/comics/visual supports.  I don't remember a book where the swords of "evil" were more rusted and dented...

6. Weapons Tied to Specific Races
This trope tends to die of its own in the recent Fantasy literature.  Still, in everything related to the Dungeon and Dragons universe... I admit that in videogames, I kind of like my dwarf to wield an axe and my elf a bow!

7. The Weapon Too Big to Be Useful
Here again, not sure if that applies much to recent Fantasy literature. I remember some swords that could have been in this category, like Karsa's sword in MBotF but the way Karsa is built, it looks like it's still useful.

8. Unusually Plot-Specific Ability
My god how I hate this one and I always mentions it in my reviews when it is used.  The most common case usually involves magic that the weilder doesn't really understand. Way too easy for authors to use this trick to get a character out of a impossible situation. Get rid of it!

9. The Evil Weapon That Hungers For Blood and Corrupts the Soul
It's not the most common trope but I admit that it could be an easy one to fall into. Still, Jeff Salyards' redeemed this trope with the Bloodsounder Arc.

10. Weapons With Minds of Their Own using
The last time I read about one was Patrick Weekes' The Palace Job and it was kind of funny. That's also the point of Ms. Trendacosta who wrote the io9 post. Not a bad one that we need to throw into the fire as far as my taste go.

***

The second post is about the common medieval tropes that have no basis in actual medieval history. io9 links to the quite interesting sub-reddit r/AskHistorians.  As far as Fantasy goes, the authors who choose to write accurate accounts of medieval life in their stories are kind of few. Still, when they do, or when they do like George R.R. Martin and add a nice layer of Fantasy to a world base on actual medieval history (setting), they are probably using many tropes that are only believed to be true. The sub-reddit is right there for us to prove them wrong ;)

***

Finally but not the least, the 7 worldbuilding tropes that need to disappear.

7. The Evil Empire of Evil Evilness
100% in accordance with this one. Hopefully, contemporary Fantasy literature has washed out most of them (or maybe it's just me who avoids them...).

6. Faux-Medieval Europe
No, no, no. That one is great and I can't tire of it!

5. Insert Apostrophe Here For Exoticness
That one was part of my original poll (Apostrophes/names with G's and K's). I think it's kind of inevitable... and I prefer that to real life names.

4. The Single-Use World
That applies mostly to Sci-fi. No?

3. Common Nouns out the Wazoo
I agree with the author of the post (James Whitbrook) but I didn't find examples in my recent memory of Fantasy books...

2. The Homogeneous Race (That's never Humanity)
I'm biased on this one. The same as the weapons tied to specific races (Erikson's MBotF is a nice example). In my books, I prefer original races but in videogames... I like my elves and dwarves!

1. The Precursor Civilisation
Alright, this is a worldbuilding trope of old. However, it creates so many opportunities... still it ought not to become an obligation. Is there really many Fantasy books that don't use this? Is it a problem? I don't think so but I agree with James: "Not everything has to have happened before." This is more of a problem. Still, you can be quite original with a precursor civilisation.

***

There you go. What do you think? These tropes need to disappear?

Words of Radiance is huge!

Earlier today, I received Brandon Sanderson's much awaited novel, Words of Radiance, courtesy of Tor. I had read on some blogs that is was quite the doorstopper but it's only when you have it in your hands that you really understand. It's the size of a dictionary, but when compared with other huge hardcovers, it seems to be only slightly bigger than Towers of Midnight or Dust of Dreams.

Anyway, looks like a great and long reading is ahead of me, it simply wont be a lightweight experience!

David Gemmell Awards shortlist

Back in June, I posted the longlist for the David Gemmell Legend Awards for Fantasy and it's now time to present the shortlist. Hopefully, my votes in the longlist for Mark Lawrence's King of Thorns for the Legend, Miles Cameron's The Red Knight for the Morningstar and Didier Graffet and Dave Senior for the cover of Red Country by Joe Abercrombie for the Ravenheart are still possible!!!

Go vote, it's only three clicks!  Now! :)

Legend Award (Best Fantasy Novel of 2012)

Joe Abercrombie: Red Country (Gollancz)

Jay Kristoff: Stormdancer (Pan Macmillan UK)

Mark Lawrence: King of Thorns (HarperCollins/Voyager)

Helen Lowe: The Gathering of the Lost (Orbit)

Brent Weeks: The Blinding Knife (Orbit)

Morningstar Award (Best Fantasy Debut)

Saladin Ahmed: Throne of the Crescent Moon (Gollancz and DAW)

Miles Cameron: The Red Knight (Gollancz)

John Gwynne: Malice (Pan Macmillan UK)

Aidan Harte: Irenicon (Jo Fletcher Books)

Jay Kristoff: Stormdancer (Pan Macmillan UK)

Ravenheart Award (Best Fantasy Book-Jacket)

Didier Graffet and Dave Senior, for Red Country by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)

Dominic Harman, for Legion of Shadow by Michael J. Ward (Gollancz)

Clint Langley, for Besieged by Rowenna Cory Daniells (Solaris)

Silas Manhood, for The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks (Orbit)

Colin Thomas, for Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff (Pan Macmillan UK) 

Stephen Youll, for The Black Mausoleum by Stephen Deas (Gollancz)  

Red wedding reactions

I may be a little late to the party but I wanted to comment on the spectacular TV event we all witnessed last week.  I'll start with my own reactions.  First, obviously, I have read Storm of Swords several years ago.  Back then, I remember being shocked when I read about the infamous Red Wedding but it was far from what I have witnessed on the internet since the episode of HBO's Game of Thrones aired.  Still, with the scene coming up in the show, along with the feeling of hype to witness the reaction of the non-reader fans of the series, I admit I was both excited and dreading seeing it live. Sadly for me, but hopefully for her, my girlfriend did some research about it on the web and easily found spoilers before we watched the show.  Still,  when she saw it coming, she covered her ears and closed her eyes.

I won't go into the details but I wouldn't have thought that the writers of the show, probably with George included, would go that far in the graphic details. Emotionally they obviously worked their way since the last season to build up the sense of attachment for the characters involved.  Kudos to them, it worked perfectly.  I wasn't aware that I actually grew fond of the Catelyn Stark of the show. I think that this was one of the greatest moment of TV I ever witnessed.  I really felt shaken and awed.  That silence at the end... I couldn't stop starring at the screen. Wow!  I love the show since the start but with this episode, it reached an emotional peak that will be hard to reproduce.

Then, I watched on Facebook and Twitter some of the reactions.  Many videos of the newly initiated to the scene were kind of interesting. However, I was dumbfounded to find so many negative comments about it. Some viewers wanted to stop watching the show because of it? What the hell? Alright, they have the right to give their opinions and I don't usually comment on that sort of thing but still...

I admit that we readers of the series have insight on the future of the story. It may be easier to see that this is not the end of the game. I even read "that's it, the Lannisters have won!".  Have you been paying attention when you watched the first two seasons? Don't you remember Ned, Robert, Renly, Drogo, Viserys...? With the kind of story George wrote, you can't possibly think that it will finish with an happily ever after? aSoIaF is something different and that's what is needed right now (or was needed...). Fantasy is now back in force on the small screen! You really, really shouldn't abandon this show right now...

What about you?  What were your reactions to the Rains of Castemere episode?

To end this short post on a good note, you really should take a look at Conan O'Brien's interview of George:

http://teamcoco.com/video/conan-highlight-red-wedding-reactions
http://teamcoco.com/video/george-r-r-martin-writing-fast
http://teamcoco.com/video/george-r-r-martin-afraid

The loot of the last weeks

Here's some new procurement pron.  Add to this an e-arc of Quintessence by David Walton and Luke Scull's The Grim Company audiobook and you get an happy reader!

Maps you say?

Back in 2009 when I started the blog, I created an index for the Fantasy maps of the books I was reading, mostly to have them in easy reach when I wanted to consult them. Eventually, I found out that this index was more popular than I anticipated.  When I posted a poll about maps, eight out of ten of the respondents answered with a yes.

I never claimed that the index would ever be complete but judging by the recent wave of interest in my map index, it seems that I can put more time into it and make it more thorough.  Saladin Ahmed and Blake Charlton twitted about the index, Aidan at A Dribble of Ink posted an aside about it, Tor linked it on Facebook and io9 talked about it with a "This is awesome" label.

So, even if some comments were a bit dubious (the 'no female authors'... which is just a happenstance, not voluntary... and the incompleteness of it...), I will take some of them into consideration and I will add more maps to the index, including the various list of female authors that io9 user falseprophecy offered.  I will keep you updated as I always do when I discover new maps of interest.

If you doubt my love of them, here's what I'm looking at when I write a post:

If you have some suggestions feel free to speak up!

The Hobbit - An unexpected journey movie

The fact that I'm a huge fan of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings shouldn't come as a surprise.  However, even though I have read The Silmarillion and some of the Unfinished Tales, I have never read The Hobbit. I explained why in a previous post when I shared the trailer for the first of the three movies, An Unexpected Journey.  As I mentioned in that post, I decided not to read the book before watching the movie. I have now seen it.

Am I glad not to have read it?  The answer is yes so far.  Still, after watching it, my curiosity took over and I searched the web to know what was different from the book.  I won't share that here, but what I realized was that my expectations for the movie would probably have been wrong if I had read it. The story of The Hobbit seems to be more personal and way more straightforward and YA oriented than the result on screen. Peter Jackson tried to incorporate more 'epicness' into it and I think it created a kind of uncanny hybrid.  That being said, I will certainly read it someday, when the third movie will be behind me.

Anyway, you now understand that my reaction to the movie isn't biased by the correlation between the book and the film. Sadly though, I wasn't mesmerized as I was when I watched the LOTR trilogy. However, I don't think that the two movies ought to be compared like that.  LOTR has a feeling of dread and an atmosphere too different from the joyous and adventurous elements of The Hobbit. Then again,  I had a good time watching it.  The integration of scenes explaining the rise of Sauron from the appendices of The Return of the King is a great idea, it adds more lore and compelling history to the LOTR universe on screen but it feels kind of out of context with Bilbo's quest.

Even if it could be argued that Thorin is the main character of the movie, I have to agree with most people who criticized the film, Martin Freeman is doing an amazing job as Bilbo. The time spent focusing on him is where the movie shines, like the scene with Gollum or the whole reunion with the dwarves at Bag's End.  That group of dwarves are entertaining but some of them still confuse me.  However, with so many interesting characters, Gandalf included, when the action slow down and moments of companionship arise, you can expect great things.

For a movie that stands at 2 hours and 50 minutes, there sure are a lot of cuts that could have been made to make it tighter and much better.  There are many scenes where the group of dwarves, hobbit and mage are roaming the countryside in wide plans.  Some hunts or pursuits by the group are also on the long side and eventually feel too repetitive. Hopefully, the inflated use of CGI and the use of 48 frames didn't disturb me much aside from some specific shots. I still have problems with 3D glasses though...

So there you have it.  I think that The Hobbit is not the movie it could have been but it's a worthy effort. It was probably an error to make three movies of it but that judgment will rest until the final movie.  It's a nice piece of entertainment but not one that compares to its LOTR forefather.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy new year everyone!!!

I wish another great year of Fantasy reading to us all!  With so many amazing years in a row, the bar is high.

My posts have been scarce in the last two weeks with all the family reunions and parties but it's over and now I'll have the time to return to blogging!  Here's what I have ahead of me:

• My review of Red County by Joe Abercrombie
• The Best of 2012
• Coming up in 2013
• My Hobbit movie feelings
• A new poll
• My review of The Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson
• A redesign of the blog interface
• A new idea

Stay tuned!

New poll - A Memory of Light

In the last poll, I asked which book you were expecting the most for 2013.  The most popular answer wasn't the biggest surprise but still, there was enough votes and it stood out.  January 8th 2013 is the release date of A Memory of Light, the final book in the famous Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and finished by Brandon Sanderson since the author's death.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.

Twenty-two years have passed since the release of the first book, The Eye of the World. Thirteen books later, with 44 millions of these sold in North America alone, the series has become a real phenomenon.  Video games have been made, with a real attempt on the horizon by Obsidian, comic book series were released and the rumors for a TV or movie adaptation never stopped.  In the last three years, the ebook editions were released by Tor and a great series of illustration by many talented artists was presented with them (see it here).

I still remember when I started reading the first book, I was nineteen years old.  Even if some of my friends told me that the series was dragging down after the fourth book, I liked it enough to go on, even after at least one Crossroad that felt harder than the rest...  I already had a big knack for Epic Fantasy but I was a bit disappointed early on to find similarities in term of plot with the Lord of the Rings.  Lan was too much like Aragorn, the Myrdraal like the Nazgul, the trollocs like the orcs and the quest toward Shayol Ghul was reminiscent of Sam and Frodo's quest to reach Mordor. Moreover, even though back then there were less stories with the prophetical farm boy destined for saving the world, it nagged at me.

But then, thinking back about it, I have fond memories of the series. It stands now as one of the core series when you list Epic Fantasy sagas and it deserve some praise. The scope eventually became gigantic, almost out of control at times (the whole Perrin rescuing Faile arc was simply awful) but characters like Rand, Mat, Thom, the Forsaken and even Nynaeve always compelled me to keep reading. I mention Nynaeve since I never liked the women in Jordan's books but I grew fond of her.  Her dedication for Rand is probably the source of it.

One of the most interesting aspect of this huge tale is the discussions it generated.  Speculations aplenty! The world felt complete, from the political struggles to the different nations, from the Aes Sedai to the Children of the Light, from the ruins of Rhuidean to the Ways or from the Ogiers to the Seanchan.  Some scenes were memorable; Lews Therin and the Betrayer....the fight at Dumai's Well... the battle with the Horn at Falme... Rand losing his hand... Mat with the Eelfinn... Rand on Dragonmount... to name only a few...

On the other hand, don't get me started on who killed Asmodean and how we find out...

As for Brandon's involvement, I'm glad he was chosen.  He struggled with Mat a bit in The Gathering Storm and he was criticized for the decision of splitting the conclusion into threes books but with two books in, even if it's now time for the series to end, I think it was a good idea.  Kudos again to Brandon for stepping to the plate, the shoes were not easy to fill.  At least, the ending is the one Jordan envisioned.

Thinking about this ending that we will discover soon, I think it's safe to assume that good will triumph over the Dark One. However, there's still the fate of Rand to speculate about.  In the end, that's mostly his story, he's the heart and soul of the saga.  I think that he will live through it, not unscathed but alive.  I argued with a friend about that and I still think that he should die.  That can seem like an easy way to create a martyr factor to finish the series with a burst of emotion but with everything he's been through, he's ready for the big sacrifice, he would do it!

What do you think?  What memories WoT brings back for you?  What's your favorite scenes and characters? Are you waiting for the series to finish before starting it?  Have you read all the books and are eagerly waiting for the finale?  Have you started the series and abandoned?  Are you indifferent?

As for the poll: "Will you read A Memory of Light?"

• The day it's released
• Sometimes when I feel like it
• I walked away from WoT
• Over my dead body
• A Memory of what?

You might also be interested in:

My reviews:
(my complete list of scores for the series are at the end of the index)
The Gathering Storm
Towers of Midnight

Amazing recap by Adam at the Wertzone
Tor.com Wheel of Time reread
Dragonmount WoT community
A Memory of Light prologue
A Memory of Light chapter one

Eager Meter 2013 Poll Results

The poll is now closed and we have the results for the 2013 Eager Meter.  The first position didn't come as a huge surprise but still, 31% is a good result.  However, I didn't anticipate the second position, it looks like Brandon Sanderson could be the flavor of the year in 2013. I see a great year ahead of us!

31% - A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
22% - Stormlight 2 by Brandon Sanderson
13% - The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
11% - Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
7% - The Unholy Consult by R. Scott Bakker

4% - The Daylight War by Peter V. Brett
2% - Sworn in Steel by Douglas Hulick
2% - The Dark Defiles by Richard Morgan

0%:
River of Stars by Guy Gabriel Kay
Moon's Artifice by Tom Lloyd
Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear
The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham
The Dragon Queen by Stephen Deas
The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan
The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski

A Fantasy Reader interviewed!

Mieneke van der Salm has been running the blog A Fantastical Librarian for more than two years now and she came up with an interesting Blogger Query series of interview.  The latest addition to her list is yours truly!  That was my first interview and I had a good time answering her questions.  So, if you're interested, here's the link:

Blogger Query – A Fantasy Reader

September and October audiobooks and Whispersync

For some years now, digital copies have found their way alongside the DVDs or Blu-ray discs when we buy a movie.  That idea wasn't a bad one and for some time I've thought that it could also be a good idea for the readers who also listen to audiobooks.  Well, I don't know if you were aware of this but Whispersync for Voice by Amazon/Audible is now a reality.  At first, I thought that it was pretty cool but then, to combine the audio narration with the e-book, with bookmarks that can be synced, you have to pay a price of $3,95 or less.  It's not a huge price and it could be justified when you think about the cost of making an audiobook, which isn't as simple as the digital copy for a movie.  It only works for Kindle and an Audible app, which isn't a surprise considering the acquisition of Audible by Amazon but for the Kindle owners who are also audiobook listeners, that's interesting.  Any users want to comment?

The next evolution could be the e-book alongside the physical copy...

***

Also, here's the spotlight for the audiobooks releases in September and October 2012:

The Whitefire Crossing (The Shattered Sigil book 1) by Courtney Schafer
The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer book 2) by Brent Weeks
Gardens of the Moon (Malazan book of the Fallen book 1) by Steven Erikson
Forge of Darkness (Kharkanas trilogy book 1) by Steven Erikson

The Hobbit?

Everybody knows it's coming and that it was split into three movies and today, a new trailer for The Hobbit (An Unexpected Journey) movie was released:

My reaction each time I hear some talk about The Hobbit is that I never read the book (and that the movie looks much more interesting that I thought). I started reading it at least once or twice when I was a teen but I always felt that the book was YA Fantasy and put it back on the shelf (you can't always be right).  I think I should be slightly ashamed since it's not even a long read and that's actually what I want to talk about with you.  I still have ample time to read the book before the release of the first movie (December 2012, 2013 and 2014) but I'm not sure it's a good idea, or rather the good time.

I loved the LOTR movies and I think that alongside Game of Thrones, it's probably one of the best book adaptations I ever saw on screen.  It's not perfect but they both are more than worthy efforts.  However, in both cases, I knew exactly what was going to happen.  It didn't spoil the fun but it spoiled the surprises. So, maybe I ought to wait and that idea seems to be even better when thinking about the actual material included in the movie.  The Hobbit is more than he seems on more than one aspect.  

Since the announcement that The Hobbit was turning out to be three movies instead of two, I have read several comments of resentful tone.  For the majority of them, the problem seems to be the fact that a project telling a story meant for two movies will only be diluted by the addition of a third and that the plot will suffer from it (hard to tell but often true).  For some, the problem is with the difference in length between the story from the book and the length of three movies or, to put it another way, the fact that so few material could produce so much plot elements to present in the movies.  Are they right?

That being said, I can't judge that element right now.  Peter Jackson is digging into appendices (mostly from Return of the King) to add more background to the Middle Earth movie experience and more potential for the three new movies.  That looks like a great idea, Tolkien's world represented on screen could certainly benefit from more exploration if it can be done within the setting of The Hobbit.

Judging by the results of LOTR, I'd say that the director should be given the benefit of the doubt. Then, I'm really not sure if I want to pick up the book before watching the movies.  Maybe for once, it's time to stay in the dark (at least for the parts from Tolkien's first book if not from the appendices) and hopefully enjoy the element of surprise...

What do you think?  Will it be a success?  Should I read it before watching the movie?

New procurements

Seven new books in a week?  Seven new books I really really want read right now in a week (well almost, since I still haven't read Giant Thief, the first book of David Tallerman...), could this get any better?  Yes it does, Forge of Darkness by Steven Erikson should be coming this week!  The second pic is from my ebooks library...  Man... I really need to take more vacations!

Dead's dead?

Recently, I watched a movie that you may have heard about, The Dark Knight Rises.  I'm also watching the Star Wars movies with my son who's growing up to be a kind of like-his-father geek. For my gaming urges, I bought Darksiders 2, staring a protagonist called Death.  Finally, I'm reading Orb, Sceptre, Throne by Ian C. Esslemont set in his shared Malazan universe.  Those four don't have any real connection but they all brought to me some questioning about a particular topic, death.

Simply put, should the dead stay dead?

One of the possibilities created by Fantasy is... well... supernatural elements stretching the limits of imagination.  Among these elements are the cheating of death, the portrayal of the underworld, ghosts and resurrection in many forms. Even necromancy is found often enough in Fantasy.  When a thing becomes a concern that big and touches everyone, it's easy to think that it's also one of the principal worry for the characters and the authors behind them.

Moreover, death is a feature that can be used by the authors to create suspense and emotion. For suspense, finishing a book like George R.R. Martin did in A Dance with Dragons with the possible death of a main character (who actually survived quite a long time so far) is almost cruel but that's the kind of narrative choice that will make us even more eager to pick up the next book. That's something I like but for almost all cases of possible death I can think of, the character usually stayed alive. Consequently, one name from Abercrombie's series comes to mind and even before knowing that he will finally make an appearance in Red Country, I knew that he couldn't be dead.

As for emotion, I remember being quite astonished at the death of some protagonists in Mr. Martin's books again but even more so in Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson.  I won't spoil but the death a certain character really got to me (and if you have read the book, you know whom I'm talking about).  That was a nice way to use death to create or break emotional attachment.  However, in Erikson's case, death is not really permanent or simple oblivion, it's a transfer to another warren (realm, dimension, universe to explain it simply).  This creates interesting possibilities but sometimes it feels almost too easy to return to a dead character.

Even if many modern writers kill more important character than in the past (maybe it's only an impression I am under), like Abercrombie, Martin, Erikson, Deas, Cook, Bakker, Buchanan (another great example where death is emotionally striking), I still remember the feeling of reading about Gandalf's death.  And then, I was glad he came back. At least, for some others (just one come to think of it), death was really the end.

I also remember a resurrection in Anthony Durham's Acacia trilogy that rather frustrated me.  In that case, I had a hard time overcoming that dead's dead opinion. In the end, Durham used this 'come back to life' with great care and wrote a compelling storyline nicely woven into his tale. Also in his case, ghosts make an appearance.  Maybe ghost is not the right term but you understand my meaning. Like Obiwan talking to Luke, a dead character can become a great asset for the development of a protagonist or to help him with his psyche (maybe I'm thinking a bit too much about Dexter and his father here but it's not actually a ghost, it's more of a hallucination) and mental conversations.

Actually, I think that death is sometimes more interesting than life happily ever after.  In the hazardous worlds we usually read about where evil lurks, the paths the characters go on are quite treacherous and they often find themselves doing the greatest sacrifice, putting their life in danger, gambling it on the possible outcome.  If no real death threatening circumstances are present, some stories completely fall apart.  I'm not asking for that kind of situation in every book but it's still one of the principal aspects I'm looking for.

I think that one of the reasons why it's easy to kill many important characters in Epic Fantasy is simply because there are lot of them.  When you have as many threads as series like Martin or Erikson, you can easily keep the intrigue going with a few less protagonists to write about.  That kind of situation is not really possible with series like Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard Sequence.  Locke and Jean will still be around when book seven comes out. Then, even in this kind of book or books written with the first person perspective, actual death may not be a good idea but death threatening situation still ought to be quite present and hopefully it seems natural for many authors. 

That being said, when the heroes struggles are over, if the character's dead, it can lead to even more fascinating turns of event for the world and the other characters.  Even more interestingly, that sacrifice can become the first thing you remember and cherish when thinking back about a book and that particular character.  There's one possibly coming soon that I hope will finish this way, The Wheel of Time. I would be glad for him is Rand finally got some peace in another world.

So I ask you again, should the dead stay dead?  Do you prefer to see your beloved characters come back to life?  Do you feel it's important that death lurk around the corner?

Summer reading

Summer time is upon us and soon it will be vacation time!

I'm not sure that this year, my four week break from work will be full of reading opportunities but I'm certain that I'll be able to go through several novels.  Sadly, the whole lot is not gonna be all e-books so I'll have to carry more than my e-reader but there is worst problems in the world!

Here's the list of books I intend to read this summer. Anyway, that list is a tentative one, it could easily be less or more books and some other novel I'm not thinking about now may find its way in my hands. If only I could get an ARC of King of Thorns or Black Bottle! :)

As for you my fellow readers, what are you reading this summer?  Which book do you intend to take with you on your trips? Some audiobooks?

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And in audiobook, although I listen to less audiobooks during the summer:

Game of Thrones - TV-book differences

While listening to every episodes of GoT on HBO for season one and two, I often speculated with my friends about the differences between the TV series and the book themselves.  I read the books too long ago to be really accurate in my perceptions but some of my co-listeners have read them more recently and they are able to point out the dissimilarities, simply for discussion sake, I understand that the series cannot be the same as the book for many obvious reasons...

Then, to help everyone on this topic, IGN posted more detail on these differences.

General 

Season 1

Season 2

Interesting is it not?

Diablo 3 and The Way of Kings

Wondering where I'm heading with this title for the post?

What could be the relation between Diablo 3 and Sanderson's novel?

While playing Diablo 3, I eventually got to the Desolate Sands in the Act II.  At first glance, the ground looked like any salt desert but then I saw the cracks and ravines.  It may not be an amazing discovery, but even if the cracks aren't as deep as those depicted in The Way of Kings, the feeling I got was a close representation of what I had in mind when reading about the Shattered Plains. Sadly, my Monk isn't wearing a shardplate and I'm not fighting some Parchendi but I could imagine it easily! Anyone else agree with me? :)

Awards - Gemmell and Hugo

It's that time of the year!

From what I gathered in polls and comments in the last few years, the Hugo and David Gemmell awards are far from being an event waited upon impatiently.  However, it's always fun to speculate and talk about our favorites.  Here are the nominees, my personal choices and my predictions (mostly so for the Gemmell since the Hugos are for Sci-Fi and I haven't read much of those last year...).  Feel free to do the same!

Bold = my pick
Underline = my prediction
Italic = my comments...

David Gemmell

Legend Award (Best Fantasy Novel of 2011)

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
Balckveil by Kristen Britain
Blood of Aenarion by William King
The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

Note: it was my pick for best book of last year


Morningstar Award (Best Fantasy Debut)

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Songs of the Earth by Elspeth Cooper
The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe
Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick
The Unremembered by Peter Orullian

Note: I really liked Prince of Thorns but Among Thieves was really awesome, my debut of last year

Ravenheart Award (Best Fantasy Book-Jacket)


Didier Graffet and Dave Senior for The Heroes

 Aaron Briggs for Journey By Night

Frank Victoria for Oracles Fire

Larry Rostant for Among Thieves

Raymond Swanland for Blood of Aenarion

Note: I like the Swanland illustration, really nice in term 'fantasy-ish-ness' but the bloody axe on map, can't beat a bloody axe on a map!!!

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Hugo

Best Novel

Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)

A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin (Bantam Spectra)

Deadline, Mira Grant (Orbit)

Embassytown, China Miéville (Macmillan / Del Rey)

Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey (Orbit)

Note: George winning this would be a big surprise...

Best Novella

Countdown, Mira Grant (Orbit)

“The Ice Owl”, Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction)

“Kiss Me Twice”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s)

“The Man Who Bridged the Mist”, Kij Johnson (Asimov’s)

“The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary”, Ken Liu (Panverse 3)

Silently and Very Fast, Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA)

Note: 6 nominees due to tie for final position.

Best Novelette

“The Copenhagen Interpretation”, Paul Cornell (Asimov’s)

“Fields of Gold”, Rachel Swirsky (Eclipse Four)

“Ray of Light”, Brad R. Torgersen (Analog)

“Six Months, Three Days”, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor.com)

“What We Found”, Geoff Ryman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

Best Short Story

“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees”, E. Lily Yu (Clarkesworld)

“The Homecoming”, Mike Resnick (Asimov’s)

“Movement”, Nancy Fulda (Asimov’s)

“The Paper Menagerie”, Ken Liu (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

“Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue”, John Scalzi (Tor.com)

Best Related Work

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Third Edition, edited by John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls, and Graham Sleight (Gollancz)

Jar Jar Binks Must Die…and other Observations about Science Fiction Movies, Daniel M. Kimmel (Fantastic Books)

The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature, Jeff VanderMeer and S. J. Chambers (Abrams Image)

Wicked Girls (CD), Seanan McGuire

Writing Excuses, Season 6 (podcast series), Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Jordan Sanderson

Best Graphic Story

Digger, by Ursula Vernon (Sofawolf Press)

Fables Vol 15: Rose Red, by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)

Locke & Key Volume 4: Keys To The Kingdom, written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)

Schlock Mercenary: Force Multiplication, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler, colors by Travis Walton (The Tayler Corporation)

The Unwritten (Volume 4): Leviathan, created by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, written by Mike Carey, illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

Captain America: The First Avenger, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephan McFeely; directed by Joe Johnston (Marvel)

Game of Thrones (Season 1), created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss;

written by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, Jane Espenson, and George R. R. Martin; directed by Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan, Tim van Patten, and Alan Taylor (HBO)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner Bros.)

Hugo, screenplay by John Logan; directed by Martin Scorsese (Paramount)

Source Code, screenplay by Ben Ripley; directed by Duncan Jones (Vendome Pictures)

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Doctor Who, ”The Doctor’s Wife”, written by Neil Gaiman; directed by Richard Clark (BBC Wales)

“The Drink Tank’s Hugo Acceptance Speech”, Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon (Renovation)

Doctor Who, ”The Girl Who Waited”, written by Tom MacRae; directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)

Doctor Who, ”A Good Man Goes to War”, written by Steven Moffat; directed by Peter Hoar (BBC Wales)

Community, ”Remedial Chaos Theory”, written by Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna; directed by Jeff Melman (NBC)

Best Semiprozine

Apex Magazine, edited by Catherynne M. Valente, Lynne M. Thomas, and Jason Sizemore

Interzone, edited by Andy Cox

Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams

Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi, Kirsten Gong-Wong, et al.

New York Review of Science Fiction, edited by David G. Hartwell, Kevin J. Maroney, Kris Dikeman, and Avram Grumer

Best Fanzine

Banana Wings, edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer

The Drink Tank, edited by James Bacon and Christopher J Garcia

File 770, edited by Mike Glyer

Journey Planet, edited by James Bacon, Christopher J Garcia, et al.

SF Signal, edited by John DeNardo

Note: This is the category that generated much talk... Go SF Signal go!!!

Best Fancast

The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan & Gary K. Wolfe

Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts (presenters) and Andrew Finch (producer)

SF Signal Podcast, John DeNardo and JP Frantz (presenters), Patrick Hester (producer)

SF Squeecast, Lynne M. Thomas, Seanan McGuire, Paul Cornell, Elizabeth Bear, and Catherynne M. Valente

StarShipSofa, Tony C. Smith

Best Editor, Long Form

Lou Anders

Liz Gorinsky

Anne Lesley Groell

Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Betsy Wollheim

Best Editor, Short Form

John Joseph Adams

Neil Clarke

Stanley Schmidt

Jonathan Strahan

Sheila Williams

Best Professional Artist

Dan dos Santos

Bob Eggleton

Michael Komarck

Stephan Martiniere

John Picacio

Note: I don't know which work was taken into consideration but Komarck is the best!

Best Fan Artist

Brad W. Foster

Randall Munroe

Spring Schoenhuth

Maurine Starkey

Steve Stiles

Taral Wayne

Note: 6 nominees due to tie for final position.

Best Fan Writer

James Bacon

Claire Brialey

Christopher J. Garcia

Jim C. Hines

Steven H Silver

The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Mur Lafferty

Stina Leicht

Karen Lord

Brad R. Torgersen

E. Lily Yu