Originally published at Writer's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

As of today, I’m finally about halfway through Peter F. Hamilton’s 6-volume Night’s Dawn trilogy. I finished up The Neutronium Alchemist - Part 1: Consolidation, so I’ll be ready to crack open the next volume over the weekend. This is a series that I am enjoying quite a bit - it’s a fascinating and expansive universe, to say the least - but I can’t say that I’m completely enamored with it. It’s not one that I would consider omg-can’t-put-it-down good, though I am curious to see where he’s headed with things. Hamilton has somewhere between six and ten different story arcs running at any given time, all of which overlap with one another from time to time. It’s a lot to keep up with and may, in fact, be taking a little away from my overall enjoyment of the series.

Another novella that I’m keeping tabs on right now is Kealan Patrick Burke’s “Saturday Night at Eddie’s”, hosted as a free serial at Subterranean Press. It’s dark, with a hint of the macabre, and an air of mystery that keeps its readers guessing. It’s voiced beautifully, which only adds to its appeal. So, go give it a read. The first three chapters are up right now, with more to come.

Tags: books, speculative fiction

Originally published at Writer's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

I’ve been wondering lately whether or not Hollywood would make any money from a movie that was actually done in such a way as to do justice to whatever book it is trying to reproduce for the silver screen. We all complain about how book-to-movie adaptations invariably go wrong because it’s next to impossible to condense a 300-page novel into 2.5 hours of film. Shortcuts must be taken in order to tell the story in a timely manner.

But what if no one worried about how long the movie was, focusing instead on making the sure the fullest story possible could be told? This means we’d be talking about a 10-15 hour long movie, possibly longer. Would there be a market for something like that? Film the movie, release it to theatres in pieces, send it to DVD on a 4-disc set. I think I’d be up for something like that if it meant seeing a book I enjoy done properly for the visual arts.

Of course, about the time I’m pondering this, I find out that HBO is way ahead of me. They’re producing George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series as a TV series, with plans to devote one season to each book. This basically means that the stories will stand a greater chance of being told visually as they ought to be, with no worries about taking shortcuts in order to make sure the audience will sit still long enough. This option may even be better than the one I’d originally thought of because it breaks it down into bite-size, manageable parts.

So, kudos to HBO for doing something new and original. I hope it’s successful because I wouldn’t mind seeing this kind of thing done more often.

Tags: books, entertainment, movies

Originally published at Writer's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

This entry by Brandon Sanderson stands in sharp relief to my little mini-rant the other day. Coupled with Bryan Catherman’s comment and I am forced to step back and re-examine the issue.

Now, I’ve always preferred hardcovers. I like their solidity and durability, but in recent years I’ve fallen back on paperbacks due to a notable shortage of spare change. But by the same token, being the book snob that I am, I’ve been remiss in my ‘obligation’ to purchase books that will actually weather the years well. And it also only makes sense that if I like a book enough to buy it, I should be willing to support the authors whose writing I so enjoy by purchasing the hardcover edition and be willing to sacrifice quantity for quality. If I were in their shoes (and I do hope I am one day), I know I’d prefer my readers to buy the edition that puts more money in my pocket.

I’m willing to admit I was hasty in my previous rant. I’ll be taking a closer look at both hardcovers and tradeback in the future. It’s the least I can do, right?

Tags: books

Originally published at Writer's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

I’ve got a rather well-rounded speculative fiction reading list to start off the new year, courtesy of my wife and sister. Wanna see it?

• Forever Odd - I’ve been a fan of Dean Koontz’s work for years. I’ve always enjoyed his ability to cross genres in nearly every single book. In high school and college, I’d collected a number of his titles. My interest scaled back in recent years, however, as some of his more recent books seemed, well, a little boring (i.e. Ticktock, Intensity, etc.). And I was disappointed that (to my knowledge) he never completed the Fear Nothing trilogy - he left far too many questions unanswered at the end of the second book. His Odd Thomas trilogy, however, is fascinating and has drawn me back to his work. My wife bought me the second book in the trilogy, and it’s high on my priority list of books to read.
• By the Light of the Moon - Continuing with the Dean Koontz theme, this book again adds to my Koontz collection. (I really need to take stock of my Koontz books again and figure out which ones I still need to get copies of.)
• Eldest - My sister thrilled me by giving me a Limited Edition copy of Christopher Paolini’s second novel. Now, there are folks who think it’s ridiculous that adults have been so captivated by YA fiction like the Harry Potter and Eragon series. Critics further complain that both series read like a junior high writing assignment. In Paolini’s case, it should be noted that he wrote Eragon while still in high school and self-published it. Later, it was discovered by an editor of a major publishing house and reprinted on a large market. As such, I don’t mind the writing style of the first book. It’s a fun and interesting story, and I’m looking forward to digging into Eldest and seeing how Paolini continues the story. I will, of course, have to re-read Eragon, though, since I need a refresher on events that have happened there.
• The Protector’s War - This one is the sequel to S.M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire. An unknown extraterrestrial force has rendered all technology on Earth useless, forcing people to fall back to more primitive ways of living. Dies the Fire tells how people come together in tribes in order to survive. The Protector’s War takes place eight years later, as one particular warlord seeks to destroy two tribes and take their lands. It’s an interesting and fascinating story, and I’m looking forward to checking in with some familiar characters again.
• Old Man’s War - I’ve been eager to get my hands on some of Scalzi’s books since I stumbled across his blogs this past year. OMW is the first in a trilogy and is Scalzi’s debut novel. It is followed by The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony (forthcoming), both of which I’ll be looking to lay hands on later this year. He’s also written a rather tongue-in-cheek novel titled The Android’s Dream that’s just hit bookshelves in the last couple of months.
• Elantris - I first heard about Brandon Sanderson’s debut novel through Orson Scott Card’s writings. He had talked about it in one of his semi-frequent reviews, and being the OSC fanboy that I am, if he endorsed with such high praise, then it was something I definitely wanted for my own library. I was finally able to land a copy of Elantris, and I’m eager to tear into it.

I’ll be writing reviews for all these books as I complete them, so stay tuned here. Currently, I’m in the midst of Peter F. Hamilton’s 6-volume Night’s Dawn Trilogy, so once I complete that, I’ll begin working my way through the rest of these.

Tags: books

Originally published at Writer's Blog. Please leave any comments there.

I’ve got a little bone of contention to pick with book marketers. You see, my wife gave me a gift card for Barnes & Noble for Christmas. Perfect opportunity to knock some of those titles off my “Must Buy” list, right? Well, it’s a nice theory.

One set of books I’m interested in is Nick Sagan’s Edenborn/Idlewild/Everfree trilogy. The first two, at least, are in paperback now; I’d seen them on shelves not too long ago, and I found them again today. Standard price for paperback novels is between $6.99 and $7.99, right? Not so. Apparently, it’s a popular idea nowadays to take a novel from a $25 hardcover and then dress it up in a $15 paperback that is taller than your standard 7-inch paperback. Both the price tag and the size are awkward. Obviously, some genius thought this would be a great way to milk consumers for a few extra bucks, and it must work, since they keep using it. It’s just my ill fortune to be interested in some books that are still new enough to only have a couple of editions printed, none of which are cheap enough for me to maximize my financial resources. Unfortunately, I bypassed Nick’s books this time around, choosing instead to wait until the next - and smaller, cheaper - edition is printed. I also passed up Orson Scott Card’s Magic Street for the same reason - the smaller $7 version wasn’t available yet.

If this is a marketing technique that works, it works on someone else. This consumer refused to pay $15 for a paperwork that he’ll be able to get later for $8 cheaper - and he’s patient enough to wait for it. I’m disappointed, of course, but $20 will only go so far. I’d rather get three new books, rather than settling for just one or two.

Update: Turns out, those larger versions are called Trade Paperback Editions, and they follow immediately after Hardcover Editions. The types of paperbacks I apparently prefer are called Mass Market Paperbacks. You learn something new everyday.

Tags: books