Very good. The rest of the novels:

Very nice. Fresh, but still instantly recognizable as Dark Tower novels. And then there’s the cover for the forthcoming Dark Tower novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole, which will slot in somewhere between Wizard and Glass and The Wolves of Calla. Also very nice.

Which of the covers is your favourite? What do you think about the cover for Wind Through the Keyhole?

(I can’t guarantee the completeness or veracity of this account of the D&D game at Epic ConFusion. As a kid, I never got past rolling a character before my friends lost interest, so if it appears that some players didn’t do much, that’s likely because I spent their turns squinting at the handbook.)

“Wait,” I say, “we’re going to role play this, right? I mean, we’re not all just going to go for the racial min/maxes on stats, are we?”

Nine flat stares.

Everyone does racial min/maxes.

We’re rolling stats the night before our Epic ConFusion D&D game. I notice Joe Abercrombie (The First Law Trilogy) is definitely rolling more than six times. “My first rolls weren’t very good,” he explains, perfectly nonchalant.

Huh, guess I don’t understand the rules very well.

Peter V. Brett (The Demon Cycle) claims to have only rolled once. And he’s gloating. I’m too wrapped up in Abercrombie’s cheating to tell if Brett got that many 17′s naturally.

We’re playing old school D&D. First Edition old school. Everyone agrees an assassin is gimped at level 2, so because I’ve played the least, I buddy up with Peter Brett. He’s going with a half-elf cleric named Glendrin Smythe. I’ll be his little brother by 22 years, also a cleric: Grrthog Smythe, half-orc. (Clearly, Dad Smythe’s charms declined with age.)
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This time, from the official set:

And there’s this guy and his absurd Lego version of Barad-dûr:

Has anyone else run across any cool SF/F-inspired Lego?

Via Lord of the Brick:

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Via Variety:

Warner Bros. is heading to “Otherland,” acquiring feature rights to Tad Williams’ sci-fi book series and setting it up with Dan Lin to produce.

Studio has tapped John Scott III to script the film, based on the four books published by DAW-Penguin USA between 1996 and 2001 as “City of Golden Shadow,” “River of Blue Fire,” “Mountain of Black Glass” and “Sea of Silver Light.”

Story for the adaptation is set 100 years in the future and follows a group of unexpected heroes who must escape an assassin and make their way through epic digital worlds to unravel a conspiracy that threatens to destroy humanity.

Seanne Winslow Wehrenfennig at Lin Pictures will serve as co-producer and oversee for Lin Pictures.

Seems like a large project for the big screen. Still, I love the Otherland quartet and am curious to see it translated to the big screen. I wonder if it will be a direct adaptation or a story set in that world. Of course, it being Hollywood, I’ll save my true excitement for the trailer. Too many movies turn into vapour after being optioned.

Today is an exciting day for me. Last year, I had the opportunity to write for Tor.com and to maintain two satellite sites for them on Facebook and Twitter. It was a wonderful experience and I met many lovely people as a result. That endeavour has ended, but in its place I am proud to announce and equally exciting adventure: I’ve joined the blogging team at Suvudu, the official Fantasy/Science Fiction/Gaming blog of Random House and Del Rey.

For the most part, I’ll be covering videogames for Suvudu, something I touch on lightly here at A Dribble of Ink, but I’ve been wanting to write about more frequently. I’m grateful for the folks at Suvudu giving me a platform to do so. I already have some great interviews lined up and hope to follow those up with reviews, news, retrospectives on my favourite games and much more. Del Rey works with many of the world’s best videogame publishers and developers, which in turn will give me access to some of the industry’s best minds, a resource I’m eager to tap into. But, fear not, in addition to all the great series that Del Rey is involved with (Mass Effect, Star Wars, The Elder Scrolls, etc…), I’ll be covering a wide range of games in the genre, from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, to The Last Guardian, Kingdoms of Amalur, XCOM, Metal Gear Solid and more. Anything that interests me or my readers. It’s a wonderful opportunity and I’ll hope that you’ll follow me over there, too.

What does this mean for A Dribble of Ink? Not much. Coverage here won’t change and there will be little crossover in content, except perhaps some posts here and there that I might port over from Suvudu as an archive.

My first article, about the delay of the Star Wars: The Old Republic 1.1 update, can be found HERE.

Throne of the Crescent Moon

By Saladin Ahmed
Hardcover
Pages: 288 pages
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: 02/07/11
ISBN: 0385343841

EXCERPT

Some readers might first discover Throne of the Crescent Moon through a review such as this one, others might be captured by the cover, yet others might hear about it through word of mouth. These are all common ways for a novel to find new readers, to catch the eye of potential fans. Throne of the Crescent Moon, however, has another aspect that might attract readers browsing at their favourite bookstore: the name of the author stretched large across the cover. Saladin Ahmed. In a genre dominated by Georges and Patricks, Robins and Brandons, Ahmed’s starkly Muslim name is an anomaly, a curiousity that promises to be something different, something exciting. Of course, a name is just a name, and the story between the covers of Ahmed’s debut could be a trite rehash of the typical kitchen-boy-saves-the-world novel that we’re all sick of, his ethnic background and religious heritage could have no impact on his novel, leaving readers with a story as prototypical as the cartoony cover art—but just cracking open the novel and reading the first page makes true on those promises. This is something different, something with balls, something worth getting excited about.

Throne of the Crescent Moon is the debut novel from acclaimed short fiction author Saladin Ahmed and follows one of the larger adventures of Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat who was first introduced to readers in Ahmed’s short fiction, including the wonderful Where Virtue Lives. Throne of the Crescent Moon is a Sword & Sorcery novel planted firmly in the tradition of the works of Leiber and Howard, and throws readers in alongside a cast of damaged, but eminently likeable heroes of sometimes questionable moral character (but always, in the end, with their hearts in the right place) and serves up more action, atmosphere and memorable scenes than many novels three times its length.
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Small, and presumably an early draft, but this should give us a good idea of what will be gracing the final volume of Newton’s Legends of the Red Sun. Also, obviously meant to tie in with the trade paperback release of The Book of Transformations, though, again, a different artist/style from the previous volumes of the series. This is, I believe, the first time that the title of the novel has been mentioned.

My thoughts. Another hooded figure, but the execution looks decent.

The latest episode of the SF Signal podcast (one of the best SFF podcasts out there!) is available, discussing the best SFF novels of 2011, and I’m one of the included voices!

Novels I mention:

• Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht (REVIEW)
• Shadowheart by Tad Williams (REVIEW)
• The Dragon’s Path by Daniel Abraham (REVIEW, EXCERPT)
• The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht (REVIEW)
• Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (REVIEW)
• Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (REVIEW)

You can brush up on my favourite novels of 2011 HERE. You can listen to the episode HERE!

The northern wastes. . . .

A land of death and shadow where only the strongest survive. Yet that is where Caim must go to follow the mystery at the heart of his life. Armed only with his knives and his companions, he plunges into a world of eternal night where the sun is never seen and every hand is turned against him.

Caim has buried his father’s sword and found some measure of peace, but deep in the north an unfathomable power lays waiting. To succeed on this mission, Caim will have to more than just survive. He must face the Shadow’s Master.

Not my favourite from Pyr, or Komarck, frankly, and I’m not a fan of the colour palette at all, but I appreciate them keeping consistency across the series. I really need to read Shadow’s Son at some point.

From Simon Spanton at Gollancz, via Neth Space:

Well, the months have rolled around faster than anyone could quite credit and we find ourselves in 2012 and still without that final confirmed delivery of the completed draft of Scott Lynch’s The Republic of Thieves. Sadly those who expressed their doubts have been proved right and we’re now forced to move the likely date for Scott’s publication into the Autumn of this year.

Scott is still facing up to his issues and we’re still having to face up to the wait for his book. I know which I’d rather be dealing with.

So, we send our apologies to you and our very best wishes to Scott. Thank you, on his behalf, for bearing with us. And in the meantime, of course, (and to take some of the pressure of Scott) there are plenty of other wonderful books to be reading until The Republic of Thieves does make its appearance.

Presented with not comment other than well wishes to Lynch and his family during no doubt troubling times.

Terrifying barbarians, cunning mages, and daring heroes run rampant through these exceptional examples of the exciting sword and sorcery genre. In “Tower of the Elephant,” Conan takes up jewel thievery but proves to be far better with his sword. “The Flamer Bringers” finds antihero Elric infiltrating a band of bloodthirsty mercenaries and outwitting a powerful sorcerer. “Become a Warrior” is the unexpected tale of a child who loses all she holds dear, only to gain unforeseen power and unlikely revenge. Further entries come from early legends such as Jack Vance and Catherine Louise Moore, the next wave of talents including Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock, and modern trendsetters like George R.R. Martin, Karl Edward Wagner, and David Drake. This essential, fast-paced anthology is a chronological gathering of influential, inventive, and entertaining fantasy—sure to appeal to action-oriented fans.

A perfectly schlocky cover.

And look at that lineup. Mighty, mighty fine. The anthology seems to be a re-print anthology hoping to chronicle the progression of the Sword & Sorcery sub-genre, something that fans introduced to Fantasy by the likes of Game of Thrones might be particularly interested in if they’re curious about the roots of the genre. Which stories by the listed authors would you like to see included in the anthology?

The Sword & Sorcery Anthology will find store shelve in June, 2012, published by Tachyon Publications.

Global warming has transformed the Earth, and it’s about to get even hotter. The Arctic Ice Cap has all but melted, and the international community is racing desperately to claim the massive amounts of oil beneath the newly accessible ocean.

Enter the Gaia Corporation. Its two founders have come up with a plan to roll back global warming. Thousands of tiny mirrors floating in the air can create a giant sunshade, capable of redirecting heat and cooling the earth’s surface. They plan to terraform Earth to save it from itself—but in doing so, they have created a superweapon the likes of which the world has never seen.

Anika Duncan is an airship pilot for the underfunded United Nations Polar Guard. She’s intent on capturing a smuggled nuclear weapon that has made it into the Polar Circle and bringing the smugglers to justice.

Tobias Buckell first came to my attention with the release of Crystal Rain (REVIEW), a crackin’ SF adventure with a Caribbean flare. The sequel, Ragamuffin (REVIEW) proved that Buckell was no slouch by expanding his universe and showing nice versatility as a writer without relying on ballooning word counts. Since then, his novels have always been firmly on my radar.

His newest novel, due out Feb. 28, 2012, is called Arctic Rising and presents another side to Buckell’s storytelling. While it’s not related to his previous novels, Arctic Rising is sure to be a smart eco-thriller with no lack of frenetic action and a torrid pace. I’m eagerly awaiting my change to jump in.

Centuries ago, the fifty-mile-wide mouth of the Lancaster Sound imprisoned ships in its icy bite. But today, the choppy polar waters between Baffin Island to the south of the sound, and Devon Island on the north, twinkled in the perpetual sunlight of the Arctic’s summer months, and tons of merchant traffic constantly sailed through the once impossible-to-pass Northwest Passage over the top of Canada.

A thousand feet over the frigid, but no longer freezing and icechoked waters, the seventy-five-meter-long United Nations Polar Guard airship Plover hung in a slow-moving air current. The turboprop engines growled to life as the fat, cigar-shaped vehicle adjusted course, then fell silent.

Inside the cabin of the airship, Anika Duncan checked her readings, then leaned over the matte-screened displays in the cockpit to look out the front windows.

You can read the first two chapters of Arctic Rising on Tor.com.

Via Suvudu:

I have just finished a 10,000 word short (?) story that takes place just before Allanon sets out to find Shea Ohmsford in Sword. I will be posting it online in a few months on all the major sites as an ebook for readers who want something new leading up to publication of the Annotated Edition of The Sword of Shannara and the first book in the new Shannara’s Dark Legacy, coming in late August. I haven’t done anything with Allanon in almost 30 years, so it really was time for a new story. Keep your eye out for it on our website and on all the major book burying sites.

As an unabashed Shannara fanboy (and the pre-Morgawr books, in particular) this is great news. I recently read Brooks’ only other short story, Imaginary Friends, and was reminded of what a fine storyteller he can be when he really digs into a story and gives it the meat that his newer novels seem to lack. It might seem odd suggesting that Brooks might find this meatier writing by writing short fiction, rather than longer fiction, but there was a certain thoughtfulness to Imaginary Friends that gives me confidence. Brooks has said before that he doesn’t feel that he’s very good at short fiction; to counter that, I think that challenge is a good thing for a writer and his recent novels have seemed somewhat staid and too easy, suggesting that a challenge is exactly what the veteran writers needs. I am Very much looking forward to seeing Brooks stretch his story telling muscle by revisiting one of his most interesting characters.

When rumblings of a new X-com game first hit the gaming scene a few years ago, fans were understandably excited. The classic SRPG series helped define the genre and is considered one of the greatest and most influential of all time. Fan disappointment was also understandable, then, when it was revealed that the new X-com game was going to be a first-person shooter developed by 2K Marin, a far cry from what fans were used to or wanting. That game, simply titled XCOM, has sat in limbo, restarted and re-imagined several times and caught in development doldrums. A rather ignominious end to the storied franchise.

Enter, Firaxis, the developers of the equally legendary and revered Civilization series. The latest edition of Game Informer revealed XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a strategy game that will be instantly familiar to fans and has quickly surpassed XCOM in terms of importance and fan fervor.
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