Monthly Archives: September 2007

Cover Art

An Aside | The Cover for Salvatore’s “The Ancient”

By Aidan Moher September 21st, 2007

The Ancient by R.A. SalvatoreI’m a HUGE fan of R.A. Salvatore’s DemonWars Saga and anything related to it. I still rank the fourth novel, Mortalis among one of the most engaging and emotionally charged novels I’ve ever read. So, it’s understandable that I was pretty darn excited when I saw this on Remy’s Blog.

The new cover art was just released for the latest novel set in the world of Corona. Here’s what Salvatore’s official web site has to say about it:

‘The Ancient cover art has arrived. The Ancient is the first book in the Saga of the First King trilogy. This brand new book, due out in early 2008, takes place in Corona and continues the story of The Highwayman. This is the first book in a new publishing deal that New York Times Best-Selling author signed with TOR books.

For fans not familiar with the Highwayman novel a re-release will be out in paperback this year!

R.A. Salvatore’s prelude to the Demon Wars Sagas The Highwayman is a stimulating ride into the early history of Corona and the vehicle is the creation a new, Drizzt-rivaling hero. Salvatore spins the tragic tale of an Abellican missionary who returns to Honce from the desert land Behr with wonders from the ancient Jhesta Tu monastery. At his side is his wife, a Jhesta Tu mystic. His dreams of uniting the teachings of the Jhesta Tu and “The Church of Blessed Abelle” are broken against the realities of bigotry and the young Abellican Church’s struggle for political favor against the Druid-like Samhaists. But from their doomed union will rise a people’s hero–the Highwayman.’

I can’t be the only one that’s super excited for this novel!

News

An Aside | “Learn as much by writing as by reading.”

By Aidan Moher September 20th, 2007

This one’s for all the aspiring writers out there.

Pick the Brain has put together a list of 10 writing tips from some of the literary world’s biggest names. A lot of it is common sense, but it also pays to refresh yourself on what some of the best writers of all time think is worthy enough to leave behind for future writers.

“Learn as much by writing as by reading.”
     -Lord Acton

“Write without pay until somebody offers to pay.”
     -Mark Twain

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
     -Anton Chekhov

“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”
     -Elmore Leonard

You can find the whole list HERE.

Review

Review | Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell

By Aidan Moher September 19th, 2007
Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell

Crystal Rain

Author – Tobias Buckell

Paperback
Pages: 384 pages
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Release Date: Feb 7 2006
ISBN-10: 0765350904
ISBN-13: 978-0765350909

When I first heard of Buckell’s novels, Crystal Rain and Ragamuffin, I wasn’t sure quite what to think. They were short (always an oddity in the field of Science Fiction and Fantasy), they had a strong Caribbean flair and, well… I thought the name Ragamuffin was kinda silly.

Still, the more I read about him and his novels, the more interested I became to see just exactly what they were about. So, I got my hands on copies of his two novels and quickly set to work forming an opinion of my own. And its a positive opinion, more or less.

Let me start off by saying this about Crystal Rain: Buckell manages to fit more into this lean novel than most authors do into novels twice as long. I don’t know how he does it, but other authors (and editors) need to take note; this is how you tell a lean, fast paced and frenetic story without any wasted words. Each and every one of Crystal Rain‘s 384 pages burst at the seams with creativity: a vivid world inhabited by real people all wrapped up in a plot that races towards the finish line at full steam ahead.
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Feature Article

Article | The (multi-volume) Telling of a Story: A Follow Up

By Aidan Moher September 16th, 2007

My original article (HERE) elicited a good response from many of my readers and I felt that instead of writing a gigantic comment in response to them I would craft another official article regarding the main topic being discussed by them, as it is one close to my heart. Terry Brooks is one of my favourite authors and his novels have really helped shape my perspective of the Fantasy Genre.

The topic started when John (of the kickass blog, Grasping for the Wind) responded to my inclusion of Terry Brooks and Raymond E. Feist,

The Blade Itself

“I don’t think Brooks and Feist really fall into this category. They have really written a series of trilogies (ok sometimes four books) or stand alone novels that are set in the same world. Some have the same characters, but not always, and new characters are often introduced. Goodkind and Jordan on the other hand have been following the same characters for twelve weary books. Goodkind has finally got it about what Feist and Brooks have done and is calling the last three books in his series a “trilogy” although I’m inclined to think that is just marketing since the same characters are used.

Anyway, I think that is an unfair comparison. We perhaps need to delineate a line between authors who write in same world, and authors who write about the same characters in a linear fashion.

Perhaps how the books are published might be a factor to take into account as well. If I can read three of Feist’s books and feel that the story is over (ie. Riftwar Legacy) is it fair to say he is lengthy series writer? I can read Brook’s Talismans of Shannara without cracking any of his other books and feel I’ve read a good story.”

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