Last week, I wrote a cage match between Moiraine and The Dagda Mor for the 2012 Suvudu Cage Matches. Moiraine stomped Terry Brooks’ demon lord into the ground and moved onto the next round to face Jardir from Peter V. Brett’s The Desert Spear. When the editors at Del Rey/Suvudu approached me about the opportunity to co-author the Moiraine vs. Jardir cage match with Peter V. Brett, I couldn’t refuse. Together, Peat and I cam up with a pretty wicked fight between the two powerhouse characters. If you’re into these cage matches, check out the Moiraine vs. Jardir match and defend me and Peat from the Wheel of Time fans ripping us a new one in the comments section!
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Welcome to the new version of A Dribble of Ink!
As you’ve likely noticed (and if you haven’t, refresh your browser!), A Dribble of Ink has a whole new look. I felt that the previous design (which had been around, in some form or another, since the start of the blog four-and-a-half years ago) was starting to look a little long in the tooth; so, it was time to re-launch A Dribble of Ink with a whole new look, an early celebration of its fifth birthday.
I coded the template myself from scratch using HTML5 and CSS3, which has a lot of benefits for you guys, my readers. It’s a heck of a lot faster (this template is 50% the size of the previous template and relies on far fewer image files), it’s easier for search engines to find content (semantic coding and streamlined structure), and, overall, the design and ‘look’ of the site is simpler and cleaner, allowing the content itself to shine.
If you want to experience all the new fun stuff, and have A Dribble of Ink look its best, make sure you’re using a modern browser like Chrome or Firefox. It’ll work just fine in Internet Explorer, but Microsoft are a little behind the curve in integrating the new HTML5 and CSS3 features.
In addition to this, I’ve switched away from my previous webhost (GoDaddy *shudder*) to a new host that is more friendly with WordPress, meaning general performance of A Dribble of Ink should improve immensely. I was aware of the lagginess and slow load-times of the site in recent months and have worked hard to fix this.
Feel free (and encouraged) to leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section here. I hope you like the new design!
In a new article in Entertainment Weekly, David Benioff, co-creator of Game of Thrones, the television series that launched George R.R. Martin and his A Song of Ice and Fire novels into super-stardom, confirmed that he and D.B. Weiss, the show’s other co-creator, were able to successfully convince HBO to increase the budget of season two by 15%, or, roughly, $9,000,000, enough to fun and extra one-and-a-half shows.
So, where’d the money go? Sorry to say, but you’re not going to get 11.5 episodes this season. Instead, you’ll be left with one heck of a rendition of ‘The Battle of Blackwater,’ the raucous conflict that provides the climax for A Clash of Kings. Most of the new money was funnelled into raising the production value and length of that scenario.
Benioff:
“This is season is about a country at war,” says Benioff, who along with Weiss, successfully lobbied HBO for a 15 percent budget increase to stage the second season. “And we felt like if we didn’t see the most important battle of this entire war onscreen, we’re going to shortchange viewers.”
But, really, are we surprised? HBO has been known to cut ties with series that begin to see inflating budgets *coughRomecough*, but with the roaring success of Game of Thrones, which has taken over not only geekdom but mainstream entertainment as well, you have to think that that nine million bucks will be quickly earned back, and will help to further cement the show as one of pop culture’s most successful literary/Fantasy adaptations. What remains to be seen is how the mainstream audience that bouys Game of Thrones‘ success will respond to A Clash of Kings, which takes the tighter, less action-packed narrative of A Game of Thrones and throws open the doors to more characters, more plot twists and a hell of a lot more violence and slaughter. Luckily, we only have to wait until April 1st to find out.
Now, back to my Game of Thrones Blu-rays. They ain’t going to watch themselves.
I was asked to contribute another write-up for Suvudu’s 2012 Cage Matches. This time around, it’s The Wheel of Time‘s Moiraine Damodred, diminutive Aes Sedai, versus Terry Brooks’ hulking demon lord, The Dagda Mor. A taste:
The vicious sound of her Warder locked in battle with the Demon clawed at her, but Moiraine could not waste a thought for Lan, no matter his peril. The Dagda Mor dropped from the sky, and Moiraine caught a bat-shaped beast winging away into the dark night. Even hunched, the Demon towered over the diminutive Aes Sedai. Tufts of green hair, like saw-grass, sprouted over its entire body. In its hands was a long, gnarled staff, the end glowing green as magic coursed between the Demon and the shaft.
Moiraine wore a brocaded blue silk dress, horizontal slashes of alternating blue and white crossing her chest, and a black belt circling her waist. On her feet were high-calfed leather boots and gossamer stockings, made from Shara’s finest silk. Over all this, she wore a dark blue cloak trimmed in white, too light for travel, but so perfectly fitted that it gave the Aes Sedia a regal look, hinting at her noble Cairhienen background. The hood of her cloak was drawn up, so that the only hint of life in the shadowed recesses was the sparkle of her eyes and the glint of light caught in the small blue stone that sat suspended on her forehead by a silver chain.
“Can we get on with this?” the Dagda Mor growled. Moiraine’s eyes snapped up from admiring her outfit, startled from her reverie by the Demon’s words.
Read the Moiraine vs. The Dagda Mor cage match!
I accepted the gig before I thought about the fact that I’d be assuming a character from The Wheel of Time, which has one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in all of Fantasy. To say I was nervous for the fan reaction would be an understatement of enormous proportion. I had some fun with the match, though, so I hope they’ll enjoy it!
My previous cage matches:
2010
- Kahlan Amnell vs. Drizzt Do’Urden
- Kvothe vs. Garet Jax (My favourite!)
2011
2012
Guy Gavriel Kay’s new novel is once more inspired by Chinese history, this time during the Song Dynasty, almost four centuries after the story told in his bestselling Under Heaven. The dazzling elements of the Song – cultural brilliance, vicious political rivalries, warfare against nomadic peoples, court mandarins versus the military – are rich ground for Kay’s unique blending of fantasy and themes of history. Vivid among a large cast, a young man with a dream of regaining the empire’s lost ‘rivers and mountains’ and a brilliant woman trying to shape a space for herself outside the ‘inner quarters’, where women are expected to live out their lives, confront the challenges and dangers of a world in turmoil. The Song Dynasty’s legacy is prominent in the way Westerners imagine Chinese history to this day and Kay weaves a story that captivates on both an epic scale and within the intimate lives of his characters.
*drool*
Under Heaven is one of my favourite novels from the past five years and, though I’m not as well read in Kay’s work as I’d like (they’re rainy day novels for me), it’s also one of the author’s best. My excitement for him to return to that world/setting is unabashed and nearly shameful.
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