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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Posts Tagged: Tor
Yowza. Priest’s Clockwork Century novels have never lacked for attractive covers, but I think this one might take the cake. Instead of the traditional browns and greys that defined the previous covers, this time around we’re given a nice splash of blue and orange that really makes the whole image pop.
The art is by Cliff Nielsen, his first time working on the Clockwork Century novels (previous covers were painted by the equally awesome Jon Foster, and you might recognize him for the amazing covers he did for N.K. Jemisin’s The Inheritance Trilogy (like The Kingdom of Gods). I’m glad to see Nielsen getting even more exposure, he’s one of my favourite artists.
An a synopsis:
Rector “Wreck ‘em” Sherman was orphaned as a toddler in the Blight of 1863, but that was years ago. Wreck has grown up, and on his eighteenth birthday, he’ll be cast out out of the orphanage.
And Wreck’s problems aren’t merely about finding a home. He’s been quietly breaking the cardinal rule of any good drug dealer and dipping into his own supply of the sap he sells. He’s also pretty sure he’s being haunted by the ghost of a kid he used to know—Zeke Wilkes, who almost certainly died six months ago. Zeke would have every reason to pester Wreck, since Wreck got him inside the walled city of Seattle in the first place, and that was probably what killed him.Maybe it’s only a guilty conscience, but Wreck can’t take it anymore, so he sneaks over the wall.
The walled-off wasteland of Seattle is every bit as bad as he’d heard, chock-full of the hungry undead and utterly choked by the poisonous, inescapable yellow gas. And then there’s the monster. Rector’s pretty certain that whatever attacked him was not at all human—and not a rotter, either. Arms far too long. Posture all strange. Eyes all wild and faintly glowing gold and known to the locals as simply “The Inexplicables.”
In the process of tracking down these creatures, Rector comes across another incursion through the wall — just as bizarre but entirely attributable to human greed. It seems some outsiders have decided there’s gold to be found in the city and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get a piece of the pie unless Rector and his posse have anything to do with it.
Much to my shame, I haven’t actually read any of the Clockwork Century novels, so I can’t really comment on the synopsis above. Hopefully you’ve found it enjoyable/interesting, though!
The Inexplicables is set for release on November 12th, 2012.
Looks exactly like all his other UK covers, so I suppose I’ll just re-direct you here for my opinion. The US cover art, which I prefer, is here.
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
Yep, it’s that time of year again. The 2012 Suvudu Cage Matches are live and, like the previous two years, I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to the event. This time around, being just a bit of an old-school Terry Brooks fan, I was charged with pitting the Dagda Mor, Brooks’ demonic lord from The Elfstones of Shannara, against Cheshire Red, the slick vampire/thief from Cherie Priest’s Bloodshot and Hellbent.
Here’s a little taste:
Astride his Northland Bat, the Dagda Mor circled slowly above the human city, watching the girl. She lurked in the shadows, thinking herself hidden, but mere darkness could not hide her from the demon’s magic. The Dagda Mor gripped its Staff of Power in skeletal hands, feeling its magic throb like a living thing. The girl was a tool, a piece of the puzzle that he would use to finally acquire a magic that had eluded him for thousands of years–the only magic more powerful than his.
The demon watched the girl climb up the zig-zagging metal ladders and platforms, reaching the top of the building and then effortlessly leaping across the gap to the other. She took one quick glance around the rooftop, never looking towards the sky, then knelt before the door. In a moment, the door popped open and the girl disappeared inside. The Dagda Mor waited.
The moon had barely moved from its place in the sky when the girl re-appeared through the same door, quietly closing it behind her. The Demon dropped from its bat mount and plummeted to the alleyway below. It landed without and sound and melted into the shadows, waiting for the girl as she clambered expertly down the metal ladders.
Read the full Dagda Mor Vs. Cheshire Red cage match!
I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with both Brooks and Priest, so it was quite an honour to be able to assume two of their characters for this cage match. I hope I was able to do their characters some bit of justice.
But, what do you think? Who would win the fight? Or are such cage matches just a fanciful waste of time?
My previous cage matches:
2010
- Kahlan Amnell vs. Drizzt Do’Urden
- Kvothe vs. Garet Jax (My favourite!)
2011
- Hugo Award
Winner
- About Aidan Moher
- Bibliography