Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 175

Malison: Who Is Rilmael?

A reader asked if the Guardian Rilmael from MALISON: DRAGON CURSE is the same character as the Guardian Rhodruthain from the SEVENFOLD SWORD series.

That’s a good catch! But no.

Rilmael and Rhodruthain are different people.

However, it’s a good catch because Rilmael is actually Rhodruthain’s older brother, and they both became Guardians at the same time. But more on that in future books.

The Lord of the Rings: a fifteen year retrospective

Over the Thanksgiving break I re-watched THE LORD OF THE RINGS movie trilogy for the first time since like 2008 or so, I think.

You know how sometimes you watch a movie from twenty years ago and it doesn’t hold up well? Or that the special effects or clothes looked dated? I’m pleased to say that is not true of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. It holds up very well. I think the emphasis on practical effects really paid off over the long run, and the CGI was used well enough that it doesn’t look out of place or dated. For that matter, the designs of all the sets and armor and weapons and costumes are amazing. The armor of every Elven warrior in every computer game produced in the last fifteen years kind of looks like the Elven armor from the movie, and if you look for stock photos of people holding swords, they are every often holding replicas of Aragon’s sword Anduril. (Which makes it impossible to use the image for a book cover, but never mind that.) The Siege of Gondor and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and the fight with Shelob are all amazing.

It’s not perfect, of course – but a movie is only an adaptation of the book. Film isn’t a medium that really lends itself to subtlety, and THE LORD OF THE RINGS books have a lot of subtleties that don’t translate well to film. Like, the full explanation of why Aragorn has the right to the throne of Gondor would take several thousand words, and would be very difficult to portray in a movie. Tolkien himself considered the book unfilmable. A good example of lost subtlety is Denethor. In the book, he’s a tragic figure who nevertheless retains a nobility and courage to his actions to the very end, even when his mind is poisoned by despair. In the movie, he’s just a jerk.

But the key to adapting a book is to retain the essence of the story while fitting it into the time constraints of a film. I think THE LORD OF THE RINGS film does that mostly successfully. (THE HOBBIT movies, alas, make for good WARCRAFT films, but they sort of lost the essence of THE HOBBIT.)

Fifteen years later, I also think there is one thing that moves the movie into the realm of a classic.

Specifically, how the Ring is portrayed.

The scariest thing in the movie is not Sauron or the Nazgul or the various monsters (not even Shelob!) – it’s the Ring itself. Specifically, how the Ring fries the mind and corrupts the heart of nearly anyone it encounters. Poor Frodo makes it to almost the end before the Ring corrupts him. The scene where Smeagol takes the Ring and it slowly transforms him into Gollum is chilling.

And what’s scary about that transformation is not how supernatural or strange it is, but how common and mundane. It’s incredibly common. There are all kinds of things that fry the mind and corrupt the heart – money, alcohol, drugs, porn, politics, careers, social status, and countless other things. Rings of Power aren’t rare, there are millions of them, and the first hit is always free. Author Tom Shippey in his book J.R.R. TOLKIEN: AUTHOR OF THE CENTURY (which is excellent and you really should read), talks about the idea of the Ringwraiths as people eaten up and twisted by by their Rings of Power until they became wraiths. Alas, I’m sure we all know someone in Real Life who has been eaten up and twisted by something, the same way Gollum was eaten up and twisted by the Ring.

That speaks to something universal in the human condition, I think. So because of that, I think both the book version and the movie adaptation of THE LORD OF THE RINGS will be remembered for a long time.

-JM

GHOST IN THE TOWER rough draft done!

I am pleased to report that the rough draft of GHOST IN THE TOWER is done! 97,000 words in 19 days.

Editing is now underway, which means that it’s time to share the cover image, which you can see below.

If all goes well, the book will be out in December.

[image error]

-JM

GHOST IN THE TOWER short excerpt

In today’s excerpt from GHOST IN THE TOWER, Morgant the Razor explains his philosophy of art criticism:

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“This is Ilona, a woman who entered my service in Risiviri,” said Caina. She looked at Morgant. “And this…”

 “I am Markaine of Caer Marist, at your service,” said Morgant, and he offered a bow, flouring the end of his coat as he did so. Both Kylon and Seb rolled their eyes. “And I am the greatest painter in the Empire of Nighmar.”

Valron seemed unimpressed. “What are you doing here?”

 “Well, you can’t expect the Lady Kardamnos to travel without her painter, can’t you?” said Morgant.

“A painter with a scimitar and a dagger at his belt, I see,” said Valron.

Morgant shrugged. “Sometimes people criticize my paintings.”

-JM

Interesting Links #26: Forth Eorlingas!

I haven’t done an Interesting Links post in a while because I haven’t really read any interesting articles. But! This week I read a bunch of them:

-This is a fascinating article on the semi-rivalry between Bill Watterson of Calvin & Hobbes and Charles Schulz of Peanuts, and the massive disagreement they had over merchandising. Frankly, I think I agree more with Schulz’s views on the matter than Watterson’s. Selling Out The Newspaper Comic Strip.

-I had one of the original Mac Minis back in 2006 and used it a lot, but I don’t think I would get one of the new ones: Mac Mini Review – A Testament To Apple’s Stubbornness.

-If you use Amazon’s US site from another country and you had trouble accessing it in October/November, this might be the reason why: KDP Books Unavailable To International Readers.

-Speaking of that, Amazon has been having a lot of glitches this year, and an internal database migration is probably the reason why. I was in IT for a long time, and the thought of migrating databases on that scale makes my head hurt: Amazon’s move off Oracle caused Prime Day outage in one of its biggest warehouses, internal report says

-I’ve written a bunch of my recent books on a Surface Pro computer, so I will be interested to read this history of the Surface line: Beneath A Surface: Shipping November 29th.

-And this, ladies and gentlemen, is reason number #46,983 to self-publish. You don’t have to deal with what George Orwell called the “smelly little orthodoxies” of publishers and editors: A Glimpse Into The Ideological Monoculture Of Literary New York.

-Here is really good advice for authors with email lists: Email Marketing As An Author.

-It’s been fifteen years since THE RETURN OF THE KING came out in film, and I still think the charge of the Rohirrim was one of the coolest scenes in the history of movies: Ride of the Rohirrim at 15: how Lord of the Rings gave us cinema’s greatest cavalry charge.

-JM

Starquest!

L. Jagi Lamplighter (whose books I’ve mentioned before) asked me to share that she and her husband John C. Wright are running a crowdfunding campaign for a space opera series called Starquest.

It’s an interesting idea, inspired by the failure of a recent film in a long-running science fiction franchise owned by a highly litigious multinational corporation (which is why I’m naming no names!). From the description:

“Have you been disappointed by the drab way space sagas franchises, and the beloved epics of childhood have been treated? John C Wright and his space allies seek to break the fetters that have bound our imagination for too long. Against the infinite backdrop of the stars, tales of bold heroism and black-hearted villainy wait to be told!”

It’s already funded, so I’m looking forward to reading the book when it comes out! But as of this writing (11/24/2018) the campaign is still open for another 12 days, so you can contribute if you want a character named after you.

-JM

 

Gibbets and crows!

Over Thanksgiving break I decided to rewatch THE LORD OF THE RINGS movies for the first time in a really long time.

I’m glad the Voice of Saruman scene ended up in the extended edition of RETURN OF THE KING.

First, it is very satisfying to see Theoden throw Saruman’s false offer of peace into his face and chew him out for all the destruction and death in Rohan.

Second, Christopher Lee did a superb job as Saruman. You see all the wounded pride and arrogance and furious thwarted spite Saruman has at the end of his life. It’s not quite the same as Saruman’s end in the Scouring of the Shire in the books, but film is generally a less subtle medium than a book.

Third, it makes for a good contrast with Sauron. Saruman spent the first two movies acting like he was the chief villain…but then Sauron’s army marches from Minas Morgul, and we see what a real Dark Lord is like.

It is impressive how nearly twenty years later the movies still hold up very well.

-JM

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have many things for which I am thankful. It is good to remember the words of Abraham Lincoln’s original Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1864:

“Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of Events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.”

Of course, the idea is far older than Abraham Lincoln, as this quote from the Book of Deuteronomy shows:

“You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”

I’m very thankful that I get to write so much, and that so many of you have come along on the journeys of Ridmark and Caina and Nadia and the other characters.

Also, pie. I’m quite thankful for pie.

GHOST IN THE FLAMES audiobook preview

Good news, everyone! Hollis McCarthy has signed up to narrate GHOST IN THE FLAMES, and recording is now underway.

Here’s a fifteen minute preview of the upcoming audiobook edition of GHOST IN THE FLAMES. If all goes well, it should be available sometime around January. Click on the Play button to listen:

https://www.jonathanmoeller.com/writer/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ghost-in-the-Flames_First-15.mp3

Meanwhile, why not listen to CHILD OF THE GHOSTS to get ready for GHOST IN THE FLAMES?

CHILD OF THE GHOSTS Thanksgiving audiobook giveaway!

The holiday season is about to begin, which means you might have a long drive or flight ahead of you. And there’s no better way to pass that travel time than by listening to an excellent audiobook!

To help you find an excellent audiobook, I’m giving away ten free download codes to the audiobook version of CHILD OF THE GHOSTS. The 1st ten people who email me at jmcontact@jonathanmoeller.com will get a download for a free audiobook copy of CHILD OF THE GHOSTS. All I ask in return is that you post an honest review for the audiobook on Audible.com.

(Note that you do need an Audible account to use the code.)

I will update this post once all the codes have been given away, so act fast!

-JM