Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 357

Soul of Dragons – a third excerpt

It's Monday! To celebrate surviving the first day of the business week, let's have another excerpt from SOUL OF DRAGONS:

Mazael galloped past a fallen knight, leaned down, and snatched up the wounded man's spear. He rammed Lion back into its scabbard, steering Hauberk towards the nearest Ograg. The giant lumbered to meet him, raising its spiked club high.

Mazael stood up in his stirrups and thrust the spear with both hands. The steel point plunged into the Ograg's exposed armpit, sinking deep. Black blood and crimson slime slid down the shaft, and the weapon ripped from Mazael's hands as Hauberk galloped past. The Ograg shrieked in fury and spun, trying to track Mazael. Again Mazael wheeled Hauberk around, ripping Lion from its scabbard. The Ograg turned just as Mazael raised Lion, and the towering creature flinched from the azure fire around the blade.

It gave Mazael all the opening he needed to swing for the Ograg's wrist. Lion sank into the Ograg's arm, and the club fell from its gnarled fingers. The Ograg's enraged howl became more of a screech, and again Mazael rose in his stirrups, all the strength of his arm behind his next blow.

Lion's tip tore open the Ograg's throat.

-JM

Marsheila Rockwell on sword and sorcery and Conan vs. the Pope

Marsheila Rockwell has an interesting post on the difference between sword and sorcery and high fantasy. Basically, the difference comes down to one of scope.

Which is interesting, because John C. Wright recently had a post arguing that high fantasy was essentially Catholic while sword and sorcery was basically Protestant. I don't know whether or not that's true. But as is my wont, I processed the argument far too literally, and am now envisioning a pastiche where Conan of Cimmeria fights the sinister sorcery and Pope Sylvester II. In the end, Conan prevails by discovering Sylvester II's diabolical brazen head, the source of his sorcerous power, and Conan hews the head with a single mighty blow from his broadsword, causing Sylvester II to crumble into dust.

Anyway. Marcy has a new story, and you should check it out.

-JM

Soul of Tyrants – 2,000 copies

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I am pleased to report that my novel SOUL OF TYRANTS, the second book in the DEMONSOULED series, has now sold over 2,000 copies.

Thank you to everyone who has bought one (and left good reviews for it on Amazon, Amazon UK, B&N, and Goodreads). I wrote SOUL OF TYRANTS in 2005, and gave up on getting it published in 2007. If you had told me then that one day over two thousand people would have purchased copies of it, I would have turned you over to the police for possession of dangerous hallucinogens.

Of course, if you want to help SOUL OF TYRANTS get to three thousand copies, you know where to go.

-JM

Reader Question Day #8 – 135 pounds and additional DEMONSOULED books

It's Friday! What better way to kick off the weekend than with Reader Question Day?

Manwe asks (concerning the cover art for SOUL OF DRAGONS):

Very nice cover art! Is that St. George slaying the dragon?

Yes.

The cover art for SOUL OF DRAGONS is "St. George and the Dragon", by Gustave Moreau, a French painter who died in 1898. The dragon does not quite look like the way I envisioned the dragons in SOUL OF DRAGONS, but the image is striking enough that it works.

Kallinikos writes:

How many more DEMONSOULED books after SOUL OF DRAGONS?

Short answer: at least two, SOUL OF SORCERY and SOUL OF SHADOWS. Longer answer: I don't really know.

I'd planned for initially only two more books, for a total of six. However, if I did, I realized that SOUL OF SHADOWS would have to cover about fifteen years worth of time, and would probably weigh in at about 250,000 to 300,000 words. That's another three regular-sized books.

And, who knows what will happen? We might all die tomorrow. The inhabitants of Pluto, incensed that we declared their homeworld to be a "dwarf planet", might arrive in their battle fleet to burn Earth down to a cinder to avenge the grievous insult. But I plan to keep writing as long as my health and finances permit, and as long as the books stay fresh.

So, practically speaking, at least two more DEMONSOULED books, and after that, I don't know. Almost certainly more, though.

Jeri writes:

Is Caina Amalas a superhero? I mean, did you write her to be a superhero?

Not as such, no. Frankly, Sherlock Holmes and James Bond were more of an inspiration for THE GHOSTS series than any superhero comics. Caina doesn't have any supernatural powers, and in fact loathes both the idea and the practice of sorcery in any form. Any special abilities she has comes the harsh training and refinement of both her intellect and her physique.

So I guess she's kind of like Batman, yeah.

Bobmn writes:

I read on your blog that you lost 135 pounds in 2009. How did you do it?

Diet and exercise. Sorry, but that's it. I wish I had a magic bullet to give you, since I know firsthand just how hard diet and exercise are, but I don't. I will have to carefully watch what I eat and exercise five times a week for the rest of my life I don't want to return to the sweaty country of morbid obesity. But, in all candor, if people with diabetes or gluten allergies can learn to monitor their diets, then I should be able to manage to learn not to eat three bacon cheeseburgers in a sitting (no matter how much I really really want to).

I don't expect that of anyone else, but I demand it of myself.

-JM

Demonsouled – the (highly) unofficial soundtrack

I listen to a lot of music as I write, and as I do, various songs tend to get associated with specific characters. Here, then, are the songs from my collection that I associate with the characters and events of DEMONSOULED.

Specifically, the songs from the first three books, since I wrote them over the last ten years, and I've listened to a lot of music in that time. And some of this music, consequently, is fairly old, or from computer games I happened to be playing at the time.

Bear in mind there are spoilers for all three books below.

This would be Mazael Cravenlock's theme, "Bonus 03″ from Jeremy Soule's Icewind Dale soundtrack. I think it captures Mazael's preferred solution to problems (kinetic action) perfectly well:

This next track is "Sylvan Battle" from Heroes of Might and Magic V, which I think of as Romaria Greenshield's theme:

This song is "Illusions", from Thomas Bergersen's "Illusions" album, which I think of as Lucan Mandragon's theme. The term "illusions" rather neatly describes many of the decisions Lucan makes in SOUL OF SERPENTS (and the results of those decisions that play out in SOUL OF DRAGONS):

This is "Haven Siege", again from Heroes of Might and Magic V, which brings Gerald Roland to mind:

Next is "Bastila's Theme", from Jeremy Soule's "Knights of the Old Republic" soundtrack, which I think of as Rachel Cravenlock's (later Rachel Roland's theme). Especially in SOUL OF SERPENTS:

("Knights of the Old Republic", incidentally, was in my opinion one of the greatest RPGs of all time.)

This is the "Necropolis Theme" from Heroes V, which would serve admirably as Malavost's theme:

The "Dungeon Theme" from Heroes V brings the San-keth, the villainous serpent people, to mind:

The "Bhaalspawn Battle" song from "Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal" would serve admirably as the soundtrack for the final battle between Mazael and Amalric Galbraith:

"Bonus 09″, again from Jeremy Soule's Icewind Dale soundtrack, would be the theme for Mazael's final fight against Morebeth Galbraith:

Now on to SOUL OF SERPENTS. The "Arishok" track from "Dragon Age 2″, by Inon Zur, would represent the Battle of Castle Cravenlock, when the assembled host of the Grim Marches faced off against twenty thousand of Ultorin's Malrags:

"Battle at Aslan's Howe", from the "Prince Caspian" soundtrack, would make excellent music for Ultorin's assault on the walls of Deepforest Keep:

This next song is "Tristan", from the "Invincible" album by Two Steps From Hell. "Tristan" is an amazing song, and I think it would best represent the scene in SOUL OF SERPENTS when Romaria awakens the Great Traig from its centuries-long slumber, leading the traigs and the surviving defenders of Deepforest Keep in one last charge against Ultorin's horde of Malrags:

"Revan Fights Malak", from the "Knights of the Old Republic" soundtrack, would be the theme for Mazael's final fight against Ultorin:

Finally, when Mazael and his companions fight Malavost before the Door of Souls, I think climatic song from the "Dragon Age: Origins" soundtrack, "To Challenge An Archdemon", would be appropriate:

Once SOUL OF DRAGONS comes out, I'll have to add some songs.

-JM

Stop Online Piracy Act

Other people have written about SOPA in more detail than I can. Suffice it to say, it is a terrible bill – its authors are either technically inept, astonishingly ignorant, or simply corrupt. (Or, knowing the average character of a US Congressman, a combination of all three is the most likely.)

To put it in perspective, the bill is a bit like ordering a major city to shut down all its freeways and roads to all traffic because someone might have driven on those roads with a bootleg Chinese DVD in the trunk. In addition, SOPA's provisions are ripe for abuse – one can easily see a politician using it to take down a site critical of his voting record under nebulous claims of "copyright infringement" (perhaps that is the real reason Congress likes the idea so much).

SOPA does not benefit the public in any way, and is a textbook example of a small, moneyed group using its money to enact ill-considered laws to protect its economic position.

-JM

Soul of Dragons – a second excerpt

Here's a brief snippet from SOUL OF DRAGONS, this time from Lucan Mandragon's point of view:

"You're damned right I struggle against what I might become," said Lucan. "I will not become a man like Marstan or Malavost. Or a monster like Ultorin."

"You already are a man like Marstan and Malavost," said Richard, the hooded shadows waiting at his side. "They wielded dark magic to achieve their ends. You have done the same. What is the difference between you?"

Lucan opened his mouth to speak an answer…and found that he did not have one.

-JM

Soul of Dragons – the cover art

I'm making good progress on the revisions and editing for SOUL OF DRAGONS. So that means it's time for some cover art!

It looks increasingly likely that I will be able to hit a February release date for SOUL OF DRAGONS. Life might throw a curveball, of course, (in February of 2011 I unexpectedly wound up in the hospital, after all) but if the seas remain smooth and the winds steady, February it will be.

-JM

Reader Question Day #7 – additional Ghost books and Kindle vs. Nook

It's been a long and busy week, but we can close it out on a high note with Reader Question Day!

Manwe writes:

Looking over the sales of the ebooks, some of them sell much, much better than others, just compare "Soul of Tyrants" to "Driven and other stories", what are your thoughts on this? Do you think it's just because certain series begin with a free book, or do you think it's a genre thing?

I strongly suspect that series ebooks sell way better than stand-alone ebooks. After all, if you read a book, you invest time and energy in reading it, getting acquainted with the characters, and so forth. So if you've read a book, and you liked it – why not read another with the same characters and setting?

Having the first book free in a series helps immensely with that. It's a lot easier to get people to take a chance on a free book.

Generally, a stand-alone novel will never sell as well. My murder mystery SHARE THE PAIN hardly ever tops four or five copies a month, while SOUL OF TYRANTS can do over 400. The reason for that is because SHARE THE PAIN has no sequels. If I wanted, I think I could perk up SHARE THE PAIN by writing two or three sequels and turning it into a proper series – but then I'd have to write those two or three sequels, and I'd rather write more DEMONSOULED and THE GHOSTS books.

The rules for nonfiction are completely different. I haven't done a single bit of promotion for THE $0.99 UBUNTU BEGINNER'S GUIDE. I think the key for nonfiction is to have a book that is a.) timely, and b.) informative. A book called THE $0.99 COMMODORE 64 BEGINNER'S GUIDE would get very little traction.

And, of all your book series, do you have a favorite (series)? If so, which?

Not really. I think CHILD OF THE GHOSTS, the first in THE GHOSTS series, is the best stand-alone book I've written, and that SOUL OF SERPENTS is the best sequel I've written.

Garnet writes:

Hi I was wondering if there is any continuation of the ghost series?

There will be. Right now there are the three GHOSTS books – CHILD OF THE GHOSTS, GHOST IN THE FLAMES, and GHOST IN THE BLOOD. As soon as I finish SOUL OF DRAGONS in February, I'm going to start the next GHOSTS book – GHOST IN THE STORM. If all goes well, I should have GHOST IN THE STORM done by late spring or early summer.

Kallinikos writes:

Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet?

Actually, I do have a Nook Color. However, I boot it off a microSD card running the excellent Cyanogen Mod so I have access to all the features of Android. (If you're not familiar with Cyanogen Mod, it's a custom version of Android aimed at giving a freer user experience than typically found on smartphones and tablets.)  This means, of course, that I can install the Kindle app on a Nook device, which no doubt makes some poor Barnes & Noble executive's head just explode.

The downside to tablets is that they tend to be far more locked down than the average PC. However, I've worked in tech support for almost 12 years now, and I understand why that it is – if you gave the average user full root-level control over a smartphone, he or she would probably render it inoperable within 15 minutes, no doubt by trying to install free screensavers from the Internet. Still, whenever possible, I prefer to have full control over my computing devices – so, Nook Color with Cyanogen Mod.

-JM

Soul of Dragons – an excerpt

It's only Tuesday, but it's already been a rough week. How about we treat ourselves to a quick excerpt from SOUL OF DRAGONS?

###

"We're not in the Grim Marches yet," said Mazael. A halo of crackling blue flame snarled around Lion's blade. "Brace yourselves!"

A moment later dark shapes erupted from the trees.

Mazael expected to see Malrags. Creatures with gray, leathery skin. Hands with six fingers and the fang-filled mouths. White, colorless eyes, and a third eye glowing in the foreheads of the shamans. Black armor, and the axes and spears of black steel.

He did not expect to see a line of animated corpses burst from the trees, moving with inhuman speed, empty eyes shining with green flame. The creatures looked as if they had been dead for some time, crumbling flesh stretched tight over yellowing bones. Yet they moved with supernatural speed and power, some racing on all fours as their clawed fingers raked at the earth. Mazael had seen such creatures before. They were corpses, raised by the dark magic of a skilled necromancer.

Zuvembies.

Lion shuddered in his grasp, its azure flame burning brighter.

"Release!" bellowed one of the archers.

"No!" shouted Mazael, "no, lower your bows, take your…"

But it was too late. His men knew how to fight Malrags, but most of them had never seen a zuvembie before. A storm of arrows slammed into the charging mob of zuvembies. The impact knocked the front row down, sent them sprawling into the others. But the arrowheads did not harm the undead flesh.

Normal steel could not wound a thing raised by necromancy.

###

Watch this space for more excerpts!

-JM