Ken Lizzi's Blog, page 54

Take a Deep Draft

Why have I waited so long to read The Drawing of the Dark? Perhaps it was for the best. Tim Powers seems to have constructed a story drawing on interests and predilections that I have developed and nurtured over the years. Had I read it as a teen, for example, it wouldn’t have spoken to me so fully.

Powers wonderfully combines swordplay, Arthurian legend, history, Vikings, the Renaissance, a smorgasboard of myths, and — wait for it — beer into a rousing, engaging tale of the defense of Western Civilization. Even the theme pushes my buttons. How could Mr. Powers have known? Does he possess a touch of Merlin’s precognitive abilities?  (Of course he wrote the book with me in mind. Stands to reason, doesn’t it?)

It is interesting to compare Dark to the work of another Tim, Tim Willocks. His The Religion concerns a similar historical subject. But whereas Willocks treats the story with rigorous accuracy and vivid, often gruesome, description, Powers adds fantasy, and even the occasional touch of whimsical humor. Both are excellent stories from two different approaches. Interestingly, from what I understand, Powers original intention was to set Dark during the Siege of Malta, as Willocks did, rather than Vienna. I’d have been intrigued to read each man’s depiction of that event.

I have been reading Powers for decades now, and am always impressed. His books stick with me. Even if the details fade, an overall impression remains. Drawing of the Dark, will, I am certain, stay with me.

And did I mention beer? I love that Powers made it an essential plot point of The Drawing of the Dark. (The title is a bit of an elaborate joke.) I like it when beer plays a strong part in a story. Glen Cook does this well with his Garrett novels. I think it can also play a part in world building. I tried to do something along those lines in Boss: Falchion’s Company Book One. (Book two, Captain, is now out in print and digital, with the audio edition currently in production.) Distinctive styles and additives can offer a fictional place an additional layer of verisimilitude, a greater sense of place. But I don’t recall anyone giving beer such a central role. Cheers, I say, Mr. Powers. Cheers.

Falchion Returns!

You can’t keep a good man down. Or at least you can’t keep a perhaps not-so-nice fictional character down. If you enjoyed Boss: Falchion’s Company Book One, you’ll be happy to learn that Falchion is back, in Captain: Falchion’s Company Book Two. The book is out in print and digital, and an audio version is in production.

This means I get to engage in my favorite activity: marketing. You may note a hint of sarcasm in the preceding sentence. If not, allow me to restate it bluntly: I don’t like marketing. Shilling your own wares feels uncomfortably like begging. I honestly don’t care for it. But, it is absolutely necessary. If no one is aware you have a book for sale, no one is going to buy it. And I want people to buy Captain. I wrote it in order to entertain people, and it can’t do that if people don’t read it. 

So, yeah. Marketing. Sigh.

“Don’t miss out on the entertainment sensation of April, 2020. Pick up your copy of Captain: Falchion’s Company Book Two today. Tell a friend. Leave a review.”

Cue confetti and balloons.

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well in these interesting times.

In the Pipe

Whether we’re facing a world-changing pandemic, or not, I’m still working. Not just at my day job; I’m also still producing books. I expect to have another book out early in April, perhaps by the first. Specifically, Captain: Falchion’s Company Book Two, the sequel to Boss.

Falchion is back, now running his own mercenary company. I think you’re going to like this one.

I got the rights back to Thick As Thieves. I’m considering just putting it out myself, rather than shopping it around to another publisher. That way I’ll have a book out between Captain, in April, and Warlord, in July. What do you think? Sufficient distance? Too much? Not enough?

If you’ve read Thick As Thieves, do you have an idea what you think the cover art should look like? Or was the first edition’s cover on point?

The sequel to Karl Thorson and the Jade Dagger is off to the publisher. I’m waiting on comments. Of course, I hope it is perfect as is, without the need for more than, say, a proof read. There is a first time for everything, I suppose.

Meanwhile, work continues on a Cesar the Bravo novel. The three stories recording his adventures so far are available.

So, if you’re “sheltering in place” and in need of entertainment, I’m doing my best to keep you supplied.

Dancing on the Precipice

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I understand there is some sort of kerfuffle going on in the world. People panicking, going into lockdown mode. I’ve been sitting on the beach, sipping cold beer, and listening to the waves come in. We all react to existential threats in our own way, I suppose.

The point is, I’m on vacation. When the going gets tough, I go on vacation. How’s that for a motto?

The end of the trip nears. We board a plane tomorrow for the flight home. It’s been good, though I may have spent way too  much on tequila. Now, scratch that, that’s impossible. These five-to-ten days of vacation never hit a sweet spot. I either want to stay longer or I’m exhausted and ready to get back to my quotidian life.

What that quotidian life will consist of now is an open question as of this writing. (This half-in-the bag writing. I’ve been sitting beach-and-pool-side, going through another round of edits on Karl Thorson and Santa Anna’s Sword while consuming iced buckets of Modelo Especial. Writers are never truly on vacation.) I hope to find life returning to some sense of normalcy. But hope is a suckers game, so I’m bringing home a package of TP in the suitcase. What is up with this TP hoarding, by the way? What are you people thinking?

Anyways, the point is, I’ve had a good time. Most was spent in a resort in Nuevo Vallarta, with only a single boat excursion along a canal behind the property. Want to see some pictures?

[image error]Crocodile



[image error]Black Iguana



[image error]Green Iguana




[image error]Dolphins. In the background.




[image error]Sea Lions. In the background.




[image error]Mexico is stepping up its craft beer game.

S&S 202: Does Sword-and-Planet Fiction Qualify as Sword-and-Sorcery?

Does the Sword-and-Planet (also known as Planetary Romance) genre qualify as Sword-and-Sorcery? Or, more precisely, can it?

Yes. Next question.

Wait, you want some sort of explanation rather than a blanket agreement or denial. Fine.

You might think that swapping out “sorcery” for “planet” would turn the story into science-fiction. But if you examine the sort of science that informs many Planetary Romance stories, you’ll discover that the science is sorcery wearing dark glasses and a false moustache. You’ve got ESP, telepathy, unexplained rays that accomplish this or that without even a semblance of a scientific foundation.

These aren’t hard sci-fi tales, nor do they pretend to be. The granddaddy of them all has the protagonist waking up on Mars. The “science” comes and goes as the narrative demands. Radium bullets that never miss disappear as a plot element when it would become inconvenient. Characters seem to forget they possess telepathy. Hardly scientific. The Chessmen of Mars could easily be reworked as a Conan novella.

Leigh Brackett’s Eric John Stark books constantly find the space-farer on backwards, low-tech planets. Mental powers of aliens or mutated humans lead to such lines as “‘You have strong magic,’ said the mercenary, trotting by his stirrup. ‘But from now on you are hunted men.’” Her Sword of Rhiannon is barely a step removed from fantasy. 

C.L. Moore’s Northwest Smith stories are Lovecraftian horror/adventure tales. If you’re tapping into the bloodline of the original big three, you know you’re going to get at least trace elements of S&S.

Now, just because some S&P can qualify as S&S, it doesn’t necessarily follow that all S&P does. If you remove or muddy the “science = sorcery” equation, then the precondition for qualification disappears. Take, for instance, Under Strange Suns. Yes, I’m using one of my own as an example. It’s my web log. I wrote USS as an homage to ERB’s Barsoom novels. But I wanted to at least create the illusion of scientifically plausible grounds for travel to another world and the events that transpire. By doing so I eliminated the sorcerous component. Which is why, I suppose, that the book is accompanied by such keywords as “Space Fleet” and “First Contact.” (NB, I have written S&S, including a number of short stories and a couple of novels. Happy to direct you to them. But I don’t consider that USS qualifies as such.)

Or, for a more prestigious example, there is Jack Vance’s Planet of Adventure series. The tech-level our hero faces varies, from the primitive to the space-faring. But, even at the lowest level, the science remains grounded, and never appears to be supernatural. Poul Anderson’s lark The High Crusade is another example. In this case, of course, it is the humans who are the backwards, sword-wielders who end up on technologically advanced planets. But the science, while hand-waved, is treated seriously and not as an analog of magic. So, by my terms, while it might be S&P, it isn’t S&S.

So, in summary, some S&P can be considered S&S, but not all. Questions? Comments? Complete dismantlement of my premise?

The Words, Like the Spice, Must Flow

When I first started writing, years ago, it was primarily as a challenge. Could I get a story published? Then, how about a few more? After a while, I wanted to see if I could get a novel published. That accomplished, I discovered I had more novels I wanted to write, that it wasn’t enough to have a published book under my belt.

At the moment I find myself dealing with multiple projects in various stages. I’ve got the word mines running, and the words must flow. It is gratifying. It is also time consuming for someone with a profession that already demands most of his nine-to-five hours.

Currently I’m working on commissioning covers for books two and three of Falchion’s Company. Trying out indie-publishing has multiplied the positions I need to fill in the word mines. I’m going to bring along the manuscripts with me over spring break to take a final pass through. I at least want book two (Captain) in publishable condition in order to hit my self-imposed April deadline.

I just learned that the publisher of my sword-and-sorcery crime novel Thick As Thieves closed up shop some months ago. So, I need to start looking for a new home for that book.

At some point I need to take another pass through the sequel to Karl Thorson and the Jade Dagger. I have some ideas for a couple of additional chapters that I’ll want to insert somewhere.

But in the meantime, I’m on chapter two of a new book. There are three published short stories featuring my S&S character Cesar the Bravo. I decided he deserved his own novel. I’ve only myself to blame, of course, for all this work. No one forced me to engage in so many projects simultaneously. The galactic empire will not collapse if my words cease to flow. But my self-esteem would suffer. I certainly can’t allow that to happen.

The Mega-Post

When you have more than one thing to write about but little to link the subjects, start with a bombastic title.

Don’t leave the best for last. Or do. I don’t know, it’s confusing.

How about this? Boss: Falchion’s Company Book One is now an audio book. That’s pretty good new, I think.

Of course it seems good must be balanced by bad news. I don’t know how these things are determined, what metric is employed to evaluate the degree of good and enormity of the bad. I can’t consider this a cosmic evil or anything like that, but I am typing today’s post with only eight fingers. I managed to fall and fracture my ring finger in a couple spots, so I have it strapped against the little finger, limiting mobility and function.

Oh, and there’s more. MBW was away in Mexico on a business trip. She returned yesterday, drove about a mile from the airport, and discovered a flat tire. I drove out, switched cars with her, and waited for a tow. (Why didn’t you change it yourself, Ken? You try changing a tire with only one hand, squatting by the side of the freeway with traffic passing a mere inch or two from your ass. Also, whoever it was at Lexus who designed the spare tire storage solution…seems to have had an off day. I’m sure normally he was brilliant.) But I did get about a half page written on my WIP before the tow truck arrived. The half-drunk cosmic being, found unfit for any other duties, and assigned to maintaining my Karmic Balance was amusing himself with me a bottle of cheap whiskey.

(A.S.A.P. Towing does good work. It was a slow day, so the driver found an empty parking lot, and — after a few misadventures — changed the tire himself instead of dropping me off at a garage. Thanks, Mark.)

As I said, MBW was away. That means, as always, more too-late movie reviews. I managed four this time. Now, if I can read my notes:

Zombieland Double Tap. I do not care for horror movies. But I do enjoy comedy horror, for example Shaun of the Dead or Army of Darkness. The first Zombieland amused me. Where to go from there? With a one-joke idea/story, the only real good route for a sequel is more of the same. (The doppelganger schtick probably read funnier on the page.) Ultimately, I found it a solid, satisfying beer flick.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino is still working the alternate history angle. Maybe it is a phase. The movie is engrossing, well-acted, cast, filmed, etc. At times it seems disjointed and unfocused. But it establishes a good will that carries you through the slow spots and self-indulgent pacing. Recommended.

Ford vs. Ferrari. Competent, likeable filmmaking. A comfort food movie, in the positive sense, honestly. I’m not damning it with faint praise. You’d think I’d have more to say about a movie I enjoyed, but there you have it.

Gemini Man. Made for the international market, by the numbers, PG-13 action fare. Serviceable, though more than touch Uncanny Valley. The least of this batch of movies. I fell asleep midway through the third act, but I don’t feel I missed anything.

Last week I reported the loss of my notebook containing my beer-tasting notes from the Battle for the Belt. The restaurant I’d left it at found it, so I picked it up yesterday. My notes list the name of the beer, the style (if not apparent from the name), a comment, and a score on a scale of 1-10. So, a week late, here you go, starting with —

The Blue Tray.

Mojo Mojito Mexican Lager. Someone let the little plastic bottle of lime juice ferment. 5

Stressin’ Hefeweizen. Don’t eat the brown bananas. 3.5

Drinkin’ Flicka. (Malt liquor.) Pour one out. Not for your homies. Just pour it out. 2

Lovecraft Hazy Pale. Smells fantastically citrusy. Tastes like the zest. Mix it with gin and call it a Greyhound. 3.25

Hot Tag IPA. A piney, would-be palate cleanser that lingers too long. 4.25

Punches in Bunches (IPA.) Balanced, smooth. The Cassius Clay of IPAs. Dangerously good. 8

Can I Haz Some Pie. (Sour.) Soda pop beer. Bottled blackberry candy. 8

EarthQuaker Oatmeal Stout. Pour it over ice cream. Or mix it in a Mudslide for added coffee notes. 7.75

Absorption Vanilla Porter. Middling take on the style. Vanilla slightly cloying. It did not completely absorb. 6

Bonus Beer: Mix the two above. Or, rather, don’t. The whole is less than the sum of the parts.

Monkey Fist. (Scotch Ale.) Ask for the wee beastie to unclench and remove his paw from the brew. 3.25

Coconutty Professor. (Style unknown.) Someone poured a mediocre stout into a coconut. I wish they’d come separately. 4

Yellow Tray.

Mi Hermano Mexican Lager. I like my Mexican brothers-in-law much more than I do this. 2

Stay Gold Kolsch. Saccharine. Unbalanced. Simplistic. It’s the pop-band of Kolschs. 2

Pineapple Squared Kettle Sour. A urine sample taken after a trip to the pineapple plantation tour in Oahu. 3

Mydland Hazy Pale. Well, all brewers have a first one. It is, technically, beer. Though I’m pretty sure my first kit beer tasted better. 2

Jenni’s Hazy IPA. Clouding up a sub-par IPA does not qualify it as “Hazy.” Do not care for it. 2.5

Squirrel Monkey Passion Fruit Milkshake IPA. Tastes like none of the above. 5

66th State Double IPA. A hoppy barleywine. 5.25

The Black Pearl. (Schwarzbier.) A Mountain Man beer. Better for cooking with, perhaps, than drinking. 5.25

Yorkshire Breakfast Oatmeal Stout. Why did they water down the stout. Seriously, too thin. 5

Great Scott…Smoked Scot. (Scottish Ale.) I’m not responsible for the spelling. [Unranked for some reason, perhaps because I don’t care for smoked beers.]

Great Uncle Jim Irish Coffee Stout. I want to toss in a shot of Irish Whiskey. 6

That’s the mega-post. Time to rest my finger.

Brought to You by the Letter “A.”

This web log post brought to by the letter “A” for annoyance. And anger. And abashment.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at McMenamins’s Hillsdale Brewpub for the annual Battle for the Belt, wherein the myriad McMenamin’s brewpubs compete for the popular vote of best beer. Each one enters a beer. Trays full of four ounce pours are provided. We drink, we fill out a top three ballot. We drop our ballots in the box. Simple enough.

I haven’t attended for a couple of years, since moving out to Sandy. It is inconvenient to drive to Portland, let alone across the city to the west side. But, as we were already on the outskirts, at our tax accountant’s office, we pushed on.

I brought my notebook, took notes on each beer. It was fun. I met friendly folks at the bar next to me. I filled in my ballot, then went to dinner at a nearby restaurant I used to frequent when I lived in the neighborhood.

At which restaurant I proceeded to abandon my notebook.

And so, unless the notebook somehow finds its way back to me, my promised tasting notes will not be appearing in this web log.

I am irked at myself. You should be too.

One way we could both feel better: buy one of my books. I’ll certainly feel better, and you’ll be entertained.

S&S 201: Five More You Should Know

In a previous post I’ve written about the five Swords & Sorcery writers the novice reader should be familiar with. Let’s assume this imaginary individual has completed that introductory course of study and is ready to move on to the intermediate-level: S&S 201.

Because this is an intermediate-level course we will assume the student is better equipped to handle nuance and complications. Thus we can include Sword and Planet, AKA Planetary Romance, in the mix along with S&S proper.

This leads our student naturally enough to:

Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Dean of American science-fantasy. ERB is probably most famous for creating Tarzan. But he also dabbled in historical fiction (e.g., The Outlaw of Torn), straight action-adventure (e.g., The Mucker), and science-fiction (Carson of Venus.) For our purposes, we are interested primarily in John Carter, the perhaps immortal swordsman and soldier who wakes to find himself on the planet Mars, AKA Barsoom. Fantasy science replaces sorcery in this type of story, that generally also includes ancient races, dying or extinct, and the remains of long-abandoned cities, mysterious artifacts, and fantastic beasts and monsters to overcome.

Leigh Brackett was an acolyte of ERB, as well as an accomplished writer of other genres. Her character Eric John Stark finds himself in adventures upon Barsoom-inspired worlds, though he himself was not cast from the same mold as John Carter. Brackett also wrote the excellent, Mars-based novel The Sword of Rhiannon, which hits most of the tropes of Sword and Planet.

C.L. Moore also wrote in the Sword and Planet field, creating several stories featuring Northwest Smith. But for purposes of this course, we are concerned primarily with Jirel of Joiry, Moore’s S&S heroine. The lady of Joiry, a feudal estate in medieval France, is an armored, sword-wielding warrior who finds herself in perilous, other-worldly locales, fighting strange and bizarre monsters and demons, as well as the more mundane threats of earthly men. Moore’s prose is evocative, generating a sense of immersive unreality.

Poul Anderson was so prolific that it would have been surprising had he not written S&S. As it happened, he created two of the seminal works of the genre: The Broken Sword and Three Hearts and Three Lions. Broken Sword is just one of Anderson’s novels set in a semi-historical European North in which the creatures of Norse myth are real. It has a touch of that Northern Thing, and is thus somewhat dark, full of cursed, fatalistic characters. Three Hearts and Three Lions enjoys a lighter touch, and its prose is less mannered. But it too takes place in a semi-historical setting in which elves, dwarves, trolls, swan-mays, etc. are real.

Limiting this to a mere five isn’t easy. I know I make it appear that way, with my smooth, facile assuredness. That is sheer skill, don’t let it fool you. But the point of this exercise isn’t to lead the student to my favorites. Instead it is to direct the student to important, influential writers in the field other than the five introductory writers. So, with that in mind I have to leave out a number of writers I truly enjoy and instead fill the fifth spot with one I’ve never really taken to.

Andre Norton was another prolific writer. She wrote volumes and volumes of fantasy, science-fiction, etc. She might be best known for her Witch World novels. These begin as a sort of portal fantasy, but later incorporate science-fiction in that comfortable manner that used to be common before segregation of genres became a de facto law of publishing. I might classify Norton’s output as primarily YA.

If any of these writers interest you, I have written about each in greater depth before. Feel free to read those posts for extra credit.

There you have it. Let’s just assume that anyone that didn’t make the cut is in consideration for the advanced course.

Away from the Keyboard

Actual writing constitutes the bulk of creating a book. Sitting my ass down and getting the words transferred from my fevered, abnormal imagination and into the computer. Then there’s the revising, the editing, etc. But that’s all part of writing.

There is, however, more to it. And that more has occupied quite a bit of my time recently.

Boss: Falchion’s Company Book One has been available as an ebook for more than a month now. My intention has always been to release it in print. And I hoped to get it out as an audio book also. Getting these hopes realized has consumed quite a bit of my efforts.

Getting a cover to conform with formatting requirements is a challenge for those unused to the process. MBW fought and argued with a graphics program, shoehorning layers into position. I don’t deserve her. I’m sure I would have tossed the computer out the window and peeled the paint from the walls with the invective I’d have been spewing. She, however, endured in the face of setbacks and frustrations.

Producing an audio book is also time consuming. I’ve learned quite a bit about the process. One lesson I have taken to heart for the next audio book: prepare a pronunciation guide for character names. I realize readers pronounce the names as they will. It is a bit jarring for the author, however, to hear the narrator speak the names differently than they have sounded for so many months in the author’s head.

So it isn’t all writing. Publishing is an involved process.

I suppose the point of this, from your perspective, is that the print and audio book versions of Boss should soon be available; print almost immediately, audio book within two weeks, barring the unforeseen.

Happy reading and happy listening.