Scott Lynch's Blog, page 6
February 27, 2012
Hear Me, See Me, Chase Me With Torches and Pitchforks
I am the Extra Special Bonus Paul Cornell was Busy and John Scalzi was Unavailable guest for the SF Squeecast's most recent episode, "the Awkward Episode." I joined Lynn Thomas, Elizabeth Bear, and Cat Valente to squee about things and to answer about ten minutes of questions at the end (well, they would have been about two minutes of questions but I just don't shut up). You can find it at:
http://sfsqueecast.com/2012/02/episode-9-what-i-like-about-you/
Also, in April I will be on the East Coast and doing several things in public. At the moment, I can tell you about:
APRIL 18: Reading at KGB BAR in New York City
As part of the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series, I'll be reading the evening of the 18th, along with Caitlín R. Kiernan.
APRIL 24: Joint Reading/Signing with Elizabeth Bear at FLIGHTS OF FANTASY
We'll be scribbling in books and blathering out loud in Albany, New York on the evening of April 24th.
There is at least one more store appearance I'll post about when I have more details.
http://sfsqueecast.com/2012/02/episode-9-what-i-like-about-you/
Also, in April I will be on the East Coast and doing several things in public. At the moment, I can tell you about:
APRIL 18: Reading at KGB BAR in New York City
As part of the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series, I'll be reading the evening of the 18th, along with Caitlín R. Kiernan.
APRIL 24: Joint Reading/Signing with Elizabeth Bear at FLIGHTS OF FANTASY
We'll be scribbling in books and blathering out loud in Albany, New York on the evening of April 24th.
There is at least one more store appearance I'll post about when I have more details.
Fresh Violet and up-deetery-datery
Anxiety is a fat steaming load and can get lost.
So, it's time for another infusion of stuff into the stuff-stream. I'm going to try and ride some generally positive recent feelings (it's been a good week or so, with greatly reduced anxiety symptoms and a weird sort of general clear-headedness I have tried not to take for granted) and see if I can't make several posts this week.
First, I have tweaked the ol' website and Violet flies again in Queen of the Iron Sands, which has been updated with a revised* and complete chapter 7, slightly re-titled:"Electric Armadillos and Invisible Men." That just leaves two chapters to post and we'll be at the end of BLUEWORLDER, the first third of the story. With JOHN CARTER coming out next week it might be a timely thing to try and get those up on or before March 9th.
Second, I have to traipse to the post office today and send a new round of books off to Book Valhalla (or, more ideally, to the people who ordered them). I'll be taking extreme caution with the customs forms to see if I can't ensure that none of the damned things boomerang back.
Third, I have a couple of books to discuss this week if I can manage it, including Myke Cole's Shadow Ops: Control Point and Howard Jones' The Desert of Souls.
Fourth, I may have a little bonus thingy going out soon-ish; a tiny present for those that have been kind enough to donate to the Queen of the Iron Sands project. Just a little knick-knack not for mass production. Let's just say that maybe Locke and Jean aren't the only cartoons I've commissioned recently.
Fifth, I have disabled comments recently because the thought of complex online conversation has done no good for my panic attacks. I feel mostly good about easing that restriction a bit. If I do flip out, I will of course be sure to bite Sam Sykes and give him a good case of my brain-rabies just so misery can have some company.
Sixth, well, there may be even more this week and it might be very cool. But there are some baby steps between now and then. So this is baby step one.
*The proofreading and revision of QOTIS in general is slow, but it is going on... I have learned to spell "desiccator" properly, and made the unfortunate discovery that the word "magnetosphere" would not have been known to Violet at the time she was kidnapped from Earth. I am also making progress on my experimental ebook format, but it's not ready for prime time yet. I could just kiss Guido Henkel for his tutorials, though.
So, it's time for another infusion of stuff into the stuff-stream. I'm going to try and ride some generally positive recent feelings (it's been a good week or so, with greatly reduced anxiety symptoms and a weird sort of general clear-headedness I have tried not to take for granted) and see if I can't make several posts this week.
First, I have tweaked the ol' website and Violet flies again in Queen of the Iron Sands, which has been updated with a revised* and complete chapter 7, slightly re-titled:"Electric Armadillos and Invisible Men." That just leaves two chapters to post and we'll be at the end of BLUEWORLDER, the first third of the story. With JOHN CARTER coming out next week it might be a timely thing to try and get those up on or before March 9th.
Second, I have to traipse to the post office today and send a new round of books off to Book Valhalla (or, more ideally, to the people who ordered them). I'll be taking extreme caution with the customs forms to see if I can't ensure that none of the damned things boomerang back.
Third, I have a couple of books to discuss this week if I can manage it, including Myke Cole's Shadow Ops: Control Point and Howard Jones' The Desert of Souls.
Fourth, I may have a little bonus thingy going out soon-ish; a tiny present for those that have been kind enough to donate to the Queen of the Iron Sands project. Just a little knick-knack not for mass production. Let's just say that maybe Locke and Jean aren't the only cartoons I've commissioned recently.
Fifth, I have disabled comments recently because the thought of complex online conversation has done no good for my panic attacks. I feel mostly good about easing that restriction a bit. If I do flip out, I will of course be sure to bite Sam Sykes and give him a good case of my brain-rabies just so misery can have some company.
Sixth, well, there may be even more this week and it might be very cool. But there are some baby steps between now and then. So this is baby step one.
*The proofreading and revision of QOTIS in general is slow, but it is going on... I have learned to spell "desiccator" properly, and made the unfortunate discovery that the word "magnetosphere" would not have been known to Violet at the time she was kidnapped from Earth. I am also making progress on my experimental ebook format, but it's not ready for prime time yet. I could just kiss Guido Henkel for his tutorials, though.
February 17, 2012
Everybody was Gun-Fu Writing...
My contributor copy of TALES OF THE FAR WEST washed up on my little island today, and I realize that anxiety has been keeping me remiss in blabbing about it. Yea verily, I now blabbeth.
My short story "He Built the Wall to Knock it Down" is the lead-off batter in this collection of steampunky, trail-dusty tales where hot lead meets ancient martial wisdom in a world remixed from ours.
That's the thing about the Far West setting-- it's not an alternate history based on our geography. It's a world spun out of the American myths of the frontier, blended with the sensibility of Chinese wuxia. In the east sits a vast and ancient Empire, and in the west the horizon unfurls endlessly, an unmapped world akin to the stretched-out landscape trod by Roland of Gilead in Stephen King's Dark Tower sequence. In between are the various layers of frontier, where there are mysteries gone to ground and great injustices to fight.
If you've got any sort of taste for kung fu cinema, for westerns, for Zeppelins, or for all three meeting head-on, give it a shot.
My short story "He Built the Wall to Knock it Down" is the lead-off batter in this collection of steampunky, trail-dusty tales where hot lead meets ancient martial wisdom in a world remixed from ours.
That's the thing about the Far West setting-- it's not an alternate history based on our geography. It's a world spun out of the American myths of the frontier, blended with the sensibility of Chinese wuxia. In the east sits a vast and ancient Empire, and in the west the horizon unfurls endlessly, an unmapped world akin to the stretched-out landscape trod by Roland of Gilead in Stephen King's Dark Tower sequence. In between are the various layers of frontier, where there are mysteries gone to ground and great injustices to fight.
If you've got any sort of taste for kung fu cinema, for westerns, for Zeppelins, or for all three meeting head-on, give it a shot.
February 8, 2012
O Reader! Michigan Sends You a Great Treasure.
This week is Saladin Ahmed's week. The rest of us just live in it.
What a relief that Saladin Ahmed's first novel, Throne of the Crescent Moon, buoyantly fails to suck. The release of a friend's debut is always cause for trepidation, but fortunately I don't have to do a shamefaced turd-polishing dance for this one. It's a genuinely brisk, bold, and colorful diversion.
Throne is set in a secondary world in which not-Arabia is very much at the heart of things, with not-Egypt and not-India hovering at the edges, and not-Europe is the exotic barely-mentioned land far over the distant horizon. I balk at calling it "an Arabian Nights-style setting" (though many have with only good intentions) because that strikes me as saying "we have one and only one prior cultural reference to pin this sucker to." Throne isn't an endlessly unfolding sequence of nested tales; it's a brisk and straightforward magical adventure in the contemporary mode.
Our hero is the world-weary Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, a professional ghul hunter who worries that he is aging past all chance of professional effectiveness as well as personal happiness. Alas for Adoulla! Before you can say "I got three days to retirement with my full pension, boys," the good doctor is up to his several chins in the deadliest supernatural shenanigans of his life.
Adoulla forms the center of a unique pentangle of protagonists. At one hand he has youthful cohorts, Raseem the sword-wielding dervish and Zamia, a sort of holy were-lion on a quest for vengeance. At the other he has his trusted friends Dawoud and Litaz, compatriots of many past adventures who are also feeling their years. This devoted husband and wife (he a magus, she an alchemist) share a neighborhood with Adoulla in Dhamsawaat, "King of Cities, Jewel of Abassen," a metropolis that has often profited (without gratitude) from the sacrifices of these aging shadow-heroes.
The abundance of middle-aged characters is an early and welcome mark of distinction for Throne. While Saladin gives us a rich portrait of the passions and uncertainties of Adoulla's young cohorts, he throws the bildungsroman tradition into a ditch and lets us view his world primarily through adult eyes, leavening its wonders with their cynicism and experience. Call it an artifact of my current prejudices, but I was decidedly not in the mood for another "wide-eyed naif meets the word and discovers secret powers" story. All glory to Saladin for letting characters past the age of nineteen risk their necks in hare-brained adventures, too.
Dhamsawaat is vividly described, with particular attention paid to the inconveniences, injustices, and threats to life and health that come from being a have-not. Saladin strikes a balance dear to my heart and my own work, reveling in the gritty glory of his setting without turning a blind eye to human suffering. Dhamsawaat's wonders, however delicate or soaring, are limned in blood, sweat, and cruelty.
O Reader! Forgive my bounding about like an over-sugared toddler. There's a sixth major character I ought to mention, and he calls himself the Falcon Prince. The story starts a bit placidly, but takes an immediate turn for the awesome when this guy disrupts business as usual. The Falcon Prince is a magical bandit who is part usurper, part swashbuckling benefactor, and part rocket-powered asshole. His constant intersection with the lives of the other major characters invariably gives them cause to re-examine their loyalties and philosophies. The Falcon Prince serves as a sort of moral catalyst, skillfully deployed by Saladin, and his every appearance forces a meaningful decision from someone else.
At this point, roleplaying games have become such a common background element for so many authors of diverse academic and literary achievements that the old criticism "why, this reads like a gamer's novel!" is little more than reflexive sneering, about fifteen years past its sell-by date. Saladin's gamer passions are unrepentantly flashed in his life as well as his fiction, and almost all to the good. I say 'almost' because there are a few rough spots, very early in the book, where we're informed that certain monsters cause magical fear, others are rarely known to operate out of line-of-sight to their masters, etc. Fortunately, Saladin rapidly learns to do what the rest of us pretend we knew all along, and hides the rules a layer or two deeper beneath the text.
By mid-book, his magic has blossomed into something much more elegantly conceived and eloquently described. There are garden streams that flow uphill, decryption spells that counter cipher spells, and wafting spells that move the stench of tanneries and slaughterhouses away from the rich quarters of the city, channeling it past poor areas.
If I could wish for anything for Throne of the Crescent Moon, it would be for more structural control, better mastery of action beats and essential revelations, and a finer sense of pacing toward the end. Events pile on thick and fast in the last fifty pages, and while Saladin is quite good at deliberately sketching confusion into his combat scenes, there is a more general chronological disjointment that does not seem deliberate. The final introduction of the major antagonist should be a show-stopper; instead he just sort of arrives and the fightin' keeps on a-goin' around him.* Saladin carefully places all of his dramatic fireworks for the big show at the end, but not all of them go off as or when they should.
Still, the strengths of this lean, passionately-wrought tale well outweigh its deficiencies, and the oncoming sequel is a cause for happy celebration rather than grudging acceptance. Saladin leaps so many of the hurdles endemic to first novels it seems churlish to belabor the ones he didn't quite clear. Flashing swords, leaping bandits, holy magic, bloodthirsty monsters, and sumptuous cuisine... what more do you want me to do, draw you a map? Read this thing.
What a relief that Saladin Ahmed's first novel, Throne of the Crescent Moon, buoyantly fails to suck. The release of a friend's debut is always cause for trepidation, but fortunately I don't have to do a shamefaced turd-polishing dance for this one. It's a genuinely brisk, bold, and colorful diversion.
Throne is set in a secondary world in which not-Arabia is very much at the heart of things, with not-Egypt and not-India hovering at the edges, and not-Europe is the exotic barely-mentioned land far over the distant horizon. I balk at calling it "an Arabian Nights-style setting" (though many have with only good intentions) because that strikes me as saying "we have one and only one prior cultural reference to pin this sucker to." Throne isn't an endlessly unfolding sequence of nested tales; it's a brisk and straightforward magical adventure in the contemporary mode.
Our hero is the world-weary Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, a professional ghul hunter who worries that he is aging past all chance of professional effectiveness as well as personal happiness. Alas for Adoulla! Before you can say "I got three days to retirement with my full pension, boys," the good doctor is up to his several chins in the deadliest supernatural shenanigans of his life.
Adoulla forms the center of a unique pentangle of protagonists. At one hand he has youthful cohorts, Raseem the sword-wielding dervish and Zamia, a sort of holy were-lion on a quest for vengeance. At the other he has his trusted friends Dawoud and Litaz, compatriots of many past adventures who are also feeling their years. This devoted husband and wife (he a magus, she an alchemist) share a neighborhood with Adoulla in Dhamsawaat, "King of Cities, Jewel of Abassen," a metropolis that has often profited (without gratitude) from the sacrifices of these aging shadow-heroes.
The abundance of middle-aged characters is an early and welcome mark of distinction for Throne. While Saladin gives us a rich portrait of the passions and uncertainties of Adoulla's young cohorts, he throws the bildungsroman tradition into a ditch and lets us view his world primarily through adult eyes, leavening its wonders with their cynicism and experience. Call it an artifact of my current prejudices, but I was decidedly not in the mood for another "wide-eyed naif meets the word and discovers secret powers" story. All glory to Saladin for letting characters past the age of nineteen risk their necks in hare-brained adventures, too.
Dhamsawaat is vividly described, with particular attention paid to the inconveniences, injustices, and threats to life and health that come from being a have-not. Saladin strikes a balance dear to my heart and my own work, reveling in the gritty glory of his setting without turning a blind eye to human suffering. Dhamsawaat's wonders, however delicate or soaring, are limned in blood, sweat, and cruelty.
O Reader! Forgive my bounding about like an over-sugared toddler. There's a sixth major character I ought to mention, and he calls himself the Falcon Prince. The story starts a bit placidly, but takes an immediate turn for the awesome when this guy disrupts business as usual. The Falcon Prince is a magical bandit who is part usurper, part swashbuckling benefactor, and part rocket-powered asshole. His constant intersection with the lives of the other major characters invariably gives them cause to re-examine their loyalties and philosophies. The Falcon Prince serves as a sort of moral catalyst, skillfully deployed by Saladin, and his every appearance forces a meaningful decision from someone else.
At this point, roleplaying games have become such a common background element for so many authors of diverse academic and literary achievements that the old criticism "why, this reads like a gamer's novel!" is little more than reflexive sneering, about fifteen years past its sell-by date. Saladin's gamer passions are unrepentantly flashed in his life as well as his fiction, and almost all to the good. I say 'almost' because there are a few rough spots, very early in the book, where we're informed that certain monsters cause magical fear, others are rarely known to operate out of line-of-sight to their masters, etc. Fortunately, Saladin rapidly learns to do what the rest of us pretend we knew all along, and hides the rules a layer or two deeper beneath the text.
By mid-book, his magic has blossomed into something much more elegantly conceived and eloquently described. There are garden streams that flow uphill, decryption spells that counter cipher spells, and wafting spells that move the stench of tanneries and slaughterhouses away from the rich quarters of the city, channeling it past poor areas.
If I could wish for anything for Throne of the Crescent Moon, it would be for more structural control, better mastery of action beats and essential revelations, and a finer sense of pacing toward the end. Events pile on thick and fast in the last fifty pages, and while Saladin is quite good at deliberately sketching confusion into his combat scenes, there is a more general chronological disjointment that does not seem deliberate. The final introduction of the major antagonist should be a show-stopper; instead he just sort of arrives and the fightin' keeps on a-goin' around him.* Saladin carefully places all of his dramatic fireworks for the big show at the end, but not all of them go off as or when they should.
Still, the strengths of this lean, passionately-wrought tale well outweigh its deficiencies, and the oncoming sequel is a cause for happy celebration rather than grudging acceptance. Saladin leaps so many of the hurdles endemic to first novels it seems churlish to belabor the ones he didn't quite clear. Flashing swords, leaping bandits, holy magic, bloodthirsty monsters, and sumptuous cuisine... what more do you want me to do, draw you a map? Read this thing.
*There's a bit with a severed head that's just grand, though.
January 19, 2012
PIPA/SOPA: 100% Pure Frozen Evil
PROLOGUE
*****
I am going to put myself through some emotional gymnastics by posting this. It's been an awful couple of months for anxiety and depression. They've clamped down tight on my ability to interact online and to keep up with basic human functionality. What I'm writing today is so important that I think I have to post it or despise myself forever (and probably make my anxiety worse… hooray for bitter irony!). There's not much of a window of opportunity here. There's a crucial and time-sensitive discussion going on across the net and all other forms of media right now, and if there's a piece to be said I have to say it now.
But first, an important digression...
SIDE QUESTS
*****
I have a number of sold books still in my possession for one of two reasons. I got some back from the USPS for filling out the wrong customs forms, even though I did so under USPS direction. Mine not to reason why… except bitchily and in a public forum! Some of you waiting for these books have been contacted by me already; others should hear from me very soon. If you don't, I'd appreciate an e-mail over the next week.
I have other books still here because I have not received responses to questions about addresses or desired inscriptions. My lovely black brain cloud of November and December slaughtered my ability to deal with this stuff in a more timely fashion, for which I am sorry, and I have high hopes that I can get everything squared away this coming week after returning from Michigan.
I am only as functional as I am at the moment largely because of the current presence of my girlfriend, who has done more than anyone reasonably could to soothe me and keep pushing me forward. We're scheduled to attend Epic ConFusion this weekend along with a huge pile of other authors; the list is simply crazycakes at this point. You can even see the two of us have our first ever joint reading at 8 PM Saturday. I will be feigning the demeanor of a calm, happy, sociable human being, perhaps even successfully. Come say hello if you're around.
Also, my site is temporarily in the grip of a mysterious placeholder. I wish I could say more about a couple of neat things, and soon enough I will be able to.
With that said...
MAIN QUEST
*****
Much of the internet is in a state of whole or partial shutdown today to raise awareness of a pair of truly horrendous, draconian, backwards pieces of proposed legislation, PIPA and SOPA.
These bills are an existential threat to what I'm doing at this very moment, writing this little piece and preparing to post it, along with some links, all the while NOT having to fear that my entire online presence will be blotted out in response, by someone acting on misinformation or in sheer bad faith, using extrajudicial powers that short-circuit all due process.
These bills would strangle innovation, freeze free and open political communication, and destroy every common online space currently used to exchange communication ranging from casual chat to critical, life-saving information. They would crush the internet as we know it and savage the globally uplifting online economy.
My books are published by a subsidiary of the forces currently pushing PIPA/SOPA. Any filmed adaptation of my books would be made by a subsidiary of these forces. They are my present and (hopefully) future employers, and they are cutting their own throats by supporting this nonsense. They are attacking me; they are attempting to curtail my freedom of expression, my ability to offer my work in a public medium, and your ability to get your hands on it. Hell, your ability to even discuss it.
The cruel irony is that these bills would have laughably little effect on the actual activity of "piracy." The cruelest irony is that they would devastate the very artists, creators, and entrepreneurs they are piously alleged to protect.
Imagine that you ran a cafe in which dozens of people ate and mingled each morning. Suppose that you were legally responsible for barring any patron who kept a cat. Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn't it? Well, what if you were also responsible for policing the activities of your patrons and barring any one of them that had ever spoken to anyone that owned a cat? And what if the penalties for not doing so were insane? What if you arrived at the cafe one morning to find your power cut off, your front door boarded up, your signs painted over, your listing removed from all phone and online directories? What if that could happen overnight without notice? What if you had no chance to confront your accusers and rebut their accusations before these penalties were applied?
How, in those circumstances, could anyone possibly operate a cafe? Who would ever dare open one in the first place if all the hard work of a life-sustaining business could be stomped flat in one arbitrary swoop?
What if it wasn't just cafes? What if it was any sort of business at all?
The situation would be depraved. These bills are depraved.
"Harsh penalties first, maybe discussion later, if you're lucky" is absolutely contrary to the entire tradition of Western jurisprudence.
If you disagree, you're depraved. Or you're a willing tool of the forces of fucking darkness and you honestly think that the United States really needs to further emulate the behavior of countries like Iran, China, and North Korea.
PIPA and SOPA are poison.
These bills, explicitly crafted by lobbyists and then handed over to their dutiful tools in congress (who plainly did not expect such a glorious uprising in response!), are designed by people who have no understanding of how the internet works at the behest of a tiny group of maniacs who have no interest beyond using the power of the government to burn their competition down.
They have no interest in justice, fairness, free speech, or the general welfare. They want control of things they have no moral right to. They are desperately, consistently, historically unwilling to compete in the so-called "free market." They fought back against television, against the VCR, against the home taping "scourge," against MP3s, against DVDs, against online content distribution of all sorts.
Only they didn't fight with economic innovation. Their response to every technological sea-change has been to attempt to legislate each genie back into the bottle. They have accepted only those tools and formats that they have been led to, kicking and screaming, years after other people have already figured out how to make piles of money from them.
I don't just have a horse in this race. I have all my horses in this race. I make my living from the creation and peddling of "intellectual property."
I already have a huge variety of legal tools I can deploy to protect my IP when I find it being threatened or misused. I am already granted an exclusive exploitation period for that IP that will extend beyond my death. My publishers already have legal departments that can stomp infringers through the existing legal system, with all of its safeguards and oversights.
SOPA and PIPA would give me nothing useful. They would destroy nearly everything that is right and meaningful about the internet.
That's no trade at all. These bills are madness and must be defeated.
For the clearest dissection of the substance of these bills I've found, try:
A technical examination of SOPA and PROTECT IP
To take further action, try:
Stop the Wall.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Stop American Censorship
*****
I am going to put myself through some emotional gymnastics by posting this. It's been an awful couple of months for anxiety and depression. They've clamped down tight on my ability to interact online and to keep up with basic human functionality. What I'm writing today is so important that I think I have to post it or despise myself forever (and probably make my anxiety worse… hooray for bitter irony!). There's not much of a window of opportunity here. There's a crucial and time-sensitive discussion going on across the net and all other forms of media right now, and if there's a piece to be said I have to say it now.
But first, an important digression...
SIDE QUESTS
*****
I have a number of sold books still in my possession for one of two reasons. I got some back from the USPS for filling out the wrong customs forms, even though I did so under USPS direction. Mine not to reason why… except bitchily and in a public forum! Some of you waiting for these books have been contacted by me already; others should hear from me very soon. If you don't, I'd appreciate an e-mail over the next week.
I have other books still here because I have not received responses to questions about addresses or desired inscriptions. My lovely black brain cloud of November and December slaughtered my ability to deal with this stuff in a more timely fashion, for which I am sorry, and I have high hopes that I can get everything squared away this coming week after returning from Michigan.
I am only as functional as I am at the moment largely because of the current presence of my girlfriend, who has done more than anyone reasonably could to soothe me and keep pushing me forward. We're scheduled to attend Epic ConFusion this weekend along with a huge pile of other authors; the list is simply crazycakes at this point. You can even see the two of us have our first ever joint reading at 8 PM Saturday. I will be feigning the demeanor of a calm, happy, sociable human being, perhaps even successfully. Come say hello if you're around.
Also, my site is temporarily in the grip of a mysterious placeholder. I wish I could say more about a couple of neat things, and soon enough I will be able to.
With that said...
MAIN QUEST
*****
Much of the internet is in a state of whole or partial shutdown today to raise awareness of a pair of truly horrendous, draconian, backwards pieces of proposed legislation, PIPA and SOPA.
These bills are an existential threat to what I'm doing at this very moment, writing this little piece and preparing to post it, along with some links, all the while NOT having to fear that my entire online presence will be blotted out in response, by someone acting on misinformation or in sheer bad faith, using extrajudicial powers that short-circuit all due process.
These bills would strangle innovation, freeze free and open political communication, and destroy every common online space currently used to exchange communication ranging from casual chat to critical, life-saving information. They would crush the internet as we know it and savage the globally uplifting online economy.
My books are published by a subsidiary of the forces currently pushing PIPA/SOPA. Any filmed adaptation of my books would be made by a subsidiary of these forces. They are my present and (hopefully) future employers, and they are cutting their own throats by supporting this nonsense. They are attacking me; they are attempting to curtail my freedom of expression, my ability to offer my work in a public medium, and your ability to get your hands on it. Hell, your ability to even discuss it.
The cruel irony is that these bills would have laughably little effect on the actual activity of "piracy." The cruelest irony is that they would devastate the very artists, creators, and entrepreneurs they are piously alleged to protect.
Imagine that you ran a cafe in which dozens of people ate and mingled each morning. Suppose that you were legally responsible for barring any patron who kept a cat. Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn't it? Well, what if you were also responsible for policing the activities of your patrons and barring any one of them that had ever spoken to anyone that owned a cat? And what if the penalties for not doing so were insane? What if you arrived at the cafe one morning to find your power cut off, your front door boarded up, your signs painted over, your listing removed from all phone and online directories? What if that could happen overnight without notice? What if you had no chance to confront your accusers and rebut their accusations before these penalties were applied?
How, in those circumstances, could anyone possibly operate a cafe? Who would ever dare open one in the first place if all the hard work of a life-sustaining business could be stomped flat in one arbitrary swoop?
What if it wasn't just cafes? What if it was any sort of business at all?
The situation would be depraved. These bills are depraved.
"Harsh penalties first, maybe discussion later, if you're lucky" is absolutely contrary to the entire tradition of Western jurisprudence.
If you disagree, you're depraved. Or you're a willing tool of the forces of fucking darkness and you honestly think that the United States really needs to further emulate the behavior of countries like Iran, China, and North Korea.
PIPA and SOPA are poison.
These bills, explicitly crafted by lobbyists and then handed over to their dutiful tools in congress (who plainly did not expect such a glorious uprising in response!), are designed by people who have no understanding of how the internet works at the behest of a tiny group of maniacs who have no interest beyond using the power of the government to burn their competition down.
They have no interest in justice, fairness, free speech, or the general welfare. They want control of things they have no moral right to. They are desperately, consistently, historically unwilling to compete in the so-called "free market." They fought back against television, against the VCR, against the home taping "scourge," against MP3s, against DVDs, against online content distribution of all sorts.
Only they didn't fight with economic innovation. Their response to every technological sea-change has been to attempt to legislate each genie back into the bottle. They have accepted only those tools and formats that they have been led to, kicking and screaming, years after other people have already figured out how to make piles of money from them.
I don't just have a horse in this race. I have all my horses in this race. I make my living from the creation and peddling of "intellectual property."
I already have a huge variety of legal tools I can deploy to protect my IP when I find it being threatened or misused. I am already granted an exclusive exploitation period for that IP that will extend beyond my death. My publishers already have legal departments that can stomp infringers through the existing legal system, with all of its safeguards and oversights.
SOPA and PIPA would give me nothing useful. They would destroy nearly everything that is right and meaningful about the internet.
That's no trade at all. These bills are madness and must be defeated.
For the clearest dissection of the substance of these bills I've found, try:
A technical examination of SOPA and PROTECT IP
To take further action, try:
Stop the Wall.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Stop American Censorship
October 27, 2011
Tonight on the Stuff Report: Stuff
Ah, Coldplay. I don't get you. It's like, "Hmmmm... I can't decide if I want to listen to minor U2 or second-tier Dave Matthews, so I'll half-listen to both at once."
Anxiety is a festering pile of shit and I wish it would shove off and go visit someone else's brain.
As of tomorrow, the very last of the books that were bought, signed, and addressed will be out the door. I will start sending little notes to people I haven't heard back from when I return from San Diego on November 1.
I will be at World Fantasy in San Diego from tomorrow (10/27) until Tuesday (11/1). I'll be at the mass signing on Friday night; anyone looking for me should probably hunt me down near the authors starting with 'B,' because I'll be sitting with that girl I like.
Anxiety is a festering pile of shit and I wish it would shove off and go visit someone else's brain.
As of tomorrow, the very last of the books that were bought, signed, and addressed will be out the door. I will start sending little notes to people I haven't heard back from when I return from San Diego on November 1.
I will be at World Fantasy in San Diego from tomorrow (10/27) until Tuesday (11/1). I'll be at the mass signing on Friday night; anyone looking for me should probably hunt me down near the authors starting with 'B,' because I'll be sitting with that girl I like.
October 4, 2011
Taking Off
Today I depart for the East Coast for two weeks.
Time and events have pounded me these past few days. Many sold books have gone out into the world. Some remain for me to mail when I return, mostly international orders, because I badly underestimated the amount of time required to fill out those marvelous individual customs forms with each package.
I will finish mailing all outstanding books when I return on the 18th-19th; some of you still waiting to hear if I have certain books available will hear from me while I'm gone. I the meantime, I cannot take further orders for new books.
I would appreciate hearing from folks if their stuff arrives safely; a message here or via e-mail would be nice.
Time and events have pounded me these past few days. Many sold books have gone out into the world. Some remain for me to mail when I return, mostly international orders, because I badly underestimated the amount of time required to fill out those marvelous individual customs forms with each package.
I will finish mailing all outstanding books when I return on the 18th-19th; some of you still waiting to hear if I have certain books available will hear from me while I'm gone. I the meantime, I cannot take further orders for new books.
I would appreciate hearing from folks if their stuff arrives safely; a message here or via e-mail would be nice.
September 23, 2011
You have defeated your inbox on normal difficulty! You have unlocked NIGHTMARE MODE!
So I, uh, kinda reaped a whirlwind here, and have miles to go before I can take a break from book sale stuff. Response has been immensely gratifying, but also... immense! I've had to set aside all things Martian (and many things not Martian) to deal with this. I'm currently taking a very careful second inventory, and then I will be back to processing orders. If you have a request in but haven't heard from me yet, do not panic-- strict order of e-mail receipt is the order of the day, and I'm sweeping my spam filter every now and then to make sure it's not excluding actual human beings.
September 22, 2011
Book Sale, Book Sale, Yes Indeedy
One of the brain-calming exercises I've been using to try and wrestle down my anxiety attacks is the slow organization of my personal library. As I've been doing this, it's become abundantly clear that I'm swimming in books with my name on them, and some shelf-clearing and streamlining would be really helpful. So, I'm emulating my girlfriend and havin' a little book sale. This is not an auction, nor is it for charity, unless the charity is me and my homicidal psycho jungle cat. Discriminating readers will be delighted to note that I am also offering a special bonus:
All titles listed below are offered signed and personalized. In fact, I can really personalize them, since I'm not sitting in front of a line of anxious people with very limited time. I can't spend hours illuminating each manuscript, alas, but I can happily doodle cartoons at the rough "skill" level on display above. They don't even need to all be about murdering Joe Abercombie!
Now, everything I'm offering here is English-language, from the US or the UK. I'm saving my non-English editions specifically for charity auctions and gifts, because I'd like those things to stay relatively rare and special.
So, here are the thingamajigs! Note that "mmpb" = "mass market paperback" and tpb = "trade paperback." All prices listed in US dollars, and are generally slightly below the cover price. The number of copies available is given after each description below and I will update those counts when necessary (Edit: The count is updated).
1. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Spectra Advance Reader's Copy, TPB, $10
This is hardly a "Gutenberg Bible" level of rarity, but it might still be a neat thing to have if you never had a chance to steal one when they were going around in 2007. Yoinked!
2. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Subterranean Press Signed Limited Edition, Hardcover, $60
This is the very, very nice SubPress edition of RSURS, with illustrations by Edward Miller. These retail for $75 or more in the wild. They are already signed, but can be re-personalized to instructions. (8 available)
3. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Spectra hardcover (US), $20
This is the 1st US printing of RSURS with its lovely, lovely burning ship cover. This ship has sailed!
4. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Original Gollancz TPB (UK), $10
This is the original 2007 UK trade paperback edition of Red Seas with the glossy British version of the cover. (12 available)
5. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Newer Gollancz TPB (UK), $9
This is the more recent edition of the UK TPB of Red Seas. It's slightly smaller than the original style, and the cover features the spectacular artwork of Benjamin Carre, licensed from Bragelonne in France. (8 Available)
6. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Spectra MMPB (US), $6
This is the US mass-market paperback of RSURS with the sweet burning ship painting. (6 available)
7. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Subterranean Press Signed Limited Edition, Hardcover, $70
This is the SubPress signed limited edition of my debut novel from 2006, with illustrations by Edward Miller. My supply of these is much thinner than my supply of the matching edition of RSURS. All taken!
8. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Newer Gollancz TPB (UK), $9
This is the more recent edition of the UK TPB of TLOLL (say that ten times fast). The cover once again features the exquisitely atmospheric artwork originally used for the Bragelonne edition. Taken in by the city watch!
9. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Older Gollancz TPB (UK), $10
This is the 2nd edition of the UK TPB of Lies, which features the original glossy British cover but is reduced in size from the original version of the TPB. These were replaced with the Bragelonne-licensed art version of the TPB relatively quickly and there shouldn't be too many left in the wild. These have been devoured by the Jabberwock.
10. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Original Gollancz TPB, 2nd Printing, (UK), $12
This is a 2nd printing of the original full-sized British TPB of Lies with the glossy silver-blue cover. This is the only one of these I have left to offer for sale out of my personal collection. Taken!
11. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Spectra MMPB (US), $6
This is the US mass-market paperback with the wistful Five Towers cover art. Blotted from existence!
Payment, Shipping, and Fine Print
Payment via Paypal! I am no longer accepting farm animals or magic beans in trade for books. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me six times... well, screw you, magic bean guy!
Send me an e-mail at SCOTT at SCOTTLYNCH.US letting me know what you're after, and where you live. I'll get back to you with shipping info as soon as I can. Once you cross Paypal's palm with silver, I'll set your books aside and change the availability count.
Shipping within the US is extremely reasonable; I use Media Mail and I pack well. I've never had a problem with the service, and even a box of several books will run about $5. Shipping outside the US can be a pain... after a recent cock-up or two (the USPS had some trouble finding Ontario and London, but I always get the packages back safe and sound) and I am leaning more toward FedEx. Don't fret, though, we can get it done somehow. Just e-mail and we'll iron out the details.
Quantities are limited. I'm not a book store; these items are from my personal collection and can't just be re-ordered at need, at least not by me. The total numbers listed above are the total numbers I have to work with, so I'm afraid it must be first come, first served.
Books are in good condition but that doesn't mean 'flawless.' Some may show minor signs of handling and shipping, especially paperbacks. Hardcovers are a little more pristine, particularly the SubPress editions, which have led a more sheltered storage life.
This sale will not continue indefinitely; I'd like to be packing and shipping what needs to be packed and shipped in about a week.
I thank you, my shelf space thanks you, and my cat would thank you if he wasn't busy eating a luggage tag.
All titles listed below are offered signed and personalized. In fact, I can really personalize them, since I'm not sitting in front of a line of anxious people with very limited time. I can't spend hours illuminating each manuscript, alas, but I can happily doodle cartoons at the rough "skill" level on display above. They don't even need to all be about murdering Joe Abercombie!
Now, everything I'm offering here is English-language, from the US or the UK. I'm saving my non-English editions specifically for charity auctions and gifts, because I'd like those things to stay relatively rare and special.
So, here are the thingamajigs! Note that "mmpb" = "mass market paperback" and tpb = "trade paperback." All prices listed in US dollars, and are generally slightly below the cover price. The number of copies available is given after each description below and I will update those counts when necessary (Edit: The count is updated).
1. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Spectra Advance Reader's Copy, TPB, $10
This is hardly a "Gutenberg Bible" level of rarity, but it might still be a neat thing to have if you never had a chance to steal one when they were going around in 2007. Yoinked!
2. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Subterranean Press Signed Limited Edition, Hardcover, $60
This is the very, very nice SubPress edition of RSURS, with illustrations by Edward Miller. These retail for $75 or more in the wild. They are already signed, but can be re-personalized to instructions. (8 available)
3. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Spectra hardcover (US), $20
This is the 1st US printing of RSURS with its lovely, lovely burning ship cover. This ship has sailed!
4. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Original Gollancz TPB (UK), $10
This is the original 2007 UK trade paperback edition of Red Seas with the glossy British version of the cover. (12 available)
5. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Newer Gollancz TPB (UK), $9
This is the more recent edition of the UK TPB of Red Seas. It's slightly smaller than the original style, and the cover features the spectacular artwork of Benjamin Carre, licensed from Bragelonne in France. (8 Available)
6. Red Seas Under Red Skies -- Spectra MMPB (US), $6
This is the US mass-market paperback of RSURS with the sweet burning ship painting. (6 available)
7. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Subterranean Press Signed Limited Edition, Hardcover, $70
This is the SubPress signed limited edition of my debut novel from 2006, with illustrations by Edward Miller. My supply of these is much thinner than my supply of the matching edition of RSURS. All taken!
8. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Newer Gollancz TPB (UK), $9
This is the more recent edition of the UK TPB of TLOLL (say that ten times fast). The cover once again features the exquisitely atmospheric artwork originally used for the Bragelonne edition. Taken in by the city watch!
9. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Older Gollancz TPB (UK), $10
This is the 2nd edition of the UK TPB of Lies, which features the original glossy British cover but is reduced in size from the original version of the TPB. These were replaced with the Bragelonne-licensed art version of the TPB relatively quickly and there shouldn't be too many left in the wild. These have been devoured by the Jabberwock.
10. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Original Gollancz TPB, 2nd Printing, (UK), $12
This is a 2nd printing of the original full-sized British TPB of Lies with the glossy silver-blue cover. This is the only one of these I have left to offer for sale out of my personal collection. Taken!
11. The Lies of Locke Lamora -- Spectra MMPB (US), $6
This is the US mass-market paperback with the wistful Five Towers cover art. Blotted from existence!
Payment, Shipping, and Fine Print
Payment via Paypal! I am no longer accepting farm animals or magic beans in trade for books. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me six times... well, screw you, magic bean guy!
Send me an e-mail at SCOTT at SCOTTLYNCH.US letting me know what you're after, and where you live. I'll get back to you with shipping info as soon as I can. Once you cross Paypal's palm with silver, I'll set your books aside and change the availability count.
Shipping within the US is extremely reasonable; I use Media Mail and I pack well. I've never had a problem with the service, and even a box of several books will run about $5. Shipping outside the US can be a pain... after a recent cock-up or two (the USPS had some trouble finding Ontario and London, but I always get the packages back safe and sound) and I am leaning more toward FedEx. Don't fret, though, we can get it done somehow. Just e-mail and we'll iron out the details.
Quantities are limited. I'm not a book store; these items are from my personal collection and can't just be re-ordered at need, at least not by me. The total numbers listed above are the total numbers I have to work with, so I'm afraid it must be first come, first served.
Books are in good condition but that doesn't mean 'flawless.' Some may show minor signs of handling and shipping, especially paperbacks. Hardcovers are a little more pristine, particularly the SubPress editions, which have led a more sheltered storage life.
This sale will not continue indefinitely; I'd like to be packing and shipping what needs to be packed and shipped in about a week.
I thank you, my shelf space thanks you, and my cat would thank you if he wasn't busy eating a luggage tag.
Queen of the Iron Sands, Chapter 7
So, after a pleasant bout of energetic activity, I was struck down with a lovely and altogether goddamn typical case of the anxiety heebie-jeebies, and the sum total of my online contribution for the past week has been a couple of tweets.
Now Queen of the Iron Sands moves yet again, as Violet extends her acquaintance with all the huggable, loveable critters in the Valley of the Emerald Night. I am placating my anxiety by splitting the chapter in half; the second part will go up tonight (the 22nd), neurons willing. See the internet's only science fantasy serial that is updated both semi-weekly and semi-anually! :P As promised, this update is fully reflected in both the HTML and RTF versions of the story. A working, if not immortally beautiful, epub version may be ironed out this weekend.
Now Queen of the Iron Sands moves yet again, as Violet extends her acquaintance with all the huggable, loveable critters in the Valley of the Emerald Night. I am placating my anxiety by splitting the chapter in half; the second part will go up tonight (the 22nd), neurons willing. See the internet's only science fantasy serial that is updated both semi-weekly and semi-anually! :P As promised, this update is fully reflected in both the HTML and RTF versions of the story. A working, if not immortally beautiful, epub version may be ironed out this weekend.
