Martin Millar's Blog, page 7

Adventure Rocketship!

Adventure Rocketship! is a new series, somewhere between an anthology and magazine, or possibly a magazine in book form, edited by Jonathan Wright. I mention it partly because I'm interviewed in the first issue, and partly because it's a really good enterprise and I'd like it to succeed.
The first issue is entitled Let's All Go To The Science Fiction Disco, and, to quote the back cover, it concerns 'the strange region of space where science fiction, popular music and counter culture meet.'
Quoting more from the back cover - because that's how good an investigative journalist I am - there are new stories from Lavie Tidhar, Liz Williams and Tim Maughan, interviews with Mick Farren, The Orb, Michael Moorcock, Bill Nelson and China Miéville, and new writing from David Quantick, NK Jemisin, Jon Courtney Grimwood, and Jason Heller. That was a lot of typing from the back cover, so I apologise if I spelled anyone's name wrong, I'm not that good a copy typist. In fact my typing all round these days is getting worse. Sometimes when I use the spell check almost the entire page lights up with errors.
The Cover art is by Stanley Donwood, who has designed album sleeves for Radiohead. (I also have a short piece of fiction in the magazine, but it is so short, less than a thousand words, that I can't really plug it as a major sales point.)
Publication date for Adventure Rocketship! is 16th May. There's a launch party at Forbidden Planet in London on the 16th, and another launch in Bristol, also at Forbidden Planet. I hope these go well. I was invited to the London launch, but I won't be there. I haven't mentioned my problems with agoraphobia for a while, but at the moment I don't feel up to travelling to a public event. But I know Jon Courtney Grimwood will be there, and Lavie Tidhar, and I'm sure it will be a good event.
Adventure Rocketship! Let's All Go To The Science Fiction Disco - ISBN 9781906477738 - On Sale May 2013

Seven of Nine, Thraxas Noir

The re-issuing of Thraxas and the Dance of Death as an ebook means that there are now seven of nine available. Aha. I loved Seven of Nine. I think she's the only character that has ever made me watch I show I didn't really like. I never thought Star Trek Voyager was all that great, but when Seven of Nine was introduced, I liked it a lot more.
But apart from that, Thraxas and the Dance of Death, which is book six in the series, is now in electronic bookshops everywhere. With book nine already being published, that only leaves seven and eight to come - Thraxas at War, and Thraxas Under Siege. They will be available soon.
Here is part of the introduction to Thraxas and the Dance of Death - 
'When I began writing Thraxas, I planned for it to be rather darker. More noirish. Sort of Dashiell Hammett meets sword and Sorcery. Thraxas does share some elements often associated with the hardboiled school of American detective fiction. He's a solo investigator who's tough, and ready to defend himself. He drinks a lot and he's poor. He exists in a corrupt urban environment where he comes up against organised crime. He distrusts the police and tends to be hostile towards authority. He's loyal to his clients, and prepared to go a long way to defend them.
Despite these elements, Thraxas didn't turn out very noirish at all. Partly because Thraxas's huge appetites for food and drink can drag him out any prolonged burst of soul searching. Thraxas can be affected by the poverty and corruption which surrounds him, but a good bowl of stew, and five or six beers, will usually make him view the world in a more optimistic light.
And also, I think, because Thraxas and Makri turned out to be something of a comedy double-act. At times their relationship seems to consist mainly of bickering and mutual insults, but really, Thraxas is rescued from a potentially bleak world by the presence of the young female warrior. Makri is too spirited and intelligent to be intimidated by Thraxas's blustering. She gives as good as she gets, and consequently they become friends, quite quickly. Thraxas is still walking down unfriendly streets, but he's no longer on his own.'
Thraxas and the Dance of Death now available at:Amazon(US) Amazon(UK) Amazon(CA) iTunes Kobo Copia

Thraxas, Hobbits, Exhausting Debauchery

As Thraxas and the Sorcerers arrived in shops, or rather, at ebook distributors, I lay on the couch, watching The Hobbit. Various thoughts floated though my head -  I'm enjoying this film - I wish someone would bring me a cup of tea - Where did I put my comfy slippers?- Could you really have eagles that big? - What else can I steal from Tolkien? - that sort of thing. So, I've now seen the Hobbit, long after everyone else, as always. Good film, though making the book into a trilogy seems to be pushing it a bit. But I will no doubt watch the next two just as keenly. I have always loved the Hobbit. When I first read it, there would have seemed no prospect that it would ever be made into a film.
So. Thraxas and the Sorcerers now available for sale, meaning that six Thraxas ebooks have now appeared since December. Which is a good effort by anyone's standards, and I have no hesitation in heartily congratulating myself for getting this done. There are now only three left to publish, and they will be out soon, making the full set available as ebooks, including the new one, Thraxas and the Ice Dragon.
Thraxas and the Sorcerers on sale here - Kindle (US), Kindle (UK), iTunes, Kobo
The ebook publishing has been going very well, though it has left me quite weary. I am obliged, as a member of the Ancient Secret Society of Lascivious Authors, to host a debauched sex party whenever I have a book released. Of course, this is usually only once every couple of years. But with the rapid re-issuing of all my Thraxas books, the sex parties have been much more frequent. So with the energetic young models pouring into my modest flat and partying through the night, re-enactments of 100 days of Sodom being staged in the kitchen and so on, well, I'm becoming quite fatigued. I'll be pleased when it's over.

Thraxas and I are Visiting Elves at the Moment

Thraxas and the Elvish Isles has just appeared as an ebook. Turai being as cold the Ice Queen's grave, Thraxas sailed south for a while. It was a rare excursion from his normal life in the city streets, though not from his excesses of food and drink. Even while surrounded by Elves, Thraxas never loses sight of the central importance of getting a lot of food and drink inside him.
Thraxas and the Elvish Isles is book four in the series. So, with book nine, Thraxas and the Ice Dragon, already being published, I'm now more than half way through my ambitious project to unleash the entire Thraxas series into the world of ebooks. This is going well. Once again, thanks to the people who have given them good customer reviews when they've bought them.
I have also been surrounded by Elves, in a way. It's been snowing in London in the past few days, making it a very poor start to Spring. Not having any Elvish Isles to sail to, I've turned the heating up, and retreated permanently to the couch, applying myself to the first Skyrim downloadable extension, Dragonborn. This, scandalously late, was only recently released for Playstation, though other formats have been available for a long time. So I am once again battling my way through hostile environments, mowing down all opposition, and generally giving hostile wizards, Elves, dragons and bandits a hard time.
In-between I've been reading a biography of Somerset Maugham, one of my favourite authors. Maugham was a great storyteller, even if a reluctant one at times. He really wanted to be a playwright rather than a novelist, because he found it tedious describing things. He thought it would be easier just writing dialogue. I can sympathise with this. Who wants to be describing things all the time? It can be really tedious. Nonetheless, Somerset Maugham was a really fine novelist and short story writer, and I've learned from his technique.

Let Down by Tomb Raider

I'm a huge Tomb Raider fan but I'm disappointed in the new game. I've played the Tomb Raider games right from the start, on the Playstation 1. I've always enjoyed them - apart from the aberrant Angel of Darkness - but I'm not enjoying this as much as I thought I would. It's not that it's a bad game, it's just not Tomb Raider.
Previously I've liked Lara Croft's solitary exploration of gigantic, fantastic tombs. It's like entering in to some sort of brilliant alternative world. Her solitude felt peaceful. So far in this game, there is nothing like that. All the tombs I've come across are small, grubby locations, put in almost as afterthought, and there is certainly nothing peaceful.
Really it's just a gigantic fighting game. You land on an island and fight your way through. There really is a lot of fighting. Sometimes it feels endless. It's well done, but it is not what I want from Tomb Raider. I'm puzzled as to why they've gone this way. Aren't there enough fighting games already? I'm sure there must be. While shooting my way through yet another horde of enemies, I keep thinking 'I wish I was in a big Egyptian tomb, exploring and solving puzzles.'
The game is annoying at the start too, when Lara is so weak. For some reason the game makers decided she needed a new origin - though Lara Croft already had an origin - and this involves making her weak and frightened. She does become stronger later, which is better, but I didn't really see the need for her to be so puny in the first place. When they make new games with male heroes, I don't think they generally make them frightened and hopeless at the start.
Sometimes with games you get moments which are just so good you can hardly believe they did it in a game. I've had that feeling playing Tomb Raider in the past. I recently had it again playing Portal. But there are no moments like that in this Tomb Raider game. Just endless sneaking and fighting. There is nothing beautiful in it, like in previous games. No astonishing graphics like recent Final Fantasy. It's all grime and dirt, and it's all the same really. And if this isn't bad enough, Lara's voice is nowhere near posh enough. I expect Lara Croft to sound like an English aristocrat, not my next door neighbour.
So I am disappointed by this game. It's high quality fighting I suppose, but it's really not Tomb Raider.

[ Character note 1 - If you're going to have a voice-over actor doing a Scottish accent, make sure he can pronounce 'Loch' properly. 'Lok' is fine for non-Scots, but no one from Scotland would pronounce it like that. ]
[ Character note 2 - They made Lara's breasts smaller. Obviously, this is a step forward for the world. As soon I saw her new, smaller breasts, I immediately thought - That's good, how dare the previous games objectify women by giving the character huge breasts. No doubt it is a great relief to everyone that they are smaller in this game. ]

After Seven Years, a New Thraxas Novel

Seven years after the last Thraxas novel, I've finally produced a new one. Thraxas and the Ice Dragon, book 9 in the Thraxas series, is now available at Amazon Kindle, and will be at other ebook locations very soon. Kindle (US), Kindle (UK), Kobo.
There are many reasons why it's taken so long: some publishing problems, some other things I was busy writing, a little poor health. Then there was Tomb Raider, Oblivion, Skyrim, Portal 1 and Portal 2 to get through, among others. It's not like I could just ignore these games. And when you add in my ever-present desire to lie on the couch staring into space, you can see that it's not easy finishing a book these days.
But here Thraxas is at last, stepping ashore from the small boat in which he left the City of Turai in the company of Makri and Lisutaris. I don't want to give anything of the plot away, but will mention that in the overwhelming crisis which is unfolding all around him, Thraxas does show his mettle with a spectacular victory in a pie eating contest, demolishing all opposition.

Thraxas and Ice Dragon

'Thraxas and Makri drift ashore in the distant land of Samsarina, in the company of Lisutaris, Head of the Sorcerers Guild. After a miserable voyage on a leaky fishing boat, Thraxas just wants to drink beer, but there are other matters to attend to. Turai has fallen to the enemy, and the armies of the West are gathering. Before war breaks out, there's the great sword-fighting tournament, which gives Thraxas the chance of almost unlimited gambling, if only he can persuade Makri to enter. Makri is surprised to find herself looking after a baby dragon, and even more surprised to discover that Thraxas has a romantic past, one which leads them into a murder investigation in an unfamiliar land, where hostile forces oppose them at every turn.'

This is an ebook only. There won't be a print edition, at least not in the foreseeable future. If you don't have an ebook reader, you can download free apps from Kindle, Nook, Kobo etc that will allow you to read their ebooks on your computer.

Thraxas books 1, 2, 3 and 9 are now available as ebooks. Books 4 to 8 will appear soon. 

Even More Thraxas, and the Brixton BookJam

The third Thraxas ebook - Thraxas at the Races - has just been released. I appreciate this sounds rather similar to my last blog, wherein the second Thraxas ebook was released, but I can't help that. There are nine of these books and each one is getting its own blog; it's the least they deserve. I suppose I could spice things up for the public's benefit, perhaps with an interesting Thraxas-related tale, like for instance the story of the glamorous sex-shop assistant, the spanking paddle, and the missing consignment of adult goods - which did lead to me missing a Thraxas deadline - I have been considering relating this for some time - I will think about it - but the main thing is, Thraxas at the Races has now emerged into the world. 
Thraxas at the Races is now available on Kindle US, Kindle UK, Kobo, and at other locations very soon. There is more about this at Thraxas.com. Thraxas and the Ice Dragon, number nine in the series, is currently approaching the distribution chain, and will be available in around three weeks.

Last week I read for the second time at the Brixton BookJam, at the Hootenanny pub in Brixton. There were fifteen readers at the event, and a large audience. Everyone is meant to read for five minutes, a format that works well. I was on last, and probably rambled on for more than five minutes, reading brief pieces from The Good Fairies of New York, Lux the Poet, and Curse of the Wolf Girl. It was a very good literary event.
The Hootenanny used to be called the George Canning. That was a proper name for a pub. George Canning was a British statesman, and Prime Minister in 1827. There was even a statue of him outside. I deplore the fact that a pub which was once named after a British Prime Minister should now be called the Hootenanny. Not that this is the fault of Brixton BookJam: the name changed more than a decade ago.
There was a time when I was a very frequent visitor to the George Canning. In those days it wasn't actually all that nice a pub but, unusually, it was open till midnight. Twenty or more years ago, British licensing laws were so restrictive that virtually every bar closed at 11pm. So people used to come out of pubs in Brixton and hurry along to the George Canning, for some more drinks in the extra hour of drinking time. Many evenings I would meet practically everyone I knew in there, all having a late drink.
These drinking hours laws have all been relaxed now. Technically Britain no longer has laws about drinking hours. I think it's legal to sell alcohol in bars at any hour, though these opening hours can be regulated by the local authorities. Perhaps if I remained in the bar long enough, if would be called the George Canning again when I emerged. I'd be pleased at that.
So. A third Thraxas book, now available. Ninth book, not far away. After that the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eight books will follow on shortly. But as I have been droning on here more than I intended, I will not now have time to tell the story of the glamorous sex-shop assistant and the missed Thraxas deadline, so will have to leave that for another time.

More Thraxas. And complaints about Children's TV

The second Thraxas ebook, Thraxas and the Warrior Monks, is now available on Amazon Kindle, and will be at other ebook sellers soon. Amazon seem much more efficient than the others, in listing books quickly. However it will appear at locations like the iBookstore and Kobo soon. The third ebook will follow in a week or two, and shortly after that, the next one to be published will be my new book, Thraxas and the Ice Dragon. This has been ready for a while now, and it's time it was published.
I am enjoying this project, and am inspired, as I have always been, by the punk rock spirit of the Sex Pistols. In all artistic enterprises, ignore all other opinions, and do everything exactly the way you want. I have maintained this philosophy throughout my whole writing career. 
--
In today's Complaints About Children's Television News, I'm fed up waiting for Nickelodeon to start showing Avatar Legend of Korra. This is the sequel to Avatar, the Last Airbender, which I really enjoyed.
Nickelodeon showed this series in the USA in April, and still haven't broadcast it in Britain yet. It's ridiculous. Don't these people realise that if they hold a show back for months and months then everyone will just find it on the internet somewhere? What do Nickelodeon expect to happen? Their viewers all to just wait patiently? No doubt all the kids who watch Nickelodeon are quite capable of finding them streaming somewhere. As are rather older authors, who happen to be fans of Avatar. So I found it online and I've started watching it. Take that Nickelodeon, for showing a programme last April in the USA and not showing it here yet. I'm positively insulted, especially as I pay for your channel in my cable package. Although I'm still grateful for Spongebob.
Legend of Korra hasn't really started that well. The Avatar world seems to have made a great leap forward in technology since the last series, and the cartoon now exists in a world of industrial revolution/sort of steam punk. I'm not sure it's an improvement. And Korra isnt that likeable a character. So far I'm three episodes in, and not enjoying it that much. But maybe it will get better. The Last Airbender was so good, I haven't given up hope. 

The Thraxas Ebook Online Empire Thunders Into Life

Or lumbers slowly into life, perhaps. Thraxas is not keen on rushing things. Nonetheless, progress is being made. The Thraxas series, written under the pseudonym of Martin Scott, is going digital, and the first Thraxas novel is now available as an ebook on Amazon Kindle US and Kindle UK, and will be on other ebook sites like Nook, Kobo and the Ipad bookstore soon. (It can take a few weeks for these stores to list the book after it's delivered.)
Somewhere in the process the ninth book will emerge. I'm expecting Thraxas and the Ice Dragon to be available in a month or two. (I may have said that before, but this time it's actually happening.) I have revamped Thraxas.com, which has more details of all this.
If you don't have an ebook reader but feel desperate to read Thraxas, don't despair. You can download free apps from Kindle and other places that enable you to read them on your PC or Mac, and I give some links to these on the Thraxas website.
I was pleased to see two five-star reviews of Thraxas on amazon.com only a few days after the first ebook appeared there. I appreciate these reviews.

Led Zeppelin, Agoraphobia

Last night BBC2 showed Celebration Day, the Led Zeppelin re-union concert, from their gig in London in 2007. I really enjoyed watching it, though I think it was a shortened version of the film. I was entranced at the sight of Led Zeppelin onstage again. 35 years after their heyday, and with their original drummer no longer around, Led Zeppelin were still brilliant. When Jimmy Page brought out the violin bow to make weird noises on his guitar - always one of my favourite moments - I had a strong vision of being very young again, and watching them live in Glasgow, as I did, in 1972.
Because of the concert on BBC, 'Led Zeppelin' was trending in Britain on Twitter. Most comments were favourable, of course, from people of all ages. I noticed one sub-strand of these tweets, from girls talking about their fathers, saying things like 'Just arrived home to find Dad blaring out Led Zeppelin in the living room' or 'Dad is downstairs playing air-guitar in front of Led Zeppelin on the TV.'
I thought that was funny, the image of fathers around the country still transfixed by the mighty Led Zeppelin, while their daughters looked on with amusement. Fortunately, all the daughters' tweets about their dads seemed sympathetic, if amused.
But the TV concert gave me a bad memory too. When Led Zeppelin played in London, in 2007, it sold out immediately, and it was hard to get a ticket. Only last month I was talking to someone who told me how difficult he'd found it to get to the gig. Well, I was offered a ticket by a journalist friend, but I couldn't go, because my agoraphobia was too severe at the time. At that point in 2007, I could hardly leave the house. So that's not a great memory. I wish I'd been able to go. My agoraphobia is not so bad these days, though it still troubles me quite a lot.
Watching the gig on TV, I almost fulfilled something from my book 'Suzy, Led Zeppelin and Me,' when I said that I planned, in later life, to get a DVD of Led Zeppelin, put it on, and pretend I was a teenager again, watching them in Glasgow. Last night I came quite close to doing just that, putting the lights off in the room so I could watch it like I was at a gig, and turning it up loud. I'd have lit some incense if I'd thought about it, and bought a load of cheap, strong, Scottish beer to get me in the right mood. But even without the beer and the incense, I felt very cheerful watching led Zeppelin, 35 years on.
Suzy, Led Zeppelin and Me - amazon.co.uk, amazon.com, kindle