We are living in interesting times. Whatever your take on current events, however much or little the global turmoil and tumults have affected you personally, it is likely you feel at the least a bit of consternation, perhaps even pique. My day-to-day existence has altered little. I’ve been driving to the office, the same as usual. It is startlingly quiet there, but that doesn’t bother me. And now that I am able to once again go the gym and take my family out to restaurants, my life is largely back to normal. But even so, I experience moments of discontent, a Truman-Show style notion that something is not quite right.
As with many of you, home improvement projects have played an unusually prominent role in recent weeks. Now, I’ve not had the excuse of being home with time on my hands. I’ve been going to the office every day. Nonetheless, at the behest of MBW, we’ve been buckling down, checking off items on our to-do list.
A few words on Haggard. No, not Merle Haggard, though that man is worthy of a torrent of digital ink. I’m writing here about Henry Rider Haggard, traveler, lawyer, author.
Michael Moorcock is the elder statesman of the S&S genre. He earned his bones. His success is unquestioned and his influence is clear. It would be unmannerly for a piker like myself, who has yet to make much of a ripple in the genre, to criticize a big fish like Moorcock. I’ve already, perhaps, neared such impertinence during the course of my Appendix N series, but the nature of the undertaking required a certain degree of honesty.
The thing is, in my personal experience, Elric and the rest of the Eternal Champion stories, worked well for a certain period of my life and experience, but not as well later in life. I’m making no argument here, simply pointing out my subjective impressions. Yours may differ, and I would not object even if I could. My claim to be the Final Arbiter of all Things Subjective is made purely in jest.
So, understand that I picked up The Revenge of the Rose with personally calibrated, limited expectations. I was pleased to find that Rose marginally exceeded those expectations. Elric remains Elric, brooding and tortured. (There ought to be an episode of Epic Rap Battles of History with Elric versus Lestat.) There is plenty of the usual. I won’t criticize it; it’s a feature not a bug. But a minor criticism is that Elric is rather passive in this book, brought along for the ride other characters are taking through the Multiverse. On the other hand, maybe that’s a reason I somewhat enjoyed this one: the other characters.
It was nice to encounter Prince Gaynor the Damned again. And there were other callbacks to the Corum books. I have fond memories of reading The Chronicles of Corumas a teen. I mean, look at that cover. I must have read that one three or four times during high school.
I also enjoyed the imaginative settings, one of Moorcock’s greatest skills as a writer. There was the train of monstrous wagons, forever circling the planet, a sort of proto-Snowpiercer. There was The Ship That Was. There was the abandoned, crystalline city. Moorcock can always be counted on to create a memorable location. And he is evocative, skilled at creating a mood.
And then, there’s the relatively happy ending. Even knowing what ultimately lies in store for Elric, it is nice to see him off on what promises to be an interlude of tranquility and contentment. I remain fond of my memories of Elric. So, I found the end of Rose satisfying. A rewarding payoff.
I mentioned the call back to the Corum books. One thing Moorcock created was the idea that his Elvish race existed throughout the Multiverse under different names. Elric may be called a Melnibonean, but let’s face it, he’s an elf. In Rose he recognizes his kindred, though they are called the Vadhagh. Elves. Tall, and generally considered superior to men, though whether benign or malign depends on the world in question.
I did something similar with Thick As Thieves, creating the Haptha. Tall, physically (and perhaps culturally) superior human-like beings. But perhaps…maybe…could be, they are just elves with the serial numbers filed off and some aftermarket add-ons. The second edition of Thick As Thieves is out. Tell me what you think. And where do I get off daring to cast even a hint of shade at an acknowledged master? (And I do acknowledge it. You don’t need to extol his virtues. Michael Moorcock doesn’t need the help and I already appreciate what he’s created, even if I’m no longer the ideal reader of it.)
To sum up: I enjoyed The Revenge of the Rose. If you’re an Elric fan, I recommend it to you.
As they say, two steps forward, one step back. I mentioned last week that the rights to Thick As Thieves reverted to me and I decided to put out the second edition myself.
Thick As Thieves came out a few years ago. I’m rather fond of that one. Crime and fantasy are not strangers. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser met during a robbery. Conan’s rap sheet would fill an entire scroll. Heists instigated a number of his adventures. Even Bilbo acted the burglar. There are plenty more examples. But I may have added a novel element by filtering a sword-and-sorcery story through the sensibilities of Elmore Leonard. I hope I succeeded.
There was a time when bookstore shelves were not dominated by cinder block-sized fantasy epics. Back in the 1960s a 150-page sci-fi paperback was commonplace. Or, so I understand from my expeditions through used book stores. I’m afraid I have no memories from the 60s.
I see nothing wrong with short novels. Not every meal needs to be a seven-course feast. A salad and a half-sandwich lunch is sometimes precisely what you need. At other times you just want to go through the drive-through and get something fast and tasty, but not particularly nutritious.
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.
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.
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.
