Babel Clash

Good times roll…get it? Roll the dice…RPGs…anyone?

Seriously though, I really enjoyed having Jim, Pat, and Anton on the blog these past two weeks. It was an honor to have all three of them post for our readers. As I’m prone to do, I’d like to offer up today for them to plug anything they’d like…just in case you weren’t quite sure who they are or what they write….

Then, when the dust settles, tomorrow we usher in two great new guests.

First, we’d like to welcome Ann Aguirre back to the blog! She last appeared the first year Babel Clash debuted and we’re happy to have her back! Her latest YA novel, Enclave, comes out tomorrow.  This novel follows a 15-year-old girl named Deuce who lives in a post-apocalyptic future where people life expentancy doesn’t reach much further than their mid-20s.  She is forced to team up with a mysterious hunter named Fade.  As a team, they learn of a growing threat to their enclave, that when revealed, they get exiled out of their underground home.

And if Ann wasn’t busy enough, the latest in her Corine Solomon series came out last week! With all that going on, we’re grateful to have Ann on the blog!

Joining Ann on the blog these next two weeks is Dan Wells, author of the John Wayne Cleaver trilogy.  The latest in the trilogy, I Don’t Want to Kill You, came out recently, but if you’re not familiar with the series, I recommend you go out and get I Am Not a Serial Killer and Mr. Monster immediately!  They’re filled with a fun blend of horror, supernatural thriller, and Dexter.  I’ve been devouring (not literally) these books since the first in the series debuted!

Readers, please help me thank our previous guests for their blog contributions and help me welcome Ann and Dan to the blog!

Today’s secret word is “bittersweet.”  Feel free to scream real loud when you hear it.

Why? 

Because I have a bitter taste in my mouth with this being Sam and Ari’s last day, but a sweet taste because they left us with some great posts.

Because I have a bitter feeling when I say goodbye, but a sweet feeling when I say hello (especially when you hear who’s up next!).

In the interest of making this as painless as possible, Sam, Ari, I think we had a great run, but I think we should just be friends.  That doesn’t mean we won’t still hang out.  In fact, I’d love to hang out again.  In the meantime, please use the rest of the day to plug your old books, new books, future books, blogs, twitter accounts, genre for Japan, etc.

All kidding aside, thank you both for a great two weeks!  We can’t wait to have you back soon!

So, that wasn’t so bitter I guess, right?  If it was, here’s some sweet to wash away the bitterness.

Up next on the blog are two newcomers to the sci-fi and fantasy genres….pause for comedic effect….  

Up first, is the man behind the Dresden Files.  The one.  The only.  Jim Butcher!

Jim is currently hard at work on Harry Dresden’s latest case - Ghost Story - but has decided to spend some time with us on the blog, and for that we thank him!  Ghost Story is slated for a July release, but to tide you over until then, Changes has recently released in mass market paperback!

Feel free to pre-order Ghost Story (currently on sale for 47% off at www.borders.com) now!

Joining Jim, is the newly crowned #1 New York Times Bestselling author Patrick Rothfuss!  Fresh off a tour promoting his new novel The Wise Man’s Fear, Pat has agreed to keep on trucking and promote the book here as well!  You can pick up his new book - here (it’s on sale too)!

Rumor has it, friend to Babel Clash, Anton Strout, will also be peering in from time to time to stir the pot a bit.

Readers, please join me in thanking Sam and Ari again.  They did a great job these past two weeks.  They’ll definitely be a hard act to follow, but if anyone can do it, it’s Jim and Pat (and Anton).

It’s hard to come up with witty subject headers every two weeks when we have a changing of the guard.  The fact is, every two weeks is bittersweet here, because two authors leave (bitter), but two authors take over (sweet), so all I can really do is appreciate what we’ve received.

As a fellow gaming geek, Anton and Joe’s posts were right up my alley, and for that I thank them!  Anton and Joe, since today is your last day, your mandate is to plug your work (past, present, future) to your heart’s content!  Thanks so much for joining us for these two weeks.  Joe, hope to see you again soon.  Anton, rest up for your week with Pat Rothfuss coming up soon!

When Anton and Joe are all done today, we’ll be welcoming Sam Sykes and Ari Marmell.  My guess is that these two may get a bit rowdy - so you’ve been warned.

Sam is the author of The Aeons’ Gate series.  Book two in the series, Black Halo, will be out soon!  If you haven’t read book one - Tome of the Undergates  - yet, there is still time!  Pick it up, you won’t regret it!

Joining Sam in his path of destruction, is everyone’s favorite rodent of the dark, Ari Marmell!  Ari has had a busy year so far, publishing Warlord’s Legacy through DelRey Spectra last month, and through Pyr, he’ll be publishing one of my most anticipated books of the summer,

Again, please join me in thanking Anton and Joe, while also welcoming Sam and Ari to the blog!

I think the title of this blog says it all.  Jaye and Nicole were first on the blog when I was getting the Babel Clash torch passed to me from Terry.  So, in a way, I learned the ropes while Jaye and Nicole treated us all to some great blogging.  They were also one of the first pair of authors I booked for the blog after I took over.  It’s because of all this that I’m slightly bummed to say that today is Jaye and Nicole’s last day on the blog (for now).  As is typical Babel Clash tradition, please use today for any last words and plugs for past, present, and future work.  You’ve given us two great weeks of blogging, so offering a spot to plug away is the least I can do!  Jaye…Nicole, the floor is yours.

Because it’s a revolving door of author awesomeness here at Babel Clash, I need to dry my tear immediately because the blog remains in good hands!  Starting tomorrow, we’ve got Joe Abercrombie and Anton Strout strapping on the gloves for a no holds barred geek battle! 

Joe Abercrombie is the author of the the First Law Trilogy and Best Served Cold.  His most recent novel, currently available in stores and on borders.com, is The Heroes.  His latest takes place during a three-day battle set within the First Law world.  If you like you’re fantasy novels on the grittier side, then you can end your search with Abercrombie!  Trust, there’s more than just grit to his books though!

Joining Joe is Anton Strout, the author responsible for bringing us Simon Canderous and the DEA (Department of Extraordinary Affairs).  The 4th Simon Canderous novel, Dead Waters, hit shelves last week, and will make all urban fantasy fans happy.  This time around, the psychometrist is working on solving the mysterious death of a professor that hits a little too close to home for Inspectre Quimbley. 

Please join me in saying so long for now to Jaye and Nicole, while welcoming Joe and Anton with open arms! 

Thanks again to Amber and Anton.

Tune in tomorrow to find out the topic of our next conversation with Tom Lloyd and Joel Shepherd.

Also, there’s some exciting Babel Clash news to share.  Find out more tomorrow.

Amber and Anton, thank you for contributing to our discussion on Babel Clash.  Please take this opportunity with your last couple of posts to share any information with us that you’d like regarding Cat’s Claw and Dead Matter.  Also, please feel welcome to share any news regarding other upcoming projects.

Both titles are now available online or at your local Borders or Waldenbooks store and on Borders.com.

In the spirit of our conversation about “reluctant adults,” please check out the urban fantasy blog where Anton contributes, the League of Reluctant Adults.

Lots of Urban Fantasy questions on my mind today.  Anton and Amber, feel free to respond to any that you choose.

Urban fantasy is the hot genre in the SF&F category, and that’s been the case for the past few years.  Do you see that changing anytime soon?  Do we have a timeless formula here?  Keep in mind that I use “formula” loosely, sort of like how Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks follow the Tolkien epic fantasy “formula.”

In epic fantasy, we sometimes see rival camps.  There are those who like their high fantasy epic and optimistic, like Tolkien, and those who crave some blending of weirdness and grim realism, like Moorcock.  Do you see camps forming along those lines in the urban fantasy fan base?  If there are, do fans line up behind the sexy stories (like Laurell K. Hamilton’s) or the more action-packed (Jim Butcher, for example)?

Is it important that UF remain rooted in familiar cities, such as San Francisco or Chicago?  If the setting shifts to someplace more fantastical, is it still the same genre?  Does it matter to you?

Do you remember the Thieves’ World series from back in the late ’70s and early ’80s?  Robert Asprin created the city of Sanctuary and then invited all of these other authors (Poul Anderson, C. J. Cherryh, Marion Zimmer Bradley, etc.) to write stories set there.  They wrote both anthologies and novels.

So this talk of a loose confederation of writers (the League of Reluctant Adults)  leaves me dreaming of an urban fantasy version of Thieves’ World.   Yes,the geek in me loves the idea of Simon Canderous crossing paths with Calliope Reaper-Jones, or Anita Blake and Harry Dresden teaming up, like in comics when Batman and Superman buddy up or  Iron Man fights the Hulk.

Imagine a fantasy melting pot with all of the angels, demons, vampires, werewolves, psychics and wizards that a fan could want.  We don’t see this kind of collaboration often, and it would be a great way to discover new writers.

Is anyone with me here, or is this just impractical crazy talk?

And one last question in the spirit of Iron Man vs. the Hulk, who does win in a fight between Simon and Callie?

Following up on what it means to be a reluctant adult, Carolyn Crane asked:  Where exactly did the name of Reluctant Adults come from? Was it meant from the start as a counterpoint to serious literature?

My livejournal was where I had first used the name the League of Reluctant Adults, an obvious play on one of my fave graphic novels the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (not so fave movie, tho).   When a group of us urban fantasy and paranormal romance writers invited me to join their group blog, I threw it out there as a title and voila!  It stuck.   There’s a sense of fun to the phrase… it’s inclusive, covering a growing expanse of us who think that toys and films about fighting robots and Neo Tokyo and ghosts and goblins aren’t just for kids.  Is there a need to grow beyond those things?  Not anymore.  Reluctant adults embrace them.  We don’t take things so seriously.

Speaking of taking thing seriously and going back to part of the theme of my last post, I remember Guy Gavriel Kay’s speech from the 2007 World Fantasy Awards, where he adressed the disparity between the two worlds.  Luckily I found it in whole thanks to the Interwebs.  He said:

There has always been a tension between writers who aspire to high art, enduring work, and those who pursue popular success, defining themselves as entertainers. The literati disdain the commercial while envying their bank accounts, and the bestsellers often regard the artistic as elitist and unreadable and the twain don’t do a lot of beer-drinking together.

It inspired a nervous laugh throughout the room, but it was true.  I think that in any community there’s a wish to stratify oneself, a desire to define.  Everyone tries to figure out if they are the cream of the crop or the cream of the crap.

Welcome to the Amber and Anton hour, err two week, at Babel Clash.  *slips Babel Fish in ear*  First and foremost, I’d like to thank Borders and Morgan for inviting us.  Amber promised this would be as good a place as any to harass me, but she’s such a sweetie, so I’m sure she was kidding.  At least, I hope she was.

So the first question that Morgan threw to us was:  Does reading science fiction and fantasy make you a “reluctant adult”?  What about the authors working in these genres?  Should these “reluctant adults” tackle “serious literature” instead?  How’s that for a loaded question?

As a founding member of The League of Reluctant Adults, I am clearly biased about this.  For years, most of us who engage in fandoms of any kind always got dirty looks from outsiders.  Even now people walk by my office, look at all my geek posters and fifty or so action figures on my desk like they are visiting the two-headed goat with the traveling carnival.

But I do think that thanks to the internet and the number of television channels on the dial these days, cultural awareness of our nerdly niches have become more mainstream.  Why?  I think much of it has to do with gaining understanding.  Outsiders can read up, ask questions, explore geekdom on their own, and at the end of all that, i think they find themselves able to identify with a lot of what they encounter.

Take True Blood or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Yeah, they have vampires and all that paranormal stuff, but at the heart of them, what drives them?  Relationships, trying to get through their daily lives, problems that people can identify with…

I mean, I’ve always dreamed of being a sexy Louisiana waitress that falls for vampires… but I digress.

As for should us reluctant adults tackle “serious literature” instead?  I’m going to go to food for this one.  Sometimes you want to go to Morimoto’s restaurant.  he’s an Iron Chef and the food is exquisite, pricey and worth every penny.  Sometimes I hanker for Chik-fil-A, which is fast food, not pricey and I have no idea who dropped my waffle fries in the oil.  Regardless, Chik-fil-A is exquisite in its own way.  It fills my need.  I don’t really wonder if the chefs at either restaurant should be changing roles. I’m just happy they excel at what they do and that it feeds me.

I see a lot of flame wars out there where the literary authors poo poo the mass market writers and the mass market authors poo poo them as well.  I don’t see the need for it.  I think the differences are what help to keep everyone fed out there, depending on their appetite.  I strive to write the best books I can, but are they literary?  Hell to the no.   I won’t pretend that I go there, but hopefully they are damn fine entertainment.