Babel Clash

What is the # 1 fantasy game?  If you had to pick, what gets the nod?  Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic the Gathering?  Is there a dark horse candidate?  I’m taking Magic.  It is a game in constant evolution and incorporating vast #s of possible variations.  It has puzzle solving and logic and even some poker-like bluffing.  Plus, it features  iconic fantasy images and concepts.

For best Science Fiction game, I’m tempted to take Halo, but I’m going with a board game instead.  Have you played Starfarers of Catan?  That’s a fun game that captures the feeling of racing through space on a voyage of discovery, and it’s perfect for parties.

Hey Karen,

If you could play in any franchise, is there a dream project lurking out there for you?  Craving a shot at Halo, Warcraft or Hello Kitty?

I want to see what writers do next with Star Trek.  The film raised the bar and reset the mythology.  So what happens next in the books?  How do you take that new spirit of adventure and mystery and inject it into the novels?

Also, District 9 looks fantastic!  That looks like a story perfect for spin-off novels.  Of course, I say that because the trailers are brilliant.  I haven’t seen the film yet.  Is anybody else lining up to see this one on day 1?

People don’t read.  Novels are for school.  Fantasy isn’t real, so what’s the point?  Isn’t it more fun to watch a movie or play video games?

Well, that’s what I’ve heard anyway.  I bet that you have, too.

It surprises me how many people don’t dig into good books.  I’m not just talking about spec fiction books.  Some folks don’t read anything longer than magazine length.  A rare few even have a belligerent animosity to reading.

So, what’s the answer?  Is it even a problem?   Is anyone else troubled by friends or family members that treat reading like an alien activity?

Assuming that it does matter, then how do you turn those movie buffs & video game aficionados into readers?  I propose that you bridge the gap with media tie-ins.  Get them reading a Buffy graphic novel or a Halo novel, and you’ve set them down the first few steps on the road to libraries and book shops everywhere.

Video game novels are trendy. Warcraft, Halo, Gear of War & Bioshock are games with novel tie-ins out or coming soon. So, Brent & Joe, to hypothetically assume the luxury of spare time, is there any franchise out there for which you’d want to write a novel?

Or, even better… Joe, is there a video game novel that Brent should write? Brent, how about a video game novel for Joe?

Good question, China, but let’s take that in a different direction.  What tie-in novel do people want to see you write?  I’m voting for a China Mieville Halo novel.