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!

Oh, believe me, the video games of the past were absolutely riddled with crappy contenders and only partially-successful games, some of which were still quite fine. Pool of Radiance, for example, the absolute first D&D Goldbox game. Was there an ultra-fine story in place for that, or a storytelling narrative? No, beyond “get mission, go on mission, take the best loot home and sell it, get paid, get another mission.” But it /was/ the very first turn-based tactical D&D game, where you actually had a video game that was something like playing an actual D&D game, from the game-play aspect. That’s why it spawned a slew of sequels and a Dragonlance-based parallel game. It was something nifty-new.

(Okay, not newer than Shard of Winter, which was actually MUCH more involved as a tactical game, but it was reasonably new.)

But for every Pool of Radiance, there were multiple Avoid the Noids. This is Sturgeon’s Law in operation. It’s built into the nature of relative valuation: for there to /be/ an exceptional game, you really need a bunch of totally lame games for it to exceed. That’s just as true now as it was in the roaring 80s.

I think we do have fewer completely stupid games now–but we also have a much broader base of game platforms, which disperses our Sturgeon’s Law winners over a wider area. I think the HALO franchise was one of the strongest games I’ve ever seen, both storywise and in play, for example, and I never would have tried it if I hadn’t had the boy pushing me to learn to fiddle with an Xbox controller.

Ten years from now, we’re going to be standing around as toothless old men, eying the kids playing games that are played with brainwave-reading thought-based controllers, being displayed on virtual environments projected on their contact lenses, and thinking, “Bah, these sprats and their mental five-dimensional games. They got nothing on my old copy of Pool of Radiance. Now where did I leave that gold box… oh, and the little Elvish code wheel used to verify that you have an actual copy of the game every twenty minutes…”

I think one of the most exciting developments in video games is the increased use of, hey, actual storytelling. HALO, as an overt example, sets up a simple overall story (alien invasion!) but proceeds to develop a more complex and involving tale as you go, including friendships, a romantic subplot, shorter objectives, longer-termed goals, making and breaking alliances with former enemies, all building up to the big Save The Galaxy climax. Which is pretty cool, given that the game is basically just a First Person Shooter like any of a dozen other games. What made HALO big wasn’t its gameplay (although fun). It was the STORY that went with the game that made it so loved (and so successful).

Video gaming is THE moneymaking entertainment industry now, exceeding even blockbuster movies. There is a HUGE constellation of relatively crappy games out there to wade through now.

But hey. Not every game can be Archon. Or M.U.L.E.

As far as my own roleplaying tastes go? Well, I love the live action roleplay–provided I can beat on someone with a nerf sword as part of the game. When at the table, however, there is only One True Game: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

It has a fantastic story world, a very solid gaming system which adapts well to new story worlds (I run campaigns in my own fantasy story worlds as I develop them and get them ready for books), and the most satisfyingly grisly-yet-streamlined critical hit description tables known to man.

However, I will also admit, as a supplicant to the One True Game, the Birthright campaign setting for D&D. The Birthright system of Bloodlines shored up many of the weak points in the D&D system while simultaneously creating storylines that were great at getting players more involved with the game. Plus it carried along this whole Highlander vibe, when Blooded characters would face one another across a crowded battlefield and start chopping their way through the crowds to get at one another, all but screaming, “THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.”

Let me begin by stating, once more, how much I can’t stand you, Pat. You write gorgeous, lyrical, freaking poetic prose in one moment and then shift to gritty, hard-boiled clear and precise action scenes then BACK to the flipping poetry without breaking stride. And I just HATE that.

I just wanted that to be right up front about my feelings. I will, from this point, attempt to beat my hatred down and comport myself like a professional and a respectful member of of some notional society that doesn’t hate Pat with a seething passion.

While I am not yet a cyborg, I am looking forward to sufficiently advanced wetware to make that a reality! Though I suppose that if I keep on larping the way I do, I might blow out a knee or an ankle or something, and be forced to get an implant to replace it, in which case I would qualify.

That has nothing to do with my writing, though. THAT comes from the voices. I mean, shah, obviously!

Gotta say, the real question isn’t ever about being a good father and a writer. Or a good father and an anything. It’s how do you be a good father, period.

I asked my dad about that, before he died and he gave me the right answer: You just love them. Everything else flows from there.

(Which I thought was pretty darned poetic for a steel worker.)

Personally, I like applying the Julius Caesar model to my parenting and to my blogging: divide and conquer. If you have multiple problems, sometimes you solve them by making them go at one another. I, too, was having problems feeling connected to the kid, and as a result, I actually embraced his stupid video games, and what happened? HALO, bay-bee. HALO. Changed my freaking life, learning to play HALO with my kid.

And after he taught me HALO? I taught him Tribes. He showed me how to rock Army of 2? Then I showed him how to GET rocked by the aliens in UFO X-Com! We both had a blast. We talked, compared, competed, and spent an inordinate amount of time laughing at and with one another.

Awesome. Two of the questions responded to, booya!

The problem isn’t that modern video games suck. There’s just a lot more of them than there used to be, and by sheer quantity comparison, there is much more suck to be had. The good games, old or new, remain good.

I wonder what happens if you apply the same thought to fantasy and science fiction? Does modern fantasy just plain suck compared to the great old bastions of the genre? Or do the oldies, like high school, only /appear/ to look better the further down the road you get from them?

Okay, I don’t blog much and I’ve never used WordPress–here’s hoping this works!

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).

I thought I’d do a post on pacing, chapter length, and pulling readers through a story.  This is something I’ve been thinking about.  Specifically, I’ve noticed at many authors in fantasy seem to be adopting a more thriller-style (genre, not the music video) of pacing.  Shorter chapters, with cliffhanger endings that make for a quick turn to the next page.

Perhaps it’s always been this way, and I’m just more sensitive to writing methodology now, as I’m a writer myself.  But it does seem to be happening more.  A good example are the Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher.  But I’ve noticed some of it in your own books, Brent.  It makes me wonder if this is a reaction, on our part as a genre, but the huge teen-fantasy bubble that happened surrounding Harry Potter.  YA and middle grade also tend to be more quickly paced, more tight in this regard.

Oddly, I’ve found myself reacting against it.  Not that I don’t like this style of storytelling–in fact, I think it works very well.  Jim’s novel that I mentioned above was a real pleasure to read.  Terry Pratchett does this in his books, and they’re excellent.  But I don’t know if it matches every project and every story.

Conventional wisdom in writing is that you don’t want the reader to stop and take a break, otherwise they might not return to the book.  You always want to leave them hanging.  And yet, I don’t know if this kind of pacing works very well in the very long form novels.  When I write my books these days, I WANT to give the reader some breathing room.  Some time to step away from the book, if they want, and digest what has happened.  I feel that if I pace them absolutely break-neck, the experience will be exhausting and draining across the long haul, and the book will end up unfulfilling.

Is this something you’ve ever thought about?  Do you merely let pacing and chapter breaks happen?  Readers, do you notice this?  What do you think of it?

Batman IS NOT magic.  Batman IS fantasy, however.

Lee & I seem to be working with two very different definitions of magic.  In Lee’s definition, magic is synonymous with fantasy and the words can be used interchangeably.  This definition leads inexorably to the conclusion that Batman is magic because a) superheroes are magic and b) Batman is a superhero, therefore c) Batman is magic.  But, in my humble opinion, it is a sweeping generalisation to assume that all superheroes are magic.

In my definition, magic is a subset of fantasy.  To use the language of deductive reasoning, all magic is fantasy, but not all fantasy is magic.  I’m not disputing the fact that Batman is fantastic.  Batman is wicked fantastic.  Some of the stuff he can do is pretty darn unlikely.  But the fact remains that it is unlikely, not impossible.  Yes, it is very, very unlikely that one person could be the best at everything - detecting, disguising, super-sciencing, athleticism, you name it - but it is not impossible.  Yes, it would be bizarre for “real” people to run around dressed like bats, but it is not impossible.  Yes, it is unusual for real people to keep a Rogues’ Gallery, but Allan Pinkerton did and he was a real dude.  If it’s at all possible, no matter what the odds are against or how unlikely or remote, in my definition, it is fantasy not magic. 

Magic is the impossible.  It’s controlling wind (like Shannon Hale’s Goose Girl and Patrick Rothfuss’ Name of the Wind), it’s the ability to fly/levitate (like Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn), it’s shooting bolts of fire (like Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files).  It’s the stuff that us mere mortals constrained by the laws of physics just couldn’t possibly do.

In conclusion, I would like to offer this Venn diagram as irrefutable proof that Batman, while he is fantasy, is most decidedly not magic.