Reader Question Day #3
Manwe writes:
Before you read “Knights of Dark Renown”, what was your favorite (David) Gemmell book? Most fans pick “Legend” I think.
“Hero in the Shadows”, the last Waylander book. Waylander, so far, as been my favorite Gemmell character. And then ending of “Hero in the Shadows” was one of the most powerful things I’ve ever read.
I haven’t read “Legend” yet, but it’s on my to-be-read pile.
As mentioned before I like Gemmell, but there are still some works of his that I have not read yet. Maybe you have though?! Specifically the Rigante series. Any good, or have you not read them?
I’ve read the first Rigante book, and thought it excellent – I liked how the villain was a fantasy-world version of Julius Caesar, and the hero (or at least protgaonist) was a version of Vercingetorix of the Gauls. Hopefully he comes to a better end than the real Vercingetorix, who was strangled before a cheering mob after Caesar’s triumphal procession through Rome.
I haven’t gotten to the later Rigante books yet – they’re on my ever-growing to-be-read pile.
Kallinikos writes:
Do you go deer hunting in the fall?
No. I’ve never gone hunting. However, I approve of it – every deer strapped to the bed of a hunter’s truck is one less deer to run into my car while I’m doing 70 MPH on the freeway.
And venison jerky is delicious.
NH writes:
Will there be any more Caina books?
Yes. The fourth “Ghosts” book will be called “Ghost in the Storm”, and I hope to start writing it in January or February, after I finished “Soul of Dragons”, the fourth “Demonsouled” book.
Several dozen Google searches to my site ask:
jonathan moeller soul of tyrants torrent
Undoubtedly “Soul of Tyrants”, the second “Demonsouled” book, is in a torrent site someplace. Still, it’d be nice if you’d buy the book. It’s only $2.99, after all, and every book someone buys makes it easier for me to write additional books – regrettably, my creditors do not accept prayers and well-wishes as legal tender. If you’re worried about DRM, all my books are DRM-free, and you can find links to the book in all the major ebook stores right here.
Gina writes:
What’s your bestselling book?
Oh, THE $0.99 UBUNTU BEGINNER’S GUIDE, by far. It’s consistently in the top 10,000 in Amazon, and is very often #1 in the Operating Systems & Linux subcategories. I’m planning to update it to a third edition after I finish “Soul of Dragons” but before I start “Ghost in the Storm.”
Fantasy is all well and good, but it turns out that what people really want is technical nonfiction.
That’s Reader Question Day for this week. If you have a question, leave it in the comments or send an email to jmcontact at jonathanmoeller.com, and I’ll answer it next week.
-JM
How did I miss this post?! Oh well, better late than never…now to my coments:
1)Actually FWIW, the “Waylander” books are all apart of the Dreani saga, of wich “Legend” is the very first. Three main heroes of that series, Druss the Legend, Waylander the Slayer, and last but not least, Skilgannon the Damned.
2) So the “Rigante” books are a retelling of Caesar vs Vercingetorix? Wow, that is not even what I pictured them to be, lol. And Verci is the good guy and Caesar is the villian…aww. I like Julius, he was the man! Ah well, it’s only fantasy, so I will still try and check them out anyway.
And now for a fast fact! Did you know that popular fantasy author R.A. Salvatore is a big fan of Gemmell? Well it is true, and you can see the influence, Salvatore’s books do have a Gemmell feel to them, and even his major protagonist, Drizzt Do’Urden, has a bit of ol’ Druss in him.
That said…have you ever read any of the Drizzt novels? Or do you stay away from the D&D novels? Well of the Drizzt books I have read, I enjoyed them, but man there is alot of them (about 22 now)!! I don’t mind reading books based of existing RPGs, I’m very fond of the Warhammer books for example…not so much the Warhammer 40,000 books though (Horus Heresy is a step backwards IMHO). And on this topic: seeing how much you enjoyed the Dragon Age games, would you ever consider reading the two books connected with it? And since I just mentioned a bioware game, I know you like the “Knights of the Old Republic” games, as I did, just as of Novemeber, they released a book that wraps up the storyline of those two games, just got my copy a few days ago. Maybe worth the read if you enjoyed the games and wanted to know Revan’s fate!
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Old-Republic-Revan/dp/0345511344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323404109&sr=8-1
“Did you know that popular fantasy author R.A. Salvatore is a big fan of Gemmell?”
I think I remember reading that an interview at some point.
“That said…have you ever read any of the Drizzt novels?”
All of them except for the latest two – waiting for the paperbacks.
“Or do you stay away from the D&D novels?”
I have absolutely no problem with shared world fiction – I think the limitations of writing in a shared setting can be an interesting challenge for a writer. (I think Matthew Stover’s “Star Wars” books are better than his other books, and that his “Episode III” novelization was several orders of magnitude than the actual film.) That said, I’m more likely to read shared world fiction based on the author rather than the world. I won’t go out of my way to read all the “Star Wars” books, but if Timothy Zahn writes another one, I will read that.
“seeing how much you enjoyed the Dragon Age games, would you ever consider reading the two books connected with it?”
Yes. Regrettably, time has not been on my side.
“And since I just mentioned a bioware game, I know you like the “Knights of the Old Republic” games, as I did, just as of Novemeber, they released a book that wraps up the storyline of those two games, just got my copy a few days ago. Maybe worth the read if you enjoyed the games and wanted to know Revan’s fate!”
I would like to read that. Though I strongly suspect Revan and Bastila don’t get to live happily ever after. 🙂
“All of them except for the latest two – waiting for the paperbacks. ”
Now that I think of it, I believe you told me that before, hehe, oops. And for the record, the first of those last two, has been out in paperback since this summer:
http://www.amazon.com/Gauntlgrym-Neverwinter-Book-Nights/dp/0786958022/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323502484&sr=8-1
“and that his “Episode III” novelization was several orders of magnitude than the actual film.) ”
Really? I have that book, but have not read it yet. But let me get things in context first, you say the book was much better than the film, but did you actually think think that film good? Or just ‘meh’.
“Though I strongly suspect Revan and Bastila don’t get to live happily ever after.”
Was there any doubt of that? Bioware made too great of a character to just leave around, so they probably just gave him the shaft 🙁
My problem with shared world fiction is what can be the result of it. Take the Star Wars expanded universe for example. (see next post)
They just keep adding more and more to the point where it’s like ‘do these events even matter any more?’ There is always another bigger more terrible threat behind every other one, never lasting fix, and the original heroes have had about a billion adventures and haved saved the universe so many times that if they are not the most legendary and revered heroes in all the universes that have ever existed, or will ever exist, then…then I don’t even know how to finish this sentence!?! But what about the events prior to the films? Same thing. In the end, what this vast continuum does is dimish the events of the films. In the end, Vader is just one of countless villians who have stalked the universe, no more terrible or important than the rest. Same goes for Luke, his friends, and all the battles they fought. This is why I don’t read many Star Wars books today. Let me just give you a little taste of what I mean. Here is the basic summary of universe after Return of the Jedi:
The Heroes battles the remnants of the Empire, which makes a comeback every now and then. They eventually reach a truce with it (in other words the Empire lives on). A new Republic is formed, so is a new Jedi Order. Then a massive alien invasion from the unknown regions of space occurs, and many planets are laid to waste, trillions dies and the republic is destroyed, and the Jedi order badly damaged. Then the aliens loose somehow. And the republic is put back together, the Jedi order fixed up a bit (did I mention Chewbacca dies?). After a very short amount of time, the republic is fracturing and is at war with itself. So to save the galaxy, one of Han’s kids becomes a evil Sith Lord, so the galaxy would unite against him. Which it does (and it is now no longer a republic anymore either, but more on the lines of an empire), and said Sith Lord gets killed (after killing loads of people, including Luke’s wife). After all this, Luke no longer wants a Jedi order, and so has it disbanded. Yep. So lets recap. In the end (or rather the current world, I’m sure there wil be more). There is no longer a Jedi order and the universe is ruled by an empire, basically. So…what was the point of episodes 4-6 again? Honestly, Lucas lets those writers have so much ground that Lucas’s own creation does not have much left to stand on.
I suspect Star Wars, like King Arthur and Robin Hood, will eventually undergo a reboot. King Arthur’s and Robin Hood’s stories have been retold and retold over and over again, by countless writers with dozens of different viewpoints, and I suspect that will happen at some point with the Star Wars mythos. Probably not in our lifetimes, due to copyright law, but eventually.
Oops! I forgot to mention something I wanted to tell you. Seeing as how you like R.A. Salvatore, and RPGs, this February as new open-world RPG (in the same vein as Oblivion/Skyrim) is coming out. It is called “Kingdoms of Amalur: the Reckoning”. That game itself is taking place in the newly created “Kingdoms of Amalur” universe, an new IP created by Salvatore himself. That universe is planned to be explored across many mediums. And by that I mean books, comics, toys, and of course games (like the one I mentioned, plus more in the future). It’s a big project, and it’s very ambitious. As for the game itself, Salvatore is not the only one working on it (though he is head of the story department), Todd McFarlan does alot of the art, Curt Schillings (former baseball player, retired, now owns his own video game company) backs it up, and the lead designer of Oblivion is the lead designer of this game, so there is a good bet it will be very good. Needless to say, if you have the time next year (it’s out Feb ’12), or in the future, you should check it out, I’m sure it will be worth your time.
Interesting! I’ll have to check that out, time permitting.