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Geeks on Fire goes to Gencon Indy 2010...meets famous people.

Each year in Indianapolis thousands gather for what’s called “The Best 4 days in gaming.” Gencon Indy was held from August 5th though the 8th. This gathering of nerds is the largest of its kind in the country. If you are into Dungeons and Dragons or board games, this is your Mecca. Over 8600 gaming related activities are held over the four days the convention takes place. Gencon is awesome, but you may be wondering how much it relates to fantasy. The truth is, without fantasy as inspiration, Gary Gygax would have never created Dungeons and Dragons. Without Fantasy or Science Fiction the worlds in which these games are based would not exist. At Gencon you will find long lines for both Will Wheaton and R.A. Salvatore. I decided to attend Gencon on behalf of FantasyLiterature in order to explore the elements that relate to us fantasy fans, and to take pictures of people much nerdier than me.

Drizzt!!

I arrived at the Indiana convention center at about 9am, found a parking space.  I soon spotted what I would lovingly call a “Nerd Herd” headed east. It was easy to spot, at least three of the group were carrying foam battle axes, in full armor complete with wire framed glasses. I was able to blend in smoothly with my sandal shod feet and FanLit dragon t-shirt. Don’t let me fool you, I was just as excited as the myopic barbarian next to me. I’ve been attending Gencon for years, and I’ve rarely felt more amongst my kind than among the slightly overweight warriors, wizards and pink haired Japanese school girls.

My first surprise was when I walked into the press to get my credentials. I was warned an interview was going on and to be careful not to make any noise. Sitting at a long table was Sandeep Parikh and Robin Thornsen from the very popular web series The Guild. I love The Guild in its high quality independent awesomeness. As I made for the exit I noticed that Felicia Day was sitting in one of the chairs along the wall. In the realm of geekdom, she is a queen. I wasn’t sure what the etiquette was for the press ambushing the guests of honor in the press room, but I decided a handshake and a few nervously mumbled words of appreciation would be below the threshold. She was nice, and probably frightened, but I did get across that point that I was a big fan and The Guild is awesome. I then ran from the room before I squealed in a very non journalistic fashion.

Salvatore reacts to seeing my homemade 8x10..of himself

It was going to be hard to top greeting Felecia day, but I was determined to try. I met up with my brother and his girlfriend and we made our way towards Author Alley in order to meet R.A. Salvatore. The line was long, but the wait was worth it. Mr. Salvatore was gracious with his time. He was chatty, friendly, and I walked away with some autographs and a free signed copy of The Ghost King. While in Author Alley I also approached Anton Strout, author of the Simon Canderous series and a Fanlit favorite. Anton was super awesome and my copy of Dead Matter was signed "Deadly Yours,". Whenever I go to meet an author, I generally try to bring along a paper with their promo photo and have them sign it. It goes up on the wall in my office. I’ve only recently started to do this, and it’s always fun to get author reactions at signing a picture of themselves. The reactions have varied. Jim butcher was “oh wow”, Pat Rothfuss was flattered and maybe a little frightened. Anton’s reply was simply “I’m such a beautiful man” which is by far the best response yet. Thanks Anton Strout!

Nerd Shrine

After harassing the literary talent, we made our way to the art gallery. Rows and rows of disgustingly talented artists displaying their works. All the artists were there with their pieces and all were very accessible. I met a couple of fantasy artists that stood out. Jessica Cox, an Indiana native had many beautiful pieces, and was very nice. Alain Viesca (link NSFW) and his asian themed fantasy works, blew me away. Everything he had was simply stunning.

Alain Viesca

Jessica Cox

Prior to going to Gencon I did do a little research to find some things the Fanlit readers would definitely be interested in. One of the places I wanted to stop at was the Evil Hat Productions booth. Evil Hat is a the creator of the Fate RPG engine, and happens to the company behind the Dresden Files RPG. I’m a huge Dresden fan and I was eager to talk with Evil Hat and have a look at the game materials. The looks to be incredibly detailed and it makes me wish I lived somewhere where I might find a group that played these kinds of games. The worked closely with Jim while creating the game, and wrote some things exclusively to be included in the materials. My Butcher library will always be incomplete so long as Dresden RPG Volumes 1 and 2 are not among my shelves.

I spent the rest of my time wandering the exhibit hall, buying geeky things I didn’t need, but love to have. I had a wonderful time at Gencon and met some amazing people while there. I would encourage any fantasy fan to find their way to a local convention. There is no experience that can match the feeling of being among thousands of likeminded individuals. Where the stars of the shows are bigger nerds than you. I will definitely be back next year, and maybe next time I’ll be able to spend a couple more days.

Head over and comment on this article at fanlit and you could win FantasyLiterature.com Bookmark signed by RA Salvatore

http://www.fantasyliterature.com/fantasynews/gencon-indy-2010/

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Book Review: World's End by Mark Chadbourn

You hear an argument close by and you make in its direction to investigate. What you end up seeing is a man being murdered by a creature so hideous it makes you vomit then completely lose consciousness. That’s exactly what happened to Jack “Church” Churchill and Ruth Gallagher in Mark Chadbourn’s World’s End. The horrific experience has been permanently etched into their subconscious and it has changed their lives forever. Together they embark on a journey to find items that could save mankind from complete destruction by sinister forces.

World’s End is quintessential contemporary dark fantasy. The story setting is a mix of modern day society and various elements from mythology. It’s quite obvious Chadbourn has done his homework, given how well he links all these mythological pieces in with modern theological and philosophical concepts. Chadbourn creates a unique, believable, and complex tapestry of myth and folklore for this world. He pulls this off extremely well and authors-to-be should take note, because it’s this kind of detail in world building that writers often miss in their stories.

The characters in World’s End are many. There are at least six main characters that all get equal time. I’m usually wary when books have too many central characters; someone usually gets left undeveloped. That is not the case in this book. Each character is given the right amount of attention to make you feel for each of them and their unique situations. They have all come from different backgrounds and have very different personalities, but they are forced to rely on each other in deep and personal ways. I grew to love and respect each character as the story progressed. I even grew to like Laura, who at the beginning of the story made me cringe each time she spoke. The character development in World’s End is some of the best I’ve read.

The plotting of the story is where World’s End falters a bit, and was the only thing that kept it from getting 5 stars. The characters find themselves in predictable situations and are often saved in predictable ways. As Stefan said in his review (on fanlit), many of the plot twists are transparent. It almost seems that so much time and effort was put into building an amazing world filled with strong characters, that some of the actual plot devices were left wanting

Don’t let my quibbles about plotting stop you from reading the book, though. Complaining about predictable plotting in fantasy is like whining about there being dragons on the front cover. World’s End is brilliant in almost every other aspect of its storytelling, and I’m amazed that Mr. Chadbourn’s books don’t get as much attention as they should. I see vampire/zombie trash all the time cluttering up shelves. THE AGE OF MISRULE series blows away a large portion of bestselling fantasy available today. I look forward to reading the next installment, and only regret I didn’t read it sooner.


www.fantasyliterature.com.

You can also learn more about Mark Chadbourn's books at the Fantasyliterature Mark Chadbourn page

You should also stop buy Mark's blog  Lots of interesting discussions. In just the two books of Mark's I've read, I already list him among my favorite authors. An active web citizen and talented writer that deserves your attention.

Book Review: Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn

Evie Walker is a comic book writer who is to inherit a magical storeroom from her terminally ill father. Unbeknownst to her, it has been the duty of her family for thousands of years to keep this storeroom safe. The storeroom contains artifacts from myth and legend, such as the Golden Fleece, Cinderella’s slippers, and of course Discord’s apple. Not only is Evie about to inherit these objects of legend, but she is also about to inherit the attention of powerful beings that would love to obtain them.

Discord’s Apple is a straightforward tale featuring the classic themes of love, friendship and sacrifice, played out by classic characters drawn from sources ranging from the Greek mythos to Arthurian legend. When I first read the back cover I was expecting to find worn-out clichés within. I figured there would be timeless true love, sacrificing heroics, and predictability of the kind one might expect of a story that contains several legendary heroes. I was sort of right — I did indeed get everything I expected — but the classic tropes were employed in a refreshing and unexpected way.

Carrie Vaughn breaks up the narrative into multiple storylines. In addition to Evie’s plot arc, there is a plotline following Tracker, a comic book character created by Evie. Tracker is everything Evie never could be, and Evie lives vicariously through her adventures. A third strand focuses on Sinon of Ithaca, or Sinon the Liar, the man who convinced King Priam to bring the Trojan horse within the walls of Troy. Sinon is a legendary character who has not had much face time in modern fiction, and it’s fun to see Carrie Vaughn’s portrayal of him.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by Discord’s Apple. Carrie Vaughn is a talented writer and she did very well in her first adult foray outside of the KITTY NORVILLE series. I must emphasize that Discord’s Apple is very much an adult novel. There is nothing overly graphic in the novel, but the sexual themes might prove unsuitable for younger readers.

I listened to this on audio CD produced by Brilliance Audio. The story is read to us by Angela Dawe and Luke Daniels. The majority of the story is told from Evie’s perspective, and Dawe’s smooth youthful voice is perfect for her. Daniels, who voices Sinon, is also excellent. I enjoyed listening to this a great deal, and highly recommend the audio version.


www.fantasyliterature.com.

You can also learn more about Carrie Vaughn's books at the Fantasyliterature Carrie Vaughn page

Book Review: Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

“The building was on fire and it wasn’t my fault,” says Harry in the opening line of Blood Rites. This has to be one of my favorite DRESDEN FILES books, and the very first line is quite possibly one of the most memorable in the series. Harry has been asked for a favor by his pseudo-friend and White Court Vampire, Thomas Raith: he is to investigate a possible death curse at an independent adult film studio. As with all DRESDEN stories, not everything is as it appears to be. Harry finds himself in multiple perilous situations, all of which are over his head. Jim Butcher masterfully weaves the reader through the chaotic mess that is Harry’s life, all culminating in a dramatic finale that deserves a standing ovation.

There are so many great moments in Blood Rites, from demon monkeys throwing flaming poo, battle meetings held in an IHOP, to the endless humorous banter between Thomas and Harry. The events that take place in Blood Rites have a lasting impact that still lingers six books later. Several wonderful characters are introduced, and many existing ones are fleshed out. You learn more about the White Court vampires, and Harry’s relationship to them. Mouse the Fu-Dog is introduced, and Kincaid the mercenary body guard becomes one of my favorite characters.

Blood Rites is what I call a keystone book in a series, and long-running series like THE DRESDEN FILES generally have a few of these. The events taking place are essential to the overall story arc that will end many books later. I like to be given the feeling of a “big picture,” and Blood Rites is one of the first DRESDEN FILES books that really move the overall story further along. It was after Blood Rites that I first realized that Jim Butcher had a plan for how he was going to end this series.

I cannot recommend Blood Rites highly enough, and I'm excited that Roc is re-releasing it in hardcover. The middle books of the DRESDEN FILES certainly deserve this sort of attention, as they are some of the best books in the urban fantasy genre. I never read books twice, but though I’ve read Blood Rites before, I found myself unable to put it down when Roc sent me a review copy of their new hardcover edition. It is simply an amazing and fun experience from the very first sentence!

www.fantasyliterature.com.

You can also learn more about Jim Butcher's books at the Fantasyliterature Butcher's page