Thraxas Final Triumph

With the publication of Thraxas Under Siege, I have now completed my Thraxas project. All nine Thraxas books are now available from ebook stores. I strongly recommend you buy some Thraxas.

This turned out to be a bigger project than I'd anticipated. I'm fatigued. I am now lying on the couch, staring into space in celebration. For the next few days - weeks - months, possibly - I intend to do nothing except play on my Playstation, starting with Mass Effect 2, which, fortunately enough, just arrived in the mail.

Thraxas.com

Thraxas at - Amazon Kindle (UK), Amazon Kindle (US), Nook, Kobo, iTunes, Sony

Cars and Girls / Aristophanes

I've been reading Cars and Girls, four femnoir stories, the first book published by Pankhearst Independent Writers Collective. I do like the book, and was almost moved to review it, until I remembered that reviewing books takes effort and dedication which I just don't have. The authors involved in Cars and Girls are Zoë Spencer, Tee Tyson, Madeline Harvey and Evangeline Jennings, and as Evangeline Jennings is a Facebook friend of mine, it seemed easier to just ask her if she'd like to write something about it. 

'Evangeline, I liked your story, but as I have no journalistic skill at all, and am really too lazy and incompetent to make anything up, would you like to say something about your book? Without droning on too much, obviously.'

To which she replied - 

'Cars & Girls is a punk rock book. We learned a couple of chords and set out to change the world.

I can think of two analogies. The first doesn't work when you get deep into the detail but in many ways our book is akin to the old Fast Product "sampler" First Year Plan which featured the early work from the Mekons, Gang of Four, and Human League among others. The better fit is probably the Buzzcocks' Spiral Scratch EP. Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley working together to produce something flawed but beautiful and everlasting. I hope.

I forget when I had the idea for Cars & Girls or where it came from, but I'm a huge fan of noir and pulp fiction and the intention was always to take those forms, push their boundaries, and subvert them. My own story Crown Victoria is probably the most overtly subversive - I don't think that's a spoiler - but the whole thing is what Courtney Love would describe as a "big, raw-boned bunch of fucking sex". If we asked her. Which we haven't.'

--

While I enjoyed Cars and Girls, I can't take too much modern literature, and have subsequently been lying on the couch, re-reading Aristophanes, greatest of the Athenian comic playwrights, and long time favourite. I wonder if Aristophanes was reviewed at the time? I don't think so. I don't think there were Athenian theatre reviewers. Though i suppose there could have been. Maybe some people scribbled down their thoughts and pinned them up in the Agora.

...Aristophanes really lays into Hyperbolus, just like he used to lay into Kleon, before Kleon went and got himself killed in action...

I like it that Hyperbolus, the angry Athenian orator and politician from the fifth century BC, survives to this day in the form of the word Hyperbole. No one could have guessed that would happen at the time. Cloud Cuckoo Land, a phrase still used today, comes from Aristophanes, and you wouldn't have thought that would survive for two and a half thousand years either.

I also like it that even though Aristophanes' plays are full of comic slapstick and fantastic elements, such as giant flying dung beetles, and visits to the underworld, they still give the best picture available of normal daily life in ancient Athens. A much better picture than you'd get from the great tragedians, for instance. If you were only to read Aristophanes, and suddenly be transported back to Classical Athens, you would at least have some idea of what to expect.

I've only seen Aristophanes plays twice on stage. Once at the Young Vic, and once somewhere else I can't remember. I didn't like either production. They weren't nearly funny enough, or obscene enough. which Aristophanes really should be.

Thraxas at War. Buffy Comic Problem.

Thraxas at War, seventh book in the series, now available as an ebook. As Thraxas book nine has already being published, it means there are now eight of the nine available, and just one more to go before the ebooks are up to date. Thraxas rumbles unstoppably on, which he does have the bulk to do. As he has been known to say, when criminals see him coming, they know they've got a problem. 

Amazon Kindle (US), Kindle (UK), iTunes, Kobo, Sony

I'm still receiving Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics regularly, thanks to the efficient subscription department at Reed Comics. As the comics are an official, Joss Whedon sponsored continuation of the series, I sort of feel obliged to buy them. But I'm not enjoying them that much. I've never particularly liked the artwork, and nor was I ever that keen on there being thousands of slayers. (Not sure if there still are thousands of slayers, I've got a lot of unread comics.)

However I'm unable to let go. I seem to be trapped into regularly buying comics I don't really enjoy. I lack the willpower to do anything about it. I don't know what the solution is. Just buy them for the rest of my life, I suppose.

I wish the Buffy bot had made another appearance. In the TV series the Buffy bot always did its best. It had a friendly personality too. I liked the Buffy bot, and regretted its tragic demise. It deserved another outing.

Adventure Rocketship!

Adventure Rocketship! is a new series, somewhere between an anthology and magazine, or possibly a magazine in book form, edited by Jonathan Wright. I mention it partly because I'm interviewed in the first issue, and partly because it's a really good enterprise and I'd like it to succeed.

The first issue is entitled Let's All Go To The Science Fiction Disco, and, to quote the back cover, it concerns 'the strange region of space where science fiction, popular music and counter culture meet.'

Quoting more from the back cover - because that's how good an investigative journalist I am - there are new stories from Lavie Tidhar, Liz Williams and Tim Maughan, interviews with Mick Farren, The Orb, Michael Moorcock, Bill Nelson and China Miéville, and new writing from David Quantick, NK Jemisin, Jon Courtney Grimwood, and Jason Heller. That was a lot of typing from the back cover, so I apologise if I spelled anyone's name wrong, I'm not that good a copy typist. In fact my typing all round these days is getting worse. Sometimes when I use the spell check almost the entire page lights up with errors.

The Cover art is by Stanley Donwood, who has designed album sleeves for Radiohead. (I also have a short piece of fiction in the magazine, but it is so short, less than a thousand words, that I can't really plug it as a major sales point.)

Publication date for Adventure Rocketship! is 16th May. There's a launch party at Forbidden Planet in London on the 16th, and another launch in Bristol, also at Forbidden Planet. I hope these go well. I was invited to the London launch, but I won't be there. I haven't mentioned my problems with agoraphobia for a while, but at the moment I don't feel up to travelling to a public event. But I know Jon Courtney Grimwood will be there, and Lavie Tidhar, and I'm sure it will be a good event.

Adventure Rocketship! Let's All Go To The Science Fiction Disco - ISBN 9781906477738 - On Sale May 2013

Seven of Nine, Thraxas Noir

The re-issuing of Thraxas and the Dance of Death as an ebook means that there are now seven of nine available. Aha. I loved Seven of Nine. I think she's the only character that has ever made me watch I show I didn't really like. I never thought Star Trek Voyager was all that great, but when Seven of Nine was introduced, I liked it a lot more.

But apart from that, Thraxas and the Dance of Death, which is book six in the series, is now in electronic bookshops everywhere. With book nine already being published, that only leaves seven and eight to come - Thraxas at War, and Thraxas Under Siege. They will be available soon.

Here is part of the introduction to Thraxas and the Dance of Death - 

'When I began writing Thraxas, I planned for it to be rather darker. More noirish. Sort of Dashiell Hammett meets sword and Sorcery. Thraxas does share some elements often associated with the hardboiled school of American detective fiction. He's a solo investigator who's tough, and ready to defend himself. He drinks a lot and he's poor. He exists in a corrupt urban environment where he comes up against organised crime. He distrusts the police and tends to be hostile towards authority. He's loyal to his clients, and prepared to go a long way to defend them.

Despite these elements, Thraxas didn't turn out very noirish at all. Partly because Thraxas's huge appetites for food and drink can drag him out any prolonged burst of soul searching. Thraxas can be affected by the poverty and corruption which surrounds him, but a good bowl of stew, and five or six beers, will usually make him view the world in a more optimistic light.

And also, I think, because Thraxas and Makri turned out to be something of a comedy double-act. At times their relationship seems to consist mainly of bickering and mutual insults, but really, Thraxas is rescued from a potentially bleak world by the presence of the young female warrior. Makri is too spirited and intelligent to be intimidated by Thraxas's blustering. She gives as good as she gets, and consequently they become friends, quite quickly. Thraxas is still walking down unfriendly streets, but he's no longer on his own.'

Thraxas and the Dance of Death now available at:

Amazon(US) Amazon(UK) Amazon(CA) iTunes Kobo Copia

Thraxas, Hobbits, Exhausting Debauchery

As Thraxas and the Sorcerers arrived in shops, or rather, at ebook distributors, I lay on the couch, watching The Hobbit. Various thoughts floated though my head -  I'm enjoying this film - I wish someone would bring me a cup of tea - Where did I put my comfy slippers?- Could you really have eagles that big? - What else can I steal from Tolkien? - that sort of thing. So, I've now seen the Hobbit, long after everyone else, as always. Good film, though making the book into a trilogy seems to be pushing it a bit. But I will no doubt watch the next two just as keenly. I have always loved the Hobbit. When I first read it, there would have seemed no prospect that it would ever be made into a film.

So. Thraxas and the Sorcerers now available for sale, meaning that six Thraxas ebooks have now appeared since December. Which is a good effort by anyone's standards, and I have no hesitation in heartily congratulating myself for getting this done. There are now only three left to publish, and they will be out soon, making the full set available as ebooks, including the new one, Thraxas and the Ice Dragon.

Thraxas and the Sorcerers on sale here - 

Kindle (US), Kindle (UK), iTunes, Kobo

The ebook publishing has been going very well, though it has left me quite weary. I am obliged, as a member of the Ancient Secret Society of Lascivious Authors, to host a debauched sex party whenever I have a book released. Of course, this is usually only once every couple of years. But with the rapid re-issuing of all my Thraxas books, the sex parties have been much more frequent. So with the energetic young models pouring into my modest flat and partying through the night, re-enactments of 100 days of Sodom being staged in the kitchen and so on, well, I'm becoming quite fatigued. I'll be pleased when it's over.

Thraxas and I are Visiting Elves at the Moment

Thraxas and the Elvish Isles has just appeared as an ebook. Turai being as cold the Ice Queen's grave, Thraxas sailed south for a while. It was a rare excursion from his normal life in the city streets, though not from his excesses of food and drink. Even while surrounded by Elves, Thraxas never loses sight of the central importance of getting a lot of food and drink inside him.

Kindle: US, UK, CA - iBooks -  Kobo

Thraxas and the Elvish Isles is book four in the series. So, with book nine, Thraxas and the Ice Dragon, already being published, I'm now more than half way through my ambitious project to unleash the entire Thraxas series into the world of ebooks. This is going well. Once again, thanks to the people who have given them good customer reviews when they've bought them.

I have also been surrounded by Elves, in a way. It's been snowing in London in the past few days, making it a very poor start to Spring. Not having any Elvish Isles to sail to, I've turned the heating up, and retreated permanently to the couch, applying myself to the first Skyrim downloadable extension, Dragonborn. This, scandalously late, was only recently released for Playstation, though other formats have been available for a long time. So I am once again battling my way through hostile environments, mowing down all opposition, and generally giving hostile wizards, Elves, dragons and bandits a hard time.

In-between I've been reading a biography of Somerset Maugham, one of my favourite authors. Maugham was a great storyteller, even if a reluctant one at times. He really wanted to be a playwright rather than a novelist, because he found it tedious describing things. He thought it would be easier just writing dialogue. I can sympathise with this. Who wants to be describing things all the time? It can be really tedious. Nonetheless, Somerset Maugham was a really fine novelist and short story writer, and I've learned from his technique.

Let Down by Tomb Raider

I'm a huge Tomb Raider fan but I'm disappointed in the new game. I've played the Tomb Raider games right from the start, on the Playstation 1. I've always enjoyed them - apart from the aberrant Angel of Darkness - but I'm not enjoying this as much as I thought I would. It's not that it's a bad game, it's just not Tomb Raider.

Previously I've liked Lara Croft's solitary exploration of gigantic, fantastic tombs. It's like entering in to some sort of brilliant alternative world. Her solitude felt peaceful. So far in this game, there is nothing like that. All the tombs I've come across are small, grubby locations, put in almost as afterthought, and there is certainly nothing peaceful.

Really it's just a gigantic fighting game. You land on an island and fight your way through. There really is a lot of fighting. Sometimes it feels endless. It's well done, but it is not what I want from Tomb Raider. I'm puzzled as to why they've gone this way. Aren't there enough fighting games already? I'm sure there must be. While shooting my way through yet another horde of enemies, I keep thinking 'I wish I was in a big Egyptian tomb, exploring and solving puzzles.'

The game is annoying at the start too, when Lara is so weak. For some reason the game makers decided she needed a new origin - though Lara Croft already had an origin - and this involves making her weak and frightened. She does become stronger later, which is better, but I didn't really see the need for her to be so puny in the first place. When they make new games with male heroes, I don't think they generally make them frightened and hopeless at the start.

Sometimes with games you get moments which are just so good you can hardly believe they did it in a game. I've had that feeling playing Tomb Raider in the past. I recently had it again playing Portal. But there are no moments like that in this Tomb Raider game. Just endless sneaking and fighting. There is nothing beautiful in it, like in previous games. No astonishing graphics like recent Final Fantasy. It's all grime and dirt, and it's all the same really. And if this isn't bad enough, Lara's voice is nowhere near posh enough. I expect Lara Croft to sound like an English aristocrat, not my next door neighbour.

So I am disappointed by this game. It's high quality fighting I suppose, but it's really not Tomb Raider.

[ Character note 1 - If you're going to have a voice-over actor doing a Scottish accent, make sure he can pronounce 'Loch' properly. 'Lok' is fine for non-Scots, but no one from Scotland would pronounce it like that. ]

[ Character note 2 - They made Lara's breasts smaller. Obviously, this is a step forward for the world. As soon I saw her new, smaller breasts, I immediately thought - That's good, how dare the previous games objectify women by giving the character huge breasts. No doubt it is a great relief to everyone that they are smaller in this game. ]