I’ve been working on a project for a while now, mostly in between life issues like moving to Mexico and holding down a day job. The Trulon project is the brainchild of Johan Lillbacka who contacted me several years ago now about a collaboration. I liked the idea and wanted to work with him and so we embarked on fleshing out his fantasy universe, creating a story arc for a series of novels, and ultimately laying the foundation for other creative outlets for characters in this steampunk-with-magic style world.
Soon you will be able to experience some of what we’ve built by playing the game – Trulon: The Shadow Engine. It’s designed for young adults, but should be fun for adults too. For this, Johan worked with Finnish game makers Kyy Games, the creators of Trouserheart and Rimelands: Hammer of Thor. And later this summer, the first novel – coauthored by me and Johan – will be out. And if you’re in Finland, you’ll be able to see a live performance at Powerpark!
Well, I need to get back to writing! Meanwhile here are couple of links if you’d like more information.
I will have plenty of (new and never read) copies of my Shadowrun novels available. These are sometimes hard to find so come get yours. In fact it’s ironic, but I am down to one physical paperback copy of my latest book – The Edge of Chaos – and cannot get any more copies because the publisher has designated it as out of print. (It’s still available in ebook and audiobook form.)
So, come out and hear me (and other authors) read and entertain you. There will be snacks, gaming, and you might even learn how the decision to kill off Dunkelzahn came about.
For the first time, I will be attending Emerald City Comicon, which features some huge media stars like Patrick Stewart and Felicia Day and Wil Weaton and… and…
I have one panel on Saturday, March 2nd at 2:20. Show up early.
ASK THE (BOOK) EDITORS
Room: HALL C (602-603) Start: 2:20PM
End: 3:15PM
Join novelist Philip Athans as he joins Nina Hess (Editor-in-Chief, Wizards of the Coast) Fleetwood Robbins (Editor, Wizards of he Coast), Jak Koke (Managing Editor, Per Aspera Press), and James Sutter (Editor, Paizo) for a spirited Q&A for aspiring authors of fantasy and science fiction. They will cover such topics as query dos and don’ts, how to write better, how to submit your work, and how to build a career as a novelist.
Today, The Edge of Chaos is available in audiobook format from Audible. This is cool. And it’s a first for me. I haven’t listened to it yet so cannot comment on the narration by Paul Neal Rohrer or the production quality, but it was released by Audible’s own Audible Frontiers publisher division so I’m guessing it’s put together professionally.
Since I am a huge fan of audiobooks, having one of my own books available in this format is just over the ‘awesomeness-dialed-to-eleven’ line. When I wrote and revised and re-revised and copyedited and proofread The Edge of Chaos, you couldn’t have paid me to read the whole thing again—well actually you could, but it would’ve cost a lot. But that was years ago, and I’m not sick of it any more. I’m looking forward to listening to the story.
As I think more and more about it, I am finding that I want to reconnect with Duvan and Slanya and Gregor and Tyrangal. I want to return to Ormpetarr and cross into the The Plaguewrought Lands. I’m not so much interested in re-encountering Vraith or Beaugrat, but I will happily suffer them for the rest. :)
If you love audiobooks, I invite you to listen to mine. It’s available on Amazon.com and Audible.com. Amazon is really promoting Audible right now. If you sign up for a 30-day trial subscription you get The Edge of Chaos plus one other audiobook for free, 30% off any additional audiobooks, and a free audio subscription to either The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal.
I personally don’t know if I’d listen to either newspaper in audio format, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised about how much I love books read to me. So who knows? Have you listened to the news this way? How was it?
Now it’s back to Faerûn for me. For ten hours and twenty-four minutes of spellplague, adventure, and living on the border between sanity and its opposite—the edge of chaos.
For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, Patrick Rothfuss’s two novels The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear are masterpieces of storytelling. The characters are complex and richly developed, the writing is lyrical and meticulously crafted, and the plot is engaging. This is one of the best stories that I have read. Rothfuss’s writing is clever, and thoughtful… and even when not a lot is happening, I am drawn along because I care about the characters.
So when I had the opportunity to check out the audiobook from our incredible Seattle Public Library, I took it even though I had already read the book. I wanted to read it again anyway.
I got hooked on audiobooks when I was commuting to a day job, and had to spend 30 minutes in the car each morning and again at night. An intriguing audiobook would make otherwise dull and frustrating time pass quickly. I cannot recommend them enough… especially if you can get them from the library. Audiobooks are relatively expensive because the publisher has to pay the voice actor(s), sound engineer, and producer. A long novel can be upwards of 40 hours long, which adds a substantial cost to production above what the author gets. And yet, I would say that the experience of a well-produced and expertly-narrated audiobook is worth the money.
The Brilliance Audio productions of the Rothfuss books are worth it. Days and days of entertainment and distraction while you get stuff done. It’s a pretty great deal actually.
The narrator of both The Name of Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear is Nick Podehl. His reading is marvelously expressive. He does voices for all the characters as one would expect, and in my opinion he has got them down cold. To me, his voice is Kvothe’s voice.
I don’t have a twice a day commute anymore, but even so I seem to have less and less time to sit down and read. When I’m not writing or editing at the computer, I’m up and about doing something around the house. I find that listening to a good story is a perfect way to pass the time when I’m battling entropy around the house — washing dishes, cleaning a room, or working on a project that’s primarily physical like car repair or construction. I’ve gotten to where I even listen in the shower from time to time. This isn’t good for my hot water bill as I tend to take longer showers when I’m involved in a good story.
But I also get a lot more dishes washed. Thanks Pat and Nick!
Do you like audiobooks? Have you read or listened to any that you particularly love? Let me know in the comments.
