Paksworld

Actually, depending on where you are in the world, it may already be well into tomorrow.   But though it’s a few minutes to midnight here, I’m opening with the reminder that we don’t want spoilers here for a reasonable time after those waiting impatiently have a chance at the book.    We’ll have better discussions (and fewer chances of some “justifiable homicides” ) if you hold off on spoilerish discussions until everyone’s read it.  (However, it’s not spoilerish to tell me you liked it (or hated it, though of course I’d rather not hear that.)

For a similar reason, I’m not posting the first pictures of Kings out in the world immediately (though I appreciate them) until more people have it, on the grounds that I don’t want impatient and envious fans to take vengeance on those who have it already.  Not that any of you kind, gentle, patient, people would ever do such a thing, but…better safe than sorry. Read the rest of this entry »

In the original Paks books,  dragons were believed to have existed at one time, but to have been vanquished (some said by Camwyn Dragonmaster.)    No dragons had been seen in human lands for a long, long, very long time.    In this lack of direct evidence, imagination flourished, and the Sinyi, many of whom had in fact seen dragons in their living memory, did not dispel any of the notions that humans came up with.  Nor did the rockfolk, who had–if not living memory–at least a closer tie to dragons.   In fact…they found human stories about dragons amusing.   Even the gnomes, who find very little amusing.   Still, though the legends attached to dragons have little basis in fact, they are of interest in how they shape humans’  ideas about dragons.

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Legends that cross racial boundaries (elf/human, human/gnome, elf/dwarf, etc.)  look very different in versions from the different groups.    The story of The Severance between elves and kuaknomi is perhaps the most complex of these, as it involves elves, humans, and trees.  This is necessarily a simplified version, and would be hotly disputed by some of those involved.

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The legends of Paksworld involve a startling number of wicked kings, especially way in the past.    Gird is “historical” in that he’s not that far back and the evidence is more documentary than legendary.   Falk and Camwyn and Torre and others (including such figures as Dort the Master Shepherd, the Blind Archer,  Guthlac Lord of the Hunt) are more on the legendary side, with no direct evidence that they existed.  But for some the tales are so specific it’s hard to think they might not have a basis in reality.  Read the rest of this entry »

Instead of a snippet today, a background legend from Paksworld.   The origins are far enough back that it’s not possible to be sure where it originated, and many versions exist.    No spoilers here. Read the rest of this entry »

Age and inactivity usually bring reflection–and reflection isn’t always pleasant.

The usual spoiler warnings apply:   Aliam Halveric is an important secondary character, and although I chose this snippet to be as little spoilerish as possible…it will seem so to some.

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Shorter, because I’m working very hard to get ready for a big Bach rehearsal tonight.    This snippet shows some of the background stuff that some of you appreciate and some, perhaps, skip over.  That’s fine…but there’s a reason for the background to show now and then.   This is as spoiler-free a snippet as I could find this far into the book (Chapter 20.)   But those who want to know nothing, not even the pattern on the wallpaper, should avoid it anyway.

The book itself is out here and there in Europe, so it’s time for another gentle reminder that everyone’s asked to observe spoiler space for those who haven’t got it yet.

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Since the previous snippet was supposed to be posted Monday (but, fooled by DST, I sent it after midnight) here’s the snippet that *should* come today.

I’ve previously posted a snippet that comes shortly before this one, about Stammel’s first experience in unarmed combat drill after his blinding.    Those who haven’t read the earlier snippet might want to look at it before reading this one.    They’re both in Chapter 9.

And spoiler warnings do apply:  don’t read below the line if you don’t want to know what happens.

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Seven days.   And I’ve been absent (mostly health-related) more than here–apologies for that.   However, here’s a snippet from Chapter 11 of Kings, which begins the unwrapping of a long-held secret: what really happened in Old Aare?

This will be a fairly big chunk, and thus some of you might find it spoilerish.  Hence, spoiler warning–don’t venture beyond the break if you want to know absolutely nothing about what’s coming.   For those who go on, there’s a several-paragraphs gap in the snippet, not to hide anything but to shorten it for blog use.

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We always knew that long books cost more to produce than short books, just because of the production  cost.     So long books are priced higher to cover that higher cost.    It’s not just the paper in the books–or even that fat books need bigger covers (which they do.)   It’s that longer texts take longer to edit, copy-edit, typeset (even with electronics working there, too) and proof after typesetting.   However, the materials cost is still the big problem, due to the ever-rising cost of paper and (related) the per-pound cost of shipping.

Some of us (points at self) thought that e-books would solve that problem, because a long electronic file (though yes, it takes a bit more bandwidth to download) isn’t that much more costly than a shorter one.  Within limits.   And paper & shipping costs are now out of the equation (“shipping” cost now consists of what the customer pays for a download…it’s no longer the publisher’s problem.)

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