John Jarrold’s Corner: 2-Book Deal for Paul Kearney!

September 30, 2009 at 5:10 pm (John Jarrold's Corner) (, , , , , , )

Remember way back (well, not so long ago, it was only last year) I reviewed Paul Kearney’s The Ten Thousand and also got the exclusive on the title of the second Macht book? Well, guys and girls, there’s not only going to be a second book in the series, but a third, too! :-)

Check out the awesome announcement:

PRESS RELEASE – TWO-BOOK DEAL FOR FANTASY NOVELIST PAUL KEARNEY

Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books since the imprint’s acquisition from Games Workshop by Rebellion earlier this month, has acquired two new novels by Paul Kearney, set on the same world as his successful Solaris novel THE TEN THOUSAND. The agent was John Jarrold, and the deal was for UK/US rights.

These novels, entitled CORVUS and KINGS OF MORNING, are due for delivery in 2010 and early 2011 respectively.

“The immediacy of Paul’s prose and characterisation always puts me in mind of David Gemmell, who I was lucky enough to publish in the mid-1990s,” said John Jarrold. “With THE TEN THOUSAND he has created a world ripe for re-visiting. Can’t wait to read these books! And I’m very pleased to have concluded my first deal with Jon Oliver and the ‘new’ Solaris.”

28th September 2009

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Awesome news or what?! :-) I will honestly say that I was really worried when Solaris was sold; kudos to everyone involved in not letting such an awesome imprint sink and in making sure that the authors were all looked after! Congrats to Paul, John and Jonathan, as well as all the readers out there – we’re in for some awesome stuff! :-)

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Haven’t read The Ten Thousand yet? Then order your copies here for the US, here for the UK, and here for South Africa.

Be EPIC!

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Angry Robot and Robert VS Redick at Forbidden Planet!

September 29, 2009 at 7:34 pm (Angry Robot, Announcements) (, , , , , )

Hey guys and girls of the UK, some great news for you that you’ve no-doubt already heard. :-) But you know me, spread the news far and wide I say!

The official UK launch of Angry Robot, the awesome new SF, F and WTF? imprint that’s been steadily building a robot army and bringing us some wonderful new fiction to get lost in, will be on my birthday – the 10th of October! :-) So, while I’m here in South Africa wishing I was at the launch to meet the authors and the people behind Angry Robot, many of you will be enjoying great company and even better books at Forbidden Planet! :-) I would say I’m jealous, but hey, you wouldn’t really care, right? ;-)

And just because I’m not going to be there doesn’t mean I shouldn’t spread the word – after all, the more people read the awesome books that Angry Robot is bringing us, the faster they’ll take over the world!! Mwahahahahaha -ha -huhg -urgh! *clears his throat*

Check out the info below!

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Invite everyone you think will enjoy the company of great authors (Dan Abnett, Andy Remic and Colin Harvey) to celebrate the UK launch of Angry Robot! The more the merrier! :-)

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And there’s more!

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The excellent Robert VS Redick, author of The Red Wolf Conspiracy and The Rats and the Ruling Sea, as well as friend of the ward-master, Peter V Brett, will be at Forbidden Planet too – and here’s the cherry on the icing for sure: Want to get your hands on The Rats and the Ruling Sea before the official publishing date? Well then you better be at Forbidden Planet on the 16th of October!

The event will begin at 6 and go on through to 7 (that’s the evening, yes folks, not even I would wake up that early in the freezing UK!), but you better get there early to avoid having to fight your way through other rabid fans. :-) Don’t want to wait until the 29th of October to get your copy of the second book in The Chathrand Voyage (that is the new official publishing date)? Then make a point of getting to Forbidden Planet on the 16th of October! :-)

Also, if you just can’t make it to the signing (I’ve got an excuse, I’m on a different continent), you can still order your copies of The Rats and the Ruling Sea and should get them well before the 29th. :-)

And finally, here’s a little something that I saw that’s truly wrong – if you’re on Facebook, a fan of Robert and his work, then join the fan-page! :-)

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Aspiring Writers.

September 29, 2009 at 1:16 pm (Uncategorized) ()

Hey guys and girls, I recently found a very interesting site run by an American Author, Brian Moreland.

Brian Moreland is already an accomplished writer with his second book coming out soon. Apart from being an author he also keeps himself busy by coaching aspiring writers.

He runs a blog site called Coaching for Writers which has many useful articles for any aspiring writer.

If you’re an aspiring writer you should definitely check out this site, simply click here.

He also recently appeared on the blog site Stimulating Conversation, as a guest writer, writing an article on Descriptive Writing. You can find this article here.

Also keep an eye out as i will be trying to bring you not one but three reviews in the next two weeks. :-o

First of all will be the brand new Iain Banks book, Transitions.

Well thats me singing out for now.

Be Good ;-)

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Exclusive Book Trailer: Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Born of Night

September 25, 2009 at 8:39 am (Announcements, Book Trailer) (, , )

New from St. Martin’s Press is #1 New York Times bestselling author, Sherrilyn Kenyon’s 3-book series, ‘The League’! With over 19 million books in print, Sherrilyn Kenyon is renowned the world over as “the reigning queen of the paranormal genre that she pioneered long before the world had heard of Twilight.” Fans (also lovingly known as ‘Kenyon’s Minions’) are at the edge of their seats in anticipation for this thrilling new series. The first book from ‘the League’ series, ‘Born of Night’, will be available September 29th.

Wanna read the first 9 chapters? Yep, 9! :-) Click on through and start reading then!

Also, check out the website dedicated to the series, SK’s own website and Official Sanctuary. :-)

Born of Night
Be EPIC!

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Nights of Villjamur Interview Part Two: Investigator Rumex Jeryd

September 23, 2009 at 4:22 pm (Interviews) (, , , , )

Hey Guys and Girls, I’m back with Investigator Rumex Jeryd! :-) He was good enough to give up some of his time to answer the questions I had, and here’s the result:

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Dave: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Inspector Jeryd, I appreciate you giving up your time during this important investigation. First off, what brought you to the Inquisition? And why in Villjamur? Surely there are quieter spots throughout the Empire?

Jeryd: Well it wasn’t the paperwork, that’s for sure. It’s been so long since I’ve joined – decades and decades – that I can’t really remember why. A calling. A safe job. The need to do some good in this city. I was born and raised in Villjamur, but I don’t fancy making my way out in the sticks. It’s not as violent as some cities. And sure it’s quieter out in the country, but there’s no protection, no guarantee of food, risk of attacks from tribal uprisings and the likes. Plus now the ice is kicking in, I’m glad I’m behind these city walls.

Dave: When you’re not persuing a suspect, when you feel the need to relax for a time, where do you go? What do you do?

Jeryd: Time to relax? Very little of that these days. Back in the day, me and my wife, Marysa, we’d take in some of the underground theatre shows – she loves a golem show. Maybe dinner out, read a book. My breaks are when I get to a bistro, and I watch the world go by. There are a lot of characters in Villjamur. There’s a lot going on beneath the surface – but you need to look hard to see what’s really going on.

Dave: Coming to your wife; How does she handle your work? Has it put a strain on your marriage or does she handle it well?

Jeryd: Hey, I’m hardly the guy to answer that one well am I? I mean, I guess you have to work at relationships, right? But with Inquisition work, well, it just takes over your life. I’m hardly there to see to her needs and when I am everything seems trivial to murders or whatever. No, I’m not so good when it comes to these things. I’d like to think I can turn things around though.

Dave: Well, the city does have a way of bringing out the best or worst in a person. Coming back to the Inquisition, can you give us a short history of the Inquisition? Do you know anything of how it was formed and how long its been in charge of justice in Villjamur?

Jeryd: As to how it was formed in the first stage, no one really knows. Most of the stories suggest it started with Jamur Joll, the Emperor who five thousand years ago re-named the settlement as Villjamur, and had the walls built. He established some kind of order (though you might think that order never really came), and the Inquisition was to enforce civil obedience. The Inquisition really took hold within the last couple of thousand years – in its current capacity. There was a great deal of combat between human and rumel, and the upshot of these tensions were that the rumel would be allowed to form the main rank of Investigators. It was a peace offering of sorts, to force two races to live side-by-side in peace. And we’re a relatively liberal city compared to others, so I’ve heard, so I guess the policy worked.

Dave: Granted, it does seem to have worked. Looking back over your years in Villjamur, is there a memory that stands out more than most? Something good or bad that you’ll never forget.

Jeryd: Memory is a strange thing. My species can live for a good couple of hundred years, so I tend not to rely on what happened all that long ago. We can distort things in our minds even after a few hours – think what that’s like for a few decades! Nah, whatever I’m thinking about probably isn’t how it was.

Dave: That seems a sad way to live, but understandable from a rumel’s point of view. Is there then something you’re looking forward to? A dream that you’ve been nurturing?

Jeryd: I’m realistic! You’ve got to think practically to be in the Inquisition. None of this emotions nonsense. I look forward to building a better marriage, but as for things to look forward to? Well, believe it or not, I’m a big fan of the theatre. I’d love more free time to take my wife to see a lot of the shows. Villjamur has great underground shows, and even in an ice age there’s a lot going on. I’m trying not to think too far ahead – what with the ice, nothing is certain.

* * *

The next Villjamur interview that’ll I’ll post will be with Commander Brynd Lathraea! :-)

Order your copy of Nights of Villjamur here for US, here for UK and here for those in SA, and check out Mark’s site here.

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Catch-Up (‘Cause I’ve been quiet for a bit)

September 22, 2009 at 8:43 am (Announcements, Musings) (, , , , , , , , , , , )

So I took a bit of a break from the blog to finish watching the second season of Supernatural. :-) We finished it last night, and will probably start watching the 3rd season today, and I have to say that I’m impressed. I knew Sam was going to die and that Dean would do a deal at the crossroads to bring him back, but I didn’t know that their dad would put in an appearance! That was a goose-flesh moment if there ever was one! Very cool! And now that the Yellow-Eyed demon is dead it’ll be interesting to see what the brothers have got to face in the 3rd season, though with all the demons that were released (an awesome moment that took me back to Smallville and the release of the Phantoms from the Phantom Zone) I’m sure they’ll have their work cut out for them. :-)

We also watched the movie-adaptation of Jose Saramago’s Blindness on the weekend… The only thing that spoiled an otherwise excellent movie was the motivation of Julianne Moore’s character – being the only person who can see among hundreds who can’t, she decides that she’ll let herself (and the women who joined her) be subjected to rape for food. Huh?! Maybe someone can explain this to me, but putting myself in that position just wouldn’t be something I would want to do. You have such a huge advantage over everyone else, and you still want to go ahead and punish yourself like that? For what? Anyway. The rest of the movie was great, and I will recommend it, but I will also be reading the book at some time. :-)

I am now about 400 pages into Stephen King’s Under the Dome, and it’s incredible so far! :-) The King is definitely pulling out all the stops here, and I’ve been getting that same epic-vibe from Dome that I got from The Stand, even though The Stand was a cross-country kind of novel and Dome is set in one town. The characters are amazing, the events awesome (and terrifying), and it’s really shaping up to be a shit-your-pants ride. :-)

On to the Wheel of Time – I’m really digging the titles for Book 13 and 14! :-) Towers of Midnight is such an awesome penultimate-book-in-the-series title, don’t you think? I totally agree with those that have covered it so far that we might see a resolution to the Seanchan plot, though when you think about the outrigger novels that RJ had planned, maybe not. :-) But at least we can hope for Tuon and Rand to finally meet and cement the Seanchan as allies of Rand in The Last Battle. And the last book – A Memory of Light. Wonderful! :-) Thanks TOR, Harriet, Brandon! :-)

Now for a blogger-birthday: I completely missed Mark Chitty’s BDay! (Sorry Mark!) I hope you had an incredible day, got plenty of awesome books to read, and will have another incredible year! :-) All the best!

David will also be bringing me the entire first season of Legend of the Seeker today, so I’ll have a review of Season 1 for you soon. :-) I have to say, I’m not particularly looking forward to it, but since I am a fan of Terry Goodkind’d work, I’m sort of honour-bound to at least give it a go. (Wasn’t impressed with what I’ve seen so far, but I promise to be more optimistic!)

So, I’m also busybusybusy relocating the blog. :-) The launch will happen as soon as I’ve finished Under the Dome (that’ll be the first review), and I’ll make an announcement here with a link to the new blog. :-) This blog will still be around (as will all the posts on it), and David and I will still be the review-team, but I’ll be using this blog for my writing-stuff and any non-SFF stuff that I want to chat about. :-)
And I have to say, so far, Blogger is pretty cool.

What’ll I have coming up in the next few weeks? Well, hard to say. :-) I’m hoping to have finished All Yesterday’s Tomorrows, and then I’ll be really sinking in to Brent Weeks’ work. :-) I’m also itching to give Glenda Larke a go, and then get my re-read of Steven Erikson done so that I can read Dust of Dreams. I’m also hoping to get an ARC of The Other Lands (available to order now!), and then there’ll be a host of indie-published books that I’ll be reviewing (have to get those done!). Will everything work according to plan? Probably not! :-)

Anyway, that’s me for now – will be back with another post tomorrow. :-)

Be EPIC!

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Ask the Author: Peter F Hamilton

September 17, 2009 at 6:15 pm (Announcements) (, , )

One week from today, acclaimed (and rightly so) epic SF author will be taking part in a video-interview, and fans of Peter’s work and SF in general are being offered a chance to ask him some questions! :-)

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The paperback edition of The Temporal Void will be hitting the shelves soon (it’s already here in SA), so Peter’s publishers are offering you all this chance to send through a question for Peter. :-) I interviewed Peter last year, so I’ll refrain from sending a question through. :-)

All you need to do is send your question through to publicity (at) macmillan (dot) co (dot) uk , and put “Question for Peter F Hamilton” in the subject line. :-) If there’s anything you’ve wanted to ask Peter, now’s your chance! :-)

As soon as the link to the video is available, or the video itself, I’ll be sure to post it here. :-)

The Temporal Void

Order your copies here for US, here for UK, and here for those in SA!

Be EPIC!

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John Jarrold’s Corner & new Angry Robot Signings!

September 16, 2009 at 5:17 pm (Angry Robot, Announcements, John Jarrold's Corner) (, , , )

Hey guys and girls, some great news from John Jarrold! Here’s the contents of the press-release for you:

PRESS RELEASE – SIGNIFICANT PRE-EMPTIVE DEAL FOR BRITISH NOVELIST

Nick Johnston of Quercus has paid a significant advance for a four-book series by UK novelist Rod Rees. The pre-emptive deal, with agent John Jarrold, is for World Rights.

The series is titled THE DEMI-MONDE, and is set in a wonderfully imagined virtual world – the Demi-Monde of the title. Originally conceived by the US military as a training ground for their troops in the twenty-first century facing street fighting and enemies who use guerrilla tactics, rather than modern technology-based armies, the Demi-Monde was created by the world’s first quantum computer. Young singer Ella Thomas is sent there to rescue a VIP (she ticks all the boxes to blend into the world, which has a late-Victorian technology base) and discovers the world and its thirty million inhabitants, or ‘avatars’, are all too real. Especially those who run the world’s city-states, based on famous human monsters such as Reinhard Heydrich, Shaka Zulu, Empress Wu, Godfrey de Bouillon, Selim the Grim and Lavrentii Beria, with whom the world was seeded to make it more of a test…and that is only the beginning. The first volume will be published in 2011. There is already a fascinating website at www.thedemi-monde.com

“Rod’s imagination and invention are quite outstanding,” said John Jarrold. “His characters leap off the page and his storylines fascinated me. This went out to mainstream publishers, as well as SF editors, since it has huge crossover potential to people who don’t necessarily think of themselves as ‘SF readers’, fans of films like THE MATRIX and the novels of Michael Crichton. Nick and his colleagues obviously felt the same, because within seventy-two hours of this project being submitted to major publishers in London and New York, he rang me with a wonderful pre-emptive offer. After discussion we came to terms, and I’m delighted to do my first deal with him, and with Quercus. Congratulations to Nick – and to those, including David North, Jon Riley and Ron Beard, who backed him so positively and strongly.”

Nick Johnston added: “In THE DEMI-MONDE Rod Rees has created one of the most deliriously exciting worlds that I have encountered in fiction. It is an utterly believable place where anything goes and some of history’s most fascinating figures and cruellest tyrants rub shoulders with an almost extravagantly lifelike cast of characters. The fact that he uses this to explore some of life’s deepest dilemmas and suffuses it all with such a rich vein of humour is just the icing on the cake.”

Sounds like it’ll be a damn good and intriguing read! :-)

Check out John’s site here!

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Angry Robot has signed 2 more authors!! :-) World-domination indeed! :-) Congrats to the imprint, and congrats to the authors! :-)

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One last thing – this is just too damn awesome not to post! :-) The cover art of Tony Ballantyne’s sequel to Twisted Metal!

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Can’t wait! :-)

Be EPIC!

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Review: House of War by Hamilton Wende

September 15, 2009 at 5:13 pm (Non-SFF Reviews) (, , )

A while ago I was contacted by Hamilton’s agent (Lauren Beukes’ agent, too), and he asked me if I would review House of War. Now, I knew it wasn’t SFF, but when I checked out Hamilton’s website and saw the write-ups he had received (from Bryce Courtenay and one from Steven Pressfield), I knew I had to read the book, if only to see whether such praise was earned, and it is: believe Bryce and Steven (and now, me) – this is an extraordinary novel.

House of War is, at heart, the story of finding your humanity amidst the brutality of life. The story unfolds, primarily, from the view point of the main character, an archaeologist named Sebastian. Sebastian is trying to find the lost Royal Diaries of Alexander the Great, and believes that they may be found at the ruins of a temple deep in Afghanistan. To get there, Sebastian enlists the help of a news crew, including Claire, a conflicted journalist with ties to the US Intelligence community, and Abdulov, who had once served the cause of communism in the Cold War.

I really enjoyed this novel, even though its not the kind of book I usually read – House of War managed to keep its hold on me, even though I’m still busy with Stephen King’s Under the Dome, and that’s saying something! :-)

But why did I enjoy it so much? Well, for one thing, Hamilton creates vivid and wonderful characters. In Sebastian, we meet that guy who is usually quiet and reserved, who doesn’t reveal too much of himself, but who becomes animated when talking about what he loves. We all know someone like Sebastian, someone who seems alone, who holds himself apart from others, and it is discovering the real Sebastian that makes the journey worth-while. Hamilton leads your thoughts of Sebastian down one path, only to surprise you at the end with the real Sebastian. :-)

Claire, the journalist, was another great character, although, in my opinion, she fell off to to the wayside a bit when put up against Abdulov; he turned out to be as well-rounded a character as Sebastian is, and it seemed to me as if Claire could have used a bit more meat. I’m not saying Claire was a weak character, far from it – as she is, she was just the right kind of person for Sebastian to feel some kind of connection to.

Another aspect of the tale that I really enjoyed was how the tale unfolds – the flashbacks focusing on Alexander give us a glimpse into a man we will never really know, no matter how much evidence of his existence is found. Hamilton uses the facts we do know and reflects on what may have driven the man to become the greatest conqueror the world has ever known, and shows us that, when all is said and done, that we must not forget that Alexander was just a man; granted, there are men and then there are men, but Alexander wasn’t portrayed as some god-like or god-birthed being, which serves to ground his tale in our world. I also (I have to admit this) got flashes of Oliver Stone’s movie about Alexander while reading specific passages, but Hamilton wrote these passages so well that I have no doubt he got most of the facts right, more so than Oliver Stone did, and his writing helped me to put in the correct order those events he touches upon. :-)

Now I come to the aspect of the novel that really took me by surprise – the settings. The tale takes us to Rhodesia, setting the scene for the Zimbabwe that we all now know, to certain locations in the USA, and shows us the heart of Afghanistan, and it is these settings that really speak to the power of Hamilton’s vision. Sure, authors worth their salt must be able to convincingly describe a location so that we know where we are and don’t doubt, but Hamilton gives us glimpses into the spirit of these places, those under-currents that make each place unique. I’ve never been to the Middle East, but I know now not to expect the place we see on TV. The same counts for Zimbabwe – after reading House of War, your ideas of these places will mature, and you’ll realize just how sad the respective situations are.

These are among the strengths of a good story-teller – the ability to create vivid, memorable characters that remind you of yourself, so that we can, for the length of the reading, live through them in the locations in the story; and the vision to create locations that will ground those characters, and test them, show them who they really are. After all, a place has its own spirit, its own sense of self, and this is what makes the cultures that call that place home.

Hamilton does all this and more, so you can be assured that you’ll be in for not just a memorable tale, but a deeply personal journey to lands alien to most of us. :-)

I don’t hesitate in giving this book a 9 / 10, and I’m sure you’ll agree. Hamilton has proved that he’s a talent to be admired and enjoyed, with lyrical and emotional prose and a deeply personal involvement in the characters and places he uses to tell his tales. :-)

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Check out Hamilton’s website here, and order your copy here. Hamilton will also be launching the book at Exclusive Books soon; keep an eye on the blog for the official place, date and time. :-)

Here is also an interview with Hamilton.

House of War is published by Penguin Books SA.

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Night of Villjamur Interview Part One: Randur Estevu

September 11, 2009 at 5:36 pm (Interviews) (, , , , , )

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I’m sure at least a couple of you have been wondering what happened to interviews on the blog? :-)

Well, this is what I (and Mark, of course) have had in the works – instead of a full interview focusing on the process and info behind the book, and we took this tack. Hopefully, the Q & A’s that you’ll see on the blog will not only bring the characters even more to life but also serve as a tantalizing hint of what those who haven’t yet read Nights of Villjamur can expect – thereby sucking in even more readers. :-) And I would have to be completely honest and say that Gav over at Nextread beat me to it by doing this great interview with Mark – an interview that I would have loved to do! :-) So, here’s my effort! And thanks once again to Mark for playing along. :-) Don’t forget, the sequel to Nights of Villjamur, City of Ruin, has a blurb and a cover (that might just be growing on me, not sure yet)! :-)

Dave: Coming from a small island and now being in the greatest city of the Empire, is it a bit overwhelming or more of the same just on a bigger scale?

Randur: Well, there are plenty more women here, that’s for sure…

But, I can honestly say that no matter where you go, people are still after the same kind of things. People need to put food in their mouths, need to get by, need the attentions of a lover. (That’s where I come in.) I’ve noticed a lot of lonely people getting tempted by shiny trinkets. Life isn’t as wholesome in Villjamur as much as the countryside – and in this city, the problems are swept into the caves, away from public view. People are obsessed with drinking and generally doing what they can to escape the world. And who can blame them, with the ice coming in?

Dave: Ah, yes, the ice! Tell me, was the coming of the ice discussed in Folke, openly, or was it something relegated to gossips? I guess what I’m asking is, coming from such a small corner of the Empire, surely there are those who still don’t believe in what’s coming?

Randur: You can never really trust what the old women gossip about on Folke. Chances are only half of what they say is even close to true, and even then aimed at bringing down someone in the community. And the men are worse – sitting in silence for much of the day and when they do speak all they do is mutter about bad omens.

To be honest, some people need to make a living, and just get on no matter what the elements bring. But bugger was I going to stay there, given half a chance of some sanctuary. In terms of belief? Well when you’d experienced the recent weather before I left, you don’t need much convincing.

Dave: You seem like a pragmatist, one who doesn’t readily believe rumours – bot from the woman-folk of Folke at least! How would you describe yourself? What terrifies you and exhilirates you?

Randur: In my dance, I am an artist. Actually, same in the bedroom too, given half a chance… Other than that? I’m someone who takes a risk now and then. You might say I’ve blagged my way through life so far, and that’d be fair. You have to – you’ve only go so long and you’ve got to make the most of it. What terrifies me? Not a lot if I’m honest. I tend not to think all that hard about the fears and the likes. I get my kicks out of living close to the edge: getting caught in the act by someone’s husband gets the ol’ heart beating.

Most of all, I enjoy the art of dancing. On my island, it’s a masculine activity. In this damn city, everyone things I’m a bit of a dandy for doing it – but it’s my life, my calling. I lose my sense of self when I’m doing it (which possibly explains why I’m so full of myself when I’m not).

Dave: Should I be glad that I don’t have a wife? Don’t answer that. Although, I might just take up some dancing… :) So, I what are your thoughts on influx of refugees? Do you think the Emperor is in a position to handle the situation?

Randur: I’m sure I would treat her with great respect.

As for the refugees? Not much anyone can do about it in this world. It’s a symptom of things – that money gets sucked into Villjamur from islands like mine. We’re poor people, out on Folke, but we had a lot of resources – ores and agriculture. Doesn’t add up, does it? Exactly. So when you take away everything from them, what else are they going to do but come banging on the only door in this world that has a hope in hell of offering… anything. So of course, the institutions in Villjamur are in a position to do many things. They merely choose not to.

Dave: Well I’m sure that Chancellor Urtika has a plan in motion that will see the refugees taken care of. Moving onto your impressions of the city, what do you think about Villjamur? I’m not talking about sights and sounds, mind you, but your impressions – when you look at the city, when you breathe it in, how does this city of cities make you feel?

Randur: It makes you feel very humble. There are what, eleven thousand years of history on this site. It’s vast. It’s architecture is a mishmash of designs. It imposes itself on you. It makes you feel very insignificant. You can loose yourself in the mass of people – which is strangely liberating, being a nobody.

Dave: Last question for you: Considering the palpable building of tension in Villjamur, and the kind of people who are in charge, who have known only this city and this life, is there a place for you in Villjamur? And if not, what would it take you make you choose to stay? Hypothetical of course.

Randur: For me to stay, I’d need an endless supply of women to charm and teach to dance… hypothetically, of course. All I have are my sword skills and dance skills – which aren’t that dissimilar; you can use them anywhere, so my home is also anywhere. But I don’t think I’d like to stay in Villjamur too long though – the corruption, the violence, the sin… I don’t know how people could want to make their lives with all of this crap around them. And besides, people have such bad manners in the city.

Well, there you have it! :-) Mark and I are busy working on the next character interview – Investigator Rumex Jeryd – and that’ll be up next week some time, so keep an eye out! :-)

If this interview has wet your appetite, order your copy of Nights of Villjamur here for US, here for UK and here for those in SA, and check out Mark’s site here. :-)

Be EPIC!

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