Rapidly approaching second draft status on WGW. I am on target for a release this Summer, assuming all goes well.

I finally finished “Darkmage” by M.L. Spencer. As I may have mentioned, I am an epically slow reader due to way too many demands on my time, so as usual this took me much longer than it should have. I was supposed to take part in a discussion about the book, but ended up dodging the conversation because I was only halfway through the book and didn’t want to be spoiled!

“Darkmage” reminds me favorably of C.S. Friedman’s Coldfire series. I imagine I may have even seen a few tips of the hat in that direction, though it’s hard to say if that is merely wishful thinking on my part.

This is a story about a man who loses everything, which is the sort of tale that has always been dear to my heart. I enjoy exploring good and evil, and how pain and loss might tilt one’s choices in either direction. It’s one of the themes I explore in my own series, so it was of immediate interest to me, and Spencer delivers well on the concept. Darien Lauchlin, our protagonist, quite literally loses everything he loves, and at the same time finds himself possessed of tremendous power. That’s just the sort of crucible to refine a character.

Without getting spoilery, I can assure you, Darien is in for a world of pain. Some of it is admittedly of his own doing, but by and large he’s had a really bad hand dealt to him, and none of his choices in responding are very easy. We’re talking about the sort of choices like “Should I just lie here and bleed out, or jump off a cliff so I suffer less, and if I aim well, also land on my enemy and kill him too?” It gets even more difficult as he encounters companions, whose fates then become entwined with his, and become part of his calculus.

“Darkmage” hit on all cylinders for me. It was well written, well paced, and well told. Five of five stars, and I’m adding the rest of the series to my To Read list.

First draft of “The War God’s Will” is finished. Now to make it pretty!

Art of War: Anthology for Charity

I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy of this anthology. It’s edited by Petros Triantafyllou of Booknest, and contains forty dark and bloody tales of war from an outstanding field of authors. The proceeds are to be donated to Doctors Without Borders, so you can get your grimdark war fix and actually contribute to some good in the world!

I don’t get a lot of time to read. Between five kids, a full time day job, trying to finish my novels, working on my adventure gfx game engine, and church, I barely have a spare moment. I seriously read just a few pages in the evenings before bed, and it takes me ages to finish anything. I had forgotten how much I liked short stories, because they fit into my schedule better. I can usually finish one in a single sitting. It’s a shame the art form isn’t more popular.

That’s how I slowly worked my way through Art of War, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As with any anthology, there were stories that really resonated with me, and a few that didn’t grab me. All of the stories were at least ‘ not bad’, but a few left deep impressions.

My favorite was “This War of Ours” by Timandra Whitecastle, a surreal tale of a desperate conflict between forest creatures that reminds one of children’s fables. Imagine the characters from Henny Penny or the Fox and the Grapes taking up weapons of war and destructive magic and going at one another in an organized manner, with all the fear, pain, and misery that entails. I highly recommend it.

I also especially liked “The Hero of Aral Pass” by Mark Lawrence; “The Best and Bravest” by M.L. Spencer, “The Two Faces of War” by Rob Hayes, “Warborn” by C.T. Phipps, “Valkyrie Rain” by Dyrk Ashton, and “The Cost of Power” by Ulff Lehmann.

Overall, 4/5, well worth the price, and you’re helping a worthy charity. And people say grimdark is all grim and dark….

I am four chapters from being done. I know I am hella late on this, but I have just had a lot of real life delays. The good: I thought my day job would be part time, but it has been full time. The bad: a death in the family really took my focus away toward the end of the year. The unpredictable: I have 5 kids, so it’s always a case of controlled chaos.

I am back on the horse, now, and I think I can get this done, edited, and final by Spring. It’s coming, and it will be worth the wait, I promise.

I have about five chapters left to write, and most of those are already scripted out. It’s just been really difficult to find the time between work, kids, etc. Hoping to knock out on of those chapters today.

As I am sure is obvious, I did not make my end of summer deadline, but I did accomplish a great deal, nevertheless. I’d say I am about 75% to a beta, and if I work really hard, I can finish that by end of October. It will take me another month to edit, get feedback, make fixes, edit, and get ready to publish in time for Christmas. I am looking to build a launch team to help with this and offer commentary, so by all means, if you’re interested, contact me.

As part of the release of book 3, I have had to face something I did not much like: I have been told that my previous covers were not ‘genre appropriate’, and would hurt sales. I like them, but sadly, I have come to accept that the people who know this business are probably right.

Fortunately, as a programmer, I know a lot of artists. Thanks to Darren Bartlett of Liquid Development for introducing me to Egil Thompson, who has just sent me roughs of his proposed new covers.

I will miss the old covers, but I am really stoked to see someone with great skill bringing these characters to life. The symbols for the gods, the Xanthian and Nihlosian styles, Nihlos and Torium in the backgrounds, it’s pretty amazing.

Yup, still going, and still about 50%, maybe a little more. It’s tough to know precisely, but it’s going, and I am pretty proud of some of the stuff I have so far. I should have it mostly done in early June, and I’ll put up a pre-order while I finalize proofreading. Maybe I can release part of a chapter next month, something that will be cool to see but not spoil things.