Wizards of the Coast: Discoveries Plug

There are a couple of books I'm looking forward to in 2008 (such as the Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow and The Best Science-Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Vol. 2 by Jonathan Strahan) but a new line I'm anticipating is Wizards of the Coast's Discovery line which will feature a variety of well-known and not-so-well-known authors and hopefully an even wider variety of fiction (that's definitely, at the very least, different from their usual D&D-fare fiction). I'm rooting for these guys because they could easily be the sleeper-hits of 2008.

One of the authors I'm eagerly anticipating in that particular line is JM McDermott and Last Dragon is going to be his first novel. I have an ARC copy of the book with me right now and I'm 3/4 through the book but I fell in love with it in the first few pages and it's honestly a great and unconventional read. You can read more about his experiences with the book here. Be sure to watch out for it in February!

Richard Dansky is the first author in the line who's getting published and his book Firefly Rain will be out by January 8, 2008. There's are book reviews over at Horror Reader and Library Journal. Over at Storytellers Unplugged, Dansky expounds on his experience being two weeks away from publication.

Come April is Devil's Cape by Rob Rogers. There are a couple of articles on his novel out there in the wild such as Nola.com, The Monster Librarian, and Publishers Weekly. You can ask him questions about the book over at his blog.

Melanie Tem and Steve Rasnic Tem won various awards for their novella The Man on the Ceiling and it's now expanded into a novel. The book will be coming out on March 4, 2008.

There might just be four books listed at the Wizards of the Coast site so far but there's at least one more book in the same line that's going to be published next year. Ari Marmell, an author whose made a name for himself in the RPG industry, will be having his non-Ravenloft novel Shades of Grey published. You can read more about it in his blog post and watch out for it in August of 2008.

Book Review: The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free book reviews.

I managed to acquire a copy of The Gods Themselves after several friends recommended the book for its inclusion of aliens with more than two genders. For me, I find that Asimov writes best in the short story format rather than his longer novels and The Gods Themselves manages to incorporate more of the former than the latter as the book is neatly divided into three sections which narrate the experiences of three perspectives in different parts of the universe. Asimov does a lot of experimenting here in terms of the book's division but I feel it is appropriate, especially considering the topic being discussed. As for the prose, this novel is probably the most scientific yet of all the Asimov books I've read, but is nonetheless quite accessible if you take the time and effort. For me, one of the strengths of Asimov after all is his ability to talk about concepts and explain them clearly to the lay man. But what stands out in the novel is Asimov's characters and how they explore the psychology of humanity and the very relevant concern of finding an alternate power source. The experience was a stimulating read and I'm sure this is an essential book in any SF fan's collection. As for the lay man, Asimov for me has always been one of the most accessible authors of the genre and while it's not the first book of Asimov's I'll recommend (the honor goes to Foundation), it won't be too much of a stretch for them to give this novel a try.

Rating: 4/5.

Resolutions for 2008

There's something artificial about time, or rather how we keep track of it. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years--they're all human constructs after all yet I think people would go insane without keeping track of it all. So here I am, less than 48 hours away from 2008, an arbitrary time span yet one I accept for it's as good as any. All stories have a beginning and an end and while real life isn't as definite as that, we nonetheless try to make sense of the world and assign beginnings and endings to our own stories.

I was looking back at my entries from last year and I don't think I really publicized my resolutions for 2007. I faintly remember promising myself to read 60 books this year, a task I failed, unless I can read nine books in 24 hours. But I don't mind. 50+ books is a nice number I can be content with. Another resolution I managed to dig from my archives was promising to write 1,000 words a day. I don't think I was able to live up to that resolution, at least during the early months of the year. A lot has changed in the second half of the year however and as I started keeping a regular blogging schedule, well, 1,000 words doesn't seem all that hard.

Resolutions for me are important because it's one way to maintain growth. The worse thing that can happen I think is to remain the same, to stagnate, to cease changing. That's simply death. Another important aspect about resolutions is that it's a goal and one of the reasons I'm publicizing my goals right now is so that I don't forget and by next year, I can keep track whether I succeeded in them or not. Another value about resolutions is that in pondering what my resolutions are, I learn more about myself. I begin to realize what my new priorities in life are and how they affect me. For example, two years ago, I remember one of my resolutions was to stay fit and healthy by exercising regularly. This year, while I want to stay fit and healthy, that goal isn't as important, or at least it's not on my priority list (and never mind the 30-minute I take going to the office). Tell me what your goals in life are and I'll tell you who you are. In my case, here's my resolutions for 2008:

1) Read one book a week. Reading has always been one of my resolutions for the past few years and I don't see a need to change that goal. Last year I aimed for 60 books a year and now I'm cutting it back. 52 books a year isn't so daunting when you break it into one book a week and I think that's enough time to read a book despite all my other, new responsibilities.

2) Blog regularly (Mon - Fri). I actually managed to accomplish this during the latter half of the year. Let's see if I can do it for an entire year. I'm also interested to see the content I'll be developing to keep this quota. So if you've been reading this blog for the past few months, well, as usual, you can expect something to be posted on weekdays, barring some catastrophe.

3) Get three fiction pieces published. This year, I only had two stories published, an improvement over the previous years which numbers zero. And while a couple of my writing is being published elsewhere, it's not my fiction that's being published. Honestly, fiction writing isn't my strongest suit and all the more reason to hone that particular skill.

4) Deposit P50,000 ($1,200) in the bank. That might not seem like a big amount but that's what you get for living in a third world country. Been lax in terms of my savings this year and I'd like to start accumulating money in the bank.

Some Anime Musings

Steve Fritz over at Newsarama just posted his retrospective on the animation industry in 2007 (and raises some interesting points such as animation writers and the WGA). At the bottom, he ponders on the implications of the demise anime distributor Geneon and I do think it's a valid concern. I mean when Viz sent a cease-and-decease notice to various groups fansubbing Death Note, the reactions of some fans were furious--to the point that some declared that they'd never buy the originals from Viz (whether they're actually the type that buys originals to begin with or lived up to their threat, I don't know). Some even theorized that it was a money-grubbing tactic by Viz. Suffice to say, it was very much the dark side of fandom. (If you want my theory on why Viz sent a cease-and-decease notice, you can read about it here.)

Year End Thanks

I'm not really a Thanksgiving kind of guy mainly because it's a foreign holiday although that doesn't mean I'm not grateful. I usually just save it for the New Year. In no particular order, I'd like to thank the following:

1) The Lit Critters, Philippine Genre Stories, and the other Filipino authors and artist friends out there: without you guys, I wouldn't have been published. And it's easier to write when you have company (not physically being there but supporting each other).

2) The various podcasters: podcasting is my new vice and one of my more popular page visits comes from my weekly round-up of podcasts. But you know what, I can't have a list of podcasts without the podcasters. I'm like the Magic: The Gathering card Regrowth or Demonic Tutor. Or in D&D, the spell Limited Wish. I'm only useful because you're out there. No podcasters and no weekly list. It's that simple.

3) Various international authors and editors and publishers: you know who you are and you really made my year great. Just the fact that you're commenting on my blog or that you're replying to my comments on your blogs is a great boost to my spirits. Just keep on writing/publishing and I'll keep on supporting you. Oh and thanks for the books!

4) The New Worlds Alliance et all: it's nice to know that I can sum up my various fandoms under one umbrella organization instead of naming them individually. Thanks for all that you've done for fandom so far, thanks for all your activities, thanks for all your support, thanks for publishing my articles, and thanks for letting me hang out by your booths.

5) Anansi Girl, for letting me hijack her podcast. =)

6) Various people, websites, and organizations who've offered me more writing opportunities (alas, they don't pay but beggars can't be choosers; we have to leave something to be grateful for next year!).

7) My friends over at Livejournal, who give me insights into their personal lives and leaves me with something interest to read every day.

8) My readers. No readers = no blog. =)

Top 10 Best-Sellers as of 2007/12/23

From USA Today's best-seller list (you can find out their basis here):

1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
   
2. The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham
3. I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
   
4. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
5. Double Cross by James Patterson
6. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden
   
7. The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J. Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz
8. Atonement by Ian McEwan
   
9. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
   
10. You: Staying Young by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz

2007/12/27 Fiction/Writing and Tabletop RPG Podcasts

Every Thursday, I post links to various podcasts that deal with the topic of fiction, writing, and tabletop RPGs.

Last week, Jay Lake gives us some insight on building your writing career and determining success. On the RPG side, you might want to check out The Digital Front's interview with Phil Reed. Also, I get Christmas presents in the form of new podcasts: check out The Wandering Men and Secret Life of Girl Gamers. It might have been the holidays but the podcasts are still coming in.

Fiction/Writing

• The Agony Column recordings: Tim Holman, Greg Ketter, Reverend Sharon Delgado, Eddie Fung and Judy Yung, and a review of Halting State by Charles Stross.
  
• Podictionary tackles the following words: ho ho ho, beast, myriad, insomia, thesaurus.
  
• Tor and Forge Books features Spider Robinson on Variable Star.
  
• Writing for Pay has its second part of its interview with Joyce Gorsuch.
• The Bag Segundo Show has several interviews: Will Self, Stewart O'Nan, Ken Kalfus, Jess Walter, Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr.
• The Sci Phi Show interviews Marvin Minsky on Artificial Intelligence.
• The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy has been hijacked by New Zealander award-winning author Philippa Ballantine.
  

Tabletop RPG (Mostly)

• Pulp Gamer has a Family Night episode entitled Learning How to Learn.
  
• Heroic Cthulhu actual game recording: Door (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33).
  
• Yog Radio has its Christmas episode up.
• The Wandering Men are starting their own podcast. Listen to their first episode that features an excerpt from Fiend Fighter: Skein of Shadows.
• House of the Harping Monkey uploads a recording of its Giants Playtest Session Part 2 (Part B).
• Geek Label Radio has its Holiday Special.
• Fist Full of Comics and Games covers The Red Star game for the PS2, Monarch Comics Briefing for 2007/12/12 and 2007/12/19, Does My Geek Episode #4, and Superhero Summit Volume 1 #2 in which they tackle duplication as a superhero power.
  
• Secret Life of Girl Gamers --which includes Carol of All Games Considered--debuts with its first episode.
• The Sons of Kryos has a new episode up in which they tackle finding games, explaining settings, and bowing out of a game. They also have their holiday blooper show up.
  
• Grimm Studios tackles the alignment Chaotic Good.
• Godzilla Gaming Podcast is back with a Gaming J-Land segment in their newest episode.
• Green Ronin Podcast gives us their Holiday Top Three.
• All Games Considered has an extra episode on Erick Wujcik.
• Fear the Boot has their Christmas episode as well as a bonus episode on Fear the Boot Bedtime Stories (II).
• HeadGames Podcast has a new episode aptly labeled No Good Title.
  

1UP Call for Submissions

From Banzai Cat:

"This is a call for submissions for 1UP. 1UP is a multiformat collection of works by writers of the video game generation. Submit your fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics, and any other form that the video game generation might choose to tell its stories to carl.javier@gmail.com and juncruznaligas@gmail.com"

What's not mentioned is that the deadline is on Jan. 31, 2008.

Essay: Post-Christmas Reflections

Every Wednesday, I have an essay on any topic that catches my fancy!

I find it ironic that after months coming up with essays on a weekly basis, I've run out of ideas for a topic. Well, that's not quite true--I have lots of essays I want to write about but I'm either saving them up for a different segment or they're commissioned for other publications. And all this time, I wanted to avoid talking about the elephant in the room--namely Christmas and the recently concluded holiday.

It's not that I don't like Christmas--I do. In fact, it's the perfect excuse for me to greet people I wouldn't otherwise have greeted and give my friend gifts (because some people decline gifts unless there's a special occasion). Rather, I find the topic of Christmas to be too cliche, too expected, too predictable. But at the end of the day, one cannot avoid writing about it, whether you're for it or against it. It's simply an influential part of our culture which one can't ignore simply because we want to. At the very least, it's a day away from the office or a day one returns to your family. I have friends who've lived separately from the parents and siblings only to return these past few days as if two days in a year makes up for the other three hundred days they're away (and sometimes it does).

For me, gift-giving has been an integral part of the holidays mainly because I am genetically inclined to express my love and enthusiasm through gifts: I'm the type that believes the one who receives the most joy isn't the recipient but the giver. Last week, I was racking my brains for the perfect gift for friends--not necessarily the present that they want but rather something they never realize they wanted yet makes perfect sense when they receive it. Can't say I always succeeded in that endeavor but when all else fails, I can always give them something that's on their wish-list.

The Chinese, on the other hand, have a more practical, if sometimes counter-productive, attitude towards gift-giving. It's been a tradition to give money--yes, actual cash--as presents. The only qualification is that you put them inside red envelopes which signify good luck and prosperity. Forget about gift certificates which is really money in disguise, you give cash so that the recipient can buy themselves the gifts that they really, really want. And best of all, there's no guilt attached to the fact that you're giving actual money. I mentioned that it's sometimes counter productive mainly because in the context of the family, everyone else is asking how much the other person gave. For example, my aunt might give me P120 for Christmas. My mother would then ask me how much my aunt gave and she'd match that amount when she's giving money to my aunt's child. You can think of it as the Law of Conservation at work--except it applies to finances. The money we give out literally comes back to us--or at least we keep it in the family.

As for me, I spent most of Christmas, well, writing. There's five days to go before the end of the year and you'd think it should be a time to relax. Yet for me, that's five more days of reading books, writing reviews, finishing essays, and hopefully start a few short stories. Christmas typically warns me that the year is over yet these past few days, I know it isn't. I also ponder on the morbid possibility that I might not live long enough to witness 2008 and try to get as much things done as possible. The latter half of 2007 has been a big turning point for me but that doesn't mean I should stop there and simply be content with that. That's not to say I'm not taking the time to breathe and appreciate what I've accomplished so far but there's also a feeling that there's more I can still write about, there's still more that can be achieved.

And in case you haven't heard it from me, happy holidays!

Manga Review: Eyeshield 21 Vol. 17 by Riichiro Inagaki and Yusuke Murata

Every Tuesday I'll post either an anime or manga review. This might be my last manga review as I'll be contributing reviews to Comics Village next year.


It's only lately that I've been paying much closer attention to the detail and extras of Eyeshield 21. The devil bat segments at the end of each chapter is, as usual, funny and gives comedic relief to what can sometimes be a very serious comic. The same goes for the extra strips, such as Shin attempting to break the Nintendo DS Stylus. But moving on to the manga itself, the art is gorgeous as usual although that makes it a tragedy when some of the panels crossover to the next page and it is slightly covered by the binding. The details quite expressive, especially in one scene where half of Kurita's face is crying while the other half is burning with passion. Since this is in the middle of a game, most if not all of the panels are quite kinetic and there's never a dull moment. As far as the story goes, the Devil Deimon Bats are currently fighting the Seibu Wild Gunmen and are trying to make a comeback from a 20-point deficit. There's a quick summary of the events and an introduction to the cast of characters in the page preceding the first chapter but Inagaki has really assembled quite a cast that it might simply be an info dump to the uninitiated. Anyway, if you read the previous volume, this is the action-packed conclusion to the Devil Bats vs Wild Gunmen game and it doesn't disappoint. The strength of Inagaki is that he manages to make both teams impressive and appealing even if the game has a clear winner and loser. When I first read this volume, how the game ended shocked me considering all that our main characters have been through but Inagaki ends it with a satisfying moment. If you've been following this series, Eyeshield 21 Vol. 17 is a must-have. Otherwise, I really recommend starting from the beginning or at least the volume preceding this as there's not much story in this particular title but it's full of explosive action and sports drama.

Rating: 4/5.

Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol. 3 at Fully Booked

From Dean Alfar:

Philippine Speculative Fiction III is now available at all Fully Booked branches in the Mega Manila area (Bonifacio High Street, Rockwell, Greenhills, Gateway).

Make sure to get a copy - it makes a swell gift, I tell you.

Book Review: Logorrhea edited by John Klima

Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free book reviews.
Anthologies usually revolve around a particular theme, some more peculiar than others. Logorrhea tickles my senses in the fact that it uses prizewinning spelling bee words as the basis of its stories. The question foremost in my mind however is whether it works or not. And I think for the most part it does. That's not to say that there are no unfavorable stories in the collection, which is the case when you're tackling a variety of authors, but rather there are more stories that I enjoyed than not. Perhaps what's interesting to read is how the various words are incorporated into the story. Some explicitly mention the word while others revolve around its definition. Most use elements of the fantastical. There are twenty one stories in this collection but I'll tackle the ones that stand out the most for me. "The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham is perhaps my favorite story in the collection. As can be derived from the title, the story reads like a fairy tale albeit one with adult sensibilities. The prose remains consistent all throughout and the spelling bee word, cambist, feels natural. But the strength of the story I think are our two very human and cunning protagonists, the Cambist and Lord Iron, and their relationship. As for second place, I'm tied between Alex Irvine's "Semaphor" and Jay Lake's "Crossing the Seven". The former is more of a coming-to-terms realist story that uses fantastical elements while the latter is a full-blown fantasy/science-fiction mini-epic. What I like about "Semaphor" is the characterization of the protagonist as the heart of this short story is our main character, of how he copes with loss and comes of age. Irvine even manages to incorporate the theme of a spelling bee in his fiction. "Crossing the Seven" on the other hand is this unapologetically gritty genre story that follows the typical quest format. But Lake doesn't simply recount a flashy fantastical tale but rather one with gravity. In passing, I'd like to also mention "Appoggiatura" by Jeff Vandermeer which uses all the spelling bee words in the collection but at the same time being relevant to his particular word. Having said all that, which story stands out in the most negative way? As much as I enjoy Michael Moorcock's Elric, he simply doesn't fit in this anthology. "A Portrait in Ivory" in my opinion reduces insouciant to a mere adjective and unfamiliar readers will not be sympathetic to the plight of the main character--at least in this particular anthology. Nonetheless, this anthology is a great find. It's not easy reading but neither is it the most difficult of texts. Speculative fiction fans might treasure this anthology the most but it's honestly an accessible short story collection that's a treasure trove of interesting and unique stories if nothing else.

Rating: 3.5/5.

Booktopia Year-End Sale

Booktopia started its year-end sale that'll last until January 15, 2007. It's also a great place to acquire Moleskine notebooks as the huge ones are priced at P850 each.

ALL books (old and new, big and small) are on sale. New arrivals at 10% off and the rest at 20% off. We have a special sale on books in our Children’s Books shelf and our big General Fiction shelf (there is a small one) — Buy ONE and get the regular 20% discount, buy TWO and get 25% off, buy THREE or MORE and get 40% off.

Top 10 Best-Sellers as of 2007/12/16

From USA Today's best-seller list (you can find out their basis here):

1. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
   
2. The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham
3. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
4. I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert
5. Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
6. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden
7. Double Cross by James Patterson
8. You: Staying Young by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz
9. T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
10. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
    

2007/12/20 Fiction/Writing and Tabletop RPG Podcasts

Every Thursday, I post links to various podcasts that deal with the topic of fiction, writing, and tabletop RPGs.

A couple of podcasts are taking their Christmas breaks. Outstanding podcasts last week for me was Fear the Boot's episode on RPG Maps with veteran cartographer Keith Curtis as a guest host.

Fiction/Writing

• The Agony Column recordings: Rusty Morrison, Pete Atkins reading "The King of Outer Space", Frank Delaney, Ann Vileisis, Jeremy Lassen on Christmas gift suggestions.
  
• Podictionary tackles the following words: inaugural, auger, ginger, siren, chopsticks.
  
• Tor and Forge Books has its second part of the conversation with John Scalzi, Scott Westerfeld, and Justine Larbalestier.
  
• The Sci Phi Show interviews Artificial Life Researcher Tom Barbalet.
  
• Jay Lake has a recording of his lecture at the 2007 North Coast Redwoods Writers Conference on determining Writer Success.
• I Should Be Writing talks about Pre-Writing Writing.
• Guardian Unlimited recommends Books of 2007.
• Concurring Opinions interviews George R. R. Martin (from George R. R. Martin).
• Strange Horizons has a podcast interview with Susan Marie Groppi (1, 2).
  

Tabletop RPG (Mostly)

• Pulp Gamer interviews Jamie Chambers of Margaret Weis Productions.
  
• Heroic Cthulhu actual game recording: Amityville (1, 2, 3), Gunshot (1, 2), Mental (1, 2, 3, 4), Reporter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), Abducted (1, 2, 3), Zombie Isle (1, 2, 3).
  
• Virtual Play has uploaded its Spirit of the Century highlights and the final episode of Burning the Feywood.
• The Wandering Geek Podcast has its December all-music show in WGPR #5.
• The Tome Show talks about the 4E Classes so far.
• House of the Harping Monkey has uploaded its actual play recording of Giants (Session 2 Part A).
• The Game Master Show talks with Jerry Grayson on the recently-concluded Godsend Agenda game he just ran (see last week's podcast).
• Role Playing Public Radio has an episode entitled The Bad Player.
• Fist Full of Comics and Games has the following episodes: Gaming Gifts for the Holidays.
• Fear the Boot has a bonus episode on Fear the Con, Fear the Boot's upcoming convention, as well as an episode on Designing Modules for RPG Play.
  
• Accidental Survivors has an episode on Writing an Adventure.
• Stabbing Contest is a new gaming podcast and in their third episode, they talk with Judd from the Sons of Kryos.
• The Sons of Kryos interviews Elizabeth (ENnies judge) and Kennon Bauman (Ceremony Coordinator) in their latest episode.
• Imaginary Worlds has a new episode entitled The Party.
• Fell Calls continues its holiday-themed titles with We Didn't Get You Anything.
• New at the Wandering Men is a podcast interview with Brannon Hollingsworth courtesy of Fist Full of Comics and Games (old episode).
• All Games Considered has more Western Games.
• Yog Radio has a sample recording of The Trail of Cthulhu RPG (no direct link yet as of press time).
• The Signal has a Persephone Pickers Special.
• Canon Puncture has their Christmas Special.
• Roll2d6 has returned with an episode on the old Gunslinger game.
• Private Sanctuary tackles character death and character conflict in their latest episode.
• The Digital Front interviews Phil Reed of Ronin Arts.