Luke Scull Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 FAO the author; is this set as a trilogy, or is there potential for more after that's done? There's certainly a lot of material in this world.I'm currently contracted for a trilogy. We'll see what happens after I've submitted the manuscript for my second novel. I'd like to think my publishers and readers would be eager for more stories set in the same world - but at the same time, any project I signed for would need to excite me. I have a game design career and several other interests. If I think there's still potential to tell exciting stories and improve on what has gone before, then sure, why not. Assuming the "grimdark" backlash and comparisons to Joe Abercrombie haven't worn me down and turned me into a bitter shell of a man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 If I think there's still potential to tell exciting stories and potentially improve on what has gone before, then sure, why not. Assuming the "grimdark" backlash and comparisons to Joe Abercrombie haven't worn me down and turned me into a bitter shell of a man...Surely that would just make you even better at writing grimdark. Or would it become grimemodark? That would stop comparisons :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupigis Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I just finished the free sample, and have thus gotten two thirds through the book. I found it reasonably enjoyable but I'm not quite as enthusiastic about it as Werthead and others upthread. My major complaint has to do with characterisation. The fact that Davarus Cole has a seriously warped picture of himself is nearly instantaneously obvious, and once I had realised that I found him much more annoying than amusing, and rather two-dimensional at that. Since he is a pretty prominent character that affected my enjoyment of the book a great deal.There are other characters, and hopefully they will get more room later in the story. I do intend to buy and finish the book in some format, but I will probably wait for the paperback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Scull Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I'm currently contracted for a trilogy. We'll see what happens after I've submitted the manuscript for my second novel. I'd like to think my publishers and readers would be eager for more stories set in the same world - but at the same time, any project I signed for would need to excite me. I have a game design career and several other interests. If I think there's still potential to tell exciting stories and improve on what has gone before, then sure, why not. Assuming the "grimdark" backlash and comparisons to Joe Abercrombie haven't worn me down and turned me into a bitter shell of a man...Surely that would just make you even better at writing grimdark. Or would it become grimemodark? That would stop comparisons :)I think someone needs to start a thread to debate whether or not grimdark is still a pejorative. Joe Abercrombie is very confused.Personally I'm all for reclaiming it. Neckbeard too. I'm a grimdark white male neckbeard - and if anyone has a problem with that they can have a headbutt to the face!Edit: Metaphorically speaking. Possibly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 I don't think grimdark is a pejorative. It's just a stupid, stupid word.Mind you, the writer of that Tor review you linked earlier is way wide of the mark when talking about how the genre, whatever you want to call it, has been 'brought low'. If anything it's in full fucking flower, with more and more quality books jumping in to join the viscera pool party - and the storytelling is getting ever-stronger, coz it no longer catches attention to have people dying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garlan the Gallant Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Personally, I'll pretty much take anything labeled "grimdark" over another farmer boy with a prophecy and a destiny to defeat the Dark Lord by going on a quest and reclaiming some Magical Object. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDanish Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Personally, I'll pretty much take anything labeled "grimdark" over another farmer boy with a prophecy and a destiny to defeat the Dark Lord by going on a quest and reclaiming some Magical Object.This a thousand times. The current all-pervasive gritty trend will abate but it has left a permanent (and positive) mark on the genre. Fantasy has been bettered by it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 When did Abercrombie become "grimdark"?Gritty? Yes.Grimdark was always for ridiculously over-the-top silly dark.You know, WH40k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 When did Abercrombie become "grimdark"?When people who didn't care for his particular brand of dark fantasy started calling him names?I've never read WH40k. But I do like the phrase "In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war".ETA: For me, Grimdark simply means the opposite of those Disneyesque, Mary Sue-riddled fantasy stories that, over the years, I have slowly come to despise (Acacia Trilogy, I'm looking at you). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted March 4, 2013 Author Share Posted March 4, 2013 I think someone needs to start a thread to debate whether or not grimdark is still a pejorative. Joe Abercrombie is very confused.Abercrombie saying he isn't Grimdark is like Ian Astbury saying he isn't Goth. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Grimdark is never a complimentary term. It's what bloggers use when they're all pissy that their fantasy serious isn't filled with farmboys who are princes and magic swords. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 I think grimdark isn't always pejorative, though it has sort of become more negative over time. I think it generally refers to a fantasy world where the setting is presented in less than black & white terms, and there is a greater focus on the black and grey instead of the white...if the white even exists.Sadly, this has gotten a bit over the top on some occasions, where it sometimes feels that a bit of rape or torture almost has to be thrown in just to show how "realistic" things are. But can offer more grounded fantasy alongside the more mythic, high fantasy stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Abercrombie Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Abercrombie saying he isn't Grimdark is like Ian Astbury saying he isn't Goth. :PI am the Andrew Eldritch of Grimdark. He said:"I'm constantly confronted by representatives of popular culture who are far more goth than we, yet I have only to wear black socks to be stigmatised as the demon overlord"I'm tempted to make that my sig. But then that big mac one is good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 I'd say Abercrombie is HardGrim. :leaving: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Scull Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 There's a new interview with me here. I should note that I answered those questions months ago, so a few bits (like the reference to my current game project) are outdated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migey Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Finished the free sample. Thoroughly engrossed and eagerly waiting for the book to arrive in the post! I've been slacking on my reading quite a bit lately and this was a refreshing and encouraging way to dive back into it. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's really quite good and thoroughly enjoyable as well as eminently readable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Where Boars Glow Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Look, I'll probably buy the book and read it. But it'll be despite the title. When I first saw it, it made it sound like some kind of knockoff of Glen Cook's The Black Company.Maybe it works with the book itself. I don't know. I just read a short book recently that I thought had a similarly bad title which made no sense - until I got to the end of the book. Then it made sense. Maybe your book will be like that too. I don't know. But I'll give it a shot.That was my first thought to Glen Cook.....however the poster has sold me to giving it a one book try. See where it goes from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Abercrombie is Heavy Metal Fantasy.Think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I think he's more like the Kanye to Martin being Jay Z. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I think he's more like the Kanye to Martin being Jay Z.Speaking of which, I can't help but mix up the character "Kayne" with "kanye". It's not Luke's fault but I my mind won't stop auto-correcting. Haven't got far enough with the character yet to know if he has anything in common with Kanye. The other character has Jezal levels of self-importance. I was hoping the introductory backflip out of the tub was going to be a homage to Tyrion and we'd never see evidence of it again :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.