Bakker XLIII - the prattle of unnumbered years

[Lord Patrek]

Great post, Adam!

[Werthead]

1 hour ago, Darth Richard II said:

Eh, unless you mean a different Valente then I'm thinking of, she was,uh, not a fan. Without getting into specifics that are covered in previous posts here anyway, one of RSB's not so well executed ventures into social media happened on her blog. It...did not go well.

Ah. I'm way out of the loop on that. Odd, as I think that the start of his career (and we're talking 13 years ago here) they seemed more friendly. Oh well.

Quote

So there's really a fan theory that Earwa is Eurasia's distant past or future? Like Conan or Lord of the Rings "mythic time passing into modern time" style? 

I think it's come up a couple of times (the Sea of Cerish's resemblance to the Black Sea being quite striking, although the Sea of Cerish is much, much bigger). It's not been tremendously often discussed, though. The thing for me is that if there is a science fiction element to the story (since the Inchoroi are aliens), if Earwa is a purely secondary world that does raise the question of where humans came from, if Earth exists in this universe etc.

[sologdin]

wasn't the 'real world continuity' theory that the inchies be us, post-humanized?

[Argonath Diver]

Perhaps the third set of novels can be a cross-over to another world, a la Sanderson's Cosmere.

I would enjoy a speech-off between Achamian and Richard Rahl.

[Rhom]

15 hours ago, Werthead said:

Behold some fresh bloggage.

Does anyone know if Caitlin Sweet or Catherynne Valente have ever blurbed or reviewed the books anywhere? I know they know Scott and are fans (if that's the right word) of at least the first trilogy, but my Google-fu was unable to locate anything.

Shared that link in a local Facebook group of genre fans... So it might get 12 views.  

[Darth Richard II]

3 hours ago, Werthead said:

Ah. I'm way out of the loop on that. Odd, as I think that the start of his career (and we're talking 13 years ago here) they seemed more friendly. Oh well.

 

Well, I could be remembering it wrong. Valente also isn't the most constant of people when it comes to her opinions also..

[Madness]

15 hours ago, Rhom said:

Shared that link in a local Facebook group of genre fans... So it might get 12 views.  

Huzzah :)!

Just to update the Westerosi:

I created a thread, The Great Bakker Review Ordeal, over at Second Apocalypse. So far I've reached out to eight SFF Reviewers who have previously reviewed TDTCB and asked them to repost (listed in that thread).

Looking for any and all other SFF Reviewers who have or have not previously reviewed TDTCB in hopes that they will repost or review for the first time over the next couple months.

Cheers.

[lokisnow]

14 minutes ago, Madness said:

Huzzah :)!

Just to update the Westerosi:

I created a thread, The Great Bakker Review Ordeal, over at Second Apocalypse. So far I've reached out to eight SFF Reviewers who have previously reviewed TDTCB and asked them to repost (listed in that thread).

Looking for any and all other SFF Reviewers who have or have not previously reviewed TDTCB in hopes that they will repost or review for the first time over the next couple months.

Cheers.

To this I would add that for us forumites, posting reviews on amazon for the Great Ordeal as soon as you finish reading it (once it's released) is by far the single most important and essential thing you can do. When WLW came out we had like three threads completed here in the first three weeks and the book still didn't have a single review at Amazon until I posted one.

[Madness]

10 minutes ago, lokisnow said:

To this I would add that for us forumites, posting reviews on amazon for the Great Ordeal as soon as you finish reading it (once it's released) is by far the single most important and essential thing you can do. When WLW came out we had like three threads completed here in the first three weeks and the book still didn't have a single review at Amazon until I posted one.

Indeed. And as Pat and Wert said, if you haven't previously reviewed the former titles in the series (which I haven't and will rectify at some point today), please do :).

Also, also, there may or may not be a TSACast at 9pm EST tonight, which may or may not be a continuation of our "Reread" series, this being TJE Reread Cast.

If anyone feels any compulsion to join in message me here or at Second Apocalypse.

[Kalnestk Oblast]

Surprised you haven't asked Oprah yet. I bet she's precisely the target audience that has been missing.

[Werthead]

We're all over it, dude.

[sologdin]

RSB's marketing has been consistent thematically with the texts being marketed, insofar as his technique was first the subterfuge of the skinspy via the pierce inverarity alt, and thereafter the traumatic insemination of the sranc in the gender threads here, and now the silence of the consult.

that said, i am in full veruca salt mode on this.

[Werthead]

Scott's stance on commercialism has always been interesting but mixed: he seems to like being a trendy cult author only small number of people are [smart/masochistic enough] to "get" but then decries the obvious financial and lifestyle problems of not selling very many books. To reiterate, he actually sells a decent number on a global scale, it's just that this number is unsustainable when you are going 3-5 years between books. This is what set him apart from Erikson, who used to make similar complaints when his sales were likewise low. Erikson just kept going and going and releasing more and more books and that eventually brought much more widespread success to him, along with completing the primary series whilst leaving the door open for sequels and prequels.

Aside from people continuing to read and review the books, there is no obvious solution. Like Paul Kearney and Matt Stover, Bakker may simply be one of those pretty damn good writers doomed to never achieve that breakthrough.

[Madness]

53 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Aside from people continuing to read and review the books, there is no obvious solution. Like Paul Kearney and Matt Stover, Bakker may simply be one of those pretty damn good writers doomed to never achieve that breakthrough.

You always scare me with the comparisons to Kearney and Stover, Wert.

Otherwise, small successes on the parts of MG and I, thus far - mrganondorf moreso in that Recorded Books had already approached bakkerfans to have MG interview Orton and DeVries (via some yet undecided medium - hopefully TSACast), which MG revealed last night when we were recording the TJE Reread Cast and apparently he's also approached Bakker the Brother about doing an interview regarding the trailer and campaigning in Earwa (as the narrative famously grew out their teenage roleplaying sessions).

For my part, there have been surprising dividends of contacting reviewers who have previously reviewed TDTCB and all who have replied back have offered to repost or review their original pieces so far.

EDIT: I'll have the TJE Reread Cast up tonight, hopefully, depending on when I get off work. Also, MG should be making a thread soon on SA about sourcing interview questions for Bakker the Brother (the DeVries interview has already been scripted).

 

[Maithanet]

1 hour ago, Werthead said:

Scott's stance on commercialism has always been interesting but mixed: he seems to like being a trendy cult author only small number of people are [smart/masochistic enough] to "get" but then decries the obvious financial and lifestyle problems of not selling very many books. To reiterate, he actually sells a decent number on a global scale, it's just that this number is unsustainable when you are going 3-5 years between books.

This is a good point.  You have to sell REALLY REALLY well to support a family by publishing a book every three years.  The PoN trilogy was published one per year, and then 3 years to TJE, 2 years to WLW and 5 years (and counting) for TGO. 

[themerchant]

He had 2 other books as well, Neuropath and Disciple. So they must be added to whatever equation, I have no knowledge of the actual logistics, I just buy and read them.

[Werthead]

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He had 2 other books as well, Neuropath and Disciple. So they must be added to whatever equation, I have no knowledge of the actual logistics, I just buy and read them.

Both books sold negligibly compared to the fantasy books. I think Neuropath wasn't too bad but Disciple's sales were truly horrendous, and why the follow-ups have never appeared.

[red snow]

1 hour ago, Werthead said:

Both books sold negligibly compared to the fantasy books. I think Neuropath wasn't too bad but Disciple's sales were truly horrendous, and why the follow-ups have never appeared.

After reading Neuropath I had little interest in reading anymore of his crime/thriller books. Maybe others came to this conclusion Although I don't know off-hand if neuropath was published before Disciple. It's a shame  Neuropath didn't get picked up for a "Saw"/"seven" style film as I wouldn't begrudge him money that lets him concentrate on his Fantasy work.

[generic]

41 minutes ago, red snow said:

After reading Neuropath I had little interest in reading anymore of his crime/thriller books. Maybe others came to this conclusion Although I don't know off-hand if neuropath was published before Disciple. It's a shame  Neuropath didn't get picked up for a "Saw"/"seven" style film as I wouldn't begrudge him money that lets him concentrate on his Fantasy work.

You're certainly not the only one. I still have Disciple lying around unopened somewhere here.

[Madness]

FB had some quality criticism regarding Disciple as suffering from Canadian colloquialisms but it is nothing like Neuropath and I feel makes a decent jab at honoring the tropes of Detective fiction while toying with them.

Also, we need a name for the next thread.