So I was going to have some more modeling stuff today, but there was some issue with my rigging and I didn't have the energy to keep working on it. So instead, I'll bring you all up to speed on the novel idea I'm working on for November. At the moment, it looks like while I may not be officially attempting to hit the 50k goal in November for NaNoWriMo, I'll probably be starting this novel then.
The novel is still in the very early plotting stages, but I have some snitppets of information that I can hand out.
So here, we shall start with the Story Question:
When her father disappeares, 15 year old apprentice artificer Ariadne sets out to find him. But will she succeed when her new mentor seeks to use her for his own ends, a secret shadow-council seeks to destabilize everything she holds dear, and everyone starts blaming her for a rampaging automaton terrorizing the streets?
For those of you who haven't heard, I'm using this story to explore a little of the Steampunk stuff I've been looking at, and I'm also leaning towards a YA novel this time around. Whether it'll stay there remains to be seen. So I'm setting this in a mostly-victorean era, like most Steampunk, but with my own little twists. The steam machines are quite a bit more pervasive (hence steampunk), and are created through a craft I'm calling Artifice. I didn't want artifice to be purely mundane science, so I've included a little bit of elemental power, with inspiration drawn from the Herbie Brennan books I reviewed earlier. Each machine is powered by Trapping an element in a labrynth mechanism. As in my previous novel(s), there are 6 elements (subject to change): Fire, Water, Light, Earth, Air, Shadow.
After discussing the ideas with a friend for a few days, I've settled into the understanding that each of the elements will be used primarily by different groups within society. Many artificers will dabble in a 2nd, to try and bring aspects of another guild's work into their own (I use the word Guild here loosely, but that's some of the inspiration for the groups).
Fire - Fire is the element of the military. This covers both the standing military, as well as police, city guards, etc. They primarily focus on weapons and armaments.
Water - Water is the elemnt of the Artisans. They make little tools and devices to make both life, and their own work, easier and more enjoyable. I'm thinking that I'll aslo stick entertainers into this group, but I'm not sure.
Light - Light is the elemnt of the Brotherhood, the ruling religious organization. I'm seeing them mostly as a monastic order at the moment, though they're not without their share of combatants.
Earth - This element is used by the builders, people who make the buildings (or large scale demolitions) and other large construction projects that people need for society. The line between them and Artisans are pretty thin, but I see them more as making large scale projects, rather than tools.
Air - This is the element of transportation. So we'll get to explore airships a little, though even cars / motorcycles / whatever, or maybe even air-powered gondolas to run the Canals of Venice.
Shadow - This is the element of teh Guild (this is why I said I'm using guild loosely). In this context, the guild is pretty much the Thieves and Assassins of the country. they have enough power to keep the Brotherhood from completely snuffing them out, and shadow is used as a secondary element to bring in aspects of counterintelligence even by legitimate organizations.
Beyond that, things are getting a bit fuzzy. One of the major sideplots to the novel is going to involve her Licensing Exam. The Brotherhood requires that all trained Artificers be licensed (which obviously has some undercurrent of control implied), and will punish practitioners of unlicensed artifice. Ariadne is shaping up to be the kind of person who reaches a bit too far, and tends to get in over her head. For her project, she's going to try and make an Automaton. All her research will suggest that she needs to either master Light, Fire, and Water, or Shadow, Earth and Air (two trinities, still working on a cool name :p), though there's no good explanation for why that'd be better than any two alone.
That's most of what I have so far. Structure-wise, I'm exploring a new concept: the 3-act, 8-sequence structure as proposed by Alexandra Sokoloff. However, rather than planning for the 15-minute sequence (this is derived from filmmaking), I'm going to try and have about 2-3 chapters, each with at least 1-2 scene/sequel pairs. This is fitting with with the 3-5 scenes she suggests should be present in a sequence for film. However, rather than having my leaves be just scenes, I'm replacing them with Jim Butcher's Scene-Sequel pairs.
Now I just have to go about filling in the middles.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Book Review: Peter Lerangis, Laura Anne Gilman, Mercedes Lackey, Jonathan Stroud, Herbie Brennan, Charlaine Harris
To follow up the book festival, I thought another book review post might be interesting. So let's see what I've been up to in the last couple of weeks.
The Sword Theif
Book 3 in the 39 clues series, this one written by Peter Lerangis, sees the duo off to Japan. In this book we find out more about what the 39 clues are all about. There was also this awkward romance budding between two characters (who, I might point out, are cousins), and more secrets dropped about the kids' mysterious past. I'm not sure I like some of the character changes that happened here (mostly the romance and the ending), but the series itself is still promising. It might be a long ride though.
Hard Magic
I've been eyeing this book by L. A. Gilman for months. Anyone following me on twitter has noticed this, since I tweeted about it when I picked it up. They had it on the 1 week shelf on the Library when I was dropping off the previous book, and I just had to grab it. What I didn't realize going in, is that this is a spin-off series of her other series. However, it was self contained and intelligable. The plot centers around a team who become a new magical forensics squad, similar to CSI. The magic system still has room for expansion, but the view of magic as current (in fact, this is why mages can't use electric appliences: they run on the same frequencies) is kinda cool. I'll be watching her more carefully. This is also the first UF I think I've read that treats alternate relationships as just another thing, without making a big deal of it. The MC is bi, and one of the other characters, it turns out, is involved in a 3-way relationship. The MC speculates a little about this, but it's pushed aside to make way for more plot. It's presented with the same lack of consideration as it would if it was a heterosexual relationship. I found that intriguing.
The Invasion
Book 1 in the Secret World Chronicles, by Mercedes Lackey and Steve Libby. This is actually a podcast audio book, which is a new format for me. I've listened to some podcasts before, mostly gaming, and I've listened to plenty of audio books (probably more than half of the ones I've mentioned here have been audio books, though I haven't kept track). This one is set in 2004, but with superheros existing. Superheros grew out of WWII, and are managed by a worldwide organization called Echo. However, in this book, we see a surprise invasion by a mysterious Nazi force, mostly metahumans and humans in superpowered suits. The story jumps around in each chapter from one character to another, and they only start interacting with each other in the 2nd book. Still, I haven't been able to stop listening.
Shakespeare's Landlord
Most people know Charlaine Harris from her Southern Vampire Mysteries (a.k.a. True Blood). However, in her Lily Bard novels, the situation is quite different. This is, in many ways, a much more mundane mystery than the UF I've been reading. It starts off as a girl in a small town with a clear past to hide. However, as it unfolds, and we learn more about her past, well it's one of the most heartbreaking backstories I've read. There's no supernatural here, and I'll be honest I spent a good chunk of the beginning looking for one. While this may have stopped me from picking it up in the first place had I known, now that I've read it I'll most likely add the next couple to my list. The next 2 I already have on audio book courtesy of my mom.
The Golem's Eye
After about 2 years, I finally got back to the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. Book two finds our hero crawling up the government rungs. He's his own magician now, and has gotten himself in over his head tracking down the Resistance. It had been so long since I'd read the first one, that truth be told I didn't remember a bit of it. I was still able to follow most of this, but I'm sure there were many back references I didn't get. The Djini's habbit of including footnotes in his work are rather amusing. It only occured to me partway through the 3rd book that the Djini's sections are int he first person, while the other sections are in the third. This is another book that's also strangely political, but since the MC is young and naive, it really boils down to who's trying ot take advantage of him today. Some of these ideas may end up leeking into my WIP if I'm not careful though (more on that later, I've done some significant effort in plotting, but I'm nowhere near done).
Ptolemy's Gate
Book 3 in the Bartimaeus Trilogy has changed the nature of John and Kitty's relationship pretty completely. He is now even higher on the government totem pole, and is running his poor Djini raggid. While I can't remember the "main" conflict, what's stuck with me is that this novel is an interesting treatment of trust, what trust there can be between a man and his deadly slave anyway. I just can't seem to remember what lead them to that place in the first place...
Ruler of the Realm
The Third and Final book in Herbie Brennan's Faerie Wars novels finally wraps up some of the storylines. The demon's mechinations have enough plot twists to keep everyone guessing, though whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is left up to you. The romances come to a heel, at least to a certain extent, and all in all, not a bad book. Though I don't think I'm going to make particular effort to keep an eye out for sequels anymore.
The Sword Theif
Book 3 in the 39 clues series, this one written by Peter Lerangis, sees the duo off to Japan. In this book we find out more about what the 39 clues are all about. There was also this awkward romance budding between two characters (who, I might point out, are cousins), and more secrets dropped about the kids' mysterious past. I'm not sure I like some of the character changes that happened here (mostly the romance and the ending), but the series itself is still promising. It might be a long ride though.
Hard Magic
I've been eyeing this book by L. A. Gilman for months. Anyone following me on twitter has noticed this, since I tweeted about it when I picked it up. They had it on the 1 week shelf on the Library when I was dropping off the previous book, and I just had to grab it. What I didn't realize going in, is that this is a spin-off series of her other series. However, it was self contained and intelligable. The plot centers around a team who become a new magical forensics squad, similar to CSI. The magic system still has room for expansion, but the view of magic as current (in fact, this is why mages can't use electric appliences: they run on the same frequencies) is kinda cool. I'll be watching her more carefully. This is also the first UF I think I've read that treats alternate relationships as just another thing, without making a big deal of it. The MC is bi, and one of the other characters, it turns out, is involved in a 3-way relationship. The MC speculates a little about this, but it's pushed aside to make way for more plot. It's presented with the same lack of consideration as it would if it was a heterosexual relationship. I found that intriguing.
The Invasion
Book 1 in the Secret World Chronicles, by Mercedes Lackey and Steve Libby. This is actually a podcast audio book, which is a new format for me. I've listened to some podcasts before, mostly gaming, and I've listened to plenty of audio books (probably more than half of the ones I've mentioned here have been audio books, though I haven't kept track). This one is set in 2004, but with superheros existing. Superheros grew out of WWII, and are managed by a worldwide organization called Echo. However, in this book, we see a surprise invasion by a mysterious Nazi force, mostly metahumans and humans in superpowered suits. The story jumps around in each chapter from one character to another, and they only start interacting with each other in the 2nd book. Still, I haven't been able to stop listening.
Shakespeare's Landlord
Most people know Charlaine Harris from her Southern Vampire Mysteries (a.k.a. True Blood). However, in her Lily Bard novels, the situation is quite different. This is, in many ways, a much more mundane mystery than the UF I've been reading. It starts off as a girl in a small town with a clear past to hide. However, as it unfolds, and we learn more about her past, well it's one of the most heartbreaking backstories I've read. There's no supernatural here, and I'll be honest I spent a good chunk of the beginning looking for one. While this may have stopped me from picking it up in the first place had I known, now that I've read it I'll most likely add the next couple to my list. The next 2 I already have on audio book courtesy of my mom.
The Golem's Eye
After about 2 years, I finally got back to the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. Book two finds our hero crawling up the government rungs. He's his own magician now, and has gotten himself in over his head tracking down the Resistance. It had been so long since I'd read the first one, that truth be told I didn't remember a bit of it. I was still able to follow most of this, but I'm sure there were many back references I didn't get. The Djini's habbit of including footnotes in his work are rather amusing. It only occured to me partway through the 3rd book that the Djini's sections are int he first person, while the other sections are in the third. This is another book that's also strangely political, but since the MC is young and naive, it really boils down to who's trying ot take advantage of him today. Some of these ideas may end up leeking into my WIP if I'm not careful though (more on that later, I've done some significant effort in plotting, but I'm nowhere near done).
Ptolemy's Gate
Book 3 in the Bartimaeus Trilogy has changed the nature of John and Kitty's relationship pretty completely. He is now even higher on the government totem pole, and is running his poor Djini raggid. While I can't remember the "main" conflict, what's stuck with me is that this novel is an interesting treatment of trust, what trust there can be between a man and his deadly slave anyway. I just can't seem to remember what lead them to that place in the first place...
Ruler of the Realm
The Third and Final book in Herbie Brennan's Faerie Wars novels finally wraps up some of the storylines. The demon's mechinations have enough plot twists to keep everyone guessing, though whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is left up to you. The romances come to a heel, at least to a certain extent, and all in all, not a bad book. Though I don't think I'm going to make particular effort to keep an eye out for sequels anymore.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Decatur Book Festival
This past weekend, I was in Decatur, GA for the Decatur Book Festival. I got to do everything I wanted to, but not everything I hoped to. In general it was a good experience, but we'll have to see if it's worth going back to, at least depending on the company.
So friday was full of driving. Because of Ben's work schedule, we couldn't get out until almost 2:30. Which would have been okay, except that he wanted to stop at his Dad's place, which added another hour of driving and 3 hours of socializing. I don't begrudge him the opportunity much, but I would have liked to get to the hotel before midnight, not 2:30am.
Saturday, we got started pretty late. And by we, I mean he. We got to the festival just in time for the panel on Worldbuilding. The lines for the signing afterwards was huge, and we didn't get to see Brandon Sanderson. (As it is, he was signing in Raleigh last night, but I had other plans). After that we walked around, I ended up buying a book that the author called a "Gateway Steampunk" book, as well as Skin Hunger, which was by one of hte other panelists, and the book from the panelist I was there to see (THe Exiled Queen).
Sunday, we got a bit of an earlier start, just a few minutes late to see Cassandra Claire. Her line was, if anything, longer, and I was about halfway through instead of at the end. I still managed to get the two copies, one for me and one for Stephanie. There were also a few other things that are on the maybe list, and so I've marked them down and will be investigating them later, when I have a bit more wiggle room in my budget. The downside Sunday, was that because of the lines for Claire, I missed seeing Lev Grossman. I didn't even know he was going to be there, but it would have been cool to stop by. If I knew, I would have brought my copy of his book. I reviewed it earlier, and it was a little strange, but it would have been interesting all the same.
So friday was full of driving. Because of Ben's work schedule, we couldn't get out until almost 2:30. Which would have been okay, except that he wanted to stop at his Dad's place, which added another hour of driving and 3 hours of socializing. I don't begrudge him the opportunity much, but I would have liked to get to the hotel before midnight, not 2:30am.
Saturday, we got started pretty late. And by we, I mean he. We got to the festival just in time for the panel on Worldbuilding. The lines for the signing afterwards was huge, and we didn't get to see Brandon Sanderson. (As it is, he was signing in Raleigh last night, but I had other plans). After that we walked around, I ended up buying a book that the author called a "Gateway Steampunk" book, as well as Skin Hunger, which was by one of hte other panelists, and the book from the panelist I was there to see (THe Exiled Queen).
Sunday, we got a bit of an earlier start, just a few minutes late to see Cassandra Claire. Her line was, if anything, longer, and I was about halfway through instead of at the end. I still managed to get the two copies, one for me and one for Stephanie. There were also a few other things that are on the maybe list, and so I've marked them down and will be investigating them later, when I have a bit more wiggle room in my budget. The downside Sunday, was that because of the lines for Claire, I missed seeing Lev Grossman. I didn't even know he was going to be there, but it would have been cool to stop by. If I knew, I would have brought my copy of his book. I reviewed it earlier, and it was a little strange, but it would have been interesting all the same.
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