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Year: 2011

Late for the Party, But Glad I Made It: Rapunzel . . . I Mean Tangled

Late for the Party, But Glad I Made It: Rapunzel . . . I Mean Tangled

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tangled-posterTangled (2010)
Directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Featuring the Voices of Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Brad Garrett, Ron Perelman, Jeffrey Tambor, Richard Kiel.

There are many moments in Disney’s CGI animated film Tangled (out on DVD and Blu-ray this week) where it seems the story is putting itself on a collision course with an ironic, rib-nudging joke about fairy-tale fantasy clichés. For example, young heroine Rapunzel, feeling freedom from her tower prison for the first time, dashes through a forest grove while singing. Suddenly, a flight of bluebirds rush above her head and flit up through a gap in the leaves into an azure sky; Rapunzel gazes at their disappearing flight, enrapt with the metaphor of liberation.

Cue Rapunzel tripping, or a huge bird dropping splatting onto her head, or a helicopter smashing into the birds, or a scratchy needle-drop ripping apart the soundtrack.

But . . . it doesn’t happen!

I think that’s wonderful. Ten years after Shrek came out, Disney Animation has fired back at the “Ironic Fairy-Tale” genre that the DreamWorks hit fostered into a subgenre. Shrek inspired not only three increasingly bad sequels, but also films like Hoodwinked, Happily N’Ever After, and the live-action Ella Enchanted. Shrek itself was something of a personal vendetta from former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg against his old employer: no chance was passed up to blast away at the Mouse House, often viciously.

It was funny for a time, and if viewers wanted less ironic fare they could at least turn to Disney’s partner Pixar. Disney got back to its classic style with the traditionally animated The Princess and the Frog in 2009, although the script and design updated the fairy tale into the early twentieth century. With Tangled, the company was eager to grab up the Medieval wonderland that had made them famous in the first place and embrace it without any excuses.

Until I saw Tangled, I had no idea how much I had missed the old-fashioned Disney storytelling style. Tangled is an almost-great work. Beautiful to behold, fun to watch, uplifting and exciting. This is the first time that I have seen Walt Disney Animation use CGI in a way that meshes well with their-hand animated films; it’s definitely the best non-Pixar CGI film they have ever released. (What, better than Chicken Little? Yes, I dare say.)

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A Review of Deep Secret

A Review of Deep Secret

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deeep-secretDeep Secret, by Diana Wynne Jones
Tor Books (383 pages, hardcover, March 1999)

Diana Wynne Jones was born August 16, 1934 and died on March 26, 2011. Various writers who knew her have made some excellent biographical posts; I especially recommend stopping by Neil Gaiman’s blog. I never met Ms. Jones myself, but I’ve been a fan of her work since I stumbled upon Howl’s Moving Castle as a teenager. Because of that, I thought perhaps I should review one of her novels this week; preferably something other than Howl’s Moving Castle, which is quite well-known.

Deep Secret is a typical Jones book: it’s complicated. Rupert Venables, junior Magid for Earth, has a number of problems which all seem to converge on him at once. The empire at the center of the multiverse is falling. The late emperor was a paranoid, unpleasant man who hid his heirs and executed them if they discovered their own identities. He also worshipped an evil thornbush goddess. Rupert’s mentor has died, and he has to find a replacement Magid and he hates the most likely candidate on sight. When he decides to simplify matters by gathering all the candidates at a speculative fiction convention, his very odd neighbor wanders through his spell and becomes wrapped up in it. Also, his mentor is now haunting his car and won’t stop playing baroque music.

Maree Mallory, most likely candidate for Magid, has her own set of troubles, albeit more mundane ones. She’s had a bad breakup, she’s broke and living with relatives who dislike her — all except her younger cousin Nick, who she finds charming but slightly amoral. She keeps having dreams about a horrible and insulting old lady who is somehow also a thornbush. And she keeps encountering a person she thinks of as The Prat, also known as Rupert Venables.

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Art of the Genre: Special Critical Hit

Art of the Genre: Special Critical Hit

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Homage
Homage
Two weeks ago I posted a small piece on the passing of Jim Roslof. Afterward I spoke to several people concerning some kind of tribute art, but nothing developed until I came across an idea for The Critical Hit concerning Jim.

So, this is both my, and Jeff Laubenstein’s, tribute to Jim and his body of work. For all you old folks out there, you need no introduction, but anyone else, I’ll post the original art we’re referencing as well.

This tribute to Roslof can be seen as perhaps a threefold homage, co-authors David C Sutherland III passing away in 2005, and Gary Gygax in 2008. Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits debuted in a tournament edition for Origins in 1979. It was scripted by artist/writer Sutherland and completed by Gygax before being turned into the culmination adventure of the G-1-2-3, D 1-2-3 adventure path.

A cut above. The classic Q1.
A cut above. The classic Q1.
The adventure revolves around a party going into ‘the demonweb pits’, the 66th level of the Abyss controlled by the Drow goddess Lolth. There, they must overcome her minions, deal with the labrynth of corridors and gates involved, and finally deal with Lolth herself. I’ve had the pleasure of DMing this module once and playing in it twice, and for me I think it is a wonderful end to perhaps the greatest set of gaming modules ever produced.

Today, Fleetwood the Fighter and Grumbltash the Wizard, along with three trusty NPCs, have fallen into the same scene as that fateful party in 1980. I’d say wish them luck, but it looks like Fleetwood is familiar with the module and monster stats already…

Anyway, I’d like to say once again to Jim, David, and Gary, thanks for all the fond memories!

Black Gate Back Issue Sale!

Black Gate Back Issue Sale!

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bg_1_coverWe’re going to press this week with the long-awaited Black Gate 15 — and you know what that means.  It means I won’t be able to get my car in the garage unless I clear out some of the back issue stock first.

My unnatural love for my 2006 Audi is your gain. Starting today, and continuing until I can fit my beloved automobile in the garage, we’re having a sale on back issues of Black Gate magazine. Any two are $25 (plus shipping and handling). Any three are just $35, and any four just $45.

This offer even includes our rare first issue (price just reduced to $18.95), and our double-sized issue 14 (also $18.95). You can buy a complete set of the first four issues  — totaling 896 pages of the best in modern fantasy, a $65.80 value — for just $45.

But hurry. Quantities are limited. Yes, we know. Everyone says that. (Try it yourself, and you’ll understand. “Quantities are Limited!” It just trips off the tongue somehow.) But really. There’s not many copies left, and once I can squeeze a compact car into the garage and shut the door, the sale is over.

Just use the form on our subscription page to select any two issues for $25, any three for $35, or any four for $45, and we’ll apply the discount. It’s that easy.

Want a PDF copy instead? They’re just $8.95, even for big double issues.  Why not try a 4-issue PDF subscription for just $29.95, or a 2-issue print sub for $32.95? You can order print versions of both of our 384-page double issues, BG 14 and 15 (combined cover price $37.90, plus $4.50 shipping) for $32.95, shipping included.  We’ll ship BG 14 this week, and send the massive BG 15 right to your door hot-off-the-press later this month.

Crawling From the Wreckage: Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol

Crawling From the Wreckage: Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol

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Doom Patrol 19Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol needs no context to be enjoyed; it is its own strange, powerful creature. But describing the context of the thing helps to throw into relief the accomplishment of the work. And for those who may not know the comic, explaining what it came out of may help to explain what it is itself.

The Doom Patrol was a group of characters created for DC Comics in the early 60s, as the Silver Age of comics was getting underway; their first appearance, in My Greatest Adventure #80, hit the stands just before the first issue of Marvel’s X-Men. The two groups were famously similar: both were led by wheelchair-bound geniuses, and more significantly, both were a little stranger, a little darker, than other supergroups. The Patrol consisted of the Chief, the aforementioned scientific genius; Cliff Steele, AKA Robotman, whose brain had been transplanted into a metal body following a terrible accident; Negative Man, or Larry Trainor, a pilot wrapped in bandages who controlled a strange black ‘negative spirit’; and Elasti-Girl, Rita Farr, who could increase or decrease her size tremendously. Besides the similarity to the X-Men, the group vaguely resembled another Marvel team: the scientist leader, the orange-hued strongman (Robotman), the flying energy-controller (Negative Man), the woman who could disappear (by shrinking out of sight).

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Goth Chick’s Crypt Notes: A Zombie of Your Very Own

Goth Chick’s Crypt Notes: A Zombie of Your Very Own

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image008Every so often I come across a product so insanely cool that I not only have to own it immediately, but I must also tell you about it so we can share the joy together.

In the past, such life-altering products have included a movie-set-worthy cobweb maker, a blood-like energy drink sold in IV bags and a fairly significant collection of dead things in bell jars.

But it isn’t until today that I can tell you how to fill your house and yard with zombies, ghosts and other creepy stuff for the price of a 1980’s projector bought off eBay and a $35 DVD.

Enter special effects magician Jon Hyers and his virtual 3D horrors.

I came across Jon Hyers at the St. Louis Haunted Attraction Show when, walking by his booth, I noticed several large sewer rats seemingly scurrying in and out from under his display table.

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Subterranean Magazine Spring 2011 Now Available

Subterranean Magazine Spring 2011 Now Available

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subterr-spring2011The 18th online issue — and 25th issue overall — of one of the genre’s leading publications, Subterranean Magazine, is now available.

Subterranean is published quarterly. It appeared in print for seven issues before switching to the current online format in Winter 2007. It is presented free online by Subterranean Press, and is edited by William Schafer.

The contents of each issue are unveiled gradually. So far available in the Spring 2011 issue are:

  • “The Crawling Sky”, a weird western by Joe R. Lansdale (originally published in Deadman’s Road)
  • “Show Trial”, a post-WWII fantasy novella by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
  • “The Crane Method”, by Ian R. MacLeod
  • “The Fall of Alacan”, by Tobias S. Buckell, which returns to the setting of his novella The Executioness (which also shares a setting with Paolo Bacigalupi’s Nebula-nominated novella The Alchemist).
  • “Water to Wine” by Mary Robinette Kowal, the prose version of a long novelette originally written for the audio anthology Metatropolis.

Coming up: Mike Resnick’s latest escapade featuring Lucifer Jones, plus the usual reviews and non-fiction.

The cover this issue is by Edward Miller. The complete issue is here.

The Dying Earth RPG Available Again

The Dying Earth RPG Available Again

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the-dying-earthPelgrane Press has announced that one of my favorite role playing games, The Dying Earth, is available again after several years in limbo.

The Dying Earth is, of course, based on the famed fantasy books by Jack Vance, including The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel’s Saga, and Rhialto the Marvellous. The RPG was written by Robin Laws, John Snead, and Peter Freeman, and originally published by Pelgrane Press  in 2001.

I’ve never actually played The Dying Earth role playing game.  It appeared after I moved from Ottawa to Chicago and left my gaming group behind, and before my three children stopped throwing the dice at each other and got old enough to game with. So why is one of my favorites?

Because there’s plenty to enjoy about The Dying Earth RPG, even if you never use the rules to guide your dice arm. The support materials were superb, especially the accompanying magazine, The Excellent Prismatic Spray — whose contributors numbered Gary Gygax, Robin D Laws, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Keith Baker, and many others — and which published seven fat issues before following the game into limbo.

beyond-the-mountains2Much of the content of the magazine and the additional support material were written in studied imitation of Vance’s witty and erudite style, and made terrific reading.

Who knows why the game was out of print for so long?  A licensing issue, most likely.  But it’s finally back, and Pelgrane has wasted no time gearing up the presses again, releasing the first new supplement in several years: Beyond The Mountains of Magnatz by Ian Thomson, a picaresque series of adventures for Cugel-level characters:

You may have thought your adventurous rogues trapped in the barren north until the sun went dark. But no, the former Lords of Cil are on the move again. The adventurers must evade becoming victim to the ancient menace of Magnatz in the sinister town of Vull, progress through greater and lesser challenges, both natural & magical, as they struggle across the savage mountains, explore strange hospitality in the valley of the mighty Pharesm, and survive lands populated by an army of basilisks, before winning free to the civilized lands of the east.

Our recent coverage of Pelgrane Press includes:

When the End of the World is a Mercy Killing: Cthulhu Apocalypse for Trail of Cthulhu
Mythos Expeditions for Trail of Cthulhu
Experience the Epic Madness of Eternal Lies for Trail of Cthulhu
June Page XX Available — get the latest Pelgrane Press News
Accretion Disk for Ashen Stars
The Justice Trade for Ashen Stars
Some Mysteries You Don’t Want to Solve: Exploring Dead Rock Seven for Ashen Stars
Out of Space for Trail of Cthulhu
Ashen Stars by Robin D. Laws
The Dying Earth Role Playing Game

The Dying Earth RPG is a 192-page hardcover priced at $29.95.  Beyond The Mountains of Magnatz is a 96 page PDF, and sells for $9.95.  Both are available at the Pelgrane Press website.

See all of our recent Games coverage here.

An Interview with Author Bradley Beaulieu

An Interview with Author Bradley Beaulieu

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bradleybeaulieuI’m pleased to interview my great friend and writer buddy, Brad Beaulieu. We’ll be discussing his new novel, The Winds of Khalakovo, Book One of The Lays of Anuskaya, which comes out the first of April 2011 from Nightshade Books as a trade paperback and as an eBook. Winds is a sweeping epic fantasy with a Czarist Russian and Persian feel, a unique combination to be sure. I’m so proud of Brad’s accomplishment with the world building and the story. I’ve been involved with this novel for several years now, and have had a part in the revisions, so I’ve seen it go from an awesome book with an amazing concept to a truly exceptional one with a fully fleshed-out world.

Brad has had his short stories published in the most prestigious speculative fiction publications including Realms of Fantasy, The Intergalactic Medicine Show, Writers of the Future, and several anthologies from DAW Books. He’s also the father of two and the husband to a wonderful woman, Joanne. They live in Wisconsin and besides being an excellent writer, Brad is an amazing cook.

Now on to the interview…

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