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Fiction and Excerpts [3]
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Fiction and Excerpts [3]

The Goblin Emperor: Chapters 1-4 (Excerpt)

Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:00am
1 Favorite [+]
|| The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

The Goblin Emperor: Chapter Four (Excerpt)

Tue Mar 4, 2014 1:00pm
Favorite This
|| The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

The Emperor and the Scullery Boy: Quests and Coming-of-Age Stories

Wed Dec 31, 2014 5:00pm 6 comments 2 Favorites [+]

I kept trying to make this into two essays, one about coming-of-age stories and one about quests, and I kept not being able to write either one of them.

And then, driving to a class I’m taking for my day job, singing R.E.M. songs (as one does), I suddenly remembered that a coming-of-age story is a quest, and a quest, as Joseph Campbell tells us, is a coming-of-age story. On the level of symbols and archetypes and fairytale forests, they’re the same thing. Writing about them separately was never going to work.

[Read More]

The Delicate Balance of World-Building: Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies

Tue Apr 1, 2014 3:30pm 4 comments 1 Favorite [+]

I am a huge fan of world-buildling. I love doing it in my own books, and I love reading it done well. It’s harder than it seems; in particular there is an incredibly delicate balance between making the world-building matter—so that it isn’t just theater flats and cardboard props—and going too far the other way, so that every detail of the world that you mention turns out to be crucial to the plot, creating a Truman Show-esque feeling of being trapped in a Habitrail.

At almost exactly the halfway point of Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies, he pulls off one of the most brilliant examples of this kind of tightrope walking that I have ever read.

[Read More]

Series: That Was Awesome! Writers on Writing

The Emperor and the Scullery Boy: Quests and Coming-of-Age Stories

Mon Mar 31, 2014 2:00pm 13 comments 1 Favorite [+]

I kept trying to make this into two essays, one about coming-of-age stories and one about quests, and I kept not being able to write either one of them.

And then, driving to a class I’m taking for my day job, singing R.E.M. songs (as one does), I suddenly remembered that a coming-of-age story is a quest, and a quest, as Joseph Campbell tells us, is a coming-of-age story. On the level of symbols and archetypes and fairytale forests, they’re the same thing. Writing about them separately was never going to work.

[Read More]

The Goblin Emperor: Chapters 1-4 (Excerpt)

Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:00am 10 comments 1 Favorite [+]

Check out Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, available April 1st from Tor Books! Preview the first four chapters from the novel below, then read Liz Bourke’s review.

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment. Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody.

[Read an Excerpt]

The Goblin Emperor: Chapter Four (Excerpt)

Tue Mar 4, 2014 1:00pm 1 comment Favorite This

Check out Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, available April 1st from Tor Books! Preview the first two chapters, then read chapter three here, and chapter four below. You can also read Liz Bourke’s review of the novel here on Tor.com.

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment. Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody.

[Read an Excerpt]

The Goblin Emperor: Chapter Three (Excerpt)

Mon Mar 3, 2014 11:00am 2 comments Favorite This

Check out Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor, available April 1st from Tor Books! Preview the first two chapters here, then read chapter three below. You can also read Liz Bourke’s review of the novel here.

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment. Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody.

[Read an Excerpt]

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