Great article Richard, I agree that the original back story for the FF is too dated to appeal to today's generation. As for the casting , frankly I have not heard of most of the actors they have chosen, except for Mara who was good but not great in House of Cards so I feel a wait and see approach is best. Still I am cautiously optimistic about this movie.
My novel CARAVAN OF SHADOWS (a tale of ghosts set in the original World of Darkness) is now available again after being out of print for a number of years. If you're interested, follow the link.
For those who care to shop there, I've learned that a bunch of my Forgotten Realms novels, BLIND GOD'S BLUFF: A BILLY FOX NOVEL, and THE VAMPIRE'S APPRENTICE are all available on Google play. Here's the link:
"The Comics Conquer TV!" is my new column on Airlock Alpha. It's my thoughts on the many comic-book-based TV shows that will be coming our way between now and the end of 2015.
Very interesting article as usual Richard. Some of those shows sound very good. Gotham in particular is something I will definitely watch even if it is only peripherally related to Batman. Its good to see that comics are finally being taken seriously by exces. And lastly I wholeheartedly agree with you about Sons of Anarchy. It is indeed quite awesome.
Starting today (Thursday, May 22nd), I’m running a Kindle Countdown Deal on my collection THE PLAGUE KNIGHT AND OTHER STORIES. It’s now in progress on both Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
THE PLAGUE KNIGHT AND OTHER STORIES collects some of my best heroic fantasy stories set in worlds of my own invention as well as a couple surprises. If you enjoy my Forgotten Realms work, you’ll like these stories, too.
To get the best price of all, buy the book during the first twenty-four hours of the sale. (But you’ll still get a discount if you buy before the promotion ends on Sunday.)
This isn't about the Realms, either, but in the hope that some of you may be interested:
I'm pleased to announce that Privateer Press will be publishing my novella Murder in Corvis in the fall. Its a fantasy murder mystery set in the world of the Iron Kingdoms that explains how the mercenaries of the Black River Irregulars first came together. You can read more about it and see the cool cover on the Privateer Press blog, which is here:
This isn't about the Realms, either, but in the hope that some of you may be interested:
I'm pleased to announce that Privateer Press will be publishing my novella Murder in Corvis in the fall. Its a fantasy murder mystery set in the world of the Iron Kingdoms that explains how the mercenaries of the Black River Irregulars first came together. You can read more about it and see the cool cover on the Privateer Press blog, which is here:
That link leads to a "Easy, tiger. This is a 404 page." er, page. Maybe because I am late to the party the link expired. Anyhoo, I found "Episode 153: Writing Double Header with Richard Lee Byers and David Farland" http://thegungancouncil.podbean.com/e/writingcontest2/
Eidt: Wow, It's an hour and a half. *download to ipod*
Former Forgotten Realms brand manager Jim Butler: "Everything that bears the Forgotten Realms logo is considered canon".
BTW Richard, just finished reading the reaver. I definitely liked the two main characters. I'd be intrigued to see what happens though when they return to Thay. I don't see Tam being happy with her helping bring a sun god's chosen to power. Maybe she'll get mixed up with some ex-patriate Thayans who help her rescue her family?
Hi, Sleyvas. Glad you liked the characters. As you surmised, whenever I get to tell that story, their experiences in Thay will not be all sunshine and cookies.
By the way, for anyone who's interested, I was on the Tome Show podcast talking about THE REAVER. You can listen to that here:
And now it can be told! I'm proud to announce that I will have a story in what is going to be a very cool anthology: BLACKGUARDS.
My story is an adventure of Selden, my fencing master and occasional mercenary and sleuth who operates in Balathex, the Whispering City. (If you're not familiar with Selden, you can find all his previous exploits in my very reasonably priced eBook THE PLAGUE KNIGHT AND OTHER STORIES, available on Amazon.)
Hi Richard, I've just finished your YotRD trilogy. I really enjoyed it. :)As to more recent publications, can we expect any of your new novels in 2015? It seems that Thay will be more like it used to be in 5e Realms and Aoth and the company (perhaps joining forces with Anton and his band) could help facilitate the changes. ;)
Hi Richard. I have a questions pertaining to all your Realms novels.
All your spellcasting characters such as Aoth, Jhesrhi even older ones like Marance Talendar from Shattered Mask tend to NOT display the typical characteristics of DND/FR Vancian Magic.
Do you usually stat out your characters and then 'wing' it using the vancian system or do you prefer to use other methods of limiting your magic casters like through mana points/spell points etc?
Elsenrall: Glad to hear you liked YoRD. To answer your question, I am not currently under contract to do any more novels for WotC. I hope that will change eventually, but even if it does, there's no way to know if it will happen in time for something by me to make it onto the 2015 schedule.
Xar: When you say that my characters don't look like typical D&D/FR casters, I'm not sure what you mean. I try to depict them in a way that's generally consistent with the gaming sourcebooks. Although not every detail of the rules translates well into fiction. It's important for a novelist to remember that the game rules are abstractions that simplify things that, if they really existed, would be far more fluid and complex into a simulation we can game through with dice and math. To put it another way, the ultimate "reality" of the Forgotten Realms is the glorious vision that Ed Greenwood conceived and shared with the rest of us. The gaming material is one way of viewing and enjoying that vision. The fiction is another.
Anyway, I don't stat my characters out with fully developed character sheets. Every novelist's process is different, of course, but I haven't found that to be useful. I do make a point to establish a spell caster's maximum power level. "This guy can throw a 4th level spell, but nothing higher than that."
Blackguards Is there going to be an Audiobook version? I saw a link to audible in the previous project. Is there going to be a hardcover or paperback version?
Former Forgotten Realms brand manager Jim Butler: "Everything that bears the Forgotten Realms logo is considered canon".
Questions for Richard Lee Byers
Posted - 04 Mar 2014 : 12:59:04
