“Heroes can save the world. But villains can change it, Rachel.”
The above quote is from J.M. Frey's story Maddening Science from the short-story anthology When The Villain Comes Home, and I think it captures the book in a nutshell. This is a collection of stories about people who are the other side of coin, the opposite of those we saw in When The Hero Comes Home. But are they?
To paraphrase another section of Villain, heroes are born of event while villains are born of intent. Any one of the protagonists in this collection could have been a hero, and some of them border on what we would consider as an anti-hero.
It's rare to find an anthology that doesn't have one or two clunker stories in it, stories that you read and go either "meh" or "huh". Like its predecessor, Villain doesn't have a single clunker amongst the bunch. I really enjoyed this collection, and I want to take a moment to highlight some of the stories that elevated this from good to wow!
Let's start with J.M. Frey's story since I've already quoted it. J.M.'s writing has this ability to be funny, sexy, geeky, and heart-wrenching all at the same time. After reading Maddening Science I can only hope my fiction can someday aspire to be half as good. I'm laying the praise on a bit thick but with good reason. The story is just that good.
Next let's talk about a story produced by one of my favorite people, Marie Bilodeau. (Seriously, she's a sweet-heart - if you ever get a chance to see her at one of her story-telling gigs or at a convention then go.) Her story, Happily Ever After, is another gem. It has Marie's classic story-telling voice running throughout it and at the same time I can see the evolution in her from from The Legend of Gluck (her story in When The Hero Comes Home) and her earlier novels. Happily Ever After feels more refined without losing any of the passion or movement of everything else Marie has produced.
Hmmm.... which one to highlight next. Oh, I know! How about Cycle of Revenge by Erik Buchanan? It's an interesting tale about a warlord who travels... oh, wait, can't reveal that as it would spoil things. Let's just say it plays around with some classic fantasy/sci-fi tropes quite well and shows what happens when we obsess about getting revenge on those who've wronged us.
I can't forget to mention Manmade by Leah Petersen. First because it's one of those stories where you can guess where it's gonna go and have a good idea how it's going to end after about half-way through but still enjoy entirely. It's also a story very much about being who you are and how trying to, ahem, compensate for what others perceive as a failing can backfire and then ultimately lead to accepting the truth about oneself. And finally because Leah scares me a bit. I mean, come on; she can knit with her hands and read a book with her feet at the same time. The woman is like a fur-less, skinny version of Beast from X-Men. Who knows what mutant powers she's hiding from us?
The truth is I could say something good about every story in this book, which is rare as most anthologies end up sneaking in a dud or two. As it stands, I recommend you check out When The Villain Comes Home, and indeed anytime Gabrielle Harbowy and Ed Greenwood get together to edit an anthology you should give picking it up serious consideration.
Here's the Amazon link, but I do recommend hitting your local bookstore to see if they can get it in for you.
Showing posts with label Marie Bilodeau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marie Bilodeau. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The Dork Review: Destiny's Fall
The lovely Marie Bilodeau released the second of her Destiny series and I was lucky enough to snag a copy at Ad Astra. Between working on my own writing and fighting a nasty case of con-crud I was finally able to finish it today.
So what do I think of it?
Destiny's Fall is good continuation of the series. I can see a greater maturity in Marie's writing style while it still retains her storytelling voice, and I can see growth in how the characters are portrayed. They're more vibrant in this book, have more of an individual voice rather than just being swept along in the admirably done narrative. This is especially true of Avienne, who is now definitely my favorite character of the series. (What can I say, I have a weakness for redheads.)
The issue I noticed in Destiny's Blood is still present in Destiny's Fall. It's far too short. The book just seems to be ramping up when it comes to a conclusion. Also, there were some things mentioned but characters, told to the reader, that I would have loved to have seen played out on the page. One part in particular is the implantation of a magic jewel that sounds like it would have been an awesome scene but we only get told about it later rather than actually seeing it happen.
There are so many tumultuous events this book that happen one after another that I was exhausted by the end. I'd love to see the characters having a chance to talk more, to have a chance to truly digest what just happened to them.
Based on what I've seen, I think Destiny's Fall could easily have been twice its current length without losing any of its impact. As I said about Destiny's Blood, if the worst thing I can say about a book is that it's too short then it can't be all that bad.
(Yes, I've ready some really long books/series that should have ended pages ago... cough... Wheel Of Time... cough)
Go check out Marie's site and look into getting a copy of your own.
So what do I think of it?
Destiny's Fall is good continuation of the series. I can see a greater maturity in Marie's writing style while it still retains her storytelling voice, and I can see growth in how the characters are portrayed. They're more vibrant in this book, have more of an individual voice rather than just being swept along in the admirably done narrative. This is especially true of Avienne, who is now definitely my favorite character of the series. (What can I say, I have a weakness for redheads.)
The issue I noticed in Destiny's Blood is still present in Destiny's Fall. It's far too short. The book just seems to be ramping up when it comes to a conclusion. Also, there were some things mentioned but characters, told to the reader, that I would have loved to have seen played out on the page. One part in particular is the implantation of a magic jewel that sounds like it would have been an awesome scene but we only get told about it later rather than actually seeing it happen.
There are so many tumultuous events this book that happen one after another that I was exhausted by the end. I'd love to see the characters having a chance to talk more, to have a chance to truly digest what just happened to them.
Based on what I've seen, I think Destiny's Fall could easily have been twice its current length without losing any of its impact. As I said about Destiny's Blood, if the worst thing I can say about a book is that it's too short then it can't be all that bad.
(Yes, I've ready some really long books/series that should have ended pages ago... cough... Wheel Of Time... cough)
Go check out Marie's site and look into getting a copy of your own.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
The Aurora Awards: An Analysis
As mentioned in my SFContario2 post, I was fortunate enough to be at the Aurora awards this year. They were a somber, dignified affair, held in a stately hall with food service provided by genetically enhanced monkeys. No, not really, but there was good food before the ceremony and lots of laughs during.
Robert J. Sawyer was kind enough to post the results for best novel (called best long form in English officially) on his blog, and looking them over got me to thinking: How much does the size of a book's publisher determine it's award chances?
Let me demonstrate using the recent awards. The following list is taken from Mr. Sawyer's blog:
1st: Watch by Robert J. Sawyer (Penguin Canada)
2nd: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (Penguin Canada)
3rd: Stealing Home by Hayden Trenholm (Bundoran)
4th: Destiny’s Blood by Marie Bilodeau (Dragon Moon)
5th: Black Bottle Man by Craig Russell (Great Plains)
Notice a pattern? The top two entries were both published by Penguin Canada, one of the largest if not the largest publisher in Canada. Both books had strong advertising pushes. I've seen ads for Under Heaven all over the place, and Watch even had subway ads on the TTC.
Let's look at the others:
Bundoran Press lists only seven authors on its website, and the only one I've heard of is Hayden Trenholm. There are two reasons I've heard of him. One, Robert J. Sawyer has mentioned him on his blog and on Facebook. Two, I sat beside Hayden and across from his wife at the awards ceremony. Both seem like nice people, but I didn't have an extremely long chat with either.
Dragon Moon Press has in excess of thirty authors, and I actually know at least three, including the lovely Marie Bilodeau who's novel came in at number 4 on the ballot.
Great Plains is an interesting case. Unlike Bundoran or Dragon Moon they appear both less and more specialized. Unlike the other two, Great Plains doesn't appear to focus on one or two genres, hence the less, but they are focused on publishing Prairie writers, therefore being more specialized on whom they will accept submissions from. Interesting.
Of the three smaller publishers, I've since advertising for a few Bundoran Press items, such as Fall From Earth by Matthew Johnson, but not as much from Dragon Moon and absolutely nothing from Great Plains. Now, it's entirely possible I saw advertising for Dragon Moon and ignored it as I'm already familiar with a few of their authors and therefore the advertising has become invisible to me.
So what does this all tell me? Advertising budgets have a greater influence on the Aurora then some might think. The same with readership. Both Sawyer and Kay sell well from what I understand, in Canada and elsewhere. Heck, their names on a book are enough to get people to pick them up, and rightly so as both are good writers.
And this is a trend. In the ten years previous to this year's ceremony, all of the awards for best novel but one have been from major publishers, such as Tor, Daw, Penguin, etc.
Part of me wishes I could get my hands on the raw data involved and compare sales figures, advertising dollars, and awards votes to see the correlation. It would be interesting to see if a stable ratio would emerge, a sort of "award per dollar" calculation as it were.
That all being said, what conclusion can be drawn from this? The bigger your publisher the better your chances at an award. More voters are likely to have read your work and will vote for it. And how does one get to be published by a big house? Write a good book and have a whole hell of a lot of luck!
Robert J. Sawyer was kind enough to post the results for best novel (called best long form in English officially) on his blog, and looking them over got me to thinking: How much does the size of a book's publisher determine it's award chances?
Let me demonstrate using the recent awards. The following list is taken from Mr. Sawyer's blog:
1st: Watch by Robert J. Sawyer (Penguin Canada)
2nd: Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay (Penguin Canada)
3rd: Stealing Home by Hayden Trenholm (Bundoran)
4th: Destiny’s Blood by Marie Bilodeau (Dragon Moon)
5th: Black Bottle Man by Craig Russell (Great Plains)
Notice a pattern? The top two entries were both published by Penguin Canada, one of the largest if not the largest publisher in Canada. Both books had strong advertising pushes. I've seen ads for Under Heaven all over the place, and Watch even had subway ads on the TTC.
Let's look at the others:
Bundoran Press lists only seven authors on its website, and the only one I've heard of is Hayden Trenholm. There are two reasons I've heard of him. One, Robert J. Sawyer has mentioned him on his blog and on Facebook. Two, I sat beside Hayden and across from his wife at the awards ceremony. Both seem like nice people, but I didn't have an extremely long chat with either.
Dragon Moon Press has in excess of thirty authors, and I actually know at least three, including the lovely Marie Bilodeau who's novel came in at number 4 on the ballot.
Great Plains is an interesting case. Unlike Bundoran or Dragon Moon they appear both less and more specialized. Unlike the other two, Great Plains doesn't appear to focus on one or two genres, hence the less, but they are focused on publishing Prairie writers, therefore being more specialized on whom they will accept submissions from. Interesting.
Of the three smaller publishers, I've since advertising for a few Bundoran Press items, such as Fall From Earth by Matthew Johnson, but not as much from Dragon Moon and absolutely nothing from Great Plains. Now, it's entirely possible I saw advertising for Dragon Moon and ignored it as I'm already familiar with a few of their authors and therefore the advertising has become invisible to me.
So what does this all tell me? Advertising budgets have a greater influence on the Aurora then some might think. The same with readership. Both Sawyer and Kay sell well from what I understand, in Canada and elsewhere. Heck, their names on a book are enough to get people to pick them up, and rightly so as both are good writers.
And this is a trend. In the ten years previous to this year's ceremony, all of the awards for best novel but one have been from major publishers, such as Tor, Daw, Penguin, etc.
Part of me wishes I could get my hands on the raw data involved and compare sales figures, advertising dollars, and awards votes to see the correlation. It would be interesting to see if a stable ratio would emerge, a sort of "award per dollar" calculation as it were.
That all being said, what conclusion can be drawn from this? The bigger your publisher the better your chances at an award. More voters are likely to have read your work and will vote for it. And how does one get to be published by a big house? Write a good book and have a whole hell of a lot of luck!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Con Report: SFContario2
So my brain has finally rebooted after SFContario2. I think it took this long since I was stuck in traffic in downtown Toronto for two hours, trying to get to the highway, due to what I assume was the Santa Claus parade.
Did I enjoy the con? Yes, definitely. It's always great to run into friends I only get to see at conventions and have a chance to catch up. Also, there were a lot of great panels and an overflow of great guests.
The highlight of the guests, for me at least, had to be John Scalzi, who was in full "performing monkey" mode. (His words, not mine). The Creation Museum slideshow on Saturday, where John took the audience through his photos of his trip to the Creation Museum while gently mocking it, was hilarious. I say "gently" mocking as at no point did he get into a fire and brimstone rant at how utterly moronic some of the notions expressed in the museum were. It was more like he took a pin, poked a hole, and deflated a great deal of mental hot air.
Another highlight was seeing J.M. Frey up and about. That woman is made of win. She recently went through abdominal surgery but still was able to show up and be pleasant and engaging, even if she was a bit tired. I'm glad to hear she's got another few books in the works, and I look forward to picking them up as they're released.
Another good thing was the Auroras. My friend Marie Bilodeau was up for best novel, and while she didn't win she was positive and upbeat, congratulating the winners and showing that, like J.M., she is also made of win. Marie didn't win this year but I'm sure there is a trophy with her name on it in the future. And hey, we were sitting at the table with the most winners that day. Maybe some of that good luck will rub off.
A personal highlight of the Auroras was being introduced to the other people at the table as a writer. While I do self-identify myself as a writer I am very careful not to claim myself as such. I'm self-deprecating on this, and call myself unpublished. One attendee was kind enough to call me "undiscovered". Be that as it may, to actually have someone else recognize me as a writer was a great mental boost.
The final highlight of the con for me was the final panel I attended. This was entitled "The Business of Writing", and the content pretty much matched the title. It started out with the moderator, Marie, throwing it open to questions to the audience. Mine was the first answered (helps when you know the moderator and slip her five bucks beforehand - no this didn't happen I'm joking). I asked what is the greatest business danger for new writers, and received some great answers and advice. Also, I learned a great trick to remember for myself when on panels in the future. Scalzi looked directly at me and made eye contact while answering my question, even though he was second or third to answer. This may seem like a small thing, but it took that moment from "hey thanks for giving us something to talk about" to "hey here's some information you could find useful". He acknowledge that I was the one asking the question and addressed the answer to me as opposed to being someone standing on high making grand pronouncements.
In no way should this take away from the contributions of the other panelists as they provided great advice/information as well, but it did strike me as something I should pay attention to if I'm on a panel and answering a question.
Going to conventions is a learning experience for me in addition to being enjoyable. I'm looking forward to next year's conventions as I think I'm done for 2011 at this point.
Would I go to another SFContario? Yes, but probably not next year as World Fantasy is in town then and I've already registered and booked a hotel room.
Did I enjoy the con? Yes, definitely. It's always great to run into friends I only get to see at conventions and have a chance to catch up. Also, there were a lot of great panels and an overflow of great guests.
The highlight of the guests, for me at least, had to be John Scalzi, who was in full "performing monkey" mode. (His words, not mine). The Creation Museum slideshow on Saturday, where John took the audience through his photos of his trip to the Creation Museum while gently mocking it, was hilarious. I say "gently" mocking as at no point did he get into a fire and brimstone rant at how utterly moronic some of the notions expressed in the museum were. It was more like he took a pin, poked a hole, and deflated a great deal of mental hot air.
Another highlight was seeing J.M. Frey up and about. That woman is made of win. She recently went through abdominal surgery but still was able to show up and be pleasant and engaging, even if she was a bit tired. I'm glad to hear she's got another few books in the works, and I look forward to picking them up as they're released.
Another good thing was the Auroras. My friend Marie Bilodeau was up for best novel, and while she didn't win she was positive and upbeat, congratulating the winners and showing that, like J.M., she is also made of win. Marie didn't win this year but I'm sure there is a trophy with her name on it in the future. And hey, we were sitting at the table with the most winners that day. Maybe some of that good luck will rub off.
A personal highlight of the Auroras was being introduced to the other people at the table as a writer. While I do self-identify myself as a writer I am very careful not to claim myself as such. I'm self-deprecating on this, and call myself unpublished. One attendee was kind enough to call me "undiscovered". Be that as it may, to actually have someone else recognize me as a writer was a great mental boost.
The final highlight of the con for me was the final panel I attended. This was entitled "The Business of Writing", and the content pretty much matched the title. It started out with the moderator, Marie, throwing it open to questions to the audience. Mine was the first answered (helps when you know the moderator and slip her five bucks beforehand - no this didn't happen I'm joking). I asked what is the greatest business danger for new writers, and received some great answers and advice. Also, I learned a great trick to remember for myself when on panels in the future. Scalzi looked directly at me and made eye contact while answering my question, even though he was second or third to answer. This may seem like a small thing, but it took that moment from "hey thanks for giving us something to talk about" to "hey here's some information you could find useful". He acknowledge that I was the one asking the question and addressed the answer to me as opposed to being someone standing on high making grand pronouncements.
In no way should this take away from the contributions of the other panelists as they provided great advice/information as well, but it did strike me as something I should pay attention to if I'm on a panel and answering a question.
Going to conventions is a learning experience for me in addition to being enjoyable. I'm looking forward to next year's conventions as I think I'm done for 2011 at this point.
Would I go to another SFContario? Yes, but probably not next year as World Fantasy is in town then and I've already registered and booked a hotel room.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
The Dork Review: Destiny's Blood
I've had the good fortune of meeting Marie Bilodeau a couple times at conventions now. She's a great person and wonderful to talk to and hang out with. Heck, I even went to Polaris for the day because I wanted to show my support for her and the other Dragon Moon Press authors there launching When The Hero Comes Home. So it's about time I actually bought one of her books. :)
I ended up walking away from Polaris with Destiny's Blood and the Heirs of a Broken Land series. The series I'll review all as one piece later, once I'm done the books, and as the title of this post hints at, today I'm going to review Destiny's Blood.
Marie is a storyteller. This comes across in her work, in the words and in the pacing. This book almost cries out to be read aloud, and it has a mythic scope. The fate of races is at stake, not just the life of the Layela Delamores, the heroine. There's magic, love, passion, anger, evil, and sacrifice all contained within and presented at a break-neck speed.
The book does suffer from one thing though. It's too short. I would have loved to have seen more packed into it. Some of the minor characters could benefit from more "screen time", even if it meant slowing the pacing a bit. If the worst thing you can say about a book is that you wish there was more then it ain't doing too bad at all.
Check out more on Destiny's Blood on Marie's site, or order it directly from Amazon.
I ended up walking away from Polaris with Destiny's Blood and the Heirs of a Broken Land series. The series I'll review all as one piece later, once I'm done the books, and as the title of this post hints at, today I'm going to review Destiny's Blood.
Marie is a storyteller. This comes across in her work, in the words and in the pacing. This book almost cries out to be read aloud, and it has a mythic scope. The fate of races is at stake, not just the life of the Layela Delamores, the heroine. There's magic, love, passion, anger, evil, and sacrifice all contained within and presented at a break-neck speed.
The book does suffer from one thing though. It's too short. I would have loved to have seen more packed into it. Some of the minor characters could benefit from more "screen time", even if it meant slowing the pacing a bit. If the worst thing you can say about a book is that you wish there was more then it ain't doing too bad at all.
Check out more on Destiny's Blood on Marie's site, or order it directly from Amazon.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Ad Astra 2011 Con Report
So this marks the second time I've been to Ad Astra. I meant to announce I was going on this blog beforehand, but since I was really, really busy up to the time I left and I wasn't going to be on any panels I ended forgetting to do it. Whoops.
How was the con you ask? Awesome. Maybe not as awesome as last year for me, but that might have more to do with the fact that this is my third con, the other being ConCept in Montreal, so I actually now have some experience with them so the blush is off the rose as they say. Going to a convention is no longer new and fresh, so that alters my perception of it.
Still, I met a lot of awesome people that I hope the see again. It seems that at every convention I go to I end up running into Erik Buchanan and Marie Bilodeau who are published by Dragon Moon Press. Both are very lovely people and I hope if you've ever at a con you get a chance to meet them. Fair warning though, after meeting them you will be compelled to by any and all books they put out. I'm up to date on Eric's books, but slacking behind on buying Marie's. Hmmmm... they're both in a collection coming out in August... so I could order that and some of hers at the same time, or wait until SFContario and make a mass purchase and get it all signed... hmmm.... decisions, decisions.
Oh, and before I forget to say it, if you have a chance go and see one of Marie's storytelling shows. I caught her performance on Friday night at the con and it was amazing.
Also on Friday night I attended a panel on using conventions to your advantage with Justine Lewkowicz, Scott Edelman, and Ian Keeling. Justine hosts an online show called Bookends which I will likely add to my every growing list of things to keep tabs on, especially if she's even half as engaging and personable on camera as she is in person. All three panelists handed out some great advice, both during that panel and when I ran into them at other panels or at the bar.
So what were some of the other highlights of the con? Oh, getting for me personally, getting to say to Howard Tayler how much I enjoy his webcomic and the Writing Excuses podcast he's a part of. That, and seeing the awesome boots he had on. Seriously, these boots were impressive. I think they could withstand a force five hurricane they looked so solid. With those boots I think Howard's about a third of the way to becoming a superhero.
Another Howard related moment was seeing the look on his face after Mercedes Lackey stated, in the very first panel of the convention I was at and that they both were on, that she was a fan of Schlock Mercenary, his webcomic. I swear he became a bit choked up at hearing this, and was speechless for a minute. It's not everyday that one of the giants of SF/Fantasy says she loves your work.
Speaking of Mercedes Lackey, I only saw her a couple times over the con but she came off as a lovely person and a real trooper. She was there to the very end of the convention, even showing up to give a couple of the male convention runners a significant kiss during the closing ceremonies. All in all, just a lovely and fun person who I hope I get the chance to meet and talk too in depth at some point.
Speaking of the closing ceremonies, they had a raffle and I won something! I ended up walking way from the con with a piece of artwork by Howard Tayler, a print in color with signatures from the Guests of Honor at the con. It was the one piece of artwork I really and truly wanted, and I ended up getting it. Even though E-bay beacons with the siren call of seeing it, I will resist. I want that sucker framed and on my wall, and it will be a cold day in the entirety of Hell before I give it up. Seriously, it's awesome. I may have to take a picture of it and post it up some time.
So, summing things up, I had an awesome time, slept and ate way too little, walked from one end of the hotel to another (seriously, I should grab a pedometer before the next con and track how much walking I actually do), met a ton of awesome people, and snagged a load of books to review so expect some Dork Reviews on those in the near future.
How was the con you ask? Awesome. Maybe not as awesome as last year for me, but that might have more to do with the fact that this is my third con, the other being ConCept in Montreal, so I actually now have some experience with them so the blush is off the rose as they say. Going to a convention is no longer new and fresh, so that alters my perception of it.
Still, I met a lot of awesome people that I hope the see again. It seems that at every convention I go to I end up running into Erik Buchanan and Marie Bilodeau who are published by Dragon Moon Press. Both are very lovely people and I hope if you've ever at a con you get a chance to meet them. Fair warning though, after meeting them you will be compelled to by any and all books they put out. I'm up to date on Eric's books, but slacking behind on buying Marie's. Hmmmm... they're both in a collection coming out in August... so I could order that and some of hers at the same time, or wait until SFContario and make a mass purchase and get it all signed... hmmm.... decisions, decisions.
Oh, and before I forget to say it, if you have a chance go and see one of Marie's storytelling shows. I caught her performance on Friday night at the con and it was amazing.
Also on Friday night I attended a panel on using conventions to your advantage with Justine Lewkowicz, Scott Edelman, and Ian Keeling. Justine hosts an online show called Bookends which I will likely add to my every growing list of things to keep tabs on, especially if she's even half as engaging and personable on camera as she is in person. All three panelists handed out some great advice, both during that panel and when I ran into them at other panels or at the bar.
So what were some of the other highlights of the con? Oh, getting for me personally, getting to say to Howard Tayler how much I enjoy his webcomic and the Writing Excuses podcast he's a part of. That, and seeing the awesome boots he had on. Seriously, these boots were impressive. I think they could withstand a force five hurricane they looked so solid. With those boots I think Howard's about a third of the way to becoming a superhero.
Another Howard related moment was seeing the look on his face after Mercedes Lackey stated, in the very first panel of the convention I was at and that they both were on, that she was a fan of Schlock Mercenary, his webcomic. I swear he became a bit choked up at hearing this, and was speechless for a minute. It's not everyday that one of the giants of SF/Fantasy says she loves your work.
Speaking of Mercedes Lackey, I only saw her a couple times over the con but she came off as a lovely person and a real trooper. She was there to the very end of the convention, even showing up to give a couple of the male convention runners a significant kiss during the closing ceremonies. All in all, just a lovely and fun person who I hope I get the chance to meet and talk too in depth at some point.
Speaking of the closing ceremonies, they had a raffle and I won something! I ended up walking way from the con with a piece of artwork by Howard Tayler, a print in color with signatures from the Guests of Honor at the con. It was the one piece of artwork I really and truly wanted, and I ended up getting it. Even though E-bay beacons with the siren call of seeing it, I will resist. I want that sucker framed and on my wall, and it will be a cold day in the entirety of Hell before I give it up. Seriously, it's awesome. I may have to take a picture of it and post it up some time.
So, summing things up, I had an awesome time, slept and ate way too little, walked from one end of the hotel to another (seriously, I should grab a pedometer before the next con and track how much walking I actually do), met a ton of awesome people, and snagged a load of books to review so expect some Dork Reviews on those in the near future.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Con*Cept 2010 Con Report
I'm back from Con*Cept and had a day to decompress. Needed it after over 8 hours traveling by bus. Ugh, next time I'm taking the train, for reasons that will become clearer below.
First, let me state that I had a blast at Con*Cept. It's important I say this, because there were a few things about the trip that annoyed/irritated me and I'm going to mention them. The things that annoyed me had absolutely nothing to do with the people running the con or the con itself or any of the guests, and I want that to be absolutely clear before I go any further.
Ok, so here's how it all began. Friday morning I'm up and raring to go, get to the downtown bus terminal and find out that what was supposed to be a $129.00 open return ticket is actually going to cost me $220. Thank you St. Catharines Transit employee who either gave me the wrong price by mistake or flat out lied to me. Too late to make the train which would have been about $15 cheaper and I really did not want to drive nearly 8 hours straight all by myself. Grrrrr....
Alright, no worries, just a little bump. I had to switch buses in Toronto and thankfully the driver of the first bus warned me that the one to Montreal leaves 5 minutes after we arrive in Toronto. So I grab my bag and rush over, only to find out it isn't one of the regular Coach Canada buses, it's a "Megabus", meaning no overhead for my backpack and I have to hunt and peck for a seat as I'm one of the last people on the bus and it's nearly full. Again, grrr....
Now, I'm no stranger to long car rides. All of the family vacation I went on while growing up involved me and my sister jammed in the back of a car, so I can amuse myself on a long trip. I'd just bought Virga: Cities of The Air, a trade paperback of the first two Virga novels by Karl Schroeder (review on the way later this week), so I had that to read on the trip, but seeing some people with laptops able to access the internet on the Megabus had me puzzled for a bit. The girl in the seat in front of me was updating her Facebook, far enough away that I couldn't read it so I wasn't snooping but close enough I could recognize the page. I figured she must have a Rogers or Bell stick, but I found out on the way home that the bus had wireless Internet when the driver announced that the Internet had been turned on, meaning if I had a laptop or iPad I could have been using that with wireless access the whole trip up. Something to consider for the next long bus or train ride, as while I really enjoyed the book there were times it would have been nice to have something else to look at/watch for awhile.
Alright, so I arrived in Montreal a little worn around the edges but not too tired. I get to the hotel and get my room key, fascinate the clerk with my umbrella that has a handle like a katana, and head to my room to drop my stuff off. Once in the room I find it a bit warm, but there are no controls that I can see for the temperature and the windows don't open. It looks like there's an air conditioner in the window, but I don't see a way to turn it on and, really, it's the fall. I'd much rather have the windows open and a nice breeze blowing through but that ain't gonna happen. Grrrrrrr....
So the traveling is over, I'm at the con, now what? Well, registration was quick and simple, opening ceremonies had cake (yeah cake!) and then off to some panels. Really, the day started to pick up from this point, though I did make the mistake of eating dinner in the hotel. Ugh, overpriced and lackluster, blah!
Still, I really did enjoy the first night. Con*Cept really does have a different vibe then AdAstra. I don't think I saw anyone in costume on Friday night, and there weren't that many in costume on Saturday or Sunday either. The Masquerade on Saturday only had six participants, including one very sexy Barbarella, as compared to the dozens of people I saw at AdAstra in some really elaborate costumes.
The real gems at Con*Cept were the panels. I think I attended just about every single one there was on writing, with panelists that included Marie Bilodeau, Erik Buchanan, Violette Malan, Karen Dales, Jo Walton, and the guest of honor, Tad Williams and his lovely wife, Deborah Beale. Really, there wasn't a single panel that I didn't come away from wishing that we'd had more time on the subject.
The highlight of the whole con had to be the Sunday morning brunch. Now, originally my plan had been to sit near Lar De Souza because I love the webcomic he draws and would love the chance to ask him about the process of creating it. Yeah, that plan got tossed out the window after seeing Tad Williams on a few panels. Now, I've never read one of Tad's books. I think I tried to start Memory, Sorrow and Thorn at one point but if I remember correctly I got the wrong book as it was a few books into the series and so much had happened in the previous books that would have been useful to know, yadda, yadda, yadda
So back on point, I sat near Tad and his wife Deborah at the brunch, and really the hotel could have served us cardboard and I wouldn't have noticed. Both of them were intelligent and engaging, with stories galore, but they also listened and had real conversations with the people around them rather then just talking and attempting to sell books. There were just really, really nice people, and so obviously still in love with and comfortable around each other after twenty years of marriage which is always nice to see and pleasant to be around. There was just so much positive energy around that table I couldn't leave, even though there was panel I wanted to get to.
The rest of Sunday was pretty low key and fun. I got to attend my first Dead Dog party and ended up going out to dinner with a bunch of people from the con, including Twitchy and a couple others involved in running the WTFur con (sorry, couldn't find a link for it).
Monday was another day spent traveling. I decided to forgo extending my stay as I hadn't a single decent night's sleep the whole time I was in that hotel room, even though I'd figured out how to turn the fan on the air conditioner on it still didn't make a difference. Plus the bed was too soft. And the rooms they had the panels in weren't really soundproofed well so noise leaked in from outside. Let's just say I hope next year is held in a different hotel.
So, would I go again next year? I dunno. At this point I plan to hit AdAstra for sure next year, and spend at least a day at AnimeNorth with a group I know putting on a sword demo. Other than that, I would really like to go to Polaris. I didn't go this year because of a special commitment that won't be in place next year, and in 2011 they'll have Adam Baldwin who played Jayne in Firefly, one of the coolest characters on one of my favorite shows.
To sum things up, for a freaking long blog post, con was great, hotel sucked, bus ride sucked, met and hung out with some great people. Totally worth it!
First, let me state that I had a blast at Con*Cept. It's important I say this, because there were a few things about the trip that annoyed/irritated me and I'm going to mention them. The things that annoyed me had absolutely nothing to do with the people running the con or the con itself or any of the guests, and I want that to be absolutely clear before I go any further.
Ok, so here's how it all began. Friday morning I'm up and raring to go, get to the downtown bus terminal and find out that what was supposed to be a $129.00 open return ticket is actually going to cost me $220. Thank you St. Catharines Transit employee who either gave me the wrong price by mistake or flat out lied to me. Too late to make the train which would have been about $15 cheaper and I really did not want to drive nearly 8 hours straight all by myself. Grrrrr....
Alright, no worries, just a little bump. I had to switch buses in Toronto and thankfully the driver of the first bus warned me that the one to Montreal leaves 5 minutes after we arrive in Toronto. So I grab my bag and rush over, only to find out it isn't one of the regular Coach Canada buses, it's a "Megabus", meaning no overhead for my backpack and I have to hunt and peck for a seat as I'm one of the last people on the bus and it's nearly full. Again, grrr....
Now, I'm no stranger to long car rides. All of the family vacation I went on while growing up involved me and my sister jammed in the back of a car, so I can amuse myself on a long trip. I'd just bought Virga: Cities of The Air, a trade paperback of the first two Virga novels by Karl Schroeder (review on the way later this week), so I had that to read on the trip, but seeing some people with laptops able to access the internet on the Megabus had me puzzled for a bit. The girl in the seat in front of me was updating her Facebook, far enough away that I couldn't read it so I wasn't snooping but close enough I could recognize the page. I figured she must have a Rogers or Bell stick, but I found out on the way home that the bus had wireless Internet when the driver announced that the Internet had been turned on, meaning if I had a laptop or iPad I could have been using that with wireless access the whole trip up. Something to consider for the next long bus or train ride, as while I really enjoyed the book there were times it would have been nice to have something else to look at/watch for awhile.
Alright, so I arrived in Montreal a little worn around the edges but not too tired. I get to the hotel and get my room key, fascinate the clerk with my umbrella that has a handle like a katana, and head to my room to drop my stuff off. Once in the room I find it a bit warm, but there are no controls that I can see for the temperature and the windows don't open. It looks like there's an air conditioner in the window, but I don't see a way to turn it on and, really, it's the fall. I'd much rather have the windows open and a nice breeze blowing through but that ain't gonna happen. Grrrrrrr....
So the traveling is over, I'm at the con, now what? Well, registration was quick and simple, opening ceremonies had cake (yeah cake!) and then off to some panels. Really, the day started to pick up from this point, though I did make the mistake of eating dinner in the hotel. Ugh, overpriced and lackluster, blah!
Still, I really did enjoy the first night. Con*Cept really does have a different vibe then AdAstra. I don't think I saw anyone in costume on Friday night, and there weren't that many in costume on Saturday or Sunday either. The Masquerade on Saturday only had six participants, including one very sexy Barbarella, as compared to the dozens of people I saw at AdAstra in some really elaborate costumes.
The real gems at Con*Cept were the panels. I think I attended just about every single one there was on writing, with panelists that included Marie Bilodeau, Erik Buchanan, Violette Malan, Karen Dales, Jo Walton, and the guest of honor, Tad Williams and his lovely wife, Deborah Beale. Really, there wasn't a single panel that I didn't come away from wishing that we'd had more time on the subject.
The highlight of the whole con had to be the Sunday morning brunch. Now, originally my plan had been to sit near Lar De Souza because I love the webcomic he draws and would love the chance to ask him about the process of creating it. Yeah, that plan got tossed out the window after seeing Tad Williams on a few panels. Now, I've never read one of Tad's books. I think I tried to start Memory, Sorrow and Thorn at one point but if I remember correctly I got the wrong book as it was a few books into the series and so much had happened in the previous books that would have been useful to know, yadda, yadda, yadda
So back on point, I sat near Tad and his wife Deborah at the brunch, and really the hotel could have served us cardboard and I wouldn't have noticed. Both of them were intelligent and engaging, with stories galore, but they also listened and had real conversations with the people around them rather then just talking and attempting to sell books. There were just really, really nice people, and so obviously still in love with and comfortable around each other after twenty years of marriage which is always nice to see and pleasant to be around. There was just so much positive energy around that table I couldn't leave, even though there was panel I wanted to get to.
The rest of Sunday was pretty low key and fun. I got to attend my first Dead Dog party and ended up going out to dinner with a bunch of people from the con, including Twitchy and a couple others involved in running the WTFur con (sorry, couldn't find a link for it).
Monday was another day spent traveling. I decided to forgo extending my stay as I hadn't a single decent night's sleep the whole time I was in that hotel room, even though I'd figured out how to turn the fan on the air conditioner on it still didn't make a difference. Plus the bed was too soft. And the rooms they had the panels in weren't really soundproofed well so noise leaked in from outside. Let's just say I hope next year is held in a different hotel.
So, would I go again next year? I dunno. At this point I plan to hit AdAstra for sure next year, and spend at least a day at AnimeNorth with a group I know putting on a sword demo. Other than that, I would really like to go to Polaris. I didn't go this year because of a special commitment that won't be in place next year, and in 2011 they'll have Adam Baldwin who played Jayne in Firefly, one of the coolest characters on one of my favorite shows.
To sum things up, for a freaking long blog post, con was great, hotel sucked, bus ride sucked, met and hung out with some great people. Totally worth it!
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