After three brilliant books - Retributions Falls, Black Lung Captain, Iron Jackal - author Chris Wooding has announced that the fourth outing for the crew of the airship Ketty Jay - The Ace Of Skulls - will be the last.
http://www.chriswooding.com/broken-sky-ebux-redux/
Sad news but I can see why he would want to do this, better to go out with a collection of books that everyone liked, than go on and on for years and end up spluttering towards an ending that is long overdue.
Over on his Facebook page Peter Jackson has confirmed that The Hobbit is now a trilogy.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/peter-jackson/an-unexpected-journey/10151114596546558
To quote:
It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life. All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’
We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.
So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of “The Hobbit” films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.
It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, ”a tale that grew in the telling.”
Cheers,
Peter J
Happy dance time!
HBO confirmed at the end of last week that former Misfits star Iwan Rheon has been cast to appear in S3 of Game Of Thrones.
His role has only been revealed as “the boy”, though insiders who have seen a scene involving him and one other major character have said it points to him playing the part of Ramsay Snow, the Bastard of the Dreadfort. Ramsay was name-checked in a couple of episodes at the end of S2, mainly by his father Lord Roose Bolton, but not actually seen. He was sent by his father to deal with Theon Greyjoy and his Iron Born who had taken Winterfell.
In the books Ramsay Snow was introduced much earlier, though as a character known only as Reek. He is a favorite of fans but a nasty piece of work and every inch his fathers son. For any wondering why it is Ramsay has the same surname as Jon Snow – the bastard son of Ned Stark – it is because it is tradition in Westeros to name bastard children with the same surname depending on what part of the country they come from. All northern bastards are called Snow.
Iwan is best known in the UK as Simon from the series Misfits.
Over on his site Joe Abercrombie has posted about the planning that went into the map that will appear on the dust cover of his new novel Red Country.
http://www.joeabercrombie.com/2012/07/25/red-country-artwork-map/
I’m a great fan of maps, especially maps that are done well. This third map follows the trend already started with the map of Styria in Best Served Cold and the map of the area the battle took place in The Heroes.
Joe has commented on his blog in the past that he is not a big lover of maps, or the fantasy trend of world maps in general. He feels it restricts the author to write within the confines they’ve created by doing a map. He prefers to leave The First Law world up to the readers imagination, the edges of the map blurred so to speak.
Deadline reported yesterday that it would appear that Peter Jackson, New Line and Warner Bros are now seriously considering adding a third film to The Hobbit franchise. For those interested here is a link to the article.
http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/the-hobbit-going-for-a-trilogy-its-possible/
Naturally when this piece of news broke the internet exploded. I’ve seen comments on a few of sites bemoaning Jackson, New Line and Warners for “cashing in” on the success of the three Lord Of The Rings films (NOTE: of course they’re cashing in, they wouldn’t be making them if the first three hadn’t been a success!), and of “bloating a short book” into first two and now possibly three films. A lot of comparisons have been made with another set of prequels that basically pooped all over accepted mythology and turned their director into a byword for tat.
On a personal note I welcome this news, hell I’d watch a dozen films provided they were done correctly, and done by the same crew and production company.
But I’m not here to talk about that, I’m here to talk about peoples seeming inability to read something in its entirety before making snap judgments and running off to Facebook or Twitter to announce their thoughts to the world. Now I’m assuming by now you’ve been and read the article in the link above – if you haven’t then please do – so can anyone guess why I’m grinding my axe?
It is clearly stated in the article the reasons behind the possible third film, anyone who’s read Tolkien will know that there is a mine of off the page action that was cut, or thought of after that never made it into the finished books. Anyone that knows anything about Tolkien will know that he intended – at some point but unfortunately never got round to it – to re-visit The Hobbit and (to use a modern term) re-image it, adding in all the stuff he left out first time round. It is because of this extra material that when Jackson came to make the film, he knew he would need to do it over two, as it wouldn’t fit into one.
Jackson has the rights to The Hobbit and the 125 odd pages of appendices that appear at the end of Return Of The King. That is what he is filming, he’s not just filming “a short book”, he is filling in the blank spaces (like where did Gandalf go for two or three chapters and what was he up to) so what appears on screen is nearer to what Tolkien intended – albeit after he’d originally written the books and finished Lord Of The Rings some 16 years later.
The third film will cover some of this missing material, it will also possible fill in the gaps (some 70+ years) between the end of The Hobbit and the start of Fellowship Of The Ring. The end product will be one long story, starting with The Hobbit and ending with Return Of The King. All filmed in the same way, all with the same production values, and in some parts, all with the same cast.
Now all of this can be taken from what Peter Jackson says in the linked to article above.
But a lot of people, those that don’t read what’s in front of them, have only seen the headline and are knee-jerking all over the internet making a lot of noise for nothing.
In Gypsy’s Kiss, my current WIP, I’ve come to the point where I have to introduce a character I’ve been uneasy writing about. The character has already featured, but so far has been nameless and voiceless. Now he has come into confrontation with my protagonist and it’s his time to step up and be heard so to speak.
The only thing is this character is not a nice guy, he’s a thug, a killer and foremost a racist. From the WIP title I take I can assume that you know Gypsy’s are involved in my story, and this character has no love for them and has some derogatory things to say about them. But the problem I have is I am uncomfortable writing what he has to say.
I’ve always wondered how other writers have approached this subject? It’s not an easy thing to do, especially when the language involved is alien to you. Now I’m no prude, I swear, I cuss, but I’ve never used racially abusive name calling. I know what the names are, I’ve heard others use them, but using them myself – even within the context of a story – does make me feel uneasy. In the back of my head a voice is saying “what if people think that’s what you really think”, that maybe daft but that’s me.
I have considered dropping the character altogether, or watering him down. But to do that means excising a thread within the story, of the prejudice some people in the world I have created have towards certain sections of society. My protagonist is at odds with this prejudice and that is partly why he is in opposition to this new characters view.
Am I being overly sensitive, should I just take it as read that my readers will accept this is just a character, and not me, saying what is said?
All Rights Reserved © Philip Norris July 2012
For the past few days San Diego Comic-Con has been host to thousands of SF & Fantasy fans eager for the latest news on their top shows and movies. I collated some of the news here for shows and films I’m interested in.
First up…
Marvel – Phase Two
With Marvel Avengers Assemble the studio announced the end of their Phase One releases. Phase Two would contain Iron Man III, Thor II and Captain America II. The plan is the second phase will lead up to the second Avengers film. Over the course of Comic-Con more information has been released.
Thor: The Dark World is the title for the God of Thunder’s second outing and has a release date of November 8th 2013. As yet no further details are known regarding plot and casting, Chris Helmsworth will be reprising the role of Thor.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the title for Steve Rogers second outing and has a release date of April 4th 2014. No further details are known, but in the comics The Winter Soldier storyline was about “Bucky” Barnes who was Steve Rogers sidekick during WWII. It was a Cold War tale with “Bucky” revived without his memory and brainwashed by the Russians as an assassin. I’m not sure if they will use the same storyline or update it maybe with “Bucky” being radicalised.
Ant-Man was announced but no release date yet. He is a superhero who was at one time a member of The Avengers, in the comics various characters have assumed the name, the original was Henry Pym, a brilliant scientist who invented a formula to alter his size.
Iron Man III is filming now, and footage shown confirms that Sir Ben Kingsley is playing The Mandarin, a long time enemy of Tony Stark.
Guardians of the Galaxy are another superhero group like The Avengers, except they are from the far future alternative time-line. Marvel have announced this film as a bridge between the three sequels and Ant-Man film and the second Avengers outing. In the after credits clip of the Avengers we saw the main adversary behind the attacks on Earth, this was a character called Thannos, it is believed both superhero teams maybe involved in battling him.
The Walking Dead S3
The trailer for season 3 of AMC’s The Walking Dead was shown. This series covers events in the town of Woodbury and introduces a character known as the Governor.
Game Of Thrones S3
Season 3 of HBO’s Game Of Thrones began filming last week. Unlike the first two seasons casting announcements have been scarce as it seems the producers have saved them all for Comic-Con. Season 3 will air on March 31st 2013.
A brief breakdown as to who is who.
Mackenzie Crook has been cast as Orell, a wildling who is a close advisor to the King-Beyond-The-Wall Mance Rayder. Crook is probably best known to UK viewers as Gareth from The Office, he also stared as one-eyed Ragetti in the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films.
Paul Kaye has been cast as Thoros of Myr, Thoros is a Red Priest like Melisandre. But unlike her Thoros likes to drink and fight. He is a one-time drinking partner of Robert Baratheon. In the books he went with Lord Benric Dondarrion to bring Ser Gregor Clegane to justice on Ned Stark’s orders (S1). Kaye shot to fame in the UK as “Dennis Pennis” a “shock-interviewer” who insulted celebrities whilst interviewing them. He stared in many shows throughout the early 2000s.
Richard Dormer has been cast as Lord Beric Dondarrion of Blackraven. The character did appear briefly in S1 when he was despatched by Ned Stark to bring Ser Gregor Clegane to justice, the producers decided to recast for S3. Dormer is an actor and playwright.
Clive Russell has been cast as Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully, the uncle of Catelyn , Lysa and Edmure. In the books Brynden was introduced in The Game Of Thrones, but because of the trimming down of the Riverrun/Tully storyline it has been delayed until S3. Russell is a well known actor and has appeared in countless films and TV shows.
Tobias Menzies has been cast as Edmure Tully, he is the younger brother of Catelyn and Lysa, and nephew of Brynden. Edmure is not a great warrior and lacks Catelyn’s political skills. Menzies played Brutus in Rome.
Tara Fitzgerald has been cast as Selyse Baratheon, the wife of Stannis Baratheon. She is a devotee of the Red God had staunch supporter of Melisandre. Fitzgerald is a star of stage, screen and TV, most recently as Dr. Eve Lockhart in BBCs Waking The Dead.
Ellie Kendrick has been cast as Meera Reed.
And Thomas Brodie-Sangster has been cast as Jojen Reed. Meera and Jojen are the children of Lord Howland Reed, a staunch ally of Ned Stark and one of his closest friends. In the books they are sent to Winterfell to pledge allegence to Robb Stark after Ned’s death, they are there when Theon and the Ironborn take the fortress, then they escape North with Bran Stark. Brodie-Sangster is most famous for staring alongside Liam Neeson in Love Actually, Kendrick recently stared in BBCs Upstairs Downstairs.
The Hobbit
With principle photography complete on both Hobbit films, some of the cast and director Peter Jackson were at Comic-Con promoting the first release. During an interview with TheOneRing.net Jackson admitted the posibility that there could be a third film in the offing.
An interesting year or three ahead, and come this time next year we’ll have Comic-con 2013.
Joe has posted the UK cover for his next book Red Country.
Carrying on the theme of maps and weapons used on the previous two books - Best Served Cold & The Heroes – this one shows the area the story is set in with some knives.
The wrap around gives you the full effect and the blurb…
They burned her home.
They stole her brother and sister.
But vengeance is following.
Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she’ll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she’s not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb’s buried a bloody past of his own, and out in the lawless Far Country, the past never stays buried.
Their journey will take them across the barren plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre, high into the unmapped mountains to a reckoning with the Ghosts. Even worse, it will force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, and his feckless lawyer Temple, two men no one should ever have to trust…”
Looking good and will sit nicely alongside the rest of the collection with the battered document style. And if further proof were needed as to who everyone assumes (hopes) the character “Lamb” is, then read the first line of Joe’s text where he quotes a familiar line.
There it is, the title of my current WIP. A short story that became a novella that’s becoming an obsession.
Originally it was just a short story entitled Gypsy’s Kiss, about a down-at-heel PI pounding the mean streets of Bournemouth, hey if you’ve never been there don’t say it ain’t mean. But halfway in the adventures of my hero, Toby Jones, began to take on more and more depth, like the proverbial snowball becoming an avalanche. Into the end third of the short I realized the tale I had to tell would never fit inside the confines of a short story, so off came that hat and on went the novella one, a nice nifty one with a feather and peak.
Once I’d settled on the fact it would be a longer piece other stories began to come to mind, events in Toby’s and his worlds past, present and future. As these little snippets mounted The Ballad Of Toby Jones title came into my head. It felt good, it felt comfortable, it felt right.
All I’m going to say now is it is set in an alternate world, does not involved aliens but does have Gypsy magic.
All Rights Reserved © Philip Norris July 2012
