#paul genesse

[kaitlundzupanic]

Griffin study! Working on some studies before I dive into the next Iron Dragon art!

[kaitlundzupanic]

NFS

Tonight's INKtober drawing is of a Griffin from the world of Ae’leron! Ae'leron is an amazing world created by Paul Genesse

"Thornclaw Forest

The area surrounding Cliffton is the heart of the meanest, nastiest forest in all the world of Ae'leron, the Thornclaw Forest. It is a curse and a blessing. It keeps the Drobin Empire away, but danger is always close. Man eating creatures and poisonous plants dominate the Thornclaw. The Wind Walker Mountains to the West are tall and rugged. Snow dusts their peaks year round. The small village of Armstead nestles in the mountains, but no other settlers dare live in the remote countryside. The plains to the south are the most dangerous area as the griffins and other creatures have an unobstructed view of their prey. The vrelk herds spend most of their time in the forest, but they must migrate across the plains once a year--and it is at that time when the griffins are very well fed. "

Read more here -  http://www.paulgenesse.com/home.html

[musashijones]

[goatfairyreviews-blog]

Interview with Paul Genesse

To go along with my review of The Golden Cord by Paul Genesse is perhaps my favorite interview to date. Mr Genesse took the time out of his most assuredly busy schedule to answer some questions I had after reading the first book of his Iron Dragon series. Here is what he had to say. 

In1. In one sentence how would you describe the Iron Dragon series to a potential reader?

A hunter must leave behind the woman he loves, give up all hope of survival, as he is forced to guide his most hated enemies on a suicidal journey to the lair of the dragon king.

2. How did the idea for the Iron Dragon series come about?

I created the world of Ae’leron first, after being fascinated with the plateaus in Venezuela, called Tepuis (they were in the movie “Up” and “Arachnaphobia,” and also the plateaus in the Grand Canyon, totally cut off from the outside world. Also, I read about Olympus Mons, the 65,0000 foot tall shield volcano on Mars that is 500 miles in diameter—that’s the size of Arizona. That’s how the world I created came about and the adventure followed as I developed a grand storyline that involved a super villain, Draglûne, The Iron Dragon King. He’s ruthless, diabolical, and incredibly powerful, but his previous overt attempts at taking over the plateaus failed, so now he is trying something far more devious. I wanted a small band of heroes to go after him, as I’ve always loved adventures focused on hunting down a dragon—but this is my own unique spin on that classic idea, and you get a dragon hunt like you’ve never seen it before.

 3. What has been the greatest influence on your writing career?

Reading The Hobbit when I was in 4th grade, then Lord of the Rings in 6th grade, then playing Dungeons and Dragons as a teenager, and now the works of George R.R. Martin, Michael Stackpole, Dune by Frank Herbert, and my incredible writing teachers, the award winning Kij Johnson, as well as Michael Stackpole—who is a huge influence on my writing. I’m not a Tolkien emulator, so my Iron Dragon books give a slight nod to Professor Tolkien (I’ve got dwarves and dragons), but break away and move fantasy in a very different direction than Lord of the Rings went. A great review I received from the President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America wrote: “This is a story that’s worth your time. It’s almost like going back to that first fantasy novel that totally captivated you and you read it over and over again. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.”

 4. One of my favorite aspects of The Golden Cord was the race relations between humans and the Drobin. How did this idea formulate?

I wanted to show racism in a fantasy world, and as far as I know, there aren’t any dwarven dominated worlds out there where the humans are subservient. In Ae’leron, the dwarves, (Drobin) are very populous and Drobin females have 20 children or more during their youth (they live 250 years or so and have fifty years of fertility), and they are in direct conflict with the fractious, short-sighted, and impetuous humans who are much less numerous, and are relegated to vassal status.  The Drobin just want to keep the humans from destroying everything and if humans were in charge, the world would be much less orderly—that’s the Drobin view. The subsequent novels explore this much more than in book one. The main character in The Golden Cord, Drake lives in a village in the middle of the hellish Thornclaw Forest so his people can have freedom from the oppressive Drobin, but later in the series the reader gets to see what’s actually happening in the world far away from the Thornclaw Forest, and it’s pretty intense stuff.

 5.  The Golden Cord features the deadly aevians, creatures that seem to display the ferocious nature of beasts with the cunning of a higher intellect. What convinced you to take this particular route with your sky demons?

Dumb monsters are usually boring. Intelligent foes are much better opponents, and I imagined griffins as very intelligent lions with wings, and wouldn’t that be terrifying if flights of flying lions were stalking you? I think of the movie, The Ghost and the Darkness, which was about the man-eating lions of Savo who stalked and killed hundreds of people. The griffins in Ae’leron are like those vicious lions, but they can see you from miles away as they circle in the air and they are smart and always hungry for man and dwarf flesh. The humans and Drobin of Ae’leron are tough, but they’re not at the top of the food chain most of the time.

 6. Say you are buying a recently released book for a dearly beloved friend and an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy. What would it be?

Seed by Rob Ziegler is so awesome. It’s sci-fi brilliance and gets my highest recommendation. As for fantasy, it would be the Lays of Anuskaya series by Bradley Beaulieu, Russian flavored fantasy with wind ships—it’s like Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (the Game of Thrones series on HBO) combined with Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin. Book one of the Anuskaya series, The Winds of Khalakovo is a great read.

 7.  If the Iron Dragon series were an ice cream flavor, which flavor would it be?

Dark chocolate with tiny orange flavored chips inside.

 8.  Other than the Iron Dragon series do you have any other works of fiction planned for the near future? What is your dream project?

I’m working on a rewrite of my unpublished novel, Medusa’s Daughter, a dark fantasy set in ancient Greece which tells the real story behind the Medusa myth, and of course, the daughter no one knew about . . . until now. It’s my dream project, and it will be a trilogy, and I believe a major publisher will buy it.

9.  Say the Iron Dragon series has been turned into summer blockbuster by a major film studio. What three songs would you absolutely require to be put on the soundtrack?

Thunderstruck by AC/DC

Sandman by Metallica

All I Want is You by U2

10.  Any final words for readers?

I love books that take me on memorable adventures, and show me things I’ve never seen before, and keep the tension up all the way. I hate low-tension, quiet books, which bore me to death. My goal is keep the readers attention, with twists, turns, and interesting characters that evolve and grow, and kick ass. In fantasy, the world has to be interesting as well, and the world of Ae’leron is a place I really enjoy writing about because it’s so dangerous. When the movie Avatar came out, the planet of Pandora reminded me a little of Ae’leron, though without all the glow in the dark stuff, or the blue people, but that sense of wonder I had when I looked at Pandora is what I was going for to a certain extent in the Iron Dragon series.

At its core, the plateau world of Ae’leron is a brutal place, surrounded by an abyss of clouds and no one knows what’s down below the mist off the edge of the cliffs, aside from the winged creatures that fly up and onto the plateaus. It’s a place of mystery, and watchfulness, and the people living there are danger all the time, especially as long as the Iron Dragon King is alive . . . but the last of an order of dragon hunters hope to put an end to him, unless he finds them first.

Thanks so much for your time and consideration Mr. Genesse.

[goatfairyreviews-blog]

The Golden Cord by Paul Genesse

Most authors have horror stories from their days in the trenches, trying to get published. Some authors have more traumatic stories than most, and Paul Genesse has one of the worst ones I have heard. Paul is an author and an editor, responsible for anthologies such as The Crimson Pact. Paul is also a totally awesome promoter of other authors, having hooked me up with Bradley Beaulieu, the author of The Winds of Khalakovo and Rob Ziegler of Seed. A wise publisher would snatch him up and put him to work in the marketing department. Despite all this good-will-towards-man, Paul's Iron Dragon series got stuck with a sinking publisher. As a result Paul had to buy back the rights to his series in order to finish it but much of his momentum had been lost. If you think it is difficult selling the first book in a series to a publisher, imagine attempting to sell the third. So there it is, the equivalent of being hit by literary napalm. Ill fortune aside, Paul continues on writing, editing, and promoting other authors. It was my pleasure to read and review The Golden Cord, book one of the Iron Dragon series. 

Drake Bloodstone is the guardian of Cliffton. He is a compassionate, dutiful young man haunted by the death of a close friend. Life in Cliffton is no picnic, residing so close to the Void with the ever present threat of wyverns and griffins, but there is still room for fun and happiness. Then, one day, visitors come to Cliffton seeking a guide through the hazardous forest to the lair of a dragon. Drake volunteers to help these visitors and embarks on a journey that will test his strength and courage. 

Sounds like a pretty straight forward epic fantasy adventure right? Almost. The Golden Cord has all the makings of a standard dragon slaying quest but then you must take into account the actual world the adventure is set in. Paul has crafted an inimitable land. Cliffton resides in a forest that is seemingly hostile to all forms of life. It is an environment that evolved in the face of the threat posed by the aevians (wyverns and griffins and such). The flora and the fauna both are treacherous, providing both a haven to the wary and a snare to oblivious. That the forest could grow to be so sinister strikes me as entirely natural in the context of the novel.

Paul also teases glimpses of a bigger world, allowing that The Golden Cord is of a more narrow focus. Sequels are sure to pose more wondrous settings. The best part of the world that Paul has crafted is the race relationship dynamic. There are humans and the dwarven Drobin primarily, as well as an ork'ish race called the Giergun and the feared aevians. The Drobin are despised by the humans who are often enslaved and used to fight against the Giergun. Meanwhile the aevians have all the ferocity of a wild predator, with the cunning of a creature with much higher intelligence. The racial tension is a nice twist, prejudice of this sort is often overlooked in most fantasy. 

Drake Bloodstone makes for a decent protagonist, exhibiting all the virtues of a fledgling hero. Alone, I could take or leave him. Once he is joined by the Drobin dragon hunters Bellor and Thor, however, the story really starts going. The three make a good team, with Bellor playing the role of the wise mentor and Thor standing in as the hot headed warrior. The friendship and camaraderie that develops between these adventurers, despite ingrained prejudice, is pretty great. 

Unfortunately, where the setting and the characters power on the plot tends to slack a little. There are some dark revelations that are sure to pique the interest and the purpose of the quest is very compelling but the ending is disappointing. I can't fault Paul for setting the foundation of the sequel but the lack of climax a bummer, making The Golden Cord feel closer to Part One than Book One. There is also a romantic interest. If you know me at all by now then you know unless the romance angle is very very necessary or very very well established it just throws me off. Drake's love interest may in fact be necessary but it also feels cheesy. The story isn't over so there is still room for it to grow and develop some interesting layers. 

Reading The Golden Cord I got this Tolkien'esque vibe. In a lot of ways The Golden Cord reminded me of The Hobbit. Granted, a darker and more narrow version but The Hobbit nonetheless. And for this I really have to commend Paul because I never felt like he was just writing another Tolkien knockoff. The whole reason I stopped reading fantasy to begin with was the lack of originality and despite the standard fantasy tropes, The Golden Cord has an abundance of new ideas. Rough around the edges but a solid start to a new fantasy series with loads of potential, The Golden Cord by Paul Genesse is a worthy read. You can be certain that I will return to the Iron Dragon series with The Dragon Hunters, Book Two. 

*The magical Goatfairy grants The Golden Cord by Paul Genesse, 7 out of 10 cheesewands*

[musashijones]

Crowd Surfing - SLC NERD PT01

Some great interviews of SLC Nerd by the local cable show Crowd Surfing.

[goatfairyreviews-blog]

Update

It looks like I have my reading cut out for me for the next month at least. I finished The Hunger Games last night and got a start on Mark Wandrey's Earth Song: Overture which looks to put the science back in science fiction. The prologue was so intense that Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich decided to compete in pitched combat for the movie rights. After that I have Ari Marmell's YA debut, Thief's Covenant. You could say I'm psyched to read the first Widdershins novel but it would be an understatement. And last (for now) but not least, last night I got in contact with author/editor Paul Genesse who was kind enough to send me e-ARCs for his Iron Dragon series. 

In other news we may have our first music review coming to us at the end of the week. Also, with all this hype over Mass Effect 3 I would love to get a review posted and soon. Anyway, spread the word and keep checking back for updates. Have a good evening!