Kevin's Watch

Solar wrote:I submitted a question to the GI, and SRD sent me a private response. His answer was RAFO, and he said that 'RAFO' was more of a spoiler than he was willing to make public (hence his private reply).

So now I'm stuck with a vague spoiler that nobody knows about but me, and I can't tell anyone about it without betraying SRD's trust.

...Does this happen often?

High Lord Tolkien wrote:My Great Aunt has a letter form Tolkien where he answers her questions about whether or not Balrogs literally have wings.
She let me read it on the condition that if I tell anyone she cuts me out of her *considerable* will.
So, until she passes away I keep my mouth shut.

Orlion wrote:SRD seems to like to give private responses a lot, but a "Read And Find Out"response? Haven't heard about that! Don't worry, I at least won't try to weasel the question out of you...yet...

John: Steve,

how do you like the cover art for AATE?

Cover art is NOT your book - it's not what you wrote and has actually nothing to do with the story you tell, but it occurs to me that a novel, in a way, becomes collaborative work: people buy and read your work, but also they also buy the artists work. Perhaps some people may buy a book because of the cover?

So, are you happy with the cover fir AATE?

John

It's not really good "politics" (for lack of a better word) for me to comment on the cover art for an on-going project. But...oh, well. To my eye, "The Last Chronicles" covers are too static (they don't convey the impression that the book contains a story) and too literal (they don't look like what I had in mind). But the AATE cover is an improvement over FR's: what is *Gandalf* doing on the cover of my book? And AATE is more "accurate" than TROTE.

(06/14/2010)

Colin R. Grimes: As a matter of artistic curiosity:

Since you have already started on "The Last Dark" and made a special deal with your publishers to get out of book tours so that you can work on it, I was wondering if this was prompted solely by the difficulty of the work, or did you find yourself upon completing AATE so caught up/inspired that you just felt you had to plunge right in? My curiosity in this matter was aroused by statements of yours that this is far from your usual practice (i.e. that you don't like to start work on a new book during all the tedium of the process of getting another book ready for publication).

First, I have to say clearly that I did NOT make “a special deal” with my publishers to get out of book tours. I simply preempted their desires by announcing my refusal. They looked baffled for a moment, then said, OK, and, We aren’t really surprised. My contract does not obligate me to help my publishers promote my books.

That said, I do feel a desire to get a jump on “The Last Dark.” The difficulty of the task contributes to my feeling of urgency, no doubt. But I’m sure that much of my internal pressure comes from just how *long* I’ve spent both working on “The Last Chronicles” (9+ years) and waiting to work on “The Last Chronicles” (30+ years). I want to be DONE with the &%^@%& thing. It’s true that I don’t like to start on a new book when I’m constantly interrupted by the chores of preparing the previous book. Those interruptions make me crazy. But these are special circumstances.

Plus, of course, I’m not getting any younger….

(06/20/2010)

SRD wrote:I want to be DONE with the &%^@%& thing.

Charles W. Adams: You had stated that you weren't happy with the cover art for the last book (US version), and in fact it really did reveal a lot about what was going to happen in the story.

I can say with certainty (at least for me) that the cover art for this book reveals practically nothing. I'm clueless. The only thing I can derive is that at some point of the book the Worm hasn't consumed the Earth yet (and Chapter 1 revealed that already, and the fact that there's a 4th book is a pretty big clue).

If you do in fact have influence over the cover art, and if you expressed a desire for the cover to be less revealing this time, they seem to have taken your advice.

My US editor knows how I feel about putting Caligula on the cover of "The Runes of the Earth," and especially about putting Gandalf (or Saruman) on "Fatal Revenant." More to the point, she cares how I feel. And she had more lead-time with "Against All Things Ending," so she was able to consult with me fairly closely on the artist's behalf. So far, so good.

(07/02/2010)

And she had more lead-time with "Against All Things Ending," so she was able to consult with me fairly closely on the artist's behalf. So far, so good.

wayfriend wrote:Does anyone know what "Caligula on the cover of 'The Runes of the Earth'" refers to?

The original Whelan (?) cover had a landscape and some people far off in the distance. Then I guess they re-issued with a Palencar cover with a man and a horse, but he doesn't look like Caligula to me...

wayfriend wrote:(heads up: don't google caligula images at work ...)

Anonymous: I'm re-reading FR in order to get ready for the release of AATE in October. It is hard for me to believe that I missed all the clues that TC was really Roger. Now that I have had time to take my time and digest the writing, this was rather artfully done. It was like I suspected something was wrong but I was hoping that it wasn't. Everything from the title, to how Roger and Jeremiah spoke and acted, etc..all pointed to a very logical conlusion. Caught with my eyes wide open....

Question: In 2nd chronicles you explored the whole idea of necessity of freedom of choice and even in FR you mention that Joan's ring is not really usable by Roger or Foul to break the arch of time since her mind is broken. But I guess the idea of tricking someone in to giving up their ring is okay?? Seems like semantics. Linden is not freely giving up her ring (with intent)to Roger if she thinks that it is TC, so isn't the ring not really able to help break the arch of time?? In WGW, TC gives up the ring intentionally and that is why LF can make us of it. Thanks for the website, I really enjoy it!

I admit that "the necessity of freedom" can be confusing. But keep in mind that people who have not been explicitly given white gold can still use it (e.g. Linden): they just can't exert its full potential. And beware of comparing unlike situations. If, for instance, Roger had obtained Covenant's ring in the past, he wouldn't need wild magic's full potential in order to commit significant violations of the Land's history, thereby undermining the Arch of Time indirectly.

To that I would add that being tricked or manipulated is not the same as being coerced. With trickery or manipulation, the person handing over the ring is still doing so intentionally. The fact that the person is not aware of all the implications of doing so doesn't change the fact that the person *could* have chosen otherwise. As long as the giver retains the power of choice, the necessity of freedom is satisfied.

Compare Kasreyn in TOT. He's trying to use coercion rather than trickery or manipulation. He tries everything he can except physically cutting off Covenant's finger (which he is probably afraid to do because something deep in Covenant may still be capable of striking back). Well, if he succeeded, he wouldn't acquire anything like the full potential of wild magic. But he doesn't want that: the idea of destroying the Arch of Time would horrify him. All he wants is more power (OK, a *lot* more power) WITHIN the world as he understands it. The power to "create perfect works and fear nothing" (if I remember rightly). So he has no reason *not* to attempt coercion.

(07/08/2010)

Seareach wrote:Yes, that's the Caligula cover