parent nodes: MilleniCon | StarSpawn | Upcoming Conventions
MilleniCon
MilleniCon (March 14-16 2008) Holiday Inn Hotel I-275, Cincinnati, OH. GoHs: Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due, Mark Kantelehner, Tom Smith. http://www.millennicon.org/.
My wife and I attended MilleniCon this past weekend. It is a smaller con, with around 300 in attendance. About half the con was dedicated toward costuming. There was an excellent art exhibit, along with some outstanding panels.
For me, one of the best panels was the one on finding an agent - basically, it is done through networking and while no agents were there (as far as I know), I did meet a number of authors including three you should know about:
Kaza Kingsley is a wonderful new writer who has provided us with her own world of magic and fantasy for young adult readers. This (The Dragon's Eye) and her second book (The Monsters of Otherness) are the first entries in the Erec Rex series. The third is due out in October (2008) and she is actively writing more in the series.
I strongly recommend both of these books for young and old readers alike and everyone in between. Kaza is a remarkable woman with a vivid imagination who juggles parental duties over four younger children with her love of writing. The Erec Rex series is no Harry Potter wannabe and improves on the genre considerably. I have always had problems with Harry's tendency toward lying and while it may be in character, I am not happy that he has become such a hero for kids in their formative years. Harry's lies never seem to catch up to him and that has always been a problem for me.
Erec, on the other hand, believes in honesty and is bothered when information he would like to know (well, more like answers to some of his life's puzzles) is withheld. When he is told to lie, he doesn't like it and does it only out of necessity (and on strong advice of adults around him). This isn't to say that Erec is a perfect child (he isn't), but he tries to do what he believes is right. Yes, Harry does what he believes is right, too, but the lack of ethics where it comes to being fully honest and truthful is a dangerous flaw in the Harry Potter series.
While this first story had some predictability, it also had some interesting twists, making it a fun read. (I completed it in about seven or eight hours.) At the end of this first story, Erec is told that he must go on 12 quests, which has a tie-in to the Hercules legend. But again, I need to stress that Erec is his own person.
The only complaint that I have about this novel is that some of the descriptions are not sufficiently clear to paint a scene picture (they were a bit on the confusing side), which can be attributed to this being Kaza's first novel. Her next book, The Monsters of Otherness, doesn't have that problem.
I use a scale of 1 to 10 in rating books and give The Dragon's Eye an 8, which is better than any of the Harry Potter books (and I've read them all).
In The Monsters of Otherness, Kaza reaches her writing maturity in this novel, with no flaws of any kind. Erec now must start on his quests and faces some interesting challenges. Unlike the first novel, there was no predictable element. You know at the very beginning that young Erec is destined to become a King in this wonderful world of magic. I won't provide any spoilers and will only say that the book left me wanting the next one to be published and available - Kaza tells me it will released in October (2008).
Like the first book in the series, I read this in about seven hours and couldn't put it down. I need to stress that despite what some reviewers have said, Erec Rex is not Harry Potter in any way. Harry is constantly assailed with doubts and while Erec has his weaknesses, they are not the same as Harry's by any stretch of the imagination.
This story covers the first two (sacrifice and justice) of twelve quests (a reference to Hercules) and Erec gains some wonderful gifts along the way to proving he is worthy of his destiny. I have a feeling that his friend Bethany is more than just a friend, but we will have to wait to find out.
Yes, there are unanswered questions, but that's okay. These stories are part of a larger whole and like any good story, these novels are intertwined with each other. The first introduced us to Erec and this second now provides us with more of his history and his ultimate goal. The influence of unlimited power and its corruption is a very strong theme and Erec's Achilles' heel. His youth also makes him vulnerable to the lies of man (or beast) and his courage in facing these threats to his mortality is a worthy example to young readers.
In my rating system of 1 to 10, I gave The Monsters of Otherness a solid 9 and am holding off giving it a ten because I suspect one of the later books in the series will top this one (though that will be hard to do).
As a side note, Melvyn Grant's chapter illustrations (for both novels) are a treat and add to the imagery of this magic world.
Tracy Chowdhury writes adult material and while I haven't had time to read either of her books (a duology) in the Shadow Over Shandahar series, she is another remarkable woman who also is married, has four young children, and also does cancer research. She wrote the books, but leaned heavily on a partner for ideas and thus gives him a byline. I will read the books over the next few weeks and provide my thoughts on the series.
Tammy Jo Eckhart writes what she calls erotic fiction and I picked up two of her books, one of which is a collection of selected short stories. During some of the panels, she mentioned that while her work is considered erotic fiction, it is not pornography. She spends time either building up to the act or dealing with the consequences of the act. Again, I'll provide my thoughts on the material once I read them.
Donna Waltz participated on several excellent panels dealing the fantastical creatures, including those from mythology - namely dragons, Pegasus, and centaurs. She has a PhD in nutritional biochemistry, so a lot of the discussions dealt with the care and feeding of these creatures. Basically, given the size of even the smallest horses, Pegasus couldn't get off the ground. Likewise the amount of food that a centaur would need to consume would be tremendous and where the organs would be located would be a good challenge. And then there are dragons. As long as they don't fly, we're okay. It is feasible for them to breathe fire and do all the nasty things that dragons are known for. But flying?
Here's the problem. Nowhere in any fossil record are there six-limbed animals (reptile or mammal). So, there is no history for such an animal. But that doesn't preclude that there can't be such animals. So, a dragon with four feet and wings (and a pixie or faerie with two legs, two arms, and wings) have no historical evidence to support them. The same goes for winged angels and other creatures, such as the Pegasus.
The second problem is one of logistics - weight. A beast weighing about 100 pounds (pretty light when you consider it) would need a wingspan of 90 feet (i.e., 45-foot wings) to be able to fly. If you are talking gliding, then the size could be smaller, but they would have to jump off cliffs or very high mountains.
They certainly could not attack and carry off a man, woman or even small child of about 30 pounds. So, Pernese Dragons (i.e., Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey) are a physical impossibility. Likewise, you could not ride Pegasus and it is unlikely that Gandalf could ride a giant Eagle.
The largest known flying animals (ever to have lived) are no heavier than 200 pounds (and that is rare). Typically, the heaviest living animals weigh in at about 30 pounds.
But, out of these discussions came the answers to some problems that I had been facing in my later books and, I will be able to have plausible creatures in my stories.
Magic, by the way, changes things and negates the need to be responsible to the physical limitations of these creatures. Thus, Pete's Dragon (the Disney film) is a plausible creature (with those really tiny wings) because he is a magical creature.
It is likely that dragon lore (which is present in a lot of countries) came from people finding fossils and not properly identifying them, thus mixing dinosaurs with the flying mammals of the time.
Altogether, the conference was excellent. I plan to attend next year's conference, since it is a nice small conference and only about an hour and a half from Indianapolis, where our daughter lives.
You may wonder why I have not mentioned the guest of honor. Let's just say that I was more impressed with some of the local authors and their works.
Report created: March 18, 2008