The Bodhisattva

t’s getting to seem like it. I don’t mind movements, they have had a indisputable history of being progressive, I’m thankful (everyday) for New Wave, enjoyed Cyberpunk, loving New Weird (if for nothing else, in between Mieville’s proclamations he managed to bring public awareness back up on M. John Harrison, and for that he can call anyone he wants the wen on the arse of fantasy in my mind).

Let’s see, Magic Realism, Slipstream, Steam-punk (along with any other -punk, including biopunk, Paul Di Filippo’s books kick ass), we had the Mundane SF dialog for a month or so which has seemingly died down recently, however what separated these from the most recent (hopefully, but one can’t tell anymore the way they are popping up), is most of these movements were backed up by some prior work, something that would lend proclamations some gravity, We couldn’t discount Cyberpunk, with Gibson, Sterling, Rucker, Cadigan, Stephenson etc, writing all these brilliant works, we can’t piss on New Weird, no matter how much fans of the mundane want to, for the simple reason that your favorite High Fantasy (or as Hal Duncan calls it “Chronicles of the Objects of Power Saga, Volume Umpty Fucking Ump” writer has never, and more importantly, will never write a novel remotely comparable or as relevant as Perdido Street Station. We certainly can’t discount The New Wave, Michael Moorcock, J.G. Ballard, Brian Aldiss, Harlan Ellison, Philip Jose Farmer, Roger Zelazny, Samuel Delany, Thomas Disch, etc, - most of the other movements are mere branches of inspirations of the New Wave tree.

At any rate enough of that, you all know that. I see the other day yet another movement, and in between my shock and a suddne growing desire to hurl, I find that it’s a false alarm as this New Edge vaguely sounds like something that not only has been around for some period of time, but is still around, but read the proclamation for yourself. I apparently wasn’t the first to see it, as Gabe (in Gabe fashion) responds in what ultimately is my reaction. As Gabe already did, let look at the basic tenets of this “new” movement:

1. A hardboiled tone - as in terse and unsentimental

2. Exotic settings and/or settings that live - as in NOT faux Tolkien (if the settings echo Tolkien or other writers then they must be twisted or seen from some new perspective)

3. Evoking a sense of wonder - magic is never banal or easy, the fantastic should not be mundane

4. High energy storytelling - as in fast and without padding

My reply, again mirrors Gabe’s, (simply because I think he is abslutely right, and picked the perfect example imaginable that personifies the listed criteria of the New Edge) but I will take some advice I received this week and practice at being slightly vitriolic). Doesn’t that fucking describe Matthew Stover’s Caine novels? The man who says “If you’re gonna play Poke the Bear, you better keep in mind that the bear doesn’t give a shit it’s just a game.” Is Sword/Sorcery with minimal humor not still Sword/Sorcery? If not, is the slight deviation of enough gravity to merit another movement?

All that said, and before I get branded someone who pokes fun or critiques a product I haven’t, or am not going to read, I want to add that the publication group affiliated with this movement, Pitch-Black Books was kind enough to send me an advance review copy of their Sword/Sorcery anthology Lords of Swords, and I’m very much appreciative of it, as I’m a huge fan of Sword/Sorcery, and freely claim works by Howard (Solomon Kane, Conan, Bran Mak Morn) Fritz Leiber (Lankhmar), Karl Edward Wagner (Kane) as among my favorites, and this anthology features work by authors like Tanith Lee, and a personal favorite Vera Nazarian (why haven’t you read Lord of the Rainbow yet BTW?). Unfortunately, no matter what author is lending their talent to it, and what elements they use, no matter where it will end up in regards to percieved or realized quality, the description within the proclamation is nothing new.

The argument is not one regarding the legitimacy, merit, or even the greatness of Sword/Sorcery, as this was affirmed ever since the term was spoken by Fritz Leiber to Michael Moorcock - it’s simply something that is not new, and not due to the recent frequency of movements that Cheryl Morgan reacted to aptly, it’s simply not different from any product, already both available and popular as well.

At any rate, if you get nothing else from that entire mess, go buy Matthew Stover’s Blade of Tyshalle, and you will forgive me anyway.

Other stuff/news/etc:

Regarding a thread at FBS, I just wanted to point out Hal Duncan’s response, which is just classic:)

Caught wind of a pretty interesting round-table interview with China Mieville by reading Matthew Cheney’s wonderfully informative and insightful blog.

Simply because I have had to answer a question 3 times now on various messageboards, one that is so ridiculous, I have to put an end to here. Apparently there is some online site that is saying Stephen Donaldson’s Covenant series has surpassed JRR Tolkien in books sold becoming the best seller in Fantasy History. Okay, I have seen this quote at one place , and it’s no longer being used by them, and it’s a damn book club. I am not implying it’s not stated elsewhere, but it doesn’t matter - because the notion is absurd. We know that Donaldson is not the top seller in fantasy history and we know he is not even close to being such. J.K. Rowling through 5 novels has sold over 250 million copies. Tolkien has sold over 100 million a figure that is misleading due to many of those single units are accounting for 3 novels. Now from various sources, all not related to each other, we read that around the time Runes of the Earth came out (last year) Donaldson’s series had sold 6 million copies. This can be read here, here, and here. Now, unless The Runes of the Earth sold 245 million copies (which is of course absolutely absurd, I would be surprised if it sold 2 million, which is still damn good) this shouldn’t be a discussion. Now, I could be entirely wrong (regarding actual figures), but I think it’s safe to assume Stephen Donaldson hasn’t sold more copies of the ‘Covenant’ series than Tolkien has sold copies of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, nor has he sold more than Rowling - I can’t imagine it’s even close. It seems to me any one of Rowling’s books has sold many more copies than Donaldson has sold in totality.

250 million (Rowling) > 6 Million (Donaldson) and 100 million (deceptive Tolkien number) > 6 million (Donaldson)

Regardless, Mervyn Peake > Tolkien, Donaldson, and Rowling combined. I don’t give a damn about financial figures - and I enjoy all 3 of the latter authors to some extent.