The Story that Might Have Been...Part One

Journey back with me if you will to May 1999, before internet ticket buying, and assigned seating (God bless those who invented assigned seating). You are standing in line outside the newest multi-screen theater, publicly ridiculing but secretly admiring those who dressed up. After about two hours, the ushers start letting you into the theater where you will wait another half hour illegally saving seats and buying overpriced candy and soda. The enthusiasm of the crowd is electric, and you can't help but feel like a kid on Christmas, especially if you have waited twenty years for this moment. The lights go down, the familiar music blares out of the DTS sound system, and your entire childhood seems to return in an instant. But about ten minutes into the movie, your heart starts to sink, and you realize that, as flashy and pretty as it is, this is not YOUR Star Wars.

Yes, I was describing my experience at the opening night of The Phantom Menace, and with the 3D version soon hitting theaters, all of that old pain and disappointment has been drudged up. So, I am finally going to put all of my complaining and criticizing to a constructive use in order to help others see the story that might have been. Think of this as my "Ninety-Five Thesis" except less important, and not as long - although because I have a lot to say, I will split it into parts, this being the intro.

Why the Hero's Mentor Has to Die.

Obi Wan Kenobi, Dumbledore, Brom, Kelsier, and Gandalf. What do these fictional characters have in common? Well, they were all mentors to great heroes, but each of them also did not live to see their protégé’s win the day (well Gandalf cheated and came back to life). So why does a hero’s senex have to die? Do they have to die? What would happen if they didn’t die or leave the hero to finish their work? I believe the answer to this question is yes, the mentor must die (or leave) in order for the hero to rise to his or her full potential. Why? Well, let’s look at an everyday example.

Stevie is a 25 year-old, single male who lives in his parent’s basement. He has a part time job at the local burger-joint, but doesn’t pay rent, buy groceries, or worry about dependents. The only way Stevie will see the need to go to college, save money, or get a full time job is if he is forced out of his moocher’s, comfort zone. In short, Stevie’s parents have to kick him out in order for him to develop ambition or go anywhere in life. You get the point.

When a hero embarks on his journey, he or she is usually weak, vulnerable, and always inexperienced. Consequently, they need protection, training, and an education. They need someone to give them a reason to fight, a reason that is driven home by the sacrifice of their mentor. Think about it. How much more motivated did Luke Skywalker become in fighting the Empire when Ben Kenobi was reduced to a pile of robes by Darth Vader? He didn’t really start growing up until everything Obi Wan taught him about the evil of their enemies was illustrated in his being slain by those very villains. Therefore, the mentor capstones all of his preaching and moral instruction with an object lesson – one that says “this is what you’re fighting and this is how important it is for you to fight it.”

But how does the death of the mentor make the hero stronger? Aside from galvanizing the hero into determined action, the absence of the mentor exposes the hero to the full threat of his enemies (Harry Potter 7 is an excellent example of this). Like the resistance of weight-training, the facing of death and danger forces the hero to stretch, draw on all of his or her resources, forge their own alliances, and ultimately grow stronger. Without this, the hero would never rise to the challenge of changing the world.

So the next time someone says, Dumbledore shouldn't have had to die, you can answer; if he didn't Harry would've never saved the world.

Night Angel 3

Brent Week's compelling Night Angel tale wraps up in the final installment of the trilogy, Beyond the Shadows. Having helped save Cenaria from Khalidor and it's god-king, Kylar Stern goes to make good on his promise to the Wolf to find Curoch and hurl it into Ezra's wood where it will be safe from those who would use it for evil. From there he becomes involved in the power struggle between Ceura, and Cenaria's unlawful (and incestuous) queen. But that is just the beginning of a journey that will conclude in a Return of the King-style battle against legions of undead creatures. Weeks continues to demonstrate that he is better at characterization than he is at story mapping. What do I mean by that? Well, while Weeks excels in creating likable and endearing characters, the flow of this story sometimes felt inorganic and disharmonious. This wasn't a problem in the first volume of the Night Angel Trilogy, but seems to become prevalent in the second and third installments. Let me be clear. I liked this book - a lot. But I finished it feeling like Weeks hadn't taken full advantage of the intriguing world he has created (parts of which he borrowed heavily from Robert Jordan). It is only in the end of the third book that the characters encounter another Kakari, and that is a vague scene that left me with several unanswered questions. Also, the strongest story thread of Beyond the Shadows was not the main character’s journey, but that of the prophet Dorien. Having rejected his birthright as successor to god-king Gareth Ursuul and using the dark magic of Khalidor’s goddess, Khali, Dorien returns from exile to rescue his future wife. Unfortunately, while trying to escape from Khalidor, Dorien is cornered and forced to draw on the Vir to defend himself, thus taking his first step to becoming what he hates, a tyrant like his father. The story of Dorien’s fall from grace and ultimate redemption is so compelling, that it alone made this book worth reading.
B minus for the compelling, but disappointingly thin, Beyond the Shadows.

What motivates your villain?

Let's face it, there really aren't that many different kinds of villains, not when you get down to the basics of it. For example; there are those bad guys who want power, those who want revenge, those who act on uncontrollable impulses, those who have noble intentions but use evil means to reach their goals, and then there are those that just want to cause mayhem and destruction for the sheer thrill of it. If you think about it, all the villains in our favorite stories are really just variations or mixtures of these archetypes. The key, then, to crafting a compelling villain, is not to invent a new type of antagonist (which really isn’t possible), but to put a fresh spin on one or more of these themes. I will illustrate using five examples.

Those who want power: In my opinion, this is the default villain of choice. It's easy to create someone who just wants to "rule the world." Therefore, the trick is to give your power-hungry baddie an interesting motive for wanting ultimate power. A good example of this would be Anakin Skywalker from Revenge of the Sith. Anakin starts out a hero, but turns to the dark side because he believes it will give him the power to save his wife. But the price of that power ends up being Anakin's soul (and ironically his wife) and he becomes iconic, space-boogieman, Darth Vader.

Those who want revenge: Two Face from the Dark Knight is a great example of this. Once a hero, tragedy filled him so full of grief and hate that his moral boundaries collapsed, and the only thing that ended up driving him was the desire to make someone pay for his loss.

Those who can't control their evil impulses: Whether it be anger, lust, or addiction to something, these villains have turned their wills over to external forces. An example of this would be Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Like real-life junkies, Smeagol innocently finds his addiction, the ring of power, and instantly becomes enslaved to it, so much so that he strangles his brother to get it. From then on, all he cares about is the ring and all the evil and vile things he does are to the end of serving his desire.

The "ends justify the means" villain: These characters are usually not depraved psychopaths, but normal, well meaning people who have made deals with the devil in order to accomplish something good. I like Walternate from Fringe as an example of this. He is simply trying to save his world from a plight caused by someone else. Sure in the process he has to annihilate a parallel universe to do it, but he's willing to make that sacrifice. And that's how he really sees it, a sacrifice and himself a sort of moral martyr.

And finally there is my personal favorite, the villain who wants to cause chaos and death because it's just so darn fun! I thought of several examples of this (the Joker gets an honorable mention), and came up with two flavors of this villain; the sociopath who gets his jollies from causing pain and suffering, and the nihilist who wants to destroy because he believes it a preferable alternative or an inevitability. My two examples come from the Wheel of Time. First, we have Padan Fain, a wretched creature who becomes the embodied antithesis of life. Fain has no agenda save to kill Rand al'Thor and joys in being a living blight upon the world - a truly compelling, and frightening villain. We have our second example in Elan Morin Tedrona AKA Ishamael/Moridin. Elan was once a respected statesmen and philosophical genius who came to believe that fighting against the Dark Lord was futile, because the turning of the Wheel of Time and the Dark One's eternal nature made his victory inevitable – he could just keep waging war on mankind until he got it right. Thus, without desire for power or glory, Elan became the betrayer of hope, because for him, there was just no other option.

Are you sensing a theme here? To make a villain truly compelling, your audience has to be able to connect with them on some level. This makes them believable and in some cases even pitiable. You want your reader to think "Holy cow, what if that was me? Would I have made those choices? Would I have ended up like him/her?" You do this by showing the good, and humane side of your villain. I don't believe there are many people who are "pure evil," and most people consider mankind generally good. So what took your antagonist from a decent human being to a crazed cannibal that likes to target practice with puppies? Like Anakin Skywalker, the power of a villain to standout is rooted in the journey that took them to villainy. It is also in showing their humanity. Even serial killers sometimes feel bad about what they do, so make your villain human. Shiny, perfect, Boy Scout heroes make a story bland, and so do villains that dance around and sing about just how bad they are and how much they love it. Complexity, gray areas, moral stratification, and self deception are the keys to crafting good villains.

Night Angel 2

Having really enjoyed the first book in the Night Angel Trilogy, I decided to see where the story was going next, and so I spent my August Audible credit on the second book in the series: "Shadow's Edge." After killing Roth and becoming the Night Angel, Kylar Stern wants to get out of the Wetboy (magical assassin) business and settle down with his lifelong love, Elene Cromwyll to raise Durzo's daughter, Uly. To show his commitment to Elene, Kylar promises to never kill again. However, his Night Angel instinct to bring justice to evil doers prevails, and he is unable to hold to that promise. His secret crusade against evil in his new home city makes it possible for his past and new enemies to find him and destroy his new life. After losing everything, Kylar finally decides to take on the ultimate hit - killing the tyrant god-king, Garuth Ursuul. Like it's predecessor, Shadow's Edge features some very endearing characters, as well as a strong hook, and plenty of action scenes. Unfortunately, Weeks also continues to use the F-bomb to excess, often in the oddest and most "story-inappropriate" moments. Shadows Edge is also a great deal more gritty than the first Night Angel book, with a significant amount of sexual content and disturbing violence. However, it wasn't the content issues that disappointed me (after reading the first book, I just expected it). Shadow's Edge starts out very strong, but seems to lose it's way in the middle, and features some bizarre plot twists. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but felt like I was reading (listening) to a rough draft that could have used one more revision. B- for the intriguing, but unpolished "Shadow's Edge."

A new level of epic epic-ness.....

I'm not going to even try to summarize the plots of Sanderson's first installment of The Stormlight Archive. I say plots because there is a whole mess a things going on in this book. For the sake of brevity (and my sanity) I am going break this review into bullet points:
- What I liked
- What I didn't
- My rating and recommendation
What I liked: I am one of millions of overweight Americans. I like to eat big and I like my stories the same way that I like my food - rich, robust, and slowly killing me... That's what I got with The Way of Kings (well except the ‘killing me’ part). The scope of this story is epic and it's characters are some of the most well developed in any book that I've read. The action scenes are worthy of the great battles fought in Mistborn, and the drama and mystery are compelling. And of course, in true Sanderson fashion, there are unexpected plot twists that I should have seen coming but didn't - especially at the end.
What I didn't like: The book opens with a killer, fast-paced action scene and then....nothing…. for a very long time. If you're looking for another Mistborn then you will be a bit disappointed. The Way of Kings seems to have a very different motive than to wow action-fantasy nerds. That's not to say it's not good, it's just a different kind of story with very different pacing - more like Elantris. Another thing that bothered me was that there were a few scenes that felt like they ought to have been cut. One in particular where a man with magical tattoos is introduced, and then never heard from again. I understand Sanderson is world-building for ten books, but some of the Way of Kings felt like information overload.
My Rating and Recommendation: The Way of Kings is a book you definitely do not want to miss. It's level of character development and drama is excellent. However, be warned, not a lot of action with an ending that deliberately doesn't satisfy. A- for the Way of Kings.

My First Novel

Truth be told, this isn't my first novel. I've written others. It's just the first one that has been released to the public. It's the first that I have felt confident is good enough to publish. This post may seem self-serving........and it is. After all, what good is investing years of your life and pieces of your very soul in a project if you don't share it? My wife taught me that (the longer we've been married the more I'm starting to see just how much smarter than me she really is). Ok, enough rambling. About my book:

Valcoria, Children of the Crystal Star is a fantasy story told from the points of view of several characters. However, the story centers around Yuiv, a fourteen year-old street-thief who's kind and honest heart seem incongruous with the criminal's life he is leading. But growing up on the streets of an Amigus border-town has developed his sense of self-preservation to the point that he is able to ignore his sensitive conscience when the situation calls for it. This gets Yuiv into trouble when, for a bag of silver and the promise of freedom from prison, he is tricked into helping a corrupt governor betray his own country by secretly admitting an enemy army into the town. Yuiv is then double-crossed by his employer and thrown back into prison to await a secret (and horrific) execution. There he meets a captured Amigus soldier named Sitrell. Freed from prison by an anonymous sympathizer, the two escape the conquered town and embark on a desperate quest to warn the leaders of Amigus of the invasion. Sitrell is wounded during their flight and starts to fade. This crisis awakens something inside Yuiv and he taps an unknown power which he uses to save Sitrell from death. Thus begins the first step Yuiv takes on realizing his destiny as a Kalyra, a word that means Child of the Crystal Star. The Kalyra can tap what's called Jia - the substance from which a person’s soul is made, and use it to exercise supernatural control over themselves and their environment. Fans of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson will recognize a similar style of narrative, but with more action. Make no mistake, this is an action fantasy with plenty of large scale battles as well as exciting duels. And while I intend to make Valcoria a seven volume series, Children of the Crystal Star stands on its in own with a distinct and satisfying ending. Check it out. I think even non-fantasy fans will find it interesting and enjoyable.
Thanks,
Jason

The Way of AWESOMENESS!!!

Eleven year-old street thief, Azoth, has aspirations to be something more than just a petty criminal. He wants to be a Wetboy - an elite group of ninja-like assassins that can use magic. To accomplish this, Azoth decides to apprentice with Durzo Blint, the city's most notorious and dangerous Wetboy. Reluctant to take an apprentice, Blint challenges Azoth to prove he can be a Wetboy by killing the abusive leader of Azoth's thieves’ guild, Rat - a sociopath with a sick interest in young boys. Azoth kills Rat, proving to Durzo that he can kill and thus begins his Wetboy training. The Way of Shadows hooked me from the first chapter, and I quickly became emotionally invested in the story. Brent Week's characters are complex people with believable struggles and varied outlooks. With plenty of action, and superb storytelling, The Way of Shadows feels like a melding of Wizard's First Rule, Mistborn, and Nolan’s Batman. Be warned, however, for this book has a gritty edge that at times is very disturbing and is full of adult content. While there are not really any actual sex scenes, the story is full of sexual references and inferences, and Week's has a weird habit of dropping the F-bomb, so much so that it detracted from the story. If you have a strong stomach, and aren't offended by strong language, then this book is a must-read. A- for The Way of Shadows!

The Truest of Grit

Jeff Bridges takes on the role of "Rooster" Cogburn, a down-on-his-luck, alcoholic, US Marshall with a reputation for having an itchy trigger finger. Cogburn is hired by 14 year-old Matti Ross to hunt down the man who killed her father, and the two of them are joined by Matt Damon who plays a "by-the-book" Texas Ranger named LeBeouf. Bridges redeems himself for participating in Tron by delivering a performance as entertaining and endearing as Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow. And newcomer Hailee Steinfeld compliments Bridges sloppy, dereliction as his spunky, resourceful, and uninvited sidekick. The film starts out very promising, but a thin and uneventful plot kills its momentum, and True Grit finishes slow with a sloppy, dissatisfying ending. Like Pirates, this movie is made by the performance of its star, but is otherwise unremarkable.
- 2.5 stars for True Grit.

Now I know what I want to be when I grow up!

When street fighting, sharp-shooting accountant, Owen Zastava Pitt's boss turns into a werewolf and tries to kill him, he is recruited to help fight monsters and get paid for it - a lot of money. If you like Men In Black, Hell Boy, or Big Trouble in Little China (or guns), you're going to love Monster Hunter International. Larry Corriea tells a funny, action packed, and at times disturbing tale of one man's awakening to the supernatural and its dark side. I laughed, I cried, and I wanted to blow stuff up. B- for Monster Hunter International.

Best Internet Video Ever!

Ferrets....

Top 10 Super Nintendo games you should play before you die

Awe the days of 16 bit gaming, when cartridges boasted of their megabyte capacities to impress the gaming public. For me this was probably the golden age of video gaming, and so here is my top 10 list of SNES games that anyone who likes games should play before they die;

10.Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo
9. Final Fantasy 2 (or 4 as it is now called)
8. Mortal Kombat 2
7. Super Mario All Stars
6. Star Fox
5. Contra 3
4. Mega Man X
3. Final Fantasy 3 (or as its now called, 6)
2. The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past
1. Chrono Trigger

What's your picks?

History 1700 the way it should have been!

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter may sound like a joke, but that's part of what makes seth grahame-smith's novel so brilliant. You begin reading it without much more expectation than a good chuckle, but soon discover a compelling, emotionally engaging (at times disturbing) action/horror story expertly woven into actual historical events.
Supposedly taken from a collection of secret journals, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter tells of how Honest Abe, enraged at his mother's murder at the hands of vampire, became one of the most dangerous vampire hunters of all time, and how the blood drinking demons played a part in his political career, the Civil War, and his ultimate assassination.
Cleverly written with a quirky charm, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is one of the most original takes on vampire lore that I've ever seen.

B+ for this clever treatment of American History.