Reading list changes

I will be removing the following books from my reading queue and unsorted list:

• Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Ffiona Swabey
• The Secret Middle Ages: Discovering the Real Medieval World by Malcolm Jones
• The Worlds of Medieval Europe by Clifford R. Backman

Since I've decided that Cauldron will not be medieval fantasy, I see no point in spending time on medieval history right now. I might add one or two books on the topic to my unsorted list later.

I will be adding the following to the head of my reading queue:

• Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction by James McClellan
• The Secret History of the Sword: Adventures in Ancient Martial Arts by J. Christopher Amberger
  

I need to learn about the effects of science and technology on history, for which the book by McClellan seems a good place to start. Also, since Cauldron is still going to have swordplay, I need to read a general text on the history of the sword.

Building Cauldron

My initial plan was for Cauldron to be a medieval fantasy world. However, I have decided that this is clichéd and unoriginal; furthermore, writing a convincing medieval fantasy presents a set of problems that I'd rather avoid. Therefore I've decided to reconstruct Cauldron.

Making medieval fantasy convincing is far more difficult than it appears. The fact is, the medieval world was a much different place than the world we live in today. Our world is relatively comfortable and convenient: modern communications, transport, medicine, science and technology allow us to indulge in a lifestyle unimaginable by somebody from, say, the 14th century. These are things we take for granted, which is why it is incredibly difficult for somebody like me to imagine life in the Middle Ages. The problem goes beyond a world's superficial elements, such as styles of food or clothing, or even the state of science and technology; it is fundamentally difficult to imagine a world where venturing outside one's town is an act fraught with risk and danger. In my opinion, properly wrapping my mind around the Middle Ages would require months, if not years, of historical immersion and research.

It is highly tempting to use magic as a way to solve these problems: with magic, one could create a world that is comparable to ours in comfort and convenience. In my opinion, however, this really wouldn't be very good. Dominic Deegan, a prominent webcomic, does this: the result is something that I can only describe as 'medieval fantasy lite'. Michael Terraciano's fictional world is one where modern conveniences and values are transplanted into a superficially medieval setting: this is highly unconvincing, to say the least. Many of these elements make the world not feel 'medieval' at all: one wonders why the medieval trappings are there in the first place.

There is, however, a more basic problem. I could craft a medieval universe that is scrupulously accurate and unfailingly convincing; however, this would really not be new or interesting at all. Medieval fantasy is overdone: there must be thousands of books written in the genre. Even if I were to do years of research before releasing my story, I would only be joining a throng of other writers. There would be nothing to make my work stand out.

Given this state of affairs, I find myself asking: why medieval? If I were to abandon this requirement, I could create my own setting, with whatever elements I chose to put in. Naturally, I can't just run slipshod, sprinkling pirates and ninjas and dragons all over: there will still be a good amount of research to do. This research will be on empires, history, science, technology, and whatever other topics come into play while building worlds.

How does one go about constructing a world this way? There are several elements that I intend to carry over from the old, medieval setting: these parameters will act as a starting point from which I can build the new world. I'm not going to list them all here; however, a few examples include:

• Two humanoid races
• Prominent magic
• Swords
• Dragons
• The Super Cauldron Empire

The basic story I plan to write will stay the same; however, the new setting will help me to clear my mind, while freeing me from the constraints of a medieval world.

Reading list changes

I've been stalled on Kushiel's Dart for months: it's a rather slow book, and I don't have the energy to read it right now (despite all the kinky bits). I think it would be best to read something more relevant to my development on Cauldron: for this reason, I'll be moving Medieval Gentlewoman: Life in a Gentry Household in the Later Middle Ages by Ffiona Swabey to the top of my queue. I need some background on the medieval lifestyle, and this seems like a decent introduction.

I'll also be adding Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction by James McClellan to my unordered list. It's a textbook, and I probably won't read the entire thing, but it seems like a useful resource.

The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three

Since this is the second book in a series, there isn't a lot I want to say about it. I do have a few bullet points:

• When Roland stepped through the portal and looked through Eddie's eyes into a new world, it truly conveyed a sense of strangeness and wonder.
• Earlier, two of Roland's fingers were bitten off by a strange lobster-like creature: this happened in a moment, completely out of the blue, but it left a profound impression, due to the severe negative impact it had on Roland's ability to fire a gun (a fundamental skill for a gunslinger).
• The action scenes were well done, as they were in the previous book: they had a cinematic quality.

I'm not sure what I'll be reading next: I need to prune my reading list. I'll talk about that in a separate post.

A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones is the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel series. Its grim outlook and focus on social turmoil and intrigue make it rather different than most other fantasy I've read till date.

There are certain distinct features of the author's writing style: Martin drops names and concepts casually throughout the narrative, elaborating them later, once they've had a little time to sink in. This is a good way to build the world gradually; also, it motivates the reader to continue reading, in order to find out what these concepts mean. The author writes each chapter from a different character's point of view: his writing style shifts subtly to suit the character in question, making it childish, sardonic, shallow or solemn as necessary. The author seems to prefer shorter sentences: he doesn't use very many colon- or semi-colon-based compound constructions.

The fictional universe is very well realized: the social structure of the Seven Kingdoms feels highly authentic, with numerous noble houses and several distinct social classes. The Dothraki society is equally compelling: it has a completely alien feel, which is important when designing worlds of this sort. Magic is a subtle, yet pervasive, element of the world: although it doesn't play a major role in the society of the present day, occasional hints (and the presence of dragons and other magical creatures) establish it as one of the forces at play. Other magical elements include dreams: they have extrasensory properties, and are clearly more significant than they initially appear to be. Most of the character names in the Seven Kingdoms appear to be variations on names in real life: although there's a lot of variety, they feel consistent and fit into the medieval atmosphere well. Interestingly, there seemed to be a statistically improbable number of names inspired by comic books: there's Starks and shadowcats, and a character named Uncle Ben. (This is probably complete coincidence, of course.) Also, I found it very amusing that one of the noble houses had as its emblem a 'blackadder' (no space).

The characters are generally very complex. A few of them are pure evil (these are mainly children, disturbingly enough); however, most of them are multi-layered and ambiguous. Unlikable characters who commit questionable deeds are often portrayed in a sympathetic light; on the other hand, characters who appear relatively innocent often end up acting against the protagonists. There is a moral compass, though: the primary protagonists (Eddard Stark and his family) are generally portrayed as being on the side of right.

The atmosphere of the story is pessimistic and foreboding. This has a lot to do with the author's outlook: this fictional world is gritty. Instead of the typically romantic image of dragons and castles and knights in shining armor, the harsh realities of a medieval setting are displayed in all their blood and filth and pain. There is no safety net: bad, bad things can happen to anyone, innocent or guilty, adult or child. It first hits you when an eight-year-old boy is shoved from a high windowsill: he is severely injured and goes into a coma, and is later crippled from the waist down. An innocent butcher's boy is run down and killed; a daughter sees her father beheaded before her very eyes. Clearly the author has no qualms about putting his characters through lots and lots of crap: it takes a type of courage to do this. It's something I need to learn to do: the fact is, although you might sympathize with your characters, they're different than you. They live in an alternate universe, where circumstances are wholly different, resulting in an altered lifestyle, worldview and moral outlook. And in a world with medieval trappings, life is necessarily harsh and often cruel: this is something I need to remember while writing Cauldron.

All in all, this is an incredible book. It opened my eyes to a few of the realities of worldbuilding; furthermore, it is technically proficient, with a gripping plot, complex characters, and strong writing. Next up is The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King.

Reading list changes

I'm putting The Emotion Machine on hold. It's very, very dry; furthermore, I have other problems with it (which I just wrote about in my previous post). It's part of the reason why my reading has slowed down: I'll be moving it back to my unsorted list for the time being.

Going to the head of my reading list are:

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Helix by Eric Brown

Travelling back to India

I'm going back to India for winter vacation. While I'm there, I'll mainly be doing background preparation for my upcoming Computer Vision/HCI project, in addition to working on Cauldron. Also I'll be studying the Minnesota road code and catching up on my reading.

I've been rather busy these past several weeks, and my reading has ground to a halt. Part of the reason why is that Marvin Minsky's book is really slow and dry. I also have problems with the fact that although he's presenting an interesting model of human consciousness, he doesn't supply any physiological evidence for his claims. It makes it a lot harder to swallow his theories, and as a result I'm a lot less motivated to continue. I've decided to put the book on hold in favor of other books, so that I can keep up my momentum: I'll update my reading list accordingly.

I've completed the second draft of Swordmaster, my first complete short story in the Cauldron universe: I intend to send it to a few friends for critiquing, in addition to showing it to my family. The interesting thing about Swordmaster is that the story idea popped into my head practically fully-formed: after wrangling with the Lisa Cunningham story for several months, having a complete plot just fall into my brain was surprising, to say the least. Nevertheless, I've written two drafts, and I intend to write one or two more before looking at publication options. The story focuses on Briars Henry, one of the primary antagonists: writing from the enemy's point of view is a little unusual, although it lets me do interesting things with the tone and characterization.

I'm also developing a third fictional universe: I'm calling it Shadow Knights for the time being. It's a giant robot story: right now it seems better suited to a video game than it is to straight up literature, which is fine, really. I'm still shuffling a lot of the ideas around, but I think I could create something interesting, given time.

In addition to my fiction work, I'll be doing preparatory work for a combined Computer Vision/HCI project. I'm taking both those courses next semester, and I want to do a substantive project that I can use as material for a paper. I'll be reading several papers in both fields, while looking for interesting project ideas in the region where they intersect. Once I have a few ideas, I'll come up with project and paper outlines, and consult with both the professors involved.

In other news, one of my friends just got married: although I'll be missing the reception by a few hours, I'm going to a lunch hosted by his family in Mumbai the next day. I also plan on visiting a friend of mine whose sister is getting married in Delhi.

I never got around to taking the written driving test here in Minneapolis: it's on my priority list of things to do as soon as I get back. I intend to study the road code while I'm at home: hopefully I'll be able to take driving lessons over the next semester, so that I can get my license before the summer.