The steel remains acabado

Richard Morgan ha actualizado su blog y ha anunciado que ha finalizado The steel remains.

Copio y pego:

So it's done - The Steel Remains is signed sealed and delivered, now awaiting proof and continuity check. UK publication August '08, US dates t.b.a. My first stab (or should that be hack?) at fantasy. Or should that be Sword and Sorcery? Or New Odd High Fantasy? Weird Old Epic Noir, anybody? Low Epic Fantasy? That last has got a nice ring to it - especially as, hey wait, look; people who practice it in three book form could call themselves Low Epic Fantasy Trilogy writers - or LEFTists! Hahaha!!!

Ahem. 'scuse me. Bit demob happy right now.

It is a fair question, though. Beyond the general issue of genre sub-division and infighting (see my guest editorial in the Worldcon edition of Postscripts magazine later in the year for a rant on this), there is a vague worry hanging over me as to how I'm going to describe The Steel Remains if asked. This isn't because I care much myself, but I'd hate to think of people buying the book and diving in under the assumption that this stuff is like Tolkein (or like China Miéville, or like Jeff VanderMeer for that matter) and getting a nasty shock when they hit the water. Had enough of that with all those dyed-in-the-wool Kovacs fans who hated Black Man because their expectations weren't met. So...

Uhm.

Look - it's like this: if you really, really love Tolkein with a firmly burning uncritical passion, then there's a good chance The Steel Remains is going to upset you. If you really, really love all those stories about simple, good-hearted farm-boys becoming princes or wizards, then there's a good chance The Steel Remains is going to upset you as well. And if you like your heroes masculine, muscular and morally upright, well, then you could be in serious trouble as well.

Oh, yeah, and if you really think that "things were better" at some unspecified pre-modern point in human history then you'd really be wasting your time with this one.

If, on the other hand, you're up for a bit of moral ambiguity and a fistful of darkly dysfunctional characters, natural and supernatural, then this book is for you. If you think that an era in which people resolved their differences with bits of sharp steel was probably not a very nice time to be alive, then welcome to the retro-dystopic vision of The Steel Remains. Noir fantasy? Low fantasy? Dunno - all I can tell you is that it deserves a soundtrack by the Rolling Stones; Street Fighting Man, Gimme Shelter, Respectable, Jumping Jack Flash and Sympathy for the Devil - at the very least.

Oh yeah, and stop press - Nightshade's message boards are back up at their revamped site. Been over already for a chat with Jeremy and others. See you there.

Para los que no sepan inglés...pues que se..digo, que aprendan.

Lo que viene

Hace tanto que no actualizaba el blog que me sentía en la obligación de hacerlo... aunque no se me ocurra nada que explicar.

Así que vamos a lo fácil. Los libros que estoy esperando como agua de mayo:

En inglés:

- The steel remains, de Richard Morgan

Me gustan, mejor dicho, me encantan, todos los libros de Morgan. Y ahora que me he reconciliado con la fantasía gracias a Martin, Erikson y Bakker, estoy deseoso de echarle el guante a The steel remains. Si Carbono alterado fundía novela negra y ci-fi con acierto, ¿qué hará con el género de fantasía?

- Neuropath, de Scott Bakker

Para hablar de Bakker hay que ponerse de pie. Un respeto al creador de la más fascinante saga de fantasía de todos los tiempos. Quienes han podido leer Neuropath hablan maravillas. No dudo que será una obra maestra.

- The great ordeal, de Scott Bakker

Para hablar de la nueva entrega de Principe de Nada hay que ponerse de pie, quitarse el sombrero, besar a los santos y guardar un minuto de silencio. Sólo de pensar en leer otra vez sobre los nohombres, los inchoroi, Kellhus o Achamian se me ponen los pelos como escarpias..

En castellano:

- Vellum, de Hal Duncan. El libro con el mejor prólogo que he leído nunca...y uno de los más complicados. Se va a pegar un batacazo de la ostia, pero al menos tiene un lector asegurado.

- The algebraist, de Ian Banks. Después del buen sabor de boca que me dejó El jugador, quiero leer algo más de Banks, pero ninguno de los "nuevos" libros de La cultura me acaban de convencer. The algebraist dicen que es canela fina.

Hace tiempo que no hablo de lo último que he leído. Supongo que ningún libro me ha impulsado a ello. De lo más destacable: No es país para viejos o El jugador.

Un saludo