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Review

Last of Us: Video Game to Screen

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I’ve always been fascinated by how stories change when they shift mediums. Usually, I watch books I’ve read come to screen. But with The Last of Us, there’s a chance to see how a great video game story can become a great show. I’ve worked through both the game and the show recently, and I wanted to write down some thoughts I had. Simply put, The Last of Us is a good example of how a studio can take a game and turn it into a show.

The Last of Us Poster

If you don’t know anything about The Last of Us, a quick synopsis. Humanity has fallen prey to a fungal infection inspired that leaves people in a state similar to zombies. Society fell apart, leaving the survivors to fend to themselves or gather in small towns and enclaves in the ruins of cities. Two characters — a middle-ages man name Joel and a teenage girl named Ellie — have to make their way west from Boston. They fight against infected, and other people, to reach their goals.

There are three topics I’m going to cover. First, the story of the game and why it needed to change for the show. Second, the world building opportunities that changing mediums provides and what the show does with it. And third, I’m going to look at the attitudes towards violence in both game and show.

Now I’m going to do those three topics without spoilers. Then I’m going to do a fourth, spoiler section where I discuss a few things without worrying about spoilers. Feel free to skip that section.

One: Changing the Story

The common story of The Last of Us is the story of Joel and Ellie and their journey west from Boston across a land of fallen cities, fungus-fueled zombies, and factions of survivors. The game and the show tell the same story, but do so differently.

There are many reasons to change the story. For starters, there’s the obvious issue of time. The video game takes 15 hours to beat the story only, and 22 hours to play everything. Of that, roughly 90 minutes are cut-scenes instead of playing time. Add an additional few hours for the DLC. The show runs about eight and a half hours.

Doing a direct cut-scene to show translation would be too short. Doing the entire game to show would be too long. The writers had to consolidate and modify the story-line to make it fit.

Slightly less obvious is the idea that doing a replay of the game exactly is boring. Yes, the creators should hit the high points of the game. They should include the scenes that the fans enjoyed and remember with fondness. But this is a chance to add to the story, not just re-tell it on camera.

I like most of the differences in the story the show does (beyond the World Building and Violence that I’ll discuss later). One big change is they streamline the story, consolidating several events into one scene to save on time and exposition. A second change is to modify the context around an event, so its impact on the story is the same but the specifics of how and why are different. The game and the show tell the same story, but each in a unique way.

Did you notice I said I liked “most” of the differences? Yeah, there were some things they did that I wasn’t happy with. One or two key scenes that they changed in such a way that they didn’t have the same impact as their game counterparts. Not enough to seriously hamper my enjoyment, but enough that I took note. But hey, nothing’s perfect.

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey from The Last of Us. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Two: World Building

World Building means expanding the setting beyond what we know from the game. If the Story has Joel and Ellie leaving Boston, World Building is telling us more about Boston. This is an area where the show’s creators can take as much or as little from the game as they want, or need to, in order to tell their story.

The video game has two different extremes with world building. One on end is the world built by playing the bare minimum of the game, with everything every player will experience. The other end includes every found artifact, hard to reach vantage point, and unique conversation the player can possibly uncover, usually through great time and effort. The player must experience the one, but has to work to uncover the other.

Shows have the one world every viewer will see. This has its tradeoffs. The world is built more tightly to the narrative, but the excess details are lost. Like the story section, the show has the chance to build a slightly different world, if not outright contradictory. They need to support the story they’re telling, and if that means clashing with the game world, so be it.

The World Building can be further divided into three section: history, locations and specific characters.

History

The history part we can get through pretty quick. The show spends more time exploring the world before the game. There several scenes that take place before the pandemic that are completely new. They provide a context for the pandemic that the game doesn’t, something a viewing audience would expect.

Locations

It’s hard to describe how the show builds the locations different from the game without describing the people, so I want to point out here that this section will make references to the populations and factions of cities. This is meant to be separate from the individual, named characters I’ll get to in a moment.

The Last of Us uses the same sequence of eight locations as the game. The one big change is that the fourth location changes from Pittsburgh to Kansas City, but fulfills the same narrative role in the story.

For The Last of Us, the show makes an effort to humanize and give depth to the locations. The black-helmeted soldiers of Boston are no longer generic neo-fascist villains; now we see several of their faces, and see them reacting to the trials and fears of the world. We feel some sympathy for them and their role in their society. This change makes more sense when you consider that they are no longer some of the first opponents you fight and kill (see Violence, below). But it doesn’t contradict the game.

The Kansas City/Pittsburgh exchange is the biggest opportunity to expand on the world: the writers need to fill several story points, but otherwise have free reign to build a new location. They do so really well. The Kansas City location fills the same story development niches Pittsburgh does, but the opposing faction Joel and Ellie contend with is not a one-dimensional villain. We get why they’re doing what they’re doing, even as we hope they fail.

The other locations don’t differ too much from their game counter parts. We learn more about them, and appreciate them, but their impact on the story doesn’t change.

Named Characters

The last aspect of world building I wanted to discuss are changes to named characters. This is where the show greatly changes from the game. They need to do this to fit their story and the differing expectations of a viewing audience.

Every named character is different than their game counterpart. Some changes are small and don’t contradict the game, adding depth to even simple characters. Take the character of Maria. in the game, we know nothing about her other than her relationship to other characters and her position of leadership. in the show, we learn more about who she was before everything fell apart. We don’t know if game Maria is the same or not, and it doesn’t really matter.

Some of the characters are drastically different. Their biographies, and how they influence the show’s story, are big departures. Now, I’m not a purist. I don’t expect everything to be exactly the same. So when this happens, I ask myself, what were they trying to do? Do the changes they make work within the context of the new story?

I say yes. I say that the two biggest character departures absolutely make sense. Neither character would have worked if they’d been brought over exactly as they were from the game. Both stories would have been heavily influenced by the different expectations of violence, and one’s context was completely changed by differences in the story. This is what I’m going to talk a lot about in the spoiler section below.

Image from the official trailer for The Last of Us by HBO

Three: Differences in Violence

The last topic I want to go over is the way the two mediums use violence to tell their story.

The video game uses violence as a way to engage the player. It’s a challenge that must be overcome, either through stealth, guile or straight up combat. It is so common that the game only managed to make it intense by limiting your resources, forcing you to count bullets and manufacture traps, otherwise you’ll run out of ammunition and be forced to fight hand to hand.

The show uses violence much more sparingly. One online count I found put Joel’s kill count at over 200 in the game, but less than 40 in the show. It makes sense that the show would have a more realistic portrayal of violence than the game would. If they’d tried to mimic Joe’s kill count, it would feel like an 80’s action film, or at least a parody of one.

As a result, death in the show is much more impactful. Take the first time we see Joel kill someone in the show. The scene has a companion scene in the game. But in the game, he’s killed a few dozen infected and Boston guards by that point, and the death is just one more. In the show, it’s his first kill, and the context of the kill makes it all the more impactful.

The change in violence increases the lethality of the world. The infected are all the more dangerous for how few of them Joel and Ellie kill. The ease with which some factions kill is more jarring. It feels more real than the game does, and the characters react accordingly.

Spoilers

This section I want to discuss two things that require the spoilers tag.

Spoiler

Welcome to the spoiler section. The two topics I want to discuss here are the Bill and Frank story, and the Sam and Henry arc.

First, Bill and Frank. I loved this story-line. The characters were so much better than their game counterparts. But the big question I had was: why do things differently at all? The obvious answer is that Bill’s chapter in the game was one long combat sequence, something the show was not doing. so they had to do something different.

Slightly less obvious is that they needed a catalyst for Joel to decide to take Ellie further. Marlene had tasked him and Tess to take Ellie to the capital building; Tess’s last wish was for him to take Ellie to Bill and Frank’s. Bill’s letter, and the comment about finding someone to protect, gave Joel the impetus to take her all the way to Wyoming. The game didn’t really have a counter part; it just railroaded Joel into doing it.

FYI: Probably my only big complaint of this show comes from the Bill and Frank episode. Bill is a survivalist by nature. When raiders finally come, he stands in the middle of the road with a rifle while Frank is running around wildly. That makes no sense. Bill would have a plan that involves a safe place for Frank, and a nice firing position to defend the perimeter.

Now, Sam and Henry. Tying Sam and Henry’s background to the Kansas City rebellion was great. It gave the Kansas City faction a reason to keep coming after them, one that made sense. But the point I wanted to bring up had to do with violence.

in the game, Henry kills a number of infected and Pittsburgh hunters to protect Sam, and eventually Ellie. It’s just part of living in that world. But the show makes a point of him not being violent. He’s never killed anyone, and he doesn’t until Sam turns at the end of the episode.

The game is heartbreaking enough, fighting through Pittsburgh with him for several hours and then losing them. in the show, it’s worse. The only person Henry ever kills is his brother. It’s heartbreaking.

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So ends the spoiler section.

Conclusion

Obviously, a lot of thoughts about this show and game. I think it is a fantastic example of translating a video game story to screen. The writers consolidate and rework the story to fit the new medium. They expand the world to meet the expectations of their audience. And they consider the influence of violence on the story and treat it well.

I recommend the show to anyone who can handle the violence and intensity of it. I also recommend the game, to anyone who enjoys games and has the time to sit down and play.

Thank you for reading through this post with me. Let me know what you think below, especially if you’ve experienced one or both of these examples of The Last of Us.

Review

Movie Review: The Other Boleyn Girl

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DVD Cover, link to IMDB Page

I watched The Other Boleyn Girl, a film adaptation of Philipa Gregory’s novel that I finished and reviewed not too long ago. I was interested to see how this would go. Growing up my parents would often make me read the book before taking me to see a movie, so I have come to appreciate the difficulties in taking a story from print to film. It can be difficult, but not impossible.

First, I’ll state the obvious: the movie is incredibly simple compared to the book. This is one of the problems of transitioning mediums. Books allow a writer to give exposition far greater than a movie allows. The movie acknowledges this by making big changes to the relationships between the characters, particularly the three principals: King Henry and the Boleyn sisters. Simply put, the movie over-simplifies the events and provides only the main points, and provides no details or background.

Note: I am going to discuss the differences between the book and the movie. Historical notes and changes can be checked on the IMDB page (click the movie poster above).

The Family Plotters

The first big change of the story is that of the family itself. The Boleyn family of the movie is not a family of schemers and plotters. Mary and Anne have a rivalry, but it is sisterly to start with. It is only when their Uncle arrives to include them in his plotting that their interactions with Henry begin.

Everyone is different. The mother is more affectionate, showing concern for both her daughters. The father is less assertive, more deferential to his brother-in-law. Mary becomes more innocent, though not completely blameless. Anne is the only character of the family I thought was diminished. Anne of the book is calculating and cunning. In the movie, she’s shrewd, but it’s never explained how, so she just comes across as extremely manipulative.

I did notice an obvious goof of the movie. The movie starts with Mary Boleyn’s marriage to William Carey. William is present for the Uncle’s decision to put Mary in Henry’s view, and a few subsequent scenes. He is obviously unhappy with the plot but goes along with it. And then he disappears. The movie never mentions that he dies of sickness. William Carey just ceases to be.

The Boleyn Siblings

The movie makes great changes to the relationships of the three Boleyn siblings. In short, their relationships become extremely shallow. The brother, George, is all but removed from the story, which makes sense as there’s not a lot of time to spend on his plot.

While Mary is still a co-conspirator, her increased innocence means she appears much more the victim of circumstance. Removed are her manipulations of Henry on behalf of Anne, and the scenes where she supports Anne when Anne is exhausted or needs advice are largely absent. Her character growth and rebellion against Anne – and therefor her survival of the fall of her family – is completely gone.

Anne’s maliciousness is missing scenes where she delights in torturing Mary, such as taking Mary and Henry’s son away from her, or refusing to reward Mary as she does the rest of the family. Indeed, for much of the second half of the movie, she ignores Mary to focus on Henry. Another sacrifice of switching mediums.

I found this most disappointing. Most of the book is about their relationship, their mutual support and rivalry. Without all the extra scenes of their bickering and scheming, their depth is gone. And without the depth, all the events of the movie seem sudden.

King Henry VIII

Henry VIII is a fairly one-dimensional character in both movie and book. He is a King of England who needs a male heir to secure his throne. If his queen cannot give him one, he will find a way. That’s all he needs to be, for either story.

Henry’s relationship with both sisters is also shallower than the book’s. He never develops much of a relationship with Mary, and they have one child together, not two. His turn to Anne is sudden, a result of her manipulations and not the family’s.

Henry’s movement away from the church and Katherine of Aragon is overly simplified, which isn’t a surprise. One of the things that I’ve learned from reading the series is how long of a process the separation was. To explain it in the film would take more time than they had, So, again, we see the entire process reduced to a few scenes. Henry wants a son. Anne wants to be queen. Katherine is in the way. Schism.

While the oversimplification of Henry and his quest isn’t a surprise, neither is it a strike. Henry’s part in this story is always simple. He’s the prize for both sisters, with the power to make – and break – their lives.

Conclusion

The book is better than the movie. Not exactly a risky stance to take, I know. But it’s important to understand how switching mediums change the basics of the characters.

Mary is no longer a naive character who grows into an independent woman, she is a victim of her circumstances. Anne is no longer a cunning strategist in a game of court politics, she is a manipulative opportunist. The events of their lives, devoid of any depth, become a sequence of rapid actions, observed without understanding anything but the immediate, personal consequences.

Was it a terrible transition of book to screen? No. There are definitely worse ones. And it did follow the basic themes of the book, while ignoring the nuances that a novel allows. That’s about all you can hope for when taking a book to screen. All in all, not a bad movie, but not one I feel the need to see again.

Monthly Update

September 1st Update

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August becomes September, and summer becomes spring, and authors look at their coffee shop boards and see pumpkin spice. Such is the nature of things.

Writing

Book 3 is just shy of 90,000 words. I am currently working on the middle section, that connects the beginning and end. I am plotting out what needs to happen and working on a map of the area. Once I have it written then I can shift to ironing the story together and getting the rough draft done.

I am working on the Tales of the Templar short story book. I am just finishing up the second story and I’m well into the third. The goal is four to six.

I’m still picking on the Fantasy and Sci-Fi novels when I feel the need to write instead of plot. I worked out the mythology of the fantasy novel and the science of the sci-fi, so now I can get to the writing.

Movies and TV

In August I watched a number of new shows and films. I finally finished off Sherlock, the BBC show with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. I saw the first episode back when it came out and it so upset me I did not finish the season until now. The last two episodes were not as bad as I’d feared; I might even go as far as to say they revived my interest in the show.

In terms of movies I watched Bullet Train, the Brad Pitt action/comedy film in the theater. I like it and thought it was a fun film. Worth going to the local cinema to see.

At home I streamed The Batman, the latest Batman film with Robert Patterson. As odd as Patterson is when he’s playing Bruce Wayne, I liked how this entry was a proper detective story. I even like how Batman and Gordon make mistakes in their investigation. Their fallibility added to the story.

Finally, I saw Prey, the latest Predator movie set in the early 18th century and featuring American Indian tribes fighting the sci-fi hunter. Holy crap did that movie rock. I was thrilled the whole time. I’d like to see them do more Predator through the ages movies.

Books

Only got through two books this month, which is kind of disappointing, but they were both longer books.

Three Sisters, Three Queens is the next Philippa Gregory book, following Margaret Tudor, older sister of King Henry VIII and Queen of Scotland. I really liked this book, and I’m working on the book report right now.

The other book I read is Ways and Means, a look at the economics of the American Civil War. Mostly the book followed Salmon Chase as he built up the Federal government’s finances to pay for the ever more expensive civil war. The author also spent time talking about the Confederate banking system and the European responses. These are all things I knew little about, for all my education on the war, and for all the importance economics and finance has on a government’s ability to persecute a war.

Games

Stalled out on Starship Troopers: Terran Command. I hit a mission I haven’t been able to get past yet, but I’m still working on it.

Almost done with a console game, Farcry: Primal, set in Germany in about 5,000 BC. I found this game an interesting take on the normal Farcry build. The gameplay was about the same, but without the array of guns to collect and customize, you were much more reliant on melee weapons and special grenades. Pretty cool., though I’m looking forward to getting back to normal.

My Homecoming game continues into the final chapter. Monday night works into Hot Springs Island. And my charisma character is still doing a good job in the Thursday Night Known World Campaign. So, RPG wise, I’m doing really well.

What’s Next

I’ve got a Books and Beer Event on September 18th at Inbound BrewCo; I will be hosting, but I’ll still have a table and everything. Looking to get some tables going for events the rest of this year and into next, but don’t have anything signed up yet.

Have a seller’s profile on Fiverr. Now I’m building some gigs (services people can purchase from me). Working on graphics and will have those up shortly.

Still writing, still revising, still working.

Cheers!

Michael

Review

Show Report: Last Kingdom

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The title card from the show

This month I decided to give The Last Kingdom another chance.

The Last Kingdom is a TV series by the BBC and Netflix, based off the Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell. The Saxon Stories follow the fictional Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a warlord born to the Saxons but raised by the Danes. Forced into exile in Saxon Wessex, Uhtred fights against the Danes and helps build the modern England.

The Saxon Stories is one of my favorite book series, so when I first heard they were doing a show about it I was excited. It came out, I sat down, watched it, and was very disappointed.

I had two large complaints. One, the story had become more about how Uhtred to show the Saxons how to fight the Danes. In the books, they’ve already managed several victories before Uhtred joins them. Second, they kept cutting my favorite scenes! The first season covers the first two books, Last Kingdom and Pale Horseman (Pale Horseman is one of my favorite books), and I had a mental list of what I was looking forward to. Of the seven scenes on that list, they did one.

I didn’t pay much attention to the next seasons coming out, but friends who watch the show tell me it gets better. I’d always thought about returning to give it another shot, so I prepared myself, sat down and re-started.

Initial Re-Reaction to the First Season

I must admit; on the second viewing, the first complaint fell largely flat. Sure, story they were telling was shallow compared to the books, but that’s largely a function of medium. Movies and TV can’t reach the same depth as a book can.

As I was considering the impact of the medium switch on the story, I also realized that the viewpoint had shifted. The books are almost universally First Person, from Uhtred’s POV as he recounts his story in his old age. He recounts events beyond his knowledge as they were told to him later, which makes sense in a book but in a TV show, having Uhtred tell you what happened would be boring. So the show is Third Person, and we now watch those scenes happening. The switch changes the nature of a lot of the characters and gives the show a different feel.

Still bugged they cut my favorite scenes. Le sigh.

Second Season

The second season of Last Kingdom roughly covers the third and fourth books of the series (Lords of the North and Sword Song). Again, they cut out most of the scenes I was looking forward to. Two of them they did include, but they changed them and removed what made the scenes stand out to me.

Beyond that, this is where the show begins to really come into its own. By that, I mean that yes, they diverge from the books, but they’re getting more comfortable telling their own version of Uhtred’s story. They embrace the differences in characters, give them the room to develop their own plots. They condense and consolidate events to streamline the story, and even consolidate characters.

Third Season (Spoilers)

Again, one season covers two books (The Burning Land and Death of Kings), but the series does the two stories simultaneously instead of each book in half a season. The plot is now different enough that it’s hard to fault them for not doing the scenes I was looking forward to, though there is still that small disappointment.   Except when it comes to the dominating event of this season, the Death of  Alfred the Great. This is probably the only event in the story  that I think the show does better than the books.

In the books, Alfred converses with Uhtred on his deathbed, and just before his death confers upon Uhtred a significant amount of land in order to bind the warlord to his son and presumptive heir, Edward. It’s a nice reward for the often snubbed and disregarded Dane-slayer.  

In the show, the third seasons contains a lot of conflict between Uhtred and Alfred. Alfred has Uhtred banished and his children seized, while Uhtred tries to return to the Danes before his oaths bring him back to  the Saxons. Alfred still wants Uhtred bound to Edward, but cannot force Uhtred to do so. And with his death coming,  Alfred is facing the uncertainties of a future without him.

The Specific Scenes

The scene, cut up into several
bits, is fantastic. It is Alfred the Great and Uhtred of Bebbanberg speaking as
equals. Alfred acknowledges his debt to Uhtred, apologizes for his errors and
mistakes, and salutes the man ‘without whom I would not die a king.’ Uhtred’s
part in the conversation is to minimal; this is a scene for Alfred to shine. It
ends with Uhtred receiving a pardon.

Uhtred’s time to shine comes after Alfred’s death. His political enemies moving against him, threatening him with banishment on pain of death. He forces the issue in public, asking for Edward to confirm his pardon (strengthening Edward’s claim to authority). His responses to the accusations are moving. He confirms his respect for Alfred, his commitment to the cause of Wessex. ‘He was my king!’ Uhtred yells before the Wessex court, gaining the support of many while infuriating his enemies.

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There’s an emotional response to these scenes that the books lack. The books have Alfred’s death as a catalyst for the chaos of succession early in Book 6, while the show has it as the culmination of the season’s plotlines. As far as  I’m concerned, they worked really well.

Season Four and Five

The latest two seasons break from the two books per season mode, and with good reason: the books after Book 6 sent to get repetitive.

Instead, Season Four and Five each revolve around the death of a Saxon ruler and how that death is used to further the idea of a unified England. Uhtred is involved, of course, as his personal relationships with the Saxons and reputation amongst the Danes comes into play. A lot of the high points of the later books are fused together or touched upon in their own way, but by this point it’s hard to get upset that the show isn’t doing my favorite scenes or is using a character differently.

SPOILERS

Someone I like

One thing I’ve come to really enjoy is what the show does with Lady Aelswith, widow of Alfred the Great. In the books she kind of disappears after Alfred’s death, mentioned in passing when she’s mentioned at all. She was always an enemy of Uhtred’s, even after all he does to protect Alfred’s family and further the Wessex cause.

In the show, she remains a character, either trying to counsel Edward on his decisions as king, or protecting her grandchildren from the cut-throat politics of the kingdom. She and Uhtred are not friends, but there is a grudging respect between them.

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Conclusion

I’m glad I gave this show another shot, and that I took the time to enjoy it as it’s own story instead of holding it to the books. While it doesn’t have the depth of the books, it does have a much wider and more inclusive story to tell. One that’s worth enjoying as complimentary to the books. I look forward to the last installment when it comes out.

Review

Game Review: Horizon Zero Dawn

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Who doesn’t like robotic dinosaurs.

Many months ago I picked up the video game Horizon Zero Dawn while it was available for free on the Playstation Store. I knew nothing about the game, but the cover image had a giant metal t-rex, so I thought it would be worth looking into. What I did not expect was one of the better video game stories I’ve experienced in some time.

Horizon Zero Dawn is an adventure game set in the far future, amongst the ruins of our world. The tribal peoples of the area live amongst numerous giant robots that take the place of large wild animals such as deer, bulls, wolves and tyrannosaurs. Each of these robots has their own strengths and weaknesses, that the player must exploit to defeat. The tech level of the humans is bow and arrow level of technology.

The main character, Aloy, obtains a device early on that allows her to interact with surviving ancient computers and eventually the machines. Her effort to become an adult member of her tribe initiates the storyline of the game, and her exploration of the region (the Denver, Colorado, area) advances the story and explores the background.

Aloy, Huntress, Seeker of the Nora.

What I like (Spoiler Free)

There are two aspects of the game’s story that I want to bring up, and if I can do so without spoilers I will.

First, exploring the background and history of the world. I believe that the producers and directors of the game spent a lot of effort to ask themselves ‘what questions is the player asking right now? What can we answer, and what can we allude to?’ Each major point of the main storyline builds on the previous ones, and sets up the next, superbly. By the time you get to the big reveals, you know enough to be prepared for what you’re about to learn, but not enough that it spoils anything.

Second, setting up and executing the final battle. Final battles can be tricky; they need to be challenging, but no so hard that they break the continuity of the game, while also providing an end to the story. HZD did this very well. Not only did they draw together several different threads, but the final battle felt like a final battle. It was a series of tough fights, and none of them were boring. So, kudos for a final fight that felt like everything was on the line.

From here on, there be spoilers.

My favorite scene (Spoilers)

HZD is not just a game that takes place in a Sci-Fi world; I would say it is a full sci-fi story. In the mid-21st Century, a line of bio-powered self-replicating warbots breaks its programmed shackles and begins eating everything, threatening not only humanity but the entire biosphere of the world. They cannot be defeated, and the program to hack them will take too long to finish. The solution is Zero Dawn: to save humanity by repopulating the planet with clones after the machines have destroyed everything. This plan includes re-educating the population with thousands of years of human history and culture.

Yet the world Aloy explores lacks any knowledge of the previous world. What happened?

Horizon Dawn was controlled by an AI called Gaia, aided by several subordinate intelligences who focus on one specific aspect of the plan: Demeter, to replace and rebuild the plants, and Poseidon to detoxify the water. The intelligence dedicated to educating the new humanity, Apollo, is deleted by the madman genius who started the machine plague in the first place, to keep the new humanity from making the same mistake.

Ever come to loathe a character in a very short time? Boy, did I come to hate Ted Faro. Good job, game writers.

Conclusion

Obtaining and playing the game was a whim, but I am very glad to have done it. The story was fantastic, the world was immersive, and the game play was fun. It was a great game to experience, and I’m looking forward to the second one, coming out sometime next year.

Review

Book Report: Red Queen

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The Red Queen (2010) by Philippa Gregory is the third book in her Plantagenet and Tudor series. It follows the life of Margaret Beaufort, a staunch Lancaster supporter and mother of the first Tudor king, Henry VII, from the Spring of 1453 to the summer of 1485.

I liked this book, much as I did the rest of the series so far. But what I found fascinating about this story is how the character stays the same, yet somehow goes from sympathetic young woman to Machiavellian plotter.

Pious Margaret

The Margaret Beaufort we meet is a young child who believes she has been destined for greatness as the English counterpart to Joan of Arc. But as a descendant of King Edward III, her children would have political value. Thus, her belief in her divine destiny was ignored, in favor of marrying her young (only 12) to bear her only child at 13 in a painful labor, made more horrific by her mother’s assertion that the child was worth more than she was, particularly if it was a boy.

Between the world ignoring her views and the horrible experience with childbirth, the first portion of the book left me with great sorrow and compassion for this young woman. Alone, with no real support, and no real say in her future, I found myself rooting for her to grasp and claw any ounce of authority or control over her life. And after some time, she’s able to do so, and I think, ‘great, now she has control of her life. Now she can have one.’

Zealous Margaret

Alas, denied the life she believed ordained to her by God, she comes to believe her destiny is to be mother to a king of England. In the war of Lancaster versus York, Margaret begins plotting for the safety and eventual ascendancy of her son, Henry Tudor.

Know the saying ‘the road to hell is paved in good intentions’? This is where, at least for me, Margaret Beaufort became a villain.

As she was divinely chosen, Margaret shows little care for law or morality when it comes to advancing her son. Her second husband, Sir Henry Stafford, initially supports the Lacastrian cause but is forced to make his peace with the Yorkist King Edward IV; Margaret, however, continues to plot and scheme, sometimes to the detriment of her husband’s affairs. She even chooses her third husband specifically for his shared interest in accumulating power. Together they plot to survive the wars successfully.

Favorite Scene

My favorite scene in the books comes during her third marriage, to Thomas Stanley. In it, her husband calls her out for her divine belief and how divine it may actually be.

‘I am guided by God!’ I protest.

‘Yes, because you think God wants your son to be King of England. I don’t think your God has ever advised you otherwise. You hear only what you want. He only ever commands your preferences.’

I sway as if he has hit me. ‘How dare you! I have lived my life in His service!’

‘He always tells you to strive for power and wealth. Are you quite sure it is not your own voice that you hear, spearing through the earthquake, wind and fire?’

What I love about this scene is how he is so perfectly encapsulates Margaret’s villainous motivation, or that of anyone who believes they’re special. She’s God’s chosen, so she can do no wrong. She is so firm in her belief that even when she does pray for guidance, she still gets the answer she wants.

This isn’t a moment of eye-opening for the character; her husband continues to say that this was their agreement; she helps to promote and protect his family, he helps to promote and protect her son. He doesn’t particularly care about her scheming. But it does put in strict contrast the different between pious and zealous Margaret.         

The Princes in the Tower

This book’s tilt at the Princes in the Tower takes on a decidedly serious tone. Margaret conspires with Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV (from Book 2) to raid the Tower of London and save King Edward V and his brother. But her motive is not rescue; she conspires to get her men close enough to kill the boys.

The raid fails; neither the rescuers nor assassins can get to the children. And once again, the mystery of the Princes comes in. They disappear and rumors abound. Margaret seizes on the rumors to her own ends, but the fact that she doesn’t know

At this point, I’m of the mind that Gregory isn’t going to answer the question in her stories of the War of the Roses. It’s going to be a mystery that will be interpreted by the current character independently. Which I think is a pretty cool way to do it.

Conclusion

The Red Queen is an apt title for this book, given the main character. When I finished the book I figured she would be returning as an antagonist in future books, and sure enough she has (but more on that later). Margaret Beaufort may start as a sympathetic young woman, but by the end of the book she’s spent her sympathy. I can understand why she turned out the way she did, but I can’t appreciate the lengths she’s willing to go to, in order to secure the future she wants.  

Review

Book Report: Lady of the Rivers

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The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory is a historical fiction novel, spanning about thirty years from the death of Joan of Arc to the beginning battles of the Wars of the Roses. The book follows Jacquetta of Luxembourg as she becomes a duchess of England and confident of the royal family. It is the first book in a series of 15 called the Plantagenet and Tudor novels.

I read this book on the recommendation of a friend of mine from my writing group, after mentioning my fondness for Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories. I got it from the library and gave it a read, and I really got into it.

The book is, mostly, historical fiction. I say mostly because Jacquetta has some very minor supernatural abilities. She can heard music when someone she knows has died, and can divine impressions of what the future will hold, enough to prepare herself but without being able to influence events. The author is very careful to use these abilities to augment the story without unending it.

The main character is not a major actor in the world; she commands no forces and wields no power. But as a duchess she has the ear of the queen, and much of the book is spent either trying to advise the queen on how to fix problems, or cataloguing the events of her era as they impact her family and her life. Her main focus in keeping her family safe.

What I really got into was the court of King Henry VI and how utterly ridiculous it came across. The king and queen (Margaret of Anjou) are shameless about rewarding their friends (the Lancasters) and insulting their enemies (the Yorks). As a reader I kept looking at their decisions thinking, ‘How do you think this will end well? You’re so blatantly playing favorites and then having a tantrum when things go sideways.’ I presume this has at least some basis in historical reality.

Also, I found the book was amusing because I spent most of it annoyed with the characters. First the English lords who burn Joan of Arc, then the Lancasters for being corrupt, then the Yorks for not respecting the Lancaster king. Not a lot of good guys in the leadership.

Anyway, I had fun reading the start to this series. I’ve already got the second one from the library, though I can’t start it until I finish the interim book.

Review

Book Report: With the Old Breed

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I recently read through With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge. Published in 1981, Sledge takes us through his experiences as a Marine in World War 2. Sledge enlisted in the Marines in 1943 and trained as a mortarman, assigned to K/3/5 (K Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment), in the 1st Marine Division. He landed on the island of Peleliu, a controversial and probably unnecessary battle in late 1944, and then on Okinawa in 1945.

Sledge’s writing is not to provide details of tactics, but to convey the experience of warfare as he recorded it. And he saw a lot of combat. Peleliu and Okinawa were both horrendous fights: the Japanese used defense in depth tactics to prolong each battle into months long campaigns. Terrain and weather (coral reef and extreme heat on Peleliu, mud and torrential rain on Okinawa) were as much as factor as enemy actions. Even friendly units and superior officers had to be dealt with.

As a young Marine, Sledge looked to the ‘Old Breed’, the veterans of Guadalcanal (and in some cases, World War 1) who made up the sergeants of the company. To those just fresh out of training camps in the US, their seniors seemed like men from a different era; their confidence and experience helped prepare the newcomers who were afraid of getting killed or, worse, showing cowardice.

Sledge braves his first combat on Peleliu, experiencing friendly fire, loss of friends, and extreme thirst. Across the coral rocks and into the heights of the island, K/3/5 sees a lot of combat, and Sledge takes the reader with them.

Sledge doesn’t try to elevate the Marines to mythical status; he writes to show the conditions the Marines fought in, down to the terrible details that soldiers often gloss over in their narratives.  He describes the first time he sees a dead soldier, and what it’s like to suffer from an artillery barrage the goes on for what feels like ever. For Sledge, it’s about showing the reader what the Marines went through and discussing why they survived.

By the time Sledge lands on Okinawa, he is a veteran. The landing feels different for him: he’s seen combat, so he knows he won’t run; there’s just the fear of death and letting his comrades down. Even so, he still experiences and describes the depths that battle on Okinawa went to. The harsh rain and difficulty not only supplying troops but removing the dead turns the battlefield into one reminiscent of trench warfare of World War 1.

Sledge is sparing in his judgment; he does not condemn men who break under bombardment or fall victim to sickness. When he speaks of army soldiers, he does so with respect (they all march into the same combat). Those he does judge are those who act foolishly, such as rear echelon soldiers who come up to grab souvenirs, or orders from on high that feel like a waste of time but must be followed.

Finally finishing the Okinawa operations, Sledge describes pulling back and beginning the process of refitting and preparing for the next assault when word comes of the end of the war. The anticipated (and feared) invasion of Japan would not happen. Instead, Sledge and the marines will face some time as occupiers in China, helping maintain order as the Japanese pull out of that country (described in Sledge’s second book, China Marine). But they will be returning home alive.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It is a simple retelling of a man’s experiences of battles most often viewed from much higher up the chain of command. It made no effort to idealize either friend or foe, but told the story of what was. And that’s all it really needed to be.

Recommended: To learn about the conditions and the mindset of a World War 2 combat Marine.

Not Recommended: If you get squeamish about injuries, death and decay.

Conventions

Manticon 2017

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During Memorial Day weekend, I had the opportunity to have a table at Manticon 2017 in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Manticon is a military sci-fi convention that draws a modest and enthusiastic crowd. Based off the Honorverse books of David Weber (of which I am an avid reader), the convention included a charity auction, panels on various topics of interest, and a game room that includes Artemis and Battletech simulators.

As this was my first fandom convention (aside from an hour spent at a very minor Star Trek con to see Leonard Nemoy and William Shatner speak in 2006), I didn’t sign up for any panels or games. I didn’t sign up for anything, preferring to leave my schedule open, as I didn’t know what to expect. The woman who got me into the convention asked me to make two cheesecakes for the con-suite, which I did (salted caramel and peanut butter cup). There were no leftovers.

My Table at Manticon

My table was a simple affair, particularly on the first day where it was only my book displays and a pile of business cards. After talking it over with two fellow authors at the convention, I added a hand-traced map of the Kingdom of North Mississippi and a newsletter sign up page.

That's a well-traced map.
My setup at the Manticon convention.

Yes, it was not particularly flashy, but without knowing what a convention table was like, I didn’t know what sort of stuff to invest in. Luckily, the other two authors with their tables in the same area were willing to give me some advice on what to do at future cons.

As for location, well, it was pretty much in the middle. It was right in front of the elevator bank, between the panel rooms and the main / vendor rooms. Pretty much everyone going to the convention at some point passed my table, usually many times. I got a lot of people stopping by to talk with me and look over my book. It was quite nice to get such a warm reception.

Being At Manticon

I admit I was a bit apprehensive about being in a public place for so long while trying to get people interested enough in my book to buy it from me. I’m a bit of an introvert (maybe more than a bit), and I’ve never been a particularly good salesperson.

That being said, I have been feeling rather confident lately. And I read a few ‘how to do X as an extrovert’ books, which mostly boiled down to be comfortable and don’t try to be something you’re not. So I put out my display and engaged people who stopped to take a look.

As I mentioned above, the people gave me a warm reception. A lot of people stopped by to learn about me and my book, and I conversed in kind. I had an hour-long conversation with one young woman about storytelling in media, including some shared video game experiences and the advantages that the Star Trek Animated Series had in its stories. Some people were genuinely intrigued by my concept and excited to buy my book.

The Manticon patrons wore uniforms, ranging from technician jump suits to resplendent admiral’s uniforms. They came in from all over the world: I spoke with someone who flew in from Scotland, and there was a group from an Eastern European country that I didn’t meet but heard them conversing.

I did not attend any panels or join in the simulator games. This was my first convention, so I decided to ease into it and I did not want to over-schedule myself. I was there to be an author and do the author thing.

And it went well. I missed my sales goal by one, and ran out of business cards. Totally calling it a win.

Beyond the Convention

I spent the days at the table, but the nights hanging out with the patrons.

The convention rented out a number of rooms (maybe an entire floor, I’m not sure) for their post convention parties. Consuite had food and a assortment of drinks themed off the books. There was Marine Country, where the Marine fans congregated with their own bar (visited by Dale Dye, who stole the show). There was a Scotch room (which I visited) and a Klingon room (which I didn’t get around to).

I got to speaking to a few people (again hanging out with Dale Dye a bit), relaxing to the point where I could enjoy myself. I had stop drinking early, since I had to drive across the cities to get home, but it was definitely a good party atmosphere. Next time I’ll see if I can’t get a room to avoid an hour of transit every day.

Lessons for Future Conventions

The first lesson is I’m going to admit is; I need a flashier set up. It doesn’t have to be over-the-top, but enough to catch people’s attention. I’ve got some ideas, but I haven’t ordered anything yet. I’m waiting a week to go over my brainstorming list and see what makes it through round two.

Second lesson: get on a panel or two. One of the other authors at the event had two, and he said he had some good discussions with patrons about his topics. Next time, I’ll see what is available.

Third: get a room there if feasible. Not only can I remain longer in the evening, I can avoid a long morning commute.

Conclusion

Did I have fun? Absolutely.

Did I meet some cool people? I did. In addition to Dale Dye, I got David Weber to sign two books. I met a group of people I’m excited to join. And I got to  see people get excited by my book.

Am I looking forward to future cons? I am. I don’t know when the next one is, but I’ll let you know when I have future appearances scheduled.

For now, I’m concentrating on Book 2. Maybe I can have it ready by Manticon 2018.

Thanks for reading!

-Michael

Publishing, Revising

A Renaissance Lesson

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With Renaissance Calling published, I wanted to take a moment to write down a lesson or four, to help anyone reading this who is thinking of publishing, and to remind myself down the line of mistakes I made. Renaissance Calling is my first book, so I’m not surprised I made some errors. With Book 2, I’m going to get these right.

Taking notes.

  1. Proofreading versus Editing

My editor was a huge help in prepping Renaissance Calling for publishing. She helped me refine my writing voice, clarify my story, and improve the general quality of the writing flow. I’m thankful she’s agreed to stick around for Book 2. But as it turns out, neither of us are proofreaders; we get into the flow of the story without looking at the details. So when several people who backer Renaissance Calling came to me with issues, I cringed.

Despite our best efforts, a number of small errors made it through to the first printing. Some of them were simple things (example: ‘while he attached’, instead of ‘attacked’). Others were a bit ‘how did I miss that’ (example: Horace spelled Horus on several occasions). One was downright ‘I didn’t know that was a thing’ (the single quotation marks would switch between straight and curly, sometimes on the same page).

A bit embarrassing, but a lot of books, even best sellers, have small errors. I’ve still gotten overwhelmingly positive responses to the story, even from people who handed me lists of corrections. So I’ve made the changes and I’m replacing the documents for future printings and eBooks. I’d like to say no one will find anymore, but I’m only human.

Lesson Learned: I need to spend more time and effort on proofreading.

How: A couple of things I can do.

  • I found a few mistakes when I was practicing reading out loud for my launch party, so I have made reading out loud part of my revision process.
  • A number of the detail-oriented people who handed me lists are willing to proofread future books, which will also help.
  • I’ve made some notes about common errors I made, and will endeavor to account for them in future projects.

  1. Publishing Date

The Kickstarter campaign finished in early November, and I had a tentative publishing date of February 10th (the main character’s birthday). All I had to do was write a Backer Book, finish editing Renaissance Calling, get ISBN’s and Barcodes, get final covers from my cover artist, and load all the documents to the printers. I could do all that in three months, right?

Well, not so fast. The Backer Book turned into a bigger endeavor than I thought it would, finishing at twice as long as I planned. The cover was some back and forth due to differences in RBG and CMYK formats.  And it took a lot more time and money to proof test prints of my book than I thought it would (details in No. 4 below).

The date was pushed back to March 8th, then April 8th. As I wrote about before, I got accidentally published on Amazon when I forgot to change the publishing date on one of the publishing sites. This was a bit of a relief, as I no longer had to feel rushed about getting my stuff done and out there.

Lesson Learned: I need to set a publishing date far enough out that I can get everything done.

How: As I’m scheduling my next book, I’m considering how long it took me to get Renaissance Calling into print and adjusting for differences in the book size (I’m anticipating Book 2 to be noticeably longer). My goal is to have everything done, proofed and printed two weeks before publishing.

  1. Figure out prices before committing

A minor error that I should have foreseen, but I assumed the costs of my books were going to be $12 for paperback and $16 for hardcover. I don’t know how I came to those numbers, but I was pretty certain of that going in. So much so that I had the original barcode for the paperback made with $12 on it.

Turns out, however, that after printing and distribution costs (particularly for the hardcover), sticking with those princes was not feasible. If I had, I’d be making less than a dollar on the paperback, and I’d be losing money on the hard cover. I had to raise the price for both formats.

Not a huge deal, except the first round of paperbacks got printed with the price still listed at $12. That’s been fixed and the correct price will displayed on future printings.

Lesson Learned: Do all the math before you set something in stone.

How: Not difficult; most printers and distributors have calculators to help you figure out the math. Take advantage of the tools. Work it out before you commit.

  1. Proofing and Printing

(Note: Proofing in this section was not for content or spelling, but for formatting errors when converting from Word to PDF and PDF to print.)

Proofing printed copies of Renaissance Calling turned out to take longer, and be more expensive, than I anticipated. A lot of this was due to this being my first book, and not being experienced enough to understand what I was doing.

With Createspace, the process is pretty easy. Once a PDF of the internal documents is loaded (and their website can convert Word docs to PDF), it can be proofed through an online viewer that organizes it as if it was a book. I should have spent more time reviewing it online, instead of ordering a proof copy and finding formatting errors in that.

Ingram Spark is much more complex. The files being uploaded have to be corrected by you, the author, which can result in some issues when the formatting is off. Issues that are a pain in the ass to correct, since Spark is so particular. Luckily there is an option to ignore the issues and continue, so when you’re black and white PDF is being kicked back as having color (Yeah, I never figured out what this was), you can tell it to continue with a little waiver. They do provide a PDF to proof, but not the snazzy online program Createspace does.

In both cases, it took a bit longer to get physical proofs than I expected. It also cost a bit more, since I had missed that Ingram Spark requires $50 to set up a file and $25 to correct. With two books set up at Ingram (hardcover and backer book), one correction each, and two proof copies of all three books, I spent well over $200 just proofing. If I had been on the ball, I could have saved about $100.

Lesson Learned: Give enough time to proof and print thoroughly, and be careful before you print off a copy.

How: There are a number of things I can do for this one.

  • Both: Convert the document to PDF and check thoroughly. A lot of errors come from this step, so checking the PDF should catch most of them. Check it several times.
  • Createspace: Proof the online program several times before confirming.
  • Ingram Spark: Proof the provided PDF several times before confirming.

Conclusion

As this was my first novel, I’m not surprised I made a few errors. But the point of an error is to learn a lesson. By writing these down now, I am going to remember them when I get back into the publishing process, which should be sometime next year.

If you’ve got any of your own tips, feel free to share. Thanks!

-Michael