My own book! "Tour Trouble"

Woohoo! Exciting times!
Pretty soon I'll be publishing my own book. And I was very pleased to find out that there's a whole area of publishing named after me - that's right - vanity publishing! So that's what I'll be doing.
I'm using Amazon's CreateSpace, and I'm guessing that the finished product should weigh probably less than 100 grams. Light in the hand, but philosophically heavy.
Here's the full press release for the book, as well as the accompanying CD:


In a world first for a rock band, the Bing Turkby Ensemble are releasing a concept album, a fantasy novella to go with it, and a set of collectable trading cards!

Yep, Jim K, the manager of the Bing Turkby Ensemble, has finally phoned in from a jacuzzi in Ulan Bataar and set a release date for the new BTE album.

"Summon Forth the Mangonel" will be released into the wild at the Royal in Palmerston North on Saturday August 13th, 2011.

This album has been meticulously crafted at HotBox studios, and is one of the most anticipated TurkbyTone Rekkids releases of the year!

The album follows the BTE in their spiritual quest for the Sword of Xanthros; travelling through time and space, overcoming adversity and ultimately triumphing.

The fantastic artwork has been crafted by Hayden Lauridsen, and includes 4 spectacular trading cards featuring members of the BTE.

For you literary types, Bing has written a book to accompany the album. It's a 20,000-word action/fantasy/comedy/stupidity novelette called"Tour Trouble", featuring the BTE members and sundry henchmen, mages and bakers. See a preview here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFohHJL_dcw

The rock-tastic Midnight Switch will be joining us for the release gig.

The stage will be decked out as a medieval castle, and certain parts of the concept album will be played out for your enjoyment.

You can listen to tracks and pre-order the album and book at http://turkby.bandcamp.com
Discover other TurkbyTone releases at http://turkby.co.nz

Album+Book release gig:
The Royal, Palmerston North, Aug. 13th 2011.

Doors open at 8:30PM, show starts at 9PM.

$5 entry, or $15 with CD.

Prize for best medieval knight-style getup, and best cardboard sword!

Kvothe the arcane... and apes!

I'd been waiting for ages for the second book in Patrick Rothfuss' "Kingkiller Chronicles", and when it arrived I even managed to savour the delicious pleasure of not reading it straight away.
For a couple of days.
Sadly, once I started I was sucked in and now I've raced through it and will have to wait probably a couple of years for the next book! Ouch!
Although there were one or two aspects of the main character (Kvothe) that started to annoy me a little this time round, the book is still superb, the writing is quite poetic, and the story is compelling. On the face of it, it's a fairly standard fantasy story of a young man's journey into adulthood, learning cool arcane secrets, magic, martial arts, etc., but with the twist that he's telling the story of his life and debunking his own myths as he goes. That description doesn't do it any justice at all - you'll have to read it yourself to see how beautifully written it is.
Oh, and it's a hefty one - roughly 1.27 kilograms, apparently. That kind of heft makes me feel smart when I'm reading, and looks good on my bookshelf afterwards. Nice one.
Since I've just been accepted into the Mighty Ape referral programme, I'll give you this link if you want to have a look at The Wise Man's Fear

That's right, I'm using Mighty Ape for most of my links now because I like the idea of supporting a company that's based in New Zealand, and Mighty Ape have impressed me with their customer service, range of stock, and ape-related witticisms.
If you're reading this in the United States, you might prefer to click this link to Amazon.com instead:
The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicles, Day 2)

And if you're reading this in Hungary, szia! Thanks for stopping by!

Fremen stillsuit design flaw

I'm branching out a bit today into DVD territory, but to fulfill the brief of this blog I'll first mention that this version of Frank Herbert's Dune weighs in at 1.4 pounds. Not massive, but chunky enough to make you feel like you're attempting something significant. I remember really enjoying this book when I was a young fullah.
















I recently watched the crazy old movie version of Dune, starring Kyle McLachlan's hair.
While I enjoyed the nutty Baron Harkonnen's performance, I realised I had an issue with the design of the Fremen stillsuit. They breathe in through the mouth and out through the nose, with a nosetube collecting moisture from the exhalations.
But in a hot, dry environment, surely breathing in through the mouth would dry out your tongue and mouth very quickly. Also, your nose filters the air as it comes in, and cools the air. Wouldn't it be far better to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, with a tube attached to the mouth?
It would stilt the dialogue somewhat, but then again, it was pretty stilted in the movie anyway...
OK, everybody do their best Baron Harkonnen cackling laugh!

Romance isn't dead!

Just in case you were worried, I'm here to tell you that there are still lots of romance books being written. Here's a recent Mills & Boon title that caught my eye and made me feel all gooey inside: Accidentally pregnant! Yes, you get a bonus exclamation mark at the end. That conveys the excitement of having an unplanned child.



Doesn't it just warm your heart?
Mmm... nothing makes you feel loved like getting accidentally pregnant.




Anyway, my next post will about the new Patrick Rothfuss book "The wise man's fear". I've been waiting for this for ages! I'm so excited. I think it'll be one of the heaviest books I've ever bought!

Factotum (no, not that one, the DM Cornish one)

I'm not talking about the book Factotum by Bukowski here. It's one by D. M. Cornish instead.


It's the 3rd book in the Monster Blood Tattoo series. Ostensibly for young adults, it really is the second closest thing to Tolkien I've found in ages. (Pat Rothfuss' Name of the Wind being the top contender).


The series follows a young orphan (no, in a fantasy series?!?) who takes up with a teratologist (monster-slayer) in a world where humans and monsters vie for territory and survival. Gradually the protagonist learns something rather unusual about himself. It may sound very formulaic but the writing is excellent and the atmosphere is absorbing.
Cornish has a fully-realised world waiting for you, complete with some very realistic maps, some great drawings of various characters, and one of my favourite things, an excellent glossary.
It's a good sturdy hardback, but not a massive thing. The US version is 1.8 pounds, according to Amazon.com. I think that's about 800 grams. I have the UK/Australia/NZ cover and I just like it better. I'm guessing it's about the same weight though.

Theo's Odyssey

It's only 425g but it's packed with weighty theosophical ideas! Theo's Odyssey by Catherine Clement is a book that's aimed at young readers but is a really good way for readers of any age to get a feel for many different belief systems. And it's not so heavy you can't read it in bed. Bonus.

TS Spivet

Awesome! Another book with footnotes and maps and stuff!
My copy of "The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet" by Reif Larsen is ISBN 9781846552786, weighing in at 0.975kg.
Because it's quite large format and paperback, it's not really a "read on the bus" kind of thing. More of a "savour at home" arrangement.
Impress your partner and cat. Grunt each time you pick it up and go "phew - just gonna read this awesome book again!"
The story is actually pretty cool, and slightly reminiscent of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time".