I’m giving the OMNISCREED 4000 a break for the week, since there’s some cool stuff to report from Casa Gladstone.  First, roll tape!

Last Friday I sent in the final page proofs for FULL FATHOM FIVE, the next book in the Craft Sequence.  And the same day, I received a few of these beauties. The cover looks great—I’m amazed by Chris McGrath’s ability to come up with powerful work that somehow fits with the series.

I’ve received enough questions about the cast list that I think I might need to spoil it in advance.  So far, all I’ll say is that FF5 does feature the return of some old familiar faces from Two Serpents Rise and Three Parts Dead, facing brand new problems.  You’ll like it a lot more than they will, I promise.

Launch day’s July 2014.  Watch this space for more news and possible giveaways.

WORLDCON MEMBERSHIP DEADLINE

If you haven’t yet become a member of WorldCon (this year, it’s LonCon 3), then you should do so before Jan 31 if you want to be able to nominate people for the Hugos and the John W Campbell Best New Writer Award.  Curious as to how?  I’ve presented my argument, and easy-to-follow directions, here.

As for folks who are eligible this year for the Campbell Award this year—I’m in my second (and final) year of eligibility.  I’ve been nose-to-grindstone this last year when it came to reading new stuff, and sadly most of the new stuff I’ve read won’t come out until 2014!  That said, you should check out Wesley Chu and John Chu— Wes writes action-packed alien madness, and John writes heartfelt worldbuilding-heavy SF.

I’M ON THE FUNCTIONAL NERDS PODCAST THIS WEEK

If you have a brief commute and like hearing folks talk, why not hear me, John Anealio, and Patrick Hester talk about books, tiaras, and neat stuff?  Here’s the link.

CHOICE OF THE DEATHLESS IS ON iOS HOT LIST

Someone over at Apple thinks Choice of the Deathless is cool.  If you haven’t played it yet, give it a shot. It will scratch the Craft Sequence itch and tide you over to summer.

BOSKONE SCHEDULE

I’m at Boskone next month!  Check out all these things I’m doing.  I’m looking forward to everything, but the “Writing Fan Fiction for Kids” event should be a hoot.  Plus, Mur!

Writing Fan Fiction for Kids with Mur Lafferty and Max Gladstone

Saturday Feb. 15 10:00 – 10:50

Campbell Award winning authors Mur Lafferty and Campbell nominee Max Gladstone introduce kids to writing fan fiction for children.

Mur Lafferty, Max Gladstone

Urban Fantasy in Transition

Saturday Feb. 15 12:00 – 12:50

Urban fantasy has a long history within fantasy literature, but it’s certainly gained new prominence recently. How has the definition changed over time? What influences have helped to shape urban fantasy? How far back into the literary past does urban fantasy reach? How might it evolve in the future?

Leigh Perry (M), Christopher Golden, Melinda Snodgrass, Mur Lafferty, Max Gladstone

Gender Roles in _Doctor Who_

Saturday Feb 15, 13:00 – 13:50

The characters (Companions, foes, etc.) in TV’s _Dr. Who_ have included men, women, and “other.” How have they all conformed to “expected” gender conventions? Discuss notable breaks in tradition, giving examples (this will not be graded.) Note: you may also include Captain Jack and the Doctor’s Wife.

Laurie Mann (M), LJ Cohen, Carrie Cuinn, Julia Rios, Max Gladstone

The Enduring Power of Fairytales

Saturday Feb. 15, 17:00 – 17:50

What is it about fairytales that holds the imagination — and can it survive a few tweaks? Fantasy is rife with retellings of myths and legends, but why are today’s authors and screenwriters so radically changing classic fairytale characters (as in _Wicked_) and/or even outcomes (as in _Once Upon a Time_)?

Theodora Goss (M), Mary Kay Kare , Craig Shaw Gardner , Max Gladstone

Who’s in the Attic, What’s in the Basement, and I Don’t Know Is Under the Bed

Sunday Feb. 16 13:00 – 13:50

A panel discussion of the things that give us goose bumps, send chills down our spines, or otherwise scare the daylights out of us.

Gillian Daniels (M) , Darrell Schweitzer, F. Brett Cox, Paul G. Tremblay, Max Gladstone

Reading by Max Gladstone

Sunday Feb. 16 14:00 – 14:25

Guys I will read so much stuff you have no idea.  Can I read an entire book in twenty-five minutes?  I don’t know, but maybe you are interested in finding out!  I sure am.

YOU REALLY SHOULD PLAY ECLIPSE: A NEW DAWN FOR THE GALAXY

Want to conquer the universe?  Uncover strange alien technologies?  Dispatch Dreadnaught fleets to crush your friends and intimidate your enemies? Become an ancient race of inscrutable monolith-builders who hover implacable and distant above the carnage?  Or just play a race of crazy plant-people?  Want to do all this in the form of a beautiful, elegant board game that does not require twelve hours to play?

Enter Eclipse: A New Dawn for the Galaxy.  Eclipse is a Finnish game, further support for my theory that Good Games Come From Places With Nasty Winters.  (A corollary to my theory that Good Ice Cream Comes From Hot Countries.)  You and your friends play human and / or alien factions spreading their hands / tentacles / pseudopoda across Known and Unknown Space. Each of you starts with a teeny civilization, confined to one corner of the galaxy.  You win by accumulating the most Victory Points (natch)—a semi-secret currency that can be gained by developing territory, engaging in diplomacy, winning battles, building monoliths, and developing high-level science.

Admittedly this sounds exactly like the kind of game we made computers to play: tons of bookkeeping, addition, micromanagement, and related nutjobbery.  But the designers took the existence of computer games as a challenge, I think: “How can we” (they seem to have said) “make a board game this big without making the players once think, I wish I had a computer to do the math for me.”

The answer is elegance.  For example: each player has an “upkeep track” consisting of circles covered by little wooden “influence discs”.  To take an action on your turn, you move an influence disc from the upkeep track onto the action you want to take.  This reveals a number, which is the amount of money it costs to keep your civilization out of bankruptcy this turn.  Generating more money?  You can take more actions.  But watch out—you spend the same influence discs to control star systems.  As a result, your sprawling star empire costs a lot more to control than a small, focused colony cluster.  Depending on their income, civilizations can be paralyzed by their own bulk.  Some technologies give you more influence discs; in the event of bankruptcy you may have to remove discs from your colonies, effectively giving up control of an entire star system—which might be great, or horrible, depending on your goals.  I can’t remember the last time I saw such a simple mechanic with such complex implications.  It was probably in Advanced Civilization.  And that’s just one aspect of the game.  Combat, colonization, and technology research are every bit as elegant, and all mechanics interlock.

Speaking of combat, I love how this game represents interstellar warfare.  Spaceships are big, expensive, and slow.  As a result, combat between players is rare—but each exchange is fraught with import.  A battle swinging your way or your enemy’s may not outright lose you the game, but it may radically alter the direction of play.  Going to war puts your civilization at hazard.  You may win big.  You may collapse.  In my group’s first game, my friend Dan built a Maginot line of starbases at the last possible minute to stop Vlad’s hyper-cruisers in a Second Battle of DS9-style omnifracas which devastated Vlad’s fleet and indirectly won Dan the game—though it could have gone either way.  So.  Much.  Fun.

There’s a lot more to love: the aliens all have subtly different mechanics than the humans, which skews their play in cool new ways.  Since each action requires an Influence Disc, even bookkeeping stuff like upgrading your starship becomes frought with dramatic import—since by choosing to do it, you’re choosing not to do something else which might be really important.  There’s chance enough to skew the game in fun new directions, but not so much chance that skill becomes irrelevant.  And all this gets done in about 30-45 min. per player.

Also, and I cannot stress this enough: you can win by seeding your territory with inscrutable 2001-style Monoliths.  What are you waiting for.

(Also the publisher has killer customer support.  The game I received was missing a few minor pieces, and they sent replacements even though they are in Finland.  That seems above & beyond to me.)