The Lion of the North: Another ASOIAF Fan-Fic

Some of you might have seen the older blog post I wrote to promote "A Different Song," an A Song of Ice and Fire fan-fic depicting Ned Stark and the Northern cavalry interrupting the Sack of King's Landing. They discover Jaime Lannister has already killed Aerys the Mad King and together Ned and Jaime rescue Princess Elia Martell and her daughter Rhaenys from the vile Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch respectively. It's a pretty entertaining story so far, but the author is rather slow in updating.

Well, the same alternate-history forum that spawned "A Different Song" spawned an unofficial sequel/spinoff, "The Lion of the North." The author would rather not post it on fanfiction.net, so you can read it on Space Battles or (without reader comments) An Archive of Our Own. And he certainly keeps the updates flowing. The gist of it is that King Robert Baratheon and Tywin Lannister connive to kill Elia and her children (I think in this continuity Aegon survived, which he didn't in "A Different Song"), leading to a permanent breach between the Lannisters father and son. After Jaime is too argumentative, Tywin disinherits him and prevails on Robert to expel him from the Kingsguard. He leaves for the North with Ned and things go from there...

Although I really don't like some of the stuff that goes on in King's Landing (it involves bringing in Melisandre a generation early and giving her magical powers that canon does not indicate she has, making the whole situation needlessly complicated), the stuff following Jaime, Ned, Catelyn, and even the young Tyrion is really well-done. The most recent update is even pretty funny--kids (in this case Robb and Jon) say the darnedst things upon meeting dwarfs.

So check it out!

The ASOIAF Collaborative Timeline Continues (SPOILERS)

There's been some more discussion on my alternate-history message-board about the alternate A Song of Ice and Fire timeline beginning with King Robert Baratheon dying in the last days of the Greyjoy Rebellion after he and Ned Stark kill "King" Balon Greyjoy and his burly brother Victarion. Here is some of the earlier discussion I've posted, and what's coming is what came afterward.

*The Mad King Aerys II had caches of wildfire left all over King's Landing and Jaime Lannister killed him when he tried to set them off. Possible major stashes could include the Red Keep where the king and his minions would have easy access to them, the Dragonpit for maximum casualties, and the Great Sept of Baelor to give the Seven the finger for not helping Aerys. Euron's raid on King's Landing thus far seems to consist of an attack on the Great Sept where Cersei is captured and another attack on the Red Keep. Both are set on fire after being plundered. If even some of the wildfire goes off, we might have something akin to the Great Fire of London (the first or second) or the fire in Rome under Nero, which could kill tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people. Depending on how much damage is done, it might be necessary to move the capital to Dragonstone or Storm's End while the city is rebuilt. Rebuilding the ruined city on top of a decade of partying by Robert might put the realm in the same kind of financial danger it was in canon, although Littlefinger supervised by Stannis Baratheon could no doubt supervise the raising of the needed funds without them going anywhere they shouldn't.

*Although Jaime Lannister will be Lord Paramount of the Iron Islands with Asha Greyjoy as his lady, other ruling houses will send younger sons to be lords where Ironborn families were wiped out entirely. The younger Stark boys could be given islands to rule, while Roose Bolton could send his murderous bastard there as well, possibly saving the life of his legitimate son.

(Considering how violent and sadistic Ramsay is, I can imagine him adopting Ironborn customs like taking "saltwives" and paying the "iron price" just to justify him raping and stealing.)

*The pro-Targaryen coalition (Euron Greyjoy, Khal Drogo, Viserys Targaryen, "Aegon," and Danaerys Targaryen) is going to run into trouble if Drogo dies per canon. In canon Viserys tried to sneak into Danaerys' room the night before her wedding to molest her and if she's widowed while he's still alive, he might try to claim her as his wife. Canonically both "Aegon" and Euron are interested in marrying her as well. If Danaerys has the dragons, she'll have the means of defending herself and choosing her own husband. I suggested that's one way to kill off Viserys is have him lay hands on Danaerys and then get incinerated by the dragons and/or chopped up by Danaerys' bloodriders. Alternatively, if Euron takes Dragonstone in the process of killing Stannis, he might kill Viserys in an effort to awaken dragons from the stone there. Viserys has royal blood and if he's still the nut-bag he was in canon, even ten years of brutal training in war and sorcery from Euron might not be enough to temper him.

(If we want Danaerys to name one of her dragons after her brother, maybe Euron gets wind that Viserys is going to go after her and then kills him? All she'd hear is that Euron killed Viserys and if Viserys was having some kind of drunken crazy episode like just before how he died in canon, she might not even blame him. She isn't angry at Drogo for "crowning" the obnoxious Viserys with molten gold, after all.)

*With only Joffrey and Myrcella born to Cersei, ostensibly fathered by King Robert, it might be harder to figure out that they're bastards born of incest. Most of Ned's children with his wife Catelyn look like their mother, but nobody claims she was secretly sleeping with her brother Edmure. Given how in this timeline Cersei gives birth to Euron's rape child and later (presumably) has children with her new husband Edmure, if those children tend to look Lannister (blonde hair, green eyes), people might not ever suspect anything. On the other hand, many of Robert's bastards have already been born and they're all dark-haired.

*The anti-Targaryen coalition could have problems of its own. With Stannis dead, if Joffrey and Myrcella are  disinherited, this means Renly Baratheon is king. Renly tried to claim the crown in canon even though Stannis had the better legal claim, so him being an "Evil Uncle" to Joffrey and Myrcella might not be out of character. Ironically unless Ned has gotten proof, he might take Joffrey's side against Renly. And although Edmure is not head of House Tully until his father Hoster dies, he might be willing to defend his wife against any accusations directed at her. He was willing to stand by Roslin Frey in canon, after all, even though their wedding was a trap that killed his sister, nephew, and many of his political allies, and on at least one occasion he has been described as "soft of heart, soft of head." I'm imagining Edmure fleeing with Cersei to Tywin Lannister if it looks like his father is going to arrest Cersei for treason and incest, which could lead to a Tully civil war between father and son. Although Edmure doesn't really seem to be the sort to inspire a rising against Hoster, the possibility of having to fight Tywin might be...intimidating to some of the riverlords. In particular, I'm thinking of the slimy, opportunistic Walder Frey.

*Given how in this timeline Varys poisons Regent Jon Arryn soon after Hand of the King Stannis is killed in battle with Euron, he could easily send letters in Jon's name to Mace Tyrell, Renly, and Tywin telling them they're the new Hand of the King and they need to bring an army to King's Landing to protect it against another attack by Euron. If both of them show up at the city with armies, each will likely claim the other was planning a coup to take control of Joffrey. Each would have a credible reason to do so--Tywin is Joffery's grandfather and was Hand for 20 years to the Mad King Aerys II, while Mace has the very marriageable daughter Margaery he can marry to Joffrey to gain influence over the young king and Renly is King Robert's brother like Stannis was and has ample governing experience. All you'd need is a skirmish or someone getting poisoned and you could have a two-way or three-way battle right there. Alternatively, one or more of the leaders could back off to avoid a fight they can't win--and then start the fight on their own terms later.

*Meanwhile, the pro-Targaryen forces gather in Essos and Dragonstone and the Iron Fleet sails to liberate their ancient homeland from its occupiers.

In Which A Short Man Flies: An ASOIAF Fan-Fic

Here's a new piece of A Song of Ice and Fire fan-fiction for your entertainment. It is entitled "The Little Man Flies" and, like "A Parliament of Fowls" it was originally posted on AH.com. I asked the writer to post it on fanfiction.net so I could share it with all of you and so he has.

In this one, the mercenary Bronn loses the trial by combat and so Tyrion Lannister is cast out the Moon Door at the command of the insane Lysa Tully. The consequences of this include the Riverlands being largely spared so Tywin Lannister can ravage the Vale, Kevan Lannister being made Hand of the King to Joffrey "Baratheon," and the death of poor Brienne of Tarth. It's pretty interesting and it's written in the style of ASOIAF. I'd have liked some more "butterflies" from the change--the Ironborn storyline follows canon pretty much exactly--but it's a good story overall.

Enjoy!

The Next Big Thing...

I found the idea of "The Next Big Thing" on the blog belonging to Christopher Nuttall and got reminded to do it when I saw Delilah S. Dawson post it herself. So here goes...

The Next Big Thing: Battle for the Wastelands

Where Did The Idea Come From: When I was in high school (probably around 2000), I read the first of Stephen King's Dark Tower novels and wanted to write something similar. The world of the Dark Tower is a Western-type world, albeit more feudal (there's a knightly caste called "gunslingers" who control most of the world's guns), but it's strongly implied this is a post-apocalyptic situation--the world has "moved on." Over the years, the story has mutated drastically--the technology level has shifted forward to the Civil War era, the general milieu has become rather steampunk, the characters have last names instead of "Name of Place," and I've included some deeper themes like race in a fantasy context, the merits of decentralized vs. centralized power, and whether or not leaders who are less despotic but more prone to racism are worse than tyrants who don't care about such things.

What Genre Does Your Book Fall Under: I used to call it "a post-apocalyptic steampunk Western," but my friend James R. Tuck said it would be better-described as "a post-apocalyptic military fantasy with steampunk elements." I think "post-apocalyptic military fantasy with Western and steampunk elements" will do nicely, even if it doesn't come off the tongue well.

What Actors Would You Choose to Play Your Characters In a Movie Rendition: The only thought I've really put into it is that the character Catalina Merrill could be played by Danielle De Luca. In fact, I used De Luca as the model for Catalina, since she was a relative latecomer to the story. Although the tyrant Grendel's general look was inspired by Clancy Brown's portrayal of the Kurgan in the film Highlander, Grendel's face and hair don't really match up with his. And Clancy Brown is too old now anyway.

What is the One-Sentence Synopsis of Your Book: A teen becomes a soldier in a rebellion against a scheming tyrant, who has problems of his own.

Will Your Book Be Self-Published Or Represented By An Agent: Preferably an agent. I've sent it out to one publisher, since I met an editor there at DragonCon 2012, but I'm considering tweaking it a bit more and sending it out to agents. If it gets rejected from the publisher, I've already moved onto the next step, and if they accept it, that's a way to get an agent. I'll keep working my way down the chain to small presses, some of which are following me on Twitter. Self-publishing is an absolute last resort.

How Long Did It Take You To Write The First Draft of Your Manuscript: Too long. I had parts of it written down many years ago, but decided to focus on actually finishing this one (as opposed to spreading my efforts thin on various projects) probably sometime in 2009. That didn't stop me from finishing some lengthy fan-fiction projects I'd already started, which helped delay the first draft until sometime in early 2012. It's 104,000 words, so it has more in common with an epic fantasy than a genre novel in terms of length.

What Other Books Would You Compare This Story To Within Your Genre: When I submitted it, my cover letter compared to Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century and L.E. Modesitt Jr's Corean Chronicles novels. It has more in common with the latter than the former, considering they're both secondary-world fantasy with guns, but it does have airships and other steampunk stuff like Priest's work. Also like Priest's work, it's a big enough world to set a lot of stories. I have partial or complete novellas centered around lesser characters and eight planned novels--a seven-novel cycle focusing on protagonist Andrew Sutter's war against Grendel, with an eighth novel ending Andrew's story a la Beowulf.

Who Or What Inspired You To Write The Book: Stephen King, as I've said above. Beowulf has had a strong influence on my overall plan for the series. I'm sure the Corean Chronicles have influenced things, at least subconsciously, since I read the books when I was in high school and college and working on the earliest version of this. A Song of Ice and Fire has crept in as well, especially the emphasis on the impact of war on ordinary people and moral grayness. In fact, I've compared Grendel to Tywin Lannister (an evil man who nevertheless has understandable motives, governs effectively, and generally maintains the peace) and Roose Bolton (expend the soldiers of subordinates who don't trust and husband your own, plus the "quiet land, quiet people" thing).

What Else About Your Book Might Pique The Reader's Interest: The battle sequences are Civil War in style, if airships were available for close air support and elite units were armed with 20th Century repeating rifles. The way I explore certain themes will either intrigue or offend you. And considering the amount of time I've worked on this and the number of eyes that have been on it, this isn't going to be a "bad first novel."