More Questions from an L.E. Modesitt Fan

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lmodesitt
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Post by lmodesitt »

In answer to the questions.


"Black Ordermage" takes place well before The Magic of Recluce.
Spoiler: show
The third "saving" ... that I'll leave you to figure out.
Spoiler: show
Yes... the description should make that clear

I can't say if there will be another book after the one I'm working on... and, if there is, I certainly can't say what it might be, not given all the possibilities.


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Post by CodeBlower »

It's all those many possibilities that tantalize us so much .. ;)
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Post by Emperor »

As I've noted in the other post, I'm reading Mage-Guard of Hamor now.

It's left me wondering something, Mr Modesitt what is your relationship to Taryl?

*due note it is meant to ask beyond the author to character level*
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Answer

Post by lmodesitt »

Let's just say that I've been in both Rahl's and Taryl's positions.


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Post by Emperor »

I've become rather confused in Mage Guard of Hamor with regards to the military structure used in the book. I don't recall if it was ever noted for Hamor...but on paper what is the break down of men per squad/company/batalion/regiment?

Also are the scouts and outriders part of a squad or are they added on after?

Lastly....the heavy infantry, are they considered light cavalry or more like medium. I get the reference to the lancers, but I'm having trouble relating to the heavy infantry.
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Military

Post by lmodesitt »

The Hamorians are somewhat flexible, but the general breakdown is:

1 squad = 20 men, plus squad leader
1 company = 4 or 5 squads plus senior squad leader and captain/undercaptain
1 battalion = 5 companies

Scouts and outriders come from the company..

Mounted heavy infantry are trained to fight on horseback and on foot, and against both horse and foot -- on a more sustained and close-in basis, if necessary.


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Post by CodeBlower »

Mr. Modesitt,

Any book-signings or tours this Spring we should be aware of?

(thanks, as always)
"Budge up, yeh great lump." -- Hagrid, HP:SS
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The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
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Tours

Post by lmodesitt »

The details haven't been worked out yet, but it appears that I'll be doing signings in northern California, Oregon, and Washington state, in late March and/or early April.


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Post by MidasKnight »

w00t!!

I live in Northern Ca now!!!!!!

:D :banana: :metal: :clap:
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Post by Mythbhavd »

Mr. Modesitt,

Have you ever considered writing a book in the Recluse series in which the main character has no special abilities? One in which the character is having to deal with those who do and has to do so on wits alone?
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Post by lmodesitt »

I haven't written a novel along those lines, but the novella "Sisters of Sarronnyn , Sisters of Westwind" and the forthcoming short story "The Stranger" are both told from the viewpoint of people with no magely abilities. Interestingly enough, I have thought about doing a novel that way, but so far, I haven't come up with the "right" story.


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Post by CodeBlower »

Ya know, when Mythbhavd asked that, I didn't even think about "Sisters".

Johan Eschbach doesn't really have special abilities that I recall (other than being a magnet for trouble) but, of course, he's not from the Recluce series.
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The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
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Post by Mythbhavd »

I can't find Sisters. Does anyone have the ISBN for it?
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Post by lmodesitt »

"Sisters of Sarronnyn, Sisters of Westwind" is included in Viewpoints Critical. The ISBN is 0-7653-1857-1.


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Post by CodeBlower »

There's also a completely-excellent-but-way-too-short (;)) story on Cassius (instructor from Lerris' tale) in that volume.

(Plus lots of other shorts that are still bouncing around in my head.)
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The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
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Post by Mythbhavd »

Very nice! Thank you so much.
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Post by Joker316 »

First post fan praise begin :lol:
Big fan, have read all of the books from the "Saga of Recluce", "The Corean Chronicles", and "The Spellsong Cycle". and love them all. Most of them I have read numerous times.
Havn't read any from the SF category though.

Ok, that done with...
Recently I've started reading the Saga of Recluce series again, and just started "Fall of Angels"

Have you ever written, or thought about writing a SF book about the universe of the Angels, and Demons before they came to the world of recluce?



Again, big fan.

-Erick-
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Post by CodeBlower »

Welcome, Joker!

I'll let Mr. Modesitt answer for himself .. but there have been several threads on here over the last couple years with lots of people asking for similar stories.

I, myself, am a bit curious about some of those people/events .. but I find the stories in this world just as interesting .. so I'm kind of a non-vote.

Anyway, just wanted to mention that you're not alone in your quest. ;)


BTW, he mentioned some details on "Arms-Commander" recently that might be of interest:

viewtopic.php?t=118516&highlight=arms-commander

(I realize it's the wrong direction in the time-line .. but I'm curious if we might learn a few new details about their former lives.)
"Budge up, yeh great lump." -- Hagrid, HP:SS
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The gelding is what the gelding is, unlike people who change in response to their perceptions of events that may benefit or threaten their power. -- Lorn, Chapter LXXXII, Magi'i of Cyador
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Before Recluce

Post by lmodesitt »

A great number of people have asked, over the years, if I'll ever write a novel in the universe from which the "angels" and "demons" come. Because a writer should usually refrain from absolutes, particularly about what he will and will not write, I'll only say that, at this point, it seems unlikely. Some things, I do believe, should have an air of mystery about them. Of course, that means that readers want the mystery revealed. Still... it is unlikely that I will...


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Post by longtooth81 »

Not sure if anyone has asked you this before Mr. Modesitt, but just started thinking about this the other day, and figured I would ask.
Regarding the idea of "prod-placement" that you created(?) in Flash, do you see this as the future of marketing? I know there was an uproar in the gaming community a few years ago regarding this topic if I remember correctly, and people didn't like the idea, but with the advent of TiVo and DVRs in the home and more people seemingly skipping commercials it seems like it 'should' be occurring more and more.
I would think a career similar to Jonat deVrai would be just around the corner. Am I missing something, or do I just not know enough about marketing?
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Post by lmodesitt »

Obviously, it's just my opinion, but I think that commercials as we now see them on "television" have a limited lifespan. Once what I would call "real-time" editing of video programming becomes cheap enough and easy enough for everyone to master it... most probably will. This, I believe, will lead to two outcomes, one of which we're already seeing. The first one is making commercials into a form of entertainment, which is happening. The second is increasing reliance on product placement, as I suggested in The Octagonal Raven.


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Post by edembowski »

The second point is already happening as well. Very often you will see tv shows and movies with products prominently displayed throughout the show. It's no accident that 24 uses Cisco voice over IP phones, and Heroes uses only Sprint phones. Despite the fact that it's nowhere near as sophisticated as we see in Flash, it's still an important part of marketing that we will only see grow. I certainly hope we never get to the point where resonance is a part of the sales pitch!

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Re: More Questions from an L.E. Modesitt Fan

Post by MidasKnight »

Mr. Modesitt,

I'm sorry if this has been asked before ...

What is your opinion, or any author's opinion, of libraries, used books stores, etc... ?

I grew up being taught how wonderful they are, but it can't be that wonderful for the authors, can it? These days, an author needs to make money in order to keep writing so I would think a library (and used book stores) can severely cut into an authors profits.

I often listen to music by bands that are not very popular. When mp3s first came out, and all the music sharing started happening in earnest, I was not so concerned about the Metallicas and the Aerosmiths of the world but the lesser known bands that I listened to would not be able to afford to continue making music if we just bought one copy of a CD and shared it. So I made it a point to NOT copy music, not out of any particular good intention of doing what's right (although I consider myself to be a good and honest person, don't get me wrong) but because I knew if I did, then my bands would die. Simple.

I hadn't occured to me until much, MUCH later, that a library is, in a sense, an acceptable Napster.

However, I still believe libraries are a vital part of our society, but I'm not sure where the balance is.

Any thoughts?
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Re: More Questions from an L.E. Modesitt Fan

Post by lmodesitt »

Libraries aren't quite the same as Napster for several reasons. First, libraries have what one might call mitigating effects. That's because they tend to buy for a wider audience than just any individual. So a library in a very conservative area still might buy S&SF while a library in a liberal east coast college might also buy westerns. Also, libraries buy hardcovers, if for a discount, that are non-returnable, and if a thousand libraries, all across the country, each buy one hardcover, that's not to be sneezed at, both from a revenue point of view and from an exposure point of view. In addition, there are two publications by and for librarians --Booklist and Library Journal -- that inform librarians about books -- including mine, thankfully. In addition, I've run across dozens of libraries that circulate local reviews of their new holdings. Also, libraries expose people who may not have the funds to buy books or who may not wish to purchase new authors until they read them. Frankly, my mother is one of those people. She'll read an author she doesn't know in a library book or two. After that, she buys them. Librarians also hold local and national conferences, and they often invite authors [as I have been a number of times] to talk about writing and books to librarians. Then. too, because a library book is a physical object, it can't be duplicated, practically speaking, hundreds of times, and only one person at a time can read that copy.

So... I really don't see libraries in the same way as Napster because libraries and librarians do buy the books and then provide all sorts of additional, value-added services that benefit both readers and authors and work to broaden readers' horizons, whereas filesharing systems simply make available knock-off copies without broadening or educating the audience.

Used bookstores fill a similar, but slightly different function. From my point of view, they provide a clearing house for books people don't want to keep. I visit used book stores, and what I find is that there are comparatively few of my titles in used book stores. Since there are a few million of my books in print, that suggests that the vast majority of my readers tend to keep my books. As for the readers that don't, they bring them to the used bookstore, where students and others with limited funds can find them and hopefully encourage them to read more of my books, even occasionally springing for a new paperback, rather than a used one. And again, there's only one copy of each book, and someone bought it originally, and there's no way to copy it essentially for nothing. That one copy can only be physically passed on to someone else, not duplicated endlessly.


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Re: More Questions from an L.E. Modesitt Fan

Post by elenion »

I think libraries encourage enough people to read and try new books that some will end up buying books for their own collection that they wouldn't have purchased otherwise.

And while I love used bookstores, and have even purchased a few of Mr. Modesitt's works at such stores, the books I've found there frequently - especially in Mr. Modesitt's case - are ones that are difficult to find in stores. I think only two of his books that I got used were ones that I see in regular bookstores (Cadmian's Choice, and picking it up got me to finally read - and buy in regular bookstores - the Corean Chronicles; and one of the Spellsong books, which got me to do the same with that series). Mostly what I've found in used bookstores has been his SF works, which I still don't understand why regular bookstores don't carry them more frequently.
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