Sunday began with Saber School for younglings, just like last year. On the trek between hotels to find the tower that is part of a hotel but actually a different building – the source of much confusion, of course – where the New York Jedi were holding lessons, we passed Dean Motter, illustrator of The Prisoner graphic novel. Motter, who we met last year at The Prisoner panel, was clutching coffee and pastry as he struggled, bleary-eyed, through the crowd. The New York Jedi kept the attention of dozens of small children for an hour with personalized instruction with foam sabers and a demonstration by their talented members. One little boy, dressed as Darth Vader, had the honor of “fighting” onstage with one of them. Fearless in spite of his age, he took on the Jedi with a serious air and made much of his victory, to the delight of the audience. While the New York Jedi, who worked very patiently with the different ages and temperaments in the room, are based in New York, their online presence at Saberwars.com attracts the interest of Star Wars fans everywhere.
The Tolkien track has a huge following, so it was no surprise to find a roomful of readers at a panel on the friendship between Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. While there were definite questions presented to the panel, which included authors and educators, the audience was recognized as hands shot up mid-discussion to offer counterpoints and suggestions. Unlike some panels where the audience is held to a Q & A at the end of the panel’s time, this one welcomed the comments of a very informed and passionate audience. The two authors, who met at Oxford, seemed to have little in common but shared a desire to write fantasy, although with different purposes. Tolkien made a point of removing anything that smacked of allegory in his work, while Lewis was out to openly persuade his readers. This became a point of contention between the two, but while they argued about this along with the differences in their religious beliefs, they worked together to defend the basic tenants of Christian faith against atheists. One of the panelists, during final words on the importance of these authors to fantasy as a genre, noted that they made reading fantasy as an adult acceptable, paving the way for the development of fantasy and science fiction on other platforms such as television and film. Without them, she claimed, fantasy would have stayed in the nursery as fairy stories. Even if you don’t like them in particular, you have to recognize the doors opened by Tolkien and Lewis to a brave new world of the adult-friendly fantastic.
Speaking of adult-friendly fantasy, three Tor editors held court with readers looking forward to the house’s upcoming titles and answered a few questions, as well. No, they don’t believe the ebook is going to take over print tomorrow, but all of their titles are issued in electronic format, and they are working on getting the ebook rights to their backlist, so they recognize the value of this phenomenon and strive to ensure access throughout the variety of delivery options available. This is no easy feat and demonstrates Tor’s dedication to bringing to readers the stories readers want in the format they desire. They showcased the following titles for fall release: Antiphon by Ken Scholes (book three in The Psalms of Isaak), Personal Demons by Lisa Desroches (paranormal fantasy, the first in a new series), Will Power by A.J. Hartley (humorous fantasy adventure), Esperanza by Trish J. MacGregor (urban fantasy like Stephenie Meyer’s The Host), He is Legend (horror anthology in honor of Richard Matheson), A Star Shall Fall by Marie Brennan (historical fantasy), Rebel by Claire Delacroix. October releases include: Passion Play by Beth Bernobich (fantasy), Mr. Monster by Dan Wells (sequel to I am Not a Serial Killer), Fatal Error by F. Paul Wilson (second to last in the Repairman Jack series), Knot Gneiss by Piers Anthony, Out of the Dark by David Weber (militant alien invasion, vampires defending the Earth); The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman (steampunk/magical realism in the American West), Trio of Sorcery by Mercedes Lackey, Blood Song and Siren Song by Cat Adams, Dreadnought by Cherie Priest (sequel to Boneshaker), Twilight Forever Rising by Lena Meydan (politics within the vampire underworld). November will bring us Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (thirteenth in the Wheel of Time series, with one to go), Seed Seeker by Pamela Sargent, Surrender to the Will of the Night by Glen Cook, Midsummer Night by Freda Warrington, Above His Proper Station by Lawrence Watt-Evans (swashbuckling magic), Empress of Eternity by L.E. Modesitt, and Game Over by Taylor Keating (paranormal romance). Winter delivers Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card (urban fantasy), Farlander by Col Buchanan, reprints of Michael Moorcock’s titles (with a new Moorcock later in 2011), The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind, Hellhole by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, The Rise of the Iron Moon by Steven Hunt (steampunk), The Unremembered by Peter Orullian, I Don’t Want to Kill You by Dan Wells (third in trilogy), Other Kingdoms by Richard Matheson, and Children of the Sky by Vernor Virge (the long-awaited sequel to Fire of the Deep). The thirtieth anniversary of Tor has brought more of the great work by brilliant storytellers – not to mention the gorgeous cover art – we have come to expect.
There are only a few places at the Con where photography is prohibited, and one of them is the art show. That is a crying shame, because there are some stunning creations on display and for sale, including finely crafted felted dragons, delicate hand-worked jewelry, fairies lovingly formed from polymer clay and real butterfly wings, zombie portraitures (yes, you too can be immortalized as a zombie), and my absolute favorite – shiny steampunk mechanical wings. We watched two Stormtroopers wrapped in long colorful scarves flip through a box of Donato Giancola artwork – that is when I wished most for photo privileges.
There aren’t many events where you can watch Star Wars fans in Tauntaun sleeping bags sack race; in fact, DragonCon is the only one. We walked by the Wicked Witch of the East and Perry the Platypus on our way to the tenth floor skyline to cheer a small group of sweating participants hop and struggle to the finish line in these voluminous beasts. Chris Lee, who brought his R2-D2, fully equipped with a desperate message from Princess Leia, explained that these sleeping bags were actually offered on ThinkGeek a few years ago without any intent of making them. A few thousand orders later, though, they had to make good, and so, we had them to thank for the race. We took the stairs afterwards with two contestants because the elevator wait was over half an hour, and muddled through a packed Marriott lobby to make our escape for the night.
LOL. Glad you enjoyed my crazy idea for the tauntaun sack race.