OK, in no order of preference at all (apart from the Electric Boogaloo) here are the runners and riders for the new book’s title. By this time next week I will have received Ted Hughes’s Wolfwatching and Lupercal, so I may have some more titles to steal.
I like Shadow of the Wolf but it was a 1992 film, so that may rule it out.
I have included everything I’ve thought of in a sort of ‘brainstorming’ manner – not all are really contenders but it’s best to write them all down as they may point the way to the eventual title.
I’m not at all sure we’re quite there yet. I may have to try again tomorrow. I want something that says ‘fantasy’ but not the equivalent of a ‘hooded man’ title. That said, hooded men seem very popular and what I want is a title to get people to read the book. So maybe Wolfsbane or Shadow Wolf would be best – traditional fantasy, says fantasy, attracts the fantasy reader. At the moment I like The Fell Wolf Fenrir although I’d like something that gets the idea of a pursuit into the title. Most of the book someone is being chased so I might like to convey that.
Wolfsbane
Wolfshadow
Moontaker’s Song
The Moon Taker
Wolf Song
Stone Wolf
Shadow of the Wolf
In the Shadow of the Wolf
The Wolf and his shadow
My Shadow is a Wolf
Wolf Taken
Wolf Night
Night of the Wolf
Wolfsbane
Hunted
The Hunted
The Teeth of Midnight
Wolf Hunt
Hunting the Wolf
The Wolf at Midnight
The Midnight Wolf
A Night Caller
The Voice of the Night
Fenris Unbound
The Wolf Torn Men
The Wolf Torn
The Wolf in the Garden
Wolf Called
Call of the Wolf
Jaws of the Midnight
Eyes of the Wolf
Wolfseye
The Dread Wolf
A Wolf Called Fear
Dreamstalker
The Night Forest Stalker
Moonhunter
Axe Age, Wind Age, Wolf Age
Axe Age Storm Age, Wolf Age
Age of the Wolf
Wolf Dawn
Wolf Kill
The Killing of the Moon
The Moonkiller’s Lover
The Moontaker’s Song
Moon Song
Wolf Slayer
The Raven and the Wolf
The Dead God’s Servants
The God in the Stone
The Ever Wolf
Ever the Wolf
Always the Wolf
The Always Wolf
The Wolf Behind You
Teeth of the Wolf
God of the Hunt
They that must live
That they must live
The Ragged Forest
The Wolf of Always
The King of Carrion
Death’s Friend
Night Voices
Us He Devours
The Devourer’s Song
The Wolf in Dreams
The Dream Running Wolf
The Wolves Running
Running Wolf
The Fell Wolf
The Fell Wolf Fenrir
The Fell Wolf at Midnight
The Terror of the Gods
A Feast for Wolves
The Wolf’s Feast
The Fetters Shall Burst
The Wolf Runs Free
The Fetters Shall Burst and The Wolf Run Free
Tears of the Wolf
The Wolf’s Lament
The Fell Wolf’s Tear
A Falling Wolf
Wrath of Fenris
Wolfsmantle
Wolves of the East
Wolves of…. something
The Fell Wolf Fenrisulfr
Wolfsangel II Electric Boogaloo (thanks for that one Neverwhere)
The book is officially published tomorrow – 30 mins time, May 20.
Thanks to all who have helped with its publication and to everyone who has blogged it or reviewed it so far!
I’ll be signing Wolfsangel at the Forbidden Planet megastore in London between 6 and 7 on May 13. We will be off for drinks afterwards! Details all here
All welcome to attend. This is the first time Wolfsangel will be available in the UK.
The advantage of writing historical fantasy is, of course, that you don’t have to make any of the details of your world up. It’s all there for you in history.
The problem is that history is slippery, amorphous and sometimes unrecorded. The dark ages (sound of historians screaming as I use that name, sorry, early medieval period) where I’m setting the first three books of my Wolfsangel series, are a case in point.
There can be a great deal of dispute about what a particular historical figure said or did and the details of day to day life can be very hard to come by. You can’t extrapolate back from the high medieval period because the difference in world view and even technology between the 8th century and the 13th is immense.
OK, with effort you can find those things but it’s the little details that kill you. I’m currently having a bash at discovering what the walls of Paris would have looked like in the 9th century. My guess is that they’d be the old Roman ones – perhaps with a bit of patching here and there.
However, it’s equally likely that they could have been a wooden pallisade or a rampart.
Then there’s clothing, attitudes, geography. If you’re making up your own world you just say ‘I know, let’s have some deep ravines along this river to the sea.’ Historical fantasy writers, however, are left with trying to find out exactly how, say, the Somme looked in the early medieval period. Fens, apparently. Well, I’ve never been in a proper fen so now I have to find out about them.
And this is the dark ages. There are relatively few things to get right – horses, houses, dress, customs but it’s not such a complex time as, say, the Victorian period. Also, luckily, sources are few. Why luckily? Well it means you can take educated guesses at things that you don’t know without getting a call from Eric Pode of Croydon saying ‘do you know your description of the mechanism of a gentleman’s fob watch in 1876 is anachronistic. The mechanism you’re talking about didn’t exist until 1877 at the earliest’.
Still, I do like to get things right because the richer you make the reality the more convincing will be your world. Exactly what was the disposition of houses outside the walls of Paris? Was the river faster or slower flowing back then? How did the armies that invaded the Frankish realm – Vikings, Saracens, Frisian and others camp – under tents? Probably but I can’t find any definite evidence that says they did..
All of this is fine and, actually, quite fun. Does it matter if I get the length of a Frankish cloak wrong (half length, known as a Saie, I think) or the language of ancient Paris? Not terribly materially to the story – I’ve got werewolves and sorcerers in it after all. It would matter to me, though.
The reason is that the past is a very strange place. One of the reasons people come to fantasy is to get a sense of wonder. To me – and I’m really not knocking imaginary world fantasy at all because I love that stuff – there’s as much wonder in a recreation of the world view of a 9th century prince, monk or peasant as there is in hearing of the invented moon-worshipping customs of the Ngler of Nglee.
In fact, I think it’s easier to create wonder using real history than it is fantasy. We’ve come a long way since Tolkien and there have been many, many books with invented worlds – some brilliant, some not quite so.
It’s actually quite hard to do something new in fantasy world building. Yes, you can have original ideas but the bar is set very high before you get the ‘wow!’ factor, for the simple reason that there have been so many ‘wows’ before. I have to confess I find it quite hard to get excited about a new race of creatures, a new floating forest (random example, if someone has a floating forest, I’m not talking about that book!), a new magic item.
Of course, all those things can be exciting if done well. It’s just that it’s getting harder and harder to do them well, or at least originally.
I was going to continue this blog entry for a while yet but, since I’ve been composing it since before Christmas, I’ll stick it out now or it will never get done!
Wolfsangel still attracting good reviews and early indications are that bloggers really like it too, which is gratifying. There’s always a nervousness that a good reception by critics won’t be matched by the reception by fans. It can work the other way around, of course. Something that gets a critical mauling – Da Vinci Code, for instance, is loved by millions around the world. Hopefully a novel can score with both sets of readers. My fingers, toes and other extremity is crossed.
Just had a very pleasing review of the advanced review copy of Wolfsangel from the wonderful multiple British and World fantasy award-winning novelist Graham Joyce.
He said the following:
“Superior thunderous and full-blooded historical fantasy, broiling and smoking with mystery, beautifully written”
That makes this werewolf howl with gratitude, if you can howl with gratitude.
Here’s all the ARC reviews of Wolfsangel in one place. Please don’t think I’m going on an ego trip, it’s just that it’s convenient for me to have a link that I can direct bloggers to. I hope this will encourage them to review the book.
I’ve sent this direct to several bloggers but thought it might be convenient just to have the link here.
Advanced review copies of Wolfsangel were sent out to leading authors just before Christmas and I’m really pleased to say the response has been excellent so far.
Adam Roberts, author of Yellow Blue Tibia and also a Guardian book critic said of the book:
‘A classic. Brilliant stuff. This is not a run of the mill Fantasy text; nor, really, is it even a riff upon those worn-smooth tropes. It is something genuinely strange, eerie, evocative.’
http://punkadiddle.blogspot.com/2009/12/m-d-lachlan-wolfsangel-2010.html
Joe Abercrombie, bestselling fantasy author, writing on his blog, said Wolfsangel
‘manages to evoke the weirdness of the viking mindset to the point where even the normal people feel a lot more alien than most denizens of epic fantasy. It’s savage, dark, strange and unpredictable, which are all good things in my book.’
http://www.joeabercrombie.com/2009/12/wolfsangel.html
Mike Carey – author of the bestselling Lucifer graphic novels and much good stuff besides has provided a quote for the cover, saying
‘A unique take on the werewolf mythos, on the Norse pantheon and on magic itself. An enthralling, mesmerising book.’
Stephen Deas, author of The Adamantine Palace has said
‘Sent chills down my spine. Dark, bloody and dangerous, you can almost smell the sweat and iron coming off the pages. There are a lot of werewolves coming our way this year, but Wolfsangel could well be the standard by which they will be judged for some years to come’
Detective fiction bestseller RJ Ellory said:
‘A spellbinding and unputdownable fusion of historical and fantasy fiction that is sure to enchant devotees of both genres.’
So that’s the news so far. I’m available for interview to answer questions on the book/me/writing in general. It’s due for publication on May 20, I’m appearing on panels at Eastercon and, I hope, putting in an appearance at Horrorcon (to be finalised).
Just had another good review for Wolfsangel, this time from Stephen Deas – author of The Adamantine Palace.
Stephen is a braver man than me because, while werewolves have been fairly well covered in literature – he successfully took on the myth of the Dragon – a much more difficult beast to bring originality to, owing to their complete centrality to fantasy lit.
Stephen says Wolfsangel. ‘Sent chills down my spine. Dark, bloody and dangerous, you can almost smell the sweat and iron coming off the pages. There are a lot of werewolves coming our way this year, but Wolfsangel could well be the standard by which they will be judged for some years to come’‘
Hoorah!
Bestselling crime writer RJ Ellory has read Wolfsangel and said some nice things about it. Specifically:
‘A spellbinding and unputdownable fusion of historical and fantasy fiction that is sure to enchant devotees of both genres’
Very thankful to RJ for reading the book and being so positive about it.
Have also confirmed that I’ll be on a panel at Eastercon at Heathrow discussing ‘researching the imaginary’.
May also be giving a lecture on Victorian self defence for ladies and gentlemen – how the Victorian gentry subdued the hobbledihoy.
It all looks very quaint until you remember these guys built the British Empire. If you can stand against a Zulu ibutho charge then you know a bit about being in a scrap. I may do the talk in character, which should be fun. Advice ranges from the quaint ‘look him in the eye and say “do you know who I am?” to the chilling ‘it is possible to tear off his arm from this position, after which you can chastise him at will’.
Adam Roberts and Joe Abercrombie have been read Wolfsangel and offered their comments on it.Adam is yet to blog on the subject but has described the book as ‘a classic. Brilliant stuff’ and Joe’s comments can be read here.
I am very, very, chuffed about this.
First responses coming in on proofs of Wolfsangel and they are so far very good.
This is gratifying as there are several sections I considered a bit risky to put in – not in a BS Johnson ‘nuttier than thou’ way but just passages of a slightly different tone to the main one of the book. There is also a fair bit of use of flashback, which is not always easy to pull off.
Pleased to say people have spontaneously said how much they like these.
It’s a tribute to the fantasy community (is there such a thing?) that people read new authors’ books so quickly and are willing to be so generous about them.
Hoping that the authors who are reading the proofs are going to enjoy them all the way to the end. That way I may garner a few cover quotes. I hope the people in question will allow me to report their responses. This isn’t a foregone conclusion, even if someone likes a book. Some authors are wary of having their name on the front of too many books and some only give quotes to stuff they absolutely adore – ie one every ten years.
Good to see my wolf on the proof cover has got a bit of claret on his lips now. Any self respecting werewolf needs a little slaughter-dew on the chops to set of his look.