The Django and His Book
I think it is about time I introduced you to my good friend Django Wexler--or, as he is known these days, the author of The Thousand Names, the soon-to-be-released first book in the Shadow Campaigns series.
So here's what I know about Django:
* Yes, that is his real name. His parents either really like Python, the music of Django Reinhardt, or a certain Quentin Tarantino movie. Given that he's my age, I'm going to go with option #2.
* I've known him since he was double-majoring in computer science and creative writing at CMU, and he offered to let me download raw episodes of Hellsing from his FTP server.
* He was writing then, too, and we often compared notes, as we were both writing fantasy novels.
* At the time, he was working on Memories of Empire, which, while not his first novel, was the first published, by small press Medallion. Medallion also published his next book, Shinigami.
* Throughout this, I'd beta-read most of his stuff, offering my feedback where it could help.
You know how sometimes your friends send you their stories, and they suck, but you feel obliged to read them, because they're your friends? Yeah, this was not the case with Django ;) I loved--and still love--reading his stuff, and I loved beta reading his stuff because it meant I got to read it first :)
* Some... oh geez, four? five? years ago now, he started slipping me chapters of his latest series, which he called "Janus", after the character around whom the events of the series revolve. It was fantasy set in a vast colonial world, the Vordanai empire, with about the tech level of Napoleonic Europe. The campaigns of Napoleon were, in fact, an influence on this, and on the character of Janus in particular. So I was introduced to him, and Marcus, and Winter, and Raesinia, and was intrigued!
For whatever reason, that version never got off the ground. But:
* About two years ago he started sending me chapters of a new version of Janus, starting a little farther back in the history of the world, but with many of the same characters. About the same time, I was reading Bernard Cornwell and watching the Sharpe mini-series, and so I was caught up in that world again because it reminded me a lot of Cornwell. (Indeed, I have heard it pitched as "Bernard Cornwell meets George R.R. Martin")
* I offered my feedback--or, more often, simply encouragement to keep on keepin' on; that the story was awesome and I wanted to know how it ended. Eventually, he finished it, and began looking for an agent.
* Thanks to his his tremendous skill (and a little bit of luck), he found an agent. Soon after, he had a book--nay, a series deal--from Penguin/Ace/Roc.
And here we are today, with the first book of the series coming out July 2nd! I even get a couple of words in the Acknowledgements for my role in this book seeing the light of day. Here's the blurb:
Enter an epic fantasy world that echoes with the thunder of muskets and the clang of steel-but where the real battle is against a subtle and sinister magic....
Captain Marcus d’Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire’s colonial garrisons, was resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost. But that was before a rebellion upended his life. And once the powder smoke settled, he was left in charge of a demoralized force clinging tenuously to a small fortress at the edge of the desert.
To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must win the hearts of her men and lead them into battle against impossible odds.
The fates of both these soldiers and all the men they lead depend on the newly arrived Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich, who has been sent by the ailing king to restore order. His military genius seems to know no bounds, and under his command, Marcus and Winter can feel the tide turning. But their allegiance will be tested as they begin to suspect that the enigmatic Janus’s ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural-a realm with the power to ignite a meteoric rise, reshape the known world, and change the lives of everyone in its path.
Incidentally, on a more personal note, I love Winter. I love her so much there are elements of her in my planned Shadows of Amun character. I don't want to give too much away about her, but I will say that she alone might be enough to make you love this novel even if you think, "Oh, ho hum, another epic fantasy novel with dudes fighting their way through lovingly-described battle scenes."
Yes, there's a lot of (fun, to me) military history/homage/trivia in this book. But--and this sounds trite to say, but it's true--what makes it important is how it affects the characters. You might be surprised to find yourself caring about things like infantry squares, because it represents Winter's growing knowledge of military tactics and her rise through the ranks. And that couldn't happen unless she were already a compelling character, who you want to see succeed.
And that, my friends, is storytelling.
* He also has a middle-grade series on the way (starting with The Forbidden Library), but that, alas, is not pre-orderable yet, so I cannot pimp it yet. But for those of you who like YA books set in libraries, with magic, in the 1930s--take note.
* As a side note, I'll add that Django is someone who cares deeply about inclusivity in fantasy writing, which whoa nelly, do we need more of.
* Django has, finally, been incredibly encouraging to me in my own pursuit of fiction writing. Some day, maybe, he'll be able to pimp something for me. He is someone who I knew--even from when I first met him!-- would one day be successful as a writer, just because he has a dogged determination to write, no matter how he feels. He has shown me that good writers aren't writers without any doubts--they're writers who feel the fear/procrastination/doubt and write anyway. This is a lesson I am still learning.
So that's my obligatory pimpage for a good friend and a very talented writer. If this sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to go pre-order The Thousand Names, as that apparently Means Something to bestseller lists and the like. For those of you more frugally inclined, there's a giveaway going on Goodreads, too.
So here's what I know about Django:
* Yes, that is his real name. His parents either really like Python, the music of Django Reinhardt, or a certain Quentin Tarantino movie. Given that he's my age, I'm going to go with option #2.
* I've known him since he was double-majoring in computer science and creative writing at CMU, and he offered to let me download raw episodes of Hellsing from his FTP server.
* He was writing then, too, and we often compared notes, as we were both writing fantasy novels.
* At the time, he was working on Memories of Empire, which, while not his first novel, was the first published, by small press Medallion. Medallion also published his next book, Shinigami.
* Throughout this, I'd beta-read most of his stuff, offering my feedback where it could help.
You know how sometimes your friends send you their stories, and they suck, but you feel obliged to read them, because they're your friends? Yeah, this was not the case with Django ;) I loved--and still love--reading his stuff, and I loved beta reading his stuff because it meant I got to read it first :)
* Some... oh geez, four? five? years ago now, he started slipping me chapters of his latest series, which he called "Janus", after the character around whom the events of the series revolve. It was fantasy set in a vast colonial world, the Vordanai empire, with about the tech level of Napoleonic Europe. The campaigns of Napoleon were, in fact, an influence on this, and on the character of Janus in particular. So I was introduced to him, and Marcus, and Winter, and Raesinia, and was intrigued!
For whatever reason, that version never got off the ground. But:
* About two years ago he started sending me chapters of a new version of Janus, starting a little farther back in the history of the world, but with many of the same characters. About the same time, I was reading Bernard Cornwell and watching the Sharpe mini-series, and so I was caught up in that world again because it reminded me a lot of Cornwell. (Indeed, I have heard it pitched as "Bernard Cornwell meets George R.R. Martin")
* I offered my feedback--or, more often, simply encouragement to keep on keepin' on; that the story was awesome and I wanted to know how it ended. Eventually, he finished it, and began looking for an agent.
* Thanks to his his tremendous skill (and a little bit of luck), he found an agent. Soon after, he had a book--nay, a series deal--from Penguin/Ace/Roc.
And here we are today, with the first book of the series coming out July 2nd! I even get a couple of words in the Acknowledgements for my role in this book seeing the light of day. Here's the blurb:
Enter an epic fantasy world that echoes with the thunder of muskets and the clang of steel-but where the real battle is against a subtle and sinister magic....
Captain Marcus d’Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire’s colonial garrisons, was resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost. But that was before a rebellion upended his life. And once the powder smoke settled, he was left in charge of a demoralized force clinging tenuously to a small fortress at the edge of the desert.
To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must win the hearts of her men and lead them into battle against impossible odds.
The fates of both these soldiers and all the men they lead depend on the newly arrived Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich, who has been sent by the ailing king to restore order. His military genius seems to know no bounds, and under his command, Marcus and Winter can feel the tide turning. But their allegiance will be tested as they begin to suspect that the enigmatic Janus’s ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural-a realm with the power to ignite a meteoric rise, reshape the known world, and change the lives of everyone in its path.
Incidentally, on a more personal note, I love Winter. I love her so much there are elements of her in my planned Shadows of Amun character. I don't want to give too much away about her, but I will say that she alone might be enough to make you love this novel even if you think, "Oh, ho hum, another epic fantasy novel with dudes fighting their way through lovingly-described battle scenes."
Yes, there's a lot of (fun, to me) military history/homage/trivia in this book. But--and this sounds trite to say, but it's true--what makes it important is how it affects the characters. You might be surprised to find yourself caring about things like infantry squares, because it represents Winter's growing knowledge of military tactics and her rise through the ranks. And that couldn't happen unless she were already a compelling character, who you want to see succeed.
And that, my friends, is storytelling.
* He also has a middle-grade series on the way (starting with The Forbidden Library), but that, alas, is not pre-orderable yet, so I cannot pimp it yet. But for those of you who like YA books set in libraries, with magic, in the 1930s--take note.
* As a side note, I'll add that Django is someone who cares deeply about inclusivity in fantasy writing, which whoa nelly, do we need more of.
* Django has, finally, been incredibly encouraging to me in my own pursuit of fiction writing. Some day, maybe, he'll be able to pimp something for me. He is someone who I knew--even from when I first met him!-- would one day be successful as a writer, just because he has a dogged determination to write, no matter how he feels. He has shown me that good writers aren't writers without any doubts--they're writers who feel the fear/procrastination/doubt and write anyway. This is a lesson I am still learning.
So that's my obligatory pimpage for a good friend and a very talented writer. If this sounds interesting to you, I encourage you to go pre-order The Thousand Names, as that apparently Means Something to bestseller lists and the like. For those of you more frugally inclined, there's a giveaway going on Goodreads, too.