Actual Reality

Hullo each,

Sorry about the complete lack of postings. I've had the most ghastly time, all sorts of things cropping up at the last moment.

I will start with regular* posts again soon, for those of you who like that sort of thing, but I just had to put this out there:

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100607_8168.php

It's up on Rees' Facebook page which is, thankfully, visible to all without having to become part of their system (man!)

Anyway, as you will probably already know (having clicked on the link before reading the rest of this post) the US military have decided to build their own Demi-Monde and Mr Rees doesn't even appear to have received a production credit!

Since this article looks to have been posted after Rees wrote The Demi-Monde: Winter, but before it was published, we can only assume that the security services have been monitoring him for some time. Like most copies, however, it's really not as good as the original.

With characters like "Gen. William Loomey III" telling us that initiatives like "MyBase", a virtual airbase inside Second Life (honestly, read the article!), will appeal to online gamers...

"...who have been living in a digital world their entire lives and are better prepared than any other generation to operate in this environment. It is imperative that we understand their needs and expectations, and develop an enterprisewide system that fosters learning and captures their most critical asset -- knowledge."

... I'm inclined to the old saw, "you couldn't make it up".

Except Rees already has.

Mind you, even Rees' sternest critics would have to admit that his version is altogether more credible. I mean, who's going to believe there's really a person called "Gen. William Loomey III"?

*"Regular" is used here in it's British English sense of, "at intervals with the same time between instances", rather than it's American English counterpart meaning, "slightly more than you actually want, but still not available in any smaller measures". Although you may feel that both apply.

EasterCon interrupts coverage of Meteor Strike in Wold Newton

At Precipitation With Insight we have a predilection for casting and re-casting, so that was foremost in my mind as I read through Rod Rees' prequel to the Wold Newton meteor strike (punctuated as it is with a trip to EasterCon). I'm having a think about the best way to present my choice of cast, but there are a couple of things I can't wait to put out there.

There's not much to add regarding the story itself, it's pretty self contained and pretty cool, but what I will say, with regard to The Demi-Monde, is this - The Demi-Monde: Winter is set in a virtual world peopled with genuine historical figures, while this is, true to the Wold Newton Universe, set in the real world (Wold Newton) and peopled with fictional historical characters, albeit ancestors of the characters we know. 

I'm assuming that there is no Wold Newton within the Demi-Monde, with it all being overpopulated cities, and what action there is taking place in the real world doesn't seem to have much of a connection - except one.

Bole.

This reminded me of something I forgot to mention in my synopsis of the prologue, which is that Norma mentions "The Professor" as she is being chased, but he denies any knowledge (as far as I can remember) of how she got into the Demi-Monde in the first place. I'm assuming "The Professor" is Bole and that "The Professor" at the end of the book is also Bole. Of course, it could be that there is another professor character that we don't get to find out about until a later volume. Either way Bole is key, since he is the only character to have a direct connection with the Wold Newton stuff on Rees' blog and The Demi-Monde: Winter.

There. That's that said.

One last thing. Loved the inclusion of Heathcliff.

Wuthering Heights can't be that far from Wold Newton.

A Private Eye for the 1700's

OK...

Blog to follow, but I have to let you know that, not only has Rod Rees, author of The Demi-Monde: Winter, which I am actually reading at the moment, posted a comment and started following my blog, but Win Scott Eckert, God of The Wold Newton Universe and co-writer WITH PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER of The Evil in Pemberley House has also posted a comment AND started following. As if that's not enough to be chuffed about, it appears, thanks to a local news story about The Old Mill Hotel and Restaurant (fresh local food cooked to order!) being near Wold Newton, I've prompted Mr Rees into pre-volume 2 action!

Now, normally I have to wait until the next book before I get the answer I need from a series. There was a time when I didn't think I could wait a week to find out whether Tom Baker's Doctor would survive being drowned by Chancellor Goth in The Matrix, let alone a year for an author to write another volume.

Tom Baker's Doctor uncensored by Mary Whitehouse

Of course, reading the books of Douglas Adams taught me to develop a surprising amount of patience over the years.

I also seem to have picked up a few things from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency if Rod Rees' latest Demi-Monde blog post is anything to go by. Have I magically picked up on a vibe in the Demi-Monde: Winter and deduced that there is a Wold Newton Connection? Looking back at the posts, though, he mentioned it first, but I did pick up on it because I live near there and now - TA DA! - he treats us to a pre-second book piece of Rees. Roll on more Rees' Pieces I say.

Reese's Pieces

Have I discovered a secret that has lain hidden these past 200 years? Have my deductive powers of reasoning lead me to become a detective capable of unravelling a plot from the 1700's by piecing fragments of fiction together to form a coherent whole. Or did I just dangle a bait too tempting in front of  Mr Rees?

I'm not saying I goaded him into it. That is for other to say. But none the less, it looks like Mr Scott Eckert got here just in time. We may need a mediator. Why? Well, I've read The Demi-Monde: Winter once and am embarking on my second go round imminently (yes, really, this time) and it is, as you may know, set in a virtual world peopled with real characters from history. If it is anything to do with the Wold Newton Universe, or indeed the Wold Newton Family themselves, it would surely be set in the real world and peopled with fictional character from history? Maybe I'm jumping the gun on book two ("The Demi-Monde: Spring" one imagines), but I'm going to have to look damned hard at Winter this time round if I'm going to find the Wold Newton connection.

During the summer holidays, as a kid, I remember watching Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers Saturday Morning Cinema shorts. The repeats on TV of course - I'm not that old. Being part of the summer schedule they showed them every day instead of weekly as would have originally been the case. This meant that, having seen them fall over a balcony to their certain deaths at the end of one episode, you were painfully aware that you'd been cheated when, at the beginning of the next episode, they didn't  fall over the balcony at all! I'm pretty sure that was more Rogers than Gordon (in the picture below they do fall into the moat - you can probably rely on Flash not to cheat so much as Buck).

Flash Gordon Space Soldiers Conquer The Universe Chapter 10

I may have an increased reading list now, courtesy of Win Scott Eckert's recommendations  –  The Evil in Pemberley House (Philip José Farmer with Win Scott Eckert) and The Peerless Peer (Philip José Farmer) lined up after the second reading of The Demi-Monde: Winter  –  but when I get around to The Demi-Monde: Spring, having waited a whole year, I'll be watching out for a smooth, cheat-free next episode.

I'm making notes Mr Rees.

The Wold Newton Universe is another World!

I live in the Wold Newton Universe. Not the Philip Jose Farmer fictional creation (just referenced by author Rod Rees in his blog about his novel The Demi-Monde), but the real-life county of East Yorkshire, just a meteorite's throw from Wold Newton itself (yes, Jose Farmer fans - it is real!).

Just up the road from Cardigan Hall is a little place called Langtoft, just after Langtoft is a little place called The Old Mill Hotel and Restaurant and just at the end of their road are a couple of signs that the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (Eryc, for short) have asked them to take down.

The Old Mill Signs - A danger to road users, or an indication of somewhere you might get a tasty meal

Just as well, you might say, that might distract me, preventing me from driving safely and navigating that corner, but you would find yourself in something of a minority if you did. I can't recall ever hearing any stories about anyone ever having an accident on or near this corner. Not ever.

The signs have been there for 17 years. The current owners, Gary and Kathie, bought the place with the signs in exactly this location. But now, apparently, it's a real and present danger.

Bollocks.

Just goes to show that every Council is staffed with its compliment of barmy jobsworths. Barely a day goes by when you don't hear about some place insisting on applying the letter of the law on an issue that no-ones's ever thought worth implementing before. Shame really, it usually overshadows the good work they do (the road to Langtoft is looking quite smart now, thanks for asking).

The BBC Radio Humberside and BBCLook North have both done pieces on it today (including a rather unsavoury reference to Peter Levy's lunchbox!). Peter Levy, for those of you who don't know, is the Roddy McDowall of BBC local news.

If you live anywhere near this place, go there. They serve fresh, locally sourced food, cooked to order and it's great. In fact, don't just go for a meal have a party. Get married and hold your reception there - no, get married there AND hold your reception there! Not getting married? Book yourself in for the Murder Mystery on May 7th!

If you don't live anywhere near The Old Mill, you could stay in one of their cosy rooms and, if you are partial to a little Philip Jose Farmer, use it as a base for your pilgrimage to Wold Newton. A sort of Wold Newton Family Holiday, if you will.

Honestly, it'll take you less than 15 mins to drive from The Old Mill Hotel to the meteor impact site and when you get back you can tuck into Breast of pheasant filled with a partridge and wild mushroom mousse and I'm not even kidding. The rest of the menu is just as cool.

Then you can relax and read your copy of The Demi-Monde. Like I'm going to read mine. I am. In fact, I will make a special trip up to the Old Mill for lunch this week and take my Demi-Monde with me for a quiet relaxing read.

Better watch that corner though, eh.

PS: You can find out more about the sign-saga in the Hull Daily Mail (AKA the East Riding Mail). I will, or course, report on further developments (eg what my braised steak in a red wine & onion sauce tastes like after my read-trip).

Half a World Away

Managed to get my hands on a copy of Rod Rees's new novel The Demi Monde: Winter. Read it, loved it, told my mates and went hunting for more - it'll be a year until the next volume is out and my hunger must be sated.

There's the website (natch) and the author's blog and a couple of other 'can't-wait' ers who've also been trawling, so if you're one of them (...no... one of 'us'... no... "...one of the Kept..." geddit?) post me a comment and/or we can follow each other's progress blog-to-blog.

There's loads of, what look like, clues to the overarching universe it's set in, but I've lately taken to keeping tabs on the reviews (particularly over at Amazon - oh, oh just spotted some new ones while I was grabbing that link! Now if I can just... finish... this blog...). Here are some of my faves:

"Part Matrix, part Escape from New York, with a dash of Film Noir and a whole host of imagination."

Falcata Times Blog

"Despite the contrived concept, Rees makes the book work: the world he's created is a psychopathic nightmare, while Ella, by contrast, is a touchingly vulnerable heroine whose quest is fraught with both physical and psychological dangers."

Eric Brown of The Guardian

"Complete nonsense, of course, but incredibly entertaining."

Kate Saunders The Times Saturday Review (can only find this on the Demi-Monde's own blog)

"What a fabulous book… The Demi-Monde is an unstoppable, deadly serious computer game, a replica of the real world where players experience lethal role-playing and war-gaming… An outsider is thrown into this mix and somehow has to stop the evil escaping from the confines of the game... Devote some quality time to reading `Winter' and you'll be rewarded with a captivating new world, one of smoke and mirrors which closely resembles our own - but don't expect things to turn out quite as you know them."

Rowena Hoseason (Via Amazon)

"Occult Stalinist Nazi Vampires.... ... plan war against Lesbian Supremacists."

P.G. Harris (Via Amazon)

"It is the first book in a series of four which I did find a little irritating."

a hopeful reader (Via Amazon)

My favourite is "Occult Stalinist Nazi Vampires.... ... plan war against Lesbian Supremacists." - if that doesn't make you want to read the book it's reviewing I don't know what will!

On balance though, taking every review into account, the general consensus is… undecided (albeit with a healthy 4-5 stars average over at Amazon). No one's taking it lying down though. It's Marmite for the soul, is this one.

There are the evangelists (of whom I am one) and the detractors (of whom there are some), but I can't think of anyone who's not bothered either way (although "a hopeful reader" does seem to think it'll all turn out to be as big a waste of time as "The Lord of the Rings" or "Harry Potter" or one of those other tiresome stories that just can't seem to limit themselves to one volume).

On Team Boo I've read at least one review by someone who could just possibly be the biggest arse since Keyra Agustina, while on Team Yay there's only really Tex who's cottoned on to the depth of Rees's concept. Having mooched about on the web I've found a short story set in the same universe and loads of extra stuff on the demi-monde website (also the DC universe stuff, but that seems to have been removed).

Note: I've not included a link to the short story or the DC website. Can't do everything for you.

As soon as I can get a minute I'm going to give it a second read, I suspect it''ll yield a bit more every time, so I'll post anything I notice this time that I didn't notice last time and see if you got there first. 

Let me know how you get on.