Word Count Wednesday - the Gaeludyr, and a Debate About Poul Anderson

Hello everyone,

     It is Word Count Wednesday once again! Unfortunately, a number of factors have conspired to keep me from doing as much writing this week. The story I am currently working on for my Channillo series Tales From Midhgardhur. "The Gaeludyr," is still under 1000 words (and looks like it is going to be a short one anyway). I'm also finding it harder to write than I expected. There are some things I am trying to pull off in this one that I am finding more difficult than I had expected (and I had expected them to be difficult to begin with!).

      In other news (unrelated to Word Count Wednesday). this week featured an unexpected debate about Poul Anderson and his Appendix N classic, Three Hearts and Three Lions. 

      As regular readers of my author's blog will be aware, I started a project this year I call "Appendix N Revisited." I am re-reading (in most cases - in some cases, reading for the first time!) works featured in Gary Gygax's "Appendix N" from the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide. These were the books that inspired him in the creation of D&D, and many of them are books that have since inspired me as well, as a gamer, Game Master (or whatever the title is in whatever system you like), and as an author. The very first book I revisited was Three Hearts and Three Lions. This is partly because I am going through the authors in alphabetical order, and Anderson was first . . . but it was also partly because of the fundamental and profound influence of this particular book (I could as easily have done The Broken Sword or The High Crusade, after all!). I love this book, and its heavy influence on D&D and fantasy RPGs in general is more-or-less universally acknowledged.

     The part where this becomes something interesting is that there is a podcast called Sanctum Secorum that analyzes Appendix N literature in light of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. I love the DCC RPG and I love the Sanctum Secorum podcast (seriously - that podcast has gotten me through some terrible Arizona commutes, and always offers really interesting ideas for gaming based on Appendix N literature!). Anyway, the latest episode, #24, was about Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions. I was so excited! One of my favorite podcasts was going to be reviewing one of my favorite Appendix N books! So cool! So I put it on my iPod, plugged it into the AUX jack in my car, and listened to it on a long drive . . . and ended up screaming at my iPod a lot. It's not just that NONE of the hosts of the podcast enjoyed this classic - that was bad enough - but their analysis seemed way off base to me on several points. And I felt like they knew they were wrong, because they kept speculating about how much hate mail they would get for this episode. I was almost traumatized to find that the first episode with which I strongly disagreed was also the first one where my Road Crew games for Phoenix Comicon were announced (I'll be running 3 DCC RPG funnels under the auspices of Crit Hit at Comicon this year).

        I could not just leave it alone, so I posted about it a bit, saying I would not stoop to sending the hate mail they were expecting, but it seemed like they had dropped the ball on this one. I posted some links to my own article on "Three Hearts and Three Lions Revisted." I thought that would be the end of it. To my surprise, this started a bit of an online debate with Bob Brinkman (a good, constructive debate, I think - and I think we agree to disagree on some points). And Bob Brinkman is a pretty cool guy (not just because he's a host of one of my favorite podcasts), because he did a bit of digging and discovered that I am a fantasy author, and then he plugged my work a bit (which was really nice of him, especially since I "dared to disagree" with the Sanctum Secorum crew). You can find Bob's kind promotion of my writing HERE. Then, to my further surprise, he bought the books I have out right now, and read "The Tale of Halfdanur the Black" and wrote a review of it HERE. Here is a transcript of his kind review:

Author +Colin Brodd disagreed with our opinion on Three Hearts and Three Lions. We told our listeners to “punish him” by “buying his books – lots and lots of his books.” Now, we didn’t really think that he should be punished (or even scolded)… but we still think folks should check out his books. Of course, I put my money where our mouth is and bought the lot. I am not disappointed.

Having now read the short story, the Tale of Halfdanur the Black, I’ll go on record as saying that I personally enjoyed this a lot more than I did the book that inspired the discussion. First off, I’m a sucker for oral tradition-style storytelling and this tale certainly qualifies. The author’s tone (Colin…can I call you Colin?) reads in an almost… grandfatherly fashion. It reads like an old Norseman telling the tale, not as if telling a children’s story, but as if telling the story around a roaring fire. I’ve heard my share of stories around the fire, this one would fit right in. This style gives the tale an even more authentic flavor than Brodd’s usage of language (which is often saga-worthy spot on).

I think my only complaint is that I feel this story would benefit from being heard as opposed to read…and there is no audio available. There are readers who can be scared off by Norse spellings and pronunciations (to them I’d say – you are missing out), but even for those familiar, I think the style of the story is one best heard – although certainly enjoyable as read. This is a story to read aloud to someone, whether your children or your spouse, after you brush up on your pronunciations. Save it for a cold winter’s night.

The tale itself is imminently satisfying and often quotable. I’m not going to spoil it here. Instead, I urge you, shell out the $1 for the kindle version and introduce yourself to the literary works of a member of our community. You can find Colin on Google+, as well as in the DCCRPG community over there. So, support your local gamer. Especially one as vested in the materials as Colin Brodd. $6 gets you his works (set in Midhgardhur) for Kindle, $21 gets you both of his books in hard copy, and $1, a single dollar, gets you a taste via this short story for Kindle (which is also included in Tales From Midhgardhur, Volume I).

Seriously, spend the $1. It is a small price to pay to discover a new author and make your own decision. For less than the price of a cup of coffee you can be transported away to Noregur – the lands of the Northmenn. Me, I’m thinking that you’ll enjoy it and it might even give you some inspiration for the table.

     So, I am trying not to squee like a fanboy here. I have spent most of my life (since 1985) under the influence of Appendix N, and now one of my stories has been reviewed on a site dedicated to Appendix N. That is pretty cool for me! And I enjoyed discussing Poul Anderson and Appendix N with Bob Brinkman, whose work I love and admire. AND he plugged my books. Very cool.

     I still don't feel like Sanctum Secorum did justice to Three Hearts and Three Lions (I'm sticking to my guns on this one), but to paraphrase Bob Brinkman, after 24 episodes, there's just ONE I strongly disagree with? They must be doing something right! Also, as he points out, if the audience gets as stirred up and passionate as I seemed to be, they're doing something right! Well, like I said, no hate mail from me! I'm still a big fan, and I'm eagerly awaiting episode #25, which will be on L. Sprague de Camp's The Fallible Fiend (I love L. Sprague de Camp, though I have not yet read The Fallible Fiend - I do have it on audiobook from Audible, though, so I should give it a listen sometime soon). Anyway, to be clear, if you love Appendix N, check out Sanctum Secorum. If you love the DCC RPG, check out Sanctum Secorum. Just do it. You'll be glad you did.

Happy Reading! Skál!
~ Colin Anders Brodd