Archive for Review

Interview with Author Jean Rabe

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , on January 25, 2021 by boccobsblog

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Jean Rabe about her latest novel, Black Heart of the Dragon God! I met Jean a few years ago at FlatCon and can honestly say that she is an amazing writer, cunning gamer, and sincere animal-lover.

While your most recent works have been modern mysteries, you’re no stranger to fantasy. How many D&D novels have you written?

A bunch. My first was Red Magic, a Harper’s book, it came out in 1991 … yeah, a good while back. I wrote two pick-a-path novels after that, also set in the D&D realms, then moved to Dragonlance, where I wrote three trilogies and three standalones. So … fifteen!

What is the weirdest thing you learned while writing this novel?

That female mountain goats have horns. I don’t suppose that’s a weird thing … but it was something I hadn’t known.

Did your experience writing Dragonlance novels prepare you for this project?

Certainly. I was a news reporter before I wrote fiction, and so I started with a tight style and used complete sentences. It took Bill Larson, the editor of Red Magic, to get me to relax. He insisted I sit and listen to strangers in cafes and in the park. “People do not talk in complete sentences.” At least not all the time. So I followed his advice, and my dialog got better and better. I still sit and listen to people in the park and in cafes, always with a notebook in hand.

Patrick McGilligan, who edited my Dragonlance novels, taught me to “take time with magic.” He said magic is awesome and amazing, and when you use it, draw it out with imagery. So I never had a character cast a magic missile spell. I had a character who concentrated, thrust out his arm and extended his fingers, felt his skin itch and warm, and then watched as darts of hot, bright light shot forth.

Brian Thomsen, who ran the book department for a while, and who later edited my novels for Tor, taught me to limit magic. The fewer characters able to cast it, the less magic in your world, the more special and wondrous the magic you employ comes across.

So writing Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance gave me better preparation for my own fiction, including Black Heart of the Dragon God.

What sets your protagonist, Goranth, apart?

He’s a musclebound former pirate who is wildly strong, wholly embraces life … and yet has a soft side and is willing to stick his neck out for strangers. He loves wealth, but he’s not greedy about it; he only wants his share.

Where would he land on the pineapple on pizza debate?

Never pineapple on pizza. Just meat.

Have you and Craig Martelle worked together before?

Craig edited an anthology called Metamorphosis Alpha 3: A Generation Ship Catastrophe Survived (Chronicles from the Warden). Here’s the link. I had a story in it; robots that went deadly nuts. Craig emailed me and asked why we hadn’t written anything together. I had a sword & sorcery novel outline in my computer that I’d not gotten around to writing. I sent it to him, asked if he was interested. I had such great fun writing with him. It turned into Black Heart of the Dragon God. We hope to get another Goranth the Mighty book out by summer’s end.

How does the sword & sorcery genre differ from high fantasy?

Hmmmmmmmm. I think sword & sorcery can be high fantasy, but not all high fantasy can be considered sword & sorcery. To me, a good sword & sorcery yarn is gritty, magic is limited, the main character is big and bold, and there is a good amount of blood. A lot of sword fights. I think high fantasy can be more polite and more politically complex. But … that’s just my take.

Could Goranth defeat Eleanor Roosevelt in a thumb wrestling match?

No. Goranth the Mighty would not participate in a thumb-wrestling match. Thumb wrestling is for children and drunkards.

Who is your cover artist?

Ain’t he great? Goranth’s artist is Didier Graffet, a French painter who specializes in fantasy and steampunk.

What was the most difficult part of writing this novel?

The death scenes. I love to kill characters. I think it makes the struggle or goal or prize more costly and feel more real when you off characters. Hopefully it gives readers a bit of a “gut punch.” But I also hate to kill characters … saying goodbye to someone you crafted.

Where can B3 readers purchase a copy of Black Heart of the Dragon God?

It goes on sale January 25th. It is available for pre-order now in ebook form. Paperbacks can be ordered on the twenty-fifth. I think people will want a paper copy because of the gorgeous Didier cover. Here’s the link.

An old friend gave us an awesome blurb/review. I feel compelled to share:

Ed Greenwood, Internationally Bestselling creator of Forgotten Realms had this to say…What if Conan wasn’t a grim loner, but a stalwart in a band who banter, bicker, and brawl their way through life? Then he’d be one of the heroes in Black Heart of the Dragon God. Real people, in the heart of adventure. This tale plunges you into their midst, to see and smell and feel what they do–as they change the world. And they’re good company; I can’t wait for sequels! Dangerous company, though. They start by hunting dragons…

My web page: www.jeanrabe.com

I am on Twitter

My Amazon author page

I have a newsletter filled with tidbits about weird news items, pics of my dogs, discussions of upcoming books, reviews of things I’m reading, and writing advice. You can subscribe here.



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Fifth Edition Monster Manual Review

Posted in Dungeons and Dragons with tags , , , , on January 9, 2015 by boccobsblog

I just received my copies of the new D&D fifth edition core rulebooks. I only had time to look through the monster manual, but here are my initial thoughts.

My friends and fellow gamers will tell you that I am not easily impressed. In fact, I’m hypercritical to point of being offensive about TV shows, movies, books, and games. So when I say that I am thoroughly, truly, impressed with the quality and content of the new monster manual, it is high praise. I grumbled and complained when I had to convert from second to third, but I came around and have played 3.5 for fifteen years. I own nearly every 3.5 book (I skipped fourth edition all together because it was an abomination so vile it should have been smothered at birth and fed to a grick), so I am deeply invested in 3.5. That said, when I look through the fifth edition books, I get a sense of excitement and novelty that I haven’t felt since I started playing D&D over twenty years ago.

In no real order:

The Good Things

  • The artwork (for the most part) is the best since the second edition Monstrous Compendium, but more so because these monsters are in color.
  • The stat blocks are so clean, succinct, and easy to use, a novice DM can pick up the book and not be confused.
  • Flavor has returned to D&D. One complaint I had about my beloved 3.5, is that much of the flavor and fluff present in second edition was removed and replaced with mechanics. The 5e MM has small inserts that outline legendary and familiar monsters or villains from D&D forty year past. For example, next to the Death Knight is a passage about Lord Soth and his history. The vampire entry features a picture of Strahd Von Varovich with a blurb about his history. The same is true for the Demilich, Acerack is pictured and a small insert details his story. (Not to start an edition/game war, but this deep history of beloved characters is what Pathfinder is missing)
  • The stat blocks list average damage next to each attack along with the dice like this: 23 (4d8+5), this seems like a small detail, but it will greatly aid a DM running several monsters or a monster with numerous attacks, like a dragon or a hydra. Fifth edition truly strives to streamline the game when possible.
  • Certain powerful creatures are “Legendary”, and have powers that lesser monsters don’t possess. Cooler still, is when you encounter a legendary creature in its lair, it gets to activate a lair power on 20 in the initiative order. So the red dragon might stomp the floor and cause a spurt of lava to jet up from the floor of his cave and burn the party. These legendary creatures also have regional effects that warp a radius around their lair.
  • NPC’s. There is an appendix full of pregen NPC’s. Think of the second edition MM’s entry for humans. It listed pirates, laborers, spell casters, and knights. The 5e appendix is similar, filled with cultists and commoners that a DM’s job easier.
  • A CR 30 Tarrasque. Finally, Big T is the baddest thing in the MM.

The Bad

It is honestly hard to find anything bad to say about this book. I’ve added the few complaints that I came up with as I read, but they seem nit-picky.

  • Flump? Seriously? You wasted a page on this?
  • Not sure we needed a three-page spread dedicated to Modrons. I guess people dig em.
  • Many monsters have been reduced in challenge rating. These creatures haven’t necessarily been reduced in power, but the MM is full of low CR monsters and it seems that fleshing out high-level adventures might be more difficult. For example: In the NPC section, the archmage is like level 18 (don’t quote me on that) and a CR of 12.
  • My Biggest complaint: page 140 and 141 are blackened and completely unreadable. I will reserve nerd rage on this until I find out if I can return my copy for a replacement. In the meantime, my players can rest safely at night in the knowledge that I can’t send gargoyles after them.
  • Dragons have been reduced to four age categories. Not sure this is a problem, I liked that there was a dragon for a variety of CR’s, but the drawback was that they weren’t completely fleshed out with feats. Now there are only four dragons and they give a complete stat block for each.
  • The size of several monsters has changed and left many of my miniatures obsolete. The reverse is also true though, many monsters have changed to a size that is easier to manage. For example, the mimic is now medium (which makes more sense than a ten-foot wide chest) and I can use the amazing mimic miniature from Reaper’s Bones line.

Overall, the 5e MM is the best in years, if not the best ever in my opinion.

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