Brian Naslund's Blog - Posts Tagged "fantasy"
Looking back on 2019....
Wow. It has been a year.
Some amazing things happened. A few not-so great events. And in general, 2019 was a whirlwind for me. I’ll start with the cool stuff:
2019 Awesome Events:
1. HOLY SHIT MY FIRST BOOK GOT PUBLISHED.
2. Blood of an Exile was also named a “Best Book of the Year” by Kirkus and Amazon. A Twitter alert woke me up with the news, and I truly thought it was a dream at the time.
3. I attended the Denver Pop Culture Con, and had to privilege to sit on some fun panels where I met some insanely talented authors, including two of my writerly idols, Pierce Brown and Peter Heller.
4. I finished the next book in the Dragons of Terra series, Sorcery of a Queen! I’ll have a cover and a full description to share soon, but for now I can say that I’m incredibly happy with it, and the plan is to release in the second half of 2020. The story includes ample amounts of swordfights, grumbly campfire banters, pirates, dragons, and a few mushroom demons for good measure.
5. I bought my first house! I haven’t had a yard or porch since moving out of my parent’s domicile, so it’s been a big thrill. I don’t know how to fix anything, but nothing major has broken yet, so….calling that a win.
2019 Crap Events:
1. I broke my ankle in February whilst running after my dog, Lola, and slipping in some mud. She’d fallen through an icy river, and while I’d like to say I was the hero, I slipped about 20 yards before reaching her. Lola hopped out of the icy danger on her own, then came over to lick my face and whine because her adventure was cancelled.
2. A month later, I got a blood clot as a complication to the break, and had to go on blood thinners for 3 months. This was a bummer because I couldn’t do much whitewater kayaking in the summer (you hit your head on rocks a lot during kayaking, and I was told in very firm doctor tones that I could die from that while all b-thinned out).
3. The place I often go for an afternoon beer + writing session closed down. This was extremely sad, but I press on…at another bar down the street.
4. The person I was rooting for in Season 10 of the Great British Baking show didn’t win, which ruined an entire Sunday.
Otherwise, my life’s been steady. As usual, I played a slew of video games, watched a bunch of movies, read some incredible books (although not as many as I’d like, since I re-read Sorcery of a Queen 57 times).
Since you’re reading this, I assume we might have similar taste, so I thought I’d share a few of my favorite media consumptions of 2019:
Favorite Games
Metro Exodus: This ambitious, apocalyptic FPS got me through the ankle break months, so it has a soft spot in my heart. It also allows for some of the best spontaneous player creativity I’ve experienced since the first Deus Ex. While it lacks some polish (due to budget constraints of studio, not skill of creators) the depth and immersion is worth stepping on a few rough patches.
The Outer Worlds: While the gameplay didn’t stand out like Metro, the story and dialogue of this tightly woven, 20-ish hour space adventure was a blast to shoot, stab, and lie my way through. If you nurse a low-key addiction to Elder Scrolls and Fallout games like me, this is worth picking up.
Favorite Books
Cry Pilot , by Joel Dane: This one is military Sci-Fi, and a fantastic one at that. You have rogue bio weapons, boot camp camaraderie, and that mythical combination of great pacing and great world building. (Joel and I were also pub date buddies, so we share an eternal bond that can never be broken.) Also, it's on sale today for $1.99 if you're interested.
Jade City , by Fonda Lee: I know, I know…this came out in 2018. But it’s AWESOME. Quite different from Blood of an Exile, but fantastic world building and great characters. I have the sequel, Jade War, and eye it on my bookshelf jealously every night while I read through my pages from the day’s writing session.
Favorite Movies
Booksmart: Of everything I saw this year, Booksmart had the best writing and range. They had me laughing, crying, and nostalgic for high school, which is hard to do. Plus, the chemistry between Dever and Feldstein was top-notch.
Prospect: This one came out in 2018, too, but I saw it in 2019 and I make up my own rules. It’s incredible. An indie sci-fi tale of a father-daughter prospecting duo trying to dig up some super valuable alien eggs from a toxic planet. I was blown away by what they managed on a micro-budget, and Pedro Pascal is perfect in his role. See this movie.
Anywho, that’s all I got. If you made it all the way to the end of my life-rant, thank you. And thank you for reading Blood of an Exile .
See you in 2020, Dragonslayer.
-- Brian
Some amazing things happened. A few not-so great events. And in general, 2019 was a whirlwind for me. I’ll start with the cool stuff:
2019 Awesome Events:
1. HOLY SHIT MY FIRST BOOK GOT PUBLISHED.
2. Blood of an Exile was also named a “Best Book of the Year” by Kirkus and Amazon. A Twitter alert woke me up with the news, and I truly thought it was a dream at the time.
3. I attended the Denver Pop Culture Con, and had to privilege to sit on some fun panels where I met some insanely talented authors, including two of my writerly idols, Pierce Brown and Peter Heller.
4. I finished the next book in the Dragons of Terra series, Sorcery of a Queen! I’ll have a cover and a full description to share soon, but for now I can say that I’m incredibly happy with it, and the plan is to release in the second half of 2020. The story includes ample amounts of swordfights, grumbly campfire banters, pirates, dragons, and a few mushroom demons for good measure.
5. I bought my first house! I haven’t had a yard or porch since moving out of my parent’s domicile, so it’s been a big thrill. I don’t know how to fix anything, but nothing major has broken yet, so….calling that a win.
2019 Crap Events:
1. I broke my ankle in February whilst running after my dog, Lola, and slipping in some mud. She’d fallen through an icy river, and while I’d like to say I was the hero, I slipped about 20 yards before reaching her. Lola hopped out of the icy danger on her own, then came over to lick my face and whine because her adventure was cancelled.
2. A month later, I got a blood clot as a complication to the break, and had to go on blood thinners for 3 months. This was a bummer because I couldn’t do much whitewater kayaking in the summer (you hit your head on rocks a lot during kayaking, and I was told in very firm doctor tones that I could die from that while all b-thinned out).
3. The place I often go for an afternoon beer + writing session closed down. This was extremely sad, but I press on…at another bar down the street.
4. The person I was rooting for in Season 10 of the Great British Baking show didn’t win, which ruined an entire Sunday.
Otherwise, my life’s been steady. As usual, I played a slew of video games, watched a bunch of movies, read some incredible books (although not as many as I’d like, since I re-read Sorcery of a Queen 57 times).
Since you’re reading this, I assume we might have similar taste, so I thought I’d share a few of my favorite media consumptions of 2019:
Favorite Games
Metro Exodus: This ambitious, apocalyptic FPS got me through the ankle break months, so it has a soft spot in my heart. It also allows for some of the best spontaneous player creativity I’ve experienced since the first Deus Ex. While it lacks some polish (due to budget constraints of studio, not skill of creators) the depth and immersion is worth stepping on a few rough patches.
The Outer Worlds: While the gameplay didn’t stand out like Metro, the story and dialogue of this tightly woven, 20-ish hour space adventure was a blast to shoot, stab, and lie my way through. If you nurse a low-key addiction to Elder Scrolls and Fallout games like me, this is worth picking up.
Favorite Books
Cry Pilot , by Joel Dane: This one is military Sci-Fi, and a fantastic one at that. You have rogue bio weapons, boot camp camaraderie, and that mythical combination of great pacing and great world building. (Joel and I were also pub date buddies, so we share an eternal bond that can never be broken.) Also, it's on sale today for $1.99 if you're interested.
Jade City , by Fonda Lee: I know, I know…this came out in 2018. But it’s AWESOME. Quite different from Blood of an Exile, but fantastic world building and great characters. I have the sequel, Jade War, and eye it on my bookshelf jealously every night while I read through my pages from the day’s writing session.
Favorite Movies
Booksmart: Of everything I saw this year, Booksmart had the best writing and range. They had me laughing, crying, and nostalgic for high school, which is hard to do. Plus, the chemistry between Dever and Feldstein was top-notch.
Prospect: This one came out in 2018, too, but I saw it in 2019 and I make up my own rules. It’s incredible. An indie sci-fi tale of a father-daughter prospecting duo trying to dig up some super valuable alien eggs from a toxic planet. I was blown away by what they managed on a micro-budget, and Pedro Pascal is perfect in his role. See this movie.
Anywho, that’s all I got. If you made it all the way to the end of my life-rant, thank you. And thank you for reading Blood of an Exile .
See you in 2020, Dragonslayer.
-- Brian
