But I had to say I just met Steven Erikson last night and it was pretty cool to talk to an author I respect. Even if I felt a bit like a fanboy. It happened thus…

The mind and crew of Borderlands Books is opening up a cafe soon and I’ve been excited about it since first hearing about it; even more so now that I live in the neighborhood. I’ve been needing a good cafe to spend time in since my days in Prague and this just seems perfect. They won’t be opening yet (alas!) but yesterday night, in conjunction with this year’s World Fantasy Convention, they opened in order to host a bevy of authors, including Steven Erikson.

For those that do not know, and I admit I didn’t know until about six weeks ago myself, Steven Erikson is the author of a series of fantasy books set around an empire called Malazan. The world was built over a very long period of time with his friend Cameron Esslemont, who also writes books that take place there. (As an aside, I will read his books eventually and will then become a fanboy of his, but not until then). The books are pretty vast in scope, covering a myriad of characters, plot lines, situations and emotions. Honestly, in the five minutes I’m writing this I’m not going to be able to come up with a quick and easy review and that’s not my point. Let’s just say it’s the best fantasy I’ve read in many, many years. For that matter it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a while.

Blah blah blah. I went to the table with Mr. Erikson and Mr. Esslemont and talked with them a bit, asked some questions, got an autograph and moved on in order not to feel like too much of a fanboy. But I was. The only question I forgot to ask but wanted to was if there was, somewhere, a complete map of the world they created. I like maps…

RMCA took a few pictures, bless her, and here’s my two favorites.

Someday, it is my sincere hope to have written something on the scale and scope of the Malazan books and have someone appreciate them the way I appreciate Mr. Erikson and Mr. Esslemont’s work.

Hey, Chris, when will you post a downloadable version so I can watch this on my big screen? :)

I’m also looking forward to Born of Hope which tells the story of the Dunedain and the birth of Aragorn later this year. More!

What did you think?

At one point the discussion lit a fire under the Admiral, and the talk of human rights turned personal for Edward James Olmos. The “Old Man” launched into a passionate speech about casting off the idea of race as a cultural determinant, and said we were one race, the human race. His voice echoed throughout the chamber growing louder until – I kid you not – he was yelling, “So Say We All,” and the crowd answered right back. Hell, even I yelled it, I was in the fraking United Nations with Adama, the gods themselves could not have stopped this moment.

Video of this event is available from the UN (in RealMedia? Really?), but here’s the So Say We All moment. If anyone finds or converts the whole video shebang into something a little more open please post a link in the comments!

All via Slashdot.

Anyways, Rise of the Lycans was quite good. Even having not seen any of the other movies this one stands alone. I was not a huge fan of the blue tint (as were the others I saw the movie with) but I got over that pretty quickly. Amazingly, the same actors came and reprised their characters adding a welcome consistency to the franchise, much like all of the background characters in the Harry Potter movies.

Great movie. Two thumbs up. Someday I’m going to have to create a rating system… For now, two thumbs up.