Fantasy Scroll Magazine Issue #6

by Robert Reed

  Franklin: I was born in Hong Kong and moved to UK when I was a kid. I also moved around a lot when I was young, so I guess that made me want to constantly explore new places and experience new things. Although, I think my biggest early influence as an artist is watching a lot of movies growing up, which I still do to this day. What I enjoy the most when I paint is capturing an intriguing story or profound emotion and how lighting affects the mood of a scene. I think I've learned a lot of that from watching movies.

  Iulian: What are your favorite design tools and how did you get to learn them?

  Franklin: My favorite tool is definitely Photoshop, since I use it for my work most of the time. I also use 3D programs like Sketchup, Modo, Maya to aid my design and drawing process. When it comes to learning, I am pretty much self-taught by going online and searching for video tutorials.

  Iulian: Are there any other artists out there that you admire and whose work has helped shape your work?

  Franklin: I think there are just too many to name them. I came across Dylan Cole's work when I was in University. His matte painting and concept art is what made me aware of the entire industry. Feng Zhu and Ryan Church are two artists I really admire, not only because they produce great works, but they are also great teachers.

  Iulian: Where do you find inspiration?

  Franklin: I think reading novels provides the best inspiration. It gives you an interesting story to base your work upon, and your job is to take the novel's words and add your own interpretation.

  Iulian: How would you break down your workflow in steps?

  Franklin: I emphasize the efficiency of my workflow because I spend most of the time working as a freelance artist, meaning that you have to make your own schedule and discipline yourself to meet deadlines. Therefore I am really careful with the steps I am taking when creating a project from start to finish. The most important thing I stress is research, before I even start doing any painting, I ask myself what is it that I am trying to achieve? If this is client work, what is the purpose of the artwork? Is it for a pitch? Is it a concept for another production artist? Is it for marketing? If this is a personal piece, what is it I am trying to learn or achieve at the end of the process?

  When I set myself a target, I think about how I can achieve that with the highest quality possible within an appropriate time constraint. If capturing the mood of a story is important, I tend to start painting directly, and I can quickly explore color and lighting. If I need to illustrate an idea of a man-made structure and how it's put together, which later needs to go to a 3D artist to be built, I will start with a line sketch and then refine it in 3D. If the idea is based on something that already exist and the client wants photo realism, I would go out and shoot for reference and paint on top of photographs. I am sure every artist would have a different approach, but the general principle is understanding how each tool will contribute to the final result and be very flexible with your approach.

  Iulian: Your work is very fantasy-driven. What drives you to that subject?

  Franklin: I think the power to imagine your own world in your artwork is really the most precious thing in the world. It is also the process I enjoy the most when I paint.

  Iulian: If there was one piece of advice you could give other beginning artists, what would that be?

  Franklin: Since I am completely self-taught, I think the best advice I can give is to be patient and enjoy the learning process. It takes years of practicing and studying to become a great artist and the beginning journey can be very painful. And if you want to choose art as your career, that painful process will never stop even when you are experienced, because you will always have to learn new things and face new challenges on the job.

  Iulian: We selected one of your pieces for the cover of our magazine. Tell us a few words about how that piece came to be.

  Franklin: I always enjoy doing sci-fi painting. Ever since I heard the new Star Wars Trilogy is coming out, I wanted to do a piece to show my admiration for the genre. And, I wanted to do a scene where a gigantic industrial city is built on the surface a planet like Mars.

  Iulian: Where can we find you on the web?

  Franklin: http://www.artbyfranklin.com

  Book Review: The Grace of Kings (Ken Liu)

  Julie Novakova

  The Grace of Kings

  by Ken Liu

  Saga Press (April 7, 2015)

  Ken Liu has long since become an acclaimed short fiction writer and translator whose works had earned multiple awards. In his eagerly expected debut novel The Grace of Kings, the first book of The Dandelion Dynasty trilogy, Liu takes us to his secondary world of the Islands of Dara: Not too long ago divided into several ever-quarreling states, but recently unified under the rule of Emperor Mapidéré from the state of Xana. Hardly anyone from the conquered states is satisfied with his rule; old nobility has been deposed and relocated, men are suffering as corvée laborers, people are growing hungry… A daring attempted assassination of Mapidéré, however, shows them that he is not invincible. An unruly and courageous student, Kuni Garu, sees that not even an emperor is above fear. Mata Zyndu, a son of a deposed duke longing for revenge for his family, takes it as a sign that the new unnatural order of things was not going to last long. Years later, wheels get into motion fast as the old emperor dies and the court plots about the new successor. A rebellion eventually rises up, sweeping through the islands. Kuni and Mata end up as unlikely allies at first, close friends soon after. Yet that's still only the beginning of the upheaval awaiting the whole Dara…

  The Most Interesting Thing

  "All life is an experiment… I just promise myself to do the most interesting thing every time there's an opportunity."—Kuni Garu

  Characters are one of the strongest features of The Grace of Kings. Even though many of them appear only briefly in the novel, most of them are portrayed very in-depth and achingly human, and especially Kuni Garu and his wife Jia Matiza have undergone the most exciting and very believable character development. Kuni's philosophy of life-trying to live the most interesting life-is sympathetic and appealing not just to most speculative fiction readers. However, sometimes the most interesting things can lead into dark places as well, and the cheerful young man gradually grows up… It's also interesting to watch the development of brothers Dafiro and Ratho who witness the revolution from its very beginning, comment on it with refreshing pragmatism on one side and idealism on the other, and finally part ways to follow a different leader each. And I cannot forget to mention the gods of Dara who are at the same time believable characters and beings thinking in slightly different terms than humans.

  In contrast, a few near-caricatures are carefully sprinkled throughout the story to spice it up with a dash of mild absurdity or comedy, like King Huno. His portrayal adds to an almost Orwellian feel at some moments: Huno's paranoid game of "who watches the watchmen" felt absurd and too believable at the same time. This is also true for a scene where Regent Crupo persuades the new emperor and his council that what they're seeing is really something wholly different. Many high fantasy novels only show the usual palace intrigues disregarding anyone below a certain station; Liu did not settle for it and introduced many more levels of scheming and also different levels of characters' motivations, sometimes conflicting or not really conscious.

  The Theater of Life

  "Show is substance."—Kuni Garu

  While wars are won largely by numbers, we often forget the other bits: espionage, diplomacy, pretense, infrastructure, science and technology, and last but not least some luck… Some authors forget that as well; not Liu. Threads of all these elements go through the rebellion and shape its course. Sometimes an ingenious new creation or a little show can do more for victory than a bigger army. Bits of theater—usually constructed by the resourceful Kuni—appear many times, culminating in an intense scene on the Liru river between Mata and Kuni where it becomes painfully clear that sometimes you just have to play the monster, and become one in othe
rs' eyes, to avoid loss. This also ties to one of the strongest messages of the novel: We cannot really influence how history would remember us apart from trying to do good and hoping for the best.

  While Kuni arranges his little theaters, readers and gods can watch the whole Dara as a grand theatre of life. We see personal and larger tragedies that could have been avoided if only the involved parties had complete information, or resulting from insufficient cooperation. In the rebellion, all the states fall back into quarrels over disputed lands, as the temptation to use the situation to their advantage is too sweet. These kinds of failures of cooperation and communication are very life-like and made me believe what I've been seeing. The whole world Liu brings us into is fascinating and diverse. The states of Dara each have a distinct culture, and we truly get a glimpse of a whole, rich culture, and not just some one defining trait to tell them apart. I was also excited about the female characters and their representation in the world. Women don't have it easy in Dara and often have to fight prejudice or unfair law but they are a force only a fool would disregard, living their own lives, actively engaging in the rebellion and shaping their destinies.

  However, I found a few drawbacks in the novel as well. One of the strongest for me was the level of technology in the world. Wars in Dara seem to be fought mostly like conflicts in late medieval times, yet there are inventions and actions evoking early 20th century and WWI. If I may allow mild spoilers for a comparison's sake: we visit a world with airships, submarines and parachute troops, yet no firearms even though a substance like gunpowder is known. I found this aspect of the worldbuilding not very believable. I also didn't completely believe the characters at some occasions, namely Prince Pulo as he learns about his father's choice about the succession or Mata in his way of dividing lands. But these are just minor objections that don't change my overall perception of the novel, which is highly positive: It has been an epic, intricate and very entertaining story.

  I will be very much looking forward to returning to the Dandelion Dynasty. The Grace of Kings left me very curious about the future development of Dara and shifting of powers. And Liu dropped some hints about the second book of the trilogy on his blog: It seems that a new technological revolution awaits Dara, which will surely lead to very interesting outcomes. The Dandelion Dynasty has started very well and I have all the reasons to assume it would also continue that way.

  © Julie Novakova

  Book Review: Half The World (Joe Abercrombie)

  Jeremy Szal

  Half The World

  by Joe Abercrombie

  Del Rey (February 17, 2015)

  Until Half A King (2014), we all knew what we would be getting once we popped open an Abercrombie novel. Violence. Swearing. Cynicism. Dark humor. Snarky characters. Un-heroic adventures that dragged fantasy down into the mud in the most delightful way possible. Worlds that subverted traditional fantasy tropes for a grittier, more action-packed flavor.

  And then came along Half A King, somewhat less intense and sweary, but still retaining a lot of Abercrombie's traditional tools that we've come to know and love. It was a fantastic start to the Shattered Seas trilogy, raising the bar for YA speculative fiction everywhere.

  And Half the World (2015) just raised it again.

  Thorn is one of the two main characters of the novel. Struggling to carve out her place as a warrior in a male-dominated society, she's fought her way uphill through years of strenuous tests, only to accidently kill a student in the training grounds. She is soon sentenced to death. That's when Brand comes in. A young warrior who hates to kill, he speaks up on her behalf, starting a chain of events that sees the two of them bound together on a ship, facing terrible dangers as they sail across half the world to seek allies against the High King.

  Thorn is harsh and hot-tempered, the complete counterpart to the brooding, quiet personality of Brand. Yet their chemistry is irresistibly charming, packed with laugh-out-loud moments and passages of pure genius. There's no soppy, drawling spurts of lukewarm romance or spoutings of pseudo-philosophies on relationships here. Abercrombie doesn't fool himself into thinking he's reaching new heights when it comes to teenage dialogue. He writes what's genuine and it works. It's fast, it's tight, it's real, and it's magnificent.

  The rest of the ragtag crew is also marvelous. They're far from the dashing, handsome lot that you'd want to sail the seas with. They're filthy, rough and shoulder a dark history of their own, many of which become unraveled through the course of the book. Yet they become close friends that we can't bear to bid farewell. Each of them has enough plot-time to sculpt them into three-dimensional characters, but never enough that they threaten to steal the spotlight.

  The strongest aspect of Thorn and Brand as characters is that they are both fundamentally flawed. They're not trying to be heroes, they're not trying to be the golden center of attention. Thorn dives head-first into trouble, not giving a damn whether it's safe or not. And Brand often lets others push him around as to not cause problems, yet problems eventually find him anyway. They're far from perfect, but we can't help but love and cheer for them. We want to sail across half the world just to spend more time in their company. Their relationship and development as characters is the true core of Half the World. Their slow evolution through the novel is a joy to experience, and their bitter-sweet interactions span everything from heart-warming to heart-breaking. This meticulous slow-burn of a relationship is easily the greatest and most daring I've seen in any YA novel, ever.

  If there is something negative to say, it's Thorn's mildly grating attitude. She harbors resentment to almost everyone who crosses her path, regardless of their intentions. Of course, this only provides a greater opportunity to see her change and develop as a character, and her deep-rooted anger is understandable, given the death of her father and her nagging mother. Her frustration with the limitations placed on her as a woman is also warranted, given that a poor treatment of women is a cruel fact of pre-modern existence, one that Abercrombie (and many other fantasy authors) are perfectly justified in portraying. Yet I personally wanted to be Brand more than I did Thorn, and found myself looking forward to his chapters more than hers. In saying that, both are fantastic characters that have taken deep root within me and made a lasting impression.

  And I couldn't justify not giving Yarvi a mention. The protagonist of the first book has become a Minister, playing his deadly game in the shadows, maneuvering and manipulating entire kingdoms without their knowledge. He's a smart, yet devious character who straddles the lines between white and black. In a sea of grey characters, Yarvi is the greyest of them all. When you see the situations and circumstances that transpired solely because of Yarvi's actions, your jaw will drop. He's the master puppeteer, pulling the strings behind the scenes.

  As with Half A King, the world of the Shattered Seas takes place in a Scandinavian-esque fantasy world, complete with fjords, shield walls, and bearded blades. And honestly, there's no better place to set your world in. It's a kingdom teeming with diverse, exotic locations that aren't just limited to the typical snow-capped mountains. Each place feels alive and well established, complete with its own political situation that's tied to the world at large. Abercrombie doesn't dwell these, but nor does he brush them aside for the sake of simplification.

  Just like in the previous book, not a single word, not a single paragraph, is gone to waste. The journey itself is brimming with danger and adventure. There's a large amount of traveling involved, yet not once did I feel bored or bogged down. Like every great writer, Abercrombie has no qualms about thrusting his characters into awful situations where something terrible will happen. The battle scenes are vivid and life-like, full of intensity and bursting with dynamic energy. They simply leap off the page. You can almost hear the splintering of wood, the clatter of swords and the whistle of arrows. The last battle sequence is absolutely riveting. My eyes were glued to the page, taking in every breath, every swipe, and every slash. We don't expect anything less than super
b fight scenes from Abercrombie, but the final one absolutely blew me away. They definitely feel more heroic and glamorous as opposed to Abercrombie's adult novels, but they are never glossed over or sweetened for easier digestion. These sequences also have a lasting impact on Thorn and Brand, shaping them into the characters that they are by the end of the novel.

  I've been an avid fan of Abercrombie even since I first picked up The Blade Itself (2006), and I knew without a doubt that Half The World would be just as riveting. I just didn't expect it to soar as high as it did. It dragged me down to its gritty, freezing depths and enticed me to the last page, leaving me ravenous for more. I truly didn't want it to end. It's even better than Half A King, and quite possibly my favorite young-adult book of all time. Abercrombie really doesn't do anything by halves. He's truly established himself as the new High King of young-adult fantasy.

  © Julie Novakova

  Movie Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey

  Jeremy Szal and Thomas Elliot

  No one saw it coming. Kubrick had made substantial changes in cinema previously, but to revolutionize an entire genre and change the state of cinema forever? No one could have guessed. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a film that completely deviates from the style of classic Hollywood cinema and reinvigorates the notion of science-fiction in cinema. With a few exceptions, the majority of science-fiction cinema was considered "B grade". Popcorn flicks screened at shady cinemas with very little substantial material to sink your teeth into. A genre not to be taken seriously.

  That changed when 2001: A Space Odyssey arrived in 1968.Co-writen by sci-fi legend Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick presents a film in which the entire narrative arc is understated through minimal dialogue delivered by non-traditional characters. The film also plays on topics such as mind and identity, man vs. machine, and the grandest of them all: human evolution.