Nick Kyme

Greetings and salutations, brave and intrepid readers… It is I, Mr Kyme, returned from that city that never sleeps, the Big Apple, that there New York.

Yup, I’ve been transatlantic this past week in the good old U S of A at New York Book Expo.

For those of you not in the know (and I really wasn’t that clued up to begin with, I feel I can be honest about that and share freely – we’re all friends here, after all, right… right?), Book Expo is a sort of trade convention where a bunch of publishers and so on get together and set up stands for the likes of other publishers, libraries, agents, bloggers, ‘guests’, press, book buyers and other associated peeps to come around and see/hear about their wares.

Black Library has been at the show a few times, showing off new novels, pimping authors and spreading the good word to the uninitiated and recently converted. This year it was my turn to attend and I was mightily grateful.

As fortune, fate or blaggery (which I am now coining as a word) would have it, the show itself was an intense two full days of talking, signing, seeing and listening at the BL stand. I actually arrived in NYC with the inimitable, slightly svelter-than-previously, George Mann – my boss and an author of some repute his self – on the Saturday afternoon. Due to the crazy time difference by hopping across various lines of longitude or latitude or whatever, it was actually 8.30pm in my head. A rapid upturn and desire to party in this most cosmopolitan and insane of city’s soon rpaidly became a downturn and an early night. Still, I was banging on about luck and fortune and all that malarky, wasn’t I – the upshot was this: we got in Saturday afternoon but the show wasn’t until Wednesday (as it turned out), and, despite some meetings and set up stuff to do, George and I could be tourists for a few days – woot!

We stayed in the Paramount Hotel, which was kind of like a night club but without the people. Stepping out of my first Yellow Cab (a later ride in one was to prove to be the frenzied Hollywood experience I hoped it would be, complete with several near misses, excessive and unnecessary speeding, swearing and honking at other drivers and reckless lane changes that made the Nemesis at Alton Towers seem time – it was like being in Grand Theft Auto for real), I made my way into a darkened lobby with heavy bass dance music blasting out to a crowd of about two people – weird.

George and I were met by the lovely Lola at the reception desk who put us on an instant high after a long and tedious plane journey from Heathrow to JFK. The Paramount is actually right on Times Square and once our bags were checked in we set about exploring. George is a veteran of NYC, whereas I was a Big Apple virgin. What can I say: this city is nuts, but it’s also cool.

Aggressive is one word used to characterise New York and I think that’s fair. The pace is fast, the people are… well… populous. There’s mad strobing bill boards, colossal signs, monstrous buildings, jaded throngs of New Yorkers, packs of rabid tourists, hawkers, street vendors, cars, cabs, ticket touts, naked cowboy and cowgirls, NYPD and that’s just as you step from the hotel lobby. It was a sensory overload it’s reasonable to assert.

I loved it, though.

Don’t get me wrong, this is an intense place. No way could I live there. It would drive me nuts. But for a while, for those first few days, it was kind of a screwed up wonderful where anything is possible and probably shouldn’t be. I walked into one store that was devoted to M&M’s. The entire store. All three floors of it. Needed to be seen to be believed. Only in America. Only in New York City, right?

I could go into the ins and outs of the entire trip. It would take me ages. Plus, I’m still jet lagged and don’t know how long I can keep this up before I pass out, so I shall extract the highlights for your edification.

Touristy stuff comprised the Empire State Building, Central Park Zoo, Times Square (as already mentioned), Union Square, the Flatiron Building, Macy’s and the King Tut exhibition at the Discovery Centre. All exceptionally cool.

Empire State was crazy high and I very nearly soiled my pants as I looked out through a flimsy railing onto a simply breathtaking and stunning view of the city. I was eighty-seven floors up and not even at the top. Taking out my camera, I had to brace myself against the back wall so I didn’t feel like I was going to drop it into the smoke/mist shrouded abyss below…

Central Park was amazing. The zoo itself – incredible. Such a variety of flora and fauna I have never seen. They even have polar bears (Lost, eat your heart out – which, incidentally ended when I was out in the States, so I was desperate to avoid all spoilers. I did, watched the finale upon my return to Blighty a couple of days ago and, frankly, felt a little disappointed – but, how the heck could it have every lived up to the hype…).

I had an amazing time. The show was interesting too – you really get a sense of the American/New York mindset. It’s a little mad but overall friendly and welcoming. I think, by the end, I was ready for a good, healthy dose of British cynicism but what a trip I had.

Here’s some of my cheeky tourist snaps for your delectation…

The view from my hotel room was distinctly urban.

Times Square in all its technicolour glory...

Macy's department store - insane

Okay, Yellow Cab emerging from venting sewer gas - how cool is that...

See what I mean about that view - I can feel a bout of vertigo coming on...

Yes, that's a polar bear.

Some goon sticking his tongue out at Central Park Zoo.

That goon again, this time in the Empire State Building's lobby.

The Flatiron building - very cool, architecturally speaking.

How'd that one get in there?!

The lobby of 'Night Club Hotel'...

Well, that’s it kids, my New York adventure in a rather tightly crowded nutshell (a bit like the streets of NYC themselves). Certainly, not one to forget that’s for sure. Oh, and an unexpected bonus for me at the show (besides getting through over two hundred copies of Salamander - keep spreading the good word, friends) was seeing the mighty Lee Child again. Lee was there signing his latest novel 61 Hours. I was very pleasantly surprised that he remembered me from last time (at Waterstones in Nottingham). If you read this, Mr Child, I salute you and your novels. Yes, I can be a shameless fanboy too.

Until next time, folks (which might be sooner than you think), ta, ta!

PS My great and heartfelt thanks to the various Facebook messages and reviews about Fireborn. I’m very glad it’s been so well received. I’m not done with Firedrake yet (it’s going to be right up to the wire, but I promise that’s because I’m working so hard on it), but I hope it will live up to the lofty legacy I’ve set up with Salamander, Fireborn and all the short stories.

Just picked up a thread on Bolter & Chainsword regarding my announcement that I’ll be working on Fall of Damnos as my next novel after Firedrake. Have to say, I’m not usually much for forums – I tend to find them a little damaging and full of personal agenda, so they don’t interest me at all but B&C is one of the better ones.

It’s interesting to read how territorial fans are about ‘their’ Chapter. For the uninitiated, I’m talking Space Marines here – specifically, the Ultramarines.

I know what you mean, though. I get all buttock-clenchy whenever someone mentions they want to do something with the Salamanders. There’s a false sense of ownership, I think, that comes with devoting yourself to something. ‘Cause, let’s face it folks – it is devotion we’re talking about here.

Phrases like ‘our boys in blue’ and ‘our Chapter’ – it’s not only individuals you’re under the microscope of but a whole collective, a whole frigging community even!

I like it. I’m glad you care and want these books, the stories about your favourite characters to be good and surprising and everything you ever wanted and didn’t knew you wanted but when you read about it you did – phew!

That’s cool by me. I won’t be dictated to by fan pressure – that way lies madness. You’re going to have to trust me, but at the end of the day I’ll tell the story I want to tell in the way I want to tell it – that’s authors prerogative, right?

I am looking forward to this challenge, though. The Ultramarines are completely different beasts to the Salamanders – even though they are both loyalist Space Marine Chapters. There’s a little more freedom (oddly) with the UMs than the Sallies. I have less invested in them as a Chapter. The Salamanders feel like mine, even though that’s nuts; they’re not mine, they belong to GW, I’m just the guy that gts to write about them and maybe contributes something to the everlasting canon – that’d be nice.

I see Graham McNeill as Mr Ultramarines. Oh, and I know a lot of folks want to see Macragge first, well that’ll likely be that New York Times best-selling fella I just mentioned, and not little old me. I want to return to the characters I established in Assault on Black Reach. I enjoyed that book. I really did. But I always felt that 30,000 words just wasn’t enough to do what I wanted to with the characters. It was a challenge, too – how do I make the Ultramarines come across as cool and not the ‘vanilla’ Chapter most people think they are? What makes these boys in blue tick? Graham has done an awesome job of establishing Uriel Ventris in his part of the Ultramarines mythology. Jeez, just wait until you read The Chapter’s Due – it is phenomenal. Seriously, the book fookin’ rocks.

Backslapping aside, though, my challenge with AoBR was how to make my Ultras stand out. What was it that singled out 2nd Company from the rest. Part of the answer to that lies with its captain – Sicarius (who might be a twat, Xhalax…) can’t be ignored. He’s awesome. He’s a poster boy. Yes, he’s also a bit of an arrogant nob. But he’s damn cool too. Who else has the balls to do the things he can do? Sicarius is the 2nd Company and everything it stands for. These guys think they are more special than the veterans for Guilliman’s sake!

In stepped challenge number two then… I wanted to tell the story from a PoV other than Sicarius’s. He was too big, too much. I wanted to play with him, but at arms length – someone else’s arm in fact. So, I invented three sergeants: Scipio, Iulus and Praxor. These would be my eyes and ears on Black Reach, so too will it be the case for Damnos.

I’m going to introduce some new elements to this story too. I want to give the humans, the native Damnosians (or whatever), a face, a voice. This will also allow me to explore the relationship between the human and Space Marine characters. The synopsis for the story is already in – I kinda know what challenges my heroes will face, the tough moral decisions they’re going to have to make, just how much ass they will kick through the course of the story.

It’s exciting. I can’t get too excited, though. Firedrake is still not finished. I’m a Salamander until that’s done. I’m against the anvil as we speak, being tempered in Vulkan’s forge.

So, yea, isn’t it funny how territorial we get over the things we love. It might not be Macragge, but it’s Ultramarines. I’ve been waiting to return to the ranks of the 2nd Company for a while. I may not feel like I have the ‘ownership’ of this Chapter in the same way I do for the Salamanders but, man, am I stoked that I’m getting an opportunity to revisit the three characters I created. Over a hundred years have passed since Black Reach, some things have changed, but one thing remains true: the Ultramarines still kick a whole lot of ass.

Exeunt!

My latest Warhammer novel, Grimblades, is back from the printers and here’s the proof!

This book is set during the reign of Emperor Dieter IV and retells the classic story on when Grom the Paunch descended from the mountains in an almighty Waaagh and brought the Empire to its knees. Only Reikland prevailed, mainly thanks to the brave deeds of Prince Wilhelm. The Grimblades are one of his regiments and the focalisers for the story. Due in stores July/August.

In addition, Firedrake is featured in the next Black Library Previews Catalogue, hitting the GW stores in August. You’ll get a decent-sized extract to whet your fiery appetites until the book is pre-released as Games Day 2010.

Short and sweet, but that’s your lot for now…

Arkham Asylum is back!

I for one am totally stoked that a sequel to the excellent Batman Arkham Asylum is due to be hitting our consoles before the year is out. In the, oh-too-short, trailer there are references to the Penguin, Black Mask and Two-Face, so here’s hoping those characters make it into the mix.

Saaaweeet!

I read something the other day that said something along the lines of ‘DC is winning the straight to animated DVD movie wars with Marvel’. I’d have to say that I agree.

I’m a big fan of animation and I like the odd graphic novel, too. Recently, I picked up Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and Planet Hulk on blu-ray. These two movies are part of the aforementioned straight to DVD features by DC and Marvel respectively.

It’s worth pointing out, I think, that I am a big fan of the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. Therefore, Planet Hulk had its work cut out if it was going to overshadow Crisis on Two Earths. Suffice to say, it didn’t.

I hadn’t read either of the graphic novels/story lines the two films were based on, so I was coming into it cold as a pure fan of animation. Both films were enjoyable. I think, on the whole, I’ve really liked the output from both studios but DC is winning hands down with it’s darker approach to both subject matter and animation style. One can’t help but recognise the legacy of Bruce Timm in the often minimalist, clean art approach to the DC movies. Less so in Justice League: The New Frontier but then that was intended to pay homage and echo the original art style in the Darwyn Cooke graphic novel (and still looks amazing, if you ask me). The animation is better, too.

In fact, the only Marvel straight to DVD that I’ve re-watched and really enjoyed was Hulk Vs. More of that please!

But back to the cases in point.

Planet Hulk (unlike its Vs predecessor) lacked the grunt and grit it needed to make it into a classic. If you’re going to tell a story about the Hulk you can’t pull your punches. It should be bloody, it should be dark and violent. This wasn’t. It was Hulk meets Gladiator sans grit. Enjoyable – yes. A classic – not even close. As I mentioned, I hadn’t read the story prior to watching the movie, so went in with zero expectations. The trouble for me was there wasn’t a recognisable villain for the Hulk to go up against. It never really got going, either. Now sure, if the graphic novel is like that then fine. I’d say: choose a different subject for a movie.

By contast Crisis on Two Earths was brilliant. I loved the alternate universes story line and the evil Justice League counterparts. James Woods as Owl Man was a particular favourite. This story felt like it had some substance and a great cast of characters to boot. Like with Hulk, I hadn’t read the source material but felt none the poorer for all that. This ranks alongside Superman: Doomsday and Wonder Woman as one of my favourite DC straight to DVD features. The fact the art style emulated that of the TV series was just a bonus.

I would wholly recommend Crisis on Two Earths. It’s a great story and looks much better than the Marvel offering, too. Looking ahead (as all of these movie features have a preview of the next film in the pipe), it seems like DC are going to trump Marvel yet again. Batman: Under the Red Hood is the next DC feature, a gritty tale that picks up where A Death in the Family leaves off (the story line that deals with the death of Jason Todd as Robin – one of the formative Batman stories) and focuses on Batman’s grief and his encounters with the Red Hood a brutal vigilante stalking the streets of Gotham; whereas Marvel have plumped for Thor: Tales of Asgard (or something like that – I honestly can’t be bothered to look up the title), a kids story that deals with Thor’s younger days before he becomes the awesome ass-kicker he is in the graphic novels.

Seems to me that Marvel are pitching at the wrong audience. Classic tales immortalised in animation is what we fans are looking for, not drab kiddy stories straight out of the aisles of Toys R Us. I’m insulted the Marvel bigwigs think we want to watch this crap. We don’t. At least, I certainly don’t. I won’t be picking up the Thor animated movie. I’ve pre-ordered Under the Red Hood, already though.

Take note Marvel boffins. Sure, your movies on the big screen are starting to kick some ass (I saw Iron Man 2 at the weekend and, while I wasn’t blown away, I did really enjoy it – especially the teasers…) your small screen offerings (with some notable exceptions) are a bit… well, lame.

And if all my talk of DC animated movies has got you fired up, check out this trailer for Batman: Under the Red Hood.