Reader Question Day #17 – American Gods, THE THIRD SOUL, and worldbuilding

Manwe asks:

Would you ever consider doing one (a world guide) for one of your own series? Or perhaps I should phrase that differently…as an author yourself, a creator of worlds, would you like to have done something like those (even if you have no actual plans to ever do any)?

Probably not. My general inclination is to forge ahead with new books, rather than to go back and rework old material endlessly.  Also, I’ve felt that overbuilding one’s world is limiting – this is why the final STAR TREK TV series eventually went off the air, in my opinion. It got crushed by the weight of thirty years of accumulated continuity. J.J. Abrams was wise to reboot, in my opinion.

The closest I’d come is an omnibus edition of the DEMONSOULED or THE GHOSTS series when I’ve written enough books – I’d most likely write a bonus novella and put it at the back to sweeten the deal.

That said, doing bits and pieces of worldbuilding background might make for good blog material. Like, a “Locations of DEMONSOULED” series, with little 300 to 500 word snippets describing places like Castle Cravenlock or Arylkrad or Mount Tynagis. I may have to think on that…

You compared it to “American Gods”, I have heard of the book but never read it myself, any good?

It’s a very interesting book, but I don’t think you’d like it. It’s quite pagan, and I don’t mean in the neo-pagan crystals and herbal tea sense (I prefer my tea caffeinated, as God intended), but in the old style “sacrifice children to appease the wrathful supernatural” sense.

It’s basically a modern retelling of the Norse myth of Balder. The premise is that when all the immigrants from the Old World came to America, they brought their old gods with them – Odin, Czernbog, Anasasi, and all the rest. Except as the immigrants gradually became American, they started worshiping the new gods of America – radio, television, trains, technology, money, and so forth. So the old gods linger on, scraping out an existence as best they can – Odin becomes a con artist, Thoth an undertaker, Eostre a maker of candied eggs, and so forth.

It’s interesting because Gaiman is British, and the book is an outsider’s look at the American immigrant experience, and it’s not a stretch to say that America worships Sex and Money most zealously. But I don’t think it’d be your (to continue the metaphor) cup of tea -it’s very graphic, and there is an overabundance of weird sex.

The pseudo-sequel, ANASASI BOYS, is much lighter in tone, and extremely funny.

Septuagint writes:

I really like THE THIRD SOUL series and wanted to read more, but there isn’t any. Are you going to write more of it?

THE THIRD SOUL was an experiment in doing a serialized novel, and it turned out pretty well. At some point, I will combine the four parts together (THE TESTING, THE ASSASSINS, THE BLOOD SHAMAN, and THE HIGH DEMON) and sell it as an omnibus edition. I do have an idea for another novel in the series – TOMBS OF THE OLD EMPIRE. But I’m going to spend the rest of 2012 doing DEMONSOULED and THE GHOSTS books, so I don’t think I’ll get to it until 2013.

AlduinEaterOfWorlds writes:

hey do 1 star reviews bother you?

No. People are entitled to put their opinions on the Internet. (This is in fact the foundation of my writing business model.)

Tip for writer- never, ever respond to a bad review. Not ever. Not for any reason. It can turn into an Internet pile-on faster than you can imagine.

If you feel the urge to do so, locate a hammer and hit yourself briskly on the forehead repeatedly. Eventually you will pass out, which will prevent you from responding to a bad review. A mild concussion is preferable to responding to a bad review – the concussion will eventually heal, but an Internet pile-on will stay on the Internet forever.

-JM