Good news for those who still think the Atlantic is an impenetrable magical barrier!
Spectra have moved forward their release dates for Retribution Falls and The Black Lung Captain for the US. New dates:
Ret Falls: 26th April 2011
BLC: 26th August 2011
Or for those who don’t want to wait, you can buy them here and here for $7 or $15 respectively, including shipping.
To Mr Chris Woodings,
I had recently read one of your books, The Fade. I must say, The Fade is definitely one of the most ingenious works I have read. The only other time when I had been this impressed by a story was with Dan Brown’s Angel’s and Demons. (And I-Robot, which was a movie.)
The Fade. You created a mysterious and harsh world, where civilizations live on and under ground. You created a history of 2 races at war. You told the life story of the protagonist, detailing her every thought and her every emotion. And you did this letting us see the world through her eyes, giving us a 1st person view. Few authors have chosen a first-person style, but you executed this in such a way, it might as well be paving the ground for a new genre type. And last but not least, you gave the story a shocking revelation, one which you can only find through one of Rowling’s Harry Potter books, or Dan Brown’s elaborate conspiracies.
However, the ending was one of the biggest disappointment. I had never been this enthralled by the rest of the story, only to be snuffed out at the end. (DELETED FOR SPOILERS)
Personally, from what I think, the epilogue was rushed. It felt like it could have gone on, but it just fell down there. It isn’t a cliffhanger, but a premature end. To quote, I feel that this is not one of your stories that “wraps itself up in the end without leaving any hanging threads”. I have to ask you, is this how you honestly wished the story to have ended?
I have a great personal dislike for stories with cliffhangers. I believe every good story should have a beginning, middle, and and end. And by end, I meant closure. A story without a closure, is like a murder story where the killer was never found, or the hero went missing and was never known what happened. These are just loose threads left hanging. And the same old tired excuse “an open ending gets you thinking” just doesn’t quite satisfy me. I believe the ending of a story is just as important as the rest of it.
The Fade is of course not one of those stories. But it still left me high and dry in the end. Because it was great all the way, until it reached the ending.
(DELETED FOR SPOILERS)
I’ll still like to say, that I really like your story. It was actually the cover of your book that spoke out to me and made me take a closer look. When I saw that the story was written in first person, I knew I had to get it right away.
Will there be a continuing story? Did you leave the story this way because there would be a second one?
Please give me your views regarding what I said. Thank you.
I’ve cut the above for spoilers, since you gave away the ending of the book. If you want to discuss books with spoilers, a good place would be the Crooked Lanes Forum.
As to your comment, I guess you didn’t like the end, huh?
The ending was anything but rushed. The Fade took me longer than any other book I wrote (and is a lot shorter, ironically). Sorry if it wasn’t to your taste, but the vengeance-quest ending you suggest (now sadly hidden by spoiler tags), with Orna taking names and kicking ass, is just the kind of thing, erm, Dan Brown would do. Not my style.
As to your other point, I really can’t work out which bit you mean. If you still want to discuss it in more detail, post up on the Crooked Lanes forum I linked above and mark it with ‘SPOILERS.’
There won’t be a continuing story. I liked the ending, and I wrote it that way on purpose. Not every book needs to end with the hero standing over the smoking corpses of everyone who’s ever wronged them, y’know
Hello, thank you for responding.
I’m a little disappointed that you deleted several portions of my message. I had honestly put a lot of thought into writing that.
I did as you ask, and posted the enquiry there.
http://orokos.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=fadebook&action=display&thread=596
I hope you can check it, but quite frankly, it doesn’t seem like you visit that place at all.
“with Orna taking names and kicking ass, is just the kind of thing, erm, Dan Brown would do.”
Actually, with regards to this, it’s exactly the kind of thing SHE would do. She’s been doing that throughout the whole story, except for the last part, making it seem contradictory to me.
(DELETED FOR SPOILERS… AGAIN)
Mechgouki,
You spoilered the hell out of the book even more that time. I’ve cut those bits and I’ll repost them over on the Crooked Lanes. We can have the conversation there, but please stop ruining the book for everyone who hasn’t read it yet.
My apologies. I kept forgetting that this is a public area, not a private conversation. I’ll be more mindful in future.
No worries. I’ve replied to your post over on The Crooked Lanes forum, here.
Hi Chris – just wished to say thanks for providing a good yarn with ‘Retribution Falls.’ I’m up to page 66 and the universe you have created is like taking a swig out of a bottle filled with lightning. Great story arc, intriguing characters with an enjoyable pace of getting to know them all. I’m enjoying it as much as Firefly. I look forward to ‘Black Lung Captain’ when it is finally released and makes its way down to New Zealand.
One question – how many books do you plan for this series (hopefully more than 2! ) Thanks and all best – Paul Watson, Auckland, NZ
Dear Chris,
My daughter, Larissa, reads all your books (you are her favorite author).
She wants to go to one of your book signing parties to meet you and get her books signed. Do you have a schedule anywhere that gives dates and places for your upcoming book signing parties?
T. Melnyk
@ Paul – 4 books at the moment, maybe more. The way I’ve structured it is that I’ll never be more than one book away from tying up all the loose ends.
@ Tamara – I don’t do a great deal of signings, but when I do I post them up here. Best thing to do is check the website every so often.
Hey Chris,
I’ve read a hell of a lot of authors’ works, and you’re my absolute favourite. There’s something so shockingly original about your writing, the way you wind it all up with humour and suspense and action, it leaves me absolutely reeling every time I read it. My favourite so far’s got to be Retribution Falls – the first chapter alone completely blew me away, it’s just so remarkably well-written, it honestly feels like I’m standing right there. I’m trying to become an author myself, but kind of failing, embarrassingly enough, because every time I get some really good inspiration, it’s after reading one of your books, and then my writing just ends up being almost exactly the same storyline with the names changed (and not even changed that much). I know it’s got to be pretty difficult to put it into words, but where do you find your ideas??
Thanks for every book you’ve ever written! You’re a sensational writer
Cheryl
D’aww, thanks
Where do I find my ideas? I don’t know. I don’t believe any author does. If they tell you they do, it’s because they felt compelled to make something up. I know it’s not exactly helpful, but there you go. You just gotta keep at it till you find your own style.
Good luck with the writing.