We Interrupt This Program . . .

Even lifelong agnostics can love Christmas.

No apologies or dissembling:

Merry Christmas, dammit.

from me, Gustav Holst, and the 

redoubtable Stephen Bennett

Chapter 3, THORN AND NEEDLE (TSR, 1992)

Modern comments in red.

Yep, the Brethren have airships, too.

Next: The Times of FORBIDDEN LINES 

The Brazen Dream: THORN AND NEEDLE (TSR, 1992)

Before I left my job at the University of North Carolina Special Collections in 1989, I began writing a new solo novel. I had undergone a sort of crisis of creative conscience. Writing so much heroic fantasy in a setting not of my creation bothered me. I felt constrained by the conventions of the genre, and I wanted to break free of them. In short, I was feeling rebellious and subversive.

Seeking an outlet for these feelings, I was reminded of a science fiction novel I had read a decade earlier. This was THE IRON DREAM (1972), by Norman Spinrad.

The cover of the edition I read. 

You don't forget covers like this.

Art by Rowena. 

Spinrad's premise is that Adolf Hitler emigrated to America after World War I, becoming first a pulp magazine illustrator and then a pulp writer himself. His last novel, THE LORD OF THE SWASTIKA, comprises the bulk of THE IRON DREAM. The balance of the book consists of the frame story about Hitler's alternate history life in the U.S. as a beloved writer of fantasy and science fiction and the political situation in a world where World War II never happens.

At a further remove, Spinrad's point is that much of conventional adventure fiction consists of violent fantasies about human heroes slaughtering (or otherwise besting) slobbering alien untermensch. The racist/fascist flavor of this kind of plotting is made crystal clear by putting Hitler's name on it. Spinrad paints with a broad brush, but an extention of his point is perfectly valid: what would we, in the real twenty-first century, really make of typical SF/fantasy characters if we met them? Would we find them noble, adventurous, and heroic, or vain, violent, and bigoted?

I resolved to do something similar with the fantasy genre. I would write a novel in which the 'heroes' would be reactionary fanatics, while the ostensible villains are of a more progressive bent. They're not completely Good Guys; that would be too obvious. Most of life's hard choices are between what's Bad and what's Less Bad.

My protagonist, a professional duellist named Rado, is a lazy, cynical brute, who kills people for money (or sport), abuses women, and generally is a rogue of the first water. His ally/antagonist is a fanatical young priestess of a Mother Goddess cult named Eridé (in three syllables, Air-uh-day). For various nasty plot reasons Rado must accompany Eridé to the distant city of Miyesti and find out about a mysterious new god there called 'the Fact.' Find it, then destroy it. 

A rogue of the first water:

(Tyrone Power in The Prince of Foxes, 1949)

Rado and Eridé are not friends. She is entitled to kill him if he strays from their mission; otherwise, he has a free hand to accomplish what he can. He abuses the privilege by forcing himself on Eridé more than once. So as not to be recognized as the martially trained priestess she is, Eridé disguises herself as a boy (an inversion of THE RED HUSSAR). Rado dubs her "Thorn," as she is a thorn in his side. Thorn is a Very Dangerous Female for sure.

A fanatical young priestess:

Eridé sans stiletto.

The result is a pretty strange novel, THORN AND NEEDLE (TSR, 1992):

Cover of the first (and only) 

U.S. edition.

Art by Pat Morrissey.

The back cover. TSR called it 

"a highly original fantasy!"

The 'Needle' of the title is the new god, the Fact, the analogy being that Thorn is a force of nature, while the Fact is artificial, like a steel needle. 

As the book is long out of print and not common, I will reveal more of the basic plot than I usually do.

Though it uses the language and tropes of high fantasy, THORN AND NEEDLE really is science fiction. It is set on a parallel Earth--the geography is identical--and the 'magic' described in the novel is purely technological. There is some paranormal stuff involved--telepathy and thought transference, for example, but the method of realizing this is technological, not thaumaturgical. The Fact turns out to be a communications satellite from our universe, accidentally transferred to the world of Rado and Thorn. The artificial intelligence built into the satellite sets itself up as a god, and imparts technical information to the people of Miyesti. Soon they have telephones and electric motors, electric lights and radio. Fact worshipers convert a galley to electric power, and airships fly over the city by night.

All this progress is allied to a tolerant but patriarchal, all-men-are-brothers philosophy alien to this world. That's why the Mother Goddess temple in Pazoa (Rado's hometown, an analog of Genoa, Italy) wants it destroyed.

Reaction to THORN AND NEEDLE was mixed, and very interesting. My agent sent it around to several paperback publishers in 1989-90. They all rejected it. One editor was quite terse; she said, in effect, that they did not publish anti-science novels! That Rado and Thorn were not the heroes of the story apparently did not register. 

After 3-4 rejections, I had a really subversive idea: why not try THORN AND NEEDLE with TSR? My creative funk came on because of writing Dragonlance, so why not let TSR help me exorcise my fiction demons? They were still publishing original SF and fantasy under the TSR Books imprint, twenty-plus titles by 1992. Lo and behold, TSR bought THORN AND NEEDLE.

TSR Books published up to 1992:

STARSONG, by Dan Parkinson

ST. JOHN THE PURSUER: THE VAMPIRE IN MOSCOW, by Richard Henrick

BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN, by Sharyn McCrumb

RED SANDS, by Paul Thompson & Tonya Carter

ILLEGAL ALIENS, by Nick Pollotta & Phil Foglio

THE JEWELS OF ELVISH, by Nancy Varian Berberick

MONKEY STATION, by Ardath Mayhar & Ron Fortier

THE EYES HAVE IT, by Rose Estes

TOO, TOO SOLID FLESH, by Nick O'Donohoe

THE EARTH REMEMBERS, by Susan Torian Olan

DARK HORSE, by Mary H. Herbert

WARSPRITE, by Jefferson Swycaffer

NIGHTWATCH, by Robin Wayne Bailey

OUTBANKER, by Timothy A. Madden

THE ROAD WEST, by Gary Wright

THE ALIEN DARK, by Diana G. Gallagher

WEB OF FUTURES, by Jefferson Swycaffer

SORCERER'S STONE, by L. Dean James

THE FALCON PRESS, by Michael C. Staudinger

TOKEN OF DRAGONSBLOOD, by Damaris Cole

THE CLOUD PEOPLE, by Robert B. Kelly

LIGHTNING'S DAUGHTER,  by Mary H. Herbert

THORN AND NEEDLE, by Paul B. Thompson

KINGSLAYER, by L. Dean James

The best known among these is BIMBOS, which won the Edgar Award in 1988 as best original paperback mystery.

THORN AND NEEDLE came and went without much of a splash. It's certainly not as famous as THE IRON DREAM, but then, I'm not Norman Spinrad either. 

To this day people don't get it. A 2006 reviewer online remarked "A novel that takes a bold step of not including a single likable character! Rado, Thorn, their mysterious backers, the Fact, the Fact's worshippers [sic]...there is no one to root for. In some books the 'heroes' are useless and we're reduced to pulling for the villains; here we don't even have that luxury." 

This is a valid description of the story, but it misses the point. THORN AND NEEDLE is science fiction disguised as an anti-fantasy. The reader is supposed to not like Rado or Thorn, but make the leap to other fantasy/SF titles where the 'heroes' act exactly like mine. 

Spinrad had similar problems with THE IRON DREAM. The American Nazi Party put the book on their approved reading list. Mainstream readers didn't always get it either. Spinrad wrote, " . . . one review appeared in a fanzine that really gave me pause. "This is a rousing adventure story and I really enjoyed it," the gist of it went. "Why did Spinrad have to spoil the fun with all this muck about Hitler?" [Quoted in  Science fiction in the real world. SIU Press. p. 158].

Two years later, THORN AND NEEDLE was published in Hungary as 

Tüske és Tű (Lap-Ics Könyvkiadó, 1994). I heard from an insider at TSR that they offered a slate of titles to the Hungarian publisher, but THORN AND NEEDLE was the only one they chose.

Hungarian title, Morrissey art. 

The title translates as "Spike and Needle"

My future wife read THORN AND NEEDLE in manuscript and wondered if she was involved with a weirdo . . . fortunately she liked SUNDIPPER a lot, so the two titles offset each other.

THORN AND NEEDLE is dedicated to her as 'Lib,' a Southern nickname for Elizabeth.

Re-reading THORN AND NEEDLE today, I think it's a good book. It's challenging, and wince-inducing in places, but by design. It would make an interesting movie, or an adult graphic novel.

The book is divided into five sections, each prefaced by a relevant quotation:

1. But for Man's fault, then was the thorn. 

Robert Herrick, (1591-1674), "The Rose." 

This is a poetic reference to original sin; because Man fell from grace in Eden, the world now has dangers in it. In the novel Rado's deeds are at fault, and Thorn is his punishment.

2. Do you not know, my charming lady, that the law is good, that all rules, all exact standards are good? 

Hanns Heinz Ewers, ALRAUNE (1911).

This is Thorn's personal philosophy in a nutshell. Ewers, a premiere member of the early 20th century Decadent movement in literature, embraced National Socialism later in life.

3. When the crow on the tower made of brick/For seven hours will continue to scream/Death foretold, the statue stained with blood/Tyrant murdered, people praying to their Gods. 

Nostradamus, CENTURIES, IV-55.

Foreshadowing (prophesying?) the outcome of the story . . . 

4. Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; Unbelief, in denying them. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson, REPRESENTATIVE MEN (1850).

This is offered ironically. Unbelief makes the plot unfold. Rado, the cynical swordsman, is the Unbeliever.

5. I am Chaos. I am the substance from which your artists and scientists build rhythms. I am the spirit with which your children and clowns laugh in happy anarchy. I am chaos. I am alive, and I tell you that you are free.

Malaclypse the Younger, PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA (1979)

A nod to the hipster audience. Thorn is an agent of Chaos, but she doesn't see herself that way--nor did most of the novel's readers.

At the end of the novel, To Explain All, I appended a news dispatch that explains the origins of the Fact. Funny thing, the 'futuristic' date given on the Reuters bulletin is May 21, 2016--more than a year before this blog entry was written.

Next: Chapter 3, THORN AND NEEDLE

Chapter 1, THE QUALINESTI (TSR, 1991)

Modern comments in red.

Next: The Brazen Dream: THORN AND NEEDLE (TSR, 1992).

Liberty, Qualinesti, Fraternity: THE QUALINESTI (TSR, 1991)

The curious conclusion of the Elven Nations Trilogy was THE QUALINESTI (TSR, 1991). This was my sixth published novel and fifth collaboration with Toni. (Since getting married, Tonya R. Carter was now Tonya Carter Cook, but she continued to use her maiden name as her byline a while longer.)

The cover of the first (1991) edition. Artwork by Brom.

The 1991 back cover.

The cover of the 2004 Wizards of the Coast reprint, 

keeping the stylish Brom cover.

Notice it's now 'Tonya C. Cook.'

The Elven Nations trilogy, divided between Toni and me on one hand and Douglas Niles on the other, was remarkably well received. After the operatic style of the first novel, and the military sweep of Niles' THE KINSLAYER WARS, it was hard to come up with a plot for the third book that lived up to the epic scale established by the first two novels. The only specification we had from TSR was that the third book should cover the founding of the new elven nation, Qualinesti.

Douglas Niles' part of the trilogy:

Sithas (l), Kith-Kanan (r)

THE QUALINESTI represented our fifth novel in three years. Leaving aside not inconsequential matters like re-writes and early drafts, the five novels still totaled around 470,000 words (each Dragonlance novel ran about 100,000 words; RED SANDS weighed in at 70,000). In addition, I edited an anthology of speculative fiction written mostly by college students (FORBIDDEN LINES, 1989), and had become editor/publisher of a bimonthly magazine of the same title in 1990.

The Forbidden Lines anthology, 1989.

The last copies in existence 

are available on eBay . . . 

Toni and I decided THE QUALINESTI would be about succession, slavery, and ethnicity. Kith-Kanan has a half-human son, Ulvian, who seems to be in line to succeed to the throne of the new and improved elven kingdom. The foundation of Qualinesti was intended to remedy the defects of the original elven realm, Silvanesti, which is absolutist, elitist, and frankly, racist. Silvanesti elves believe themselves to be superior to all other peoples. Kith-Kanan, enlightened by his experiences in the greenwood and during the Kinslayer Wars, wants to lead his new kingdom on a different, more tolerant path.

So far, so good. Unfortunately Ulvian is a corrupt weakling and falls under the baleful influence of a malign sorcerer with an evil amulet. He gets caught up in slave trading. His sister, the warrior maiden Verhanna, is the Strong Female Character of the story. While Ulvian profits from slavery, Verhanna leads Qualinesti forces on raids against the vile practice. Ulvian's part in this villainy goes unrecognized for a while.

Meanwhile, in the forest, the tree that once was Anaya is split open by lightning. A green-skinned, fully grown young elf is found inside. His name is Silveran, also known as Greenhands. His magical gestation and lineage (he's the offspring of Kith-Kanan and Anaya) make him an obvious candidate to succeed his father Kith-Kanan as Speaker of the Sun. The monarch of Qualinesti is called the Speaker of the Sun, on the analogy that the ruler of Silvanesti is the Speaker of the Stars. The name is symbolically significant, too. The elder elven kingdom is as cold and austere as the stars in a winter sky, while Qualinesti is meant to become a warm and life-giving place.

This book sees the advent of our eternal kender character, Rufus Wrinklecap. Throughout the balance of our Dragonlance writing career, Toni and I made reference to Rufus, usually in the form of a kender claiming to be Rufus Wrinklecap, but not the Rufus Wrinklecap. This conceit was based on an actual person my wife and I once met. This fellow, an ardent AD&D gamer, had a game persona known as Roscuro, "the Roscuro!" His gaming anecdotes about our mutual friends were hilarious, so we adopted his catch phrase for our footloose kender, Rufus Wrinklecap. Because kender invariably wander the world getting into trouble, it stands to reason they would resort to pseudonyms to confuse outsiders. "Rufus Wrinklecap" could therefore be seen to be the kender equivalent of "John Doe." But the 'real' Rufus would be found in the later written, but much earlier set novel, THE FOREST KING.

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While his mind is clouded by evil magic (arranged by Ulvian), Silveran strikes his father, Kith-Kanan with a great dwarf hammer. Before dying, Kith exonerates Silveran for the deed. He orders Verhanna not to kill Ulvian for his part in the plot, and the dishonored son flees, never to return. Kith sees Anaya one last time in a nether world between life and death (nice scene). He dies, and Silveran becomes the king of Qualinesti. 

Two of the Ambrodel clan figure in the tale, with the younger Kemian Ambrodel falling in love with the formidable Lady Verhanna.

Overall, THE QUALINESTI has a melancholy air, largely from the apparent doom hanging over Kith-Kanan and his errant son Ulvian. It's an earthier story than FIRSTBORN; with no operatic climaxes and less grandeur. For this reason some readers felt let down by the novel, but it's a good story, more tightly plotted than FIRSTBORN. I recall this one being a favorite of Toni's. Online reviews run at about 4 Stars for THE QUALINESTI and 4.5 for FIRSTBORN.

I suppose the dark plot and intrigue clashes with the common image of lofty, ethereal elves. Dragonlance cognitive dissonance, as it were. We would return to court intrigue and political plots in a big way in the Ergoth Trilogy.

THE QUALINESTI is dedicated to a friend of mine and my wife's, Mickey Spencer. 

Toni and I were rather burned out by the time the Elven Nations were done. We'd written a lot in a short period of time. Other changes added layers of difficulty to our collaboration; Toni and her husband Greg moved from North Carolina to New York state in 1989. This was still the pre-Internet era, so we had to ship manuscripts back and forth via the US Mail. During the writing of THE QUALINESTI we also had to get manuscript pages from TSR of Douglas Niles' middle book, just to keep up with his plot developments. By the time THE QUALINESTI hit the stores in November 1991, Toni and I needed a break. 

So what did I do? Put out another novel, of course, the strange book called THORN AND NEEDLE (TSR, 1992).

1992 would be a momentous year for me. Not only did I get married that year, I also published my seventh novel (second solo effort) and spent a month wandering Europe with my wife. Through the pages of LOCUS magazine I got in touch with a Romanian SF writer/editor Petru Iamandi, and arranged for him to translate SUNDIPPER into Romanian. The book eventually appeared in 1994.

The Romanian SUNDIPPER (Porto-Franco, 1994):

The translated title is "In the Sun's Cold Heart."

The back cover. Note the inset 

with St. Martin's cover art.

We didn't know it, but great changes were afoot. After five books for TSR in three years, we would only do one more Dragonlance novel before the company was sold to Wizards of the Coast in 1997. That sale turned out to be a great change in our favor, as Toni and I would do more (and better) books for Wizards than we did for TSR. Dragonlance would live--for another twelve years after the sale.

Next: Chapter 1, THE QUALINESTI