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Story Post: The Mediator (WM) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-06-03 21:46:25
Imported:
2026-06
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Hi all,

It's monsters time! Specifically DigDig, but the others are all here, too.

In other news, I'm super close to handing HOT RESTART over to an editor. Hopefully next week, maybe a hair or two past that, but she's eager to get rolling on it and I'm dying to publish it. Cover's in the works, too. Shouldn't be long!

After that? I've got a chunk of Tanner's next book done, and he feels like he's due. Although, if I'm honest, I have a much clearer sense of the next Wandering Monsters book from beginning to end, and those books are much shorter than Tanner's... anyway. Tanner is most likely next in line, but everyone's got a spot coming in the future. Promise.

Comments

William Hart

Looking forward very much to the new book and also extremely excited about more Tanner, that series might by one of my favourite modern mil-sci fi books ever.

Brin Wolfe-Schulte

Wandering Monsters is the kind of D&D game I would love to play.

Jacob Hufstader

Question: are you planning on releasing HR In paperback along with Kindle/Audiobook options? I know with the paper shortage things can get delayed

Vairya1

I love DigDig. I also second the call for the next Tanner book. The events of the last one only made me more enthusiastic about where the series might take us. More aliens please! I'm also quite excited for HR. Any story you want to tell, I'll happily gobble up.

Anthea Strezze

I love it! Nice to see DigDig take center stage for a bit, though I'm glad the whole crew came in for the end. :-D

Karl-Johan Norén

Ahoy! Incoming literary criticism and introspection! This story didn't really scratch my itch, and I needed some time to unpack that. I think DigDig is part of it. He can be a delightful character, but for me he is more spice than the main course. I also enjoy him more when he is horribly practical rather than when he is coming up with ideas on causes for the mysteries encountered. Another aspect is that I don't care about the crew in the Wandering Monsters the way I do about the crew in Good Intentions. I think one reason for that has to do with the structure of the writing. Good Intentions has a clear protagonist, and we get to know other people through him. Wandering Monsters has an ensemble cast, and we never really get intimate (heh) with any of the characters. But underlying that is that the world of Wandering Monsters feels rather artificial. Part of it is because it is meant to evoke Forgotten Realms and other D&D worlds, in much the same way that the world in Days of High Adventure was meant to evoke the Conan stories. (In other words, the world-building revolves around what Charles Stross calls the "second artist effect".) This comes from its roots as an RPG world, but the RPG roots also shows in another way: the world feels untied from the characters. The world is there for the characters to explore and thus external to them, rather than something living that gave rise to the characters. The world and the characters are reactive to each other rather than in interaction with each other, if the distinction makes sense. It lacks the texture of a somewhat real Seattle or the pathos of Tanner Malone raging against its injustices. At the same time, I'm not sure the above can be "fixed" without destroying what Wandering Monsters is, a lighthearted story that pokes fun at a beloved hobby from an inside position. Anyway, don't take this as criticism of the story, other than in the analytical sense. Blaming the writer for writing another story than the one the reader wanted is like blaming one's love for not having the same interests as oneself. One might feel the urge at times, but part of maturity is about being able to rise above that impulse.