Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy" discussion

Mr. Rypel wrote on another thread:

"Back in the late '70s, as a very young fictioneer, I developed the highly unusual, cross-culture/myth/genre character Gonji Sabatake, a halfbreed samurai/Viking, as it were. His life-story arc covered a bizarre series of adventures involving an age-old tyranny ruling over multiple, concentric worlds (including our own historically accurate---save for the monsters and magic!---16th-century Earth).

Around the same time as George Lucas, I came to the similar crossroads he faced with his nascent STAR WARS: What if I manage to get ONE of these out, and there isn't sufficient commercial interest to continue it, much less complete it? Which PART of the story arc would I then most like to (*sigh*) leave hanging our there for posterity to regard as a curiosity?

Again similarly to Lucas, I decided to do the pivotal turning point in the protagonist's life---in my case, involving Gonji's pivotal meeting/alliance with another "singularity" character who was also chosen as a kind of "sword-arm of Destiny." This first, long-prophesied encounter would occur during an epic siege of the legendary city of Vedun, in the escarpments of the Carpathians. (Yes---Dracula territory. I find it therefore ironic that the books should be reissued by "Borgo" Press, whose name resonates in Stoker's novel!)

That massive book---DEATHWIND OF VEDUN---was published in the '80s by Zebra Books in three volumes (exasperatingly treated as three SEPARATE books by the publisher, a criminal misdirection that has been corrected for the Borgo Press reissue). Happily, they proved immensely popular, were kept in print for several years, and were followed by two more books in the series before Zebra turned its stripes and canceled their entire line of fantasy, concentrating on other, more lucrative genres. (Gonji simply wouldn't fit the parameters of their Romance list, though there is romance within its pages...to a degree...)

For the next few books, they had insisted that I move FORWARD in time with Gonji, though I'd argued my case for doing the three "young Gonji" books, which would have dramatized material that turns up in the published books as tantalizing hints at what had transpired earlier to bring the character to his increasingly bizarre quest.

So only "Dark Venture"---which I hope will be out soon, as beta readers have been intriguingly enthusiastic about it---exists as a completed narrative concerning Gonji at 20, whereas the novels pick him up in his 30s.

The Gonji Prospectus, a 10,000-word document that details his entire life, calls for three early books (beginning before his birth and bringing us up to the Battle of Vedun) and three more that cap the widening import of the character's life-work, as dramatized in the extant five books.

Existing books 1-3 comprise a single work that must be read in sequence to complete its broad narrative. Books 4 and 5 can be read as stand-alones, though they advance the ominous framing story arc. Running characters and themes reappear in the tales, and everything/everyone is resolved in the end.

Will there be an end? Contemporary demand will tell..."

P.S. Mr. Rypel, also offered his input regarding Gonji in these two threads.

Thank you for keeping these GONJI threads alive. It's humbling and gratifying to know that contemporary readers are interested.

I'll try to answer any questions or provide any illumination readers on Goodreads would like.

Fletcher wrote:

"Just finished Gonji: Red Blade from the East by group member T.C. Rypel and posted a review on my site. [...]

T.c. wrote: "I look forward to your review of the first Gonji book and, hopefully, the subsequent books in the series.
Thank you again for your time and attention, surely the greatest compliment a reader pays ..."

It's up. http://swordssorcery.blogspot.gr/2013... I'm looking forward to the rest."

Thanks for the fair and honest review---all an author can hope for.

The Kindle of book 2 (THE SOUL WITHIN THE STEEL) should have been out by now. Don't know what's holding it up. I'm currently proofing the book-formatted Gonji 3 (DEATHWIND OF VEDUN). So that should be out in paper in a month or so.

Don't worry about losing the story threads. I've provided "What Has Gone Before..." prefaces to books 2 and 3, as well as a Character Index as an appendix to all three trilogy books.

And remember that these first three books of the Gonji series (with five total extant; six more planned for a complete chronicle of the character's life and adventures) were NOT designed as a trilogy. DEATHWIND OF VEDUN was sold as a single epic work. It was Zebra Books who decided to ill-advisedly release the massive story as three separate novels, back in the '80s, without any indication to the reader. That's why the ends of parts 2 and 3 can only look like exasperating cliffhangers---not my doing. I had envisioned it all coming out in a single, SHOGUN-sized novel.

But thank you again for your time and attention.

You're quite welcome. It's definitely a blast and I'm really itching for the next books. I remember reading how C J Cherryh's publisher broke up Cyteen into a trilogy and how unnatural she felt the results where. It's got to be pain.
I'm glad Joe Bonadonna mentioned it last year on Black Gate. It's got a great epic scope but with the tightness so lacking in muc of today's multi-tomed series.

Well, I thank you yet again. My overall impression after the review was that you didn't enjoy it quite as much as you seem to indicate here. I'm gratified to apparently have misjudged your opinion.

Yes, Zebra Books drove me up a wall with their irrational decision. They loved DEATHWIND OF VEDUN, but their judgment was that there was no precedent for a single fantasy novel of such epic length. But then---you release it as three separate books without alerting readers that they're parts of a single narrative---?!! That's why I immediately appended the "What Has Gone Before..." prefaces to 2 and 3.

Joe Bonadonna is a loyal friend and genuine Gonji enthusiast for a long time. He's been a tremendous supporter of the re-issues, as energetic a champion of the Gonji revival here as German fantasist Kai Meyer has been in Europe. BLACK GATE is supposed to be reviewing the books, also, as is PRO SE.

I wrote a long response to all the sticking points you raised in the review, with the provenance of the series; the reason I chose to start in the middle of Gonji's career; some notes about the specific myth-cycle the series inhabits---all of which was somehow lost in translation to your site. I gave up in frustration. But let me know if there's anything nagging that you'd like addressed. I'd be happy to respond here.

Interesting that your reply here popped in just as I was about to start proofing the section of Book 3 that fans have long referred to as "The Battle of Vedun." I'll be eager to hear your opinions of this enormous narrative payoff later!

I'll try to keep you apprised of the Kindle release of book 2, THE SOUL WITHIN THE STEEL. Don't know what's holding up Wildside. I think book 1's Kindle was out by this long after the paperback.

Well, that sucks! I was trying to goof around a bit and it didn't work. I guess I should have been a little clearer about my reading block. It had nothing to do with Gonji and lots to do with general life. When I wrote I "need" to know what's happening next I meant it.

I really like Gonji's stuck-on-the-horns-of-two-dilemmas nature. He's no anti-hero but at the same time being heroic looks to be proving difficult sometimes. He's a great addition to the ranks of great S&S protagonists.

Thanks re: the kindle update. And, nah, I don't have any nagging points. Like I said, my sticking points weren't meant seriously. I guess all I wanted to really convey was the frustration I felt on finally reaching the last page and not being able to download the next book a minute later.

That's truly gratifying---the finest praise any writer could hope for.

My clumsy processing of your life-riffing was likely the culprit, rather than any failing of yours. No problem.

Yeah, Gonji's life is an escalating example of the "dilemma principle" you describe. He's one of those toy-of-Destiny people who really doesn't want to be Moses, or Alexander the Great, or George Washington---as everyone else seems to expect. He just wants the answers to some vital questions about his apparently important place in the very weird universe he was born into. And then the QUESTIONS keep getting stranger. Plus, he can be his own worst enemy.

Thanks for your generous remark about Gonji's place in the firmament of S&S heroes. I hope the series continues to please you.

Robert M. Price is editing an anthology of new stories featuring popular '70s-'80s S&S heroes, called MIGHTY WARRIORS. He commissioned a Gonji tale for it, which I call "Dark Venture." It's the one-and-only completed "young Gonji" tale---the wild adventure of his flight from Japan aboard a Portuguese pirate ship, when he's about 10-12 years younger than in the Vedun epic. (At 40,000 words, it's nearly a short novel; Price accepted it enthusiastically, nonetheless.) I look forward to your reading that one, as it might address some of the questions you intimated in the review concerning Gonji's past.

The Price antholgy sounds very cool. Something else to add to the be read pile.

Good news from the Official Gonji Facebook page:

"The art designer at Wildside Press told me a few days ago that GONJI: DEATHWIND OF VEDUN---the third book of The Deathwind Trilogy---is in prep right now.

That means it should be released in paper within a few days."

Much obliged for your re-posting here, Periklis!

Still no word on why Book 2's e-book version has been delayed, or how long after the imminent paperback edition of Book 3 that one's e-book will follow.

Being an old-school, tactile-book lover, I'm less attuned to the e-book releases. And these Borgo Press editions are extremely handsome and substantial---I'm very proud of them---although I fully realize the importance of e-book editions to a large segment of modern readers.

Thanks to the Gonji Facebook Page we have an advance look at the cover of Book 3:



" The Borgo Press re-issue of GONJI 3: DEATHWIND OF VEDUN is about to be released any day now (in trade paperback first; Kindle soon), completing the series-opening trilogy. Here's an advance look at the cover... "

Thank you for re-posting this, Periklis!

This Borgo Press book, which completes The Deathwind Trilogy that launches my re-issued GONJI Series, will be out in trade paperback edition any day now.

And the publisher at Wildside (Borgo's parent company) assures me that they're now dealing with their Kindle edition logjam. So those who've been awaiting the Kindle version of GONJI 2: THE SOUL WITHIN THE STEEL should find it available shortly, after a few months' delay.

Looking forward to reviews from modern readers of my vintage, epic heroic-fantasy series!

Thanks to everyone who's shown curiosity and interest!

Congratulations, they're great looking books. I'm excited the second book's on its way. A review will follow.

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support, Fletcher. I'll immediately post the availability of the second book's Kindle, as it's released, on the Gonji FB page and my own. Hopefully, this third book's Kindle will not suffer so lengthy a time-lag.

Two books left in the vintage series for Borgo Press re-issue (FORTRESS OF LOST WORLDS and A HUNGERING OF WOLVES). Then... very possibly a collection of NEW, shorter Gonji tales. And, if interest warrants, a happy continuation of Gonji's alternately dark and triumphant, ever-mysterious, ever-humanistic, always action-charged story arc...

FLETCHER (and others who have inquired):

Gonji 2: THE SOUL WITHIN THE STEEL (Book 2 of The Deathwind Trilogy) has been released on KINDLE today---finally!---on Amazon.

As for Gonji 3: DEATHWIND OF VEDUN, I slightly jumped the gun in announcing its release yesterday, on the Gonji Facebook page. I spot-checked, saw the page, and assumed Amazon had it ready to sell. Turns out that the page is still under construction. Buyers who tried to order the trade paperback were rebuffed. Embarrassing! My error. I should have waited for my editor at Borgo Press to give me the go-ahead to start making noise about it.

It should be available in a day or two. And I'll try to press them to push the Kindle edition out faster than they did with Book 2.

Thanks, everyone, for the interest and patience! Hope my vintage re-issued heroic-fantasy series grips you and refuses to let go!

Cool beans.

Friend FLETCHER (and other interested parties):

Please be advised, folks, that the third book of the Borgo Press re-issue of my long o.p. GONJI Series---DEATHWIND OF VEDUN---is NOW AVAILABLE on KINDLE, as well as trade paperback.

That completes the reprinting of The Deathwind Trilogy, which launched the series back in the 1980s, from original publisher Zebra Books.

Two more extant novels remain---FORTRESS OF LOST WORLDS and A HUNGERING OF WOLVES---to be re-issued later this year. Then, plans are afoot for the continuation of the star-crossed samurai's weird quest into medieval Europe and worlds beyond, in new novels and a story collection.

Thanking you all humbly, here, for the modern interest in a vintage heroic-fantasy series which sold very well back in the day---despite missing its intended audience by being packaged as straight historical adventure! (I've sometimes pondered how many historical-fiction buffs might have been enticed to explore fantasy as a result of accidentally stumbling onto Gonji. A few have actually weighed in affirmatively on that account!)

Here's my wish that you find the series compelling...

I just got my copy of the first book in the mail about a week ago, and it sits near the top of the "to read" pile( I collect books faster than I can read them).
I passed over the Gonji series back in the day, thinking they were some kind of Clavell/Van Lustbader mash-up. Boy, was I way off the mark. Maybe the way they were marketed; I'm not sure, but a real treat to have them available a second time. I hope this gets publishers to re-print other authors of S&S from the 70's and 80's- kicking it old-school!

Hey, "S. Wagenaar"---

Wow, you are the "Poster-Reader" representing a large segment of that '80s fantasy-reading public I frequently talk about---who MISSED the GONJI Series entirely, due to packaging and marketing!

Thank you, sincerely---I bow to you, and so does Gonji!---for weighing in from experience on this topic.

It's true. Zebra Books designed and marketed the GONJI Series as a "fitting successor" to the popular and successful Asian-based novels of the day. I have a poster on my wall, a sales flyer distributed by Zebra to bookstores when the first mass-market paperback book in the series came out. Very classy, with oriental dragons and scroll-work and all. But here's the tagline in big red letters:

"FROM THE NOBLE HOUSE OF ZEBRA COMES A SHOGUN IN THE TRADITION OF SHIKE"---!!!

(SHIKE was, of course, a samurai-centric bestseller by Robert Shea. Linking that with the two James Clavell blockbusters cinched the book's placement in an inappropriate niche. )

So they were pitching the series to the public as historical samurai adventure. The books were placed with Mainstream Fiction in bookstores. Important fantasy booksellers, like Robert Weinberg, were not even alerted by Zebra that the books were heroic-fantasy! I had to approach such dealers myself about the oversight.

And yet, despite all that, the books sold very well and stayed in print for years. Zebra had split the massive epic DEATHWIND OF VEDUN into the trilogy we have today, and the books took off well enough that they soon signed me up for three more Gonji novels. I wrote the first two, and before I could turn in the third book on that contract, Zebra dropped their fantasy line to concentrate on more lucrative genres, like Romance.

My agent had by then also decided to focus on burgeoning new markets, rather than traditional heroic-fantasy. So GONJI went fallow. Now I'm hoping interest will be re-"Kindle"d (pun intended and essential!) such that I'll be able to bring the series to its long-planned, carefully detailed framing-narrative's conclusion. Maybe with the help of some of those veteran fantasy readers who still don't know what a "GONJI" is!

There's a lot of series info (which I'll be adding to, now that the opening trilogy is completely back in print) on the "Gonji Fictional Character" Facebook page. And any curious, or already-interested, readers and potential readers are encouraged to Friend the page. Or even to Friend me on my regular "Ted Rypel" FB site.

Thank you sincerely, once again, for broaching this topic!

Very cool. Bought 2 already and going to get 3 now. I'll probably read them before summer's thru.

Great, Fletcher! Thank you for the vote of confidence. I can only hope that I repay your support with an absorbing, exciting read that you wind up eager to pass along as suggested reading for others.

And thanks for the Friend Request on FB! Happy to make your acquaintance. If you ever have any questions or observations about the GONJI Series, don't hesitate to contact me!

You're welcome. I'm looking forward to finishing the Gonji trilogy.
I written on my blog about the revivication of authors because of the changing nature of publishing. Between you, Joe Bonadonna and Charles Saunders, it's amazing what's going on. Hopefully, more readers will get hip to authors from the field's heyday returning.
If I have questions I'll just send them along.

I think I can speak for the other terrific authors you cite---Joe and Charles, both friends and longtime colleagues---in passing along heartfelt gratitude for your perspicacious and far-reaching view of fantasy fiction.

Time flows over and past us like a marauding barbarian juggernaut. In a faery-wink, works that an author slaved over for years can have their triumphant day, and then be summarily flattened and paved over in favor of the latest flavor-of-the-month novelty stand. Just like that, you can go from backlist to out-of-print to passe: "Sorry...we're into another 'brand' now! Um...WHO were you?"

At any given point in publishing, there's only so much room for works deemed commercial and timely (and possibly *gasp* sometimes even well-written!) enough to promote into the stratosphere, usually guaranteeing their remaining in perpetual reprint. Everything else, regardless of quality, must succumb to the gravity of those high-level publishing decisions and sink back into the eternally tossing publishing sea.

So it's nice to see discerning readers of another generation maintain interest in vintage fantasy works with possible lasting resonance. Enthusiastic lovers of the genre like you, Fletcher, are the hope of maintaining historical perspective over the vast, comprehensive body-of-work of fantasy fiction.

I call you and your relentless brethren "archaeo-bibliophiles." You perform the great unsung work of seeing that nothing of potential value is forgotten.

We all thank you for brushing the dust off our exotically fashioned, secretly potent relics! (You know how such unearthing can go: Open those musty tomes to your peril or your empowerment!)

Please keep in touch. Your honest assessments of what you've dug up are essential to all involved.

It's a pleasure to be in contact with serious, dedicated readers like you!

I would truly encourage any who are new to the Gonji saga to prepare for one of the most immersive ventures into fantasy fiction. The author has a rare talent for placing you in the story, personalizing the characters, and experiencing the drama like few others can. The siege of Vedun will bring joy, grief, melancholy, revulsion, transcendence, retribution, and closure to this intricate tapestry woven by Mr. Rypel. Nearly 30 years after first reading the Gonji saga, I still have moments of recall in my everyday life of something said or done by one of the characters - and how it relates to a present circumstance.

Again few writers have the skill to create lasting moments and dialogs with such clarity. This is what I believe you will appreciate the most about the Gonji series.

Wow, Mark---thank you so much!

I of course know of your fondness for the GONJI Series. But your continued support and efforts to see the books succeed in re-issue to a new generation of fantasy readers are truly appreciated, from the very armory of this old warrior's heart!

I tried hard to make that "Battle of Vedun" pay off in the broadest spectrum of realistic human experience, within a context of maximum excitement and catharsis.

That it all clicked with you and led to a fine friendship is one of those wonderful serendipities that human experience can serve up!

You set out to write some books, and sometimes the characters within them can act as envoys that create a real sense of communication and shared experiences, bringing you back more than just passive readers.

Now that's genuine magic!

[Bows]

Thanks, so much for your kind words and writing. I intend to work "archaeo-bibliophile" into my blog's banner at some point.

Growing up in the seventies in the heyday of DAW, seemingly ubiquitous used bookstores and a dad always happy to pass on his sci-fi and fantasy books to me, I'm disheartened by the loss of so many great authors' books from the general reading consciousness. I know it's the nature of things, popular entertainment in particular, but it still bothers me.

Your heart is in the right place. You're a true bibliophile in a world irradiated by pixels!

DAW Books---ack! I've never been published by them, but they were the source of my first minor publishing heartbreak. Some years before GONJI, when I was in my H.P. Lovecraft phase, I had a story accepted by editor Paul Berglund for his DAW anthology DISCIPLES OF CTHULHU. It was later axed by Donald A. Wollheim himself, along with two other stories, before publication.

So I was a big shot amongst my Mythos-loving amigos for about two months and then squashed as if by Yog Sothoth!

The story was called "Dead Thing in a Deserted Theater," and I went on to publish it myself as a fanzine.

Well, that's sucks. I'd love to calculate the number of boxed-in-the-attic books that belonged to my dad that were DAW. It bet it's near a quarter.

Getting placed at DAW was a pretty big thing at the time. So I was pretty bummed out about making it past the anthology editor and then getting axed by the publisher at the final cut.

DAW published some terrific horror and fantasy. That DISCIPLES OF CTHULHU volume was pretty solid, as I recall.