Tag Archives: Fiction

June 20, 2025

Don’t Quit Your Day Job

The title of this blog post is generally good advice — however, I have elected to do the opposite. Yes, folks, after many years of office jobs, contract positions, and corporate roles, I’m hanging up my proverbial entry badge and lanyard, and cutting the cord. Am I retiring? Far from it.

I left my full-time role earlier this month so I could focus on the things that matter most to me. Namely, my books, my games, museum and experiential writing, and my family. I did not make this decision lightly, but rest assured that when I realized what I needed to do, a feeling of calm tranquility washed over me, and the path ahead became clear.

The Moment in Question

About two weeks after I graduated from high school, my godparents took me on a trip to Grand Cayman. I’ve written previously about the two of them here and here. We were accompanied by their son, whose tendency to get up super early in the morning gave him the lifelong nickname of “Rooster.” We went SCUBA diving on this trip in some of the most beautiful waters I’ve ever been in, especially around Devil’s Grotto. This was also the time I saw a barracuda way too up close and personal, but that’s another story.

It’s one of the most wonderful trips I’ve ever been on, together with three people I loved dearly. I remember the last few hours of that trip, I just sat under a gazebo, staring out over the brilliant turquoise and violet waters of the North Sound. I didn’t want to leave, and I think a part of me never did.

I had always meant to go back, but could never find my way until just recently. My family went on a Disney Cruise in the Caribbean, and one of our stops was at Grand Cayman. I was on a different part of the island than the last time I stepped foot there, but the ankle-deep sand, the wind on my face, and the motion of the waves against the shore took me back to when I was a freshly minted 18-year-old.

The sad fact is that Rooster passed away when I was in college, taken way too early. I lost my godmother in 2020, and my godfather passed away almost a year ago at the time of this writing.

Now I’m the only one left who remembers that trip. To some degree this was my “Oak Tree” moment, but it was less about realizing the full scope of time in a place of history, and more about understanding that I only have so many years left to pursue my dreams with the vigor and passion they require.

Let’s just say that it brought things sharply into focus.

But How Will You Make This Work?

But Matt, I hear you saying: People don’t just quit their jobs! How will you pay your bills? How will you put gas in your car? Where will you get your protein, huh?!

First, thank you for your concern — it’s always appreciated. Second, I have been working towards this goal for some time now, trying to get things squared away and certain safeguards put in place before I could even consider making an honest go of it. All of those things had begun to align after years of preparation, culminating pretty recently. All that was left to do was to conjure up the will to finally break away, and conjure it I did, there on that beach in Grand Cayman.

So, here we are. This is what I do now. Sector M Games has two projects in the works, with a possible third to follow. I have decided to self-publish a series of books and short stories that I’ve been working on for a while now, while pursuing some traditional publishing routes for other books I have either finished or that are currently in production.

There are also some exciting freelance projects that I have in the works that I can’t quite talk about just yet, but there’ll be more on that as they develop. Additionally, I’ll be putting together a Sector M newsletter to keep everyone in the loop on the latest information and projects. Most importantly, I want to build up Sector M as a community that sci-fi, fantasy, and gaming enthusiasts can call home.

To that end, I need your help. I have a Patreon that’s been going for a while, and I’ve just finished a revamp of the membership tiers, so I strongly encourage you to check it out here:

SECTOR M PATREON

It’s a small community at the moment, so if you would like to get in on the ground floor and support what I do, please consider joining.

Aside from Patreon, I also have two books and two game supplements out there. If you haven’t picked up a copy of them yet, it would be a big help.

Books:

The Backwards Mask (Sci-fi)

Strange Reports from Sector M (Sci-fi/Fantasy anthology)

Game Supplements:

The Artificer’s Guide to Magic Items (5e D&D crafting guide)

The Knights of Solamnia Revisited (5e D&D for Dragonlance)

These four are just the beginning. It may take me a while to spin up some of the new projects I have in mind, especially those that I’ll need to build from the ground up, but this will be my focus moving forward. For those of you who are already supporting this effort (and you know who you are), you have my heartfelt and eternal thanks.

To those of you who haven’t yet jumped on the Sector M train (in the strictly figurative sense), I hope you will check out what I have to offer and help me build towards the future. With that in mind, I hope to see you around the Sector!

Si vales, valeo.

-Matt Carson

1 Comment | tags: Author's journey, Books, Deep thoughts, Family, Fantasy, Fiction, Games, Museums, Novels, Patreon, Sci-fi, Science fiction, Writing | posted in Deep thoughts, General Stuff, Sector M Updates, Silly Me, Uncategorized

April 30, 2025

Tropes I Love: Mentors and Secondary Characters

By The Sector M

Many of my posts lately have mentioned the character of Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, and that got me to thinking about the kind of role that he plays in his story. That led to me considering similar characters throughout fiction. These types of characters, the mentors and the secondary characters, play a crucial role in their respective stories.

Anytime we get a story with a strong mentor character, the odds go way up that I’ll be tuned in, especially when it’s their turn to give an inspiring speech or just the right piece of wisdom to set the protagonist on the proper path.

With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite mentors in fiction, detailing why I love them so much. True, the majority of them are from the fantasy/sci-fi genres, but that’s just because the stories that have influenced me the most have been in those spaces. This list represents the stories that have had the biggest impact on me, as well as the ones nearest and dearest to my heart.

Who They Are

Before we get into the list proper, let’s talk about my criteria for a good mentor character. First and foremost, a mentor is wise and experienced. This often means that the mentor is older than the protagonist. They can be, at times, more book-smart or informed than the protagonist, but not always. More often than not, these characters tend to be male, as they often double as a father figure to the protagonist, though this is thankfully starting to change.

Sometimes the mentor is more powerful than the protagonist, but this is not required. In some tellings, the mentor starts out more powerful but then the protagonist eventually surpasses them. Mentors who are less powerful than their protagonists present an even more interesting dynamic as they must guide the hero in wielding powers they may not possess themselves.

Mentors are often self-sacrificing as well, as evidenced by how often they die in their duties or the things they are willing to sacrifice for their ideals. In that sense, mentors tend to have a noble streak even if it’s not always apparent at first glance.

Who They Aren’t

Mentors, by their very nature, are not meant to be the main character (thus the “secondary character” epithet). Likewise, they are not generally marked by destiny, fate or the demands of the world in the way that the protagonist is. They are, to coin a term from Sky High, “hero support” in a very real way.

Generally speaking, the protagonist can’t go it alone. They usually need help to learn what is required to reach for that seemingly impossible end-point. It is the mentor’s training/wisdom/lessons that will ultimately empower the protagonist on their journey, allowing them to reach higher and go further than they ever thought possible. When the story’s denouement inevitably comes, the protagonist often finds that none of it would have been possible without the help of their mentor.

Perhaps most importantly, the mentor isn’t the one to make the big play, but rather their actions empower the protagonist to become the turning point of the story in their own right.

The Mentor Hall of Fame

1. Uncle Iroh

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Let’s start with one of the all-time greats. Voiced originally by Mako, Uncle Iroh occupies a unique space in that his charge, his nephew, Zuko, is not actually the protagonist. Quite the opposite, in fact, especially in the early parts of the story. Eventually Zuko comes around, after perhaps one of the best redemption arcs ever, and Iroh is willing to share his wisdom with the rest of Team Avatar, and Aang, Kitara, Sokka, Toph and the rest are better off for it.

Iroh doesn’t stop there. He even makes a few cameos in The Legend of Korra, dispensing his usual brand of avuncular wisdom to Avatar Korra. Despite his nearly unsinkable attitude and positivity throughout incredible hardships, there is a sadness at the core of him following the tragic death of his son. In that way, he is not only a surrogate father to Zuko, but Zuko is a surrogate son to him. I think that Mako’s performance really lent the character a depth and nuance that we don’t find very often. While they were big shoes to fill, I think that Greg Baldwin did a fantastic job in picking up the role when Mako passed away.

2. Rupert Giles

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

For me, Giles practically personifies this type of character for many reasons. While he may have the book smarts, experience, and wisdom, he doesn’t have the powers of the Slayer. He’s just a regular bloke who is there to make sure that Buffy is ready to face the challenges before her.

Often, Giles is called upon to back her up in battle against foes that are far beyond the scope of any regular person, which I think makes his bravery that much more extraordinary. While he has only a fraction of Buffy’s physical strength, reflexes, and resilience, he’s always there, he doesn’t back down, and he genuinely cares for Buffy, perhaps more than he should in his position as her Watcher. More than that, he also has a clear understanding of the incredible pressures that Buffy, as the Chosen One, is constantly under. He would gladly take that burden from her but knows that he can’t. Ultimately, Buffy has to be the Slayer. He can’t slay her demons, but he can be there for her when it counts the most.

3. Morpheus

The Matrix

Pro tip: If your mentor character is played by the inestimable Lawrence Fishburne, you are winning at life. Such is the case with Neo from The Matrix. Morpheus is not only a guide to Neo in understanding the Matrix itself but he is also willing to personally sacrifice himself simply because he truly believes that Neo is the One, even when Neo himself has doubts. Like Giles, Morpheus is incredibly good at what he does, but realizes that soon Neo will fully surpass him, and he’s okay with that. His mentee is fated to be something greater than anyone could possibly imagine.

Even when this transition does happen, Neo is canny enough to realize that Morpheus’ experience, world view, and tactical brilliance are things that he will need if he wants to take the fight to the machines. Things got a bit weird in the sequels for Morpheus (and really all members of Team Neo), but I still think that Morpheus is one of the most shining examples of a mentor in the movies, full stop.

4. Fin Raziel

Willow

Willow was a favorite of mine when I was a kid. Even back then, I saw the similarities to Star Wars, even before I realized that George Lucas was behind both properties. She was an interesting change of pace in that she is initially pretty powerless when Willow encounters her, little more than a talking animal. And yet, she is able to get Willow on the path to being a sorcerer. Eventually, she returns to human form and is back up to her powers that far surpass Willow’s, yet this change does not really alter their relationship. I also applaud her for not lingering on the fact that she has aged during her exile. It shows that vanity barely registers with her, and that the mission to restore peace to the land is much more important to her.

In this story, she is the only one capable of taking on the main villain, Queen Bavmorda, in a spell duel. Raziel ultimately fails when it comes to the boss fight, but she buys Willow the time he needs to save Elora Dannan. But even when she falls in the final fight, Raziel does what any good mentor does: she steps aside to give her protagonist the moment to shine.

5. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Star Wars

The quintessential mentor character, Master Obi-Wan was mentor to two separate protagonists in his day. While his first outing at the job went spectacularly wrong, ultimately giving rise to Darth Vader, one of the most memorable movie villains ever, he is ultimately able to be a mentor to Luke and set his charge on the right path. The remarkable thing is that he accomplishes this without all that much screentime, and does sacrifice himself to allow Luke to get away (ironically dying by the hand of his former protagonist). Not content with that, Obi-Wan even comes back after his death to give Luke a bit more advice on three separate occasions. Talk about a commitment to the role!

When we see these types of characters on the movie screen, it’s so important that the actor behind them exude that type of experience, competence, and wisdom that are so critical for establishing the mentor in the minds of the audience. Sir Alec Guiness did that and made it look effortless. Later on, Ewan MacGregor picked up the role wonderfully. While the prequel trilogy often gets razzed, the moment where Ewan’s Obi-Wan laments to a defeated Anakin that he was the chosen one really hits home. He’s pouring out his sorrow and pain at having to fight his friend, all with the knowledge he has utterly failed in his role as a mentor. The power of that scene really is a testament to MacGregor’s acting chops.

6. Violet Crawley

Downton Abbey

As mentors go, the Dowager Countess defies many conventions. Violet is primarily a mentor to her granddaughter, Lady Mary, but to the rest of her family at various points, too. That is not Violet’s only role in the series — her frenemy relationship with Isobel springs to mind — but it comes back to that time and time again. Of course, Violet has quite a few blind spots for being part of the old guard of the English aristocracy. Yet in a changing world, she speaks with hard-won wisdom on how to negotiate the upper echelons of power and influence. We find that she’s made many mistakes in her time, and the resulting experience is something she shares with Lady Mary so that her granddaughter (hopefully) won’t make those same mistakes.

One of the most compelling points about her character is simply that she was once in the same position as Lady Mary. She had her time as a countess, living in the main suites of Downton Abbey, then moved on from that time in her life when her husband died. Even in a kind of retirement for the Peerage, she is still a will and force to be reckoned with. Some of my favorite moments in that show come from Dame Maggie Smith’s performance. Much like Lawrence Fishburne, if Maggie Smith is playing your mentor, the universe has smiled upon you. May she rest in peace.

7. Gandalf

The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings

I thought I would end this list with perhaps the greatest mentor figure in all of fiction. The opposite of Giles, Gandalf the Grey is almost infinitely more powerful than his protagonist, Frodo Baggins. He’s an immortal, angelic being that has been sent by the Valar to Middle-earth to defeat Sauron. Frodo, on the other hand, is more diminutive than even an average human, and largely powerless. By design, Gandalf is there to advise, to observe, and to help rather than be the prime mover of the conflict. He knows when to impart just the right nugget of wisdom to those around him, elevating them to greater heights, or show them the error of their ways.

When Círdan the Shipwright meets Gandalf as he enters Middle-earth, the ancient elf gives the wizard Narya, the Ring of Fire, telling him “with it you may rekindle hearts in a world that grows chill.” Círdan naturally recognized what Gandalf’s role was fated to be in the coming conflict. Gandalf definitely has some things in common with Merlin from the Arthurian legends. This makes sense when you consider that Tolkien was trying to create a body of myths that were inherently British, rather than a French invention, but he did take a lot of cues from those stories.

In any case, Gandalf really is the gold standard for literary mentor figures on the page and screen, and I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about just how great Sir Ian McKellan’s performance as this character really was. Not for the first time, when the world grows dark, I wish that Gandalf were really here among us to give us just the nudge we need to get on the right path, along with the accompanying inspirational speech so that we don’t give up.

Honorable Mentions

Here are several characters that partially fulfill the role of a mentor, but have enough ‘main character energy’ as the kid’s say. They have the wisdom and experience, but are not necessarily secondary characters with full agency and story arcs of their own as the protagonist:

Optimus Prime
Tyrion Lannister
Polgara the Sorceress
Mary Poppins
Captain America
Professor X

Final Thoughts

I think what I like most about mentors as a reoccurring device in literature stems from the genuine love they bear for their protagonists. Their journey is a deeply heartfelt and personal one. It isn’t just a job to them; it’s their mission in life. They embody what it means to be committed to an ideal, one that almost always means more to them than their own life.

Mentors are the helping hand that’s extended when the hero needs it most, the purveyors of insight to reframe the hero’s perspective for the better, and the guiding light to show the hero that there’s more to them than they may guess. Finding a person like this in the real world is a true rarity, and if you’ve ever had one in your life, count yourself lucky.

But really, I think that mentors represent the assistance we wish we’d had in those times when help never came, as well as the kind of wise, stabilizing figure that we hope we can be to those close to us in the future.

Thanks for reading!

1 Comment | tags: book-review, Books, Fanboy Opinion, Fantasy, Fiction, Guidance, Inspiration, Literary Tropes, Literature, Mentor, Science fiction, Secondary Characters, Wisdom, Writing | posted in General Stuff, Silly Me, Uncategorized

January 10, 2025

State of the Sector: 2025

By The Sector M

My Fellow Sectorians,

If you read my last post of 2024, you’ll know that my creative victories for last year were fairly sparse, particularly on the literary side. Overall, it was a pretty mixed bag, though there were some real bright spots along the way. Let’s go ahead and discuss it all, the proverbial good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Bad News

I thought I would change it up and deliver the bad news first. So, let’s go ahead and get this out of the way.

A Swing and a Miss: Early in 2024, an interesting opportunity presented itself. One of the Big Four publishers was interested in one of my fantasy manuscripts. It was sent on submission and we waited…and waited. Months passed with no news, but publishing is not a game for the impatient. Finally, the editor in question simply stopped communicating with us. It’s frustrating, as it has taken years to get to this position only for the editor to essentially ghost us. But, there is actually a mark of distinction for an author in having a project ‘die on submission.’ It means that you almost got there, as the next step would have been a book deal. Next time, if I can just achieve one step higher, I should be on better ground. As is the case with publishing, it’s nothing until its something. Back to square one.

A Shifting Situation: In addition to the copious amounts of personal strife this year, I also changed jobs around mid-year, and it has both been one of the most difficult professional transitions of my career and quite unlike anything I’ve ever done. Between that and some other potential employment issues with my family, the stress and lack of mental bandwidth pulled me out of my regular writing schedule. I couldn’t find my way back to one until the middle of November (more on that below). So, as a result, I have very little to show on the fiction side of things. Almost every goal I made last year failed, and I’m not sure when I will be able to circle back around to them again. I made marginal progress on the sci-fi novella I mentioned in the last State of the Sector address, but even that eventually hit a brick wall. If there is good news, it’s that the holiday break has seen a renewed fire in my veins when it comes to my fictional stories. We will see how that fares now that my holiday break is over.

Sector M Store is Closing: I will be closing the Sector M store in February. I won’t delete it entirely in case there is ever a renewed need for it. Unfortunately, it requires a decent amount of maintenance and costs to keep it running, and sales of any Sector M merch have effectively flat-lined. So, I will renew all the designs that are currently available for the time being, but I plan on shutting it down on Saturday, February 1. So, if there are any designs that appeal to you, now would be a good time to seize upon them. You can find the Sector M store here.

Sector M Games’ Future Uncertain: This year, we published two titles on the DMs Guild, The Artificer’s Guide to Magic Items and The Knights of Solamnia Revisited. Both have been well received by the community, and both were featured in the DMs Guild’s weekly newsletter. I did have a manuscript for a third installment for the DMs Guild, but it’s looking like that will need to be shelved for the foreseeable future. With so much uncertainty in my family’s situation, my disposable income (which I use to finance my game projects) just may not be available for some time to come. My philosophy for these supplements has always been to make them as good as possible, and I want to stick to that. So, I would much rather hold off on projects until they can be approached with high standards than try to rush something out. If anything changes on this front, I will make a special update post here on the blog to let everyone know.

Wavering Blog Deadlines: As a writer, I like to meet my deadlines consistently. My track record with 2024’s blog posts were…troubled, particularly as the year wore on. I still delivered all twelve as intended, but I found myself having to adjust publication dates, sometimes by a few weeks to fully deliver them. I will attempt to be more consistent in 2025, though many of the same factors that caused those delays are still in play. For this next year, here are my target dates for new blogs each month. Of course, there could be some wiggle room, but here’s the schedule I’m going with right now:

January 17
February 23
March 21
April 30
May 31
June 20
July 18
August 15
September 19
October 17
November 21
December 19

The Good News

Okay, I know that was a lot in the way of bad news. Trust me, if it was difficult for you to get through, it was equally hard for me to write. It’s not every year that the wheels just come right off of almost everything. In light of all the things that went wrong or just didn’t materialize this year, it makes the bright spots shine all the brighter.

The Blog’s Best Months: Traffic on this blog has definitely picked up in the last couple of years. I’m now getting traffic in a week that might have taken a month or two before that. I think part of it is regular updates, in my case at least once a month. I’ve had this blog since May of 2013, and as far as I can tell, October, November, and December of this year were the three top months it has ever had. I know that many blogs tend to specialize and be mainly about one thing. This blog is a sort of potpourri of museums and history, nerdy/geeky stuff, writing topics, and just the odd things running through my mind. Thank you for coming back and checking it out. If you are a regular here, I strongly encourage you to follow this blog so you don’t miss a post. (There should be a pop-up when you visit that you can click on to do this.)

DMs Guild Releases: As I stated above, we released two titles on the DMs Guild in 2024, one in January and the other in November. The Artificer’s Guide to Magic Items is the more expansive of the two, and it is available as either a downloadable PDF or as a hardcopy format (if you get the hardcopy, you also get the PDF version for free). The other title, The Knights of Solamnia Revisited, is for fans of Dragonlance, and it’s only available as a PDF. I do intend to follow up on both of them with some FAQ and example PDFs that will be available as a free download. That is in the works, though I’m not sure at the time of this writing when they will be ready for release. In any case, if you haven’t picked up a copy of either/both titles, check them out. I’m proud of how they turned out.

An Unexpected Wizard Story: As is often the case, when I’m deep into writing another story, I invariably have intrusive ideas for other stories. As I struggled (and ultimately failed) to maintain the thread of that sci-fi novella, I had an idea for a fantasy novella that followed up on the aftermath of one of my fantasy manuscripts. I finally resolved to start drafting it about the middle of November, and the story just came pouring out at the keyboard. My average number of words per hour more than doubled for each writing session, which tells me that I was truly dialed into it. Even with the holidays, which can be murder on a writing schedule, I’m happy to say that I finished the initial draft at 11:30 p.m. on December 31. So, if I accomplished nothing else on the fiction side in 2024, I was able to begin and end this novella, which clocked in at just under 27,000 words. Of course, it’s a hot mess right now, but one of my projects for January will be getting it into a readable state for my beta readers.

The Road Ahead

Normally, this would be the section where I would outline my goals and projects for the new year, but I am at something of a loss for the moment. I’ve finished the wizard novella, and I’m now at loose ends, at least at the time of this writing. Until I know more about how this year will unfold, and the possible ramifications it will have on my family, it’s difficult to make any long-term plans at this moment in time.

I have that partially completed sci-fi novella I could try to finish, or I could revisit the cyberpunk novel I have about two-thirds complete (both have a special place in my heart, even if I had to put them down). Or, I could try something completely new. I haven’t decided yet, though short-to-medium fiction has its appeal since there’s less time involved per project, usually between a couple of weeks and a couple of months. I wish I had a definitive answer, but the road ahead right now is too foggy for me to see.

Rest assured I will land on something. I scarcely want to have another year creatively like 2024 if I can help it. If 2024 has taught me one thing, it’s that we’re here for a shorter time than we think. I feel that I have barely scratched the surface of the stories I want to tell. If I’m going to make an honest go of it before my time is up, I need to stay focused.

So, it is my hope that if I can turn my situation around, I’ll be able to open the State of the Sector 2026 Address with the words: What a difference a year makes.

Until then, I wish you all a new year filled with the realization of dreams and solid metaphorical (as well as literal) ground beneath your feet.

See you around the Sector!

Si vales, valeo.

-MC

Leave a comment | tags: Author's journey, Bittersweet, Books, Disappointment, Fantasy, Fiction, Mixed bag, Novel, Sci-fi, Science fiction, Writing | posted in Dragonlance, General Stuff, Sector M Games, Sector M Updates, Silly Me, Uncategorized

June 11, 2024

Of Fantasy Dwarves and Unsung Heroes

By The Sector M

[The last month or so has been turbulent here at Sector M to say the least. Consequently, this blog post is several weeks late. I plan to resume the normal schedule of posts in June starting on the 21st. Thank you for your patience.]

Like many readers around my age, my first introduction to fantasy dwarves was in The Hobbit. I first read it when I was eight years old. I remember that it was the first novel that I just couldn’t wait to get home from school to read. The scene where Thorin dies after the Battle of Five Armies also marks the first time I was ever moved to tears over something I read in a fictional story.

Since that day, I’ve always loved fantasy dwarves. Thorin and company gave me that first taste of high adventure, and I’ve never forgotten it. While fantasy dwarves are often depicted as half-pint Vikings who speak with Scottish accents, have over-the-top beard braids, and drink incessantly, there’s just something about them that appeals to me, both as a reader and author of fantasy. Since I created this blog to talk about the things I love, I thought I would share with you what appeals to me about them. I’m convinced that they are the unsung heroes of the fantasy genre.

Now before I get into the particulars, I want to make one thing clear: I’m speaking about fantasy dwarves, not people in the real world who have achondroplasia or other conditions that cause dwarfism. The dwarves I’m talking about are not human. While both Thorin Oakenshield and Tyrion Lannister are both labeled as dwarves in the pages of their respective stories, Tyrion is still a human, while Thorin is not.

“This is as far as you go.” (Art by Bob Kehl)

A Bulwark Against the Darkness: Depictions of dwarves in fantasy are pretty varied, but a few things seem to remain true in most tellings. They tend to be shorter than humans (thus the name) and live in wondrous underground kingdoms. They are generally resilient warriors who are masters at stonecrafting and metalworking. Their forges are often the envy of the rest of the world. They usually have longer lifespans than many other races except perhaps the elves.

While the elves tend to be the serene, idyllic beauties of the world, dwarves are rough around the edges, thick-limbed, with tempers that tend to be as fiery as their forges. They may not possess the grace and mystery of the elves, but they are usually forthright, honest, and noble in their hearts. They tend to keep their promises and stand by their word. Their focus is normally not on words and praise, but on actions. They are the do-ers of the world, pragmatic almost to a fault, and stalwart in the face of injustice.

Here lies Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.

Unfortunately, their existence in the world has come at a great price. Both in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, we don’t see a thriving dwarven culture. In the cases of Erebor and Khazad-dûm, they are kingdoms that have been devastated and overrun by their enemies. A lot of other fantasy stories have followed suit with this. In the Elder Scrolls, the dwarves (which are really a tribe of elves) have left nothing behind but their ruins and mechanical constructs. In D&D, most adventurers find themselves exploring dwarven redoubts and fortresses from ages past that now lie in ruins. The refrain is that the dwarves were great builders even in ancient times, ranging far and wide, but that they had to abandon those edifications due to some tragic set of circumstances.

“Loyalty, honor, and a willing heart. I can ask no more than that.”

To me, this gives the dwarves a tragic and melancholic vibe, since in their centuries of life they may have witnessed the collapse of one or more of these great realms. They can be forgiven for being a bit dour when the dwarves we meet in fantasy are often the survivors of catastrophic events that may have reshaped the world, and not always for the better. They are often the ones who have taken the hit to keep the horrors of the subterranean from boiling up to the surface. To some degree this explains the line in the Song of Durin, speaking of the elder days, “Unwearied then were Durin’s folk.”

Songs of Stone: For a culture renowned for their skill and ferocity in battle, dwarves are better known for their crafts and art. Dwarven weapons and armor aren’t just utilitarian, they are often works of art. They are poets in steel and stone. Their homes are feats of engineering, often far beyond the scope of what other fantasy races can achieve.

Flint Fireforge by the inestimable Larry Elmore

What I think gets overlooked, however, is their skill as musicians. When it comes to harps in fantasy, it feels like those are more of an elven thing, but in both the Song of the Misty Mountain and the Song of Durin, we hear that the dwarves played the harp and sang in rich melodies beneath the mountains. You could imagine that their caverns would make natural acoustic spaces for their instruments and deep voices to be heard.

There’s a family of singers on Youtube called Clamavi de Profundis. They have perfected the art of the dwarven song. They have put many of Professor Tolkien’s poems to music, but they have also created their own dwarven continuity in which to frame some original songs. They’re amazing, and here are some of my favorites that I highly recommend you give a listen:

The Song of Durin: So much of our notion of dwarves stems from this song.
Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold: The full song done in the style of the movies.
Birth of an Age: A dwarven fight song. It sees a lot of play during my D&D sessions.
The Hammer Falls: Another inspirational dwarven song that really hits home.
Song of Hammerdeep: An original piece about the eponymous dwarven realm.
The Kingdom: A generational song about the dwarves’ enduring legacy.
Son of the Mountain: A dwarven funeral song that’s hauntingly beautiful.
Diggy, Diggy Hole: Originally a parody, but wow…give it a listen and you’ll see.

A few honorable mentions for them (because they are just so awesome), though not specifically dwarven in theme are: Aragorn’s Coronation Song, The Song of Beren and Lúthien, Lament for the Rohirrim, the Lament for Boromir, and I Sit Beside the Fire and Think.

Clamavi de Profundis gives us a glimpse into what a dwarven musical tradition might sound like along with the deep feelings they elicit. Dwarves in fantasy might have stony or stern exteriors, but their music and poetry hints at the hidden wells of emotion and hearts of gold that they possess at their core.

Strength in the Face of Adversity: Dwarven stubbornness is legendary. Rarely do we see dwarves give up or run away from a fight when the chips are down, regardless of the numbers arrayed against them or the odds. This makes them unwavering allies to have against whatever adversary our fictional fantasy protagonists face. In fact, normally, if a particular cause has the dwarves on its side, its odds of success have generally gone up dramatically.

It’s that unquenchable spirit that never quits, never gives in, and never gives up without a fight that earns them a special place in my heart. Dwarves are often a people who have stared down their own end without backing down. If anything, the looming shade of destruction seems to elevate their will and tenacity to epic levels.

“I may not look like an activewear model, but *I* carry the Golden Axe.”

I think part of this strength is due to how dwarven communities are portrayed. Most of the time, they are shown as being from an extended series of clans, which perhaps is where they inherited their Scottish accents. A clan is a family unit, but a much more expansive one, including potentially dozens of families. Dwarven enclaves are rarely shown to be made up of a single clan, and marriage between clans is (usually) common, meaning that a community of dwarves is not just a city of disparate individuals, but a collective extended family. When they go into battle to defend their homes, it’s their kinsmen that fight at their sides, which they would never dream of abandoning. They count on each other, both on and off the battlefield, in a way that perhaps a similar human or elven community might not.

In a world where they constantly face great opposition, they’ve learned to stick together, hold to their community, and fight for what they believe in, come what may.

Final Thoughts: When I first saw Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring, there’s the scene in Moria where the Fellowship finds itself having to fight the goblins and their cave troll in the Chamber of Mazarbul. Gimli has just realized that his cousin Balin has died only a few moments before. But that sorrow is quickly turned to rage when he leaps atop Balin’s tomb, an axe in each hand, and proclaims with a growl: “Let them come. There is one dwarf yet in Moria who still draws breath.” The first time I heard that line, I got goose bumps.

I had hoped that this would be Gimli’s moment to shine. Coming face-to-face with those who murdered his family, amongst the faded glory of the greatest dwarven kingdom in Middle-Earth, I figured it was time for Gimli to quickly dispense some much-needed dwarven justice. While Gimli definitely acquits himself well, the most memorable moments in the fight really come from Legolas. Even as incredible as that scene is, I had hoped it would be Gimli who threw down the cave troll or pulled off some incredible coup. But, it was the elf instead.

“That still counts as one.” (Art by Sebastian Giacobino)

Of course, Gimli gets plenty of chances to show his mettle in those movies, especially at Helm’s Deep, but the scene in Moria is where it felt like the dwarven warrior would have been the most inspired to reach heroic heights. But, Gimli’s efforts were largely overshadowed by his companions. And that, dear readers, is how I feel that the fantasy genre often treats dwarves; rarely do they get the spotlight, even when it would make sense, but they remain a solid and strong presence nonetheless.

But even if they rarely receive their due, they remain a compelling fantasy race whose story is constantly being told and retold by authors of each generation. True, they may be short, gruff, and aggressively Scottish at times, but whether you are watching them on screen, reading about them, or playing as one of them around a table or in a video game, they remain the backbone of the fantasy genre.

Thanks for reading!

1 Comment | tags: Author's Insights, Books, Dwarves, Fantasy, Fantasy Dwarves, Fantasy genre, Fiction, j-r-r-tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Unsung heroes | posted in General Stuff, Silly Me, Uncategorized

January 5, 2024

State of the Sector Address: 2024

By The Sector M

My Fellow Sectorians,

It’s time to look back at the year of 2023 as well as look ahead to 2024. Right up front, I have to admit that 2023 was a creatively challenging year for me. There’s really no two ways about it — my day job started to infringe on my creative space in a big way for most of the early year.

I’m normally pretty good at keeping the two separate, but this time my work/life balance collapsed in its entirety. This continually compounded on itself, putting me further and further behind on my goals.

I look back at the State of the Sector Address for 2023 and just sorta sigh. When you’re a creative, not every year is going to go your way, and 2023 went way off the rails. (And definitely not in a cool, Ozzy, Crazy Trains kind of way.)

So, while certain parts of this address will be a bit of a downer, I’ve tried to look at 2023 as an off-season, a year of preparation to put me into a better place for 2024. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how 2023 went for Sector M.

The Good News

The Artificer’s Guide to Magic Items: In a year with so many misses for me, this one landed, and is so much better than I could have hoped. I wrote about it in more detail here. While it took a bit to find a team that was capable and willing to take on a project like this, when it came together, boy howdy. I give full props to Gabby (the editor), Natalia (the designer), and Miguel (the artist). Each one of them brought their A-game and elevated the project above and beyond what I thought it could be. At the time of this writing, I am waiting for the final proof from the printer. If all is well when I get it, we’ll be ready to launch. UPDATE: The book is now available here. Enjoy!

Sector M Games: There is a new section to the Sector M website aptly titled “Sector M Games.” It has a listing for the Artificer’s Guide there now. As I add more game projects and titles, this will be the place to find them. I also created a dedicated Twitter/X handle: @TheSectorMGames. If you’re still on Twitter/X, please go give it a follow.

Baldur’s Gate 3: So, by June/July of 2023, I was starting to recover from months of stress and burnout, making slow progress back towards the light. Then I found Baldur’s Gate III, starting in early August, which I detailed here. While it’s true that I suddenly wanted to spend all hours saving the world next to Karlach, Shadowheart, and Minthara, it did actually help reignite some much-needed creative energies. For me, playing a game like that is almost meditative, acting like a freestyle association exercise for the mind in contemplating the genre it occupies.

Besides that, being able to immerse yourself in a world with so many well-developed characters, each with incredible dialogue, is a good way to jump-start your muse. Even though I’ve had multiple playthroughs at this point, my second one (an evil one), still lives rent-free in my head with its implications and repercussions. While BG3 didn’t necessarily help me reach my word-count goals, it did put me on a better trajectory once I was able to return to writing. And you know, I’ll take that as a win.

Blog Delivery: In spite of everything that happened, I was able to keep my blog schedule, give or take a day or two here and there. Twelve blogs promised, and twelve blogs delivered. It’s my intent to keep going with the one-a-month schedule. See below.

A New Fiction Project: Last year I said that I was pivoting away from science fiction for the foreseeable future to focus on fantasy. While that’s certainly true for the books I’m shopping around to agents, just when one story stopped talking to me (see the next section), another started forming at the edges of my mind. Considering I spent much of spring and summer rewatching all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, it’s no wonder that the science fiction part of my brain couldn’t help but be reactivated.

So, I’m back to the universe I’ve been developing for years now, this time with a new approach, new characters, new environs, and a seemingly impossible challenge that the protagonist will need to overcome. I’m about 9,000 words into it at the moment. It (probably) won’t be a full novel length, but right now I’m shooting for around 50,000–60,000 words, putting more in line with a novella. I am tentatively hoping to finish it around April/May of this year.

The Not-So-Great News

Cyberpunk Novel on Pause: When things became unbearable at work, I had to put down Book #7, and it broke my heart. Previously, things had been thrumming with it. The story was really speaking to me. I was doubling or tripling my average word count per writing session on a regular basis. I was at about 135,000 words when I just lost the thread, and it was tantamount to crashing into a brick wall. It wasn’t writer’s block, per se, since I was working on other projects without issue. But as far as the novel’s narrative was concerned, it simply went radio silent. It hasn’t come back. I have a few projects I need to finish and deliver, but I’m hoping to try to rekindle this thread later this year. It won’t be easy, but then again, nothing worth doing ever is.

Board Game Still In Development: The board game that I’ve been developing for a while likewise had to go on hiatus. I was able to get some traction on it, especially in acquiring some initial artwork and completing the demo. I now have a fully playable demo set that I’ve playtested a few times. These playtest sessions were able to shine a light on some of the weaker elements of the play structure. I was in the middle of introducing a new mechanic when it also had to be put down as my mental bandwidth ground down to nearly zero. It’s still on my radar, and I hope to get back to the next iteration at some point this year.

Strange Reports Re-Release: To complete the anti-trifecta of projects, I had planned to release and revamp my anthology of short stories, Strange Reports from Sector M in or around May. That obviously didn’t happen, but is still something that’s on my list for this year. I’m clearing space on my schedule around June to get back to this and give it the attention it deserves.

The Road Ahead

The Knights of Solamnia Revisted: The next project I have in the works for the DM’s Guild is (as the name implies), a second look at the Knights of Solamnia as they appeared in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen. This supplement give players the option of playing a Solamnic Knight as a full fighter subclass with career paths that represent all three Orders of Knighthood: the Crown, the Sword, and the Rose.

I am over the moon to be able to write something for the Dragonlance setting, which has been a favorite of mine for a very long time. More on that here. This will be a much shorter entry than the Artificer’s Guide, short enough that it won’t have a print-on-demand version. That will greatly simplify the publishing process since as soon as we have a PDF ready to go, we can move forward. I have the manuscript ready for editing, so watch for that around the end of March/early April timeframe.

Blog Rollout: My blog topics are fairly eclectic, and that’s definitely going to be the case with 2024’s slate. Some of them I’ve been wanting to write for a long time now, so if you’ve enjoyed what I’ve done the last year or two, 2024 will build upon that. The dates the blog will drop will by and large be the third Friday of each month.

Of course, if last year taught me anything, it’s the futility of trying to plan too far ahead. So, the following are my intended blog dates, but there could be some slight variance to them. My current dates are:

I’ll link each of the blogs to the date above once it has posted. So, if you miss a blog along the way, you can just refer back to this post to get the links.

Recap from Above: To summarize from the points above, my additional goals for 2024 include:

Finish up on my new sci-fi novella — April/May
Relaunch of Strange Reports from Sector M — June/July
Circle back to Book #7 — August/September

Support Sector M

In closing, if you would like to support what I do, here are some of the ways you can help. If you have previously bought one of my books, one of the best things you can do is leave a review. It doesn’t cost money, it can be as short or as detailed as you like, and it will help with the algorithm that decides who gets to see what’s what.

Buy one of my books:
- Strange Reports from Sector M
- The Backwards Mask
Support Sector M on Patreon
Check out the Sector M Store (T-shirts, drinkware, stickers, etc.)
Follow me on:
- Twitter (Sector M)
- Twitter (Sector M Games)
- Goodreads
- This blog (There should be a pop-up when you visit the main page to help you do that.)
Leave a book review for The Backwards Mask:
- Goodreads
- DriveThruRPG
Leave a book review for Strange Reports from Sector M:
- Goodreads
- Amazon

Final Thoughts

2023 may not have gone the way I thought it would, but it has set up this year to be something of a clearing house for projects that have been waiting in the wings. I like to think of the phases of my creative journey as stepping stones. So, I believe that 2024 will, in turn, become a way to set up 2025 for something entirely new. I am certainly looking forward to that.

So, that does it for the State of the Sector Address for this year. If you’ve been here a while, thank you so much for sticking with me. If you’re just now joining us, welcome aboard! In any case, I appreciate you all — each and every one.

See you around the Sector!

Si vales, valeo.

-MC

Leave a comment | tags: Author's journey, Books, DM's Guild, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Fiction, Games, Science fiction, State of the Sector, Writing | posted in General Stuff, Sector M Updates, Silly Me, Uncategorized

March 8, 2019

Magic and Its Effects on Fantasy Society

By The Sector M

Have you ever been reading your favorite high-fantasy sword & sorcery epic and thought something along the lines of: “Wait, these people have been living in a medieval state of technology for thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of years? What gives? Why haven’t they advanced in all that time?”

You would think that the Elves with their long lifespans and high education might eventually build airplanes to get around. Why don’t Dwarves, with their knowledge of engineering and access to so much mineral wealth, at some point build tanks to ride into battle? Why must everyone continue on as though it were 12th century indefinitely?

You have 8,000 years of recorded history, do you?

Part of this is just the trappings of the genre. We expect Elves in fantasy stories to fight with bows instead of gauss rifles. And it’s much more dramatic to have Gandalf riding into Helm’s Deep astride Shadowfax than on Kaneda’s motorcycle. (And before anyone brings ups Warhammer, Shadowrun, or the like, we’re talking high fantasy here.)

But there’s another answer to this question, and one that sits in plain sight: Magic. Arthur C. Clarke famously said that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Great as that quote is, I don’t entirely agree. It might appear on the surface that magic and technology are the same literary trope, just repackaged to fit their respective genres. Certainly they do fulfill a similar function. They both allow characters to do extraordinary things that we can’t do in our world, and both serve to create magical MacGuffins, whether it’s the One Ring or the Genesis device.

Still one of my favorites after all this time.

Both are methods of achieving some of the same things, but the two are not the same. Technology is derived through science and observation of nature, whereas magic (as it is defined by fantasy) is supernatural. It’s a fine distinction, but one that manifests itself on society in very different ways when you run the permutations. Here are a few examples and thought experiments for you. For our purposes, wizardly magic and divine/priestly magic are lumped together.

1.) Health and Well-Being

“Close one this time, Olaf. Be more careful tomorrow, yeah?”

A medieval society with magic will fare better (in the short term) than a medieval society without it. Duh, right? But the presence of magic potentially has an immediate, positive effect on the population. Let’s say that you have a small group of practitioners of magic in your kingdom who can heal wounds and/or cure any disease. Your population will immediately have an advantage over its muggle counterpart. If the bubonic plague strikes your realm, you have an instant answer to it. Not only could your healers eventually eradicate the disease completely (depending on how often they can perform this miraculous feat), but they could presumably cure themselves if contact with the plague victims means they contract the disease themselves. An outbreak that might annihilate a real medieval kingdom might be downgraded to more of an inconvenience if those resources are brought to bear early enough.

If you can magically heal wounds, that means that a farmer accidentally cutting himself on an old plow, or a soldier cut by a rusty blade might make a full recovery, where they might die of tetanus otherwise. Infant mortality would likewise go down, along with the instances of mothers dying in childbirth. If you can lay on hands or just a drink a magic potion to mitigate, or even reverse, bodily ailments and harm, you have just leaped well beyond the scope of the grim realities of the real 12th century. In fact, with that alone, your ability to see to the health and well-being of your people is far beyond what we have in real life today, or likely to have for many centuries to come.

“Honey, I’m stopping by the apothecary on the way home. We need anything?”

Consequently, your kingdom’s military could expect to lose fewer people in armed conflict as those who might die of mortals wounds might be spared and in time make a full recovery. Soldiers might then be willing to take more risks in battle that only the most fanatical or stalwart would in real life.

All these factors would mean that your kingdom would potentially have a larger population than its historical equivalent, with fewer lost to disease and war, and your people would likely be more healthy on the whole. Even small amounts of magical healing opens that up for you. The more healers you have, and the more robust their ability to perform their magic, the greater these advantages are realized.

2.) Stunted Development

fantasy-room-magical-library-castle-sunlight

Even if it won’t lead to splitting the atom, I still want it.

You don’t learn as much when you can wave a magic wand to fix a problem. That’s the downside to magic. In most interpretations of magic in fiction, the practitioner may not know how to fix the problem without magic’s intercession. The caster may need to know a lot about the powers they are channeling, maybe the alignment of the planets or ley lines, but the answer to the problem is not always required to fix what’s wrong.

Let’s take our example above and look a little closer. If you can perform a ritual and Poof! an ailment goes away, you don’t necessarily need to develop the germ theory of disease, or realize that you need to wash your hands before treating a wound. You probably wouldn’t need to learn much about surgery, either, or anesthetic. If you can purify water with a wave of your hand, you don’t have to learn about proper filtration methods or bacterial water testing. And if you can cast a spell and take flight like a bird, or simply teleport to a destination, why would you go through all the trouble of designing and building an airplane?

ENV_WIZARDS-CHAMBER_V02B_130814_MAX_BERMAN

This one, too.

This is the trade-off with magic—you don’t necessarily have to learn about a problem or its root causes to solve it. In so doing, you greatly hinder your ability to increase your understanding of the world around you, as many of the stresses that force a society to advance are alleviated or eliminated altogether.

This stunted development is further fueled by the lack of people who can wield this problem-solving power. Rarely in fantasy are wizards or empowered priests as common as cobblers or farmers. No, wielders of magic are usually rare, and take years of study and devotion to achieve any mastery of power. Unless they imbue this power into objects, such as magic swords or invisibility rings that a layperson can use, the utility of this power will forever remain in the hands of a few, and rarely achieve any widespread usage. So, there might be an answer for many of society’s ills, but only as far as the wielders or rulers directing its power will allow.

3.) Warfare

“Eat glowing crystal, foul beast!”

War adapts (eventually). Armed conflict is just as prevalent in fantasy worlds and stories as it was in the actual 12th century. When you add any level of magic to the mix, however, the people actually waging the war will have to change how they go about it.

Let’s say that magic on the battlefield is restricted to just magical weapons and armor. That still means that tactics would have to change if one side finds itself the have-nots in this situation. Perhaps surprise attacks become the norm to catch such magic-clad soldiers unaware, rendering their advantages null. Or perhaps feints and subterfuge have to be employed to trick empowered forces out of position, so that their magical advantage can’t be utilized at the point of conflict.

Now, let’s open it up a bit more and say that there are battlemages that can summon flame without flint or tinder. Tims, we’ll call them (for purely fanboy reasons). If a Tim can point a finger at a formation of pikemen or line of charging cavalry and reduce them to ash with a few spoken words, no one would assemble forces like that.

“You know my name.”

Let’s remember just how incredibly expensive it is for a medieval lord to field an army. You need to equip them with weapons and armor, train them, and keep them fed and maintained, along with any number of horses and support animals. Even if individual knights are expected to pay their own way, whole campaigns have been abandoned because the leading lord’s coffers ran dry. And when you think of how much coin and effort it takes to bring a medieval army to the battlefield, no lord who isn’t crazy or desperate would be willing to put his troops in a nice, neat ‘fireball formation.’ A single Tim radically changes the calculus of war.

Even if both sides have a Tim of their own, that wizard had better watch his back. Almost certainly, there would be assassins sent after him on the eve of any conflict since his presence, or lack thereof, would prove decisive. Lords might choose to settle their differences with smaller scale engagements, or dueling champions, perhaps even a one-on-one bout between the Tims in question. The point being that once you start flinging spells in war, war itself changes.

Conclusions:

the-lord-of-the-rings-the-return-of-the-king

Breathtaking.

Let’s circle back to the question I raised at the beginning of this post. Why do fantasy societies eternally exist in the Middle Ages, or something similar? Why don’t we have Elven airplanes or Dwarven tanks? Besides the author just wishing it to remain that way, it’s my belief that magic is the chief reason. It accomplishes many of the same things as science and technology, and does so without industrialization, but the solutions it gives you are hollow and less accessible. Fantasy peasants will almost never enjoy the fruits of magic the way you and I can flip on a light switch, or turn on a heater.

And the advantages of magic are ultimately off-set by how it undermines learning and advancement. Society will rarely continue to look for an answer once it has found one. If a court wizard can reliably use magic to send messages to far off lands or holdings, there’s not much pressure to invent the telephone.

Ultimately, how different a fantasy society varies from its historical counterpart will depend on how magic is defined and how well all the interrelationships are maintained. The best fantasy stories and worlds are those that really seek to understand what it means to inject the power of magic into a Middle Ages-esque society, and reflect that in the story.

So that will just about wrap it up here, folks. If you have any thoughts on this topic, feel free to leave them in comments section. I may revisit this topic every once in a while, since even a long post can barely scratch the surface of the subject.

Thanks for reading!

1 Comment | tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Genre, Magic, Society, World Building | posted in General Stuff, Magic and Its Effect of Fantasy Society, Silly Me, Uncategorized

October 31, 2017

Tropes I Can Do Without: Incompetent Antagonists

By The Sector M

So, I’m breaking my rule here just a bit. My goal for this year was to write about those thing I love more than the things I dislike. But today is Halloween, and this one in particular has been weighing on my mind of late. I’m going to talk about a sci-fi/fantasy trope that I would REALLY like to see go away: incompetent antagonists.

Trick! This post has nothing to do with either of them! Both of them are pretty cool as is.

See if this sounds familiar…a plucky band of heroes is just so darn good. And clever! The bad guys, by contrast, might have cool tech and uniforms, but they are largely idiots, or exceedingly arrogant (or both). Because the heroes have the ‘heart’ of 100 Rocky Balboas, they are able to snatch victory out of the lazy, slackened jaws of defeat. Hooray! Everyone goes home.

Based on this, I’m proud to introduce Carson’s First Law of Villainy: The level of satisfaction the audience experiences from the heroes’ victory is directly proportional to the competence of their opposition.

Or, in other words, the greater the threat, the greater the payoff. If it seems nigh-impossible for the heroes to succeed, the more of a “YAAAS” moment you get when the they finally — somehow — pull it off. Villains are key to this. You can have a weak villain and still have a fun, engaging story (Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’m looking at you in most cases), but the writer does his heroes a disservice if the opposition they face is weak or ineffectual.

Let’s look at some examples. Think of a bad guy or set of bad guys. This can be from books, movies, comic books, really anywhere. Why were they memorable? Why were they a threat to the protagonist, and what lengths did the hero or heroes have to go to defeat them? For me, one figure immediately springs to mind.

This guy.

Come to the Dark Side…we have cookies!

Darth Vader.

Not, Anakin Skywalker. No, the Dark Lord of the Sith as he was portrayed in Episodes 4, 5, and 6. He’s powerful, in control, and a dire threat to anyone who gets in his way. Every time the heroes cross paths with him, they pay for it. Obi-Wan goes down, he cuts off Luke’s Hand, and Han gets encased in carbonite.

He’s always one step ahead, and going up against him directly seems like a suicide mission. So, when Luke does finally defeat him, it shows how far the character has come. The Luke who whined about going into Tosche Station to pick up power converters couldn’t have faced Vader and lived. It had to be the Luke who wore all black, who single-handedly stormed Jabba’s barge like a boss to do that. In essence, Luke had to grow into Vader’s looming threat. As I’ve said before, it’s the presence of the wolf, not its absence, that makes the deer fast.

And the winner for Most Improved goes to…

Of course, Grand Moff Tarkin does refuse to evacuate the station out of sheer arrogance, but that’s the difference between the two characters. Tarkin was certainly competent in other ways, but ultimately fell prey to this classic movie trope: His belief in his own superiority sews the seeds of his downfall. In the end, however, I think the original Star Wars trilogy does a good job of establishing the Empire as a legitimate danger to make its defeat feel like an accomplishment. (Stormtroopers who can’t hit the broad side of a barn, notwithstanding.)

Let’s look at a really bad example. I must preface this by saying that I’m big fan of this author’s work, and have been so for 20 years or more. But lately, the bad guys are bad at what they do. Really bad. Let’s talk about Shadow of Freedom, by David Webber, a novel in one of the spin-offs of his Honor Harrington universe.

Despite being front and center on the cover, Honor Harrington never appears directly.

I posted my review on Goodreads, but here’s the part that pertains to this topic. The bad guys are some of the worst I’ve ever read. There are multiple sets of them, and they are all idiotic, arrogant, AND their tech is way inferior to the good guys. In short, they are cockroaches being run over by a semi. They can’t even really fight back. They either flee or they die, without presenting even the slightest bit of threat or challenge.

If it only happened once in the book, that would be one thing, but it happens over and over again. And this isn’t the only Honor Harrington book where this is the case, I’m sorry to say. I want to see the protagonists struggle to achieve their goal, to really fight for it, sacrifice for it. There’s none of that here, because the bad guys are disposable, stupid, and pose no real danger.

Yeah, pretty much like that.

That brings me to Carson’s Second Law of Villainy: The audience should, in some way, empathize with the antagonist enough to — almost — wish them to succeed in place of the protagonist.

This is stepping outside the speculative realms, but think about Hans Gruber from the original Die Hard movie, played by the incomparable Alan Rickman. He is a cold-blooded killer, a terrorist, and a worthy adversary of Bruce Willis’ John McClane. Even though we hope McClane is able to triumph over Gruber, the moment that Gruber’s team opens the vault is genuinely exciting. For an instant, you almost feel elated that they have accomplished their goal, even though they’ve done some horrible things to get there. You temporarily suspend your wish for McClane’s victory in favor of Gruber. It’s only for a moment, but it’s there.

The man himself.

Even this can be traced to Gruber’s innate competence. He knows what he’s doing. He has it together. He has a thought-out master plan and the will and resolve to see it through. That he is very good at what he does contributes to the menace he represents to McClane. If Gruber and company were a bunch of bumbling idiots, McClane’s triumph wouldn’t have been nearly so resounding.

Another example of this is Gus Fring from Breaking Bad, in my opinion one of the greatest TV villains of all time, and Giancarlo Esposito’s masterwork. (Spoiler Alert) Even though Gus represents deadly peril to our protagonists, Walter and Jesse, it’s pretty satisfying to see him take down the Juarez Cartel. Again, we’ve seen this guy literally slit a guy’s throat in cold blood just to make a point, but in this moment we are glad that Gus has won the day. And he did this through superior planning, a deep knowledge of his targets and their foibles, and a driving determination to avenge his dead friend, Max. Again, competence.

Is today the day, Hector?

It’s these instances of success where we can’t help but cheer, even though we know we shouldn’t. And it’s these moments that lead me to Carson’s Third Law of Villainy: Antagonists should believe and behave as though they are the protagonists in their own story.

Perhaps the most chilling thing about some of the worst people who have ever lived in real life is that they thought they were the good guys. They all thought they were the hero in their own story. A well-rounded antagonist should likewise believe this. They aren’t just there to be a convenient obstacle, to wait around to be defeated or killed, they have goals and dreams like anyone, albeit twisted by our standards. In their view, the hero is the actual villain of the piece.

One of the most unsettling examples of this is the movie Falling Down. I’ve heard it said that you can tell the protagonist of a story by looking for the one in the most pain. Not so with this movie. Even though the story revolves around William Foster (Michael Douglas), he is really the antagonist. We see that he’s in pain, and that he’s fed up with the world, but when Robert Duvall’s Sgt. Prendergast confronts him at the end of the movie, Foster says “I’m the bad guy? How’d that happen?”

His glasses aren’t the only thing that’s cracked.

And, just to throw a curve ball into the mix, let’s talk about the Operative (Chiwetal Ejiofor) in Serenity. He certainly passes the competency test. He’s articulate and extremely dangerous, and also strangely empathetic towards his victims.

He passes the first two laws of villainy with flying colors, but not the third. That is perhaps the only failing in an otherwise command appearance. The Operative knows that he’s a monster, that what he’s doing is wrong, and yet he does it anyway. That’s the only part of this character that doesn’t ring true to me, especially when Shepherd Book says that men like the Operative ‘believe hard’ and ‘never ask why.’ The Operative knows he’s a villain, which in my estimation, makes him less of one.

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Perhaps there is nothing left to see.

Well, there you have it, Carson’s Three Laws of Villainy, and how the use of them can prevent a milquetoast antagonist. Villains fuel the story’s conflict, and what is a good story without conflict?

So, if you’re writer of any sort of fiction, do us a favor and make your villain as compelling as your hero. Make your protagonist rise to the challenge. And if you can, have your villain go out with a bit of style or panache. (That’s more of a personal request, however.)

Truth is, we all deserve better bad guys in our stories. Villains aren’t good, but by the horned helmet of Loki, they should at least be good at it!

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Burdened with glorious purpose, indeed.

2 Comments | tags: Antagonist, Fiction, Rant, Star Wars, Tropes, Villains | posted in General Stuff, Sci-fi Stuff, Silly Me, Uncategorized

October 15, 2017

Strange Reports from Sector M: A Self Interview

By The Sector M

My anthology of short, speculative fiction came out recently. I call it Strange Reports From Sector M. Customarily when a bestselling author releases a book, there’s a press tour, complete with personal interviews. Now this may come as a surprise to many of you, but I am not a bestselling author. Shocked face, right?

Since there aren’t a myriad of people busting my door down for an interview, I decided to do one on my own. The purpose of any one-on-one with the author is really just to let people know about the book, what’s it about, and why people should check it out. I’m going to do that for you here, right now. So, look at it as glimpse into my pet project, or a strange sort of FAQ. Either one is fine.

Alright, let’s get this show on the road!

StrangeReportsFromSectorMFrontCover

Thanks for joining us here on Sector M, Matt.

Um, thanks? This is weird. I’m not the only who thinks so, right?

No idea what you mean. So, about your book. What is Sector M, exactly, and why are we getting strange reports from it, hmm?

Right, so Sector M has been my creative umbrella for a few years now. It covers all my social media, my books, even my wacky fanboy videos on Youtube. The name “Sector M” is a reference to my office, which at various times in the past has been called “The Museum of Matt” or “Sector Matt.” It’s my sanctum sanctorum. You know, just like Doctor Strange.

Okay, so Sector M is really just a proxy for saying “Matt Carson.”

In a way, yeah. I also set one of my earliest military sci-fi stories in a sector on the fringes of civilized space. The first surveyors had named all the star systems with words that began with the letter “M.” Thus, Sector M.

And is that story included in this anthology?

It is. It’s called “The Foeman’s Chain” and it’s the last one in the book.

What about the reports? Why are they strange? Do tell.

The stories in this book are pretty varied. Overall, it’s sci-fi, but there’s a bit of urban fantasy and horror mixed in as well. They all have some sort of anthropological or sociological theme to them. Humans are strange beings when you think about it. I’m perhaps a little stranger than most, so these resulting stories (or reports, if you will) are bound to be a bit ‘out there.’

Fascinating. Well now we need to take a quick break to learn an important fact about llamas!

Wait, what?

maxresdefault

And we’re back!

What was that all about?

Just trying to break up the text with some graphics. Now, how is the book structured? Or is it all just sorta willy-nilly?

The stories get progressively longer from beginning to end. The first few stories are really short. The middle of the book has a few stories of a more “traditional” short-story length. At the end, I have two novellas or novelettes, depending on which definition you use. So, if you’re in the mood for something quick, look in the front. If you want something more substantial, go to the middle or back. You can read them in any order.

And how many stories are included, total?

There are 13 stories, all told. That seemed like a decent variety of different types of stories, lengths, and genres. Some are standalone stories, while a few others take place in a shared universe.

Do you have a favorite? I bet you do.

They all have a special place in my heart. No, I’m serious! I certainly don’t have an overall favorite among them, but I would say I’m particularly partial to “The Gossamer Thread” and “The Mundanity of Miracles.”

What are they about?

If you buy the book, you’ll find out. *wink*

Real subtle, Matt.

Just kidding. “Gossamer Thread” is about aliens who view us, the humans, as the ineffable ones. It also deals with society as a fragile construct, and trying to do what’s right when everything is falling down. “The Mundanity of Miracles” is about how the lines between reality and fiction are blurred in the future, and the problems that may come about as a result.

You mentioned societal themes before. Is there an overall theme for the book?

Interesting question. I wrote these stories without ever dreaming I’d assemble them together, so there’s no intentional theme to the book as a whole.

Wait, so you’re saying there’s an unintentional theme?

As I put it together, certain themes began to appear to me, like a Venn diagram overlapping at various points. But, much like when I see a cloud that looks like a duck, I may be seeing a pattern that isn’t really there.

See a lot of clouds shaped like ducks, do you?

Uh, sometimes, yeah.

Like this one?

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Yeah. Just like that one. *mutters to himself.*

Well, what is this unintentional theme of which you speak?

No spoilers, for real this time. I’m going to leave that up to the reader to decide. I don’t want to bias opinions ahead of time. Come on, I have to leave at least a little mystery.

Isn’t that a bit of a cop out?

Maybe, but here we are.

Tool.

Oh yeah, and what does that say about you, then?

Good point. So shall we talk about the elephant in the room?

Sure…

Why is this book $12.99, huh? Who do you think you are, Dan Brown?

Not at all. This is a print-on-demand situation, which means the individual print costs for each book are higher than if it were a large print run. I realize I’m not an established “brand” when it comes to authors, but when all was said and done the minimum cost to print each book was over $12. For now, I like to think of it as 13 stories for 13 bucks.

Cute. Did you practice that little catchphrase?

Maybe a little, yeah.

What if that price point is just too much for people?

The Kindle version is also out. Since it’s just electrons, those minimum print costs are no longer an issue. With Kindle, readers can get the book for $5.99. That’s about one trip to Starbucks, and my book will last you a lot longer. *wink*

You’re winking again.

Oh, sorry…

If you’re gonna wink, at least take a lesson from the best.

And who’s that, pray tell?

So glad you asked…

Oh, here we go.

giphy

And, back. If we’re going with the “5 Ws and H” approach, what haven’t we answered yet?

Hmmm, let’s run them down:

Who: Me, Matt Carson.

What: A trade paperback book of short stories, all speculative fiction. Also on Kindle.

When: It’s out now! 🙂

Why: See below.

Where: Amazon and CreateSpace. Links below!

How: CreateSpace Author Services.

Ah, so it’s the Why that we need to talk about. So why did you decide to put this book together?

These stories are a part of me, and I wanted to share them. While I’m glad to have The Backwards Mask out there for folks to enjoy, I realize its length means that it’s quite an investment of time. So, for those who don’t have time for a 309,000-word novel, here are multiple stories you can read in a single sitting. There’s also something about holding a physical book in your hands that cannot be overstated. It’s the first time my fiction has appeared in print, so that’s exciting.

But why should the readers care about it?

I see what you did there. *approving nod*. This book really has a little something for everyone in the geekosphere. There’s plenty of action, but also introspection about our strange existence. I talk about war, cruelty, courage, and humanity’s unconquerable, if wildly contradictory, spirit. If you like any of the speculative fiction genres, there’s something here to scratch that particular itch. And if you like all of them, so much the better.

Anything you’d like to say to all the folks out there, then?

Yes, please support my work and consider picking up a copy. AND please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Those are the two most important things you can do for any indie author—buy the book and leave a review.

In that case, where can we procure said anthology?

Right now, there are two places: Amazon and CreateSpace, directly. The text on this blog can sometimes obfuscate links (they don’t always stand out in blue), so please click on the word “here” in all three cases.

For Amazon, click here.

For CreateSpace, click here.

For the Kindle, click here.

Well, Matt, thanks for stopping by Sector M. We should do this again sometime.

What are you talking about? I’m here all the time on Sector M. I’m you.

But are you? Are you really?

Yes…?

Sorry, rhetorical question. So, that’s all the time we have. Check out Strange Reports From Sector M on Amazon and CreateSpace!

Until next time, see you around the Sector!

Leave a comment | tags: Anthology, Book, Fiction, Horror, Interview, Science fiction, Sector M, Short story, Strange Reports From Sector M, Urban Fantasy | posted in General Stuff, Silly Me, Uncategorized

August 25, 2017

The Mountain and the Sector of M

By The Sector M

As I was doing research on Neil Gaiman for my last blog post, I came across a clip of him giving a commencement speech in 2012. Clad in an academic cap and robes, Mr. Gaiman gave an interesting thought model for how he steered his way forward, creatively.

I’ll be paraphrasing from that speech in just a moment. You can find it here in its entirety, and it’s well worth a listen. It’s the part about the mountain, that caught my attention. It’s a simple way of looking at things for a writer, or indeed any artist who wants to pursue art. As we explore the idea, I’ll tell you my own thoughts and goals.

Only the road will not be as flat or straight.

So, imagine a mountain in the distance. That mountain is your goal, whether it’s to become an artist, write a novel, a screenplay, learn to play the trombone, or what have you. Whatever it is you’re dreaming of, it’s there in the distance, waiting for you. In my case, it’s to become a professional author, and be able to devote myself to writing fiction full-time.

Now, think about the best route to get to the mountain. It’s deceptively easy, and often easier said than done. What would it take for you to follow that route to the mountain? What it means in my case is to make enough of an income from being an author that I can pay the bills. I never write my stories with dollar signs spinning in my eyes like Looney Toons. And yet, if I am going to pay the electricity bill by way of my stories, money has to enter the picture at some point. (Unless the electric company starts accepting speculative fiction as currency, so yeah.)

Let’s say that you’ve clearly identified what life goal your mountain represents AND you have mapped out the best way to get there. If you’re at that point, you still have to actually get to the mountain, right? You still have to walk that path. This part is perhaps the hardest because no plan survives contact with the enemy. There will always be setbacks and obstacles, no matter your course, and along the way you will need to make choices.

And it’s here that Mr. Gaiman really nails it. Whenever you’re faced with a decision, ask yourself this: Does this move me towards the mountain, or away from it? He mentions that there are lucrative jobs he passed up because he felt they wouldn’t bring him closer to the mountain, jobs that he might have taken earlier on his journey, since those opportunities were closer to the mountain than he was at that time.

It’s a pretty beautiful way of looking at it all. Envision the goal, plan your way forward, and make choices with the goal in mind. And if you ever do reach the mountain, look for the next one.

Truth time, folks.

He’s going to tell! He’s going to tell!

I’m on the third leg of that journey, the making choices part. I see the goal in front of me, I see what it’s going to take to get there, and I’m making far-reaching life choices to bring it about. What I realize, however, is that I will need help along the way. After all, a writer without a reader is almost nothing at all.

If you read this blog on a regular basis, or you are familiar with my work, I ask that you support what I do at Sector M, in whatever form you’re able. I’ll have plenty of links at the end of this post for your consideration.

The best way to support me as an author is to buy one of my books. Obvious, right? My novel, The Backwards Mask, has just been re-released in e-book format, and we’re working on a print-on-demand version. If you haven’t read it, now is an ideal time to check it out.

Find it here.

Additionally, I have an anthology of short fiction coming out next month called Strange Reports from Sector M. It’s primarily science fiction with a little bit of urban fantasy and horror thrown into the mix. This release will include both an e-book and a paperback version. I’ll post the link here, among many places, when the book debuts next month.

Coming soon.

If you pick up any of any of my books, I ask only that you leave a review. Aside from buying the book itself, leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads (or both) is the single best thing you can do for an independent author. I cannot overstate this.

Outside of books, you can buy a Sector M shirt, mug, or the like, or support me directly on Patreon. Or PayPal for that matter, if you prefer one-time contributions.

Beyond that, there are many ways to support me on my journey that are free. For one, if you’re reading this blog, subscribe to it. The same goes for following me on various social media, whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, or any of them.

And if your mouse finger just can’t quite find the motivation, helping me out can be as simple as telling a friend about my work, or pointing them in the direction of my books and/or this blog. Know anyone who likes science fiction or fantasy? Tell. Them. Word-of-mouth should never, ever be underestimated.

Okay, I’m promised some links. One last time for those in back, please consider supporting my ongoing efforts by any of the following means.

The Backwards Mask — the re-release of my science fiction novel.

Strange Reports from Sector M — Link coming as soon as it goes live.

Sector M Store — T-shirts, mugs, phone covers and more.

Patreon—Support me directly, and get some cool perks.

PayPal— For one-time amounts, use: thesectorm@gmail.

Subscribe to this blog — If you haven’t already.

Like me on Facebook — A good place to start.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @TheSectorM

Join me on Goodreads — See what I’m reading, ask me a question, read my reviews, etc.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel — More content to come as time allows.

Check out my other works— I have a few stories out that you can read for free on my website, with more of them to come.

And there you have it, folks. My mountain is there in the distance, and its name is Sector M. With your help, I have no doubts that I will reach it.

See you around the Sector!

Si vales, valeo.

-MC

Leave a comment | tags: Author's journey, Fiction, Inspiration, Life, Sci-fi, Support | posted in General Stuff, Sci-fi Stuff, Silly Me, Uncategorized

June 26, 2013

Scalability

By The Sector M

One of the hardest things about writing sci-fi (IMHO) is handling the technology. All too often the real world will catch up to science fiction levels in just years rather than centuries. I may write about such things as invisibility fields or nanotechnology when all the while they may be just around the corner. Just do a google search for either of those, and the tech in the pages of a sci-fi novel may not seem so far off.

Even though we don’t have flying cars (yet), I am continually surprised at the things that modern scientific research discovers every day. I mean, in the next few years, we might actually have found the Higgs-Boson particle or developed hand-held energy weapons, personally cloned organs, powered exoskeletons and life-extending treatments and/or drugs – all things that previously existed only in theory and imagination.

Okay, Star Trek, we’re looking in your direction.

So what’s a lowly sci-fi writer to do to make sure that actual technology doesn’t exceed the set pieces that he creates? It might be a peek behind the curtain, but I’ll share with you one of the techniques I use on a pretty regular basis.

Scalability.

Let me give you an example of when this was not used. In the novelization of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, we get a few scenes that do not appear in the movie. Consequently, we get to know some of the scientists aboard space station Regula 1. As it turns out two of the scientists are game designers, and they have just completed work on their latest video game, Boojum Hunt. It was supposedly the largest video game ever (by 23^rd century standards) in terms of how much computer memory it occupied. It was so large that the computer mainframe of the space station only barely contained it.

Any guesses how at much space it took up? 60 Megabytes. Megabytes with an ‘M.’ Yeah, it’s safe to say that modern technology blew that one completely out of the water. At the time of the novel’s release, 60MB might have seemed unthinkably enormous, but nowadays not so much.

This flash drive holds 32 gigabytes.

Consider this, though − what if the novel had just said that the game was the “largest video game ever created,” and left it at that? Chances are someone reading it today would scale their expectations up to whatever the norm is currently. The same goes for someone reading it twenty years from now.

That’s scalability. It’s presenting a concept without the parameters that will eventually invalidate it. That way, it scales up to whatever the reader expects it to be. Certainly Boojum Hunt’s claim would have held up without that troublesome measurement to sink it. So, this idea can be applied to practically any claim we put on sci-fi set-piece technology. Saying, “A warship of the highest magnitude,” tells you everything you need to know in only a few words in the same way that saying, “She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen,” can describe a character. It’s a bit of ‘smoke and mirrors’ to handle it that way, and you do wind up speaking in superlatives quite a bit, but it works.

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Hey, no peeking behind the curtain…ah, okay, just this once.

So what happens when you need to put some sort of real-world perspectives on your tech? Well, you can do that. Hard science fiction does it all the time, but they run the risk of being shown up by the onward march of human ingenuity and understanding. For the sake of argument, let’s say that you have to put something down for one of your gadgets.

Here’s what I would do: I would figure out the modern measurement equivalent and then either quintuple or sextuple the order of magnitude. I ran into a situation like this in The Backwards Mask when I had to give an indication of how large a particular hard drive was aboard the Hornet. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes as Boojum Hunt, so I first thought of how large the ‘Canary Drive’ was in 21^st century terms. I’m used to thinking of gigabytes (10⁹ bits) in the here and now, so I then kicked it up to yottabytes (10²⁴ bits). BTW, a single yottabyte equals a quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) gigabytes.

That’s a big Twinkie.

As astronomical as that number may seem, there may come a day when devices store hundreds of yottabytes of information, and it’s no big deal anymore. They might look at my description of the Canary Drive and laugh to themselves at my short-sightedness. Well, I think I’ve bought myself a few decades before that happens. If folks are still reading my book in 30 to 40 years, I still call that a win.

So, what’s the upshot of all this? I consider scalability an important tool in my writer’s toolbox. You can use it to bring technology up to the reader’s level of understanding (truly state-of-the-art) so it doesn’t get overrun by actual science quite as easily. Of course no science fiction is bulletproof, but scalability at least allows it wear to Kevlar.

Leave a comment | tags: Fiction, Science fiction, Technology, Writer's toolbox, Writing process | posted in Sci-fi Stuff

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The Sector M

Tag Archives: Fiction

Don’t Quit Your Day Job

Tropes I Love: Mentors and Secondary Characters

State of the Sector: 2025

Of Fantasy Dwarves and Unsung Heroes

State of the Sector Address: 2024

Magic and Its Effects on Fantasy Society

Tropes I Can Do Without: Incompetent Antagonists

Strange Reports from Sector M: A Self Interview

The Mountain and the Sector of M

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