CoH Novels Fact Check
James Lowder
I was the consulting editor for CDS Books on the City of Heroes novels,
so I thought I'd post here to counter some bad information floating
around the Internet.
* Both Robert Weinberg and Robin Laws were given access to play City of
Heroes while researching and writing the novels. As far as I know, they
both took advantage of that offer and played. This is no surprise; they
were both hired, in part, for their skills as conscientious researchers.
For the novels, though, it was even more important for them to read the
mountain of backstory material provided by Cryptic/NCsoft. So, while
they played, their research was focused on the written material, much of
which is not yet available to the public.
* Continuity mistakes in the books are not the result of sloppy research
by the authors or by Cryptic/NCsoft not having the opportunity to review
the books before publication. Bob and Robin did their homework, and the
books were submitted to Cryptic/NCsoft for approval at several
stages--concept, outline, revised outline, first full draft, and final
full draft. As editor, I combined the continuity notes generated by
Cryptic/NCsoft at these points with my literary edit notes, and passed
them along to the writers as a single document. If there were major
continuity issues to be hammered out, the authors could work directly
with Cryptic/NCsoft until the problems were solved. The dialogue with
Cryptic/NCsoft about the novels was constant and constructive.
Some of the things I've seen identified as continuity mistakes are
simply not mistakes. Because the CoH history on the web site doesn't
mention something--like the Phalanx breaking up for a time--that does
not mean the event wasn't part of the official CoH continuity. Events
might not be part of the official continuity released to the public, but
they can still be part of the continuity bible Cryptic/NCsoft hands to
people working on licensed novels and comics.
Did some mistakes in the novels slip by all of us? Sure. We all tried
very hard to make certain we got things right, but it's no surprise that
some things slipped by us. All of us--writers, editors, and
Cryptic/NCsoft reviewers--share responsibility for those sorts of gaffs.
A few are the result of mental lapses. Most I chalk up to the fact that
the CoH continuity and background world were being developed, and
changing radically, even as the novels were being written. That's one of
the perils of working in a shared world under simultaneous development
by computer game designers, novelists, comic book writers, and RPG
designers scattered about several different time zones. All actively
licensed shared worlds run into these problems, no matter how hard the
continuity guru tries to police things. Contradictions crop up.
Eventually, enough contradictions slip by that a revised official
continuity will be hammered out. But fans should remember that things
identified as continuity mistakes in shared worlds, or later declared
apocryphal, might have been considered accurate when they were first
written.
* Shortly after being purchased by Perseus Publishing, CDS Books dropped
the third City of Heroes novel, The Rikti War, from its release
schedule. The move was part of a general restructuring of the CDS book
lines, accompanied by a general restructuring of the CDS staff. (I was
attached to the project on a contract basis, not as a CDS staffer.)
Sales for the first two CoH books have been solid, despite missed
marketing and cross promotion opportunities by CDS. At the time of the
cancellation, CDS left the door open for the line to restart, should
Cryptic/NCsoft not sell the fiction rights elsewhere. I understand other
publishers have expressed strong interest in taking up the CoH fiction
line, but I don't know if any new deals are in the works.
When The Rikti War was shelved, it was on schedule for an August 2006
release date; a revised outline had been approved and the first draft
was being written. Several authors had been attached to the novel at
various times, including John Ostrander and Paul Kemp, but in the end
the assignment for the book was given to Shane Hensley. Cryptic/NCsoft
and whatever publisher next lands the license will have to decide if
this version of the book will be completed, or if they want to go in a
different direction with the next release.
Cheers,
James Lowder
George Johnson
news:12alif2...@corp.supernews.com...
| Hi:
|
| I was the consulting editor for CDS Books on the City of Heroes novels,
| so I thought I'd post here to counter some bad information floating
| around the Internet.
|
| * Both Robert Weinberg and Robin Laws were given access to play City of
| Heroes while researching and writing the novels. As far as I know, they
| both took advantage of that offer and played. This is no surprise; they
| were both hired, in part, for their skills as conscientious researchers.
| For the novels, though, it was even more important for them to read the
| mountain of backstory material provided by Cryptic/NCsoft. So, while
| they played, their research was focused on the written material, much of
| which is not yet available to the public.
|
| * Continuity mistakes in the books are not the result of sloppy research
| by the authors or by Cryptic/NCsoft not having the opportunity to review
| the books before publication. Bob and Robin did their homework, and the
| books were submitted to Cryptic/NCsoft for approval at several
| stages--concept, outline, revised outline, first full draft, and final
| full draft. As editor, I combined the continuity notes generated by
| Cryptic/NCsoft at these points with my literary edit notes, and passed
| them along to the writers as a single document. If there were major
| continuity issues to be hammered out, the authors could work directly
| with Cryptic/NCsoft until the problems were solved. The dialogue with
| Cryptic/NCsoft about the novels was constant and constructive.
Well, to be fair, with time-travelling and dimension-hopping portions of
the storyline there are plenty of reasonable ground wherein things can go
muddled in continuity especially in the midst of it all.
One time-travel tweak by a villain and the results ripple throughout the
timeline and muddy up any solid continuity established beforehand (which for
all practical purposes no longer exists exactly the same).
john.pa...@gmail.com
> When The Rikti War was shelved, it was on schedule for an August 2006
> release date; a revised outline had been approved and the first draft
> was being written.
Well, I hope it does come out eventually as I really enjoyed the first
two books.
JohnP