(urth) Seattle report

[Michael Straight]

Part the Second - chatting with Wolfe.  Minor spoilers for future
Wolfe books ahead (of the sort you might get from reading the back
cover).

I had brought a copy of Soldier of Sidon for Wolfe to sign.  When it
was my turn, I thanked him for all the great stories and novels and
told him I was particularly glad he had returned to Latro because the
Soldier books are my very favorites of his novels.  I told him I
thought this new one was every bit as good as the other two, but that
I couldn't say for sure since I'd only read it once.  He loved that,
and told me I really shouldn't rush to judgment.  He signed my book
"To Michael (for his insight)."

James (Crush) Wynn's wife had the absolute best comment for Wolfe,
which I shall be forced to repeat if he doesn't show up and repeat it
himself.

While other people were standing in line, I was glancing at name tags
hoping to recognize a name and found myself talking to David Hartwell.
 He was carrying around what looked like an advance copy of _Pirate
Freedom_, cover art and all, and said it would be out in November.
Hartwell introduced me to Mantis.

Later, Mantis and I had the chance to sit down with Wolfe.  He said
_Pirate Freedom_ is about the son of a Mafia don whose dad sticks him
in a monastery in the Caribbean in hopes that the son will not get
caught up in the Mafia life.  The son gets cold feet before he can
take his final vows but then finds himself transported back to the
1600's winding up on a pirate ship where he unsuccessfully struggles
to avoid becoming a pirate himself.

Wizards and Warp Drives: Hartwell said that Wolfe's next book (_An
Evil Guest_) is a horror novel, but when I said that to Wolfe, he
strongly disagreed with that characterization.  He described it as a
near-future tale in which warp-drive space ships are available to the
very rich and the protagonist is hunting for a wizard (I wasn't clear
whether he meant a magical wizard or a "computer wizard" type wizard.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's not clear in the book either.)  Wolfe
says he's about ready for the fourth draft on this one.  I believe it
was this book (or maybe the next one) in which he said the protagonist
tries to use an attractive woman as bait for catching the wizard, and
that Wolfe had the (for him) rare experience of a character (the
woman) completely running away with the novel. To the extent that
Wolfe was rather upset that the novel ended and said he was going to
miss her.  The book is told in the third-person which Wolfe claimed he
had stuck with all the way through this time.

I'm wondering if Hartwell feels obliged to sell this one as horror
because of the title.  I'm trying to think, when was the last time you
saw an SF novel with the word 'evil' in the title? Not since Heinlein
that I can think of, and even there, it comes across as an allusive
phrase not a reference to something Evil. The idea of Good and Evil,
such that you can refer to a guest as Evil, is usually restricted to
fantasy and horror.  (Evil Genius is the closest I can think of, but
that's almost always used in a silly or ironic way.)

Wolfe said he was also making progress on a third novel (_Sorcerer's
House_ according to Mantis) about a confidence man who is released
from jail and goes to buy an old house in the country, offering to do
the work of renovating it in exchange for a deal on the price.  His
offer is accepted in accordance with the will left by the former
owner, a dead sorcerer, a will which mentions the man by name.  The
novel is told in the form of letters to the man's twin brother and to
his former prison cell mate.

I congratulated Wolfe on the excellent art he's had on the last few
novels (Wizard, Knight, and Sidon).  He was of the opinion that art
directors are the hardest people to work with in the publishing
business.  My impression was that he meant that with sympathy toward
the conflicting demands they have to deal with, because he also talked
about the difficult task facing the art director of a magazine.  Ever
cover of a magazine, he said, has to simultaneously say: "This is that
same magazine you love," and, "This is a new issue you've never seen
before."

I asked Wolfe about the tale of the Sidhe at the end of Peace,
wondering if it was based on an some existing Celtic tale, but Wolfe
said he thought it was his own invention, attempting to match the
style of other Celtic tales he'd read.

Wolfe seemed to be having a lot of fun, both at the events themselves
and in terms of enthusiasm about his writing.  I thought it was sweet
seeing him taking such good care of his wife Rosemary, pushing her
around in her wheelchair and waiting on her.  I thoroughly enjoyed
meeting him.

Rostrum