Early October in New York means thousands upon thousands of people will descend upon the Jacob K. Javits Center. People decked out as their favorite super-hero, favorite anime character, video game character, favorite film character, or simply with some kind of geeky t-shirt or hat. Hundreds upon hundreds of people will be working to sell books and comics for their company, many others will be selling their own wares, independently published books and comics, and other assorted geekery.
By now, you should know I refer to New York Comic Con. Specifically NYCC 2019. I attended Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this year and managed to sit in a few panels over the weekend, in addition to meeting some authors during in booth signings at their publishers or at signings just after their panels.
Friday the first panel I sat in on was Tor Presents: Magic X Mayhem. I’d read two of the authors (V.E. Schwab and Myke Cole, both are great, great writers and cool people), the other panelists included Annalee Newitz, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Lauren Shippen (also the moderator), and Tochi Onyebuchi. A great group of writers who have very diverse background. Despite the background, racial, and gender differences between these writers, their books address rebellion and specifically when people who aren’t in power or have power gain power and can make a change. The book V.E. Schwab was promoting was Vengeful (sequel to Vicious), Myke Cole had a copy of The Queen of Crows (the middle book of his Sacred Throne trilogy), Annalee Newitz had a copy of The Future of Another Timeline in which Time Travel is mundane and everyday, Tochi Onyebuchi had a copy of Riot Baby which I grabbed the following day during his in-booth signing, Charlotte Nicole Davis was promoting her recently published novel The Good Luck Girls, and Lauren Shippen’s latest is The Infinite Noise. One thing that Myke Cole said that had everybody nodding their heads is that one of the most important things a writer needs is the ability to feel and concey empathy. It was very interesting to hear these writers talk about similar themes and how their backgrounds and identities allowed them to navigate quite different paths to these themes.
Immediately following that panel was 25 Years of Assassin’s Apprentice with on Robin Hobb. As part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of this landmark fantasy novel, Del Rey published a beautiful hardcover, illustrated edition.
This panel was the highest priority for me to attend. I’ve written about the books of Robin Hobb fairly extensively here at SFFWorld (Fool’s Assassin, Fool’s Quest, Assassin’s Fate) and one of my old haunts, SF Signal (The Liveship Traders.) The novels featuring FitzChivalry Farseer are among my favorites in Fantasy and some of my favorite books of all time. I have the spine of Assassin’s Apprentice painted on my stairwell, after all. Anne Groell, Robin Hobb’s (and George R.R. Martin’s) editor joined Robin and asked some general questions about the books, how Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden came to write as Robin Hobb. It was a calculated plan between her and her then agent Ralph Vincinanza who thought since she was going to write straight up High/Epic Fantasy (whereas she wrote across various subsets of Speculative Fiction as Medan Lindholm), it might make sense to write under a new name. Robin and Ralph felt the name to be evocative of fantastical things like Robin Goodfellow, Hobbits, Hobgoblins, and happens to sit in what Robin said was a good neighborhood in the bookstores, the “H” shelf with Frank Herbert and Robert Heinlein.
Of course the character of the Fool came up, one of the most enigmatic characters in all of fiction. Originally, he was only supposed to be a walk on character to say one thing and never be seen again. Well…the personality of the fool just wouldn’t let that be, which shouldn’t surprise anybody who has read these books. Another surprise is that the character of Starling was originally a man. Robin spoke of some extremely difficult scenes she was hesitant to write, but ultimately after her editor suggested the scenes needed to happen in order for the readers to really feel them, she committed to writing those scenes towards the end of the original Farseer trilogy.
Robin also said the idea of the books was gestating for quite a while before she began writing. A piece of paper with an idea was sitting for a while before another idea came along and helped to bring the story to life – the two ideas were if magic was treated as something with addictive qualities and the other was that most stories are told from the hero’s perspective. Being fascinated with sidekicks, she wanted to tell the sidekick’s story, the character who operated behind the scenes and not quite in the spotlight.
Moving to the Liveship Traders, a great series in and of itself, Robin wanted to focus on a different part of the world introduced in The Farseer that always fascinated her, Bingtown. While writing these books one character was persistently giving her trouble. Readers of these books will not be surprised that troublesome character is Amber. With Liveship, Robin wanted to examine dragons and how they could be connected to sea serpents. Anne mentioned a character she absolutely hated, but Robin did something only one other writer ever did and turned a hated character to a beloved character through some amazing character development – Malta Vestrit. (I made the same point in my above-linked overview of The Liveship Traders.) Many people in the crowd agreed via applause. Robin simply said that’s what teenagers are or can be, extremely infuriating for a while and then they become adults.
Robin then took questions from the crowd. One person asked about characters and if they are based on people she knows, some are, of course. The Fool specifically, with his mannerisms and hand/arm gestures is based on one of her children’s friends, but only for the way the Fool moves. I mustered up the courage to ask a question: Which Character generated the most surprising response from readers/fans? (I didn’t word it so smoothly at the time). First and foremost was Kennit, the charming pirate anti-villain/villain protagonist(?) of the Liveship books. Many a reader asked “How could Kennit do what he did?” I thought that character might be her answer. Robin was also surprised by the reaction by some fans to Molly, and how some expressed vehement hatred of the character. After the panel, I managed to be the first on line for the signing.
Saturday I managed to get two books signed: Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebochi and The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. Tochi impressed the hell out of me on the Magic X Mayhem panel on Saturday so I want to give his work a try. A few weeks ago, I read Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay after my wife read it encouraged me to read it. It is an incredible novel, I still think about it and the night I finished the book, my wife and I spent a couple of hours discussing the incredible ending.
Also on that final day is the panel I attend every single year: Geek Geek Revolution. The last couple of years, Myke Cole moderated….or rather shouted at the crowd and contestants. This year’s contestants were Alina Boyden, Erin A. Craig, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Rachel Harrison, Rob Hart, and Sarah Pinsker. As always the goal is not necessarily to win, but it is certainly not to lose because the loser has to wear a unicorn mask and hooves. Some questions were pre-generated, others we submitted by the crowd. Questions ranged on geeky topics like Disney Princesses, videogames, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Super Mario Brothers, mythology, movies, among other things. Alina Boyden wound up being “honored” with the unicorn head.
I rushed out of that panel to head up to the Robin Hobb signing in the Del Rey booth, her second signing of the convention. I had a few more books I was hoping to get signed by her and I wound up getting that illustrated edition of Assassin’s Apprentice. The fine folks of Del Rey snapped the picture below (and they tweeted it out shortly thereafter) while I was waiting to get more books signed. I mean, I wasn’t going to bring all 12 books I had to be signed on day one plus books I wanted to have other authors sign! The illustrations by Magali Villeneuve are stunningly gorgeous, some of which can be previewed at Tor.com. The fun thing about standing on these lines is talking to other fans or soon to be fans. The couple two spots front of me had battered well-read copies of Assassin’s Apprentice and Fool’s Fate, while the woman in front of me was there just for the free book Ship of Magic, which is a great starting spot for Robin Hobb’s stories in this world. Hopefully this “new” reader will become a fan and enjoy all of Robin Hobb’s books.
It was after 4PM and at that point, I was pretty worn out from the long day. Sunday was the typical last day for me: I walk the entirety of the floor with my wife checking out all the vendors on the main floor. There are always interesting things to be found, many of which aren’t exactly cheap. One booth we visit every year, Golden Bell Games, has an interesting new game every time we visit. What was really nice is that the owner remembered us from the previous years we’ve visited. I wound up grabbing Venture Party (on the top of the pile below). Some of the publishers were doing 50% off, which is what convinced my wife to grab a couple of books from the Tor both (Mark Oshiro’s Anger is a Gift and The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring neither are in the picture below), Paul Kreuger’s Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge at the Quirk Books booth, and one booth (Simon & Schuster) did a buy one, get one free, which is how I got Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning.
Three days of walking, geeking out, and fun. This year New York Comic Con was largely about Robin Hobb for me (last year was largely Joe Hill) and trying to get some cool new reads. In other words, New York Comic Con 2019 was another great, successful convention experience.
