Last year a friend introduced us to a book called The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. It is a fantasy novel that is both academic and full of adventure, more mature than Harry Potter but less graphic than A Song of Ice and Fire. In short, a great read for anyone who enjoys fiction with a touch of magic. As a bonus, it is the first in a trilogy, the second of which, The Wise Man's Fear, is already available (and which Jacob likes even better).
When we were first planning our Great American Road Trip, Jacob idly checked Rothfuss' blog to see where he would be making appearances, in case we were traveling anywhere near. He saw that Rothfuss was set to be a Guest of Honor at the ConQuesT 44 fantasy/science fiction/mystery convention in Kansas City, MO the weekend of Memorial Day. Tickets were only $30, and the timing fit, so we decided to kick off our tour of the country by attending a low-budget geek-fest. With any luck, we said, we would get to see someone dressed as a Klingon.
While we still had income, Jacob managed to find a reasonably affordable first edition copy of The Name of the Wind in very good/fine condition, and bought it to get it signed. (For reference, pristine first editions go for up to $500, and if they are signed they are listed up to $1,000, so this was quite a collector's coup.)
Then last month, Patrick Rothfuss announced he would be coming to Little Rock in early May. He has apparently been a fan for years of Heifer International and its worldwide efforts in poverty stricken countries. When his first novel was published in 2007 and enjoyed immediate success and insane collect-ability, Rothfuss started Worldbuilders, a non-profit that brokers the sale of books and book-related merchandise to raise money for Heifer. It was his way to give back and to stay grounded in the wake of his growing popularity, and as of this year it has raised over a million dollars. His appearance in May marked his first visit to Heifer headquarters in Little Rock, and while there he did a reading and signing for fans in this part of the country. More than 300 people showed up, some of them having driven from neighboring states, two of them including us.
Now here we are heading to Kansas City. We've met Patrick Rothfuss, gotten our first editions signed, and two weeks later we're about to go to the convention we bought tickets for so we could meet Patrick Rothfuss and get our first editions signed.
Don't really need to go now, except to look for Klingons.
However...
A few months ago Jacob was looking at the appearances section of another writer he loves, George R. R. Martin, the author of A Game of Thrones (and the other books in the Song of Ice and Fire series). Martin's website was listing ConQuesT 44 as an upcoming appearance, but the conference page itself said nothing about him being there.
Jacob e-mailed ConQuesT for clarification.
"Oh yes, George will be here," was the reply. "He'll be doing a signing and some panels. Schedule should be up in early May." Apparently 'George' has been attending ConQuesT for years, it being the oldest Con in the midwest, but with the explosion of popularity from HBO's Game of Thrones television show, an adaptation of Martin's novels, ConQuesT is downplaying his involvement to keep crowds to a manageable number.
So George R.R. Martin will be here but not many people know about it.
That works just fine for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment