Expectation can be a blessing and a curse for those of a creative bent. On the one hand, it generates excitement and interest in what you’re writing/recording/filming so that people rush out and buy it and (hopefully) enjoy it. It becomes a curse when the person who’s read your book, listened to your album or watched your film feels that it wasn’t what they expected. Now, does that mean your endeavour was wasted? Certainly not, just because something isn’t what a person expected doesn’t make it bad, it just makes it…unexpected. Remember the vast expectation every Star Wars fan had going into their first viewing of The Phantom Menace and how, two hours later, they all marched from the cinema ready to burn George Lucas? Well, frankly, there was no way any film was going to live up to our expectation after so long, but watch it again in the cold light of hindsight and you find lots to like about it. It’s still not a particularly good film by any stretch of the imagination, but, having seen all three prequels now, it kinda works in the context it was meant to.

To look at how expectation can be manipulated, just look at the poster and trailer for the movie ‘Reign of Fire’. I remember a crowd of us GW types frothing with excitement at the prospect of this film. Dragons! Attack Helicopters! Tank! Dragons battling Attack Helicopters above the skies of London as Mankind fights for survival against a malevolent Draconic foe! Now, if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know that’s not what it’s about at all… The war of the Dragons versus the Humans happens via newspaper headlines and a voiceover and the bulk of the movie is set in the aftermath of that war. Which, when you consider what we were expecting, is a hell of a letdown. We all left the cinema feeling slightly hoodwinked and thinking the film was terrible. Having seen it recently on the telly, I actually really enjoyed it. Again, not a film that was ever going to trouble the Oscars, but a pretty decent action movie. With Dragons.

In terms that mean anything to us BL fans, I think the same happened with the Horus Heresy novel, Descent of Angels. People bought and read that book with the expectation of it advancing the storyline and telling of the Dark Angels in the time of Horus’s betrayal. That wasn’t what they got and I remember reading posts deriding the book, which I thought a tad unfair to say the least, since most people’s criticism of the book was that it didn’t match a their expectations of what they thought it should have done. So, their expectations weren’t met, but does that mean that Descent of Angels is a bad book? Of course not. As the dust settles and those with the loudest voices go away, most people pick up the book and enjoy it, realising that it tells a piece of the Dark Angels history that needs to be told before the main event after the Heresy occurs. They also saw that the Horus Heresy isn’t just about always moving forward (though it needs to do that too), it’s about exploring the setting and telling tales of the people caught up in those momentous times.

On a personal level, I’m about to embark on a Heresy-era short story called The Last Church, which will see the light of day in the Tales of Heresy anthology. It certainly doesn’t advance the storyline and is takes place before the Great Crusade sets out from Terra. Having seen two-line précis for the other stories in the book, I wanted to do something different and unexpected so that when people read it they’d be surprised and have to perhaps shift a mental gear or two. I think it’s a good thing for readers and writers alike to challenge themselves by reading and writing things that are different from their usual fare. I’ve said before that it’s easy to mistake a rut for a groove, so every now and then we ought to break out of our comfort zone and do something that challenges us or takes us to places we weren’t expecting.

I think this applies to most things, be they books, movies, films, records…whatever. Too often we’re quick to criticise things when we haven’t heard, read or seen anything of them. It never ceases to amaze me how quick and eager some people are to assume that something’s going to be shit before it’s even been released (or in some cases, even made…). In the case of movies, Hollywood had previous when it comes to stuffing up what look like great ideas on paper (I’m looking at you Pathfinder! How hard could it be…? Indians versus Vikings, it should have been a slam-dunk, but oh how it disappointed…) but let’s not be so keen to deride things or to jump on the bandwagon of sneering.

I think a lot of it comes from the internet breeding a sense of inferiority in people, making them afraid to say they like something for fear of reprisals from the more frequent posters who look down on them and argue in largely pointless ways. It’s often seen as the done thing to criticise creative endeavours, because if someone hates Thing X, but you quite liked Thing X, you often find yourself thinking that maybe this person is cleverer than I am and knows more than I do, I’d better agree with him… Stop! Stop, I say! Stick to your guns, defend your point of view and don’t be too quick to abandon it, just because the person saying you’re wrong has a high post count. Just because some people post a lot on the net, this – contrary to their own deluded belief – does not give them some enlightened, god-like status, where everything they say comes loaded with gravitas and wisdom. One person’s post is just as valid as another’s and this assumption of status based on their post count is nonsense. Of course, none of this is meant to stop reasoned debate and constructive criticism, far from it, such things are the lifeblood of any creative type, but the keywords here are ‘reasoned’ and ‘constructive’. If a thing is bad, there’s nothing wrong with saying so, as long as you say why.

Anyway, enough of my rants on the net. I like the net and if everyone behaved with common decency and played nice then it would be a wonderful place, where ideas and constructive discussions were held, but we all know that’s not the case. I live in hope that one day folk will realise that there’s really no need to be unpleasant just because you can’t see the person you’re insulting. I’m an optimist, I know.

Right. On to Answers to Poster’s Questions:

Gildor: Thank you very much…it was a good finish line to cross. And, yeah, Mechanicum Momentum should have been a title of one of the sub-sections in the book…

Xhalax (1): So just read the Killing Ground, then it’ll stop tormenting you. Hope you liked the audio book and I agree, more of the same please. And, unabridged, definitely, why would anyone not want to read the full story in a book. It’d be like watching the highlights of a movie.

Alexander: Nice one, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. There will indeed be more, I’m already gearing up for the next book, which I aim to be starting in about a month.

Jeff: That’s great. Killing Ground was a book I started with the intention of doing something that would be unexpected and I’m glad you liked it (see the above post ☺) And who indeed says Space Marines are boring? I have a seven-foot tall, genetically engineered killing machine that would like a word…

Gav: Of course, I forgot the scented incense and the chant of awakening. I could have used your help when it came to invoking the spirit of the Omnissiah. Perhaps we should discuss ways of placating the now slumbering Machine Spirit over a pint soon.

Xhalax (2): At the moment, I don’t know of any signings for Mechanicum in London, but it would surprise me if we didn’t get something arranged. Stay tuned here and the BL site and I’ll make sure you’re the first to know of any such events. And I have a restraing order all ready to be signed should you turn up looking crazed (well, more crazed ☺).

Gix: The image on the original cover of Storm of Iron wasn’t drawn as anyone in particular, as it was done before I really got started on the book, but once I saw it, I knew he was a character just waiting to happen. Thus was born Forrix and if you see me in person, ask me how he got his name… As to Honsou, yeah, I think of him as dark haired, though he’s been through a fair bit in his time in print and he’s changed quite a bit since that description was written. He now has Pasanius’s arm, a bionic eye, a heavily scarred face and a daemon axe. I’ve never seen that picture before and know nothing of what Prophecy’s Peril is (anyone…?) so I’ll stick with my picture of what he looks like.

Sam and Xhalax (3): Your replies teaches me I should read other people’s responses before writing my own…

On the Reading Stand: Irvine Welsh’s new novel, Crime, which I was lucky enough to have signed by the great man in Bristol the other week. A priceless moment was listening to him do a reading of a coke-fuelled night in from the book in a busy bookstore and watching the staff cringe at some of the language as tutting pensioners and parents went by. But, honestly, what did they expect from an Irvine Welsh reading…

On the Hi-Fi: A mix these days, but I recently bought The Moldy Peaches CD, after hearing it played in the tea shop I sometimes work in. Great, lo-fi sound, some fantastic lyrics and a real sense of fun to it. Go get it now!

And with that, I’ll sign off. I’m off to get the bus to the airport to fly to Scotland for a week. With Mechanicum behind me, I’m off north for a change of scenery, a weekend away with the lads and to work on a new comic strip for Boom! I’ll leave you with links to a few of the covers for my first strip for Boom! and the cover of my first Starcraft novel: I, Mengsk. The cover was done by my good friend and all round top artist chap, Mark Gibbons. Hope you like them.

http://www.boom-studios.net/warhammer-40-000-fire-amp-honor-1-cover-a.html

http://www.boom-studios.net/warhammer-40-000-fire-amp-honor-1-cover-b.html

Talk to you when I get back from Scotland.

Cheers,

Graham