To go with David's art, here's a story about Ant-kinden in general, and one Ant-kinden in particular. Balkus, Scuto's renegade Sarnesh friend, is only a bit-player in Empire in Black and Gold, but he has more important things ahead of him in Dragonfly Falling. here then is a chapter from his earlier days, making a living as a mercenary up and down […]
The military power of Ant-kinden city-states has dominated the Lowlands since the revolution. Using their Art to link minds, to fight and work together with flawless discipline, they would have conquered the world by now, save that they reserve their most abiding loathing for Ant-kinden of any other city but their own. Renegade Ants, those […]
I think I'm due an undirected rant, and so let's have a look at this news article. The entomological pedant (2) within me would like to make known the following: 1. Most critically, final paragraph, the camel spider, or solifugid, is not an insect, for the love of all that's chitinous. This utter failure of knowledge, […]
Slightly delayed, owing to technical difficulties (1), here is the second kinden short story, telling the tale of a Spider-kinden freebooter cut loose in the occupied Commonweal. (1) translation: I'm rubbish.
To complement David's Spider-kinden artwork, here's the promised spidery story. Download the story on PDF here
One of the reasons I’m so in awe of Gene Wolfe is the amount of very scholarly debate inspired by his work. Now, I’m not in his league when it comes to utterly, intricately baffling (1) writing, but hola, what’s this? Following the review at Eve’s Alexandria (an extended version of the earlier SFX magazine […]
In the "kinden" section (and also in the Art section) there's a new piece by David Mumford showing the Spider-kinden in their glory, and this will soon be complemented by a piece of original fiction that follows one such devious individual on a journey through the war-torn Commonweal. Spider-kinden don't make much of a showing in Empire in Black […]
Art by David Mumford The elegant and machiavellian Spider-kinden rule a vast coalition across the sea, where they live in luxury and riches un-dreamt of by Lowlanders, or at least their women rule, and their men do as they're told. Spiders are their own worst enemies, however, and the great Aristoi families are constantly scheming to […]
There were just plain punks, of course. Still are, probably, if they can sufficiently distance themselves from Vivian in the Young Ones. The iconic hair and attitude are memes that has survived the actual subculture's descent into the voracious jaws of commercialism (1). Especially the attitude, and the curious legacy it left in the nomeclature […]
Because that's the point, after all. Stormtroopers with faces would be creepy. You might have to think a bit before you mowed them down in swathes. Because you've got to have orcs, right? Or insert your alternative — urgles(1) or cultists or zombies, demons, in short — minions. Dread legions of mindless (and most often useless) […]
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