Hello everyone,

I know, I know, it's not December 2001 anymore. But I was just too busy gallivanting around Europe to get down to this newsletter on time, so I hope you'll forgive me for sending it out a week or so late. Since last newsletter, I've been to Italy (freezing, but gorgeous) and am now in England, visiting the folks. So it took me a while to get the laptop sorted out as it should be, to get this newsletter out. I hope everyone had a great New Year, and enjoyed whatever time off they got. And now, on to the matters in hand...

GGK News
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> Reprints
Reprint editions of Tigana and A Song for Arbonne are out in Holland, by Meulenhoff. The title of Arbonne was changed from Een Lied Voor Arbonne to Een Lofzang Voor Arbonne because apparently Lofzang is a better, more evocative word for 'song' in the context of praise or an ode (it means Song of Praise, literally).

> New Publications
Just the one this past month: Tigana has been published - in two volumes - in Israel. The cover is an adaptation of the Mel Odom cover, and I'll be getting a copy of it on the site soon.

What's New on Bright Weavings
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A very visual month - all the new features on the site are related to artwork - we have some new covers, and some wonderful new additions to Martin Springett's 'People of Fionavar' series...

> New Covers

Interestingly enough, we now have copies of the Dutch covers of The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road, to join the lone Dutch Fionavar cover we already had, of The Summer Tree. In a Dutch-themed month, it seems, we also have graphics of the new covers for the reprint editions of Tigana and A Song for Arbonne, which recently came out.

Dutch Fionavar covers: http://www.brightweavings.com/artgallery/covfionavar.htm#dutch
Dutch Tigana cover: http://www.brightweavings.com/artgallery/covtigana.htm
Dutch Arbonne cover: http://www.brightweavings.com/artgallery/covarbonne.htm

> People of Fionavar
Martin Springett continues his series of images inspired by Fionavar with three new additions to his 'People of Fionavar' set - including images of Eilathen of the Lake, Dana of the Moon, and the Battle Foretold - Galadan and Cavall before the Summer Tree. They're beautiful images, and like the others, are available to buy as posters, prints, cards, or laminated bookmarks. Now that there are five images in the collection, Martin has titled it a 'Brightly Woven' Portfolio, and has also created a cover image for the set, which - if you order the entire set - will come signed by both him, and GGK. The art is printed on 8.5 by 11 matte heavyweight paper, using an Epson Colour Stylus printer at his home studio. Click through to find out details of the prices, and of course, to see the images themselves:

http://www.brightweavings.com/artgallery/images.htm#people

Tidbits
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Not exactly a new addition to the site, but a new link that I felt was worthwhile mentioning properly. As you all know, the most recent edition of Fionavar that came out in America was a trade paperback, with new artwork by the very talented Janny Wurts and Don Maitz. They painted one big picture divided into three sections/seasons, and each section was featured as the cover of one of the books of the trilogy. On their own website, they've put up a graphic of the full painting, as well as a selection of graphics showing the development of the painting from monotone to colour. It's very interesting, and I've added the link under the pictures of the covers in the Art Gallery. But to save you going all that way to find it, here's the link: http://www.paravia.com/Janny_Don/index2.html

Hugo Awards 2002
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Every year, the Hugo awards for best works in Science Fiction and Fantasy for the previous year are awarded at the World Science Fiction Convention. This year, the Convention is taking place in San Jose, around the end of August. Why am I telling you this now? Because every year, as a privilege to the city organising the convention, it is allowed to add an additional category to the awards list. And this year, the people at San Jose have taken advantage of this privilege to add the category: Best Website. Now you can see why I'm bringing it up... I can't imagine a better way to celebrate Bright Weavings than to win a Hugo for it! (Well I can't imagine even that, really - imagine! A Hugo!) And anyone can vote for the Hugos, which is something you might not know - all you have to do is be a member of the convention. And if you're not actually going to attend the convention, you can buy a supporting membership, at a greatly reduced rate ($35, I think) which entitles you to vote for the Hugos, and to receive the convention publications etc. The reason I bring this up now is because the deadline for buying supporting memberships is 31st January, which is fast approaching. And if any of you do think that Bright Weavings is the best website out there in the field, or even one of the best, I wanted to let you know about this opportunity for voting for it. Of course by joining you'll also be able to vote for best novel, best film, etc... so - if you do want to vote for Bright Weavings; if you think it deserves it, then I am more than grateful to you, and you can find out about getting your supporting membership at the following website: http://www.conjose.org. The page which explains about the best website award can be found here: http://www.conjose.org/wsfs/wsfs_web.html, and the page where you can apply for membership is here: http://www.conjose.org/Member/signup.html.

Speaking of Hugos for Best Film, there's been a lot of discussion in the Forums about a certain film just out that just might qualify (well, it'll probably win, won't it). And of course there's been plenty of discussion about other things as well...

In the Forums
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> Bill the Pony
Well it's bound to be a topic of conversation in any fantasy related forum, isn't it? The Fellowship of the Ring is out, and just about everyone has been to see it. But what has the response been, to a screen adaptation of arguably the most influential fantasy ever? Here are some points of view from the forums (which will include spoilers, so if you haven't seen the film yet, skip this section!)...

Jim says:
"Saw FOTR last night with my family. Enjoyed it quite a bit. Naturally, with such a rich book that's a great favorite, there are disappointments, but on the whole I was very impressed. The only character whose appearance seemed off was Elrond; he didn't have the gravitas I associate with the big E. Galadriel wasn't imposing enough for me, but not too bad. Everyone else seemed very good. I would have liked to see Bombadil (how great would Simon Callow have been in that role?). I think the main omission was the developing relationship between Legolas and Gimli. I didn't understand why Aragorn chose to let Frodo and Sam go at the end; I think the movie set that up much less well than the book. Oh well. As I said, very good job against all sorts of difficulties."

Firrineach says:
"Just saw the movie for the third time (probably the last time on the big screen unless they rerelease it) and I've noticed yet more details and nice touches. One of them made me feel better about the whole Legolas/Gimli relationship. If you look carefully, you'll notice that after they leave Galadriel's woods, and are on the three canoes, who are sharing one of the canoes: Legolas and Gimli! It's a subtle but nice touch to sum up their growing friendship. Other nice touches: The three stoned trolls in the background of one of the Fellowship's rest stops (that is, the trolls turned to stone from the Hobbit, not trolls on drugs The good-bye to Bill the Pony before going into the mines (he was after all practically one of the Fellowship in the book!) When they're all climbing the snow covered mountains, Legolas is walking on top of the snow where everyone else sinks waist deep."

Bridget says:
"I have to say that overall I'm a tad disappointed. No question but it looked great. Star of the show was definitely the scenery, and if anyone has a spare ticket to New Zealand I will gladly be your slave for a year and a day. Best moments: Gandalf and the Balrog, the Nazgul galloping, the Argonath. But: agree totally with Deborah about Merry and Pippin. The characters I know and love from the books are practical, courageous and quick-witted (think of Pippin dropping his Lorien brooch, or their initial conversation with Treebeard). The film gave me a couple of clowns. It felt like someone had failed to understand that there's a difference between having a lively curiosity and a cheerful outlook on life, and being half-witted childish jokers. It pulled all of hobbitdom down to a laughable level, which makes nonsense of the whole story.
Note to self: don't rant. Actually I think there are two main problems. The first is theirs and the second is mine. Their problem is that FoTR may be one book, but it contains two story-arcs. The introductory chapters and the hobbits' journey to Rivendell form a coherent unit in themselves, which would make a good film and be a darn sight easier to pace. Ditto for the journey from Rivendell to Parth Galen. They had to try and give a shape to the whole thing, to make it a story within the story, which meant they had to put different emphases on what was happening to the main characters at different points. And those of us that know the book well are bound to feel unsettled about that. The second problem is purely mine, which is that I know the BBC radio dramatisation very well. And since that has thirteen hours and no need to show drawn-out battles with cave trolls, it's much more faithful to the book. And mostly brilliantly acted. Highly recommended, but you might want to wait until you've seen all three films, in case my symptoms are catching."

And if you want to read more analysis and discussion, or put in your own opinion of the film, click through to:

http://www.brightweavings.com/scgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?2/160

> Make Your Move...

Some light relief here, as Daisyjane suggests a new game - GGK chess sets and who the pieces would be. And I'm not just highlighting this one because someone named me Queen of the Bright Weavings chess set, honest. We have suggestions for a Fionavar chess set, an Arbonne set, an 'unconventional' chess set, and a Bright Weavings chess set. Who would you place as King, Queen, Rook, or Castle for a Tigana or Lions chess set? Click through to make your move...

http://www.brightweavings.com/scgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?2/163

> Bit o' Fun

Well that's the title of the thread, but I think it developed into far more than a bit o' fun. Jaap started a new thread asking a question to the forums denizens, but it was a thread with a difference. When you answer the question that was left, you also have to leave another question for the next person. This meant that the thread developed in some very interesting ways, with a lot of interesting questions being posed, and answered. Questions included: If you could have Mr. Kay explore one single era in an upcoming novel, which would it be; what incident within any one of Kay's books made you laugh the most and why; would you change the ending of Tigana if you could; how is everybody reading the Weaver - as creator, or the fates, or a combination? And what's the significance of saying that the storm that drives the ship aground was the Weaver's storm; what scene or event in any of Mr Kay's books caught you most by surprise; If you were to change the title of any of the books, which book, to what and why... and many more. A quickfire, fascinating thread which deserves a read. And of course, you can always leave your own question - after you've answered the last one posed, of course!

http://www.brightweavings.com/scgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?2/161

Well, I think that's it from me for this time! I hope you all have a very good 2002, and don't forget to register to be a supporting member of the San Jose convention if you want to vote for any of those Hugos.

Till next time,

Deborah