Cobra Slave by Timothy Zahn (Cobra Rebellion Trilogy, Book 1)

I actually read this last month. Started and finished in two days flat, then picked up another book just a day or two later. Hence when I first sat down to sketch something from this... my mind was blank. I went too fast for any particular picture to stick in my mind. Oops. Normally I'd count it a loss at this point, but the book has been sitting in my studio for weeks now, waiting for me to open it back up and find something to draw. I did give it a try a while ago, attempting to design the Troft, but... it wasn't a sketch worth seeing the light of day.

Instead, I leave you with one simple sketch of a scene I found amusing...

Lorne jumps into an arrowcrest tree to avoid being dragged off by the Dominion Marines

We Few by David Weber & John Ringo (Empire of Man Series, Book 4)

   Not so much a full scene here, just... pieces of a scene.

See, putting Mr. Chung (a.k.a. Roger a.k.a. the one-legged dude in this sketch) into a strong, dynamic pose proved to be a bit... difficult.

Ah well, try, try, and try again, eh?

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On another note... I don't usually get emotionally stirred up by novels. The exception being, I will occasionally laugh out loud while reading, and yes, a good book when finished will often leave me giddily happy. But besides that, any effect on my emotions is pretty minor. 

Ha. I did not expect this book to be an exception. But it is. There's this one scene... I don't want to give too much away, but for those who've read it: it's when Roger finds his mother. And for whatever reason, that almost choked me up a little. (Maybe the fact that I was up reeeal late reading had something to do with that.) (No, for those of you who *haven't* read it... it wasn't a warm fuzzy moment. It's heartbreaking, and anger-inducing.) The tension up to that point is real high, and I guess it just got to me.

March to the Stars by David Weber & John Ringo (Empire of Man Series, Book 3)

Civan and their Mardukan riders.

I confess: Fun as creature design may be, it does take time to come up with something decent. So when it comes to sketching for this blog, I tend to avoid the harder-to-imagine creatures/aliens... Or go with a fairly basic design, say, based on examples on the cover, if any.

But the civan, at least, seem to be pretty straightforward. They're often compared to velociraptors (though obviously much, much bigger. More like utahraptors.) Nasty critters.

Now imagine a cavalry of several hundred civan, ridden by 3-meter-tall, four-armed Mardukans armed to the teeth with lances... shields... massive swords... black powder pistols. Colorful, billowing banners bearing the emblems of their once great, now fallen, cities. Charging full-tilt  (like the one in the lower right corner in the sketch above.) Ohhh yes. That's a picture begging to be painted.

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"Ah, freedom!" ... "You have an unusual concept of freedom, Roger."

March to the Sea by David Weber & John Ringo (Empire of Man Series, Book 2)

   The purely Mardukan variant of poker, which would have made the professionals of New Vegas choke if they ever saw it, said that any player could call a check of all the cards once per game. The rule also required that all the Mardukans at the table throw all of their cards on the table and raise their hands above their heads. ...

Card check!

   ...Roger kicked back and laughed silently while he watched. The locals had the oddest approach to cheating he'd ever heard of. If you weren't cheating, they considered you stupid. But if you got caught, they considered you a gross incompetent. As soon as they'd figured out the ways they could cheat at cards, they'd leapt in with abandon. Spades and the other whist derivative games were the only ones where they couldn't hide cards, but even then they bottom-dealt, cross-dealt, and stacked decks so cold they froze. And yet they still played for money. 

~~~~~ 

<---  The last of the barbarian horde, trapped on the Great Bridge, pressed on one side by 'demons' and the other by a terrible killbox full of smoke and fire. They are broken. Even those who survive will clearly never be the same. Their chieftain clutches his ancient, ceremonial battleax, and steps up onto the wall.

He will not be taken alive. He will not allow the great ax to fall into enemy hands...

March Upcountry by David Weber & John Ringo (Empire of Man Series, Book 1)

     You hear the phrase time and again... "Don't judge a book by its cover."

For years I've seen these books scattered around the house, with gradually migrating bookmarks in 'em... obviously much enjoyed by various family members... yet, I was never interested in picking up the first book and reading it. Why? The covers! I wasn't willing to take the actual story seriously because of the covers. I was turned off before reading a single word. I know, I know: how silly of me... but it's true. The only reason I decided to finally read this book is because I'm planning to go to a convention which David Weber and John Ringo will both be attending. So, hey, might as well read SOMEthing by them before going, right?

Heh. I'm glad I finally gave it a chance. I enjoyed it, in spite of the high level of language and violence (what do you expect... it's a story about a company of Marines fighting their way across a planet full of barbarian hordes and all sorts of nasty creatures.)

Sgt. Julian has a close encounter with some yaden (a.k.a. giant vampire moths)

 

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Prince Roger & Cord fighting back-to-back on the walls of Voitan

  His magazine clicked suddenly empty, and he tossed the rifle into "his" bunker and waded in with the katana as he had before. This battle was a complete madhouse, with dozens of screaming barbarians clambering over the parapets, their false-hands holding the ladders and both true-hands filled with weapons. Trading parries with a scummy who was better than usual, Roger found himself back-to-back with Cord and realized they were practically alone. ...

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Prince Roger dueling Kranolta barbarians