June was Audiobook Month, which I forgot, because it’s not like Halloween where everybody keeps reminding you it’s coming up (which seems unfair because audiobooks are at least as awesome as chocolate eggs). But allow me to make up for this with some Videos of Me.

First I go behind the scenes with Alan Cumming, audiobook narrator of the Leviathan series audiobooks and all-around awesome actor. (Floop! Nightcrawler! And now MacBeth!)

If you want to hear a sample of Alan actually reading the books, we can arrange that too. Click for the first chapters of Leviathan, Behemoth, or Goliath.

And lastly, here’s me in one of early prototype ads for Levaiathan. (You can see how much I’ve aged over the last three years. Touring does that.)

Hah, fooled you! Not actually me, but MaxSanKoll. A young YouTube talent who made this and a much weirder sequel, which gets bonus points for the Imogen Heap soundtrack,

Okay, return to your homes. FAF will return next Friday (or maybe Saturday) when I get to my dad’s house to chill out after my exhausting trip to New York. While there, I’ll be doing an online chat with Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan, co-authors of the upcoming book, Team Human. Mostly we’ll be discussing what it’s like to collaborate on a novel.

Figment.com Chat
Sunday July 8
8PM US-ET (5PM Pacific Time, 10AM Monday AUS-ET)
Click here to find out more.

Now go buy some audio books or check them out from the library, even though it’s July.

Welcome to part 3 of the Manual of Aeronautics art reveal. As you may recall, the voting for part 2 was very close between the Stormwalker and the Clanker uniforms. The Stormwalker won by a hair, but second place counts!

So rather than vote again, let’s just get with the Clanker uniforms. I know from my mail that lots of you cosplayers have been waiting for these color versions, so you’ll be pleased by that, and by the detail on these. (Of course, they’re a lot more detailed in the book. Computer screens have about 100 pixels per inch, but printed paper is between 600 and 1600 pixels per inch.)

This reveal shows what Alek and Volger would typically wear into battle.

Alek is wearing a typical walker pilot’s uniform. Above the waist, it’s based on the historical Austrian cavalry officer’s uniform, but the trousers and knee padding are special for pilots. You would bang the crap out of your knees and shins working in a walker, Keith surmised, and designed accordingly. (Also, Keith told me that the pilot’s pickelhaube helmet has a special foldy-downy spike, so he won’t poke his crewmates).

Volger’s is more of a classic cavalry uniform, because he wasn’t really in an armored unit. (He just got stuck riding around in the Stormwalker.) Note his crazy flat-topped helmet, which is called a schapska. Schapskas are typically worn by cavalry units that used lances, though by 1914 most of them would have switched to rifles and swords (especially in the Leviathan universe, with armored walkers roaming around). Volger doesn’t actually wear his schapska in the book, because he never appears in full dress uniform.

UPDATE
As Amo points out in comment 5 below, there is one image where Volger appears in his schapska, in Chapter 15 of Behemoth. I stand corrected!

This page in the Manual itself will also show the walker crewman uniforms, such as Klopp, Hoffman, and Bauer would wear. And there’s another two-page spread with four Darwinist air-navy uniforms (sailors, riggers, officers, and midshipmen), complete with all their various patches and equipment.

Hope you like these, and keep up the cosplay!

You can pre-order the Manual from the usual online joints: Powell’s, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or IndieBound. And it will be at your local bricks-and-mortar store on August 21.

There was flu here at Casa Larbfeld South this weekend, so FAF is taking another holiday. SORRY. But you’ll get lashings of fan art this coming Friday.

I’ve never seen the Manual of Aeronautics art reveal voting so close! I might have to actually count the votes by hand, AND THIS WOULD BE HARD.

So let’s just say this: today we do the Stormwalker, and in a couple of weeks the Clanker uniforms (AKA Cosplay Color Guide). And I’ll keep the Sultan’s Elephant in the running for the next vote.

Okay? Okay.

Then here is . . . the Cyklop Stormwalker, revealed!

Image by Keith Thompson. Click here for the BIGNESS. You know you want to.

As you may know, the images for the Manual were first created as world-building exercises. In other words, they started life guides for my writing and Keith’s future illustrations, and only later became fodder for The Manual of Aeronautics.

I first saw this one very early on, about halfway through Leviathan. Until that moment I hadn’t realize how cramped the Stormwalker would have to be, especially with five people riding around in it. Seeing this cutaway changed the whole way those interior scenes were written, because it was so cramped. (No crossing of legs or waving of arms. Just constrained movements and facial expressions?)

But seriously, just imagine riding around in this thing for weeks on end. It would be super oppressive and make everyone cranky. I hope I got that across.

BONUS WRITING ADVICE: I recommend that all you aspiring novelists to create visual aids like this. Even if your book is set in a regular civilian house, making a floor plan can be incredibly useful. Even if your readers never see these plans, they’ll sense whether you know how your world is put together or not.

For example, seeing this cutaway made me add the bit where Volger sticks his head out and then prods Alek with his feet. So it was good not only for atmosphere, but also for a moment of comedy between the two.

Note that this isn’t the only image of the Stormwalker in the Manual. There will also be:

1) Two outside images, comparing Alek’s Hapsburg House Guard Stormwalker to the standard Austrian Army issue.

2) An interior image, showing how the controls work!

Okay, see you Friday, and probably before then. The cover of part 2 of the Uglies manga Cutters should be here soon.

It’s time to vote again for the next art reveal from The Manual of Aeronautics, the four-color all singing and dancing art supplement to the Leviathan series. This time we’re going Clanker!

Here are the three possibilities:

1) The Sultan’s elephant walker

2) An interior cutaway of the Stormwalker

3) And for you cosplayers, Alek’s and Count Volger’s uniforms in full color!

Use this comment thread to argue and discuss all you want, but please vote by number.

Other News

If you’re age 18 to 25 and live in Queensland, Australia, the State Library is running a Young Writers Award competition that you might be interested in. It has a first-place cash prize of $2,000, and also lots of runners-up prizes, including a 12-month youth membership to Queensland Writers Centre. Any story length of up to 2500 words is acceptable.

You can find more info by clicking here.

Vote early and often!