Goblins run amok!

You may not have known, but today is the big day. Jim Hines' book, Goblin Quest, is being released. As part of his virtual book tour Jim has volunteered to take questions from bloggers. You can read more at the virtual tour headquarters: http://www.sff.net/people/jchines/GQ/Tour.htm

I read Goblin Quest last year before its mass market release. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was an adventure book with wit, humor and compassion. If you have any questions about the book, check out his site. Else you can post a question in the comments with the hope that Jim may pay us another visit.

Q) I understand there is the possibility that Goblin Quest may be published in Europe. Here in Denmark, role-playing games (RPG) are popular. Stores (even local grocery stores) carry costumes, swords, etc. (not just before Halloween) and Alexa sees teenagers at the train station most afternoons with cloaks, elf ears, and other embellishments. You can also see from one of my early posts about the medieval festival that there's a large group of reenactors here. Do you see RPG popularity growing in the US?

A) My agent, Steve Mancino, has done a wonderful job of selling foreign rights. At the moment, we have translations coming out in Russia, Germany, and the Czech Republic. It's been so much fun seeing the translated title (DIE GOBLINS, in German), or my name in Cyrillic, or the different artwork other publishers are using for the book. We'll probably do another round of foreign marketing now that the DAW edition is in print.

I do think role-playing has become more popular and more accepted than it was when I first started playing, almost ::mumble-mumble:: years ago. (I played First-Edition Basic D&D, if that tells you anything.) Back then, I didn't see too many other games, and of course I lived right by Michigan State University, home of the college students who were rumored to have snuck down into the steam tunnels and gotten themselves killed. All inspired by that horrible, Satanic role-playing, of course.

These days, there are too many gaming systems to count. You've got the traditional paper and rulebooks and dice games like AD&D, the CCGs like Magic the Gathering, the multi-user computer games like City of Heroes... The stuff's everywhere! Not to mention some great gaming-related material. Comics like Dork Tower and PVP and Order of the Stick are on my daily Favorites list these days.

I haven't seen quite the popularity you're seeing in Denmark, though. No cloaked elves on my way to work or swords in the grocery stores. But I certainly think it's been growing here in the U.S. Sadly, I had to stop attending our local game back when my son was born. But Jamie has already proven his skill with his big plush die. Given his size and his propensity for tackling things, I think he'll make a great dwarf.

Thanks for the fun question, Andy! If I ever make it out that way, I definitely want you to take me to these grocery stores!

To elaborate more on role playing games in Denmark, Alexa says she saw a father running down the street by the train station with a sword that his son must have forgotten at home. Live action role playing is big here. Wikipedia says an estimated 100,000 Danish children play on a regular basis. That's a lot of people in a country with a population just over 5 million. If things go well with the German translation, a Danish translation might be a logical followup. Best wishes and congratulations to Jim!!!