Nine Worlds – Part Three.(Seriously a Duology? Bah… good things come in threes.)
Where am I?
“YOUR IN A ROOM!”
I am no longer at Nine Worlds, sadly. For me it was a little less shiny this year. (Did you over do it this year guys?) I decided to explore outside my usual workshop and panel interests. While it impacted on my experience as a whole I gained other perspectives. Nine Worlds 2015 was still all of the things the convention tries to be.
Best bits:
Knightmare Live.
Remember the TV show? Yes, there’s a stage show. Made all the better by the Nine Worlds Crowd.
IT IS NOT A SATCHEL!
…moving on…
Cosplay:
I don’t do cosplay, but wow do some people excel, spend hours (or the canny ones, mere moments) it is this mix of panels and cosplay which sets Nine Worlds apart from all other cons I have been to. Furiosa, Agent Carter, Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man – and ‘his’ Ghostbuster, Canary, so many that I didn’t know (sorry I can’t watch, read, listen to all the things!)
Panel:
Lemon Cakes and Courtesy: in defence of Lady Sansa Stark. Yes there are other people out there, real people, that ‘get’ Sansa, who see the Game of Thrones world through the most complex perspective of an 11 year old. Honestly people, it’s so not the same as the wisdom and life-skills you have as an adult. There wasn’t another panel going to come close.
Workshop:
The Creative Writing Track mixed nicely with All of The Books in previous years, for anyone wanting to improve their writing techniques while having fun, you should be here. You should already have 2016 tickets booked.
The generosity and all round niceness of The T-Party, along with the excellence of the Podcasting gang won the day this year, Future Tech filled in perfectly.
People
As always it’s the people who make Nine Worlds. Not the hotel service, not the niggly lack of air con in the rooms, the little grumbles which only bubble up midst hangover recovery, or on the last day. People who talk, who say hi! And those bloggers, podcasters and illustrious authors who understand “fan” rambles when they strike.
I was pleased to see these being presented at Nine Worlds, an award which in many many ways adopts the same ‘we are all equal’ approach as the event itself. Voters do not have to be a member of a group or pay to vote, and are very much a global award. These prizes encapsulate the level work in fantasy, truly exquisite in the crafted quality.
The niggles.*
The vendors area was a disappointment, this year, the kid friendly/tween aspect too, seemed to be a side thought. Over all? It was good, but last year was better. For the ‘niggly’ me, a lot was missing for an event which is supposed to cater for all the people, no matter who you are. Perhaps Nine Worlds is shifting a little to offer more of a niche? It must be extraordinarily hard to gather something for everyone, and cover all the things, to balance all the needs of those things. Just don’t wander too far out of orbit Nine Worlds, please, you are port for many people with diverse interests, in a genre with just as much random unique offerings.
After all, the third in the series doesn’t always live up to the first.
*Niggles that did not ruin my weekend.
Will I be there next year? Maybe.
Blog round up:
http://rhube.co.uk/wp/2015/08/11/nine-worlds-nine-worlds-it-was-better-than-ever/
http://breyahs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/nine-worlds-my-thoughts-and-experiences.html
http://www.foxspirit.co.uk/not-the-fox-news-nine-worlds-2015/
http://ashinyworld.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/dancing-in-rain.html