The RJ Message Board Newbie FAQ

THE QUESTIONS:

1. What books are in the Adversary Cycle?
2. Where can I find [insert title of book]?
3. What are all the Repairman Jack books?
4. Why is Jack doing this/saying that/etc when he has already seen this/done that in NIGHTWORLD? OR Why is the Jack in NIGHTWORLD so ignorant of things he should know about from his adventures in the Repairman Jack books?
5. Will we see any sequels to Nightworld/The Adversary Cycle?
6. Will we see any prequels to The Keep/Adversary Cycle?
7. What does FPW think of the movie version of The Keep?
7.5. Is FPW going to write any more scifi?
8. Do the LaNague books have any connection back to the rest of his fiction/the AC?
9. What about the Jack movie?
10. What actor is being cast for Jack? Does FPW have any say in it?
11. Does F. Paul Wilson have any pseudonyms?
12. Is there a chatroom or something where I can talk to other FPW fans? How about fan pages?
13. What is "Demonsong" and where can I get a copy?
14. What is the timeline for the Repairman Jack books?
15. Where will FPW be making appearances, and what is the current state of his work?

THE ANSWERS:

1. What books are in the Adversary Cycle?

"The Adversary Cycle" (also/originally known as "The Nightworld Cycle" -- this name is printed in the front of some early editions of NIGHTWORLD) consists of the following novels, which should be read in the order listed for maximum appreciation of the plotline:

THE KEEP - THE TOMB - THE TOUCH - REBORN - REPRISAL - NIGHTWORLD

2. Where can I find [insert title of book]?

The first place you should look to find FPW books is Amazon or some other large bookstore. This is because if you can find the books there, it's usually the cheapest place to get them new. As of this writing, Amazon has the following FPW books available: HOSTS (hardback); THE TOMB (revised paperback 1998 edition); THE KEEP (re-issued 2000 paperback); ALL THE RAGE (hardcover and paperback); CONSPIRACIES (paperback and special edition hardcover); LEGACIES (paperback); THE CHRISTMAS THINGY (hardcover); THE BARRENS AND OTHERS (hardcover, trade paperback); NIGHTKILL (paperback, hardcover); MIRAGE (paperback); MASQUE (paperback); IMPLANT (paperback); DEEP AS THE MARROW (paperback); DIAGNOSIS: TERMINAL (paperback).

Note that although I say these books are "available," you may in fact have a wait of two or more weeks before they are found by Amazon and shipped. Nevertheless I encourage you to go and look for your missing books on Amazon. If they don't have them in stock, there is almost certainly an Amazon-associated specialty shop that does. This is a great option if you don't mind buying used, or are specifically looking for special/first editions.

A site that lots of RJ board members favor, largely because of its name but also for its great search engine, is Abe Books. Use their handy dandy search function to find just about any book, in or out of print, used or new, special edition or mass market paperback. This is just about the ONLY way you will find the extremely rare books such as THE TOUCH, unless you have lots and lots of time to haunt used book stores (I don't). Another good place to check for old books is Half.com; several of us have had luck there. eBay is always a prospect but it may frustrate you if you are into immediate and definite gratification since you must compete against other bidders. Then again, maybe you get off on that stuff. Last, but not least, don't forget to read our very own RJ message board. Once in a while a kind member offers up his extra copies of FPW books, and usually it's (my favorite word in the English language coming up) Free.

The hardest FPW items to find are THE TOUCH, the original hardcover editions of the LaNague books (HEALER, WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS, AN ENEMY OF THE STATE), and to a lesser extent the original editions of the rest of the AC. The easiest original hardcover edition to find seems to be BLACK WIND. You can pick this up for a low price on eBay or half.com. In addition, the medical thrillers (IMPLANT, THE SELECT, DEEP AS THE MARROW) are, rather regrettably, easy to find on the bargain tables at large bookstores.

*NOTE NOTE NOTE*
The following links are to publishers who are producing current special editions or reprints of FPW's work. Please check them out before you pay $70 for a used first edition.

Reprints of HEALER and AN ENEMY OF THE STATE (I own these hardcovers and they are very nice.) are available from Stealth Books for a reasonable price: LaNague Books Reprints.

Cemetery Dance sells THE CHRISTMAS THINGY and SIMS (a serial novel), as well as compilations and back issues of their magazine with FPW stories: Cemetery Dance.

Gauntlet Press has special editions of the Repairman Jack books as well as some chapbooks: Gauntlet Press.

In addition to his novels, FPW has written numerous short stories and introductions to other people's work. These short pieces are conveniently scattered over about 100 different compilations/con programs/magazines/etc, to the extent that only The Man himself and Aphew have any idea which, what, and where they are. If you are looking for a particular story, I suggest you post on the board and one of the two gentlemen named will track down the answer to your query. (Keeping track of all the short stories is beyond the purpose of this FAQ as well as my patience.) Some of these shorts are deviously difficult to get your hands on, so make like Obi-Wan and exercise a little Jedi zen while conducting your search. Otherwise you may well go mad like the rest of us.

If you are looking for a bibliography of The Man's work, look no further than his own website: F. Paul Wilson's Bibliography.

3. What are all the Repairman Jack books?

The Repairman Jack books are: THE TOMB, LEGACIES, CONSPIRACIES, ALL THE RAGE, HOSTS, and THE HAUNTED AIR. That is the order in which they were written and the order in which they occur on the timeline. Jack also makes an appearance in NIGHTWORLD, but that is not a Repairman Jack book per se.

4. Why is Jack doing this/saying that/etc when he has already seen this/done that in NIGHTWORLD? OR Why is the Jack in NIGHTWORLD so ignorant of things he should know about from his adventures in the Repairman Jack books?

At the time FPW was finishing up the Adversary cycle, he did not know he was going to write a whole new series of Jack books. A few years after NIGHTWORLD was published, FPW decided to write more Jack. However, considering the apocalyptic nature of Nightworld, he could hardly set his new Jack books after that novel. Therefore he decided instead to set the books in the (heretofore unchronicled) time between THE TOMB (the first Jack book) and NIGHTWORLD.

This gets very sticky because FPW threw in quite a few pop culture refs and definite dates into the Adversary Cycle (which ends in the early 90s), yet has set the Jack books in our current time. Thus many gentle readers are cornfused mightily when Jack doesn't know things he should in Nightworld, or is still running around eight years after the world has pretty much ended. This problem has been somewhat mitigated by the revised version of The Tomb (pub. 1998), in which pop culture refs were updated. When FPW is done with the latest round of Jack books, he plans to go back and revise Nightworld so that it meshes better with the current state of Jack's knowledge and adventures.

NOTE: See also FAQ number 14

5. Will we see any sequels to Nightworld/The Adversary Cycle?

FPW has given us a repeated and pretty definite "NO" to this question over the years. I doubt that is going to change.

6. Will we see any prequels to The Keep/Adversary Cycle?

This is something FPW has mentioned as a tentative possibility. Keep in mind he still has at least two more Jack books to go before he will even think about a Keep prequel, and I'm sure he has other projects in mind as well. Therefore it will be quite a while before we get a prequel, even IF (a big IF) he decides to write one. At this point I must allude to two of our boardmembers, Other-Paul and Aphew, who make weekly posts to plug the idea of a Keep Prequel. Note that neither of them are FPW, although Paul has been mistaken for him in a dark alley a time or two, and so they really don't know anymore about the status of the Keep Prequel than the rest of us fanboys (or girls). Don't be fooled by their witty and charming but otherwise baseless prequel ads!

For a word on the Keep Prequel directly from the horse's mouth, check out the following interview from October of 2001: Mystery Ink Interview with FPW.

7. What does FPW think of the movie version of The Keep?

He dislikes it. Actually, "dislike" may be too mild a word, although his feelings towards the Michael Mann-made (ha, I made a funny) film have mellowed ever so slightly over the years. Here was his response to our question in 1992: "AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!" And here is his response from 2001 (in reference to a Keep DVD release): "Let Mann do a director's commentary, and I'll do an author's commentary, pointing out what he =should= have done here and here...and there and there...and here and here..." As you can see, he is not a fan.

7.5. Is FPW going to write any more scifi?

FPW's latest scifi is the serial novel SIMS, available from Cemetery Dance. Note that SIMS is not set in the LaNague universe, and that FPW has no current plans to write more LaNague fiction.

8. Do the LaNague books have any connection back to the rest of his fiction/the AC?

I wasn't sure about this, so I asked FPW. Here is his answer:

"A verrrrrrry tenuous connection. Gurney from "Lipidleggin' " is a distant ancestor of Peter LaNague (alluded to in AEOTS). Gurney is also Jack's uncle on his mother's side. I'd planned to mention this in HOSTS but I think I forgot. (I'll work it in somewhere in the future, maybe have Jack's father say, "You're as stubborn as your damn Uncle Gurney!" or something like that.)"

And Aphew, our well-versed FPW scholar, adds:

"F. Paul has never stated where "Masque" sits in the LaNague universe, but its pretty obvious that it is out there somewhere. Yoshio (in "Legacies") works for the Kaze group. In "Masque" the organization seems to still exist, in a very big way (Kaze Glom)."

Thanks, Aphew and F. Paul!

9. What about the Jack movie?

The Repairman Jack movie, with a script apparently based on THE TOMB, has been languishing in "development hell" (as FPW is wont to say) for a few years now. The rights to the film are currently owned by Beacon Films, but expire soon, and FPW has said that he will not be renegotiating with Beacon if nothing has happened by then. The film has gone through a series of rewrites, and at this time there are no firm plans to begin production. Generally FPW posts film news as soon as he hears it, so keep your eye on the board.

Update July 2002: FPW posted the following on the board:

" The eighth script went out to a number of directors in July. Chuck Russell ("The Scorpion King") called and said he wanted a meeting. He sat down with Armian Bernstein (head of Beacon who wrote the 8th script himself) and the two producers who?ve been with the project since day one; he said (this is not firsthand and I?m paraphrasing), I know THE TOMB. I love THE TOMB. This script is not THE TOMB. He then spent two hours telling them where they?d gone wrong.

"Jim Gillespie ("I Saw What You Did Last Summer") wanted a meeting. He brought in his dog-eared copy of THE TOMB and said (in effect), I know THE TOMB. I love THE TOMB. This script is not THE TOMB.

"Apparently Mr. Bernstein has got the message. The producers have sent the third script (the one I like and closest to the novel) out to the directors. All the principals were scattered over North and Central America last week but they should be converging again in the coming week or two and maybe something will happen then. Their option runs out August 9th."

10. What actor is being cast for Jack? Does FPW have any say in it?

Since there are no firm plans to begin production, there is NO casting going on right now. Suggesting actors to FPW does no good at all, since he has no control over who they will cast if the film ever gets made. The last we heard, the script called for a late 20s/early 30s version of Jack, which would rule out most known (and aging) stars such as Bruce Willis, Michael Biehn, Kevin Costner, etc etc.

Please note that over the years, the regulars on the board have been through the "actor for Jack" discussion literally dozens of times. This explains why some of us resort to violence upon ourselves and/or others when someone makes a post like "Hey guys! Bruce Willis is the ONLY man to play Jack! Make sure you suggest him to the producers, Dr. Wilson!" The unending Actor for Jack thread is, in fact, the main reason we decided to write an FAQ. Not that we mind answering the same questions over and over and over and over, but for some reason this thread incites an ire equal only to a mention of the film version of THE KEEP. Don't take it personally. That's just how we are.

11. Does F. Paul Wilson have any pseudonyms?

Yes, FPW has been published in the UK under the pseudonym "Colin Andrews." He chose this name so that British people would be able to see his books without standing on their heads to see the bottom shelf, where the W authors are generally filed. Also, he once wrote a novel with his wife called VIRGIN (the novel, not the wife, hehe), which was published under the pen name Mary Elizabeth Murphy.

12. Is there a chatroom or something where I can talk to other FPW fans? How about fan pages?

Funny you should ask. Ahem. We used to meet at TalkCity frequently, but most of us hang out on AOL/Netscape Instant Messenger these days. It's more reliable, and it's easier to catch just one person at a time on. You can download the latest version of IM on either the AOL site or the Netscape site.

I have a fan page with yet more information and links pertaining to FPW. It also has lots of stuff about the regulars on the board, the meetings we've had, what we do for fun, and whether Tony is gay. For more fun than you've ever had in your life, go here: http://www.disneyland.com/. Otherwise, visit my page at http://www.ghosts.org/rj/. Lots of us have been stalking FPW on the net for years, so there is lots to go over. Hope you like it.

13. What is "Demonsong" and where can I get a copy?

"Demonsong" is a short story that introduces the characters Glaeken and Rasalom. It takes place (way) before THE KEEP. It originally appeared in the compilation "Heroic Fantasy," edited by Gerald. W. Page. That book is rare, but you can order the chapbook of this story from Gauntlet Press. Or, as Marc says: "The most likely way you'll get to see a form of this story if you don't find the chapbook or the magazine it was originally published in is if FPW writes a prequel to THE KEEP and, if he follows his usual pattern, 'Demon Song' will be integrated into it so you won't see the short story per-say, but an expanded form of it."

14. What is the timeline for the Repairman Jack books?

FPW provided the following timeline in response to this question:

THE TOMB and LEGACIES take place in Year X.

CONSPIRACIES, ALL THE RAGE, HOSTS, and THE HAUNTED AIR all take place in Year X+1.

THE TOUCH ends in August and FREAK SHOW ends in September of Year X+2

REPRISAL ends in February and NIGHTWORLD opens in May of Year X+3.

That puts Jack -- in the current novel -- about a year and a half from the apocalypse.

During this time Rasalom will figure out what he needs to do and get it done to precipitate NIGHTWORLD.

15. Where will FPW be making appearances, and what is the current state of his work?

The following appearances are scheduled:

August 23, 2002: Horrorfind, Baltimore, Maryland

October 19, 2002: GU-2, Atlanta, Georgia.

October 31-November 3, 2002: World Fantasy Convention, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

FPW recently posted an update on his work: http://www.repairmanjack.com/forum/config.pl?read=9677

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