Peter Orullian to write and release a novelization of SFAM

[Wim Kruithof]

I wasn't planning on buying the book until I watched this conversation. I then proceeded to buy the collectors edition for $120 

Was $100 when I preordered it. Orullian is going through the roof...

[CodyWanKenobi]

Was $100 when I preordered it. Orullian is going through the roof...

The tax and shipping put it up to $120. It's listed as $100 though.

[ZirconBlue]

I mean, if he says it didn't, it didn't, BUT HOW

On one hand the parallels are obvious, but on the other hand the similarities are pretty superficial.  The general outline is similar -- reincarnation (with a gender swap), murder, and a hypnotherapist -- but the specifics of the story are different.   

[HOF]

On one hand the parallels are obvious, but on the other hand the similarities are pretty superficial.  The general outline is similar -- reincarnation (with a gender swap), murder, and a hypnotherapist -- but the specifics of the story are different.   

I wonder if Mike had seen the movie and the others never had, and Mike kind of proposed elements of Dead Again to John as they were plotting out the story without John knowing or caring that they were also in that movie.

[CodyWanKenobi]

I wonder if Mike had seen the movie and the others never had, and Mike kind of proposed elements of Dead Again to John as they were plotting out the story without John knowing or caring that they were also in that movie.

This was exactly my thinking.

[RaiseTheKnife]

Love these kind of things.  Pre-ordered.

[gborland]

JP knows full well the story was inspired by Dead Again.

He's just covering his ass for legal reasons.

[HOF]

It actually doesn't matter legally speaking if he knew about Dead Again at the time they wrote SFAM. At least I'm pretty sure that's not the standard for copyright infringement.

[MoraWintersoul]

If it was such a problem the question just wouldn't be asked, so I guess it's as far as JP's concerned, this movie did not inspire him personally. I do find it a bit hard to believe but eh. Hypnotherapy and eastern religious concepts like reincarnation were hot in the 90's and these themes popped up in a lot of works. I watched an episode of X Files a couple of months ago where Mulder explored his past lives, and he was a woman in one of them, and they spent the entire episode on him reliving his past life memories under hypnosis.

[Herrick]

I wonder if Mike had seen the movie and the others never had, and Mike kind of proposed elements of Dead Again to John as they were plotting out the story without John knowing or caring that they were also in that movie.

I watched part of that podcast/interview and I thought Petrucci said none of them had seen the movie until after they wrote the album. I can't check it now because I'm at work.

[wizard]

Is there a topic to talk about tje live Q&A answers with James LaBrie, John Petrucci and Peter Orullian? If yes, could you post here the link to this topic?

[Wim Kruithof]

Is there a topic to talk about tje live Q&A answers with James LaBrie, John Petrucci and Peter Orullian? If yes, could you post here the link to this topic?

Since that live Q&A was based on the Scenes From a Memory novel, this seems the very topic to chat along...

[hefdaddy42]

Comment to bring this thread back to the top, since it was actually created this year, not in 2010.

[Wim Kruithof]

Comment to bring this thread back to the top, since it was actually created this year, not in 2010.

I'm still kind of shocked / overwhelmed by your reaction on the other thread you locked. Wow, he must have red-flagged something there.

(Kind of) On topic, since the last Q&A I figured I'll contact Orullian and ask him if he could personalize and sign my hardcover copy of The Astonishing... since I wasn't aware of any limited versions when I bought the book.

He reacted in such a nice way, I've send my book to the States and he will return it in the same box with the limited version of the Scenes-novel, personalized and signed. What a very, very nice guy Orullian really is.

[hefdaddy42]

I'm still kind of shocked / overwhelmed by your reaction on the other thread you locked. Wow, he must have red-flagged something there.

There was a compounding of events. 

(Kind of) On topic, since the last Q&A I figured I'll contact Orullian and ask him if he could personalize and sign my hardcover copy of The Astonishing... since I wasn't aware of any limited versions when I bought the book.

He reacted in such a nice way, I've send my book to the States and he will return it in the same box with the limited version of the Scenes-novel, personalized and signed. What a very, very nice guy Orullian really is.

That's really cool!

[Wim Kruithof]

I wonder, many of you must have the novel by now. Since it would take a while for it to get shipped to The Netherlands, I hope it's send on his way on this release day. Really have been looking forward to it.

[HOF]

Today is the 25th anniversary of the release of SFAM (per MP's Facebook post). Giving it a full listen for the first time in a while. It still has all the flaws that kept it from being a favorite back when it came out (awkward concept and lyrics, lack of really memorable songs despite some exciting musical passages). But there sure is a lot of nostalgia associated with this for me as the first new release after I got into DT.

[SoundscapeMN]

got my paperback copy today!

[Pebsie]

There's a conversation going on over on /r/dreamtheater over whether the book is also using AI art, as one of the posted illustrations from the book appeared to have 6 fingers. A user called MonsterMansion posted this explanation:



and in addition, Ratistim found this quote from Peter Orullian: "The art is not Al generated. We had two French artists create it. One uses a composite method for his unique style, but there was no Al used in the book in any way." along with the two artists: artist 1, artist 2.

Great news for the fellas that care about this stuff, and perhaps a leeway into a broader conversation about Hugh Syme's use of AI for the Parasomnia album art negatively impacting the perception of the band overall as a provider of quality products. But this isn't the thread for that.

[Pettor]

Personally it was the last picture that felt off and ai generated:

Link to Instagram Picture


Maybe this is an artistic choice but the picture doesn't look good when looking closer at the details. Building mash into each other, stuff that makes no sense and just a general chaotic feeling that is consistent with ai generated content.

[Pebsie]

Personally it was the last picture that felt off and ai generated:

Link to Instagram Picture


Maybe this is an artistic choice but the picture doesn't look good when looking closer at the details. Building mash into each other, stuff that makes no sense and just a general chaotic feeling that is consistent with ai generated content.

I think it's weird compositing rather than anything AI related. The buildings all have a consistent style and don't have any of the wavy edges or weird additions you'd expect from AI. It looks partially hand painted, too; you can see the brush strokes in this section, for example.

[Zydar]

I think I'll wait for the eBook, but I'm also interested in the paperback edition. 

[Pettor]

I think it's weird compositing rather than anything AI related. The buildings all have a consistent style and don't have any of the wavy edges or weird additions you'd expect from AI. It looks partially hand painted, too; you can see the brush strokes in this section, for example.

The right arrow points to a section that initially convinced me that this could be ai. The way the skyline just fades out at the top and then some random other building is just mashed on top looks off. Also the artifacts in the image where the arrow to the left points strike me as something I typically see from ai generated pictures.

[Pebsie]

The right arrow points to a section that initially convinced me that this could be ai. The way the skyline just fades out at the top and then some random other building is just mashed on top looks off. Also the artifacts in the image where the arrow to the left points strike me as something I typically see from ai generated pictures.

The whole red building section looks like a completely different image pasted on-top of the city scape -- but the style of that section is consistent with the top corners of the image, but not the bottom of the image. Neither section looks AI generated, though, and the fact that they're such wildly different styles leads me to believe that it was a concious choice or a mistake. AI wouldn't do that. It'd be strange to hire two artists, publicly attach them to the project and explicitly state that AI wasn't used if it was. I think it's more likely to just be good old fashioned bad compositing.

[Pettor]

The whole red building section looks like a completely different image pasted on-top of the city scape -- but the style of that section is consistent with the top corners of the image, but not the bottom of the image. Neither section looks AI generated, though, and the fact that they're such wildly different styles leads me to believe that it was a concious choice or a mistake. AI wouldn't do that. It'd be strange to hire two artists, publicly attach them to the project and explicitly state that AI wasn't used if it was. I think it's more likely to just be good old fashioned bad compositing.

Haha I generated an AI image of New York, similar to the one above, and yeah 😅 Almost forgot how hard that type of image is for AI. Let's say the artifacts are just not limited to a small area 😬

I also don't want to be in the "everything is AI" camp. I see all images from DT posted for the album or this novel gets bashed for ai for things that are obviously not AI.

[Pebsie]

I see all images from DT posted for the album or this novel gets bashed for ai for things that are obviously not AI.

To be fair, the album art for Parasomnia is heavily AI. Not entirely, but ALMOST entirely. But we've had that discussion to death on the Parasomnia thread

[Pettor]

To be fair, the album art for Parasomnia is heavily AI. Not entirely, but ALMOST entirely. But we've had that discussion to death on the Parasomnia thread

Yeah, I saw a lot of discussion recently, but should check the thread I guess.

To me that felt less AI honestly and just ordinary Hugh 😅 I remember the discussion back in the days related to the 8V artwork and multiple iterations because people saw obvious mistakes everywhere. What's the details that give it away?

[hefdaddy42]

People are receiving the paperback version.  But those of us who ordered the hardcover are patiently waiting.

Which is the exact opposite to how every other book on the planet has its publication cycle.

[Wim Kruithof]

People are receiving the paperback version.  But those of us who ordered the hardcover are patiently waiting.

Which is the exact opposite to how every other book on the planet has its publication cycle.

Had contact with Orullian. He said the hardcover will not be shipped before the 8th of November.

[hefdaddy42]

Had contact with Orullian. He said the hardcover will not be shipped before the 8th of November.

Thanks!

[Wim Kruithof]

Since not anyone in here is lunatic enough to wait for the limited version, I'll figure many have red (a great part of) the paperback already. I am interested in what you think, is the way the storyline unfolds surprising, does it fit with your own idea of the concept?

I was foolish enough to order both the paperback and limited edition the same time. I should have only ordered the limited, so I could have bought the paperback at the merch corner of the gig in Köln, Germany. I did consider to buy it either way, but with the package arriving in a couple of weeks, that would be a little over the top.

At least, that's what my wife would have said.

[Zydar]

I just placed an order for this, it will arrive some time next week. 

[dream416]

Just curious if anyone who ordered the Limited Edition have received any shipping notice yet? Thanks.

[Wim Kruithof]

Just curious if anyone who ordered the Limited Edition have received any shipping notice yet? Thanks.

Still waiting and it's taking too freakin' long. But - as I did with The Astonishing as well - I ordered it also on Apple Books, so starting to read the novel yesterday. And I really like it this far.

[MarkX]

I reached out to Peter yesterday and he replied "Books started shipping yesterday. It will take ten days to ship them all. Soon!"

So...eventually...perhaps...maybe...