Today's Evil Beet Gossip

Viral Video: Introducing Your New Favorite Sci-Fi Novelist, Rainn Wilson

Here’s Rainn Wilson as Xanthony O’Harbinger, author of the noted Dragonsingers of Kronn series. Boy, there sure were a lot of dweeby jokes embedded in just that one sentence.

Granted, it’s pretty impossible for O’Harbinger to sidestep comparisons to the metafictional Garth Marenghi. But more importantly, what is this video even for? I mean, it’s got to be a viral promotion for something. (I spend too much time on the Internet.)

Colin Meloy—of the Decemberists‘ fame—tweeted a link to the Rainn Wilson video, promising “more to come!” He included the hashtag #wildwoodbook; Wildwood is the first in Meloy’s anticipated Wildwood Chronicles series of children’s books. The books follow the main character, little Prue McKeel, into the Impassable Wilderness, a magical and uncharted forest located right on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon.

And with that, I’ve totally solved the mystery of this video, you guys! It’s part of a viral push for Colin Meloy’s series of fantastical kids’ books. Weeeeird.