Test Post with a new theme
By · CommentsText copied from a different post:
Ok, not “of doom”, exactly, but I’m hoping to get a job writing headlines for the UK tabloid press.
First up, another great review of The Bookman – this time, from The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf and Book Review:
One of the fascinating aspects of Steampunk is how authors alter the timeline and introduce historical characters, which The Bookman has in spades. The story starts off a bit sedately, but quickly moves into something all action oriented with nary a slow spot. The world building is immense as Tidhar has warped history into something altogether wonderful and exciting, which also shows the authors great love for the written word and the power it can convey.
While over at Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews, author Lavie Tidhar is grilled (in the questioning sense, not culinary):
M(DW): I read that you define your writings as weird fiction. Why an attraction towards the weird? Why do you define your works as weird fiction?
LT: I can’t really answer the why of it. I just tend to have this skewered way of viewing the world, I guess. The thing is, I like writing different things, mixing different genres, trying different approaches, and the only common denominator for them is the “weird”, is that they’re all kind of skewered. But I’d hate to be stuck in one single genre or sub-genre or whatever. I still want to write a cookbook! And I have this dream of one day writing a Mills & Boon romance…
A fabulous interview with Maurice Broaddus
By · CommentsOn the Amazon.com blog, Omnivoracious, writer, editor and all-round good egg Jeff Vandermeer interviews Maurice Broaddus, talking about faith, and the ways in which it informs his writing.
It’s a fascinating interview, and well worth 10 minutes of your time.
Amazon.com: Are there forms of fantastical or horror fiction that lend themselves more readily than others to religious issues?
Maurice Broaddus: I think horror naturally lends itself to religious issues. The first question I get asked is how I can be a Christian and write horror. The total depravity of man (if you want a Calvinistic loaded phrase), the nature of good and evil, the mystery of the afterlife, unseen spiritual forces (like angels or demons), or the meditation on mortality/our fear of death. So it was not hard to get thoughtful works of horror from the likes of Brian Keene or Kelli Dunlap.
Fantasy works just as well. It’s the world of Tolkien, Lewis, L’Engle, and MacDonald. Though, it seemingly is the form that more readily lends itself to allegory, which, when not done well, is little more than thinly veiled propaganda. That being said, we used a lot of contemporary and urban fantasy in the anthology, from Mary Robinette Kowal and Ekaterina Sedia to Jay Lake and Jennifer Pelland.
One might think that science fiction would seem to be the one least likely to lend itself to religious themes, with the (false) opposition between science and religion. Yet Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow was an amazing book. And Gary Braunbeck goes dark science fiction in his tale for the anthology.
Maurice’s King Maker is out now in the UK, and his Dark Faith anthology (co-edited with Jerry Gordon) is available from Apex Publications in May.
A few linkages of doom
By · CommentsOk, not “of doom”, exactly, but I’m hoping to get a job writing headlines for the UK tabloid press.
First up, another great review of The Bookman – this time, from The Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf and Book Review:
One of the fascinating aspects of Steampunk is how authors alter the timeline and introduce historical characters, which The Bookman has in spades. The story starts off a bit sedately, but quickly moves into something all action oriented with nary a slow spot. The world building is immense as Tidhar has warped history into something altogether wonderful and exciting, which also shows the authors great love for the written word and the power it can convey.
While over at Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews, author Lavie Tidhar is grilled (in the questioning sense, not culinary):
M(DW): I read that you define your writings as weird fiction. Why an attraction towards the weird? Why do you define your works as weird fiction?
LT: I can’t really answer the why of it. I just tend to have this skewered way of viewing the world, I guess. The thing is, I like writing different things, mixing different genres, trying different approaches, and the only common denominator for them is the “weird”, is that they’re all kind of skewered. But I’d hate to be stuck in one single genre or sub-genre or whatever. I still want to write a cookbook! And I have this dream of one day writing a Mills & Boon romance…
And the first review of Matt Forbeck’s hi-octane scifi adventure, Amortals is already in, courtesy of the Writing and Reading blog:
It’s gripping, exciting, imaginative… It would could make a great film, but it’s a great book anyway so read it, whether you like scifi or not!
Amortals is out next month in the UK and Australia, and June in the US and Canada.
Have a great Friday.