Just read about this over at the SFBC Blog, which was first reported at SF Scope and I have to say that I’m very saddened. Lloyd Alexander, and in particular his The Chronicles of Prydain series, helped lay the foundation towards my love of all things fantasy. So, I’m definitely going to miss Mr. Alexander and my sincerest condolences to his family & friends. On a positive note, I believe that Mr. Alexander led a long, rich and rewarding life, and that he leaves behind a legacy & influence that will not be forgotten…
12:52 PM | 
Posted by
Robert |
So the big movie news that has been circulating lately is that of Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones, Jaws, Jurassic Park) & Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) working together to bring Tintin to the big screen. If you’ve never heard of Tintin, well, I hadn’t either until I met my wife, but apparently he’s the main character from a French comic book that dates back to 1929…and he’s pretty popular. Because of my wife, I’ve read some of the comics, and we even have some DVDs based on the comic, and I have to say they’re pretty good, funny and family-friendly. So, I think Spielberg is definitely a good fit, and if they’re able to pull off what they hope…making it live-action while maintaining the look of the comics…then it might be worth checking out.
Frank Miller is on fire. First, his graphic novels Sin City and 300 were adapted into successful films, then Warner Bros. got the rights to another of his properties, Ronin, and now Lionsgate (Saw, Hostel) has won the distribution to The Spirit, a film adaptation of Will Eisner’s classic comic book, which Frank Miller scripted and will direct, his first solo effort (co-directed on Sin City).
Apparently Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby) is set to star in the film adaptation of “Fang Land” by author and ex-60 Minutes producer John Marks (The Wall, War Torn). No real thoughts on the casting, but the book is supposed to be a contemporary reimagining of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. It actually sounds pretty interesting and I’ll probably pick it up.
Thanks to Dino De Laurentiis (Hannibal Rising, Barbarella) and some German producers, Frank Schatzing’s best-selling eco-disaster thriller “The Swarm” (2004) is going to be adapted into a major motion picture with Ted Tally of The Silence of the Lambs fame writing the script. Look for another Mr. Schatzings novel, “Death and the Devil” (originally published in Germany in 1995) to come to the United States via William Morrow on September 1, 2007.
Just heard about another fantasy series being adapted into film…there’s so many I can’t keep track of them all…but this one is all ready to go, set for release October 5, and is based on the Susan Cooper classic “The Dark Is Rising”. I’ve never read this series, but it’s mentioned in the same breath as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, so I should probably check it out sometime. Anyways, the cast includes Ian McShane (Deadwood, forthcoming-The Golden Compass & Coraline), Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) and Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who, Heroes), with a script by John Hodge (Trainspotting), so there’s some hope for the movie.
Production company Hyde Park Entertainment (Premonition, Walking Tall) and Dark Horse Entertainment (Hellboy, Aliens Vs. Predator, 30 Days of Night upcoming) are joining forces on a number of independent films, starting with the Dark Horse comic miniseries The Blackburne Covenant, written by Fabian Nicieza (X-Men, Avengers) and drawn by Stefano Raffaele.
And some more interesting comic book-related news:
After making a name for himself as a game developer, most notably as one of the founders of the video game company Naughty Dog (Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter), Jason Rubin left to create his own comic book, Iron and the Maiden, which was designed by fan favorite Joe Madureira (Ultimates 3, Battle Chasers, Uncanny X-Men) and Jeff Matsuda (TV shows The Batman, Jackie Chan Adventures), with Francis Manapul (Witchblade) and Joel Gomez penciling. Recently it was announced that Michael Turner’s (Witchblade, Identity Crisis, Civil War) publishing company Aspen Comics (Soulfire, Fathom) will release the four-issue mini-series with #1 debuting August 1st. Expect guest covers from the likes of Joe Madureira, Jeff Matsuda, Jim Lee, Michael Turner, Chris Bachalo and many more. Since I'm a huge fan of the Jak & Daxter games, loved the Battle Chasers comics, and admittedly collect anything touched by Michael Turner, I’m definitely looking forward to Iron and the Maiden.
In Dabel Brothers Productions (GRRM’s The Hedge Knight, Robert Jordan’s New Spring, etc.) news, be sure to check out a 3-page preview of Lords of Avalon: Sword of Darkness HERE, which is based on the novel written by NYT bestselling author Kinley MacGregor, also known as Sherrilyn Kenyon. For GRRM fans, the street date (Wednesday, June 20th, 2007) has been announced for the first issue to the new series The Hedge Knight II: The Sworn Sword. Don’t forget to pick it up! Finally, if you’re a Myspace fanatic, Dabel Brothers Productions have started a bunch of new profiles for their properties and staff, which you can check out HERE. So, if you’re looking for some new friends for your profile be sure to check that out :)
Hard to believe but Top Cow Productions comic book The Darkness (1996) has been around for over ten years now. Heck I still have the first issues that were drawn by Marc Silvestri (Top Cow CEO) and written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Punisher). While I liked the comic, I never thought it would last as long as it did. I guess I was wrong. Not only was the film rights sold to Dimension in 2004, but it was made into a first-person, action-adventure video game, which comes out June 25, 2007 for both Playstation 3 & the Xbox 360, with the game story written by comic book writer Paul Jenkins (Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, The Darkness) and voices provided by Kirk Acevedo (Band of Brothers, Oz) & musician Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Peeping Tom). Following that, Top Cow has plans to release a number of novels based on the property, the first of which, The Darkness Volume 1 Novel (150 pages), is tentatively due out July 2007, with Kerri Hawkins (Blood Legacy) writing.
Frank Miller is on fire. First, his graphic novels Sin City and 300 were adapted into successful films, then Warner Bros. got the rights to another of his properties, Ronin, and now Lionsgate (Saw, Hostel) has won the distribution to The Spirit, a film adaptation of Will Eisner’s classic comic book, which Frank Miller scripted and will direct, his first solo effort (co-directed on Sin City).
Apparently Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby) is set to star in the film adaptation of “Fang Land” by author and ex-60 Minutes producer John Marks (The Wall, War Torn). No real thoughts on the casting, but the book is supposed to be a contemporary reimagining of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”. It actually sounds pretty interesting and I’ll probably pick it up.Thanks to Dino De Laurentiis (Hannibal Rising, Barbarella) and some German producers, Frank Schatzing’s best-selling eco-disaster thriller “The Swarm” (2004) is going to be adapted into a major motion picture with Ted Tally of The Silence of the Lambs fame writing the script. Look for another Mr. Schatzings novel, “Death and the Devil” (originally published in Germany in 1995) to come to the United States via William Morrow on September 1, 2007.
Just heard about another fantasy series being adapted into film…there’s so many I can’t keep track of them all…but this one is all ready to go, set for release October 5, and is based on the Susan Cooper classic “The Dark Is Rising”. I’ve never read this series, but it’s mentioned in the same breath as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, so I should probably check it out sometime. Anyways, the cast includes Ian McShane (Deadwood, forthcoming-The Golden Compass & Coraline), Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under) and Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who, Heroes), with a script by John Hodge (Trainspotting), so there’s some hope for the movie.
Production company Hyde Park Entertainment (Premonition, Walking Tall) and Dark Horse Entertainment (Hellboy, Aliens Vs. Predator, 30 Days of Night upcoming) are joining forces on a number of independent films, starting with the Dark Horse comic miniseries The Blackburne Covenant, written by Fabian Nicieza (X-Men, Avengers) and drawn by Stefano Raffaele.
And some more interesting comic book-related news:
After making a name for himself as a game developer, most notably as one of the founders of the video game company Naughty Dog (Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter), Jason Rubin left to create his own comic book, Iron and the Maiden, which was designed by fan favorite Joe Madureira (Ultimates 3, Battle Chasers, Uncanny X-Men) and Jeff Matsuda (TV shows The Batman, Jackie Chan Adventures), with Francis Manapul (Witchblade) and Joel Gomez penciling. Recently it was announced that Michael Turner’s (Witchblade, Identity Crisis, Civil War) publishing company Aspen Comics (Soulfire, Fathom) will release the four-issue mini-series with #1 debuting August 1st. Expect guest covers from the likes of Joe Madureira, Jeff Matsuda, Jim Lee, Michael Turner, Chris Bachalo and many more. Since I'm a huge fan of the Jak & Daxter games, loved the Battle Chasers comics, and admittedly collect anything touched by Michael Turner, I’m definitely looking forward to Iron and the Maiden.In Dabel Brothers Productions (GRRM’s The Hedge Knight, Robert Jordan’s New Spring, etc.) news, be sure to check out a 3-page preview of Lords of Avalon: Sword of Darkness HERE, which is based on the novel written by NYT bestselling author Kinley MacGregor, also known as Sherrilyn Kenyon. For GRRM fans, the street date (Wednesday, June 20th, 2007) has been announced for the first issue to the new series The Hedge Knight II: The Sworn Sword. Don’t forget to pick it up! Finally, if you’re a Myspace fanatic, Dabel Brothers Productions have started a bunch of new profiles for their properties and staff, which you can check out HERE. So, if you’re looking for some new friends for your profile be sure to check that out :)
Hard to believe but Top Cow Productions comic book The Darkness (1996) has been around for over ten years now. Heck I still have the first issues that were drawn by Marc Silvestri (Top Cow CEO) and written by Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Punisher). While I liked the comic, I never thought it would last as long as it did. I guess I was wrong. Not only was the film rights sold to Dimension in 2004, but it was made into a first-person, action-adventure video game, which comes out June 25, 2007 for both Playstation 3 & the Xbox 360, with the game story written by comic book writer Paul Jenkins (Incredible Hulk, Wolverine, The Darkness) and voices provided by Kirk Acevedo (Band of Brothers, Oz) & musician Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Peeping Tom). Following that, Top Cow has plans to release a number of novels based on the property, the first of which, The Darkness Volume 1 Novel (150 pages), is tentatively due out July 2007, with Kerri Hawkins (Blood Legacy) writing.
Official Joel Shepherd WebsiteJoel Shepherd’s Blog
Buy “Breakaway” via Pyr Books HERE
Read Sample Chapters from “Breakaway” HERE
Thanks to yet another blog, Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist this time, I was persuaded to read “Crossover” by Aussie writer Joel Shepherd when it was released here in the US last year via Pyr Books. For a debut, I was reasonably impressed and looked forward to its sequel “Breakaway”, but having finished the novel, I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed.
Before expounding on my reasons for not enjoying “Breakaway” as much as I did “Crossover”, let’s have a brief recap. If you read “Crossover”, then you know about protagonist Cassandra Kresnov (Sandy) – a former GI who escaped the League in order to start a new life as a citizen on the planet Callay – the Utopian-like city Tanusha, the CSA, the Federation/League conflict, a thwarted coup, an assassination attempt, and Sandy’s bisexual friend SWAT Lt. Vanessa Rice. Since “Breakaway” picks up the story about a month after “Crossover”, the book mainly deals with the ramifications caused by the events in “Crossover”, including the divided acceptance of Sandy as a citizen/CSA agent/human, the possible corruption of the Federation particularly the Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA), the planet’s flawed security system, a ‘breakaway’ of Callay from the Federation, Ms. Kresnov’s burgeoning friendship with Vanessa, and various other themes & issues.
Personally, I felt the thematic exploration of “Breakaway” to be both the book’s strength and its weakness. An oxymoronic statement yes, but let me explain. From the positive side, “Breakaway” offers a number of viewpoints that I found refreshing in science fiction literature. One is Ms. Kresnov herself, a bio-engineered, ultra-advanced hunter/killer who must not only deal with the prejudices of being a GI as she tries to assimilate citizen life, but also her own moral stances toward killing, biotech, government, sexual preference, and so forth. Additionally, while Sandy may be physically & intellectually superior to her human counterparts – in other words an ‘invincible fighting machine’ – she is not depicted as infallible in the books. If anything, she is more flawed than your average ‘hero’, and I particularly liked how she was held accountable for every decision she made in “Breakaway”, despite being the protagonist. Secondly, I really appreciated the utopian-like setting in Tanusha. Futuristic dystopias have become passé in sci-fi, so it was really interesting to see how a peaceful society such as Tanusha, could have its shortcomings, namely because of bureaucracy and passivity. Thirdly, I loved the ethnic diversity that is portrayed in the books, not just with the characters who included Indians, Africans, Afghans, Jews, Japanese, etc., but also the varying religions and different cultural social ideologies. Lastly, if you crave political machinations, then “Breakaway” should definitely assuage your hunger as agendas from all sides – the CSA, Special Investigatory Bureau (SIB), Callayan Parliament, President Neiland’s party, the League, off-world delegates, religious factions, etc. – bombard the reader with tons of official procedure, which make up the heart of the story, while also possessing some interesting parallels with current events. Unfortunately, this brings me back to my earlier statements…the book’s weak points.
As compelling and refreshing as I found the moral issues and political agendas to be in “Breakaway” I just thought there was too much of it. For a novel that is described as ‘action-packed’, where’s the action? Aside from a tense little introduction, some engaging scenes in the middle of the book, and a somewhat exciting conclusion, the action is far and few between, unless you find verbal sparring and thoughtful contemplation stimulating. In short, I felt that “Breakaway” lacks the balance of its predecessor that made it so fun to read, and in turn was a less enjoyable book for me. However, the dominance of politics/ethics wasn’t the only issue I had with the novel. Apart from the beginning where we get the brief perspective of CSA agent Ari Ruben, “Breakaway” is mainly viewed from the eyes of Ms. Kresnov. Don’t get me wrong, I love the character and find Sandy to be quite fascinating, but I think a little mix-up in the narratives like it was done in “Crossover” would have added a nice dynamic. Plus, I would have enjoyed it if the author had spent time developing the backstory of some of the more interesting secondary characters like Vanessa, Director Ibrahim, or the newcomer Ari, who, along with all of the other supporting players are only peripherally explored when compared to Ms. Kresnov. Finally, with all of the buildup that is established throughout the book, the payoff to “Breakaway” was quite underwhelming. Fortunately, “Breakaway” is merely the second part of a trilogy, and because middle volumes are usually considered the weakest of the three, I’m hoping that there will be a significant improvement with “Killswitch” (Released November 30, 2007), especially since there are so many loose ends to tie up.
Overall, while I personally may not have liked “Breakaway” as much as its predecessor, it doesn’t mean that other readers will share my opinion. Also, even though Joel Shepherd’s writing style can be a bit too exposition-heavy at times for my tastes, I can’t help but be impressed with the confidence, level of detail and unique outlooks that the author brings to the subject material. So, not only am I interested to see how Mr. Shepherd concludes the Cassandra Kresnov trilogy, but I’m also very excited to see what he brings to the table with the fantasy series that he’s currently writing, the first volume of which is tentatively due out this summer in Australia…
Before expounding on my reasons for not enjoying “Breakaway” as much as I did “Crossover”, let’s have a brief recap. If you read “Crossover”, then you know about protagonist Cassandra Kresnov (Sandy) – a former GI who escaped the League in order to start a new life as a citizen on the planet Callay – the Utopian-like city Tanusha, the CSA, the Federation/League conflict, a thwarted coup, an assassination attempt, and Sandy’s bisexual friend SWAT Lt. Vanessa Rice. Since “Breakaway” picks up the story about a month after “Crossover”, the book mainly deals with the ramifications caused by the events in “Crossover”, including the divided acceptance of Sandy as a citizen/CSA agent/human, the possible corruption of the Federation particularly the Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA), the planet’s flawed security system, a ‘breakaway’ of Callay from the Federation, Ms. Kresnov’s burgeoning friendship with Vanessa, and various other themes & issues.
Personally, I felt the thematic exploration of “Breakaway” to be both the book’s strength and its weakness. An oxymoronic statement yes, but let me explain. From the positive side, “Breakaway” offers a number of viewpoints that I found refreshing in science fiction literature. One is Ms. Kresnov herself, a bio-engineered, ultra-advanced hunter/killer who must not only deal with the prejudices of being a GI as she tries to assimilate citizen life, but also her own moral stances toward killing, biotech, government, sexual preference, and so forth. Additionally, while Sandy may be physically & intellectually superior to her human counterparts – in other words an ‘invincible fighting machine’ – she is not depicted as infallible in the books. If anything, she is more flawed than your average ‘hero’, and I particularly liked how she was held accountable for every decision she made in “Breakaway”, despite being the protagonist. Secondly, I really appreciated the utopian-like setting in Tanusha. Futuristic dystopias have become passé in sci-fi, so it was really interesting to see how a peaceful society such as Tanusha, could have its shortcomings, namely because of bureaucracy and passivity. Thirdly, I loved the ethnic diversity that is portrayed in the books, not just with the characters who included Indians, Africans, Afghans, Jews, Japanese, etc., but also the varying religions and different cultural social ideologies. Lastly, if you crave political machinations, then “Breakaway” should definitely assuage your hunger as agendas from all sides – the CSA, Special Investigatory Bureau (SIB), Callayan Parliament, President Neiland’s party, the League, off-world delegates, religious factions, etc. – bombard the reader with tons of official procedure, which make up the heart of the story, while also possessing some interesting parallels with current events. Unfortunately, this brings me back to my earlier statements…the book’s weak points.
As compelling and refreshing as I found the moral issues and political agendas to be in “Breakaway” I just thought there was too much of it. For a novel that is described as ‘action-packed’, where’s the action? Aside from a tense little introduction, some engaging scenes in the middle of the book, and a somewhat exciting conclusion, the action is far and few between, unless you find verbal sparring and thoughtful contemplation stimulating. In short, I felt that “Breakaway” lacks the balance of its predecessor that made it so fun to read, and in turn was a less enjoyable book for me. However, the dominance of politics/ethics wasn’t the only issue I had with the novel. Apart from the beginning where we get the brief perspective of CSA agent Ari Ruben, “Breakaway” is mainly viewed from the eyes of Ms. Kresnov. Don’t get me wrong, I love the character and find Sandy to be quite fascinating, but I think a little mix-up in the narratives like it was done in “Crossover” would have added a nice dynamic. Plus, I would have enjoyed it if the author had spent time developing the backstory of some of the more interesting secondary characters like Vanessa, Director Ibrahim, or the newcomer Ari, who, along with all of the other supporting players are only peripherally explored when compared to Ms. Kresnov. Finally, with all of the buildup that is established throughout the book, the payoff to “Breakaway” was quite underwhelming. Fortunately, “Breakaway” is merely the second part of a trilogy, and because middle volumes are usually considered the weakest of the three, I’m hoping that there will be a significant improvement with “Killswitch” (Released November 30, 2007), especially since there are so many loose ends to tie up.
Overall, while I personally may not have liked “Breakaway” as much as its predecessor, it doesn’t mean that other readers will share my opinion. Also, even though Joel Shepherd’s writing style can be a bit too exposition-heavy at times for my tastes, I can’t help but be impressed with the confidence, level of detail and unique outlooks that the author brings to the subject material. So, not only am I interested to see how Mr. Shepherd concludes the Cassandra Kresnov trilogy, but I’m also very excited to see what he brings to the table with the fantasy series that he’s currently writing, the first volume of which is tentatively due out this summer in Australia…
Official Catherynne M. Valente WebsiteOfficial Orphan’s Tales Website
Buy “The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden” HERE
Read an excerpt HERE
Until a few months ago, I had never heard of Catherynne M. Valente, but thanks to Jay Tomio of The Bodhisattva, Fantasybookspot.com, etc., not only was I introduced to the author, but I became intrigued enough to pick up her latest novel “The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden” (2006). Further research shows that Ms. Valente has an education in Classical Studies (emphasis in Ancient Greek Linguistics); poetry & short fiction published in various online/print magazines, journals & anthologies; and a bibliography comprised of a chapbook “Music of a Proto-Suicide” (2004), three poetry collections (Apocrypha, Oracles: A Pilgrimage, The Descent of Inanna), and four novels (The Labyrinth, Yume no Hon: The Book of Dreams, The Grass-Cutting Sword) including “The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden”, winner of the 2006 Tiptree Award and illustrated by artist Michael Kaluta (Lucifer, The Books of Magic, Vampirella, Metropolis).
Described as “A Book of Wonders for Grown-Up Readers” and “the Arabian Nights for our time”, I guess I was expecting to be swept away much like I was when reading such classics as Grimms’ Fairy Tales (the non-Disney versions of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, etc.), Homer’s “Iliad” & the “Odyssey”, and the aforementioned “Arabian Nights”, most notably such favorites as Aladdin, The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves. In this regard, I was a little disappointed since “The Orphan’s Tales” didn’t exactly enchant me in the way I expected, since I felt that none of the individual stories came that close to measuring up to the timelessness of any of the aforesaid classics. However, I digress.
Before I get into all of that, let’s look at the actual book first. Structure-wise, “The Orphan’s Tales” is setup somewhat like “Arabian Nights” in that there is one primary storyteller, much like Princess Scheherazade of the 1001 Nights, who goes on to recite numerous fairy tales for her audience. In “The Orphan’s Tales”, the narrator is a nameless girl of noble descent who is banished to the Garden because of a mysterious birthmark around her eyes & eyelids. Other than that, we’re not really told much more of the girl or the world that she inhabits, except that there is a Sultan and a Palace. From the Palace emerges a curious boy, who befriends the girl, and learns the truth behind the birthmarks. From there, the novel follows three different storylines, the tales that the girl relates to the boy, which are divided into two books (Book of the Steppe, Book of the Sea), and their adventures In the Garden that includes the boy’s ‘wicked’ sister Dinarzad who tries to keep the two separated. Of course, the heart of the entire book are the stories told by the girl and this is where the “The Orphan’s Tales” really shines.
Packaged as fables or myths, the individual tales are 3-4 pages long – sometimes more, sometimes less – that usually lead into tales told by another storyteller, which results in further tales and so on. On their own, I didn’t really think any of the tales were all that remarkable aside from a few, since most of them are derived from recognizable folklore – I even saw Bible references – though Ms. Valente does a fabulous job of taking the proverbial and putting her own unique spin on things, keeping the stories fresh & invigorating. What really elevates the storytelling though is the way all of the different tales interconnect with one another, which is unlike the “Arabian Nights” where the stories only build on top of each other. For instance, in the Book of the Steppe, we have a wide variety of tales chronicling princes, witches, wizards, kings, quests, star gods, shape-changing and more. At first, I wasn’t really too impressed with any of the stories that were being told, and I wasn’t sure in what direction Ms. Valente was heading since they weren't exactly morality lessons, but when I reached the end of the Book of the Steppe, I could only marvel at how all of the individual tales fit together to create one beautifully cohesive epic. Personally, I enjoyed Book of the Sea even more. For one, where Book of the Steppe was more childlike in presentation, Book of the Sea is a darker, more grown-up world that deals with religious politics, papacies, necromancers, pirates, saints, griffins, djinns, satyrs, a different take on Cyclops & mermaids, etc. On top of that, not only do we get to see how all of these various pieces connect with one another, but we also get to see how they correlate with certain events & characters from the previous tales found in the Book of the Steppe. By the time you finish “The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden”, it’s really impressive to see how everything is related to one another in the larger scope of things, and it’s easy to speculate how other storylines might be connected and where the girl & the boy fit in with all of this. So, even though the overall story remains unfinished – the book is part one of a duology – “The Orphan’s Tales” is one of those rare books that keeps your imagination running long after you’ve completed the novel.
Going back to my earlier statements, I claimed that “The Orphan’s Tales” lacks the timelessness of “Grimms’ Fairy Tales”, the “Iliad/Odyssey” & the “Arabian Nights”, and I stick by that opinion. That’s not to say “The Orphan’s Tales” isn’t an accessible, charming & memorable book that has the potential to become a classic, because it is, and it has all the makings of a pivotal work of literature, especially once the duology is completed. I just think that it’s not so much the story (or stories) that makes the book stand out, or that readers will remember it for, but the manner in which the story is told. In this area, Ms. Valente excels, utilizing her experience in language and poetry to elegantly capture the magic & emotion of the tales being crafted, while keeping the reader constantly guessing at how the puzzle pieces fit together. As to who will enjoy “The Orphan’s Tales”? Well, anyone who is a fan of the abovementioned or likes imaginative, entertaining, well-written fables should appreciate the novel. That includes young readers and adults alike. After all, while the book possesses darker elements like violence & sexuality, it’s very subtle, and I would have no problem recommending it to a preteen. In the end, Catherynne M. Valente’s “The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden” is a fascinating book that I believe any true lover of fantasy would cherish, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is eagerly anticipating the second part of the duology, “The Orphan’s Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice”, due out October 2007…
Described as “A Book of Wonders for Grown-Up Readers” and “the Arabian Nights for our time”, I guess I was expecting to be swept away much like I was when reading such classics as Grimms’ Fairy Tales (the non-Disney versions of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, etc.), Homer’s “Iliad” & the “Odyssey”, and the aforementioned “Arabian Nights”, most notably such favorites as Aladdin, The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves. In this regard, I was a little disappointed since “The Orphan’s Tales” didn’t exactly enchant me in the way I expected, since I felt that none of the individual stories came that close to measuring up to the timelessness of any of the aforesaid classics. However, I digress.
Before I get into all of that, let’s look at the actual book first. Structure-wise, “The Orphan’s Tales” is setup somewhat like “Arabian Nights” in that there is one primary storyteller, much like Princess Scheherazade of the 1001 Nights, who goes on to recite numerous fairy tales for her audience. In “The Orphan’s Tales”, the narrator is a nameless girl of noble descent who is banished to the Garden because of a mysterious birthmark around her eyes & eyelids. Other than that, we’re not really told much more of the girl or the world that she inhabits, except that there is a Sultan and a Palace. From the Palace emerges a curious boy, who befriends the girl, and learns the truth behind the birthmarks. From there, the novel follows three different storylines, the tales that the girl relates to the boy, which are divided into two books (Book of the Steppe, Book of the Sea), and their adventures In the Garden that includes the boy’s ‘wicked’ sister Dinarzad who tries to keep the two separated. Of course, the heart of the entire book are the stories told by the girl and this is where the “The Orphan’s Tales” really shines.
Packaged as fables or myths, the individual tales are 3-4 pages long – sometimes more, sometimes less – that usually lead into tales told by another storyteller, which results in further tales and so on. On their own, I didn’t really think any of the tales were all that remarkable aside from a few, since most of them are derived from recognizable folklore – I even saw Bible references – though Ms. Valente does a fabulous job of taking the proverbial and putting her own unique spin on things, keeping the stories fresh & invigorating. What really elevates the storytelling though is the way all of the different tales interconnect with one another, which is unlike the “Arabian Nights” where the stories only build on top of each other. For instance, in the Book of the Steppe, we have a wide variety of tales chronicling princes, witches, wizards, kings, quests, star gods, shape-changing and more. At first, I wasn’t really too impressed with any of the stories that were being told, and I wasn’t sure in what direction Ms. Valente was heading since they weren't exactly morality lessons, but when I reached the end of the Book of the Steppe, I could only marvel at how all of the individual tales fit together to create one beautifully cohesive epic. Personally, I enjoyed Book of the Sea even more. For one, where Book of the Steppe was more childlike in presentation, Book of the Sea is a darker, more grown-up world that deals with religious politics, papacies, necromancers, pirates, saints, griffins, djinns, satyrs, a different take on Cyclops & mermaids, etc. On top of that, not only do we get to see how all of these various pieces connect with one another, but we also get to see how they correlate with certain events & characters from the previous tales found in the Book of the Steppe. By the time you finish “The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden”, it’s really impressive to see how everything is related to one another in the larger scope of things, and it’s easy to speculate how other storylines might be connected and where the girl & the boy fit in with all of this. So, even though the overall story remains unfinished – the book is part one of a duology – “The Orphan’s Tales” is one of those rare books that keeps your imagination running long after you’ve completed the novel.
Going back to my earlier statements, I claimed that “The Orphan’s Tales” lacks the timelessness of “Grimms’ Fairy Tales”, the “Iliad/Odyssey” & the “Arabian Nights”, and I stick by that opinion. That’s not to say “The Orphan’s Tales” isn’t an accessible, charming & memorable book that has the potential to become a classic, because it is, and it has all the makings of a pivotal work of literature, especially once the duology is completed. I just think that it’s not so much the story (or stories) that makes the book stand out, or that readers will remember it for, but the manner in which the story is told. In this area, Ms. Valente excels, utilizing her experience in language and poetry to elegantly capture the magic & emotion of the tales being crafted, while keeping the reader constantly guessing at how the puzzle pieces fit together. As to who will enjoy “The Orphan’s Tales”? Well, anyone who is a fan of the abovementioned or likes imaginative, entertaining, well-written fables should appreciate the novel. That includes young readers and adults alike. After all, while the book possesses darker elements like violence & sexuality, it’s very subtle, and I would have no problem recommending it to a preteen. In the end, Catherynne M. Valente’s “The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden” is a fascinating book that I believe any true lover of fantasy would cherish, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is eagerly anticipating the second part of the duology, “The Orphan’s Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice”, due out October 2007…
Updating information that was stated in the recent interview posted with David Anthony Durham, it seems that the author's novel "Walk Through Darkness" has now been optioned for film with new production company Torn Sky Entertainment, with only paperwork needing to be finalized. So, congrats to David!!!
Official David Anthony Durham Website David Anthony Durham's Blog
Preorder "Acacia" via Doubleday Books HERE
Sample Excerpts from “Acacia” HERE
"Acacia's" Release Date: June 12, 2007 for North America
Preorder "Acacia" via Doubleday Books HERE
Sample Excerpts from “Acacia” HERE
"Acacia's" Release Date: June 12, 2007 for North America
David Anthony Durham may be a newcomer to speculative fiction, but with a bibliography that includes the multiple award-winning “Gabriel’s Story”, “Walk Through Darkness” and the celebrated “Pride of Carthage”, Mr. Durham brings a certain pedigree and distinctive viewpoint to his fantasy epic that is lacking in the genre today. If you’ve read my REVIEW of “Acacia – Book One: The War With the Mein”, then you know how much I loved the novel and how highly I’m recommending the book to anyone in the mood for meaty, character-driven storytelling. It also gives me great pleasure to present you with this interview where readers will get a chance to learn more about the person behind David Anthony Durham, his influences and goals as a writer, and of course, “Acacia”. I would also highly recommend that you check out the interview that Jay Tomio of FantasyBookSpot did with Mr. Durham HERE, which offers a more comprehensive and mostly spoiler-free look at the themes, characters and story that comprise “Acacia”. Additionally, you can sample excerpts from the book HERE to get a further taste. Finally, I sincerely thank David Anthony Durham for answering my questions and giving me the opportunity to review his wonderful novel, and I hope that readers out there will enjoy the interview and give “Acacia” a chance…
Q: Because of your first three novels, you’re portrayed as a ‘historical novelist’. For readers that may not be familiar with your work, how would you describe yourself as a writer?
David: That’s a long story… I came to writing through an MFA program, which means that to a large extent I was taught to look down on “genre” fiction. I bought into it for a while, and my first two (unpublished) novels were firmly contemporary “literary” fiction. I learned a lot about crafting a novel with those books, but they were difficult reads, not at all plot-driven. They got me some respectful rejections, but not much more than that.
When I began my third novel I’d been away from my MFA for a while and I was starting to find my own interests again. I’d long been fascinated by history – and specifically African-American history – so I thought I’d combine that interest with some of the coming of age material I’d been working with in those first two novels. The result was “Gabriel’s Story”. It’s a Western, and while writing it I read a lot of Westerns. I didn’t love them all by any means – and I rejected a lot of the tropes of the genre – but I did find some real gems. It rekindled my interest in reading novels with plot, with drama and quests and tales of retribution. By the time I finished the novel I realized I’d put all those things into it, ending up with something very different than what I’d thought I was writing. And what do you know, suddenly I was publishable!
I stuck with history for my next novel, “Walk Through Darkness”. It’s about a runaway slave and the man that’s tracking him. Serious stuff in many ways, but again there’s plenty of drama in it – and a few surprises. “Pride of Carthage” was a different sort of historical novel, about a much larger topic, with a much wider cast of characters and a body count that’s off the charts.
“Acacia” is yet another change, but I like change. Like those other novels I hope to combine the “literary” qualities of complex characters and carefully crafted prose with the genre elements that so many people love – an imagined world, massive struggles, heroes and villains fighting it out in world touched by magic. I’m hoping that’s a combination that will appeal to a new audience of readers.
Q: Speaking of “Acacia”, which is due for release June 12, 2007 via Doubleday, can you tell readers a bit more about what to expect from it?
David: I’d like to think readers will find a tale they recognize as being in the epic fantasy tradition, while also discovering something a bit different. Already there’s been a fair bit of comparing my work to George R. R. Martin’s, R. Scott Bakker’s and Steven Erikson’s. I don’t mind this in so far as I respect all those writers greatly. It’s good company to be in.
My only problem with those comparisons is that they’re based on the assumption that my work tries to be – or should be – like somebody else’s. That’s not how I approach writing, though. “Acacia” isn’t my version of a George R. R. Martin fantasy. It’s my version of a David Anthony Durham fantasy. It may take a little while for readers to sort out what that means, but that’s okay. I’m ready to work to earn my place in this part of the literary world. I’m confident that as time – and books – go by readers will have more to go on in terms of understanding my work, and a little less need to discuss it in comparative terms.
Q: Your previous novel, 2005’s “Pride of Carthage”, is “an epic retelling of the legendary Carthaginian military leader’s (Hannibal Barca) assault on the Roman Empire ”. It seems that both “Pride of Carthage” & “Acacia” share a lot of similarities, from the political & martial aspects, to the epic nature of the stories balanced by intimate characterization. In what ways did “Pride of Carthage” inspire and prepare you in creating the world of Acacia?
David: When I began writing “Acacia” I approached it in much the same way I would have approached a historical novel. I built the world, documented the history, placed the characters in it, and let them try to live their lives amidst the same sort of push and pull of political and social forces that shape historical fiction. In “Pride of Carthage” I had to research a distant, strange world and put it on the page; for “Acacia” I had to create a distant, strange world and put it on the page. The two have a lot more similarities than one might think.
Q: What about SF/fantasy authors? I know that in a recent interview you mentioned Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, George R. R. Martin, Stephen Donaldson and Frank Herbert, among others as some authors that you read & respected in the genres. In what capacity did they or any other writers influence your writing of “Acacia”?
David: Most recently, they’ve influenced my writing by giving me examples of wonderful stories in imaged worlds. Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson are in there too, as well as a lot of YA fantasy writers like Garth Nix, Kai Meyers and Jonathan Stroud. It’s not a matter of writing like any of them, but it is very much that the experience of so enjoying fantastic stories stokes me with the desire to tell my own.
Those earlier writers like Tolkien and Alexander helped me learn to love reading as an adolescent. So their influence is immeasurable. And Le Guin gave me the first glimpse of a fantasy world that wasn’t entirely black or white. I’ve spoken to a lot of people who read her years ago without noticing the dark-skinned ethnic diversity of “EarthSea”. But it’s there, and Le Guin made a point of pointing it out again and again. That was something I noticed, and it made the potential of fantasy a whole lot more inclusive.
Q: Themes of family and ethnic diversity seem to play an important role throughout “Acacia”. How much of this do you draw from your own experience as a husband/father and of your racial background?
David: A lot of the diverse world of “Acacia” was inspired by the peculiarities of what I am, and what makes up my extended family. I’m a child of Caribbean parents, of complex ethnicity but raised as an African-American. I’ve lived much of my adult life in Europe, though. I’m married to a Scottish woman from a large family from the Shetland Isles. Because of all of this I have close family members all around the globe, as far away as New Zealand. I have mixed race kids, each with two passports to their names.
What does all that mean? Just that I feel lucky to have been able to experience a lot of different perspectives in terms of ethnicity and culture and nationality. That affects the way I view the world. And that, in turn, affects how I imagine the worlds I write about. I’d like to think that in our increasingly cross-cultural world my fictional creation will ring true – and relevant – to many readers.
Q: Looking at fantasy in general, one of its major criticisms is the supposed lack of originality or overuse of familiar clichés. What are your thoughts on this, and what efforts did you make with your novel “Acacia” to avoid these pitfalls?
David: What interested me was never the clichés of fantasy, never the shortcomings of writers in the genre. It was the potential. That’s always the case; in all my novels I’m drawn to potential for great stories. I saw the ancient war epic as full of potential avenues to explore, and that’s why I wrote “Pride of Carthage”. I felt that a runaway slave narrative could be a great venue for exploring race and identity in American history, and “Walk Through Darkness” came from that. And "Gabriel’s Story" came from feeling that the American West was such a vast panorama for storytelling, one that I wanted to use in my own way.
In each case I knew that I was writing in familiar territory in some ways, but as soon as I went to work my focus was on telling the best story that I could, which usually meant bending some of the norms of those genres a bit to follow where the story and the characters took me. So I have a Western where black characters are the focus, the white characters are often the bad guys, Native American play only small roles, and the Hispanic characters are largely sympathetic/heroic avengers. My slave narrative features a tracker who’s not tracking the runaway in order to entrap him. My ancient war epic is more about the emotional and moral damage of war than it is about the glory of battle. And my fantasy… well, it’s not a fantasy where major characters are safe, nor where destiny is quite what you expect, nor are good and evil drawn with a black and white distinction between the two, nor where a lost magic item will save the day. It wasn’t that I had to make any particular effort to avoid clichés, though. I just wrote what felt right and let the characters grow the same way I would when writing any other novel in any genre.
Q: What are your overall thoughts on how “Acacia” turned out?
David: I’m very happy with it. I still take joy in flipping through it, especially the latter sections when everyone’s fate is kicking in. I accomplished a lot of what I wanted to with the book – at least from my perspective as the writer. If you’re wondering what I might regret or wish I’d done different…
Well, if the book is a big success and readers want more I’ll regret a little bit that I didn’t take twice as many pages to carry this narrative to completion. I wanted the material in this book to maybe be two or three books. This was tough for my publisher, though. They’re a mainstream house, so the whole epic fantasy series thing was new territory for their list. Add that to the fact that this was a big departure for me and they were reluctant to commit to such a multi-book risk. So I felt a lot of pressure to pull off the entire narrative arc in one book. In many ways I’m glad I did. I think “Acacia” delivers an awful lot of story in its pages, and I like it that I closed the main narrative arc at the end. But there are still scenes that live in my head that never got into the book. That’s the way it has to be though.
Q: With that said, what can we expect in the next volume of the series and the series as a whole?
David: “Acacia” tells the story of a world rediscovering its distant past. Part of that is coming to understand the nation’s crimes and the way those still support an unjust system. But another major part is their discovering magic again, learning that mixed in with the lies and myths of their past there is also truth in some of its most fantastic elements. This discovery just gets started in “Acacia”. It affects the later portions of the book considerably, but there’s much of it to come in the next two books. Also, the conflict gets even bigger next time around, and includes the Lothan Aklun, a great nation beyond them, and a whole new threat of war. The canvas widens, the conflict increases, and magic becomes a living force again: expect all these things.
Q: Moving on, your novel “Gabriel’s Story” has been optioned for film and there’s been movie interest with another of your books, “Walk Through Darkness”. Can you give us any details about these potential feature films as well as any interest with your other books?
David: “Gabriel’s Story” has been under option with Uberto Pasolini (the producer of The Full Monty) for a few years now. Alan Taylor (director of a few features like Palookaville and The Emperor’s New Clothes and lots of cable TV: episodes of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Rome, Deadwood, etc.) is attached to direct. He’s written the screenplay and they’re steadily shopping it around to actors and financial backers. It might take awhile, but they’re committed to making it happen.
At this point, it looks like the “Walk Through Darkness” option is going to happen. It’s just a matter of finishing up the paperwork. I probably shouldn’t say who is picking it up until the ink is dry, though. I will say that both producers are shopping them to A-list actors. Both stories have what they believe are juicy roles for good actors, and they’re hoping to hook a big name that wants a really challenging role.
“Pride of Carthage” sparked a lot of interest when it came out, but the timing wasn’t good. There were several Hannibal-related projects already in the works. Also, the studios were waiting to see how other epic war films like Troy, Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven, King Arthur did. As a group they took the shine of sword and sandals epics.
“Acacia” has also received some early interest. But, as with “Pride of Carthage”, I won’t be holding my breath. It would have to be such a big film that a whole lot of stars need to line up at just the right time, in just the right order.
Q: What would be your dream adaptation?
David: Well, my notions of dream adaptations have something of a pragmatic quality to them. With “Gabriel’s Story” or “Walk Through Darkness” my dream adaptation would just be to see them made into competent films that honor the lyrical qualities of the writing, but do so in a cinematic way. I think "Pride of Carthage" would be most successful as a mini-series or cable drama. I’d hate to see it cut down to a two hour feature, mainly because my intention with that book was to make it big, with a large cast and lots of details. With “Acacia”… strangely enough, I’d love to see it in a Japanese animated version, Studio Ghibli style. Miyazaki’s work has an ability to be epic and transcendent and surreal in a way that feature films rarely do. This is not to say I wouldn’t want a feature – if Peter Jackson wants it he can most certainly have it – it’s just that rarely do films realize novels as well as The Lord of the Rings.
Honestly, a dream adaptation is any film I don’t want to disown after seeing. A low bar, I know, but that’s the truth.
Q: What about you as a writer? I know that you’ve written short stories, you're labeled as a historical fiction novelist, and you wrote a Western, but are you interested in trying a different medium or genre in the future?
David: I could see having a hand in adapting one of my books into film, but I don’t imagine I’ll ever try being a primary script writer. I’m a novelist, and I think that’s enough of a challenge. Same goes for comic books and videogames; I’d love someone to use something of mine as inspiration, but I’m not up for pushing those types of projects on my own. (My kids really want to play the “Acacia” computer game. I keep telling them not to get their hopes up.)
As for other fictional genres… I’d never say never to any of them, but the most obvious area of fiction that I’m itching to try is YA fantasy. Fantasy was so important to me as a young reader, and I already see how important it is to my kids now. They’re not actually YA yet, but we do read plenty of it with them. I’d love to be able to write directly for them, and directly for other kids like the thirteen year old boy I once was. Maybe even more telling than those desires is the fact that I’ve got an idea for a YA story. If it sticks with me and continues to hang around for a few years… well, I’ll have no choice to but to put on paper.
Q: As someone who loves teaching/mentoring students, what advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
David: Be in it for the long haul. Nothing does – or should – happen over night. You don’t get it right the first time. You probably don’t get it right the second, third or fourth time either. That has to be okay with you. You have to be willing to put in the work day after day, trying to write the very best stuff you can whenever and however you can as you juggle the responsibilities of life. And you have to be resilient enough to go bed every night with the novel still unfinished, the novella still in need of revision, the story still unpublished… If you can do that – and then get up the next morning itching to find the time to keep writing – well then you’ve got a shot at making it in some form or another.
Q: Are there any preconceived notions that you’d like to dispel about being an African-American author?
David: Of course. The main way I can do that is with my writing, but one thing I want the world to recognize is that African-Americans have just as much right to write about anything in the world that they want to as white writers. That may seem childishly clear. Many of your readers will say, “Of course. That’s obvious.” And it is. But I challenge anybody out there to find one writer of African, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern descent (just to name a few) that feels they’ve been able to write without preconceived limitations on what they’re allowed to be authorities on. We’re constantly told by publishers and booksellers what we can and can’t write about. And those publishers and booksellers will hold up their hands and say it’s not their fault. It’s the public that defines what they’ll read.
I don’t know what’s true or not in that equation, but I do know that it’s a very rare thing that I’ve been allowed to write about first Ancient Mediterranean history and now in epic fantasy. And I do mean “allowed”. If my publisher hadn’t supported my writing with significant advance payments I wouldn’t have been able to take these projects on. Even if I did choose to write them anyway I’d have had to have done so while working a day job, without professional support and encouragement, without any guarantee that if I ever got to the end I’d find a publisher. That’s a reality for many writers, but it can be a crippling one if you’re a “minority” who thinks outside the excepted norms.
My editor once said to me, after he’d finished “Pride of Carthage” and admitted to being fairly stunned by the whole thing, that I’d just stepped out of any box I might have been trapped in, and it was going to be damn hard for anybody to get back into a box if I didn’t want to go. That liberation was a big deal to me and I’m trying to make the most of it.
Q: Wow, I love your answer. So, what other activities or hobbies do you enjoy?
David: Obviously I read a lot. I also walk a lot. That may seem kinda boring, but it’s an everyday exercise that also provides me a changing landscape to move through as I conjure up stories. I was once an avid whitewater kayaker. I’m still a kayaker, just not quite as avid anymore. But I look forward to a future in which kayaking and hiking, rivers and mountains, being with my family and writing meaningful books that people enjoy is all that my life is about. That’s pretty much what I have already, but there are a few hurdles left to jump yet.
Q: Do you have any last thoughts or comments you’d like to share?
David: Nah. I’ve said more than enough already. The things I really want to say I say in my fiction. I’d love it if your readers would check that out.
Q: Because of your first three novels, you’re portrayed as a ‘historical novelist’. For readers that may not be familiar with your work, how would you describe yourself as a writer?
David: That’s a long story… I came to writing through an MFA program, which means that to a large extent I was taught to look down on “genre” fiction. I bought into it for a while, and my first two (unpublished) novels were firmly contemporary “literary” fiction. I learned a lot about crafting a novel with those books, but they were difficult reads, not at all plot-driven. They got me some respectful rejections, but not much more than that.
When I began my third novel I’d been away from my MFA for a while and I was starting to find my own interests again. I’d long been fascinated by history – and specifically African-American history – so I thought I’d combine that interest with some of the coming of age material I’d been working with in those first two novels. The result was “Gabriel’s Story”. It’s a Western, and while writing it I read a lot of Westerns. I didn’t love them all by any means – and I rejected a lot of the tropes of the genre – but I did find some real gems. It rekindled my interest in reading novels with plot, with drama and quests and tales of retribution. By the time I finished the novel I realized I’d put all those things into it, ending up with something very different than what I’d thought I was writing. And what do you know, suddenly I was publishable!
I stuck with history for my next novel, “Walk Through Darkness”. It’s about a runaway slave and the man that’s tracking him. Serious stuff in many ways, but again there’s plenty of drama in it – and a few surprises. “Pride of Carthage” was a different sort of historical novel, about a much larger topic, with a much wider cast of characters and a body count that’s off the charts.
“Acacia” is yet another change, but I like change. Like those other novels I hope to combine the “literary” qualities of complex characters and carefully crafted prose with the genre elements that so many people love – an imagined world, massive struggles, heroes and villains fighting it out in world touched by magic. I’m hoping that’s a combination that will appeal to a new audience of readers.
Q: Speaking of “Acacia”, which is due for release June 12, 2007 via Doubleday, can you tell readers a bit more about what to expect from it?
David: I’d like to think readers will find a tale they recognize as being in the epic fantasy tradition, while also discovering something a bit different. Already there’s been a fair bit of comparing my work to George R. R. Martin’s, R. Scott Bakker’s and Steven Erikson’s. I don’t mind this in so far as I respect all those writers greatly. It’s good company to be in.My only problem with those comparisons is that they’re based on the assumption that my work tries to be – or should be – like somebody else’s. That’s not how I approach writing, though. “Acacia” isn’t my version of a George R. R. Martin fantasy. It’s my version of a David Anthony Durham fantasy. It may take a little while for readers to sort out what that means, but that’s okay. I’m ready to work to earn my place in this part of the literary world. I’m confident that as time – and books – go by readers will have more to go on in terms of understanding my work, and a little less need to discuss it in comparative terms.
Q: Your previous novel, 2005’s “Pride of Carthage”, is “an epic retelling of the legendary Carthaginian military leader’s (Hannibal Barca) assault on the Roman Empire ”. It seems that both “Pride of Carthage” & “Acacia” share a lot of similarities, from the political & martial aspects, to the epic nature of the stories balanced by intimate characterization. In what ways did “Pride of Carthage” inspire and prepare you in creating the world of Acacia?
David: When I began writing “Acacia” I approached it in much the same way I would have approached a historical novel. I built the world, documented the history, placed the characters in it, and let them try to live their lives amidst the same sort of push and pull of political and social forces that shape historical fiction. In “Pride of Carthage” I had to research a distant, strange world and put it on the page; for “Acacia” I had to create a distant, strange world and put it on the page. The two have a lot more similarities than one might think.
Q: What about SF/fantasy authors? I know that in a recent interview you mentioned Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, George R. R. Martin, Stephen Donaldson and Frank Herbert, among others as some authors that you read & respected in the genres. In what capacity did they or any other writers influence your writing of “Acacia”?
David: Most recently, they’ve influenced my writing by giving me examples of wonderful stories in imaged worlds. Neil Gaiman and Neal Stephenson are in there too, as well as a lot of YA fantasy writers like Garth Nix, Kai Meyers and Jonathan Stroud. It’s not a matter of writing like any of them, but it is very much that the experience of so enjoying fantastic stories stokes me with the desire to tell my own.
Those earlier writers like Tolkien and Alexander helped me learn to love reading as an adolescent. So their influence is immeasurable. And Le Guin gave me the first glimpse of a fantasy world that wasn’t entirely black or white. I’ve spoken to a lot of people who read her years ago without noticing the dark-skinned ethnic diversity of “EarthSea”. But it’s there, and Le Guin made a point of pointing it out again and again. That was something I noticed, and it made the potential of fantasy a whole lot more inclusive.
Q: Themes of family and ethnic diversity seem to play an important role throughout “Acacia”. How much of this do you draw from your own experience as a husband/father and of your racial background?
David: A lot of the diverse world of “Acacia” was inspired by the peculiarities of what I am, and what makes up my extended family. I’m a child of Caribbean parents, of complex ethnicity but raised as an African-American. I’ve lived much of my adult life in Europe, though. I’m married to a Scottish woman from a large family from the Shetland Isles. Because of all of this I have close family members all around the globe, as far away as New Zealand. I have mixed race kids, each with two passports to their names.
What does all that mean? Just that I feel lucky to have been able to experience a lot of different perspectives in terms of ethnicity and culture and nationality. That affects the way I view the world. And that, in turn, affects how I imagine the worlds I write about. I’d like to think that in our increasingly cross-cultural world my fictional creation will ring true – and relevant – to many readers.
Q: Looking at fantasy in general, one of its major criticisms is the supposed lack of originality or overuse of familiar clichés. What are your thoughts on this, and what efforts did you make with your novel “Acacia” to avoid these pitfalls?
David: What interested me was never the clichés of fantasy, never the shortcomings of writers in the genre. It was the potential. That’s always the case; in all my novels I’m drawn to potential for great stories. I saw the ancient war epic as full of potential avenues to explore, and that’s why I wrote “Pride of Carthage”. I felt that a runaway slave narrative could be a great venue for exploring race and identity in American history, and “Walk Through Darkness” came from that. And "Gabriel’s Story" came from feeling that the American West was such a vast panorama for storytelling, one that I wanted to use in my own way.In each case I knew that I was writing in familiar territory in some ways, but as soon as I went to work my focus was on telling the best story that I could, which usually meant bending some of the norms of those genres a bit to follow where the story and the characters took me. So I have a Western where black characters are the focus, the white characters are often the bad guys, Native American play only small roles, and the Hispanic characters are largely sympathetic/heroic avengers. My slave narrative features a tracker who’s not tracking the runaway in order to entrap him. My ancient war epic is more about the emotional and moral damage of war than it is about the glory of battle. And my fantasy… well, it’s not a fantasy where major characters are safe, nor where destiny is quite what you expect, nor are good and evil drawn with a black and white distinction between the two, nor where a lost magic item will save the day. It wasn’t that I had to make any particular effort to avoid clichés, though. I just wrote what felt right and let the characters grow the same way I would when writing any other novel in any genre.
Q: What are your overall thoughts on how “Acacia” turned out?
David: I’m very happy with it. I still take joy in flipping through it, especially the latter sections when everyone’s fate is kicking in. I accomplished a lot of what I wanted to with the book – at least from my perspective as the writer. If you’re wondering what I might regret or wish I’d done different…
Well, if the book is a big success and readers want more I’ll regret a little bit that I didn’t take twice as many pages to carry this narrative to completion. I wanted the material in this book to maybe be two or three books. This was tough for my publisher, though. They’re a mainstream house, so the whole epic fantasy series thing was new territory for their list. Add that to the fact that this was a big departure for me and they were reluctant to commit to such a multi-book risk. So I felt a lot of pressure to pull off the entire narrative arc in one book. In many ways I’m glad I did. I think “Acacia” delivers an awful lot of story in its pages, and I like it that I closed the main narrative arc at the end. But there are still scenes that live in my head that never got into the book. That’s the way it has to be though.
Q: With that said, what can we expect in the next volume of the series and the series as a whole?
David: “Acacia” tells the story of a world rediscovering its distant past. Part of that is coming to understand the nation’s crimes and the way those still support an unjust system. But another major part is their discovering magic again, learning that mixed in with the lies and myths of their past there is also truth in some of its most fantastic elements. This discovery just gets started in “Acacia”. It affects the later portions of the book considerably, but there’s much of it to come in the next two books. Also, the conflict gets even bigger next time around, and includes the Lothan Aklun, a great nation beyond them, and a whole new threat of war. The canvas widens, the conflict increases, and magic becomes a living force again: expect all these things.
Q: Moving on, your novel “Gabriel’s Story” has been optioned for film and there’s been movie interest with another of your books, “Walk Through Darkness”. Can you give us any details about these potential feature films as well as any interest with your other books?
David: “Gabriel’s Story” has been under option with Uberto Pasolini (the producer of The Full Monty) for a few years now. Alan Taylor (director of a few features like Palookaville and The Emperor’s New Clothes and lots of cable TV: episodes of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Rome, Deadwood, etc.) is attached to direct. He’s written the screenplay and they’re steadily shopping it around to actors and financial backers. It might take awhile, but they’re committed to making it happen.
At this point, it looks like the “Walk Through Darkness” option is going to happen. It’s just a matter of finishing up the paperwork. I probably shouldn’t say who is picking it up until the ink is dry, though. I will say that both producers are shopping them to A-list actors. Both stories have what they believe are juicy roles for good actors, and they’re hoping to hook a big name that wants a really challenging role.
“Pride of Carthage” sparked a lot of interest when it came out, but the timing wasn’t good. There were several Hannibal-related projects already in the works. Also, the studios were waiting to see how other epic war films like Troy, Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven, King Arthur did. As a group they took the shine of sword and sandals epics.
“Acacia” has also received some early interest. But, as with “Pride of Carthage”, I won’t be holding my breath. It would have to be such a big film that a whole lot of stars need to line up at just the right time, in just the right order.
Q: What would be your dream adaptation?
David: Well, my notions of dream adaptations have something of a pragmatic quality to them. With “Gabriel’s Story” or “Walk Through Darkness” my dream adaptation would just be to see them made into competent films that honor the lyrical qualities of the writing, but do so in a cinematic way. I think "Pride of Carthage" would be most successful as a mini-series or cable drama. I’d hate to see it cut down to a two hour feature, mainly because my intention with that book was to make it big, with a large cast and lots of details. With “Acacia”… strangely enough, I’d love to see it in a Japanese animated version, Studio Ghibli style. Miyazaki’s work has an ability to be epic and transcendent and surreal in a way that feature films rarely do. This is not to say I wouldn’t want a feature – if Peter Jackson wants it he can most certainly have it – it’s just that rarely do films realize novels as well as The Lord of the Rings.
Honestly, a dream adaptation is any film I don’t want to disown after seeing. A low bar, I know, but that’s the truth.
Q: What about you as a writer? I know that you’ve written short stories, you're labeled as a historical fiction novelist, and you wrote a Western, but are you interested in trying a different medium or genre in the future?
David: I could see having a hand in adapting one of my books into film, but I don’t imagine I’ll ever try being a primary script writer. I’m a novelist, and I think that’s enough of a challenge. Same goes for comic books and videogames; I’d love someone to use something of mine as inspiration, but I’m not up for pushing those types of projects on my own. (My kids really want to play the “Acacia” computer game. I keep telling them not to get their hopes up.)
As for other fictional genres… I’d never say never to any of them, but the most obvious area of fiction that I’m itching to try is YA fantasy. Fantasy was so important to me as a young reader, and I already see how important it is to my kids now. They’re not actually YA yet, but we do read plenty of it with them. I’d love to be able to write directly for them, and directly for other kids like the thirteen year old boy I once was. Maybe even more telling than those desires is the fact that I’ve got an idea for a YA story. If it sticks with me and continues to hang around for a few years… well, I’ll have no choice to but to put on paper.
Q: As someone who loves teaching/mentoring students, what advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
David: Be in it for the long haul. Nothing does – or should – happen over night. You don’t get it right the first time. You probably don’t get it right the second, third or fourth time either. That has to be okay with you. You have to be willing to put in the work day after day, trying to write the very best stuff you can whenever and however you can as you juggle the responsibilities of life. And you have to be resilient enough to go bed every night with the novel still unfinished, the novella still in need of revision, the story still unpublished… If you can do that – and then get up the next morning itching to find the time to keep writing – well then you’ve got a shot at making it in some form or another.
Q: Are there any preconceived notions that you’d like to dispel about being an African-American author?
David: Of course. The main way I can do that is with my writing, but one thing I want the world to recognize is that African-Americans have just as much right to write about anything in the world that they want to as white writers. That may seem childishly clear. Many of your readers will say, “Of course. That’s obvious.” And it is. But I challenge anybody out there to find one writer of African, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern descent (just to name a few) that feels they’ve been able to write without preconceived limitations on what they’re allowed to be authorities on. We’re constantly told by publishers and booksellers what we can and can’t write about. And those publishers and booksellers will hold up their hands and say it’s not their fault. It’s the public that defines what they’ll read.
I don’t know what’s true or not in that equation, but I do know that it’s a very rare thing that I’ve been allowed to write about first Ancient Mediterranean history and now in epic fantasy. And I do mean “allowed”. If my publisher hadn’t supported my writing with significant advance payments I wouldn’t have been able to take these projects on. Even if I did choose to write them anyway I’d have had to have done so while working a day job, without professional support and encouragement, without any guarantee that if I ever got to the end I’d find a publisher. That’s a reality for many writers, but it can be a crippling one if you’re a “minority” who thinks outside the excepted norms.
My editor once said to me, after he’d finished “Pride of Carthage” and admitted to being fairly stunned by the whole thing, that I’d just stepped out of any box I might have been trapped in, and it was going to be damn hard for anybody to get back into a box if I didn’t want to go. That liberation was a big deal to me and I’m trying to make the most of it.
Q: Wow, I love your answer. So, what other activities or hobbies do you enjoy?
David: Obviously I read a lot. I also walk a lot. That may seem kinda boring, but it’s an everyday exercise that also provides me a changing landscape to move through as I conjure up stories. I was once an avid whitewater kayaker. I’m still a kayaker, just not quite as avid anymore. But I look forward to a future in which kayaking and hiking, rivers and mountains, being with my family and writing meaningful books that people enjoy is all that my life is about. That’s pretty much what I have already, but there are a few hurdles left to jump yet.
Q: Do you have any last thoughts or comments you’d like to share?
David: Nah. I’ve said more than enough already. The things I really want to say I say in my fiction. I’d love it if your readers would check that out.
Official Brian Lumley WebsiteOver ten years ago, I read “Necroscope” by Brian Lumley, and immediately became hooked by protagonist Harry Keogh and Mr. Lumley’s unique take on vampires (Wamphyri). From there, I quickly devoured the next four volumes in the series – “Vamphyri!,” “The Source,” “Deadspeak,” “Deadspawn” – before time restraints and uncertainty of what order to read the following sequels in kept me from returning to the world of Necroscope. So, I basically forgot about the books until recently when I discovered that a new Necroscope novel had been released just last year, which I excitedly picked up.
Having finished “Necroscope: The Touch”, I’ve discovered four major points. One, the fourteenth volume in the series occurs sometime after the end of “Necroscope V: Deadspawn” and before the start of the Vampire World Trilogy. Two, since the novel is essentially a standalone story, it’s not really necessary to have read the original five Necroscope books or any of the subsequent spin-offs – Vampire World Trilogy (“Blood Brothers”, “The Last Aerie”, “Bloodwars”), The Lost Years volumes I & II, the E-Branch Trilogy (“Invaders”, “Defilers”, "Avengers”), the “Harry Keogh: Necroscope and Other Weird Heroes!” short story collection – although I think it’s in your best interest to have at least completed Necroscope I – V. Thirdly, “The Touch” is supposedly the final book in the Necroscope series. And lastly, it’s definitely time for the series to be retired.
Regarding the last, as much as I loved the initial five-part Necroscope saga, and despite the familiar elements that are in “The Touch” – recognizable characters (Ben Trask, Harry Keogh, Zek Foener, other E-Branch members, etc.), inexplicable scientific concepts (Möbius Continuum, deadspeak, extra-sensory perception abilities, so on), over-the-top villains (Mordris Three) and Lovecraftian-influenced horror – the book is an inferior effort compared to the other Necroscope novels that I’ve read.
For one, Harry is not a major character and such trademark powers as the deadspeak, Möbius Continuum and mathematics play only a small role. Additionally, there are no Wamphyri or Sunside/Starside in “The Touch”, so immediately some of the major elements that made the early Necroscope books so fascinating are noticeably absent. In their stead, we get new hero Scott St. John who possesses a ‘dart’ of Harry’s essence; alien nemeses; applications dealing with gravity, faster-than-light-speed travel, etc.; and thematic explorations about love & the existence of a god/creator. Of these, the extraterrestrial antagonists are the most interesting and frightening because of their ability to manipulate flesh and their familiars (khiff), though truthfully the Mordris Three are nothing compared to such memorable baddies as Boris Dragosani or Thibor Ferenczy. As far as the main character, as hard as Mr. Lumley tries to make Scott St. John a sympathetic figure, I could never really care much about him or any of the other faces that show up, both old & new, and I found myself sorely missing Harry Keogh. Things don’t get much better looking at the overall plot, which essentially deals with a foreseen future about the destruction of the Earth, and the unlikely group of heroes who are the only ones capable of thwarting the inevitable and changing the future for the better. In other words, pretty derivate stuff, made worse by how slow the story moves along. I can understand what the author is trying to do in developing certain characters/motives/subplots, but the basic outline of “The Touch” is pretty simple, and I think the book would have been more enjoyable if certain scenes had been cut out or shortened. In short, “The Touch” tries to revisit a bunch of established Necroscope themes/mythoses from a fresh perspective, but even with the different packaging the book just ends up feeling like a tired rehash of ideas & plots.
Overall, “The Touch” is by far the weakest of the Necroscope novels that I’ve read, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Lumley refrains from revisiting the world, since his best Necroscope days have clearly passed him by. Despite my disappointment with “The Touch”, I do believe that Brian Lumley is one of contemporary horror fiction's more important authors, and if you haven’t done so yet, then I highly recommend checking out Necroscope: I – V, which are some of the most original, dynamic and daring vampire novels out there today...and also some of my favorites…
Regarding the last, as much as I loved the initial five-part Necroscope saga, and despite the familiar elements that are in “The Touch” – recognizable characters (Ben Trask, Harry Keogh, Zek Foener, other E-Branch members, etc.), inexplicable scientific concepts (Möbius Continuum, deadspeak, extra-sensory perception abilities, so on), over-the-top villains (Mordris Three) and Lovecraftian-influenced horror – the book is an inferior effort compared to the other Necroscope novels that I’ve read.
For one, Harry is not a major character and such trademark powers as the deadspeak, Möbius Continuum and mathematics play only a small role. Additionally, there are no Wamphyri or Sunside/Starside in “The Touch”, so immediately some of the major elements that made the early Necroscope books so fascinating are noticeably absent. In their stead, we get new hero Scott St. John who possesses a ‘dart’ of Harry’s essence; alien nemeses; applications dealing with gravity, faster-than-light-speed travel, etc.; and thematic explorations about love & the existence of a god/creator. Of these, the extraterrestrial antagonists are the most interesting and frightening because of their ability to manipulate flesh and their familiars (khiff), though truthfully the Mordris Three are nothing compared to such memorable baddies as Boris Dragosani or Thibor Ferenczy. As far as the main character, as hard as Mr. Lumley tries to make Scott St. John a sympathetic figure, I could never really care much about him or any of the other faces that show up, both old & new, and I found myself sorely missing Harry Keogh. Things don’t get much better looking at the overall plot, which essentially deals with a foreseen future about the destruction of the Earth, and the unlikely group of heroes who are the only ones capable of thwarting the inevitable and changing the future for the better. In other words, pretty derivate stuff, made worse by how slow the story moves along. I can understand what the author is trying to do in developing certain characters/motives/subplots, but the basic outline of “The Touch” is pretty simple, and I think the book would have been more enjoyable if certain scenes had been cut out or shortened. In short, “The Touch” tries to revisit a bunch of established Necroscope themes/mythoses from a fresh perspective, but even with the different packaging the book just ends up feeling like a tired rehash of ideas & plots.
Overall, “The Touch” is by far the weakest of the Necroscope novels that I’ve read, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Lumley refrains from revisiting the world, since his best Necroscope days have clearly passed him by. Despite my disappointment with “The Touch”, I do believe that Brian Lumley is one of contemporary horror fiction's more important authors, and if you haven’t done so yet, then I highly recommend checking out Necroscope: I – V, which are some of the most original, dynamic and daring vampire novels out there today...and also some of my favorites…
So the third Spider-Man film opened over the weekend, and, as expected, the movie broke a bunch of records including: highest global box office opening ever ($382 million worldwide), best international opening ($231 million from 29 countries), biggest North American opening ($151 million), best single worldwide day (Saturday, May 5 – 117 million), best single domestic day (Friday, May 4 - $59 million), and biggest US average per theatre ($35 thousand), not to mention breaking various IMAX records for single day, opening weekend gross and overall international gross.
Personally, I was disappointed with the movie and felt that it was the weakest of the three. I liked the original Spider-Man, partly because it was the first, and partly because it just exuded a certain charm. Still, it was a flawed film and I thought that Spider-Man 2 took all of the elements that made the first one so enjoyable and enhanced them while fixing most of the problems, and delivering a movie that was superior to the original in many different areas. Alas, the third one tries to take everything good from the first two and create this grand, emotionally-driven finale that one-ups its predecessors. Instead, we get this disjointed affair that tries to juggle drama, humor, heroic action and camp, all of which never works as a whole, though there were a few funny scenes involving Bruce Campbell & J. Jonah Jameson. Overall, the story just tries to do too much, the flow of the movie is erratic, the special effects over the top & unconvincing, and I’m actually sorry that I paid money see this. All I can say is, if they do a fourth Spider-Man, aside from Tobey Maguire, J.K. Simmons, Elizabeth Banks, and some others, I would recast all of the characters and get all new writers/director to inject some much-needed freshness into the franchise.
Despite all of the broken records, I just feel that Spider-Man 3 is a mediocre film, so I'm pretty interested to see how the movie holds up in the box office in the coming weeks, especially against other high-profile sequels, like the upcoming Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. We'll just have to wait for the numbers...
Miscellaneous News: “The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” by Irish author Michael Scott, the first book in a six-part fantasy epic aimed toward young readers, is due out May 22, 2007 with the entire series already optioned for film with New Line Productions. To top that, Michael Scott sold the rights to “Otherworld”, another forthcoming novel, to Kopelson Entertainment (The Devil’s Advocate, U.S. Marshals) based on a 15-page treatment, with Scott writing the screenplay.
Following the success of such film adaptations as Sin City and 300, Warner Bros. looks to try their luck with another property from noted comic book writer/artist Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil), this time with “Ronin”. Hopefully the movie will stay as true to the source material as the Sin City and 300 adaptations did.
Next up for Peter Jackson, the Oscar-winning director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, is the film adaptation of “The Lovely Bones” by author Alice Sebold, which will be co-produced by Jackson, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lord of the Rings collaborators Philippa Boyens & Fran Walsh.
Yet another Michael Crichton novel is being adapted, this time “The Andromeda Strain” as a TV miniseries with filmmaker brothers Tony & Ridley Scott producing.
Speaking of television, ABC recently announced that their multiple award-winning (Emmys, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, etc.) drama Lost will end in 2010. So, after this year’s season finale, there will be approximately 48 episodes left that will be aired in the next three seasons as 16-episode arcs. Personally, I think this is a fabulous move, which gives the writers plenty of time to sort out how they will answer all of the questions and conclude the show in a satisfactory manner.
Book News: For Steven Erikson fans, “Reaper’s Gale” the latest volume in the outstanding Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy series was finally released yesterday (May 7, 2007) in the UK, with the Canadian edition due out June 26, 2007. US readers unfortunately will have to wait some years before it’s published here, though I’d recommend The Book Depository if you want to buy the book now at an affordable price.
Just a reminder to those who may not have seen it yet, but over at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, there’s a GIVEAWAY for the upcoming “Kushiel’s Justice” by Jacqueline Carey, so be sure to check that out and look for an interview with Ms. Carey here on Fantasy Book Critic next week…
Miscellaneous News: “The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel” by Irish author Michael Scott, the first book in a six-part fantasy epic aimed toward young readers, is due out May 22, 2007 with the entire series already optioned for film with New Line Productions. To top that, Michael Scott sold the rights to “Otherworld”, another forthcoming novel, to Kopelson Entertainment (The Devil’s Advocate, U.S. Marshals) based on a 15-page treatment, with Scott writing the screenplay.Following the success of such film adaptations as Sin City and 300, Warner Bros. looks to try their luck with another property from noted comic book writer/artist Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil), this time with “Ronin”. Hopefully the movie will stay as true to the source material as the Sin City and 300 adaptations did.
Next up for Peter Jackson, the Oscar-winning director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong, is the film adaptation of “The Lovely Bones” by author Alice Sebold, which will be co-produced by Jackson, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lord of the Rings collaborators Philippa Boyens & Fran Walsh.
Yet another Michael Crichton novel is being adapted, this time “The Andromeda Strain” as a TV miniseries with filmmaker brothers Tony & Ridley Scott producing.
Speaking of television, ABC recently announced that their multiple award-winning (Emmys, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, etc.) drama Lost will end in 2010. So, after this year’s season finale, there will be approximately 48 episodes left that will be aired in the next three seasons as 16-episode arcs. Personally, I think this is a fabulous move, which gives the writers plenty of time to sort out how they will answer all of the questions and conclude the show in a satisfactory manner.
Book News: For Steven Erikson fans, “Reaper’s Gale” the latest volume in the outstanding Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy series was finally released yesterday (May 7, 2007) in the UK, with the Canadian edition due out June 26, 2007. US readers unfortunately will have to wait some years before it’s published here, though I’d recommend The Book Depository if you want to buy the book now at an affordable price.
Just a reminder to those who may not have seen it yet, but over at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, there’s a GIVEAWAY for the upcoming “Kushiel’s Justice” by Jacqueline Carey, so be sure to check that out and look for an interview with Ms. Carey here on Fantasy Book Critic next week…
Official Stephen Hunt WebsiteBuy “The Court of the Air” HERE
Read Sample Chapters One & Two
Watch “The Court of the Air” Mini-Movie HERE
For a little while now, I’ve been hearing about this novel called “The Court of the Air”, which has been mentioned in the same breath as Charles Dickens, Philip Pullman of His Dark Materials fame and Susanna Clarke, author of the Hugo Award-winning “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”. Lofty company indeed. So, intrigued, I finally got my hands on a copy and I’m very glad I did. Written by Stephen Hunt, “The Court of the Air” is a fascinating SF/fantasy hybrid that should firmly place the little-known writer on the speculative fiction map – Stephen cut his teeth in the early 90s with numerous short stories in various genre magazines, has one other published novel in the fantasy 'For the Crown and the Dragon', winner of the 1994 WH Smith New Talent Award, and is also the founder behind the science fiction/fantasy website SF Crowsnest.
Let’s start with the obvious. “The Court of the Air” is noticeably influenced by Dickens with its Victorian setting and other ‘Dickensian’ touches (names, sociopolitical themes, etc.), except the world is one that Charles would probably not recognize. Unlike Susanna Clarke’s novel where the history has been altered just a bit to fit in magic, Stephen Hunt’s world has been completely reinvented through science fiction/fantasy imaginings, though it’s not hard to recognize what specific nations (Britain, Arabia, Ireland, Aztecs and even Atlantis), governments, law enforcement, militaries, religions, technology and other familiar everyday concepts are played around with. Of these, Steampunk is a prominent influence of “The Court of the Air”, represented by robots – steammen as they are known in the book – and other steam-powered technologies like airships, submarines and weaponry that bring to mind H.G. Wells or Jules Verne, though truthfully I was reminded more of such Japanese anime films as “Metropolis” and “Steamboy”. I was also reminded a lot of the Final Fantasy video games, because like the RPG series, magic plays just as important a role in “The Court of the Air” as the machines do, embodied by Worldsingers (wizards), feybreed (humans given super powers by Feymist), the Special Guard (feybreed controlled by Worldsingers to act as guardians of the Parliament), leylines (sources of magic), demigods and other magical elements. Additionally, much like the FF games, “The Court of the Air” features youthful protagonists who embark on epic quests against great evils, and along the way, develop god-like powers that manifest during the story’s pivotal moments. On top of that, I was even reminded some of the Tom Swift books I used to read, the Indiana Jones films because of the pulp-like spirit of adventure that they share, and I can even see a bit of The Wizard of Oz wonderment in there as well. All in all, I was thoroughly absorbed with the world of “The Court of the Air”, particularly the first 200-300 pages, where we’re introduced to the many different cogs that make up the Kingdom of Jackals, with some of my favorite concepts being the extremist communist philosophy that is depicted, a secret organization (The Court of the Air) that ‘watches/mediates’ from the skies above and the way the steammen are portrayed, not just as machines striving for autonomy, but as actual living creatures that think, feel, possess souls and have their own gods. I will admit though that understanding everything can be a bit daunting at first, since you’re immediately inundated with countless people, places, ideas and jargon to process, all of it with very little exposition, which is a shame since I wish things like the Court of the Air, the Jackals’ history, the feymist, the Observer, etc., were further explained. I also wish there was a map and a glossary, which I think would have helped to authenticate the world and their lack of might be an issue with some readers because of the book’s complexity.
Okay, so we’ve established what kind of world “The Court of the Air” is set in, and what I feel are some of its influences/comparisons, but what about the rest of the book? Regarding the story, I touched on it some earlier in that the basic outline focuses on two main characters, youths Molly Templar and Oliver Brooks, both of whom are being hunted by deadly enemies for vastly different reasons. Eventually the whos & whys for their existence are revealed, ancient evils are resurrected, alliances formed and paths are set upon to oppose this threat. I know what you’re thinking, another quest story and truthfully, the quest does make up the heart of “The Court of the Air”. Thankfully, there’s a lot more to the tale, specifically a number of highly interesting subplots that deal with Commonshare uprisings, Parliamentary politics, steammen spirituality, the Court of the Air intrigue, Chimecan mythology and feybreed equality. It is also through these various subplots that we get to know some of the book’s more interesting personas. While Molly and Oliver may be the protagonists of “The Court of the Air”, honestly it’s hard to relate with either of them since they eventually become so powerful and inhuman, that you never worry about what’s going to happen to them. Side characters on the other hand, are a fascinating lot, blessed with distinctive personalities and their narratives are much more fun to follow – you’re never quite sure when they’ll switch sides, what secrets their past may hide, who they’ll become or even if they’ll survive. Of these, some of my favorites included the disreputable Harry Stave, Commodore Jared Black, King Steam, the Whisperer, Count Vauxtion, Captain Flare and many others who I wish had played a more prominent role in the book. As far as the writing, Stephen Hunt’s prose fits in nicely with the Victorian setting, and while it can get a tad preachy at times, I thought overall that Stephen handles himself very sufficiently with tight pacing, superb action sequences and confident control of the multiple characters & plotlines, neatly concluding the book in a way that it can be read as a standalone novel, while leaving enough threads open to easily return to the world.
As a whole, I would rate Stephen Hunt’s “The Court of the Air” as one of the more imaginative and enjoyable fantasy novels that I’ve read this year. Regarding the Philip Pullman comparisons, I think the books are vastly different as far as their worlds and styles, with their target audience and thoughtful complexity the only relevant similarities in my opinion. As to Susanna Clarke fans, while somewhat alike in style, “The Court of the Air” is much more fantastical and action-packed than the erudite “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”, and admirers of the latter may not appreciate Stephen Hunt’s novel as much, though I for one enjoyed “The Court of the Air” a great deal more. However, like Susanna Clarke’s debut, I think opinions will greatly differ on “The Court of the Air” from those who absolutely love it, to readers who despise the book and people whose views don’t really fall either way. Personally, I can’t recommend it enough and hope that Stephen Hunt will return to this world soon, though I’ll definitely pick up anything else that the author publishes. For those who might be interested in “The Court of the Air”, the hardcover was published in April 2007 and is available in the UK, Canada, Japan & Australia with a paperback edition due out September 3, 2007.
Let’s start with the obvious. “The Court of the Air” is noticeably influenced by Dickens with its Victorian setting and other ‘Dickensian’ touches (names, sociopolitical themes, etc.), except the world is one that Charles would probably not recognize. Unlike Susanna Clarke’s novel where the history has been altered just a bit to fit in magic, Stephen Hunt’s world has been completely reinvented through science fiction/fantasy imaginings, though it’s not hard to recognize what specific nations (Britain, Arabia, Ireland, Aztecs and even Atlantis), governments, law enforcement, militaries, religions, technology and other familiar everyday concepts are played around with. Of these, Steampunk is a prominent influence of “The Court of the Air”, represented by robots – steammen as they are known in the book – and other steam-powered technologies like airships, submarines and weaponry that bring to mind H.G. Wells or Jules Verne, though truthfully I was reminded more of such Japanese anime films as “Metropolis” and “Steamboy”. I was also reminded a lot of the Final Fantasy video games, because like the RPG series, magic plays just as important a role in “The Court of the Air” as the machines do, embodied by Worldsingers (wizards), feybreed (humans given super powers by Feymist), the Special Guard (feybreed controlled by Worldsingers to act as guardians of the Parliament), leylines (sources of magic), demigods and other magical elements. Additionally, much like the FF games, “The Court of the Air” features youthful protagonists who embark on epic quests against great evils, and along the way, develop god-like powers that manifest during the story’s pivotal moments. On top of that, I was even reminded some of the Tom Swift books I used to read, the Indiana Jones films because of the pulp-like spirit of adventure that they share, and I can even see a bit of The Wizard of Oz wonderment in there as well. All in all, I was thoroughly absorbed with the world of “The Court of the Air”, particularly the first 200-300 pages, where we’re introduced to the many different cogs that make up the Kingdom of Jackals, with some of my favorite concepts being the extremist communist philosophy that is depicted, a secret organization (The Court of the Air) that ‘watches/mediates’ from the skies above and the way the steammen are portrayed, not just as machines striving for autonomy, but as actual living creatures that think, feel, possess souls and have their own gods. I will admit though that understanding everything can be a bit daunting at first, since you’re immediately inundated with countless people, places, ideas and jargon to process, all of it with very little exposition, which is a shame since I wish things like the Court of the Air, the Jackals’ history, the feymist, the Observer, etc., were further explained. I also wish there was a map and a glossary, which I think would have helped to authenticate the world and their lack of might be an issue with some readers because of the book’s complexity.
Okay, so we’ve established what kind of world “The Court of the Air” is set in, and what I feel are some of its influences/comparisons, but what about the rest of the book? Regarding the story, I touched on it some earlier in that the basic outline focuses on two main characters, youths Molly Templar and Oliver Brooks, both of whom are being hunted by deadly enemies for vastly different reasons. Eventually the whos & whys for their existence are revealed, ancient evils are resurrected, alliances formed and paths are set upon to oppose this threat. I know what you’re thinking, another quest story and truthfully, the quest does make up the heart of “The Court of the Air”. Thankfully, there’s a lot more to the tale, specifically a number of highly interesting subplots that deal with Commonshare uprisings, Parliamentary politics, steammen spirituality, the Court of the Air intrigue, Chimecan mythology and feybreed equality. It is also through these various subplots that we get to know some of the book’s more interesting personas. While Molly and Oliver may be the protagonists of “The Court of the Air”, honestly it’s hard to relate with either of them since they eventually become so powerful and inhuman, that you never worry about what’s going to happen to them. Side characters on the other hand, are a fascinating lot, blessed with distinctive personalities and their narratives are much more fun to follow – you’re never quite sure when they’ll switch sides, what secrets their past may hide, who they’ll become or even if they’ll survive. Of these, some of my favorites included the disreputable Harry Stave, Commodore Jared Black, King Steam, the Whisperer, Count Vauxtion, Captain Flare and many others who I wish had played a more prominent role in the book. As far as the writing, Stephen Hunt’s prose fits in nicely with the Victorian setting, and while it can get a tad preachy at times, I thought overall that Stephen handles himself very sufficiently with tight pacing, superb action sequences and confident control of the multiple characters & plotlines, neatly concluding the book in a way that it can be read as a standalone novel, while leaving enough threads open to easily return to the world.
As a whole, I would rate Stephen Hunt’s “The Court of the Air” as one of the more imaginative and enjoyable fantasy novels that I’ve read this year. Regarding the Philip Pullman comparisons, I think the books are vastly different as far as their worlds and styles, with their target audience and thoughtful complexity the only relevant similarities in my opinion. As to Susanna Clarke fans, while somewhat alike in style, “The Court of the Air” is much more fantastical and action-packed than the erudite “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”, and admirers of the latter may not appreciate Stephen Hunt’s novel as much, though I for one enjoyed “The Court of the Air” a great deal more. However, like Susanna Clarke’s debut, I think opinions will greatly differ on “The Court of the Air” from those who absolutely love it, to readers who despise the book and people whose views don’t really fall either way. Personally, I can’t recommend it enough and hope that Stephen Hunt will return to this world soon, though I’ll definitely pick up anything else that the author publishes. For those who might be interested in “The Court of the Air”, the hardcover was published in April 2007 and is available in the UK, Canada, Japan & Australia with a paperback edition due out September 3, 2007.
After reviewing Jeffrey Thomas’ “Deadstock” and Gail Z. Martin’s “The Summoner” from new imprint Solaris Books, both of which I enjoyed, I decided to try out Solaris’ ‘Dark Fantasy’ offering, “Dante’s Girl” by Natasha Rhodes. They say that good things come in threes, but unfortunately that’s not the case here.
Reading the back cover, “Dante’s Girl” sounded like it might be in the vein of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels or the countless other similar paranormal-themed series that are out there. Instead, aside from some gratuitous erotic sex scenes, “Dante’s Girl” reads much more like a movie, which comes from Natasha Rhodes previous experience in her novelizations of Blade: Trinity and the first two Final Destination films as well as movie-based tie-in novels A Nightmare On Elm Street: Perchance To Dream and Final Destination: Dead Reckoning. Set in present-day Los Angeles where exist vampires, werewolves & other supernatural creatures, and the human Hunters vowed to destroy them, “Dante’s Girl” reminds me of a cross between Blade, Underworld and Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. Like those movies & television series, expect plenty of good-looking guys & gals with trendy names (Magnus, Harlequin, Cyan-X, etc.) kicking ass, big baddies, vampire/werewolf politics, tons of gun/swordplay action & lots of blood & gore. You can also expect shallow characterization, dialogue that tries to be hip & witty – may work on a show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but comes across as cheesy in a book – a nonsensical plot full of holes, and inconsistent pacing. Basically, what may work onscreen, or at least can be overshadowed by special effects or music, does not work nearly as well in literature and the weaknesses are painfully obvious to the reader.
That’s not to say there’s nothing positive about “Dante’s Girl”. Action scenes are very well done in the book and there’s plenty of it. Heck, the opening pages really grabbed my attention before getting bogged down with boring exposition. And if not for the seemingly endless barrage of campy quips, the action would probably have been even better. Additionally, Natasha Rhodes does a good job of bringing Los Angeles to life, particularly the night life and its ‘everybody-wants-to-be-a-star’ Hollywood lifestyle. There were also a few concepts that showed promise like genetically altered vampires/werewolves, the search for the secret behind the vampires’ immortality, and a ghost who is able to augment the strength/abilities of a regular person, but none of these ideas are adequately explored or explained. In fact, this seems to be a major issue throughout the entire book. For instance, there’s a lot of backstabbing, two-timing and other machinations going on between various factions, but the reasoning behind their actions are flimsy at best. Likewise, certain attractions in the book didn’t make much sense to me and apparently, a lot of the characters share pasts that are never fully explored. Even Dark Arts, which are mentioned on the back cover, don’t come into the picture until late in the book, and even then we’re never told what they are or how Hunters are trained to learn them. Obviously “Dante’s Girl” is the first, in what looks to be many future Kayla Steele novels, so it makes sense to leave a few threads dangling to be picked up in forthcoming volumes, but I think it would have helped the book some if just a few more questions had been answered.
Overall, Natasha Rhodes’ “Dante’s Girl” has a cool premise, especially if you’re a fan of vampires or werewolves, and at times, it shows potential, but ultimately the book fails due to shoddy execution with plotting, pacing, characterization and dialogue. Because of this, and my opinion that the book would work better as a film or TV show than it does as a novel, I can’t really recommend “Dante’s Girl”. Even fans of Laurell K. Hamilton, Tanya Huff, Janet Evanovich, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, Carrie Vaughn and Sherrilyn Kenyon, etc. might find “Dante’s Girl” lacking. In short, if you’re in the market for a respectable new urban/contemporary fantasy to sink your teeth into, I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere…
Reading the back cover, “Dante’s Girl” sounded like it might be in the vein of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels or the countless other similar paranormal-themed series that are out there. Instead, aside from some gratuitous erotic sex scenes, “Dante’s Girl” reads much more like a movie, which comes from Natasha Rhodes previous experience in her novelizations of Blade: Trinity and the first two Final Destination films as well as movie-based tie-in novels A Nightmare On Elm Street: Perchance To Dream and Final Destination: Dead Reckoning. Set in present-day Los Angeles where exist vampires, werewolves & other supernatural creatures, and the human Hunters vowed to destroy them, “Dante’s Girl” reminds me of a cross between Blade, Underworld and Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. Like those movies & television series, expect plenty of good-looking guys & gals with trendy names (Magnus, Harlequin, Cyan-X, etc.) kicking ass, big baddies, vampire/werewolf politics, tons of gun/swordplay action & lots of blood & gore. You can also expect shallow characterization, dialogue that tries to be hip & witty – may work on a show like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but comes across as cheesy in a book – a nonsensical plot full of holes, and inconsistent pacing. Basically, what may work onscreen, or at least can be overshadowed by special effects or music, does not work nearly as well in literature and the weaknesses are painfully obvious to the reader.
That’s not to say there’s nothing positive about “Dante’s Girl”. Action scenes are very well done in the book and there’s plenty of it. Heck, the opening pages really grabbed my attention before getting bogged down with boring exposition. And if not for the seemingly endless barrage of campy quips, the action would probably have been even better. Additionally, Natasha Rhodes does a good job of bringing Los Angeles to life, particularly the night life and its ‘everybody-wants-to-be-a-star’ Hollywood lifestyle. There were also a few concepts that showed promise like genetically altered vampires/werewolves, the search for the secret behind the vampires’ immortality, and a ghost who is able to augment the strength/abilities of a regular person, but none of these ideas are adequately explored or explained. In fact, this seems to be a major issue throughout the entire book. For instance, there’s a lot of backstabbing, two-timing and other machinations going on between various factions, but the reasoning behind their actions are flimsy at best. Likewise, certain attractions in the book didn’t make much sense to me and apparently, a lot of the characters share pasts that are never fully explored. Even Dark Arts, which are mentioned on the back cover, don’t come into the picture until late in the book, and even then we’re never told what they are or how Hunters are trained to learn them. Obviously “Dante’s Girl” is the first, in what looks to be many future Kayla Steele novels, so it makes sense to leave a few threads dangling to be picked up in forthcoming volumes, but I think it would have helped the book some if just a few more questions had been answered.
Overall, Natasha Rhodes’ “Dante’s Girl” has a cool premise, especially if you’re a fan of vampires or werewolves, and at times, it shows potential, but ultimately the book fails due to shoddy execution with plotting, pacing, characterization and dialogue. Because of this, and my opinion that the book would work better as a film or TV show than it does as a novel, I can’t really recommend “Dante’s Girl”. Even fans of Laurell K. Hamilton, Tanya Huff, Janet Evanovich, Kim Harrison, Charlaine Harris, Carrie Vaughn and Sherrilyn Kenyon, etc. might find “Dante’s Girl” lacking. In short, if you’re in the market for a respectable new urban/contemporary fantasy to sink your teeth into, I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere…
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