Introducing | Dead and Buried or Alive and Kicking: A Celebration of The Book of the Dead

A couple of months ago, in a special edition of the British Genre Fiction Focus for Tor.com, it was a pride and a privilege to be the blogger behind the reveal of Jurassic London's latest anthology project.

I had loved the not-for-profit small press's last anthology, The Lowest Heaven — reviewed right here — and I was pulled in by the premise of The Book of the Dead as well:

The Book of the Dead addresses the most fascinating of all the undead: the mummy. This anthology includes nineteen original stories of revenge, romance, monsters and mayhem, ranging freely across time periods, genres and styles. Paul Cornell takes an Egyptian monarch on an unusual — and contemporary — journey to redemption in 'Ramesses on the Frontier'; Gail Carriger gives readers a peek into the history of the Parasol Protectorate series and the Tarabotti family in 'The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn’t, The Mummy that Was and the Cat in the Jar'; Maria Dahvana Headley raises discomfiting new questions about the candy industry in 'Bit-U-Men'; and Jesse Bullington features a young man who finds an unlikely role model in 'Escape from the Mummy’s Tomb.' 

Illustrated by Garen Ewing, creator of The Adventures of Julius Chancer, and introduced by John J. Johnston, Vice Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society — which The Book of the Dead is published in collaboration with — the anthology also contains new stories from David Thomas Moore, David Bryher, Molly Tanzer, Sarah Newton, Lou Morgan, Maurice Broaddus, Adam Roberts, Michael West, Den Patrick, Roger Luckhurst, Jenni Hill, Glen Mehn, Jonathan Green, Louis Greenberg and Will Hill.

An abominably promising assortment of authors, yes — and in the hands of a demonstrably excellent editor. Truth be told, though, on the surface the mummy seemed to me a markedly less fascinating subject than the exploration of space. So when the one and only Jared Shurin asked if I'd be interested in putting together something supplementary in support of the anthology's release later this week, I guess I hedged my bets a bit: I suggested we approach a couple of the contributors and ask them to explain why they believe that the mummy is still alive and kicking in fiction.

In any event, all that was then. Now? Well, reading through my review copy of The Book of the Dead in recent weeks, I've had cause to reassess my initial position. Suddenly, I'm in the mood for mummies. I look forward to explaining exactly why in my full review of the book on The Speculative Scotsman this Friday.

Between now and then, we'll be celebrating the imminent unveiling of The Book of the Dead with an awesome assortment of guest posts, beginning at 2PM tomorrow — as usual — with an absolutely brilliant bit by Maria Dahvana Headley, author of Queen of Kings: another rather goodly book I've reviewed. On Wednesday, Jonathan Green argues that love is what makes the mummy so appealing, and on Thursday, David Bryher stops by to discuss our enduring adoration of the undead.

They're just great guest posts, guys. I can only hope you enjoy them half as much as I have.

The Scotsman Abroad | Introducing the Short Fiction Spotlight

Yesterday was a big day for your resident Scotsman!

In addition to the third instalment of the British Genre Fiction Focus—wherein I touched on the rebranding of Guy Gavriel Kay in the UK, the impact of the cold snap we've had on high street retail, the rise of "artisan authors" via The Guardian, and the announcement of The Time Traveler's Almanac—yesterday also saw the debut of the other feature series I've been working on for Tor.com.

Wonderfully, this once I wasn't working alone, because the Short Fiction Spotlight is a team effort between myself and the brilliant Brit Mandelo. Both of our first editions hit the front page at the same time yesterday, but from here on out we'll be sharing the Spotlight equally, which is to say one week Brit will curate the column, and the next week I will; then her again, then me once more, and so on and so forth—for all time if it takes off.

Long story short—and isn't that the point?—the Short Fiction Spotlight is live, and I'd love it if you took a look.

Here's how my half the whole starts:

Much as we like to tell ourselves otherwise, size absolutely matters. 

What? I’m a shorty; I get to say these things! 

But I mean the size of stories, of course. There are no two ways about it, I’m afraid: whether because of price or presence, viability or visibility, short fiction is the person at the party we politely ignore, or outright rudely overlook. 

I’m as guilty of this telling offence as anyone. In the second installment of my ongoing British Genre Fiction Focus column, I talked up the British Science Fiction Association’s Best Novel nominees—amongst many and various other subjects—yet neglected to mention the six short stories up for one of the BSFA’s other awards. I am appropriately penitent, as we shall see, but this sort of treatment is simply all too typical of the short shrift short fiction is given.

In order to address the problem head on, Brit Mandelo and I will take turns discussing a selection of short stories. As we alternate weeks, Brit will be writing about magazines, primarily—whether physical or digital—meanwhile I’ll be going wherever the wind takes me. This week, for instance, in a timely attempt to correct my earlier oversight, I’ll be running through two of the six nominees for the BSFA’s Best Short Story award, and in subsequent editions of the Short Fiction Spotlight, time permitting, we’ll consider the remaining contenders together. 

After that? Well. I’m sure we’ll see... 

You are, of course, cordially invited to read along with us. We’d adore it if you did! And though not all of the shorts we mean to talk about in this column are available to read for free, where possible we’ll be providing links to the texts themselves, and failing that, advice on how to get hold of certain stories. If you keep watch on the comments, I’ll try to give you advance warning about what we’re reading next, as well.

I'm already hard at work on weeks two and three of this feature, and let me tell you, I've never read so many short stories in such a short space of time. Not in me tod!

Be they great or merely good—there certainly hasn't been a bad 'un in the bunch thus far—committing to co-curating the Short Fiction Spotlight has given me a glimpse in a whole other world of genre goodness, and I'd be over the bloody moon if did the same for a few of you.

So click through. Show your support for short fiction. And while you're at it, why not suggest a few choice stories for Brit or I to read and review?

Top of the Scots 2012 | An Introduction

2012 has been a momentous year for me for many reasons. This will come as scant surprise to those of you who've been with me from its beginning, but The Speculative Scotsman has seen a surprising number of newcomers in recent weeks - where did you guys come from, I wonder? - so allow me to make plain my changed circumstances.

To begin with, I realised a lifelong dream back in March, spending a full month in America, and loving every minute of it. I've been itching to go again ever since I got home — and I pray will one day! But I'll need a better reason than "because" to justify the tremendous expense again.

Meanwhile, I went from submitting reviews very occasionally elsewhere to having my work paid for and published on a weekly basis. As many people as I reach here - and I'm grateful to every single visitor - the simple fact of the matter is that articles on Strange Horizons and Tor.com are destined to be read by more folks than those I post on TSS, so if I want to get the good word out there about a promising small press or an exciting new author, the decision isn't difficult... much as it sometimes pains me to make.

Last but not least, the part-time tutoring I started in doing in early 2011 became a full-fledged business in 2012, eating away more of my time than ever before, especially taken together with everything else. But I can't complain; I wouldn't even if I could! Teaching has been a terrific and enlightening experience. To be doing something so meaningful to make ends meet... I simply can't imaging going back on that.

Alas, all this has had an adverse effect: the free time I've had to read and write in years previous has taken a bit of a hit. Likewise the hours I tended to dedicate to gaming... not to mention the movie nights I used to look forward to. It's practically tragic how little of the year's most exciting cinema I've seen. 

But catching up is what holidays are all about, so I still plan to blog about 2012's finest films... albeit a little later than usual. Thus, this year, I'm going to stagger Top of the Scots somewhat, rather than blowing my whole load inside of a single week: the plan is to post The Best Movies in early January, after a bit of a break, alongside a category new to TSS.

Happily, I am still in a position to talk you through the year in speculative fiction forthwith — my thoughts on The Best Books of 2012 should be good to go this week.

And though the time I've spent with in other worlds than these has been rather reduced from previous periods, I put it to you that I've used it much more wisely. To wit: we'll kick Top of the Scots 2012 off properly tomorrow, with a long look at the The Best Games I've gamed this year.

Now you'll notice that Top of the Scots looks a little different than it has in the past. That's because - as well as adding an extra category - I've embiggened each of the blogs I've posted before, and split them down the middle.

And lo, there were two sections where once there was but one! Firstly, we'll talk about my Five Favourites., and afterwards, I'll give out several Other Awards - to Runners-Up amongst others, including Honourable Mentions, Glaring Oversights, and the year's Biggest Disappointments - before signing off with some fitting Final Thoughts.

And that's our introduction.

Remember: the excitement begins in earnest 24 hours from now!

Anyone want to hazard an early guess about what I'm going to go for?

Introductions | Origins of an Empire

The first of a series of three prequels, Forge of Darkness purports to be a new beginning for The Malazan Book of the Fallen, but as ever with the work of Steven Erikson, it is not so simple — an assertion acknowledged by the cult Canadian novelist:

"What I would speak of this morning is but the beginning of a tale. It is without borders, and its players are far from dead, and the story is far from finished. To make matters even worse, word by word I weave truth and untruths. I posit a goal to events, when such goals were not understood at the time, nor even considered. I am expected to offer a resolution, to ease the conscience of the listener, or earn a moment or two of false comfort, with the belief that proper sense is to be made of living. Just as in a tale." (p.513)

A tale such as this tale of tales. But where else are we to begin, if not at the beginning?

Even then, one can only wonder: which beginning?

Because you could say The Malazan Book of the Fallen began in 1982, when a couple of archaeologists endeavoured, in their off-hours, to excavate a history of their own creation. They did this, according to the old wives' tale they each tell, by playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. So the story goes.

Several years into these sessions, their campaigns had become so complex - and so compelling in their eyes - that Steve Lundin and Ian Cameron Esslemont resolved to share them in some way with the wider world. Together, then, nearly a decade on from the fiction's first informal flush, these friends collaborated on a film script. The movie would have been called Gardens of the Moon... if it had ever been made.

But it wasn't. The co-written script didn't sell. And if you'll permit me a side-note, perhaps that's just as well. Given Erikson's comments on the matter, Gardens of the Moon the movie would have played the affairs of this death-drenched empire in large part for laughs — an unconscionable thought, is it not?

Of course, the story was far from over, for soon after the screenplay's failure, Lundin and Esslemont drew a line in the sand and went their separate ways with the canon they had created. The latter author was to take his time developing his share of the saga, but almost immediately the former composed a novel based on the ill-fated film script.

Still, it took another age for anything to materialise from this. Finally, in 1999, Bantam Books published Lundin's first work of fantasy, under the pseudonym most of us know him by today. Gardens of the Moon garnered Steven Erikson a modest yet immodestly devoted following, and if not a win then a nomination for the World Fantasy Award. It was seen as self-contained at the time, but the book soon sparked a bidding war for further adventures in and of its empire. Thus, The Malazan Book of the Fallen - at least as we understand it - was born.

Twelve years, nine additional novels, seven to ten thousand pages (depending upon your preference for paperbacks) and approximately three million words later, Erikson's saga drew to a close with The Crippled God in 2011. The outspoken author lately allowed that he would die a happy man, knowing that the tale has been told to completion... however I'd really rather he hang on a little longer — not least because Forge of Darkness is, quite frankly, remarkable.

Stay tuned for my full review on The Speculative Scotsman tomorrow!

About the Author | Meet G. Willow Wilson

In the inaugural edition of About the Author, I introduced you to Tom Pollock, author of The City's Son, one of my favourite first novels of 2012 to date.

Today, it gives me great pleasure to welcome the wonderful author of another such novel to The Speculative Scotsman: a tour-de-force debut that I made no bones about adoring in my review. In fact, it's safe to say Alif the Unseen may feature in my roundup of the year's best books, when the time comes to make such declarations. It really is that good, guys.

In the interim, if for some mysterious reason you're still not convinced, perhaps the fascinating chat I had with G. Willow Wilson will tip the balance in the correct direction. You need only read on, readers!

***

A very good afternoon to you, Ms. Wilson. I’m Niall. Pleased to meet you – and doubly so to have you here on The Speculative Scotsman.

It’s my pleasure! Thanks for the invitation.

First things first, then: could you tell us a little bit about yourself? For those folks not yet in the know, who are you, and how did you come to be here?

Let’s see: one of the questions I get asked a lot is “What does the G stand for?” the answer to which is ‘Gwendolyn.’ I’m about to turn thirty. I was born and grew up in the United States, but after university I moved to Cairo, Egypt, where I spent most of my early and mid-twenties. I got married and built a home there, and the city, as well as the wider Middle East, remains one of the primary inspirations for my work. I’m about to have my second child. I was a latecomer to video games, but now I love them. I think that covers the critical stuff.

Though it’s been available in the United States for some time, your first novel proper, Alif the Unseen, came out in the UK late last week. I’m of the opinion that everyone with eyes should buy it, but why? What do you think makes your fictional debut distinct?

High praise! And that’s a good question. When I finished writing my last book, The Butterfly Mosque (which was nonfiction), I wanted to do something completely different, giving free rein to both my pop cultural sensibilities and my interest in politics and religion. Alif was what came out. I suppose what makes it unique is the free mixing of low-tech mythology and high-tech computer culture. Djinn using wifi. Djinn ex machina. I don’t know that that’s been done before.

Given the opportunity, which I know many marketing departments deny their authors, how would you blurb your book?

A young Arab-Indian hacker in an unnamed oil emirate falls in love with the wrong girl and goes on the run from a shadowy state security apparatus known only as The Hand. Plus genies, the Islamist girl next door, a car chase through the desert, and much speculating about the place of myth and religion in the modern world.

As I’ve alluded, Alif the Unseen is a debut in technical terms, but it’s very far from the first piece of work you’ve had published. Could you talk a little bit about the many and various other things you’ve written?

Gosh, there’s a lot. I worked as a journalist for several years while living in Cairo, and then got into comics pretty seriously — I’ve written a graphic novel, one monthly series and several miniseries for DC Comics and Marvel, the two biggest comics publishers in the US.

Your first ongoing comic book, AIR for Vertigo, about an acrophobic flight attendant who becomes caught up in a terrorist plot to take over the skies, ran for 24 issues before being cancelled in mid-2010 due to low sales. That is, if I’m to believe Wikipedia.

Should I? Or is there maybe more to the story?

There isn’t more, I’m afraid. AIR garnered a fair amount of critical praise — it was nominated for an Eisner Award — but it just never sold very well. It was born into a soft market, and it was a very, very weird book. But it’s had a bit of a second life in the backlist. Someone sent me photos a couple of years ago of a woman cosplaying the main character at San Diego Comic Con. That made me feel I’d arrived.

Two years later, how do you view AIR today? I’ve been reading the first few trades in readiness for this interview, and this is no slight – as of the third collected volume, I’m enjoying the series a great deal – but AIR is very much a product of its time, isn’t it?

Very much so. I joked with Karen Berger, who edited the series, that in ten years AIR would look like a period piece. AIR was a response to a very particular post-9/11 moment in American history, when we came to see air travel not as this luxurious, jet-setting mode of transport, a la the 1960s, but as a threat to national security, a hassle, and the symbol of a changed world. Something in the American character really altered, and AIR is a sort of psychadelic tribute to that.

Is Alif the Unseen, equally? A product of its particular period, I mean.

Not intentionally! When I started writing it, no one had any inkling that the Arab Spring was right around the corner. I knew change was afoot in the Middle East and I knew that young computer savvy hacktivists were a big part of that, but I had no idea it was going to blow up the way it did. I frankly thought I was overselling the importance of the digital youth movement in the Middle East. But I wasn’t.

Getting back to the matter at hand, might I ask how the new book came about?

I don’t rightly know. I wanted to talk about the digital underground, and while I was mulling it over a hacker friend — upon whom Alif is very loosely based — disappeared from the internet. Like disappeared. And I thought, how might one go about that? And suddenly there was a book in my head.

You’ve spoken before about how Alif the Unseen was born out of rage. Could you explain what that means here?

I was tired of being forced into boxes. Pre-Arab Spring, people only seemed to want to hear about a handful of things when it came to the Middle East: terrorists, the exotic undeveloped Orient (which no longer exists), and The Crisis Of Muslim Women, about which most honest-to-God Muslim women are somewhat perplexed. Even for nonfiction, there was a script, a narrative one was supposed to follow. The fact that Arab youth were not only adopting cutting-edge technology, but using it in revolutionary ways, was not interesting to people. It didn’t fit the script. It didn’t involve camels or gender segregation. It was very, very frustrating. So I said screw it, I’m writing a novel. And then came the Arab Spring.

In a one-off column for Vertigo Voices, way back when, you wrote: “Once upon a time an observant therapist told me I had categorized and self-analyzed my subconscious so well that I could talk for hours without revealing anything about myself.” How then does Alif the Unseen speak to who you are?

I said that? How pretentious. Well, it’s true. And in that vein, Alif is the most autobiographical thing I’ve ever written, and I’ve written an autobiography. Alif is a pretty good image of what my head looks like. I don’t perceive a proper line between the seen and the unseen, or between high culture and pop culture. I live a very odd life — I’m a comics and media junky living in a very conservative religious community, shuttling between civilizatons. Alif contains elements of all those things.

They say home is where the heart is. If I may, where’s your heart, Ms. Wilson, and how has that factored into your fiction?

Home for me is one place: Boulder, Colorado, which is a little university town in the Rocky Mountains.

It’s where I went to high school; my parents still live there, and I make yearly pilgrimages to see them and catch up with old friends at my favorite cafe. But like Frodo at the end of The Lord of the Rings, I can’t quite go back to living in the Shire, much as I might want to. I've seen too much of the rest of the world, and living in a small town involves a lot of pretending that the rest of the world does not exist. I suppose the profound psychological displacement that entails must have an impact on my fiction, but other people are usually better at detecting it than I am. To me, being unsettled is normal.

As a comic book writer, a journalist, an American Muslim, a successful memoirist and now (if I may) a genre novelist, I think it’s fair to say you engage with some significantly different audiences. Is there a hope that Alif the Unseen will perhaps bridge these gaps? 

Come to that, the book’s been out in the US for a few months. Has it?

One can always hope. That was one of my big goals with this book. Comics fans are very loyal and will follow one into whatever genre one pursues, but the reverse is less common. Will people who like reading nonfiction pick up a book like Alif? Butterfly Mosque seems to have resonated most intensely with women (I’ve done many a reading to a 100% female audience) and Alif is absent a lot of the qualities of personal intimacy and reflection that attracted those readers. It’s a little more action-y, and involves young men doing stupid things. There’s a whiff of comic book about it. So it’s difficult to say.

What would you say to people who think “genre” is a dirty word? And how does hearing Alif the Unseen described as such sit with you?

I’m perfectly happy to hear Alif described as genre. I think people need to get over the idea that genre fiction cannot have literary merit or political relevance. In fact, with trends being what they are — look at the success of George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire — I think that’s already happening. Let’s not forget that genre fiction started out as a way to sneak cultural commentary into a highly censorious environment. (I’m thinking of the great sci-fi pioneers of the 1950s and 60s.)

Changing gears, are there any particular authors or novels that have been an inspiration to you?

Neil Gaiman; Neal Stephenson; Peter Milligan’s graphic opus Shade: The Changing Man, which I consider the best comic book series ever written; Umberto Eco — especially Foucault’s Pendulum, to which I feel Alif owes something; EM Forster, who never wrote a bad book; and a lot of 1980’s high fantasy, particularly Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series and Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders.

Meanwhile, how does it feel to inspire others in turn? Even if you aren’t convinced that it has as yet, I don’t doubt that your work will, Ms. Wilson.

I never know how to respond when readers say I’ve inspired them--it’s such an intense compliment that simply saying “thanks” seems inadequate. If you’ve written me a fan letter saying as much and I haven’t written back, that’s why. The most important thing is to go out and use that inspiration, because it’s precious. Where it came from almost doesn’t matter.

I dare say it’s about time we closed the book on this interview, but before I let you off the hook, how can people keep up to speed with all things G. Willow Wilson? I’ve already made reference to your blog, but I do believe you tweet, too!

I tweet like a bandit. That’s probably the best way to get in touch with my directly. I’ve become a very bad, neglectful blogger, but I do post when I can. My website also has info on upcoming appearances and links to buy books.

Speaking – albeit briefly – of tweeting, is social media going to bring down the world as we know it? I’m referring here to your essay entitled Who’s Afraid of Pop Culture?

Social media isn’t going to bring down anything, except perhaps work productivity. People used to be afraid of the printing press, but that didn’t turn out so badly, did it? Yes, there are intensely stupid conversations on Twitter and Reddit and Facebook, but there are intensely stupid conversations in real life. Listen to the idiot in front of you in the checkout line at the grocery store. That’s Twitter. That’s life.

With which, what’s next for you? Another novel? Will you be going back to comics? Or is mum the word at the moment?

I’m in the midst of another as yet untitled novel, set mostly on the high seas. Fans of a particular long-haired lothario djinn from Alif will be pleased to see him again. There’s nothing on tap at this very moment comics-wise, but I’m sure there will be before long.

Last but not least: in the spirit of the secret world that features in Alif the Unseen, tell us something about yourself that no-one knows.

I never wear matching socks. This is not a reflection of my profound iconoclasm; only the disarray of my sock drawer.

And that’s that!

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions, Ms. Wilson. Getting to know you a little bit better has been an absolute pleasure on my part, and I'm sure the folks at home feel the same way.

Thank you!

***

G. Willow Wilson was a great sport agreeing to speak with me in the first place, and I'm deeply in her debt for answering even the most inane of my questions. She was last seen (by me) in the comments section of my review of her book, so if for instance you've already read Alif the Unseen and you'd like to tell her how much you enjoyed it... well, by now I warrant you know what to do.

Coming up on The Speculative Scotsman shortly, my thoughts on The Underwater Welder by comic book mastermind Jeff Lemire, and the first flush of fun new feature wherein I ask that eternal question: is this sex scene Hot, or Not?

We'll all be talking dirty tomorrow! :P

The Scotsman Abroad | An Ode to Fforde

With the recent release of the latest Thursday Next novel, my wrangler over at Tor.com put out the word that she was interested in some sort of introduction to the works and worlds of one Jasper Fforde.

I need not add that I jumped at the chance to burble about the various series he has on the go. I put together a primer on the first volumes of all four — two of which I've reviewed on The Speculative Scotsman, here and here. Then I got my thinking cap on, wondering which of The Eyre Affair, The Big Over Easy, Shades of Grey and The Last Dragonslayer would be the best candidate for new readers to begin with.

My answer might surprise you.

Or, if you've been reading TSS carefully, it might not! :)

Here's a bit, in any event, from the first part of the article, which went live on Tor.com late last week:

This month alone saw the release of the seventh volume of Fforde's most singular saga: The Woman Who Died A Lot stars the former and presumably future literary detective Thursday Next, whose sublime shenanigans through time and text led, at the last, to the loss of her odd employment. It’s a terrific new novel, but if you haven’t read Fforde before, know now that this is not the introduction you or indeed he deserves.

Nor, in all likelihood, will Fforde’s next book be, whether it’s a sequel at long last — or indeed a prequel — to Shades of Grey, or The Return of Shandar, which is to say the conclusion of the Dragonslayer trilogy.

What I’m saying is: if you aren’t already reading Jasper Fforde, you should be, but it can be difficult, as has become apparent, to determine where, exactly, and with what, one should start. This may or may not be because Fforde lives and works in Wales, the undisputed Kingdom of confusion, and home, of course, to the community of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

In any case, that’s what An Ode to Fforde is all about. It’s essentially a primer, not so much to help you make up your mind whether or not Jasper Fforde’s fiction is for you — if you ask me, and self-evidently somebody did, it’s for everyone — but rather to answer that eternal question: which of this imaginative madman’s many and various books would you be best to begin with?

 

(continue reading)

There's been a healthy amount of discussion in the comments as well, which is always a pleasure.

 

So if you do click through, please, take a second to tell us all about your first, or your favourite, Fforde.

Guest Post | The Walker of Worlds Guides Us Through the Work of Eric Brown

Methinks our next very important person needs no introduction.

Mark Chitty is a man among men, and a blogger – but of course – amongst bloggers. He established Walker of Worlds way back in 2007, and in my opinion the site's gone from strength to strength in the many years since. Of late, I dare say Mark’s been through the ringer a bit, so it says a lot about the gentleman that he still took the time to write up this unmissable introduction to the work of one Eric Brown... a personal favourite author of his, and mine.

Come to that, Mark Chitty is the whole reason I read Eric Brown – if I recall correctly it was his inspiring review of Engineman which in turn inspired me to give the novel a shot, and I'm so glad I did – so it’s lovely, just lovely, to come full circle in this way.

And there’s much more to come! Mark went above and beyond when I asked him if he might be interested in contributing something to TSS while I was in the States... but I’m going to let him tell you all about what’s ahead of us.

For the very moment, over to you, good sir. :)

***

When Niall asked me if I'd like to contribute something to The Speculative Scotsman while he buggers off to the US (I'm not jealous, no way) I had to think for all of 5 seconds about what I could do. You see, Eric Brown is an author I've come to enjoy and admire for his stories. He writes science fiction, but not the sort you'd normally associate with the term. Yes, you've got spaceships, aliens, high technology, and all manner of other things you'd expect from a sci-fi novel, but he tells a human story that far outweighs and outshines the science side.

Starting with his first novel, Meridian Days (review), you see exactly what Eric Brown writes. It's a character focused novel set on another planet, very much on the lighter side of SF. While his second novel, Engineman, is more than that. It's very much a sci-fi novel with an intergalactic society and aliens, but again very character focused. Solaris re-issued this one a couple of years back with all but one of the Engineman short stories included (my review is here, while you can read Niall's here). We both liked it quite a lot, and I think it's a perfect starting place if you're new to Eric Brown's work, showing off his creativeness in both novel and short story form. Penumbra is another novel in the space opera vein and very much worth a read, again an ideal starting point.

Moving on to the Virex trilogy (New York Nights, New York Blues, and New York Dreams), and I'm afraid I can't say much here - I've not read them. Or at least, I've not read more than the first few chapters of New York Nights. So, check out the above links to the synopses. I can say that what I did read was interesting, though why I didn't progress is something I can't quite put my finger on. Anarchy Books have released the first and second as ebooks, and hopefully the third will follow shortly.

Before Eric moved to Solaris Books, Gollancz released a short story collection called The Fall of Tartarus. This is a collection of stories in a shared setting, the planet of Tartarus, whose sun is soon to go nova. It chronicles the last years of the planet through character focused short stories, each enjoyable, and is an interesting read - my full review is here.

It was when Eric moved to Solaris Books I really became aware of him. In fact, Helix was the first novel of his I read when it was released back in 2007. Admittedly I haven't read it again since (though I will do, what with the sequel, Helix Wars, due out later this year), and haven't actually reviewed it. I remember enjoying the combination of a crashed starship on a Big Dumb Object, the discoveries made on the Helix, and the alien races introduced - a space opera kind of novel. Others who have read it also enjoyed it, like Rob Bedford over at SFFWorld. That's a review worth reading!

Kéthani (review), much like The Fall of Tartarus, is a collection of short stories dealing with the peaceful coming of an alien race to Earth. However, the difference with this one is that includes some bridging scenes between stories that certainly help. I've actually just re-read Kéthani a couple of weeks back so it's fresh in my memory, and I still think it's one of the best things Eric has written. It does, however, depend on what you want out of the stories. It's not hard sci-fi, in fact it's barely sci-fi at all. Focusing on a small cast of characters, we see the arrival of the Kéthani through their eyes and the impact it has on their lives. While the idea behind the Kéthani is positive, not all the stories are, and the emotional effect their coming has is examined over a broad range of subjects.

I've thought long and hard about what my favourite book by Eric Brown is, and I couldn't narrow it down to just one, so I choose three - the Bengal Station trilogy (Necropath, Xenopath, and Cosmopath). A cop out? Maybe, but if you take nothing else away from this post, make sure you read these books. The character progression over the three books of the main protagonist, Jeff Vaughan, is one of the best pieces of characterisation I've read. The fact that the stories themselves are gripping, interesting, and very much SFnal, are simply a bonus. I'll direct you to my reviews of the books (here, here, and here), otherwise I'll just talk for hours about the awesomeness of the trilogy. READ THEM!! Oh, and you may come across a novel called Bengal Station – ignore it! It’s effectively Necropath, but an early version, and from Eric has told me in the past, Necropath is an expanded and improved version of Bengal Station.

Aside from the Virex trilogy, Guardians of the Phoenix is the only novel I haven’t read. I know the reason – I read the short story in the Mammoth Book of Apocalyptic SF that it was based on, and didn’t really enjoy it – but it sits on my shelf taunting me. I keep on meaning to get to it, but, unfortunately, Niall’s review hasn’t helped me getting around to picking it up.

And then to The Kings of Eternity. Well, if you want to try Eric Brown and don’t want to commit to more than one book, this is the one to choose. I’ve seen so many positive reviews of it around the net that I know my opinion, and Niall’s, aren’t just one-offs. It’s probably the best single work Eric has written and is completely engrossing. It’s a story with multiple levels told in different time periods, again very character focused, and it just works. And if you’re not usually an SF fan, this may change your mind, the sci-fi side is so light that you sometimes wonder whether it’s actually science fiction.

Other than novels, Eric Brown has written a fair amount of novellas and short stories. Approaching Omega (review) is a sci-fi/horror story, and while it was written before the film Pandorum, I can’t help but think of it every time I read the story. One of those things I suppose, but it’s still a good one. The others of his that I’ve read are the first two parts of his Starship series, Starship Summer (review) and Starship Fall. Both of these follow the same group of friends, and each is thoroughly enjoyable. They’re only the first two part of a quartet, with Starship Winter due out soon and the finale, Starship Spring, due next year. These are released through PS Publishing (well, Starship Fall was through NewCon Press), so not all that easy to get hold of due to the limited release, but it looks like they’re coming out in ebook form now, with a hardback collection of all four due next year. You can be sure I’ll have them on order ASAP! Some others he’s released, though I’ve yet to get hold of and read, are The Extraordinary Voyage of Jules Verne, Gilbert and Edgar on Mars, and A Writer’s Life.

As for short stories, well, I doubt I’ll ever read all 114 Eric has listed on his website. But fortunately he’s released many collections, from the previously mentioned Kéthani and The Fall of Tartarus, through to others like The Time-Lapsed Man and Other Stories, Blue Shifting, Parallax View (with Keith Brooke), Deep Future, Threshold Shift, and The Angels of Life and Death. I’d expect to see more in the future, and I’d recommend any of these without hesitation. Eric Brown can write a damned good short story!

Eric has also ventured into children’s stories quite regularly, but these are ones I just haven’t got to. Maybe one day…

So, what else is there to say? Eric Brown is easily one of my favourite authors writing today, and not just in SF. His stories are so accessible to anyone afraid to try sci-fi, and so very readable. I think he’s one of the most underrated writers in the genre, and if you’ve yet to read anything by him I urge you to pick at least one of his novels up, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

And if you think that’s all, you’re wrong! Stay tuned as tomorrow there’ll be an interview with the man himself, with some tasty information about his upcoming novels…

***

And much more besides!

Thank you, Mark, for that excellent introduction to the work of Eric Brown. Dude's written a lot of books, so this post should be a huge help to anyone wondering where to start, or else which of his novels to pick up next.

I'll leave it at that for today, but do come on back to The Speculative Scotsman tommorrow, everyone, for a fascinating Q&A with the man - indeed the men - of the hour.

Letters From America | With A Little Help From My Friends

So, the story so far: last Wednesday, I left for America.

I will be back eventually!

 

More's the pity, I expect; such are the height of my hopes about this improbably long holiday. But one way or another, I'll be gone a good wee while, and it must say sort of a lot about me that one of the first things I thought, when this Stateside sabbatical suddenly solidified in the middle of February, was: what in the world will I do about the blog?

 

For a fair while there, I wondered. I seriously considered spending a few serious weeks at the keyboard coming up with a full month's worth of content in advance of my departure, but in the end, with the teaching I do to make ends meet and everything else, it simply wasn't realistic. Then I thought: why not repost a few old articles... make a kind of greatest hits thing of it?

That was a poor plan. I put it with my other poor plans: in a document marked TO NOT DO.

 

At some point during this period, it occurred to me that I was overlooking what must be far and away the most fun and informative of all my options. Guest bloggers!

Now I've certainly hosted a couple of guest posts here on The Speculative Scotsman in the past, but only very occasionally, and mostly only from authors whose writing I admire. It had simply never crossed my mind that I might be in a position to ask the bloggers I've become friends with in the process of keeping this site for a helping hand.

 

When it did - just a few weeks ago, really - I didn't hang about. But nor did I reply all to the many and various folks featured in my inbox. I may only have met a few of 'em, but I know more people now, through doing this lovely thing that I love - did I mention that? - than I ever have in my life. And for all that I'm away for an entire month, I couldn't feasibly co-ordinate guest posts from everyone I found myself in a position to ask.

 

So I made a list of some of my very favourite bloggers. Then I crossed out the folks who predominantly write about other things than speculative fiction... then everyone who had (in my arbitrary estimation) large readerships in their own right... then everyone whose circumstances would have ruled them out from contributing in any case.

 

I was left with a list of twenty-odd perfect potential guest bloggers. And to my sheer surprise and delight, almost everyone I touched base with - with a few understandable exceptions - seemed happy that I'd asked, and happier still to help out.

 

Thus, the coming month. From tomorrow, as a matter of fact, you'll be treated to an assortment of voices that may or may not be new to you. I certainly hope they aren't, but if they are, I hereby wholeheartedly recommend you follow them over to their own blogs. I regularly read the work of every one. Their sites are all on my blogroll - or they surely should be - and coming from a Scotsman, that's a stamp of absolute approval.

 

On the day, I will of course introduce each of the coming contributors in turn, and even burble a bit about why you should be reading their blogs. Because you really, really should be, first and foremost, but also because it's the least I can do, given all the bother they've gone to on my - and your - behalf.

 

So please, everybody, be nice! :)

 

In short, I may be AFK for almost the entirety of April, but expect The Speculative Scotsman as a site to be better than ever for the duration.

 

And one last thing before I finally give the floor over. I'll be keeping as close an eye on the site as I can while I'm away, and the plan - as it stands - is to stop in each and every week to keep you all up to speed on a miscellany of my misadventures in America. Time permitting, I should have the first of those posts ready for Friday.

 

 

But between now and then? Some truly terrific stuff, beginning tomorrow with a review of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson from the marvelous Mieneke of A Fantastical Librarian. If you enjoy it and everything else that's in the pipeline a fraction as much as I've loved arranging it all, you'll have a hell of a time in my absence, make no mistake.

With which, as they say in the States - or at least the one I'm in at moment - I'll see y'all! :)

The Monday Miscellany | An Introduction

I post a whole lot of reviews here on The Speculative Scotsman. Not as many as some sites, perhaps, and as one man I'd have a hell of a time trying to compete with the blog conglomerates - the io9s and the Fantasy Factions and so on and so forth - but if you average it out, I write two or three reviews each week, and that isn't including the articles of mine which appear elsewhere.

You'd think that'd be plenty. You'd think I'd have a hard enough time getting all of the above together and sitting pretty enough that I'm comfortable showing them, and sharing them, and some weeks I do - at the best of times I'm sort of a slow writer - but equally, don't for a minute think that I blog about absolutely everything I read, or see, or play, or whatever: I most certainly do not.

That's been a source of some small frustration to me, not only of late, but all through the years I've been doing this thing. As discussed a little while ago, I have real trouble turning off the critical instinct. For better or for worse - more often for worse, in my experience - I find myself standing in judgement of almost everything I consume. In the privacy of my own home, say, I've slated the nightly news.

But breathe easy: I probably won't be writing about the Beeb in the Monday Miscellany. Never say never, but you know... it's not likely.

Anyway, as it stands, I just don't have a suitable space on the site to offer up my thoughts on things that I either can't summon a thousand words' worth of stuff and nonsense to say about, or are so very far outside the purview of a blog at least ostensibly about speculative fiction that I'd have a right cheek trying to pass said off as such on anything more than an occasional basis.

Well. With the advent of the Monday Miscellany, that sorry state of affairs ends today. Right here, and right now.

As with most of the most interesting things in life, the Monday Miscellany is founded on a fib, because it won't be a weekly thing. There won't necessarily be a Monday Miscellany every Monday, or even on most of the Mondays, of which - fun fact! - there are approximately 52 each year. But from this moment on, some Mondays will be more equal than other Mondays, and on those Mondays, I'll be able to burble about the stuff I wouldn't otherwise cover at all.

The Monday Miscellany, then, whenever there is one, will consist of several short reviews, nominally stitched together whenever possibly, but that's not the point, and I won't be losing any sleep over shoddy segues. The miscellaneous criticism therein won't be comprehensive, and it won't attempt to be; if I have enough to say about any one thing, I'll say it in a traditional review instead. But if I don't, or I don't think the thing I'm writing about is apt to appeal to terribly many of you, then I'll have this special space in which to talk about it.

That said, I solemnly swear to at least try to keep it (reasonably) relevant.

I expect the shorter format might lead to some interesting developments. To begin with, with less space - I intend for reviews featured in the Monday Miscellany to top out around 300 words - there'll be substantially less filler, which yes, I know I've been guilty of before, and as like as not it's an offense I'll be guilty of again, if a little less often from here on out. So there's that.

There's also the thought that, with this new space to fill, I'll be able to blog about some less standard fare. I don't mean malts either. I mean short stories and short story collections. I mean more small press novels... even the odd self-published affair, if it's worth it. I mean one-shot comics and albums I think you might be interested in reading about. I mean Flash games and downloadable content. I mean episodes or arcs of certain television shows; maybe short films and indie movies too.

Really, the remit includes pretty much everything I can think of at the moment, and whatever else occurs to me from this point on.

It's actually quite exciting, to finally start in on this thing. The idea's been rattling around in my head for months - alongside a few others you'll be hearing about shortly - and now that I'm ready to let it loose, I feel... hell, I feel relieved.

Obviously, I have high hopes for the Monday Miscellany. I'm not going to ask you to join me in song over its inception just yet, but I believe a good few of you will like it too. Fingers crossed, as ever!

Before I go, the better to let this new feature speak for itself, do stay tuned to TSS today, because the first proper installment of the Monday Miscellany will be along shortly. Among the stuff discussed: an Oscar candidate that left me wondering what in the world the Academy are up to... the new JJ Abrams show, which I've quite enjoyed, despite hiccups here, there and everywhere... and last, and indeed least, a comic book released to set the scene for Mass Effect 3, which if anything dampened my enthusiasm for a game I was expecting to be one of the best released in 2012.

All that, and more - actually, about that... - at two o'clock today, on the damn dot.

Come along for the ride, won't you?

Top of the Scots 2011 | An Introduction

Well then, 2011... what have you got to say for yourself?

Quite a lot, as it happens!

I very nearly didn't notice, but it's been another year. Come and almost gone as of the time of this writing, in early December. There's still a month to go before we can officially declare 2011 over, and 2012 - only the year everyone's been waiting for - begun...

...but you didn't think a little thing like that would stop me, did you? :)

Early December might seem an odd sort of time to start counting out the best movies and books and video games of the year, but what can I say? This is how we do it hereabouts; in Scotland we start drinking on Wednesdays because the weekend's only two work days away, and other such slurs on my country.

Anyway, we'll start the celebrations in earnest tomorrow, with a look at my favourite video games of the year, but before we get to that: this. Some ground-rules.

In each category, I aim to select five favourites from the maddening crowd of contenders, as well as a couple of runners-up. I'll also be awarding several special honours, or not, as I did in Top of the Scots 2010. Among those, there'll be sections dedicated to the year's biggest disappointments, any particularly glaring oversights of mine, and a place for me to burble on about books and movies and video games I read or saw or played this year that aren't, strictly speaking, products of 2011.

So the schedule, as it stands: tomorrow, as I was saying, we're going to kick things off with a run-down of my favourite games. On Wednesday we'll talk movies, and on Thursday, not before time, we'll get to the year's best books. Come Friday, I aim to round up the creme de la creme, and breathe a massive sigh of relief that this strange practice of declaring one great thing greater than other great things over for another twelve months.

Now I've been working away at these lists for the last few weeks, and catching up on a few particularly promising specimens I'd managed to miss in the erstwhile, so as of today, I'm pretty sure of what I'm going to say.

That said, I haven't read all the books, or seen all the movies, or even played all the video games - try as I might! - so please, allow me a little leeway. And please... as and when I overlook something crucial, I'd urge you to set me straight.

But never mind my opinions for the moment. In fact, let's limber up for the fun to come with a quick question: what have some of your favourite experiences of the year been?

Coming Back to Comic Books | An Introduction

I used to read a lot of comics. I mean, a lot. The local comic book store guy would pull a precarious stack of singles from the racks for me every week, and every Thursday, without fail, I'd find myself practically penniless till the gods of pocket money - remember them? - next heard my prayers.

Then I grew up.

I hate to say it - I really, truly do - but I did. I got older; I got busier. I went to Uni; got a job; met the woman I aim to spend the rest of my life with, if she'll have me - not necessarily in that order. There are hundreds of things I could point to by way of explanation for my decision to leave behind a medium I'd held very dear. How I wish there was a single one that I could point to and say, "Of course! That's why I stopped reading comic books!"

But there's not. It just... kinda... happened.

I didn't go cold turkey, not quite. I read Lucifer and Y The Last Man through to the bitter end. I kept up with Fables for a while longer than anything else, and when everyone started exploding over The Walking Dead, I invested in the first few trades. There have been other odds and sods since, but not many, and less of them with every passing year.

But I never fell out of love with the medium completely. Though before this it'd been much too long since I devoured an issue of this or that ongoing, in all that time I'd have gladly mounted an argument in favour of comic books as an art form, and an equally viable means of mature storytelling as any novel or splodge of colour on a canvas - if someone had only asked.

Anyway, to make a long story less long, a little while ago I got myself a tablet, and quickly discovered the wonders of reading gloriously backlit graphic novels on my eee Pad Transformer. Marvel were (and still are) offering a free month's subscription to their Unlimited digital comics service, and though Marvel comics were never my particular poison, it was enough, in short, to get me to give a shit again. Since then, I've heaved the dusty longboxes out of storage... reread a few former favourites... I've even been back to the comic store! My old haunts are all gone, alas, but in their place others have risen - others, and the internet.


With which, the scene was set. I couldn't not blog about my experiences, now could I?


Coming Back to Comic Books is going to be a chronicle of my return journey into a medium much overlooked, and by me these past few years as much as anyone else. Going forward I mean to treat those comics I read with every inch of the respect I'd pay a given book, or movie.


Not to immediately contradict which statement, I have to admit that I don't know that there's enough meat in many single issues to justify individual reviews, but going forward, expect quick hits on anything and everything I read on a semi-regular basis, either grouped a couple at a time or covered 1:1 when the occasion calls for special treatment.

We're going to go in gently - as much for my own benefit as anyone else's - but already I've a backlog of comic books to talk about, and I'm rearing to get this show on the road before it gets as scary as my tower of regular books to be read.


Man oh man, what a lot of catching up I've got to do...


That is to say, man oh man, what a lot of catching up I've got to do! :D


Just to whet your appetite, over the next couple of weeks we're going to be talking about The Walking Dead - but of course we are! - as well as Batman: Hush, which I only just now read, and a couple of comics featuring scripts by writers we should all be familiar with, namely Strange Adventures, wherein Zoo City author Lauren Beukes makes her mark on a new medium, and Peter V. Brett's much ballyhooed-about Red Sonja: Blue, which I might as well tell you now would be better known as The Book of Breasts.


Exciting, right? And no, I don't just mean that last.

Ask Me Anything | Meet Mystic Mug

Perhaps you've heard already: as of tomorrow morning, I'm off.

On holiday, I mean -- not for keeps. The other half and I mean to steal a few idyllic days in the cottage up in Skye before Easter rolls around and and the full rate-paying guests start arriving in droves.

Oh my God, someone colour-balanced Skye!

The deal with the devil we've struck for this particular break means the weather might be piss poor while we take it easy - then again, it might not - but whatever the state of the heavens, at least we'll be able to keep saving for a proper trip abroad. Africa or something like that.

A guy can dream!

Anyway. I've squirrelled away a couple of reviews to go live in my absence - a couple of goodies, too - but I don't want to give you those, no. Not just yet. Instead, I wanted to leave something on the front page for a little while that might be a laugh: an invitation, in short, to Ask Me Anything.

See one of the things I've been thinking, this last little while, is that the blogosphere could totally do with a sort of agony aunt. Ridiculous, right? But so much fun! :D

Terrifying, but not an actual agony aunt.

So someone to tell your deepest, darkest secrets to, or just to take the piss out of; someone to come to when you're struggling to decide whether to read this book or that, or if you should give such-and-such a TV show a go even though it's in imminent danger of cancellation. Someone to ask advice from, or to trade pissy little quips with, if you fancy. And someone to share your idiosyncratic reading habits with - how you can't get through a page without a steaming cup of coffee in hand, or how you have musical themes for each of the fantasy sagas you follow - and ask, Am I a total weirdo, or what?

What I'm imagining is a cross between Mystic Meg, Matt Roush who writes a column for TV Guide each week, and me.

And there we have it: the three Ms of Ask Me Anything.

Actually, the first and only official rule of Ask Me Anything is that there are no rules, so scratch that. Seriously: be an asshole if you like. Disagree with a particularly disagreeable opinion of mine... tell me I suck... ask if it's true what they say about Scottish boxers being too tight. So long as your question either is or could lead to something that's funny, or interesting, pretty much anything goes.

But there's no better way to explain what this silly little thing is than to roll out a couple of exemplars - try before you buy and all that.

Thus...

Top of the Scots 2010: An Introduction

2010, huh? That happened.

Well, I suppose it's still happening, but let's be honest here: for all intents and purposes, in terms of notable book and movie and video games releases, short a select few latecomers it might as well be over. So. What better time than now to take stock of all the good stuff - not to speak of the bad - the year's given us?

January, did you say? You know, I'm kind of inclined to agree, but by then I expect we'll be sick and tired of seeing Year's Best posts on all our favourite blogs, so I'm gonna go with this while the going's still good. In that spirit, ladies and gentlemen, I give you... the Top of the Scots!

That's what I'm calling it anyway.

No doubt everyone knows how this sort of thing goes already, but indulge me, dear readers - in the spirit of Christmas, which (whoever would have thunk it?) I hear's about to happen. This week, I'm going to run us through my personal favourites of the untold gazillions of books, movies and video games published or otherwise released between January 1st and... well, let's say the end of December, because other than Tron: Legacy, there's really nowt of note about between then and now.

There'll also be a space for honourable mentions - as in, things I've read or played or seen and adored this year that either came out before the period of eligibility began or else haven't as yet hit bookstore shelves or home consoles or multiplexes or whatever. Add to that sections on particularly monstrous disappointments, runners-up and any glaring oversights for each medium of entertainment, ie. things I just haven't managed to get to yet, and perhaps you're beginning to see why we're going to be at this all week.

Without any further ado, then, the Top of the Scots!

A Whole Week of Mark Charan Newton

So don't say I didn't warn you!

Today marks day one of The Speculative Scotsman's weeklong Mark Charan Newton extravaganza. The celebrations will be kicking off later today, but truth be told, they've been in the works for ages. Mark was an early supporter of this here blog, and the release of Nights of Villjamur in paperback alongside the sequel, City of Ruin, seemed like the perfect opportunity to start paying all the good will back. It's been a grand old time getting the content together, and I think I can safely say whether you've read The Legends of the Red Sun or not, there should be more than enough to keep all comers happy campers.

So how's the schedule looking? Packed, is how. This afternoon, we'll get the party started with my review of Nights of Villjamur. Only a year after the fact; don't ever say I'm not timely!

Come tomorrow, you can look forward to the first half of my interview with Mark, followed by news of a very exciting giveaway indeed. How do you fancy your chances at winning a rare US proof of Nights of Villjamur? How about if it had Mark's signature scrawled inside? You don't want to miss this one, people. Stay tuned for all the gory details on how to enter...

On Wednesday, I'm handing the reigns of The Speculative Scotsman over to the man himself for a guest post, in which Mark discusses six of the books that influenced him during the creation of The Legends of the Red Sun. His piece makes for fascinating reading. I think you may be surprised by some of his choices.

On Thursday, The Speculative Spotlight shines on, with more chatter between me and Mark. We talk politics, Nottingham, burn-out and much, much more. He's an interesting fellow, don't you know. Of course, if you've been to his blog - and who among us hasn't? - you'll know that already.

And to Friday. On Friday, I'll be announcing the lucky winner of the big ol' giveaway, and rounding off the celebrations with my review of City of Ruin.

So that's the week. And what a week it's going to be. If you have half as much fun reading all of what's to come as I did writing it, my work here, I think, is done.

With that, then, let the games begin...