Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Christmas.
We’ll be travelling down to England tomorrow to visit family and friends and cook an enormous rack of beef at my sisters, eat and drink too much and get all excited about the Dr. Who Christmas special…that’s about as traditional as you can get without snow or Santa getting stuck in the chimney.
Something for you to look at while I’m away is the art work of James Jean which is all lovely and frightening at the same time, sort of 1950s children illustrations mixed with Manga and filtered through the mind of Clive Barker.
As a Yule tide gift I give you Christmas from AKQA.
Ho ho ho!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Trying to get through my ever expanding 'to read' pile.
‘In the Hand of Dante’ is complex and yet simple at the same time. Half of the book is written from the point of view of the author dealing with his own mortality, vanity and his criminal past as he becomes involved in a scam to steal the only copy of ‘The Divine Comedy’ by Dante and sell it to the highest bidder. Set in New York, Nick meets up with an old friend, the rather sinister and perverted Louie, a man with no remorse or pity, a man who lives by his own strict moral code.
At the same time the book charts the life of Dante as he puts together his masterwork, rallies against the gods, falls in love with the wrong woman and attempts to understand the meaning of life and how it all fits into his verse.
The book is absorbing, never easy and only annoying when Tosches slips into Latin but refuses to give a translation.
***
‘Global Frequency’ Volumes 1 and 2 are quick fire comics, the premise is a civilian run agency with 1001 operatives around the world all available on the global frequency run by the mysterious a Miranda Zero and kept in line by the human computer mind of Aleph. As always with Ellis it’s fast paced, but lacks content. Each episode in the volumes is one complete story with some much better than others. I’m surprised this hasn’t been turned into a TV show as the format and story board is already available.
***
‘The Originals’ is a take on the Mods and Rockers of the 1960s, their rivalry, their friendships, and their running battles. Gibbons sets the story in an alternative future but I don’t understand why. It’s so obviously of its time the science fiction element adds nothing. As it is the story is predictable and the presentation just a little flat to really have held my interest.
***
Will Eisner is the king of comics, having had a long and illustrious career starting back in the 1930’s, bringing us ‘The Spirit’ (about to be shown in the cinema) and then changing in the 1970s by bringing out thought provoking work which changed how comic books were viewed. ‘To the Heart of the Storm’ is one of those works. Beautifully told, it is a simple evocation of a world almost gone, a young man reflecting on his Jewish childhood in New York and the lead up to the Second World War. It’s charming, sophisticated, well written and illustrated, giving an insight into the poverty of the depression and the wanton racism that existed in the country from those immigrants who would have to return to the old country to take part in a vicious war.
***
Read the first two copies of Cages by Dave Mckean. This is a book I’ve wanted for a long time (Madame Vin if you’re reading this, please add it to my list). I saw a copy in New York once but didn’t buy as it was too bulky to get home (drat!). Now I’m having trouble finding a copy. It looks great and piqued my interest. I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
Plenty to read over Christmas so I’ll report back soon.
Read this week:
To the Heart of the Storm by Will Eisener
The Originals by Dave Gibbons
Global Frequency Volumes 1 and 2 by Warren Ellis and others
In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches
At the same time the book charts the life of Dante as he puts together his masterwork, rallies against the gods, falls in love with the wrong woman and attempts to understand the meaning of life and how it all fits into his verse.
The book is absorbing, never easy and only annoying when Tosches slips into Latin but refuses to give a translation.
***
‘Global Frequency’ Volumes 1 and 2 are quick fire comics, the premise is a civilian run agency with 1001 operatives around the world all available on the global frequency run by the mysterious a Miranda Zero and kept in line by the human computer mind of Aleph. As always with Ellis it’s fast paced, but lacks content. Each episode in the volumes is one complete story with some much better than others. I’m surprised this hasn’t been turned into a TV show as the format and story board is already available.
***
‘The Originals’ is a take on the Mods and Rockers of the 1960s, their rivalry, their friendships, and their running battles. Gibbons sets the story in an alternative future but I don’t understand why. It’s so obviously of its time the science fiction element adds nothing. As it is the story is predictable and the presentation just a little flat to really have held my interest.
***
Will Eisner is the king of comics, having had a long and illustrious career starting back in the 1930’s, bringing us ‘The Spirit’ (about to be shown in the cinema) and then changing in the 1970s by bringing out thought provoking work which changed how comic books were viewed. ‘To the Heart of the Storm’ is one of those works. Beautifully told, it is a simple evocation of a world almost gone, a young man reflecting on his Jewish childhood in New York and the lead up to the Second World War. It’s charming, sophisticated, well written and illustrated, giving an insight into the poverty of the depression and the wanton racism that existed in the country from those immigrants who would have to return to the old country to take part in a vicious war.
***
Read the first two copies of Cages by Dave Mckean. This is a book I’ve wanted for a long time (Madame Vin if you’re reading this, please add it to my list). I saw a copy in New York once but didn’t buy as it was too bulky to get home (drat!). Now I’m having trouble finding a copy. It looks great and piqued my interest. I’m looking forward to reading the rest.
Plenty to read over Christmas so I’ll report back soon.
Read this week:
To the Heart of the Storm by Will Eisener
The Originals by Dave Gibbons
Global Frequency Volumes 1 and 2 by Warren Ellis and others
In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches
Sunday, December 07, 2008
What was Spring Heeled Jack?
A foggy winter’s night, vapour hisses as it alights on the gas lamp. A carriage drawn by two shabby looking horses skitters on the cobbles making you jump. They trundle away into the darkness, their driver swearing in a coarse tongue.
You turn down a side street, your fine leather boots with their metal heels clicking as you lift your skirt slightly to avoid the muddy puddle at the side walks edge.
It is cold tonight and you want to get home, back to the fire that should have been lit in the parlour, back in time for buttered cakes…when laughter, far off and faint, makes you stop. It’s a cackle, sinister in its pitch, outlandish and cruel. You notice that you are now alone, not a good night for a single lady to be out, not a good night at all. You hurry onwards, picking up the pace when you hear the laughter again, louder this time, closer.
You look up convinced it’s coming from the old church spire, high up amongst the eaves, hidden against the dark stone. You think you see movement, one of the gargoyles turns to look at you…surely not, that’s not possible?
You put your head down and begin to run, but the laughter is loud now, a shriek of ridicule and it’s above and behind you. You drop your purse, fearful of the monster that is about to attack, its baying laughter filling your senses.
You don’t want to, but you turn anyway as the creature lands close. Its legs are bent, it’s clawed hands outstretched as if ready to embrace you, but it is its face that you fear the most. Rolling eyes of boiling red fire whilst from its mouth emanates blue gasses that swirl and eddy in the breeze. It’s a daemon, a monster from hell and it’s come for you.
You slip to the floor as the nightmare bounds forward, laughing, always laughing with evil intent. A seizure takes you and as you drift into a dead faint, above the hellish cackle you can now hear the peel of a policeman’s whistle…
You turn down a side street, your fine leather boots with their metal heels clicking as you lift your skirt slightly to avoid the muddy puddle at the side walks edge.
It is cold tonight and you want to get home, back to the fire that should have been lit in the parlour, back in time for buttered cakes…when laughter, far off and faint, makes you stop. It’s a cackle, sinister in its pitch, outlandish and cruel. You notice that you are now alone, not a good night for a single lady to be out, not a good night at all. You hurry onwards, picking up the pace when you hear the laughter again, louder this time, closer.
You look up convinced it’s coming from the old church spire, high up amongst the eaves, hidden against the dark stone. You think you see movement, one of the gargoyles turns to look at you…surely not, that’s not possible?
You put your head down and begin to run, but the laughter is loud now, a shriek of ridicule and it’s above and behind you. You drop your purse, fearful of the monster that is about to attack, its baying laughter filling your senses.
You don’t want to, but you turn anyway as the creature lands close. Its legs are bent, it’s clawed hands outstretched as if ready to embrace you, but it is its face that you fear the most. Rolling eyes of boiling red fire whilst from its mouth emanates blue gasses that swirl and eddy in the breeze. It’s a daemon, a monster from hell and it’s come for you.
You slip to the floor as the nightmare bounds forward, laughing, always laughing with evil intent. A seizure takes you and as you drift into a dead faint, above the hellish cackle you can now hear the peel of a policeman’s whistle…
And so it would have been if you had been a woman in the late 1830’s in London and you had met the creature known as Spring Heeled Jack. A monster that was seen in several parts of the city, described as both a vicious bear like creature or else a man in an elaborate costume.
Between 1837 and 1870 the name of Spring Heeled Jack crops up again and again, attacking women or else seen leaping across roof tops escaping the people below giving chase. Some of the eye witness accounts match, giving him metal claws and talons, glowing eyes, spitting blue fire from his mouth, wearing a helmet of some description and the ability to leap high in the air allowing him to escape. In all the attacks he never inflicted bodily harm nor did any of his victims die – so what was he?
Most of the attacks can perhaps be put down to hoax allegations, people jumping on the band wagon and helping to fuel the penny dreadful’s that loved nothing better than ‘something scary in Shorditch’ type headlines. Others however describe Jack in detail.
Polly Adams, a pub worker and the middle class Lucy Scales gave vivid accounts of what happened to them, and coming as they did from different parts of London society the idea that they were working together is unlikely. Another intriguing fact is that in 1838 a public session was opened by the then Lord Mayor of London to consider the anonymous complaint about a group of rich young men who…
“…have laid a wager with a mischievous and foolhardy companion, that he durst not take upon himself the task of visiting many of the villages near London in three different disguises — a ghost, a bear, and a devil; and moreover, that he will not enter a gentleman's gardens for the purpose of alarming the inmates of the house…”
This was reported in The Times on the 9th January. Could the two be related? One conslusion about Jack is that he was Henry de La Poer Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford, a rich trickster known as ‘The Mad Marquis’. However, Henry has an alibi for both the above cases. Other theories have Jack as a daemon, a monster or else a space alien!
The stories of Spring Heeled Jack never died down and stories about his appearance have grown with time, appearing all over the UK and right up until 1986 in South Herodforshire.
So what is he? Devil, trickster, monster or my favourite – a Batman prototype?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Real Hellfire Club
There are many groups that have taken on the moniker of 'The Hellfire Club', both from Ireland and England. One of the earliest was that led by Philip, Duke of Wharton back in 1719, but the one I want to focus on is the group led by Sir Francis Dashwood through the 1750s.
In common misconception this group, called by Dashwood the ‘Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wycombe’, has been viewed as Satanists or else worshippers of some Pagan God, being all anti-Christian and evil. This is probably not the case, and instead the Hellfire Club was in truth more likely to be a meeting of like minded individuals who considered themselves (at the time) free thinkers.
Dashwood himself was a 18th Century toff, who having completed his grand tour of Europe returned to England full of the grandeur of the past and a love of art, literature and architecture. He gathered around him a group of like minded individuals including the Politician (and immensely fat) George Bubb Dodington, the artist and satirist William Hogarth, and the journalist John Wilkes (known as the ugliest man in Britain). Other people of prominence included politicians, poets and artists and might have included Benjamin Franklin.
It was at his estate Medmenham Abbey in Buckinghamshire that most of the meetings took place, at first in the Gothic Abbey with its updated decor including statues of Harpocrates, the Egyptian god of silence and Angerona, the Roman goddess of silence and other over the top Pagan imagery. Later on Dashwood moved the group to a series of man made tunnels that he had got local workers to carve for him during a failed harvest. These caves are what probably resulted in the talk that the group were involved in all sorts of daemonic orgies and blood worship. It was probably more likely that Dashwood was a bit of trickster and liked to be known as a man of mystery, when in truth they probably sat around, got exceptionally drunk and told each other rude or salacious jokes.
The club ended in 1762 when the Earl of Bute appointed Dashwood his Chancellor of the Exchequer, despite Dashwood being widely held to be incapable of understanding "a bar bill of five figures". It seems he now achieved some respectability and though his role only lasted a year (after he did indeed mess up) the group pretty much ended their meetings.
John Wilkes best described the group: 'A set of worthy, jolly fellows, happy disciples of Venus and Bacchus, got occasionally together to celebrate woman in wine and to give more zest to the festive meeting, they plucked every luxurious idea from the ancients and enriched their own modern pleasures with the tradition of classic luxury'.
****
G. P. Taylor used to be a vicar, if you haven’t looked that fact up you would have soon concluded something similar from Shadowmancer, as religion and the Christian faith plays a large part in its construction. Unfortunately, it plays too large a part and ends up distracting from what could have been a good dark fantasy.
Set in a slightly altered North Yorkshire, Taylor has mixed folklore and myth with sorcery, magic and pirating to tell the story of Thomas and his friends, the religious Raphah and the fiery Kate as they go up against the corrupt and sinister Obadiah Demurral (he does use some wonderful naming for his characters).
When a mysterious religious relic is obtained by Obadiah all of hell is literally released through the mans’ greed and incompetence, leading the children in a dangerous game as they attempt to escape fate. This is good story telling, a little let down by lack of editing (it was his first novel and was originally self published) but his constant harping on about what’s right and wrong and poorly concealed Christian undertones tend to undermine the story. I have read one of his later novels (see Mariah Mundi) where the religious aspect has been toned down, and that was much the better book for it.
A little book picked up because Mckean was the artist, The Savage is a simple and beautifully told story about a boy coming to terms with the loss of his father. Part graphic novel part story book, Blue works through the trauma of loss by writing his own story about a savage boy who lives in the woods, but as he writes the Savage takes on a life of his own.
Supported by Mckean’s great ink work, shaded in twilight blue and forest green, this little book is for anyone who wants to see how simple yet effective good writing can be. I would recommend this to adults and children alike.
Read this week:
Shadowmancer by G. P. Taylor
The Savage by David Almond
In common misconception this group, called by Dashwood the ‘Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wycombe’, has been viewed as Satanists or else worshippers of some Pagan God, being all anti-Christian and evil. This is probably not the case, and instead the Hellfire Club was in truth more likely to be a meeting of like minded individuals who considered themselves (at the time) free thinkers.
Dashwood himself was a 18th Century toff, who having completed his grand tour of Europe returned to England full of the grandeur of the past and a love of art, literature and architecture. He gathered around him a group of like minded individuals including the Politician (and immensely fat) George Bubb Dodington, the artist and satirist William Hogarth, and the journalist John Wilkes (known as the ugliest man in Britain). Other people of prominence included politicians, poets and artists and might have included Benjamin Franklin.
It was at his estate Medmenham Abbey in Buckinghamshire that most of the meetings took place, at first in the Gothic Abbey with its updated decor including statues of Harpocrates, the Egyptian god of silence and Angerona, the Roman goddess of silence and other over the top Pagan imagery. Later on Dashwood moved the group to a series of man made tunnels that he had got local workers to carve for him during a failed harvest. These caves are what probably resulted in the talk that the group were involved in all sorts of daemonic orgies and blood worship. It was probably more likely that Dashwood was a bit of trickster and liked to be known as a man of mystery, when in truth they probably sat around, got exceptionally drunk and told each other rude or salacious jokes.
The club ended in 1762 when the Earl of Bute appointed Dashwood his Chancellor of the Exchequer, despite Dashwood being widely held to be incapable of understanding "a bar bill of five figures". It seems he now achieved some respectability and though his role only lasted a year (after he did indeed mess up) the group pretty much ended their meetings.
John Wilkes best described the group: 'A set of worthy, jolly fellows, happy disciples of Venus and Bacchus, got occasionally together to celebrate woman in wine and to give more zest to the festive meeting, they plucked every luxurious idea from the ancients and enriched their own modern pleasures with the tradition of classic luxury'.
****
G. P. Taylor used to be a vicar, if you haven’t looked that fact up you would have soon concluded something similar from Shadowmancer, as religion and the Christian faith plays a large part in its construction. Unfortunately, it plays too large a part and ends up distracting from what could have been a good dark fantasy.
Set in a slightly altered North Yorkshire, Taylor has mixed folklore and myth with sorcery, magic and pirating to tell the story of Thomas and his friends, the religious Raphah and the fiery Kate as they go up against the corrupt and sinister Obadiah Demurral (he does use some wonderful naming for his characters).
When a mysterious religious relic is obtained by Obadiah all of hell is literally released through the mans’ greed and incompetence, leading the children in a dangerous game as they attempt to escape fate. This is good story telling, a little let down by lack of editing (it was his first novel and was originally self published) but his constant harping on about what’s right and wrong and poorly concealed Christian undertones tend to undermine the story. I have read one of his later novels (see Mariah Mundi) where the religious aspect has been toned down, and that was much the better book for it.
A little book picked up because Mckean was the artist, The Savage is a simple and beautifully told story about a boy coming to terms with the loss of his father. Part graphic novel part story book, Blue works through the trauma of loss by writing his own story about a savage boy who lives in the woods, but as he writes the Savage takes on a life of his own.
Supported by Mckean’s great ink work, shaded in twilight blue and forest green, this little book is for anyone who wants to see how simple yet effective good writing can be. I would recommend this to adults and children alike.
Read this week:
Shadowmancer by G. P. Taylor
The Savage by David Almond
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Post 100!!!
Having reached post 100, we're having a bit of a party, Blogger is currently mixing some vicious looking cocktails while I'm busy putting the finishing touches to the pineapple and cheese on sticks. I imagine it'll go on late into the night, with the 'Best of Black Lace' being played at full volume until the neighbours complain.
****
I'm in research mode at the moment. I have a trip planned to London for January so I need to start researching all the places I want to visit. I have a rough idea for the second book but now need to put several months of notes behind it. I'll be using this blog to record any ideas or interesting bits of information until I begin to write the book around February time.
****
I picked up Varjak Paw because the artist was Dave McKean. It's a simple story about a naive young cat who must overcome its embarrassment about being different if it to return to the house on the hill where it once lived in pampered luxury. To do this the Mesopotamian Blue must learn the Way of Jalal, a martial arts for cats, taught by its long dead ancestor and in the process learn there is more about life than free food.
It's a simple fable, beautifully told and of course illustrated in Mckean's simple black pen master strokes. It's the sort of book you read in an afternoon but the story stays with you for much longer.
****
Well, I've got to go now; Blogger has locked herself in the bathroom after trying it on with Google. It's going to be a long night...
Read this week:
Varjack Paw by SF Said.
****
I'm in research mode at the moment. I have a trip planned to London for January so I need to start researching all the places I want to visit. I have a rough idea for the second book but now need to put several months of notes behind it. I'll be using this blog to record any ideas or interesting bits of information until I begin to write the book around February time.
****
I picked up Varjak Paw because the artist was Dave McKean. It's a simple story about a naive young cat who must overcome its embarrassment about being different if it to return to the house on the hill where it once lived in pampered luxury. To do this the Mesopotamian Blue must learn the Way of Jalal, a martial arts for cats, taught by its long dead ancestor and in the process learn there is more about life than free food.
It's a simple fable, beautifully told and of course illustrated in Mckean's simple black pen master strokes. It's the sort of book you read in an afternoon but the story stays with you for much longer.
****
Well, I've got to go now; Blogger has locked herself in the bathroom after trying it on with Google. It's going to be a long night...
Read this week:
Varjack Paw by SF Said.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Seeing Everyone
Feels like I’ve been everywhere and seen everyone this weekend. After a boozy night in the pub last Thursday I, accompanied by Madame Vin, the Aussie and a Canadian, travelled early to Nottingham where I met up with Sammy (all the way from New Zealand) and Tash and my ‘woman of the year’ (back from LA – and doing very well. Hopefully, if she’ll let me, I’ll post some exciting news from her here soon). Then it was over to the hospital to visit my last surviving grandparent (who thankfully, looked better than I hoped) and finally to the old home of Radcliffe-on-Trent to the retirement party of the Silver Fox.
The next day it was more family, including a new arrival, before stepping out with friends, friends, friends and admittedly drinking too much.
Sunday was home, rest and Sunday dinner.
At least I got a lot of reading done.
****
The Graveyard Book
I'm not afraid to say it - I love Mr. Gaiman. He has the most beautiful style of writing, summing up an emotion, a feeling or a character in a simply yet eloquent fashion. The Graveyard book is one of his novels for children that can be read by adults (think Coraline). Based loosely on the Jungle Book in its construction, the story deals with Nobody Owens and his life growing up in a graveyard high on a hill in an English town (it reads like Lincoln but this might just be the reader putting his own experiences on top of the narrative).
Starting off as a baby and escaping from a dark shadowy figure who has just murdered his family Bod is taken in by dead people, who view their deaths as just an interesting event on life's highway and see it as no reason why it should interrupt their living.
Each chapter is spaced several years apart with Bod growing and learning about life and being a human via the ghosts, spirits, ghouls and more mythical creatures that inhabit his living space. The first few chapters could be read as short stories while the last four allow Bod to work out where he came from and where he's going. Magical!
Death: The High Cost of Living
Another Gaiman. Set in his Sandman mythos, every century Death must become mortal for 24 hours so that she can find out about life. This story is slight and amusing with the Goth personification of Death spending her day in New York with a young man who begins by contemplating the taking of his own life and ends by understanding its worth and magic. The comic has been under review for several years as a possible movie and within Sandman is probably the only possible filmable story arc.
Little (Grrl) Lost
It is such a shame that Charles De Lint is not better known in the UK. His stories are magical and human and deep and mythical all at the same time. He has created a world (Newford) where anything can happen (and usually does) but it always makes sense and seems perfectly logically. Rarely do I see his books on the shelves of Waterstones or the larger book stores and have to rely on independent shops and US imports.
T.J. is a teenager suffering from the anxiety of having moved from the country to a strange city, leaving her friends and her horse behind. She is suffering from the mental growing pains all teenagers go through and feels hard done by. She meets Elizabeth, an older girl who is spunky and cool and forthright but has her own problems being only eight inches high.
Elizabeth is a Small and she lives behind the skirting board. This is 'The Borrowers' for the modern age, mixing in texting, broken families, email, punk and motorbikes and coming up with something that is uniquely De Lint.
****
I read three other books but they are all reviews so you’ll have to read Dark Horizon’s for my low down.
I was out Friday night but a clip from the new Doctor Who was shown on the Beeb as part of Children in Need. You can see it again here.
Read this week:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Death: The High Cost of Living by Neil Gaiman
Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles De Lint
The next day it was more family, including a new arrival, before stepping out with friends, friends, friends and admittedly drinking too much.
Sunday was home, rest and Sunday dinner.
At least I got a lot of reading done.
****
The Graveyard Book
I'm not afraid to say it - I love Mr. Gaiman. He has the most beautiful style of writing, summing up an emotion, a feeling or a character in a simply yet eloquent fashion. The Graveyard book is one of his novels for children that can be read by adults (think Coraline). Based loosely on the Jungle Book in its construction, the story deals with Nobody Owens and his life growing up in a graveyard high on a hill in an English town (it reads like Lincoln but this might just be the reader putting his own experiences on top of the narrative).
Starting off as a baby and escaping from a dark shadowy figure who has just murdered his family Bod is taken in by dead people, who view their deaths as just an interesting event on life's highway and see it as no reason why it should interrupt their living.
Each chapter is spaced several years apart with Bod growing and learning about life and being a human via the ghosts, spirits, ghouls and more mythical creatures that inhabit his living space. The first few chapters could be read as short stories while the last four allow Bod to work out where he came from and where he's going. Magical!
Death: The High Cost of Living
Another Gaiman. Set in his Sandman mythos, every century Death must become mortal for 24 hours so that she can find out about life. This story is slight and amusing with the Goth personification of Death spending her day in New York with a young man who begins by contemplating the taking of his own life and ends by understanding its worth and magic. The comic has been under review for several years as a possible movie and within Sandman is probably the only possible filmable story arc.
Little (Grrl) Lost
It is such a shame that Charles De Lint is not better known in the UK. His stories are magical and human and deep and mythical all at the same time. He has created a world (Newford) where anything can happen (and usually does) but it always makes sense and seems perfectly logically. Rarely do I see his books on the shelves of Waterstones or the larger book stores and have to rely on independent shops and US imports.
T.J. is a teenager suffering from the anxiety of having moved from the country to a strange city, leaving her friends and her horse behind. She is suffering from the mental growing pains all teenagers go through and feels hard done by. She meets Elizabeth, an older girl who is spunky and cool and forthright but has her own problems being only eight inches high.
Elizabeth is a Small and she lives behind the skirting board. This is 'The Borrowers' for the modern age, mixing in texting, broken families, email, punk and motorbikes and coming up with something that is uniquely De Lint.
****
I read three other books but they are all reviews so you’ll have to read Dark Horizon’s for my low down.
I was out Friday night but a clip from the new Doctor Who was shown on the Beeb as part of Children in Need. You can see it again here.
Read this week:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Death: The High Cost of Living by Neil Gaiman
Little (Grrl) Lost by Charles De Lint
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Hanging around the graveyard
I've been fortunate enough to meet a few of my heroes (Woody Allen, Dave Mckean) and thankfully never had to suffer the shock that they were not the sort of people I would care to share a long train journey sitting next to. Tuesday night I added another name to that list. Neil Gaiman is well known for really pulling out all the stops when it comes to his fans, his legendary long signing sessions, his diligent updates to his blog and the fact he dedicated one of his books to them makes him a much admired writer. You'll be glad to know he did not disappoint.
The Church Hill Theatre seats over 600 people and it was full to bursting (Ian Rankin was in the audience). After a read through of Ch. 5 -Dance Macabre, delivered in Gaiman's softly spoken butter-dripping drawl he started the signing. I had Big Gary along and somehow managed to land myself at the front of the queue. He signed a few things for me and then I got to ask him the big question. He said yes and that he would be "honoured" - so, a Gaiman character will appear (as a name on a list) in the DarkFather. 
The Graveyard Book is one of Gaiman's works which can be read to children but work just as well for adults (like Coraline). I haven't read it yet but I've heard most of it as the Gaiman and his publishers have made every chapter available online. If you get the chance have a listen, you won't be disappointed.
The Church Hill Theatre seats over 600 people and it was full to bursting (Ian Rankin was in the audience). After a read through of Ch. 5 -Dance Macabre, delivered in Gaiman's softly spoken butter-dripping drawl he started the signing. I had Big Gary along and somehow managed to land myself at the front of the queue. He signed a few things for me and then I got to ask him the big question. He said yes and that he would be "honoured" - so, a Gaiman character will appear (as a name on a list) in the DarkFather.
The Graveyard Book is one of Gaiman's works which can be read to children but work just as well for adults (like Coraline). I haven't read it yet but I've heard most of it as the Gaiman and his publishers have made every chapter available online. If you get the chance have a listen, you won't be disappointed.****
I'm in London this weekend I just found out Terry Pratchett will be doing a signing at Forbidden Planet at roughly the same time I'm there. I should have got my copy of Good Omens signed by Neil and then by Terry - Damn!
****
Sad to hear that Dr Who has a planned regeneration coming up (at the end of 2009). Tennent has been excellent - gurning and grinning through the role but at the same time adding just the right hint of madness and darkness.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Agent X
I’ve spent the last few days putting together a letter and synopsis for ‘DarkFather’ which is to be sent out to potential agents. This has become an art form in its own right and one that I deliberately take time and effort over. It is also a job I find almost soul destroying. All the effort you put into a novel, the creation, the honing, the rewrites, is boiled down to a one page synopsis, a letter and a couple of chapters. From this you have to hope that your work is considered good enough by whoever picks up that days mail.
To make matters worse every agent has slightly different criteria for how they want the work presented, how they want to be approached and how long you have to wait for any kind of response. The worst is the fact that you can only approach one agent at a time and as most of them have an eight week turn around that means you can only approach six agents a year (not taking into account holidays etc).
I work within the system but I’m sure there must be a better way of doing things that doesn’t open the agents up to huge amount of rubbish material being sent to them while at the same time allowing potential authors to showcase their work to more than one agent at a time.
****
The Kingsway tunnels are up for sale. Interesting article with pictures in The Independent.
****
Seeing Neil Gaiman on Tuesday. I will report back with pictures.
****
Apparently when I sign into Blogger this is post number 100, but when I count them on the side bar list I can only see 96 (this being number 97). I’ll wait for three more and then celebrate the 100 mark.
****
I’ve been working on several book reviews this week for the BFS so I can’t tell you what I’ve been reading, however I did manage to get a couple of comics in as well.
Batman: The Cult is a good read showing the Caped Crusader starting his adventure on the back foot having been captured by a strange mystic called Deacon Joseph Blackfire; either a charlatan or else a long living Native American mystic. Weakened from lack of food, constant beatings and through the use of drugs the Batman is brainwashed into joining the Deacon’s gang of homeless people as they violently take over the streets of Gotham. It starts off as a clever mediation on power and corruption but unfortunately does not take this all the way to end.
Dark Victory is the better of the two Batman comics. Here Batman relies on his detective skills as he searches for a mysterious calendar killer over a year. It’s set in the early days of his career, not long after Harvey Dent has become the mentally and physically scarred Two Face. All the bad guys are present along with a mafia family and corrupt police force.
In the introduction by Tim Sale (the excellent artist of this book) he states he doesn’t like the character of Robin and never wanted to do a comic book with him in. I fully understand, I’ve always thought of him as a silly character that does nothing for the series. Thankfully, the story does not bring him in until the end but still he manages to be annoying in the small section he does appears in.
Read this week:
Batman: Dark Victory by Joseph Loeb and Tim Sale
Batman: The Cult by Starlin, Wrightson and Wray
To make matters worse every agent has slightly different criteria for how they want the work presented, how they want to be approached and how long you have to wait for any kind of response. The worst is the fact that you can only approach one agent at a time and as most of them have an eight week turn around that means you can only approach six agents a year (not taking into account holidays etc).
I work within the system but I’m sure there must be a better way of doing things that doesn’t open the agents up to huge amount of rubbish material being sent to them while at the same time allowing potential authors to showcase their work to more than one agent at a time.
****
The Kingsway tunnels are up for sale. Interesting article with pictures in The Independent.
****
Seeing Neil Gaiman on Tuesday. I will report back with pictures.
****
Apparently when I sign into Blogger this is post number 100, but when I count them on the side bar list I can only see 96 (this being number 97). I’ll wait for three more and then celebrate the 100 mark.
****
I’ve been working on several book reviews this week for the BFS so I can’t tell you what I’ve been reading, however I did manage to get a couple of comics in as well.
Batman: The Cult is a good read showing the Caped Crusader starting his adventure on the back foot having been captured by a strange mystic called Deacon Joseph Blackfire; either a charlatan or else a long living Native American mystic. Weakened from lack of food, constant beatings and through the use of drugs the Batman is brainwashed into joining the Deacon’s gang of homeless people as they violently take over the streets of Gotham. It starts off as a clever mediation on power and corruption but unfortunately does not take this all the way to end.
Dark Victory is the better of the two Batman comics. Here Batman relies on his detective skills as he searches for a mysterious calendar killer over a year. It’s set in the early days of his career, not long after Harvey Dent has become the mentally and physically scarred Two Face. All the bad guys are present along with a mafia family and corrupt police force.
In the introduction by Tim Sale (the excellent artist of this book) he states he doesn’t like the character of Robin and never wanted to do a comic book with him in. I fully understand, I’ve always thought of him as a silly character that does nothing for the series. Thankfully, the story does not bring him in until the end but still he manages to be annoying in the small section he does appears in.
Read this week:
Batman: Dark Victory by Joseph Loeb and Tim Sale
Batman: The Cult by Starlin, Wrightson and Wray
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Review and be damned.
I’ve finished the penultimate edit of ‘The Missing’ for Maureen today. It’s been sent to her and we’ll have a talk tomorrow to discuss. After that and any small minor changes it will be sent off to the publishers and the long wait for galleys and art begins.
I’m reading a novel at the moment that requires a review but it’s pretty bad and I’m having trouble finishing it. I normally read everything, refusing to give up on a book until the very end in the hope that something will grab my attention, but with this one I’m struggling. I feel I should finish it, particularly if I’m to write a review, but find myself resenting the time it is taking up, time that I could spend reading one of the huge pile sat next to my desk that require attention. I know I’ll slog on and finish it but I fear the more time I spend with it the more I’ll hate it and the worst the review will be.
A lovely piece this month by John Connolly on the amount of books he buys in proportion to the amount he reads. I know exactly what he means. I keep saying I’m not going to buy anything new until I finish the thirty odd books I have waiting but still find myself walking into book shops and adding to the collection, then there are the free ones I’m sent and the books for review.
Just been to the cinema and seen a lovely film call The Station Agent. A great little picture, with perfect written characters, understated and minimal, with just the right emphasise on humour and pathos. Check it out.
I've just noticed that the next post will be number 100.
****
Pratchett’s new children’s book ‘Nation’, is a slow burn. He’s left the Disc World behind and created an alternative world dominated by the British Empire. It is seen through the eyes of two children, Daphne a girl shipwrecked on an island that has just suffered a tsunami and Mau, the remaining inhabitant of a once proud and ancient community.
The work takes a little while to get going but once it does Pratchett cleverly discusses ethnicity, religion, power, sex and death. It is powerful stuff, made light hearted in only the way that he can. It also has the best ending of a YA novel I’ve read in some time. It’s really moving and if you have a child I recommend reading it to them, if you don’t, read it yourself. Brilliant.
Read this week:
Nation by Terry Pratchett.
I’m reading a novel at the moment that requires a review but it’s pretty bad and I’m having trouble finishing it. I normally read everything, refusing to give up on a book until the very end in the hope that something will grab my attention, but with this one I’m struggling. I feel I should finish it, particularly if I’m to write a review, but find myself resenting the time it is taking up, time that I could spend reading one of the huge pile sat next to my desk that require attention. I know I’ll slog on and finish it but I fear the more time I spend with it the more I’ll hate it and the worst the review will be.
A lovely piece this month by John Connolly on the amount of books he buys in proportion to the amount he reads. I know exactly what he means. I keep saying I’m not going to buy anything new until I finish the thirty odd books I have waiting but still find myself walking into book shops and adding to the collection, then there are the free ones I’m sent and the books for review.
Just been to the cinema and seen a lovely film call The Station Agent. A great little picture, with perfect written characters, understated and minimal, with just the right emphasise on humour and pathos. Check it out.
I've just noticed that the next post will be number 100.
****
Pratchett’s new children’s book ‘Nation’, is a slow burn. He’s left the Disc World behind and created an alternative world dominated by the British Empire. It is seen through the eyes of two children, Daphne a girl shipwrecked on an island that has just suffered a tsunami and Mau, the remaining inhabitant of a once proud and ancient community.
The work takes a little while to get going but once it does Pratchett cleverly discusses ethnicity, religion, power, sex and death. It is powerful stuff, made light hearted in only the way that he can. It also has the best ending of a YA novel I’ve read in some time. It’s really moving and if you have a child I recommend reading it to them, if you don’t, read it yourself. Brilliant.
Read this week:
Nation by Terry Pratchett.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The convention
I’m back from my jaunt having spent time down in Nottingham at the BFS’s FantasyCon and a few days away recharging the batteries and working on the outline for a short comic.
This was the first FantasyCon I have ever been to and it was…interesting. It was not quite what I had in mind when I thought about going earlier in the year, certainly less instructive and slightly more amateurish than I was expecting, plus the venue needs a rethink (and if at all possible, pulling down). Dave McKean was guest of honour (and highlight) and along with Vincent Chong provided some interesting insights into art, comics and getting published. He also signed a copy of his book of sketches for me including a drawing of an elf/goblin/alien creature. Simon Guerrier, frequent blogger and Dr Who author was eloquent but I failed to introduce myself, whilst Simon R. Green seemed to be nuttier than a fruitcake.
This was the first FantasyCon I have ever been to and it was…interesting. It was not quite what I had in mind when I thought about going earlier in the year, certainly less instructive and slightly more amateurish than I was expecting, plus the venue needs a rethink (and if at all possible, pulling down). Dave McKean was guest of honour (and highlight) and along with Vincent Chong provided some interesting insights into art, comics and getting published. He also signed a copy of his book of sketches for me including a drawing of an elf/goblin/alien creature. Simon Guerrier, frequent blogger and Dr Who author was eloquent but I failed to introduce myself, whilst Simon R. Green seemed to be nuttier than a fruitcake.
I’ve spent the rest of the week in the small town of Kirkcudbright on the west coast of Scotland. The weather was wonderful, the company good and the wine plentiful. When I could I wrote in the silence of a cottage only interrupted by the rooks that would gather in the tall trees to caw at one another. I also did plenty of reading.
Pork Pie Hat is a small book I must have picked up in a second hand shop and had on my shelf for some time. It is very well written with Straub picking up the nuances of a Jazz musician at the end of his life reminiscing about what happened to him as a child that seriously effected who he was to become. It’s a haunting story very well rendered.Carey’s second novel in the Felix Castor series adds to the ‘other’ London he has created. It still has echoes of Constantine but it feels as if Castor is becoming his own man. The city is real and grimy and the story line full of interesting plots twists. Old characters return keeping the series whole whilst the book finishes with enough change in Castor’s circumstances to make the next book eagerly anticipated.
I remember the Triffids TV show which was produced in 1981. I’m not sure if I saw a repeat or not as I would only have been six on its first airing and I’m sure I would not have been allowed to stay up that late, or else gone to bed with nightmares. Before I read the book all I could recall were several jumper wearing hippies living on a farm being surrounded by the Triffids. This I thought was foolish and not very scary as the plants could only shuffle on small legs and must have been as limited as the original Daleks as any grown individual could have easily out run them. Of course I had forgotten that many of the survivors had already been blinded by falling green meteorites and that society had broken down to such a degree that the world had been returned to pre-industrial society.
The book is timely and seems not to have dated too much considering it was published in 1951. It pick up on other well known sci-fi stories (notably H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds) but makes something particularly British in its depiction of the end of the world.
I’m working on a script at the moment as well as answering questions from my publishers. With the re-write of ‘The DarkFather’ starting as well I imagine I should be busy for the next couple of months.
Read this week:
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Vicious Circle by Mike Carey
Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Odd, we’re still all here…
Having done no lasting damage to my body, I am glad to say that last weeks venture up into the hills passed without hic-cup. It was muddy, wet and cold and we didn’t do it a particularly amazing time (an asthmatic in a bath chair passed us at one point) but we completed all 60km. A big thank you to all the people who sponsored me to the tune of £430. A figure which will be doubled by the bank and shared out amongst the charities.
I’ve added a particularly flattering photo of me in stretch lycra below. If you are easily offended or have a weak stomach, look away now.
Now all that unpleasantness is over we can get back to normal. Still working my way through ‘DarkFather’, and have been told that ‘The Missing’ won’t be back in my hands for another week, which is fine by me as I have plenty on my plate at the moment.
I’m starting work on what will hopefully be my first foray into comics, working with the artist, friend and film ‘know it all’, Looming Gary. We don’t plan to try and sell the work as its more a tryout to see if we work well together, but we might get it put up here once completed. It is early days, but I have an idea that might get worked up into something…watch this space.
As we’re not all dead I can get you all to zoom over to BBC and listen to the Torchwood adventure set at CERN. It’s underground and I assume fills in a bit of missing detail between the end of series 2 and the anticipated new series. Capt. Jack is becoming a darker and more troubled character (at last) which helps this episode very well.
Talking (writing actually) about TV, looks like Dean makes it out of hell in the new series of Supernatural, the first clips of which have made it on to the net (ignore the advert):
Working my way through the second Felix Castor novel which I will discuss here soon, plus I’m now counting down the days until I go to Fantasycon. If you’re going, drop me a line and we’ll meet for a beer.
I’ve added a particularly flattering photo of me in stretch lycra below. If you are easily offended or have a weak stomach, look away now.
Now all that unpleasantness is over we can get back to normal. Still working my way through ‘DarkFather’, and have been told that ‘The Missing’ won’t be back in my hands for another week, which is fine by me as I have plenty on my plate at the moment.
I’m starting work on what will hopefully be my first foray into comics, working with the artist, friend and film ‘know it all’, Looming Gary. We don’t plan to try and sell the work as its more a tryout to see if we work well together, but we might get it put up here once completed. It is early days, but I have an idea that might get worked up into something…watch this space.
As we’re not all dead I can get you all to zoom over to BBC and listen to the Torchwood adventure set at CERN. It’s underground and I assume fills in a bit of missing detail between the end of series 2 and the anticipated new series. Capt. Jack is becoming a darker and more troubled character (at last) which helps this episode very well.
Talking (writing actually) about TV, looks like Dean makes it out of hell in the new series of Supernatural, the first clips of which have made it on to the net (ignore the advert):
Working my way through the second Felix Castor novel which I will discuss here soon, plus I’m now counting down the days until I go to Fantasycon. If you’re going, drop me a line and we’ll meet for a beer.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Going up the mountains
I’m working through ‘DarkFather’ in the two weeks respite I get from the editing of ‘The Missing’. I’m tidying up the story in places and increasing the presence of characters who I think need a little more room to breath. I also want to make the start a little bit punchier.
I’m off to Aviemore this weekend, cycling over mountains raising money for three charities. So far I’ve raised over £400 with all funding matched by the organisers. I imagine it will be hard going as it’s rained constantly throughout August and the weekend forecast does not look much better. I’ll put up some picture next week of me all exhausted and muddy.
Got my tickets through today for a writer event I’ve been waiting some time for. Mr Neil Gaiman is coming to Scotland, and what’s more he’s coming to the book shop just up the road from me. I’m looking forward to his new work as it’s YA and will be an interesting read in line with my own work.
****
The Fourth Bear is Jasper Fford’s latest in the Nursery Crime Division works. As always with Fford (that is his real name by the way) the laughs come hard, fast and often with allusions to other works of literature, music or film. You could spend forever and a day trying to keep up with the wry nods but instead you should enjoy the books for their quirky humour. He is one of the best writers around today for laugh out loud prose.
I was fortunate enough to meet him this summer and you can tell there is a keen mind behind these works, one that enjoys puzzles and word play. I asked him if anyone had ever considered turning the works into comics as they are rich in nursery rhyme characters and he said that many had but nothing had ever happened. If there’s any budding comic book authors reading this, get on to it now.
Rex Mundi is a comic book that started life before Da Vinci Code which is interesting because they contain similar themes. Unlike the Dan Brown book Rex Mundi is set in a world where the American Civil War has ended in stalemate and the Catholic Church controls most of Europe, also sorcery is a real problem.
The story is a little sparse in places, but the artwork by EricJ is lush and precise, turning Paris into a dark mediaeval / 30s inspired city. There are also some good scenes under Paris, travelling along the vast sewers that mimic the street layout above so accurately that they share the same names (true), plus mention of catacombs being found containing the bodies of prior inhabitants (also true). Well worth a read and I’m sure I’ll get book 2.
****
Read this week:
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fford
Rex Mundi: The Guardian of the Temple by Arvid Nelson et al.
I’m off to Aviemore this weekend, cycling over mountains raising money for three charities. So far I’ve raised over £400 with all funding matched by the organisers. I imagine it will be hard going as it’s rained constantly throughout August and the weekend forecast does not look much better. I’ll put up some picture next week of me all exhausted and muddy.
Got my tickets through today for a writer event I’ve been waiting some time for. Mr Neil Gaiman is coming to Scotland, and what’s more he’s coming to the book shop just up the road from me. I’m looking forward to his new work as it’s YA and will be an interesting read in line with my own work.
****
The Fourth Bear is Jasper Fford’s latest in the Nursery Crime Division works. As always with Fford (that is his real name by the way) the laughs come hard, fast and often with allusions to other works of literature, music or film. You could spend forever and a day trying to keep up with the wry nods but instead you should enjoy the books for their quirky humour. He is one of the best writers around today for laugh out loud prose.
I was fortunate enough to meet him this summer and you can tell there is a keen mind behind these works, one that enjoys puzzles and word play. I asked him if anyone had ever considered turning the works into comics as they are rich in nursery rhyme characters and he said that many had but nothing had ever happened. If there’s any budding comic book authors reading this, get on to it now.
Rex Mundi is a comic book that started life before Da Vinci Code which is interesting because they contain similar themes. Unlike the Dan Brown book Rex Mundi is set in a world where the American Civil War has ended in stalemate and the Catholic Church controls most of Europe, also sorcery is a real problem.
The story is a little sparse in places, but the artwork by EricJ is lush and precise, turning Paris into a dark mediaeval / 30s inspired city. There are also some good scenes under Paris, travelling along the vast sewers that mimic the street layout above so accurately that they share the same names (true), plus mention of catacombs being found containing the bodies of prior inhabitants (also true). Well worth a read and I’m sure I’ll get book 2.
****
Read this week:
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fford
Rex Mundi: The Guardian of the Temple by Arvid Nelson et al.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Underground Film
Just a quick update to mention Hellboy II and its great subterranean scenes. Very clever use of the Trolls living and trading under Brooklyn Bridge, ancient Ireland's fairy worlds, and Elves hiding out in the New York metro system. The film is lush and clever with some great creatures created by Del Toro.
Watching the Authors
Down to the last chapter of 'The Missing'. I've had my sweep through and a made a few subtle changes. I'll have a call with Maureen later this week, make further changes before printing the entire novel off and reading it as a reader. I want to try and put myself in the position of someone picking the book up off the shelf for the first time and reading it for enjoyment. At the same time it will be read by the chief editor at Libros where further changes can be made.
****
The book festival is now up and running and I was able to see Jasper Fforde read from his new work which is set in a world where colour is a key indicator to your position in life and society. Like all Fforde books the concept sounds alien and completely off kilter but no doubt he'll pull off something unique and funny and tight. If you have never read any of his books pick one up, he's as funny as Pratchett and as clever as Adams. Well worth reading.
Also got to see John Connolly, who was amusing and seemed more at ease speaking to large crowds than when I saw him two years ago. He speaks and reads so fast that he can fit into half an hour what most authors drivel on about for at least two. He read from a work in progress which is a new Charlie Parker novel out next year called 'The Lovers'. It's sound like the supernatural elements have been upped in the new book, which is good because it was something I missed in the last.
I'm off to see Alan Campbell tomorrow which I'm looking forward to.
Outside of the Book festival we saw Jimmy Carr, who was quick and clever and funny and immensely rude in all of the right places.
****
Finished 'The Secret History of Moscow', which is a subterranean fiction work set in Russia where creatures of fable, old Gods and characters from history exist below Moscow. Its from the point of view of Galina who's younger sister turns into a jackdaw and flies away whilst giving birth. Trying to track her sister down she meets with several strange individuals all who suffer from the dislocation of living in modern Russia in a big city that is crime and prejudice ridden.
The book has very much of a Russian feel to it, reading like Tolstoy (thankfully not as long) with plenty of wit. The subterranean world does not feel as fleshed at as the city above but Ekaterina Sedia has an inventive and playful mind and is able to pull on the history of her country and its myths.
'Nevada' is strange and funny and shocking and clever all at the same time. I only heard of Steve Gerber just after he died earlier this year when I discovered he was the creator of Howard the Duck, a character I remember from a film which involved aliens, comedy and inter species love (not something that seemed strange when I was about 10 years old).
This comic book was realised back in 1999 and I picked it up via the excellent book swapping site 'Read it, Swap it', based on Gerber's name. It revolves around an exotic dancer in Las Vegas, her pet ostrich Bolero, time and dimension travel, daemons and cosmic answers. It's a great read and worth picking up, I'll definitely be searching out more of Gerber's work on the back of it.
'Ocean' by Warren Ellis is a straight forward action comic set in space where coffins from an alien race have been discovered in the ice below Europa. It's about corporate greed and the inherent violence of the human species. Great art work by Chris Sprouse and Karl Story.
My final read this week is 'The Vinyl Underground - Watching the Detectives' which is a spin on Hellblazer but with a modern cool edge. It's good and I think it could grow into something very good but at the moment it doesn't have the skill or self awareness of Hellblazer.
****
Read this week:
The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
The Vinyl Underground - Watching the Detectives by Si Spencer
Ocean by Warren Ellis
Nevada by Steve Gerber
****
The book festival is now up and running and I was able to see Jasper Fforde read from his new work which is set in a world where colour is a key indicator to your position in life and society. Like all Fforde books the concept sounds alien and completely off kilter but no doubt he'll pull off something unique and funny and tight. If you have never read any of his books pick one up, he's as funny as Pratchett and as clever as Adams. Well worth reading.
Also got to see John Connolly, who was amusing and seemed more at ease speaking to large crowds than when I saw him two years ago. He speaks and reads so fast that he can fit into half an hour what most authors drivel on about for at least two. He read from a work in progress which is a new Charlie Parker novel out next year called 'The Lovers'. It's sound like the supernatural elements have been upped in the new book, which is good because it was something I missed in the last.
I'm off to see Alan Campbell tomorrow which I'm looking forward to.
Outside of the Book festival we saw Jimmy Carr, who was quick and clever and funny and immensely rude in all of the right places.
****
Finished 'The Secret History of Moscow', which is a subterranean fiction work set in Russia where creatures of fable, old Gods and characters from history exist below Moscow. Its from the point of view of Galina who's younger sister turns into a jackdaw and flies away whilst giving birth. Trying to track her sister down she meets with several strange individuals all who suffer from the dislocation of living in modern Russia in a big city that is crime and prejudice ridden.
The book has very much of a Russian feel to it, reading like Tolstoy (thankfully not as long) with plenty of wit. The subterranean world does not feel as fleshed at as the city above but Ekaterina Sedia has an inventive and playful mind and is able to pull on the history of her country and its myths.
'Nevada' is strange and funny and shocking and clever all at the same time. I only heard of Steve Gerber just after he died earlier this year when I discovered he was the creator of Howard the Duck, a character I remember from a film which involved aliens, comedy and inter species love (not something that seemed strange when I was about 10 years old).
This comic book was realised back in 1999 and I picked it up via the excellent book swapping site 'Read it, Swap it', based on Gerber's name. It revolves around an exotic dancer in Las Vegas, her pet ostrich Bolero, time and dimension travel, daemons and cosmic answers. It's a great read and worth picking up, I'll definitely be searching out more of Gerber's work on the back of it.
'Ocean' by Warren Ellis is a straight forward action comic set in space where coffins from an alien race have been discovered in the ice below Europa. It's about corporate greed and the inherent violence of the human species. Great art work by Chris Sprouse and Karl Story.
My final read this week is 'The Vinyl Underground - Watching the Detectives' which is a spin on Hellblazer but with a modern cool edge. It's good and I think it could grow into something very good but at the moment it doesn't have the skill or self awareness of Hellblazer.
****
Read this week:
The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
The Vinyl Underground - Watching the Detectives by Si Spencer
Ocean by Warren Ellis
Nevada by Steve Gerber
Sunday, August 17, 2008
The Hordes Descend
Just a quick post as I've much to do in the arena of getting everything done and dusted before Big Bad Trev arrives tomorrow for a couple of days followed hotly on his heels by The Mater. Festival time seems to be visiting time for family and friends - I can't imagine why!
Saw Bill Bailey on Thursday and he was okay. Nothing amazing, sometimes funny but nothing that made me feel like I was about to regurgitate my ribs (unlike the woman behind me who sounded as if she had brought up all of her internal organs). I guess comics have good days and bad days like anyone else and it kind of felt as if Bailey wanted to be elsewhere.
****
Finished Ch7. of the edit of 'The Missing', so only one more to go. After that I'll have one more read through before the whole lot gets sent off to the Chief Editor of the publishing house.
Saw Bill Bailey on Thursday and he was okay. Nothing amazing, sometimes funny but nothing that made me feel like I was about to regurgitate my ribs (unlike the woman behind me who sounded as if she had brought up all of her internal organs). I guess comics have good days and bad days like anyone else and it kind of felt as if Bailey wanted to be elsewhere.
****
Finished Ch7. of the edit of 'The Missing', so only one more to go. After that I'll have one more read through before the whole lot gets sent off to the Chief Editor of the publishing house.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Funny ha ha ha...
The Festival is now in full swing (which probably explains why it's raining constantly) and I've added Tim Minchin and Amnesty International to sights seen. Minchin was excellent, laugh until a small bit of vomit comes into your mouth funny. He really is such a talented chap with not only being humorous but a highly skilled and adept musician if you get the chance to see him, take it. I've put a little clip of him below:
We also went to see The Amnesty International gig with Ed Byrne's, Rich Hall and Mark Watson who between them managed to wake me up via the art of laughter as the time nudged two in the morning.
Still plenty more to go which I'll report back on later next week.
****
Had an interesting conundrum in the editing of 'The Missing' this week in the use of language, particularly American English. It all stemmed from the spelling of the word 'tyre' which in the US is spelt 'tire'. In one part of the novel a character from the US of A talks about changing the tyre (or tire as it would be) with someone from the UK. They both refer to the rubber part of the car and by the end of the piece the UK character has changed nationality (don't ask, just read the book when it comes out and all will become clear). So the problem...do I use 'tyre', 'tire' or both depending on who is speaking or doesn't it matter and should I use the spelling for the language I'm writing in (UK English). The matter was too much for me and the editor and so was sent upwards to the chief editor and the results are....(drum roll)...use the UK spelling...phew!
****
Finished off the other two volumes of Miracleman as written by Alan Moore.
The second book entitled 'The Red King Syndrome,' though not liked by all is for me the best of the three as it shows the hero's ascent into the heavens as he realises that his powers make him a God among men. Humans become nothing to him as he can kill them with ease, imagine Superman with no moral compass. Also through his actions he brings about the creation of a creature even more powerful than himself.
Olympus, the third and final book has Miracleman reminiscing on his past and how the Earth was reshaped once he and several super heroes decide that they will rule the planet. It's a bitter sweet ending as the comic is seen only from Miracleman's point of view and though he knows he has brought justice and humility to the human race it was done via death, intimidation and knowledge that humanity is now firmly under the yoke.
The only problem I had with the final book is some of the language used my Moore during the dance sequences. It's good but just a little bit indulgent for my tastes.
****
Read this week:
Miracleman Book Two: The Red King Syndrome by Alan Moore et al
Miracleman Book Three: Olympus by Alan Moore and John Totleben
We also went to see The Amnesty International gig with Ed Byrne's, Rich Hall and Mark Watson who between them managed to wake me up via the art of laughter as the time nudged two in the morning.
Still plenty more to go which I'll report back on later next week.
****
Had an interesting conundrum in the editing of 'The Missing' this week in the use of language, particularly American English. It all stemmed from the spelling of the word 'tyre' which in the US is spelt 'tire'. In one part of the novel a character from the US of A talks about changing the tyre (or tire as it would be) with someone from the UK. They both refer to the rubber part of the car and by the end of the piece the UK character has changed nationality (don't ask, just read the book when it comes out and all will become clear). So the problem...do I use 'tyre', 'tire' or both depending on who is speaking or doesn't it matter and should I use the spelling for the language I'm writing in (UK English). The matter was too much for me and the editor and so was sent upwards to the chief editor and the results are....(drum roll)...use the UK spelling...phew!
****
Finished off the other two volumes of Miracleman as written by Alan Moore.
The second book entitled 'The Red King Syndrome,' though not liked by all is for me the best of the three as it shows the hero's ascent into the heavens as he realises that his powers make him a God among men. Humans become nothing to him as he can kill them with ease, imagine Superman with no moral compass. Also through his actions he brings about the creation of a creature even more powerful than himself.
Olympus, the third and final book has Miracleman reminiscing on his past and how the Earth was reshaped once he and several super heroes decide that they will rule the planet. It's a bitter sweet ending as the comic is seen only from Miracleman's point of view and though he knows he has brought justice and humility to the human race it was done via death, intimidation and knowledge that humanity is now firmly under the yoke.
The only problem I had with the final book is some of the language used my Moore during the dance sequences. It's good but just a little bit indulgent for my tastes.
****
Read this week:
Miracleman Book Two: The Red King Syndrome by Alan Moore et al
Miracleman Book Three: Olympus by Alan Moore and John Totleben
Sunday, August 03, 2008
"I Coulda Been a Contender...."
The festival had its official start on Friday evening (I wasn’t there but I sure heard the fireworks from the castle), and we got to see our first event on Saturday afternoon with a production of ‘On the Waterfront’. Adapted from the film starring Marlon Brando (which I thought I had seen but having watched the play realised I hadn’t) this is Steven Berkoff’s stage adaptation from my old stomping ground The Nottingham Playhouse.
A little disjointed at the beginning with dialogue that was meant to fizzle but fell flat, the play didn’t really get going until the second half. I’ll put this down to first night nerves and the fact both Berkoff and the writer Budd Schulberg (of more below) were in attendance. Once this was overcome and the actors settled into their roles the play picked up speed and moved along to a soaring conclusion. Simon Merrells who took the Brando part made the character his own, shying away from doing a Brando impersonation. There were some nice set pieces on a simple stage, culminating in a funny pigeon coop scene. One of the things that will stay in the memory long after the story has faded is the faces of the actors, Berkoff has put together a group with strong features that put me in mind of Dick Tracy villains, all flat noses and squinting eyes.
As I mentioned Budd Schulberg was in the audience and at the end of the play he was brought on stage by the cast. Now elderly (born 1914), he cut an intelligent and still very much aware figure. Having written such a prominent Hollywood movie as ‘On the Waterfront’ I had a quick google to find out more about him and discovered a man who has had a full and interesting life from meeting and working with F. Scott Fitzgerald, arresting the Nazi film maker Leni Riefanstahl to the dark days of the House of Un-American Activities Commission – a man who has truly been at the centre of US history.
****
I’ve been reading ‘Through a Glass, Darkly’ this week which is good but you’ll have to read my review in the next issue of Prism to get my full comments on this book.
Miracleman is where Alan Moore tried out some of his ideas for Watchmen. It came first but in some ways I prefer it as it deals with one character rather than several and though not as well known as the later work it shows Alan already playing with the superhero concept. The art work is a little poorly defined for my tastes and the lettering is very small (perhaps I need glasses) but the writing is terrific, it almost contains the depth of a novel.
****
There was series of films on BBC 4 last night all looking at the London Underground, its history and effect on modern life. Of particular interest was Arena: Underground which included footage of Margaret Barnett, who sheltered in the Tube during the bombing in the Second World War. Echoes of ‘DarkFather’ – I’ll say no more. You can see the programmes again on the rather good BBC iPlayer
Off to see the very funny Tim Minchin tonight.
****
Read this week:
Through a Glass, Darkly by Bill Hussey
Miracleman Book One: A Dream of Flying by Alan Moore, Garry Leach and Alan Davis
A little disjointed at the beginning with dialogue that was meant to fizzle but fell flat, the play didn’t really get going until the second half. I’ll put this down to first night nerves and the fact both Berkoff and the writer Budd Schulberg (of more below) were in attendance. Once this was overcome and the actors settled into their roles the play picked up speed and moved along to a soaring conclusion. Simon Merrells who took the Brando part made the character his own, shying away from doing a Brando impersonation. There were some nice set pieces on a simple stage, culminating in a funny pigeon coop scene. One of the things that will stay in the memory long after the story has faded is the faces of the actors, Berkoff has put together a group with strong features that put me in mind of Dick Tracy villains, all flat noses and squinting eyes.
As I mentioned Budd Schulberg was in the audience and at the end of the play he was brought on stage by the cast. Now elderly (born 1914), he cut an intelligent and still very much aware figure. Having written such a prominent Hollywood movie as ‘On the Waterfront’ I had a quick google to find out more about him and discovered a man who has had a full and interesting life from meeting and working with F. Scott Fitzgerald, arresting the Nazi film maker Leni Riefanstahl to the dark days of the House of Un-American Activities Commission – a man who has truly been at the centre of US history.
****
I’ve been reading ‘Through a Glass, Darkly’ this week which is good but you’ll have to read my review in the next issue of Prism to get my full comments on this book.
Miracleman is where Alan Moore tried out some of his ideas for Watchmen. It came first but in some ways I prefer it as it deals with one character rather than several and though not as well known as the later work it shows Alan already playing with the superhero concept. The art work is a little poorly defined for my tastes and the lettering is very small (perhaps I need glasses) but the writing is terrific, it almost contains the depth of a novel.
****
There was series of films on BBC 4 last night all looking at the London Underground, its history and effect on modern life. Of particular interest was Arena: Underground which included footage of Margaret Barnett, who sheltered in the Tube during the bombing in the Second World War. Echoes of ‘DarkFather’ – I’ll say no more. You can see the programmes again on the rather good BBC iPlayer
Off to see the very funny Tim Minchin tonight.
****
Read this week:
Through a Glass, Darkly by Bill Hussey
Miracleman Book One: A Dream of Flying by Alan Moore, Garry Leach and Alan Davis
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Gotham Night
Well they did it. It took several attempts but they have finally made a Batman film that fully incorporates the depth of the characters, the history of the comic books and the madness of Gotham City. The Dark Knight is truly a remarkable film, keeping its high octane thrills but lacing it with a well written script, a depth not often found in Hollywood and some excellent acting.
SPOILER ALERT – IF YOU HAVEN’T YET SEEN THE FILM, LOOK AWAY NOW.
I was nervous when I went to see the movie, concerned that the hype would set me up for a fall, but I was wrong. Jonathon and Christopher Nolan wrote the script and they obviously know and respect the character, from the true representation of the Joker’s madness to simple things like Batman’s white soulless eyes so often portrayed in the comic books. It is cool and clever and sets the Batman up as a true anti-hero, forever on the outskirts, wanted by both the criminal fraternity and the law.
Much praise has been heaped on Heath Ledger’s Joker and it is a magnificent performance, but one I don’t think would have been possible without the rest of the cast. His nervous ticks and constant wiggling tongue show a Joker sent mad by a society on which he returns to prey. And most important of all they don’t kill him off like some baddy of the week. Jack Nicholson did a great job of the Joker in the Tim Burton film but they made the mistake of killing him. You just can’t do that as the Batman and the deranged clown are the two sides of the same coin (an allusion to Two Face); the whole mythos runs off this duality and without one you cannot have the other.
****
Just finished Hard Boiled by Frank Miller. It’s good, predictable but good. To be honest the script is very short and you can easily read it in one sitting, what slows you down is the art work by Geof Darrow which is intricate and visually complex. It’s like a ‘Where’s Wally’ for adults, as he makes use of several full page drawings that have to be examined in minute detail. The images are arresting and perverse (he seems to enjoy drawing anatomically precise genitalia on both humans and androids).
****
I’ve been over to South Queensferry for the weekend which is a lovely little place on the outskirts of Edinburgh under the dominating presence of two bridges. The Forth Rail Bridge which is over a hundred years old and still functioning and the road bridge which is considerably younger and ready to be retired. I’m putting together some notes on the bridge which I hope will become a novella; I’ll put these up here when I’ve written them.
Also I would like to mention that the hard working Mr. Hunt has set up a new social networking sight at http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/hivemind/home.php . I notice several names from other sites so plan to spend some time nosing around it and taking some time to engage in considered and engaging debates.
Read this week:
Hard Boiled by Frank Miller and Geof Darrow
SPOILER ALERT – IF YOU HAVEN’T YET SEEN THE FILM, LOOK AWAY NOW.
I was nervous when I went to see the movie, concerned that the hype would set me up for a fall, but I was wrong. Jonathon and Christopher Nolan wrote the script and they obviously know and respect the character, from the true representation of the Joker’s madness to simple things like Batman’s white soulless eyes so often portrayed in the comic books. It is cool and clever and sets the Batman up as a true anti-hero, forever on the outskirts, wanted by both the criminal fraternity and the law.
Much praise has been heaped on Heath Ledger’s Joker and it is a magnificent performance, but one I don’t think would have been possible without the rest of the cast. His nervous ticks and constant wiggling tongue show a Joker sent mad by a society on which he returns to prey. And most important of all they don’t kill him off like some baddy of the week. Jack Nicholson did a great job of the Joker in the Tim Burton film but they made the mistake of killing him. You just can’t do that as the Batman and the deranged clown are the two sides of the same coin (an allusion to Two Face); the whole mythos runs off this duality and without one you cannot have the other.
****
Just finished Hard Boiled by Frank Miller. It’s good, predictable but good. To be honest the script is very short and you can easily read it in one sitting, what slows you down is the art work by Geof Darrow which is intricate and visually complex. It’s like a ‘Where’s Wally’ for adults, as he makes use of several full page drawings that have to be examined in minute detail. The images are arresting and perverse (he seems to enjoy drawing anatomically precise genitalia on both humans and androids).
****
I’ve been over to South Queensferry for the weekend which is a lovely little place on the outskirts of Edinburgh under the dominating presence of two bridges. The Forth Rail Bridge which is over a hundred years old and still functioning and the road bridge which is considerably younger and ready to be retired. I’m putting together some notes on the bridge which I hope will become a novella; I’ll put these up here when I’ve written them.
Also I would like to mention that the hard working Mr. Hunt has set up a new social networking sight at http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/hivemind/home.php . I notice several names from other sites so plan to spend some time nosing around it and taking some time to engage in considered and engaging debates.
Read this week:
Hard Boiled by Frank Miller and Geof Darrow
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
More Underground Links
Just a load of links for underground exploration:
http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2008_02_20/more-hidden-tunnels-under-london/
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=393bf2bd-4fce-4714-8ba7-c18a2e46723e&fg=rss&from=34
http://www.nyclondon.com/blog/archives/2004/09/19/churchills_secret_underground_bunker_paddock.blog
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/mar/30/pollution.g2
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/london-topological.html
http://siologen.net/pbase/thumbnails.php?album=9
http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2008_02_20/more-hidden-tunnels-under-london/
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=393bf2bd-4fce-4714-8ba7-c18a2e46723e&fg=rss&from=34
http://www.nyclondon.com/blog/archives/2004/09/19/churchills_secret_underground_bunker_paddock.blog
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2005/mar/30/pollution.g2
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/london-topological.html
http://siologen.net/pbase/thumbnails.php?album=9
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Best Subways around the world
Just found this link to some great subway photos from around the world .
For me the Gap exists all over the world but is coloured by its location.
For me the Gap exists all over the world but is coloured by its location.
This is how we work...
Started on Ch 4 of ‘The Missing’. We seem to have come up with quite a good way of working through the book. Maureen sends me a chapter in which she has made a few changes, normally grammatical errors (of which, I am sure, there are many). I then spend about four days reading through the changes and making any corrections that I missed on the last draft. Once this is complete, Maureen and I discuss the chapter on the phone (I believe she lives in Spain, so meeting isn’t possible), with her pointing out any areas she had difficulty with or didn’t quite understand. This is a more in depth analysis of sentence structure or a particular phrase or word I’ve used. Sometimes a change is made, more often than not I go away and think about it before completing one more rewrite of that section.
I’m not sure if this is how other writers work with their editor’s, but for me it seems to be working.
****
‘Heart of Empire’ is the follow up to the Luther Arkwright books. Where the first were drawn in meticulous black and white, this book is completed in bright and bold colours (though the work is still highly detailed).
I found this even more enjoyable than the first three books, I think mainly because it is more accessible than the first book. There is a lot to be said for having a clear and concise plot, though the ambiguity of the parallel dimensions had already been created through the first work, confusing as it may be.
There are some great reworking of real people in this book, allowing Talbot to put the boot in with those people he obviously feels garner too much press time for little or no artistic or social integrity, a fop by the name of Sir Joshua Hirst is a fine example. The book does not push the Arkwright mythos forward in any way, but it remains a great read.
Read this week:
Heart of Empire or The Legacy of Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot
I’m not sure if this is how other writers work with their editor’s, but for me it seems to be working.
****
‘Heart of Empire’ is the follow up to the Luther Arkwright books. Where the first were drawn in meticulous black and white, this book is completed in bright and bold colours (though the work is still highly detailed).
I found this even more enjoyable than the first three books, I think mainly because it is more accessible than the first book. There is a lot to be said for having a clear and concise plot, though the ambiguity of the parallel dimensions had already been created through the first work, confusing as it may be.
There are some great reworking of real people in this book, allowing Talbot to put the boot in with those people he obviously feels garner too much press time for little or no artistic or social integrity, a fop by the name of Sir Joshua Hirst is a fine example. The book does not push the Arkwright mythos forward in any way, but it remains a great read.
Read this week:
Heart of Empire or The Legacy of Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot
Monday, July 14, 2008
Comic Timing
Just finishing off Ch.3 of 'The Missing', with the help of Maureen. Still plenty of work to go and with Madam Vin doing the first read through of 'DarkFather' and the new short story I've started, things are busy, busy, busy.
Been able to do quite a bit of reading over the weekend by sticking mainly to comics:
Skin was banned and few people wanted to publish it when it was first touted. The story of a violent skin head Thalidomide is not going to be every one's ideal subject matter and while the comic is worthy it is intrinsically flawed due to its main character. You never sympathise or really care about Martin 'Atchet and early on you realise the inevitable ending. It is however, well written with clever use of language and the bright almost hypnotic art work is uplifting.
Batman Year One I first read years ago and seems to have aged well. It's Miller's re imagining of the Dark Knight, gone is the ludicrous 70s version (including the rubbish Robin character who I've never liked) and in its place is the darkness and film noir of a Gotham in need of a violent anti-hero. Clever, violent and very, very dark.
Ministry of Space is an alternative history piece concerning what would have happened if Britain had won the space race and not followed WW2 with a decade of depression and a huge national debt. What's best here is the art work, it's magnificent, full of Dan Dare type vehicles and colours. It's only problem is the ending, too quick and too obvious.
It is written by Warren Ellis who also produced Freakangels, which I am enjoying and can't wait to read the next episode of.
The Last American is a futuristic 'last man' story that just doesn't seem to go anywhere. It feels as if the writers and artist both got bored with the project and gave up after several episodes. This a shame because it was building into a good story and the small detailed art work gave it a claustrophobic and empty feel, perfect for the attitude of the hero.
My favourite read has been Batman: The Killing Joke. At last a comic book that understands the Joker, how twisted and unbalanced he really is. This Deluxe recoloured version is amazing, lush and sharp. It also highlights what a good writer Alan Moore can be when working with an artist ready to curb some of his more outlandish digressions. Almost perfect.
****
This blog is now also going out on SFCrowsNest run by the talented (and probably very busy Stephen Hunt. If you haven't read the website or Stephen's work I can highly recommend both.
Read this week:
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
Lat American by Alan Grant, Mike McMahon and John Wagner
Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis, Chris Weston and Laura Martin
Batman Year One by Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli and Richmond Lewis
Skin by Peter Milligan, Brendan McCarthy and Carol Swain
Been able to do quite a bit of reading over the weekend by sticking mainly to comics:
Skin was banned and few people wanted to publish it when it was first touted. The story of a violent skin head Thalidomide is not going to be every one's ideal subject matter and while the comic is worthy it is intrinsically flawed due to its main character. You never sympathise or really care about Martin 'Atchet and early on you realise the inevitable ending. It is however, well written with clever use of language and the bright almost hypnotic art work is uplifting.
Batman Year One I first read years ago and seems to have aged well. It's Miller's re imagining of the Dark Knight, gone is the ludicrous 70s version (including the rubbish Robin character who I've never liked) and in its place is the darkness and film noir of a Gotham in need of a violent anti-hero. Clever, violent and very, very dark.
Ministry of Space is an alternative history piece concerning what would have happened if Britain had won the space race and not followed WW2 with a decade of depression and a huge national debt. What's best here is the art work, it's magnificent, full of Dan Dare type vehicles and colours. It's only problem is the ending, too quick and too obvious.
It is written by Warren Ellis who also produced Freakangels, which I am enjoying and can't wait to read the next episode of.
The Last American is a futuristic 'last man' story that just doesn't seem to go anywhere. It feels as if the writers and artist both got bored with the project and gave up after several episodes. This a shame because it was building into a good story and the small detailed art work gave it a claustrophobic and empty feel, perfect for the attitude of the hero.
My favourite read has been Batman: The Killing Joke. At last a comic book that understands the Joker, how twisted and unbalanced he really is. This Deluxe recoloured version is amazing, lush and sharp. It also highlights what a good writer Alan Moore can be when working with an artist ready to curb some of his more outlandish digressions. Almost perfect.
****
This blog is now also going out on SFCrowsNest run by the talented (and probably very busy Stephen Hunt. If you haven't read the website or Stephen's work I can highly recommend both.
Read this week:
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
Lat American by Alan Grant, Mike McMahon and John Wagner
Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis, Chris Weston and Laura Martin
Batman Year One by Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli and Richmond Lewis
Skin by Peter Milligan, Brendan McCarthy and Carol Swain
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Iron Arkwright
And the Blogger Buddy seems to work fine. Don't know if I'll use it very often buts it’s a handy little device for when I can't be bothered to sign in.
Just finished Iron Angel by Alan Campbell, this is definitely a book 2 kind of book. It feels like you are in the middle of something and you need to have read book 1 (Scar Night - one of my top trumps of last year) to understand what is going on while the whole book ends without really ending at all, but sets itself up for book three.
Like the first it’s probably classed as dark fantasy and as the plot spends most of its time in hell then lightness is not something you expect to come across. It is perhaps this rendering of hell that is of most interest. Campbell's imagination must have been working over time (or else he's been drinking too much coffee) as it’s beautifully rendered and unlike any version of hell I've ever read about before. It is a truly horrific place where every construct is a damned soul warped to a gods imagining.
The first story was personal while this is vast and that is perhaps my only concern. Because so much was happening across such a vast world to a myriad of characters I felt it was harder to connect with the story (plus Carnival is missing, which is shame. I liked her). It's epic but looses some of the heart of the first book.
Also read the Luther Arkwright series by Bryan Talbot (who I'm seeing in August at the festival). I read this on the back of Alice in Sunderland which was one of my favourites of last year. It's different but also just as ambitious, plotting a story across multiple versions of the same world called the multiverse (which I think I'm heard used before in Interworld (goes to check), it is! I wonder if this was homage or just a result of minds thinking alike by Gaiman and Reaves).
The simple black and white drawings help the complex language and ideas expressed which take some time to adjust to. This is not a graphic story without heart or brains and you have to bring your intellect to the party. It takes a little time to get into it but stick with it, it's worth it.
Read this week:
Iron Angel by Alan Campbell
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright Book 1, 2 and 3 by Bryan Talbot
Just finished Iron Angel by Alan Campbell, this is definitely a book 2 kind of book. It feels like you are in the middle of something and you need to have read book 1 (Scar Night - one of my top trumps of last year) to understand what is going on while the whole book ends without really ending at all, but sets itself up for book three.
Like the first it’s probably classed as dark fantasy and as the plot spends most of its time in hell then lightness is not something you expect to come across. It is perhaps this rendering of hell that is of most interest. Campbell's imagination must have been working over time (or else he's been drinking too much coffee) as it’s beautifully rendered and unlike any version of hell I've ever read about before. It is a truly horrific place where every construct is a damned soul warped to a gods imagining.
The first story was personal while this is vast and that is perhaps my only concern. Because so much was happening across such a vast world to a myriad of characters I felt it was harder to connect with the story (plus Carnival is missing, which is shame. I liked her). It's epic but looses some of the heart of the first book.
Also read the Luther Arkwright series by Bryan Talbot (who I'm seeing in August at the festival). I read this on the back of Alice in Sunderland which was one of my favourites of last year. It's different but also just as ambitious, plotting a story across multiple versions of the same world called the multiverse (which I think I'm heard used before in Interworld (goes to check), it is! I wonder if this was homage or just a result of minds thinking alike by Gaiman and Reaves).
The simple black and white drawings help the complex language and ideas expressed which take some time to adjust to. This is not a graphic story without heart or brains and you have to bring your intellect to the party. It takes a little time to get into it but stick with it, it's worth it.
Read this week:
Iron Angel by Alan Campbell
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright Book 1, 2 and 3 by Bryan Talbot
blogger Budder
Just a quick note to see if my new Blogger Buddy that sits on my laptops desktop works.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
A Load of Links
Things are progressing...slowly. They're getting there but everything takes so much time. 'The Missing' is now a few weeks into its edit under the guiding hand of Maureen and DarkFather has been printed off and had its first read through by an audience (of one, by the name of Madame Vin).
I've been doing a bit of surfing recently and found all sorts of lovely things online. Use the links below to explore:
A great little static film in photos from Jonathan Glancey (architecture journalist of the Guardian) on the watery London of tomorrow with a special guest appearance by the hidden Fleet river: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/interactive/2008/jun/30/architecture
This seems to be a collective artists site with some beautiful and funny films: http://zune-arts.net/
An article about Central Park at night, which makes me think that my comic book script 'The Park' still has legs. I'll probably go on and have a rewrite of it soon: http://www.forteantimes.com/features/fortean_traveller/1188/central-park-in-the-dark.html
And a load of website dedicated to places underground which I'll put here so that I can find them again next time I'm looking:
http://www.undercity.org/intro.htm
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/09/28/top/a06092804_01.txt
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/rails/disused.underground.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3925259
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/ground_pentrating_radar.htm
****
Currently in the middle of Alan Campbell's new work but last week I read Stella Muller-Madej's account of being a Jewish child during World War II. She ended up in the Warsaw ghetto and then a concentration camp before being saved by ending up on a work detail at one of Oskar Schindler's factories. I was expecting a harrowing account of life during that period but instead found that the violence and death was almost glossed over as another event in the daily grind of life. This is because the Holocaust is seen through the eyes of child, a child who did not fully understand what was going on, allowing her to ask the questions we all want to know, which is the why and how something like that was ever allowed to happen.
The book is written as a memoir many years after the events, and Stella's use of English is shaky which helps to add to the child like quality of the events. It's a hard going book with casual violence and death part of the daily regime but also a reminder of the horror's human can perpetrate against each other.
****
Finally I'm looking forward to the end of Dr Who this weekend and a 'possible' new Doctor. Because Who won't return until 2010 I'll have to put up with a new Batman film instead:
Read this week:
A Girl from Schindler's List by Stella Muller-Madej
I've been doing a bit of surfing recently and found all sorts of lovely things online. Use the links below to explore:
A great little static film in photos from Jonathan Glancey (architecture journalist of the Guardian) on the watery London of tomorrow with a special guest appearance by the hidden Fleet river: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/interactive/2008/jun/30/architecture
This seems to be a collective artists site with some beautiful and funny films: http://zune-arts.net/
An article about Central Park at night, which makes me think that my comic book script 'The Park' still has legs. I'll probably go on and have a rewrite of it soon: http://www.forteantimes.com/features/fortean_traveller/1188/central-park-in-the-dark.html
And a load of website dedicated to places underground which I'll put here so that I can find them again next time I'm looking:
http://www.undercity.org/intro.htm
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/09/28/top/a06092804_01.txt
http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/rails/disused.underground.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3925259
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/ground_pentrating_radar.htm
****
Currently in the middle of Alan Campbell's new work but last week I read Stella Muller-Madej's account of being a Jewish child during World War II. She ended up in the Warsaw ghetto and then a concentration camp before being saved by ending up on a work detail at one of Oskar Schindler's factories. I was expecting a harrowing account of life during that period but instead found that the violence and death was almost glossed over as another event in the daily grind of life. This is because the Holocaust is seen through the eyes of child, a child who did not fully understand what was going on, allowing her to ask the questions we all want to know, which is the why and how something like that was ever allowed to happen.
The book is written as a memoir many years after the events, and Stella's use of English is shaky which helps to add to the child like quality of the events. It's a hard going book with casual violence and death part of the daily regime but also a reminder of the horror's human can perpetrate against each other.
****
Finally I'm looking forward to the end of Dr Who this weekend and a 'possible' new Doctor. Because Who won't return until 2010 I'll have to put up with a new Batman film instead:
Read this week:
A Girl from Schindler's List by Stella Muller-Madej
Sunday, June 15, 2008
All Simian until today
I'm having to oscillate between two different manuscripts at the moment. Maureen and I are going through Chapter 1 of 'The Missing'(or the first part of the novel as it doesn't really have chapters) sending copies backwards and forwards to one another. At the same time I am printing off the first version of 'DarkFather', which is being read by Madame Vin. I'm hoping the stories don't become too intertwined by accident. I would hate for the Missing Man to suddenly pop up in The Gap.
I'm also at the start of a 'get fit for the Cairngorms bike ride' regime, which was going fine until I pulled the tendons on the inside of both elbows. They have been in exaggerated spasm since last Friday causing me to walk around with my arms bent like an Orang-utan. This has resulted in Madame Vin threatening to put things just out of reach and fits of giggles when I bend simian like to pick them up. Fortunately today the arms are once more straight making me feel all evolved.
****
'The Reapers' is the new Charlie Parker novel only it doesn't star Bird and instead focuses its plot on Louis and Angel. I think this book has been at the back of the mind of all John Connolly readers since he introduced us to the characters in the first novel. The two characters have grown with the books but their pasts, often hinted at, has never been fully explored. This book sets the record straight allowing us to watch Louis grow from a poor marginalised southern boy in a racist society through pain and anguish which leads him to becoming a cold hearted killer who is eventually redeemed (as much as a killer for hire can be). It also shows the love and respect Angel and Louis have for one another, the bond that keeps them together and the shadowy lives they must live to protect each other.
It also introduces us to the characters in their lives, from the humble and loyal mechanic Willy and Arno, the local bar owner Nate and the dark brooding presence of Parker, who you realise is just as fearsome (if not more so) than Louis.
As ever the book is well written, cleverly plotted at a fast and rising pace. My only gripe is that the character of Bliss, yang to Louis' ying, is skipped over a little too quickly. I wanted to know more about him, for him to built up like The Collector of previous books. Not that I'm complaining because as usual Connolly has produced a brilliant and creative thriller.
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves however was a bit of a disappointment. Gaiman I've written about before and remains one of my favourite writers but this fell flat in both ideas and the language used. I haven't read anything by Reaves before so have nothing to compare it to. I don't know if it was the fact of co-writing a book that meant their individual ideas and voices were lost in the joint effort but I just found it lacking in imaginative sparks.
The Subterranean volume is as always beautifully produced, however there are a couple of glaringly obvious editing mistakes.
Finally I finished the week reading 'Arkham Asylum,' a 25 th Anniversary release of the Grant Morrisson and Dave Mckean comic. I first read this over a decade ago and though the story works only in fits and starts the art work is amazing.
****
Read this week:
The Reapers by John Connolly
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrisson and Dave Mckean
I'm also at the start of a 'get fit for the Cairngorms bike ride' regime, which was going fine until I pulled the tendons on the inside of both elbows. They have been in exaggerated spasm since last Friday causing me to walk around with my arms bent like an Orang-utan. This has resulted in Madame Vin threatening to put things just out of reach and fits of giggles when I bend simian like to pick them up. Fortunately today the arms are once more straight making me feel all evolved.
****
'The Reapers' is the new Charlie Parker novel only it doesn't star Bird and instead focuses its plot on Louis and Angel. I think this book has been at the back of the mind of all John Connolly readers since he introduced us to the characters in the first novel. The two characters have grown with the books but their pasts, often hinted at, has never been fully explored. This book sets the record straight allowing us to watch Louis grow from a poor marginalised southern boy in a racist society through pain and anguish which leads him to becoming a cold hearted killer who is eventually redeemed (as much as a killer for hire can be). It also shows the love and respect Angel and Louis have for one another, the bond that keeps them together and the shadowy lives they must live to protect each other.
It also introduces us to the characters in their lives, from the humble and loyal mechanic Willy and Arno, the local bar owner Nate and the dark brooding presence of Parker, who you realise is just as fearsome (if not more so) than Louis.
As ever the book is well written, cleverly plotted at a fast and rising pace. My only gripe is that the character of Bliss, yang to Louis' ying, is skipped over a little too quickly. I wanted to know more about him, for him to built up like The Collector of previous books. Not that I'm complaining because as usual Connolly has produced a brilliant and creative thriller.
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves however was a bit of a disappointment. Gaiman I've written about before and remains one of my favourite writers but this fell flat in both ideas and the language used. I haven't read anything by Reaves before so have nothing to compare it to. I don't know if it was the fact of co-writing a book that meant their individual ideas and voices were lost in the joint effort but I just found it lacking in imaginative sparks.
The Subterranean volume is as always beautifully produced, however there are a couple of glaringly obvious editing mistakes.
Finally I finished the week reading 'Arkham Asylum,' a 25 th Anniversary release of the Grant Morrisson and Dave Mckean comic. I first read this over a decade ago and though the story works only in fits and starts the art work is amazing.
****
Read this week:
The Reapers by John Connolly
Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves
Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrisson and Dave Mckean
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Age Banding
You've probably already read about the new initiative by some publishers to add an age range to books as a guide for parents when choosing a new book for their offspring. The story has made the press and a full outline of the issues can be read in The Telegraph and at the BBC. I have to say having just finished 'The Darkfather' I'm against the idea, the reasons being:
a) Books should be read for enjoyment not because they mark base camps along the Everest of reading. I read books that are meant for children but its the story and the characters, the language and the created world that makes it for me, not some arbitrary age grouping.
b) When I set off to write a novel I have no idea about the age group it fits into. The story develops and the language along with it. The language I use is suitable to the story not the age of the reader.
c) As I child I came to books late (I read mainly comics as a youngster) but when I started to read I read voraciously and worked through everything from 'The Hobbit', to 'Great Expectations' to the works of Shakespeare. If I had known that were I to pick up a book and be stigmatised by those around me by the 'age' of the book then I might not have picked some of them up.
d) If you're an adult choosing a book for a child and don't know what to buy - speak to a bookseller or a Librarian. I've worked in both positions and I can tell you the people working in books do it for the love of the works and not the pay (which in most cases is rubbish). Go to a good book shop and ask for help. The staff will impart their knowledge freely and try their best to help you.
So that is why I've added my name to the Philip Pullman lead campaign and ask that you do the same. Details can be found here.
****
Started on the editing process of 'The Missing' today with my editor Maureen. She's leading me down the rubbish strewn path of missing colon's, sentence restructure and tense clarification. Chapter 1 has been reviewed and we should have that finished within the next couple of weeks. She's read the book twice and says she enjoyed it (phew!).
****
My new leather jacket has arrived - hurrah! It's taken some time due to my rather poor Lycos email account which seems to be acting up at the moment and the trip to Japan. But it is now here and looks wonderful and fits perfectly. Many thanks to John at Bad Wolf for sorting it all out for me.
a) Books should be read for enjoyment not because they mark base camps along the Everest of reading. I read books that are meant for children but its the story and the characters, the language and the created world that makes it for me, not some arbitrary age grouping.
b) When I set off to write a novel I have no idea about the age group it fits into. The story develops and the language along with it. The language I use is suitable to the story not the age of the reader.
c) As I child I came to books late (I read mainly comics as a youngster) but when I started to read I read voraciously and worked through everything from 'The Hobbit', to 'Great Expectations' to the works of Shakespeare. If I had known that were I to pick up a book and be stigmatised by those around me by the 'age' of the book then I might not have picked some of them up.
d) If you're an adult choosing a book for a child and don't know what to buy - speak to a bookseller or a Librarian. I've worked in both positions and I can tell you the people working in books do it for the love of the works and not the pay (which in most cases is rubbish). Go to a good book shop and ask for help. The staff will impart their knowledge freely and try their best to help you.
So that is why I've added my name to the Philip Pullman lead campaign and ask that you do the same. Details can be found here.
****
Started on the editing process of 'The Missing' today with my editor Maureen. She's leading me down the rubbish strewn path of missing colon's, sentence restructure and tense clarification. Chapter 1 has been reviewed and we should have that finished within the next couple of weeks. She's read the book twice and says she enjoyed it (phew!).
****
My new leather jacket has arrived - hurrah! It's taken some time due to my rather poor Lycos email account which seems to be acting up at the moment and the trip to Japan. But it is now here and looks wonderful and fits perfectly. Many thanks to John at Bad Wolf for sorting it all out for me.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Catching up
Couple of things came through in the email whilst I was away.
The short story 'Pastoral Effect' will be published in the June 09 issue of New Horizons magazine. This is one of the magazines produced by the British Fantasy Society, I'll check to see if you have to be a member to purchase a copy.
I have an editor for 'The Missing'. The erudite Maureen will be undertaking the task and we hope to get things complete in three months. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
****
Read several books whilst away:
Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor takes a while to get going but is full of wonderful gothic inventions and is set in a world that might be Victorian England but then again might be somewhere completely different. It tells the story of the orphan Mariah in his new occupation as servant in the Prince Regent Hotel, a massive monstrosity built on supports over a cliff face with steam elevators and something nasty hidden in the basement. There he meets the feisty Sacha and soon finds himself embroiled in a mystery concerning vanishing children, magic tricks, the Kracken and tunnels underground. Once it beds in the story sets a rapid pace and those the language might be difficult for some children the invention should keep them reading. I will now go back and read the book that he first published - Shadowmancer.
In the Miso Soup is a translation of a work by Ryu Murakami from Japan. It's dark and funny and deadly and terrible violent. Sort of stuck half way between a Tarantino movie and an Ian Banks novel. Its well written and the translated with deft by Ralph McCarthy. Short and brutal but with a heart (cut out and pulsating in a clutched hand).
Tokyo by Mo Hayder is a simple thriller involving the atrocities committed by the Japanese Army in Nanking during their war against China, plotted against an outsiders involvement with the Yakuza in modern day Tokyo. The main character 'Grey' I found a little difficult to understand but the reason for this soon becomes evident and you understand why she has been used. The other great mystery of the story, a Chinese herbal medicine and its contents is the books downfall with its source being obvious early in the story.
Read this week:
Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor
In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami
Tokyo by Mo Hayder
The short story 'Pastoral Effect' will be published in the June 09 issue of New Horizons magazine. This is one of the magazines produced by the British Fantasy Society, I'll check to see if you have to be a member to purchase a copy.
I have an editor for 'The Missing'. The erudite Maureen will be undertaking the task and we hope to get things complete in three months. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
****
Read several books whilst away:
Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor takes a while to get going but is full of wonderful gothic inventions and is set in a world that might be Victorian England but then again might be somewhere completely different. It tells the story of the orphan Mariah in his new occupation as servant in the Prince Regent Hotel, a massive monstrosity built on supports over a cliff face with steam elevators and something nasty hidden in the basement. There he meets the feisty Sacha and soon finds himself embroiled in a mystery concerning vanishing children, magic tricks, the Kracken and tunnels underground. Once it beds in the story sets a rapid pace and those the language might be difficult for some children the invention should keep them reading. I will now go back and read the book that he first published - Shadowmancer.
In the Miso Soup is a translation of a work by Ryu Murakami from Japan. It's dark and funny and deadly and terrible violent. Sort of stuck half way between a Tarantino movie and an Ian Banks novel. Its well written and the translated with deft by Ralph McCarthy. Short and brutal but with a heart (cut out and pulsating in a clutched hand).
Tokyo by Mo Hayder is a simple thriller involving the atrocities committed by the Japanese Army in Nanking during their war against China, plotted against an outsiders involvement with the Yakuza in modern day Tokyo. The main character 'Grey' I found a little difficult to understand but the reason for this soon becomes evident and you understand why she has been used. The other great mystery of the story, a Chinese herbal medicine and its contents is the books downfall with its source being obvious early in the story.
Read this week:
Mariah Mundi - The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor
In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami
Tokyo by Mo Hayder
The long one about Tokyo
I had been told to expect culture shock. Japan after all is Asian in mind and deed, insular and yet modern, but this is a creeping type of culture shock. You don’t experience it all at once, it seeps into you slowly. Rather than the freezing cold shock of ice cubes down the back of your shirt, it is the dropping of the temperature as you move into the frozen waste lands. Things are obviously dissimilar, the signage is difficult to read, the land smells different, the usual becomes slightly more difficult than normal but Tokyo is a city, and you know the way that a city works. They are the same all over the world. But after a time you realise that Tokyo is different - very, very different.
First the expected. Tokyo at night is (and I know that this is almost a cliché) the city of Bladerunner. The soft rain, neon lights pulsating, smoke filled bars up hidden stairs. It is as if you’ve stepped through the screen right into Deckard’s world, a land of replicants and off world colonies. It’s beautiful and raw, with the thrill of possibility around every corner. But you were anticipating that, you’ve seen the pictures, you know what to expect.
First the expected. Tokyo at night is (and I know that this is almost a cliché) the city of Bladerunner. The soft rain, neon lights pulsating, smoke filled bars up hidden stairs. It is as if you’ve stepped through the screen right into Deckard’s world, a land of replicants and off world colonies. It’s beautiful and raw, with the thrill of possibility around every corner. But you were anticipating that, you’ve seen the pictures, you know what to expect.
Day time Tokyo is just as thrilling, but in a calming, clean and polite way. I’ve always thought of cities as dirty, angry places. All those people living cheek by jowl with all the rubbish, noise and pollution spilling out onto the streets, but it would appear not so in Tokyo. With a population of 12 billion they have created a city that is clean and polite, that embraces the future whilst heeding the past. People are courteous and kind, get out a map and look vacant (something I’m good at) and within seconds a helpful local will point you in the right direction. Perhaps it’s because the Japanese have created a city that works. In our two week holiday I did not see a train that was late, an electric door that didn’t fail to open, a ticket barrier that did not work, or a toilet seat that wasn’t gently warmed electronically. I didn’t see rubbish on the floor, wanton vandalism, or any signs of aggression. Either Tokyo works in ways that we at home can and will never understand or else Tokyo has a dark, misshapen portrait in its own attic.We stayed in the plush Park Hotel in a new-ish district called Shiodome (pronounced shi-oh-dom-ee). The hotel staff were brilliant, attentive but knowing when to give you space. The hotel was immaculately kept and wonderfully situated. If you go I can’t recommend it enough. Around Shiodome you have everything you need. The area is ultra modern with underground, over ground and monorail trains next to the hotel. Every type of restaurant you want is within walking distance; from the Japanese salary man barbecue pits to high class (with great views) restaurants. I had the best Italian meal outside of Italy ever in a purpose built Italian section of the city behind our hotel.
We visited like crazy – Imperial parks, museums of the future, Buddhist temples and Shinto (fascinating religion) shrines. We saw Mount Fuji (which is not as easy at it sounds) and failed to see a massive waterfall. We rode the famous bullet trains and drank in the same bar as Bill Murray, and we ate and ate and ate…The highlight for me was learning a few Samurai sword moves from Tetsuro Shimaguchi, the head choreographer in the swordfight scene in the snowy garden in “Kill Bill: Volume One” (he played the role of Crazy 88 (Miki) in the film). Apparently I’m a natural, but I think he says that to everyone. I have a film on VHS of me and Madame Vin that I’ll get copied to the blog as soon as it is on disc and then you can make your own decision.
So that’s it, holiday over, but I will definitely be going back to Tokyo - I don’t know when buts it’s on my radar. For now it’s back to work and finishing off ‘Dark Father’.
Friday, May 16, 2008
'Dark Father' Almost Finished
Well, it's taken plenty of hard work and several late nights this week but the version of 'Dark Father' I wanted to complete before my holiday is, as they say 'in the bag.' When I come back from Japan I'll have a good tidy up, spring clean a few troublesome areas, check the spelling and make sure no characters change sex, get different names or hop the species barrier, and then it'll be ready for its first test readings.
I'm off to Tokyo tomorrow so no updates for the next couple of weeks, but when I get back expect some interesting posts with photos. I might try to post from Tokyo but if that is problematic I'll wait until my return.
I'm off to Tokyo tomorrow so no updates for the next couple of weeks, but when I get back expect some interesting posts with photos. I might try to post from Tokyo but if that is problematic I'll wait until my return.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Iron Angel
Last night we went to the signing for Alan Campbell's new novel Iron Angel, follow up to the extremely good Scar Night. It was a quick affair, as Alan points out that he doesn't enjoy public speaking, but he read a brief snippet from the work and then set about pressing the flesh and signing copies.
I'm looking forward to reading this one after reading the short Lye Street which I commented on just a few short weeks ago.
I'll put up a review after I've read it.
****
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood is a reworking of the story of Odysseus but seen from the point of view of a dead Queen Penelope. It's a slight book, a fast read in 195 short pages, but she manages to convey the brutish and violent acts of the ancient Greek myths for what they are, namely complex, incestuous and verging ever so slightly into melodrama.
Unlike the myths, the characters have a real voice, with an internal monologue giving the queen an intelligent and sophisticated view on the world in which she is thrust via marriage to the scheming Odysseus, a man who she loves and tries to understand. His killing of her handmaids on his return from the Trojan War acts as the catalyst for the story with the handmaids acting as a deathly chorus line throughout the book.
I've also just finished The Black Book of Horror but I've promised a review to the BFS. I might be able to post one here after the next release of Prism.
****
Read this week:
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
The Black Book of Horror by Various
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I Have Art
I opened the two large packages that arrived today like an excited school boy. After being in the flat for a year we finally took possession of two large pieces of art for the front room. Not mounted prints or copies but two pieces of real bon-a-fide originals. The fact that it has taken so long is that Madame Vin and I have wildly differing tastes when it comes to art and agreeing on two large canvases took perseverance and a cool head.
The first is a piece called Golden Arch by an artist called Yanik.
The second is a piece called Cosmopolitan City by an artist called Muliarta.
Now I know that artist are not in any way well known and their work is classed as simple to produce but just knowing that the piece is unique (and beautiful) and that someone has sweated over its production makes it that little bit more worthwhile to put on my walls.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Heidelberg Here We Come!
I'm off to Germany on Thursday so probably won't post again until next week. I'm visiting Heidelberg on a gentleman's weekend tour. Wikipedia reliably informs me that approximately 600,000 years ago, the "Heidelberg Man", whose jaw-bone was discovered in 1907, the earliest evidence of human life in Europe, died at nearby Mauer. I'll probably be feeling pretty similar by the end of the weekend.
****
Read 'Something from the Nightside' by Simon R. Green last week. This was one of the books I purchased on my excursion to London as the books are currently only available in US versions. I was really looking forward to the start of this series as the ideas contain everything that I find exciting in a story. The books are set in London and the Nightside, a world entwined within the real city where pretty much anything goes. It's a disturbing, threatening, evil place that cares for no one or no thing. The Nightside is well described and Green obviously took his time in thinking the fantasy world up. That said it's just a little bit too 'stateside' in its build to be the other side of London. It feels more like a dark and disturbing Chicago than the capital.
The story itself is very 'pulp', and for me just not complex enough. However I plan to read the next couple before giving up.
'Lost Girls' has been much talked about in the press due to its 'adult' nature and uncompromising position on lesbianism and sexual liberation. It was even briefly banned in the UK as Great Ormond St. Hospital worried it cast a bad light on the character of Wendy from Peter Pan. To be honest I think its a big hoopla about nothing. The book is nicely put together, the art work attractive and the story simple. It's not an erotic masterpiece and I doubt very much that it would shock many people today. I think its a curiosity from another time, something that would have been burnt earlier in this century but can be read and understood from (thankfully) a more mature outlook. Praise must go to Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie for at least trying something new in the comic book world.
Read this week:
Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green
Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie.
****
Read 'Something from the Nightside' by Simon R. Green last week. This was one of the books I purchased on my excursion to London as the books are currently only available in US versions. I was really looking forward to the start of this series as the ideas contain everything that I find exciting in a story. The books are set in London and the Nightside, a world entwined within the real city where pretty much anything goes. It's a disturbing, threatening, evil place that cares for no one or no thing. The Nightside is well described and Green obviously took his time in thinking the fantasy world up. That said it's just a little bit too 'stateside' in its build to be the other side of London. It feels more like a dark and disturbing Chicago than the capital.
The story itself is very 'pulp', and for me just not complex enough. However I plan to read the next couple before giving up.
'Lost Girls' has been much talked about in the press due to its 'adult' nature and uncompromising position on lesbianism and sexual liberation. It was even briefly banned in the UK as Great Ormond St. Hospital worried it cast a bad light on the character of Wendy from Peter Pan. To be honest I think its a big hoopla about nothing. The book is nicely put together, the art work attractive and the story simple. It's not an erotic masterpiece and I doubt very much that it would shock many people today. I think its a curiosity from another time, something that would have been burnt earlier in this century but can be read and understood from (thankfully) a more mature outlook. Praise must go to Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie for at least trying something new in the comic book world.
Read this week:
Something from the Nightside by Simon R. Green
Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Subterranean Worlds - Pushing Back the Tide
The first in a series of short essays that I'll collect here concerning Subterranean Worlds. Some of them might be about works of fiction whilst others will be about what lurks beneath out city streets - enjoy!
****
The Victoria embankment of the river Thames is the prefect place for a stroll. The street takes you from the old City of London, past the Temple and leads all the way to Westminster, the route lined with trees while the Thames laps gently below you. But the route is a fake, the parcel of land a man made construction that was used to push the river back and hide some of the many tunnels under the city.
The work was begun in 1865, designed and engineered by one Joseph Bazelgette, a truly visionary individual who brought the sewers to London. Before this date the Thames was the only means of removing all human excrement, waste and pollution from the vast and growing capital. It was in no uncertain terms a massive sewer spreading disease through the capital, and people were dying.
Cholera was rife with ten of thousands of people dying in the years leading up to the ‘Great Stink’. Thought to be brought on by Miasma – foul air, the government of the time was finally pressed into doing something.
Further evidence is given by the steps that lead nowhere by the side of the MOD. Queen’s Mary’s steps as built by Cristopher Wren once led from the now vanished Whitehall Palace as built by Henry VIII. Originally the walk led some 70 feet out into the bed of the river, but they are now marooned and stick out of the wall of the MOD building.
****
The Victoria embankment of the river Thames is the prefect place for a stroll. The street takes you from the old City of London, past the Temple and leads all the way to Westminster, the route lined with trees while the Thames laps gently below you. But the route is a fake, the parcel of land a man made construction that was used to push the river back and hide some of the many tunnels under the city.
The work was begun in 1865, designed and engineered by one Joseph Bazelgette, a truly visionary individual who brought the sewers to London. Before this date the Thames was the only means of removing all human excrement, waste and pollution from the vast and growing capital. It was in no uncertain terms a massive sewer spreading disease through the capital, and people were dying.
Cholera was rife with ten of thousands of people dying in the years leading up to the ‘Great Stink’. Thought to be brought on by Miasma – foul air, the government of the time was finally pressed into doing something.
The ambitious plan was to push the Thames back and lay underneath the new street three massive sewer pipes that would be connected to 1,100 miles of small piping to remove all the sewage from the city before dumping it untreated further down stream.
Not surprisingly this was a massive feet of engineering, and luckily for us Bazelgette was a forward thinker. Not only did he realise that the correct shape for such large pipes would be oval and not round but he built them in such a way as to be scaled up for future use. The same pipes are still in use today (thankfully the sewage is no longer ejected untreated into the river).
Bazelgette and the building of the Victoria Embankment form part of the background for the novel ‘The Worms of Euston Square’ by William Sutton.
At the same time that Bazelgette was sorting out the sewers London was also going through the process of having an underground rail system built into its foundations. It seemed only right that while the bank was open they would also put in a rail line. Today, sitting above the sewage pipes are the lines for the District and Circle services, just a few metres down below the surface of the road.
The fact that the road and area used by so many is in truth artificial can best be seen by two pieces of archaeology still evident above ground. The first is the water gate that can be seen in Victorian Embankment Park shown in the painting ‘River by Moonlight’ (I can’t find an artists name). In the painting the Thames is seen lapping at its foot, but now the gate is located in the park, some 150 yards from the river and down in a hollow.
Further evidence is given by the steps that lead nowhere by the side of the MOD. Queen’s Mary’s steps as built by Cristopher Wren once led from the now vanished Whitehall Palace as built by Henry VIII. Originally the walk led some 70 feet out into the bed of the river, but they are now marooned and stick out of the wall of the MOD building.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Busy Lives
Quite a lot going on at the moment with trips away happening and lots of info for the blog. This entry will be a bit of a round up before I write up things in a little more detail over the coming week.
Last weekend Madame Vin and I went to London, mainly to see Tash in her one woman charity show but also to catch up with friends. We flew from Edinburgh straight into City Airport, which I must say is a great way of doing it as it means less delay on the way into the capital and allows you to miss the disaster that is Heathrow.
Saturday night we took a train to Dulwich (put on the map by Edward Alleyn, a friend of Marlowe’s) to see Hampton and family, now somewhat grown with the arrival of twins last year. Much wine was consumed and hearty food eaten as we caught up, having realised we had not seen each other for some two years…my, how time moves at a rate of knots not conducive to seeing and meeting everyone you should.
Sunday morning we went on an organised stroll around Subterranean London. I’ve mentioned before that I want to start pulling work together on the subterranean world and how it’s been the focus of fantasy works in the last one hundred years. I’ll put several small essays up here in the next weeks on what we saw and a few photos.
Sunday night was given over to Tash and her show ‘Rolling with Laughter’. It was held at the Her Majesty’s Theatre in the Westend, with all money going to the Jennifer Trust. It was a great night, with Tash being introduced by the Hamilton’s (which means they’ve gone up a little in my estimation).
Last weekend Madame Vin and I went to London, mainly to see Tash in her one woman charity show but also to catch up with friends. We flew from Edinburgh straight into City Airport, which I must say is a great way of doing it as it means less delay on the way into the capital and allows you to miss the disaster that is Heathrow.
Saturday night we took a train to Dulwich (put on the map by Edward Alleyn, a friend of Marlowe’s) to see Hampton and family, now somewhat grown with the arrival of twins last year. Much wine was consumed and hearty food eaten as we caught up, having realised we had not seen each other for some two years…my, how time moves at a rate of knots not conducive to seeing and meeting everyone you should.
Sunday morning we went on an organised stroll around Subterranean London. I’ve mentioned before that I want to start pulling work together on the subterranean world and how it’s been the focus of fantasy works in the last one hundred years. I’ll put several small essays up here in the next weeks on what we saw and a few photos.
Sunday night was given over to Tash and her show ‘Rolling with Laughter’. It was held at the Her Majesty’s Theatre in the Westend, with all money going to the Jennifer Trust. It was a great night, with Tash being introduced by the Hamilton’s (which means they’ve gone up a little in my estimation).
Final point of call was the Dr Who exhibition, which was a cool in a ‘Adam getting back in touch with childhood wonder’ kind of way. It was also a nice run in to the new series which started last night.
*****
Read quite a bit over the last few weeks and whilst in London I was able to nip to the large Forbidden Planet and stock on some wonderful new hardbacks.
The first in a series by Mike Carey featuring freelance exorcist Felix Castor, ‘The Devil You Know,’ is a down to earth horror/thriller. Carey writes for Hellblazer and I was expecting the books to be a bit of a rip off of Constantine but was pleased to be wrong. Felix is his own man and the London that Carey has created is positioned just the other side of normal, which is exactly how I like my fantasy.
His writing style is fluid and descriptive without ever becoming too complex so that it distracts from the tale. There is a good piece of back story and many characters that no doubt will reappear. He reminds me of early John Connelly and I’ll certainly be reading the next two books and purchasing the soon to arrive fourth.
Odd and the Frost Giants is Neil Gaiman’s children novella released for World Book Day. It plays on Norse mythology, introducing their pantheon of gods to young readers without ever belittling the history or storytelling. As always with Gaiman it reads simply, with each word being considered before use that displays simplicity of language that hides the hard work.
*****
Read quite a bit over the last few weeks and whilst in London I was able to nip to the large Forbidden Planet and stock on some wonderful new hardbacks.
The first in a series by Mike Carey featuring freelance exorcist Felix Castor, ‘The Devil You Know,’ is a down to earth horror/thriller. Carey writes for Hellblazer and I was expecting the books to be a bit of a rip off of Constantine but was pleased to be wrong. Felix is his own man and the London that Carey has created is positioned just the other side of normal, which is exactly how I like my fantasy.
His writing style is fluid and descriptive without ever becoming too complex so that it distracts from the tale. There is a good piece of back story and many characters that no doubt will reappear. He reminds me of early John Connelly and I’ll certainly be reading the next two books and purchasing the soon to arrive fourth.
Odd and the Frost Giants is Neil Gaiman’s children novella released for World Book Day. It plays on Norse mythology, introducing their pantheon of gods to young readers without ever belittling the history or storytelling. As always with Gaiman it reads simply, with each word being considered before use that displays simplicity of language that hides the hard work.
Violent Cases is an early work by Gaiman and Dave Mckean. An adult graphic novel that deals with the magic of memory and lives seen through the eyes of childhood. The art work uses simply black and white line drawings intercut with McKean’s unmistakeable use of mix media.
I’ve also just read the 6 issue comic book Wanted by Mark Millar. I know there is a film version of this coming out later this year but from what I’ve read I’ll be surprised if that’s the filming they are making. The comic book is nihilistic to the point of being a mockery of itself. I understand it’s a fuck you to the normal comic book world of bad guy vs cloaked superhero but in the process it turns society into helpless drones with no chance of redemption.
I’ve also just read the 6 issue comic book Wanted by Mark Millar. I know there is a film version of this coming out later this year but from what I’ve read I’ll be surprised if that’s the filming they are making. The comic book is nihilistic to the point of being a mockery of itself. I understand it’s a fuck you to the normal comic book world of bad guy vs cloaked superhero but in the process it turns society into helpless drones with no chance of redemption.
Read this week:
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Violent Cases by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean
Wanted by Mark Millar
Monday, March 24, 2008
Midlands Marriage
Had a couple of days down in the Midlands for Father's and Yvette's wedding. I must say it all went very well, my speech much appreciated (and laughter in the correct places) with even the snow falling in such a way as to resemble confetti. It was good to see family and friends and my little nephew who is growing up so quick.
We spent the night at a hotel on the edge of East Midlands Airport which was comfier and quieter than I was expecting and allowed Madam Vin and me to continue drinking without worrying where we were going to spend the night. As it was we had an early dinner, a relaxing night and very late morning...so I've definitely caught up on my lost sleep this weekend. The plane was delayed on the way back (as every good piece of bank holiday weekend transport should be) so we didn't get back to Edinburgh until late afternoon.
****
Just finished the chapter entitled 'The Gloom'. That's a new chapter added and means I can spend the rest of this week revising it and those that surround it. I want everything sorted before the end of September so I can mention it as completed to anyone I meet at 'FantasyCon'.
****
Savage Membrane is the sort of book that I like to read between meatier works. It's short, faced paced and full of dark humour and wit. Called a 'Cal McDonald mystery,' it plays homage to Chandler but moves the action to a US where the dead have very much returned. It's a great romp and I'll be looking for the others. It is also illustrated with light, pencil grey artwork which adds to its comic book roots.
Read this week:
Savage Membrane by Steve Niles
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