Mark C. Newton's Road to Publication, parts I to III

Writing - image from SXC.HU Mark Charan Newton works for Solaris Books by day, and writes novels by night; his debut, The Reef will be published by Pendragon Press in March, and his agent John Jarrold recently secured a two-book deal with Macmillan UK - details posted over on UKSFBN - for a dark epic fantasy set in a world on the brink of a looming ice age.

Mark and I tend to exchange emails quite regularly - we're both huge Springsteen / Americana fans, so there's a lot of link-swapping of YouTube vids etc. - and we've been known to converse over the board of an online chess game from time to time.

Not so long ago, I suggested to him that his perspective as both an author and a publisher might offer a pretty decent insight into the whole publishing process for those as want to know such things. Maybe he might see his way clear to blogging about it?

'Alright.' he said. 'I will.'

And he has:

It's all very sane, sensible stuff (well, so far...) and well worth taking a look at if you're a newbie writer or wannabe published author.

February 23, 2008 | Filed Under Writing | 1 Comment

Highly Recommended Reading: 'The Escapement' by K.J. Parker

I've been a huge fan of K.J. Parker's work since I read The Colours in the Steel, part one of the Fencer Trilogy, back in 1998.

At the time, the qualities that really stood out were the obvious intelligence and inventiveness of Parker's non-linear, non-predictable plotting and the way in which the author experimented not only with the conventions and tropes of the fantasy genre, but with my experience and expectations as a fantasy reader as well; something that's developed into a major theme for my reading preferences nowadays.

These qualities were developed further and displayed to quite marvellous effect in Parker's second series, the Scavenger Trilogy. In Shadow, Pattern and Memory the age-old missing-memory / mystery identity scenario was explored from every conceivable angle and in so convoluted and twisted - yet utterly coherent and delightfully entertaining - a manner that I was left absolutely flabbergasted by the literally unbelievable intricacy with which Parker had constructed the - apparently chaotic but ultimately quite superbly structured - narrative arc of the series. It remains one of the most fascinating pieces of writing that I've enjoyed to-date and I definitely intend to go back and re-read it one day, if only to spend more time examining how Parker pulled off quite such an impressive feat.

In the Engineer Trilogy, Parker takes things in a slightly different direction again. I'm no trained literary critic, so I can only explain it as I experienced it, but to my mind, it seemed as though the series was - in part, and on at least one level - an examination of the concepts of story-construction and the driving forces that work to influence narrative direction and flow. To undertake this examination, Parker develops a narrative machine; an intricate, precise mechanism for processing (telling) the raw elements (characters, ideas, setting) of story into an engineered output (a trilogy of novels): quite literally, Parker constructs a 'plot-device'.

And once set in motion, this literary word-mill proceeds to blend concepts such as freedom, choice, compulsion, destiny, good and evil, along with emotional motivators like love, hate, duty, fear, patriotism and self-interest, to produce a tale in which events, once set in motion by what turns out to be an incredibly simple trigger mechanism, then power forwards with all the inevitability of a clockwork fate that has no off-switch.

Yet at the same time, the series is by no means governed by a linear, predictable sequence of cause and effect. There is method throughout, certainly, but as you read you begin to discover just how intricate a mechanism Parker has constructed and how much of the motive power is generated from deep within; it's by no means obvious exactly what the overall shape of the thing will turn out to be, because this particular writer is highly adept at springing surprises on the reader - something else I most definitely relish - and showing you what you may think is the blueprint for the entire saga whilst keeping a crafty thumb over the box in the corner that reads 'sheet one of several...'

There is a central and fairly obvious drive-shaft that powers the plot: Engineer Ziani Vaatzes' quest for revenge (possibly) or at least restitution (well, maybe) is the most obvious element in the plot-mechanism's construction. But then there's also an incredibly complicated gearing system of sub-plots and minor arcs that act, quite unpredictably, to shift the balance of the story from one moment to the next. Added to that, the interplay between the book's principle and supporting characters (again, it's never quite or immediately obvious who, exactly, is driving this thing, although Vaatzes is usually the chief suspect) is just terrific to watch and almost impossible to predict.

The whole thing is then wrapped in layers and layers of engineering metaphor - both mechanical and social - as well as a good thick plating of a philosophical exploration of the human condition - very skilfully bolted-on, mind, no shoddy work here - that's then glossed with some superbly droll word-play; burnished just nicely in turn by a quite lovely ear for convincingly under-played dialogue which provides just enough of a patina of age and writerly experience to prevent it all from seeming too shiny and work-shy.

The series is a thoroughly intriguing read throughout. One quick caveat, though: Devices and Desires and The Escapement are perhaps just a little more readable than middle volume Evil for Evil. I'm afraid the second instalment in the series is rather... long. It's as if the machinery that Parker initially sets in motion, having built up an impressive head of steam, then bursts a secondary gasket, runs low on pressure as a result and has to go back to the shop for a while so its operator can adjust a few valves, add some more fuel to the boiler, top up the water and get everything ready for another run at the home stretch. Part II involves plenty of plot-building and character development, but most of it seems to be the sort of tinkering that - whilst assuredly necessary and all very essential in the great scheme of things as they eventually turn out - isn't necessarily quite as interesting as it could be to watch at great length.

But you really should stick with it, because in The Escapement (incidentally, and in relation to a clockwork mechanism: "the part of the movement which controls the release of the motive power") Parker really cranks the revs back up and gets everything moving along again at a fair old clip, sweeping smoothly towards what turns out to be an extremely satisfying and gratifyingly well-rounded denouement.

One side-product of the whole process that I experienced was yet another bout of gob-smacked marvelling on my part: not least at the sheer amount of mental effort that must have gone into conceptualising and designing all the many interlocking parts of this incredible narrative, as well as the very obvious skill with which the author actually assembled the tale: combining in a few hundred thousand words into a configuration of amazing artifice; one that then delivers as its end-product a feat of apparently effortless story-telling. Surely another masterpiece from a writer working at the very height of their powers.

In conclusion: if you consider yourself to be any kind of a connoisseur of well-written, intelligent, mind-stretching, trope-defying fiction (in all nine quite unashamedly fantastical novels to-date I'm pretty sure I haven't spotted so much as an iota of magic, nor a hint of supernatural forces at work, and not so much as a hair of an elf or a scale of a dragon) then you simply must give K.J. Parker's books a go.

And personally, I simply can't wait to see what this incredible wordsmith is going to come up with next.

February 21, 2008 | Filed Under Books | 4 Comments

Reading Update, early February 2008: Robert V.S. Redick, Justin Gustainis

I've recently read a couple of titles that, for one reason or another, I don't feel able to post under Recommended Reading, but I'll mention them here for completeness' sake (I'm determined to at least mention everything relevant that I manage to read in 2008. Everything...)

First up: The Red Wolf Conspiracy, by Robert V.S. Redick. I really, really wanted to like - no, thoroughly enjoy - this one, for all sorts of reasons; not least that I just love the Edward Miller cover art. And for a while it was looking like a definite recommendation prospect: Redick's writing was fluid and eminently readable, and the story started well, with intriguing characters, an exotic and vivid setting setting and early plot pointers that promised all sorts of interesting developments ahead...

But then, about half-way through, it all... shifted. I began to feel that I was no longer reading an intriguingly baroque, intricate low-fantasy saga: a tale of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances and just doing their best to prevail against the (much more powerful forces) of intriguing self-interest and coherent character motivation ranged against them. Instead, the whole thing morphed into a rather bog-standard high-fantasy kiddie-quest: plucky, likeable youngster discovers they're suddenly - and rather bizarrely - the Most Important Kid in the World and immediately sets out (with help from their Gang of Assorted Faithful Sidekicks) to Save Everything from the Frighteningly Powerful Bad Guy and cast of (suitably menacing, yet easily defeated) Supporting Minions, who somehow completely fails to spot the danger and kill the little bastard while they still have the chance.

You'll have to excuse the dripping sarcasm, but I was gutted - to say the least - when that one was sprung on me after a couple of hundred pages.

To be fair, I think the problem may have been that I set my initial expectations too high and that I felt those expectations were being met to begin with. Perhaps I should have spotted the early warning signs - notably that two of the central p.o.v. characters were teenagers - and expected more of a traditional coming-of-age quest slog, rather than assuming here was a chance to get my teeth into something more firmly rooted along the Miéville - Lynch - Abercrombie axis. Maybe then I wouldn't have been quite so disappointed when the anticipated low-fantasy literary treat failed to materialise. Or rather, when the narrative abandoned its deep, stormy start and set sail for much safer, shallower waters.

Look, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book, not by any means. The writing itself holds up pretty well throughout, and if Redick had only stuck to the much darker tone and atmosphere of the earlier chapters, then I might have been proclaiming another classic round about now. I just didn't feel as if the second half of the book lived up to the standard of the first.

And of course this is just my personal opinion, entirely subjective, normal caveats apply, etcetera... other bloggers have reviewed it quite favourably and enthusiastically (although Mark Yon seems to have picked up on some of the same issues that troubled me in the second half) so if it sounds like your cup of tea, then go for it. It's still a much stronger fantasy brew than the weak and wishy-washy, cliché-diluted stuff that's usually on offer.

My second not-so-great recent reading experience was Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis. Again, I really hoped that I'd like this one, mainly because I'm a sucker for supernatural / detective cross-over stuff, and just love discovering a new author's milieu to get stuck into. And again, on the face of things, Black Magic Woman seemed at first as though it was going to push all the right buttons.

Alas, though, the book has a fatal stylistic flaw: it's written in the third person. Admittedly it's not compulsory that a supernatural / detective story be written in the first person, but it rather seems as though just about all my favourite examples of the oeuvre are: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt novels, Mike Carey's Felix Castor books, the early Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter titles by Laurell K. Hamilton and - pushing the boundaries of the oeuvre a little further - Michael Marshall's Straw Men series and John Connolly's Charlie Parker books.

And I think there are a number of very good reasons why first person works so well for this sort of story. Not only does the use of the single-narrator p.o.v. allow for a more immediate association of the reader with the main character; it also limits the reader's field-of-view: the reader only knows what the main character knows, which allows the writer to heighten the sense of anticipation as they build towards the story's revelatory climax. That makes it much easier for the writer to lay down false trails for the reader to follow as they inevitably try to puzzle out the mystery for themselves, leading to a much greater chance that the reader will be surprised by the denouement. And personally speaking, I just love a book - especially a mystery / crime novel - that's rich with the element of surprise.

But Gustainis' use of the third person narrative meant that he'd laid all his plot elements out within a couple of chapters of the start. We knew who all the main players were, what they were up to, what their motivations were. So it's a fairly simple job, from a very early stage, to work out the pattern of the plot and guess how everything is going to fit together. And I'm afraid that meant the bulk of the book was pretty much an exercise in wishing they'd all get the heck on with it so I could see if I was right or not, whilst hoping that there was one really subtle clue that I'd missed that would bite me at the end...

It wasn't to be. Everything panned out pretty much as predicted and I'm sorry to say that I was able skim-read the last 100 pages or so without spotting anything that made me want to go back and read in detail. A shame, but there you go.

I've also read K.J. Parker's The Escapement. But I will be recommending that one, just as soon as I find the time to gather my thoughts and put fingers-to-keyboard.