Big, big news

As announced on the Orbit Books website yesterday, I am utterly thrilled to have been hired as Orbit's new (online) marketing exec!

I officially start on April 7th, although as you can imagine there are plenty of emails flying back and forth already. And I'm not exactly a stranger to the Orbit offices, having worked on a few projects for George and the team already, including websites for Brian Ruckley, Philip Palmer and, of course, Iain [M] Banks.

It's an incredibly exciting opportunity and one that I know I'll enjoy getting stuck in to immensely: Orbit are one of the UK's largest and most forward-looking sf / f imprints and I'll be given the chance to work on a very wide range of online projects and promotions, with a bewildering array of global genre fiction talent, including some of the very best UK authors; established names and rising stars alike. Calling it the opportunity of a lifetime really wouldn't be a case of hyperbole on my part...

Of course, this does mean that I'm going to have to give up my freelance status and the work I've been doing with my non-Orbit clients. Letting everyone know has been a bit of a wrench, but every single one of the folks I spent a total of about five hours on the phone to yesterday were nothing short of delighted for me, and everyone has wished me nothing less than huge success in the future.

I've also been talking to someone who I think would make an ideal replacement webguy and all the clients I've mentioned the possibility to so far have been very keen on the idea. So, all being well, a successful handover will hopefully happen smoothly and quite soon.

Blogging-wise... let's just say that I'm reviewing the situation on an ongoing basis. I think The Genre Files may end up going into some sort of hibernation. Personally, I think it would be very difficult for me to post regular book reviews across a wide range of publishers' and authors' work. I suspect the implied bias of my position at Orbit will impinge on the perceived neutrality of my opinion to the point of rendering the exercise largely meaningless.

UK SF Book News will continue for the foreseeable future. Sandy and I were already working on plans to re-vamp the site again, putting an even stronger emphasis on news aggregation, link posting and original interview material. Our aim is to spread as much of the word as we can get our hands on as far and wide as we possibly can whilst providing as much original interview content as we have time for. The site will also become ad-free and affiliate-free, but then that's no bad thing as the time saved by not having to add affiliate info to items will mean more content posted in the long run.

Beyond that, who knows? I'm always coming up with ideas for new blog-based projects. I'll just have to see how much time is available once I've settled into my new role.

Wish me luck! :D

March 26, 2008 | Filed Under Books, Marketing, Work | 19 Comments

Joe Abercrombie on 'The Steel Remains'

Someone else has been granted an early sneak-peek at Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains. And it just so happens to be one of the authors of the sort of dark, intriguing, fantasy fiction that I was talking about in my own review, Joe Abercrombie, who concludes:

"I hesitate to say, 'if you like the works of x, y, or z, then give The Steel Remains a try,' because really it's pretty much unlike anything else, and that's why you should give it a try. You might love it, you might loathe it, but you'll certainly find it difficult to ignore..."

Read the full review over at Joe's blog.

March 14, 2008 | Filed Under Books, Reviewing | 2 Comments

Highly Recommended Reading - 'The Steel Remains' by Richard Morgan

Since the publication of his debut novel Altered Carbon in 2002, Richard Morgan has steadily been building a reputation for producing rather excellent, high-octane, action-fuelled sf-noir with a very hard edge and plenty of grit.

Yet for all the blood, guts and hi-tech über-violence, his books have always been driven by superb characterisation and a very eloquent writing style, two characteristics that have ensured his novels are held in the high regard - by both critics and fans alike - that they so richly deserve.

I for one have been a fan of Richard Morgan's work from day one and I most definitely sat up and paid attention when, back in September 2006, Morgan announced that he was planning a change of direction; that his next book wouldn't constitute hi-tech science fiction of any kind; that he was, in fact, going to write an epic fantasy novel (or three). Speaking as a lifelong reader of fantasy fiction and one with a distinct preference for the darker end of the epic / heroic / low-fantasy spectrum, this was a prospect that I found... tantalising, to say the least.

And so when Gollancz's Simon Spanton asked me, a couple of weeks ago, if I wanted to read a manuscript copy of Richard Morgan's first foray into the fantasy genre, I didn't so much bite his hand off as rip his arm away at the shoulder.*

I will confess that it was a slightly trepidatious prospect - seeing what sort of a fist one of my very favourite non-fantasy authors would make of one of my very favourite fantasy sub-genres - but I'm very glad to say that I really needn't have worried in the slighest: The Steel Remains is absolutely superb.

I won't go into too much plot or character detail here, because I'd hate to ruin that same sense of anticipation for anyone else by dropping spoilers, but for the sake of making this review a worthwhile exercise I will try to convey a sense of the over-arcing elements that made it so satisfying a read.

For a start, it's written with all the flair and aplomb that you'll find in any and all of Morgan's other novels; it has the same flowing, readable prose style, the same tightness of dialogue and succinctness of description. It's also possessed of an incredibly dark atmosphere - both in terms of its setting and its overall tone - and as you'd expect from Richard Morgan, the action sequences tend to be violent to the point of viciousness... brutality, even.

In fact, I'll pause there and attempt to coin the term 'brutalist fantasy' (not actually a Googlewhack, but thankfully not for the reasons you might suspect...) to describe the overall feel of of pain- and anger-drenched atmosphere that Morgan conjures up amidst the sucking swamps, stark wilderness badlands and slum-infested city-scapes of his world.

The setting for The Steel Remains is a post-war society and several of the main characters are veterans of that titanic struggle to save humanity from the invading hordes. As I mentioned in my recommended reading piece on Joe Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings, this isn't something you get to see all that often; it's more often the banner-waving, marching off to battle, heroic standing against overwhelming odds and subsequent last-gasp Saving of Everything by the Forces of Righteousness that gets all the attention. The aftermath to such a conflict often amounts to little more than a chorus of fanfares and a medal-bestowing ceremony, or simply becomes the jumping-off point for the next great quest or battle.

The Steel Remains, on the other hand, devotes a great deal of thematic attention to the concept of aftermath, and is all the more fascinating for it. Some of the major themes of the novel include: loyalty (and its obverse, betrayal), courage, camraderie, honour, and the struggles of war veterans to come to terms with the psychological scars of the conflict.

Morgan also addresses a number of wider socio-political issues, among them: the mechanisms of political control, economic recession, forced repatriation, sexual repression, institutional bigotry and religious intolerance. Quite a number of the issues which we ourselves are made painfully aware of with every news bulletin, in fact; really not at all what you'd normally expect to find in a novel with the 'fantasy' label on the back cover.

In a recent blog post, Morgan describers the book as a "retro-dystopic vision" of a time when "people resolved their differences with bits of sharp steel ... probably not a very nice time to be alive". He also says:

"Look - it's like this: if you really, really love Tolkein with a firmly burning uncritical passion, then there's a good chance The Steel Remains is going to upset you. If you really, really love all those stories about simple, good-hearted farm-boys becoming princes or wizards, then there's a good chance The Steel Remains is going to upset you as well. And if you like your heroes masculine, muscular and morally upright, well, then you could be in serious trouble here."

I'd definitely echo that. If you pick up a copy of The Steel Remains expecting to read a traditional (which I feel is kinder than saying 'bog-standard') fantasy adventure story, then you're going to be in for a shock.

All of which raises the question: will the fantasy-fiction reading audience - a notoriously conservative one for many reasons, not least of which is the generally accepted desire of large sections of its readers and fans to escape from exactly those sort of issues - decide to embrace Morgan's almost unique take on the genre, as a bold attempt to help drag a sometimes overly cliché-ridden genre into more relevant thematic subject areas? Or will legions of avowed acolytes recoil from the lack of familiar, safe reference-points, picking on the one or two more obviously controversial elements of the novel as a convenient scapegoat to justify a rejection of the novel which masks their own lack of willingness to explore?

'Controversial elements'? Oh, aye. Just a couple. In fact, I'd go as far as to predict that The Steel Remains is a book that will split the fantasy reading audience right in two, straight down the middle: love it or hate it. Because it's also a very provocative novel: politically, socially, sexually and psychologically; a genuinely challenging read all round. And there are certain scenes in the book - I won't say what they are, but you'll definitely know them when you get to them - that will make more conservatively-inclined readers very uncomfortable indeed.

Which raises another question: how much of the more overtly provocative (in a genre-standard sense) material in The Steel Remains is there as a result of Morgan wondering just how far he could push the envelope; just how much he could get away with? It's tempting to imagine him sitting there, working out what you almost never see in fantasy fiction and then making sure he throws plenty of that in, along with a bit more of this on top for good measure.

As it turns out though, the question is possibly an unfair one. In a follow-up chat, Simon Spanton assured me that Morgan hasn't actually read all that much within the fantasy genre - a suggestion borne out by the reading lists and recommended books occasionally posted to the author's website - so it's hardly a case of Morgan working out what was missing from everything else, then lumping it together and chucking it all in for maximum effect.

Instead, I was assured that the author has set out to write 'a Richard Morgan novel in a fantasy setting', rather than 'a fantasy novel by Richard Morgan'. It's a subtle distinction, but an important one, and it's one that should help to explain why there's so much in The Steel Remains that you just wouldn't expect to find in a typical example of the genre, along with quite a lot of material that readers of Morgan's earlier work will find both enjoyable and intriguing, despite the change of milieu and the very definite rooting in the fantasy genre (albeit with some intriguing hints that the world, or even the universe, could potentially be a much larger and more complex place than initially assumed).

In conclusion, then: The Steel Remains is one of the darkest, most intense epic fantasy novels I've read to-date. I also think it's a fantasy novel that doesn't so much transcend as extend the genre, into the sort of thematic territory that the majority of fantasy writers wouldn't even consider going anywhere near. As a result, it could just turn out to be one of the most important fantasy novels, epic or otherwise, to have been written in the last ten or twenty years, if only because it could provide an additional impetus for the growing number of similarly-minded writers to think even harder about how far they can actually push their own ideas.

Anyone with a hankering for the sort of intensely interesting fantasy fiction that the likes of Steven Erikson, Joe Abercrombie, Glen Cook China Miéville, Scott Lynch, Alan Campbell and co. have been writing recently, or even a glimpse of what might have been if the likes of George R.R. Martin, Paul Kearney, Greg Keyes, or even David Gemmell had teamed up with Quentin Tarantino for a novel or two, then this is definitely a story you should seriously consider reading.

But on the other hand, if you already suspect that you don't like your fantasy in the slightest bit brutalist, then I'd simply suggest this: steer clear. You won't be doing yourself any favours by daring the beast in its lair... unless you think the time has come to leave the safe and well-worn paths behind and venture a little deeper into the swamp-muck...

Author Info: www.richardkmorgan.com
Publisher Info: Gollancz (UK)
Publication Date: August 2008
Ordering: Amazon.co.uk

*I should probably point out that I do run Richard Morgan's website, which is how I ended up in so rare and privileged a position...

March 8, 2008 | Filed Under Books | 15 Comments

Highly Recommended Reading: 'Black Ships' by Jo Graham

Black Ships, which will be published by Orbit Books in the US in March and in the UK in July, is author Jo Graham's debut novel; although this is something I found increasingly hard to believe the more I read of this stirring, gripping, excellently-written and thoroughly engrossing tale of the last Prince of Troy and the remnants of his once-proud people.

The story is told from the point of view of Pythia - once called Gull - a young priestess of the Goddess of Death. We first learn of her early life as daughter of a Trojan woman captured into slavery by the Achaeans and her initiation into the Dark Lady's Mysteries. The character then truly bursts into life when she becomes one of the pivotal points of the narrative as the Sybil and Oracle to Aeneas, the Trojan Prince who comes to the lands of her captors to seek a newly-enslaved group of his people, before setting sail for the mighty kingdoms of the eastern Mediterranean.

The emphasis of the book is placed very firmly on three principle characters: Pythia herself, who is an extremely well-rounded individual and, as both narrator and narrative instrument, someone who is incredibly easy to empathise with, and the two great loves of her life - Aeneas and Xandros - who are equally human and three-dimensional in their presentation. The inter-relationship between these three is the framework on which the tapestry of the novel's events is woven, and is explored in a manner that's thoroughly accessible, yet feels equally well-rooted in the customs and traditions of the time.

I also found the setting and background detail particularly fascinating. Jo Graham must surely have read some of the same tomes of historical investigation that I was once almost completely hooked on. She presents a subtly altered version of accepted historical events; one that draws on some of the more intriguing alternative theories of Bronze Age history surrounding the 'Hyksos', or 'Sea-Peoples', that have been published over the last twenty years or so. Of course, her book is still a work of fiction - she's not attempting to re-write history herself - but it's interesting to see some of these twists on the accepted timeline given a context and detail that makes them seem tantalisingly feasible.

All in all, it's an incredibly well-told, incredibly compelling story, narrated in the sort of epic mode employed by the likes of Steven Pressfield, and (I assume, although I've not read as many as I'd have liked) other re-tellers of the sagas of the Bronze Age heroes. Jo Graham consistently maintains an appropriately archaic tone and cadence to her writing, but without making it sound pompously Epic to the point of being unreadable. She also takes pains to avoid jarring modernisms and the rhythm of her writing style is one that flows easily and naturally, making this an extremely pleasurable read, one I practically flew through. Cliché time: Black Ships is a definite page-turner, one I honestly was loathe to put down.

And as I said earlier, such was the strength of her writing that I found it extremely difficult to believe that this was genuinely the work of a debut author; surely some sneaky pseudonym instead? But the author's notes at the end of this proof copy of the book convinced me otherwise. In which case, I have no hesitation in declaring this to be a debut of rare quality and surely the first step on the road to a highly successful career. And based on Hollywood's seemingly insatiable demand for re-telling the epics, a movie deal can be only just around the corner?

Speaking of the author's notes, I also learned from them that Black Ships is actually a re-telling of Virgil's Aeneid, the National Epic of the Roman Empire. Those with a clearly superior Classical education to mine will no doubt have spotted that from my introductory papragraph (and may sneer at will...) but I wasn't aware of the fact until I'd read the author's notes at the back of the book.

I really don't think that knowing this ahead of time would have spoiled my enjoyment of this excellent novel, although it might have given me an irrational urge to read the source materail before I read the modern-day version. That, I think, would have been a major mistake, because knowing the state of my reading schedule I'd have never gotten round to it and then might have missed out on what must surely be an early contender for one of my novels of the year.

Highly recommended, to anyone who enjoys the epic sweep of the Bronze Age sagas and to fans of historical semi-fantasy everywhere; most definitely.

March 1, 2008 | Filed Under Books | 4 Comments