Archive for Interviews
Woody’s Roundup
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Temple Library Reviews are running an Angry Robot marathon – interviews, features and reviews of our books. They kicked off yesterday with a great interview with Walking the Tree author Kaaron Warren.
When Marc Gascoigne was asked to set up a new imprint of Harper Collins, he knew he wanted to seek far and wide for authors. He wanted an international cast of characters. So he asked writers he’d worked with when he was with The Black Library to give him the names of writers they respected in their own countries.
Matthew Farrer, a Warhammer 40,000 novelist, included me on his list.
From there, I nervously emailed Marc to tell him I had three novels and he asked me to send him proposals for all three. His response to the proposals was to ask for sample chapters and his response to the sample chapters was to ask for full manuscripts.
That was a nervous time, waiting for his final response.
Then I got an email, telling me that Angry Robot would buy all three novels. I had to get my husband to read the email for me, to check I wasn’t dreaming!
Today they followed up with a review of Kaaron’s first book, Slights:
Perhaps one of the most disturbing psychological horror stories imbued with withering decadence and written as a memoir. This story haunted me and froze my blood in a manner I have yet to encounter.
Talking of Slights, Bookish Ardour tells us:
Sometimes I finish reading a book and I swear it’s like I’m shell shocked. I’m dazed, I don’t want to talk to anyone, I don’t really want to listen to anyone. I feel like I’m stuck in some sort of limbo that only happens after certain stories. The thing is, it’s not always the story that leaves me shell shocked, but that the story is over…
The story actually deals with a lot of death, and hints at some pretty obscene and horrific acts, and yet in all that darkness I found quite a sense of humour. I don’t usually laugh when I’m reading. I’ll smile, maybe, but not laugh and I did with this one. I think the character Stevie is great and hilarious even though she is so crude. I even had to write down some of the lines because they entertained me so much.
Over at Fantasy Book Critic Ian Whates’ fabulous fantastical adventure (and brilliant debut) City of Dreams and Nightmare is reviewed:
“City of Dreams & Nightmare” grabs you pretty much from the first page and then you really do not want to put it down since it just twists and turns and the threads following the main characters above are all deftly handled with very smooth jumps and several crucial interludes following the “true movers and shakers” of the novel…
Highly recommended as a strong A and a fun, page turning sff adventure that will enchant all fans of such.
Falcata Times has just reviewed Lavie Tidhar’s The Bookman:
Angry Robot is fast building a reputation for bringing new talent alongside the less explored area’s of fiction to the fore. With this offering, they not only give the reader a new area to explore but a unique and novel storyteller to the masses…
Not only an interesting read but also one that leads the reader to ask more questions than is answered within the text supplied… A promising start and I hope that the follow-ups are just as interesting.
A fabulous interview with Maurice Broaddus
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On the Amazon.com blog, Omnivoracious, writer, editor and all-round good egg Jeff Vandermeer interviews Maurice Broaddus, talking about faith, and the ways in which it informs his writing.
It’s a fascinating interview, and well worth 10 minutes of your time.
Amazon.com: Are there forms of fantastical or horror fiction that lend themselves more readily than others to religious issues?
Maurice Broaddus: I think horror naturally lends itself to religious issues. The first question I get asked is how I can be a Christian and write horror. The total depravity of man (if you want a Calvinistic loaded phrase), the nature of good and evil, the mystery of the afterlife, unseen spiritual forces (like angels or demons), or the meditation on mortality/our fear of death. So it was not hard to get thoughtful works of horror from the likes of Brian Keene or Kelli Dunlap.
Fantasy works just as well. It’s the world of Tolkien, Lewis, L’Engle, and MacDonald. Though, it seemingly is the form that more readily lends itself to allegory, which, when not done well, is little more than thinly veiled propaganda. That being said, we used a lot of contemporary and urban fantasy in the anthology, from Mary Robinette Kowal and Ekaterina Sedia to Jay Lake and Jennifer Pelland.
One might think that science fiction would seem to be the one least likely to lend itself to religious themes, with the (false) opposition between science and religion. Yet Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow was an amazing book. And Gary Braunbeck goes dark science fiction in his tale for the anthology.
Maurice’s King Maker is out now in the UK, and his Dark Faith anthology (co-edited with Jerry Gordon) is available from Apex Publications in May.
Where do YOU write?
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Over at the ever-excellent Book Chick City, Tim Waggoner (author of Nekropolis and Dead Streets) explains, as the guest writer in the latest in a new series, Where Stories Are Made.
Once during a week-long writers’ conference where I was one of the instructors, the faculty gave a reading and afterward did Q&A with the audience. One person asked me when I write, and I truthfully answered that I was working on a scene for my novel right then. Everyone in the audience laughed, but I was serious. I’d only been half paying attention to what my fellow faculty had been saying. The rest of my mind was busy working on story stuff, as usual.
Don’t forget, Dead Streets is out today in the UK, and will hit the streets in Oz as soon as the plane touches down.
Also out today, Ian Whates’ superb fantasy City of Dreams and Nightmare and Maurice Broaddus’ fantastic urban fantasy, King Maker.
Women in Horror and Remic in Fur
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February was Women in Horror Month, and our very own Kaaron Warren was one of those interviewed over at eneit Press:
EP: You’ve said previously that the human form of dark fiction is your favourite. What is it about this that fascinates you?
KW: I’ve never really been able to answer this question. My fascination is almost instinctive, it really is. I prefer a bad ending in a story to a happy one, perhaps because there is more surprise that way.
I’ve spoken before about a story which resonated with me when I was a child, about a young man murdering his sister. I can still remember the way it was described; her skull cracked open. These are the stories I remember and want to write about.
And for those of you (and there are many) looking forward to Andy Remic’s next installment in the Clockwork Vampire Chronicles, we’ll have a promotional video to show you very soon, but for now, enjoy this teaser poster for Soul Stealers.
Reviews, interviews and some “interesting” views…
Posted by: | CommentsA few catch-ups to, er… catch up on – some brilliant interviews and superb reviews.
First up, we’re going old-school. Moxyland as reviewed by a native of South Africa (where it’s set):
I’d built up this book for myself for a while… Expectations were high, and they were met. It’s a hugely challenging and fun adventure through places both familiar and strange, encapsulated in a rich, coherent world. Highly recommended.
Falcata Times reviews J Robert King’s supernatural serial killer horror, Angel of Death:
Its quirky, its different and its definitely a novel to make you think… Not something to rush and will remain in the readers subconscious long after the final page.
Helium reviews Guy Adams’ The World House:
But in the meantime we have The World House, which is a wonderful read – and a book that deserves to be in the best-seller lists – by a writer who will at least keep me reading his new fiction.
A few interviews:
Dan Abnett interviewed by SciFi Now:
The premise [of Embedded] sounds really interesting, could you expand on your inspirations behind it?
It was one of those things that just sort of came along. Obviously through 40k, I am associated with what’s commonly known as, or officially known as Combat Science-Fiction. Military SF. Which I’d probably been writing for four or five years before I realised that it was a subgenre – I had no idea. In fact at 40k, in Black Library and stuff we always referred to it not as Combat SF, we referred to it as ‘shooty-death-kill-in-space’, which is a much better name for it. Anyway, if I’ve got a reputation based on anything at all, it’s probably that, because the bulk of my novels are those. The Gaunt’s Ghosts stuff particularly falls into that category. So one thing that Angry Robot said was ‘If you’re so damned good at that, can you put out something that plays on those strengths but has that universe stamp of being your own product’. So what I didn’t want to do was take the tried and tested Gaunt’s Ghosts formula, change his name to Gant, and they can be Gant’s Phantoms. You know, just transferring them across and crossing out 40k.
Kaaron Warren interviewed by DragonKat:
I get creeped out very easily. Just this morning on the bus, a man was picking at his fingernails and I wanted to hit him with my book.
I also tap into my subconscious very well. I think we all have nightmares under the surface. I can see what lies between, and I have these odd glimpses of dark truth.
Sometimes I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders, as many do. It’s all too hard. There are too many problems, too much suffering. I think my writing is the result of all that. It’s like the negativity translates itself into story. Like that man on the bus, the fingernail picking one; things are not going to end well for him in my next story. Not well at all.
and Kylie Chan interviewed by Kathryn Linge:
After book three of the ‘Dark Heavens’ series, ‘Blue Dragon’, I received a constant stream of emails asking me when the next one would be out. I did a tour of the southern states just before Christmas to coincide with the release of ‘Earth to Hell’, and it was exciting to see queues of people at book shops waiting to have their copies signed. ‘Earth to Hell’ hit the top of a few best seller lists, and now I’m receiving the emails again – asking when the next one, ‘Hell to Heaven’, will be released.
And finally, some people who really seem to like our Mr Tidhar. Not quite sure what to make of this one… :-/
Have a great week!
Like nailing soup to a table…
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The extremely lovely Guy Adams (author of The World House) has been interviewed by Hagelrat at the Un:Bound blog, and it makes for fascinating reading:
I think some of the book if lifted and offered out of context – I’m thinking about the scenes in the bathroom on the good ship Intrepid – actually reads like a kid’s book. But then I go and spoil it elsewhere with all the cannibalism and paintings rutting in their canvases.
It’s a great interview, so go read.
The equally-lovely Maurice Broaddus received a parcel yesterday – see what it is, and his reaction, here.
And Andy Remic’s Kell’s Legend (which is nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award) has had a great review over at the Gemmel Award website, so go read the review, then go vote for the book!
Truly brilliant… it should come with a government health warning to fasten your seat belt as the pace is ferocious and leaves you breathless.
Personally I did not want this to end as it is such a fantastic read. Roll on book 2, grab this now and hang on for dear life as you ride the Kell rollercoaster!
I will be voting for this as it is truly the first Gemmell like read I’ve come across for pure grit and action.
Oh, and Stomping on Yeti lists their top 25 new (or newish) authors worth watching in 2010. Angry Robot authors account for 4 of these! Pretty good going for such a new imprint!
Enjoy your Wednesday. 
Talking to the Angry Robots
Posted by: | CommentsLookie here – three posts in one day? I feel like the Ambassador, having laid on lashings of Ferrero Roche at the reception.
This is just a quickie – a couple of months ago Marco and I did an interview with Ian Whates (Chairman of the British Science Fiction Association and author of the splendidly splendid City of Dreams and Nightmare – out next month). The interview was posted online yesterday.
BSFA: You seem to be publishing works from across the genre spectrum, incorporating SF, fantasy, horror, and a few places in between. Why such an all-encompassing policy?
Lee: Why not?
Marco: Yeah, why not? And what you gonna do about it?
Mass debates on cover art
Posted by: | Comments(Just don’t read that out loud if you’re in polite company).
There has been a lot of conversations online recently concerning cover art, and the depiction of black characters as part of the overall design. Angry Robot author Maurice Broaddus has written about it on his blog. Not surprising, as his Knights of Breton Court trilogy for Angry Robot features the main cast on the covers, and they’re *gasp* not white! [cue: end of the world music]
Read what he has to say here. Do read the links from his post, too, as they provide excellent background reading. His, is always an interesting blog.
The Bookman continues to attract critical acclaim:
This is a steampunk gem. The settings are marvellously detailed, giving you the feeling that there is a London in which Lizards reign and whales swim up the Thames to sing lullabies to the city dwellers… Bring on a sequel, Tidhar! I’m craving to know what happens after the ending!
Read the rest of the review over at SFF World.
Dan Abnett, meanwhile, continues to dominate Borders’ US blog, Babel Clash and has taken the opportunity to talk about Triumff and his other work for Angry Robot.
It’s energising to find an imprint like Angry Robot that happily wears its awareness of those risks on its sleeve, and is eager to see them being taken. It’s about attitude.
This is the bit where I snap my fingers and say someting street, like “you go, girl”. Honestly – if you were in the office right now, you’d see I can make it work.
Over at the superb Falcata Times, Mike Shevdn’s Sixty-One Nails is given the once-over:
If you’re looking for something in the UF Genre for someone special in your life or if you’re just wanting something that’s pretty unique and mind blowing then you just have to buy this book… The second novel in the series is out next year but take a tip from me. Get this now before the hype hits.
The sequel (The Road to Bedlam) hits the UK this summer.
And finally, UK Steampunk author Adam Christopher listed what he’d like from the Apple iPad, and rather encouragingly he had this to say aout Angry Robot:
If the tablet can deliver an exemplary reading experience, I want to subscribe to publishing houses. For an annual fee, I’ll take everything from Angry Robot Books, thanks very much, delivered to my tablet on release… There’s not a single title from Angry Robot that hasn’t been an excellent read, and I’ll happily take the rest of their output on spec.
It brings a tear to my eye, it truly does…
A few more snippets of loveliness for you, because we care
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Lord Abnett of Englandshire moves into his second week blogging at Babel Clash, and some very fine insights there are, too. A must-read for all would-be authors, whether you want to write original fiction, or tie-in. His most recent blogs are looking at the transition from creating tie-in fiction into being master of his own universe, with the writing of his first original novel, the fabulous Triumff: His Majesty’s Hero:
My own private universe
England, my England
In that second one he even talks about the yet-to-even-be-flipping-announced Triumff sequel, so check it out. And you can continue to penetrate Dan’s mind via the medium of letters combined into word-format over at Babel Clash for the rest of this week.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy blog reviews Aliette de Bodard’s Servant of the Underworld.
With Servant of the Underworld Aliette de Bodard has managed to create a living, breathing world from a long dead civilisation. It is clear that a massive amount of research about the Aztec people has gone into this novel, and it really does show. You could be forgiven for thinking that Aliette had lived among the living breathing Aztec’s rather than studying a people that died out centuries ago… Servant of the Underworld is an intelligent, involving and very rewarding novel which I have no hesitation in recommendation to one and all.
5 *****
Val’s Random Comments blog also talks about Servant of the Underworld:
An interesting and unusual setting, a well rounded main character (did you ever meet a priest of the dead being the good guy in a fantasy novel?) and a brisk pace. This novel has a lot going for it… Servants of the Underworld is one of the better débuts I have read recently. Definitely worth checking out. I am certainly going to keep an eye out for the second book.
Meanwhile, Maurice Broaddus (author of the superb King Maker) has been interviewed over at The Occult Detective and he’s a great interviewee.
Mr. Broaddus is more than the words he writes on a page… Maurice draws you in with a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye that belies the deep reflection that comes from a man who knows that there is more to life than the day to day drudgery. Maurice Broaddus is a man who knows all to well that what truly matters are the affairs of the heart and the weight of the soul.
Colin Harvey’s Winter Song gets the review treatment at The Future Fire.
That the characters, social interactions and cultures are so nicely constructed and observed is no detraction from this novel’s claim to be a hard science fiction adventure, and it is the stronger book for it.
A few things to help your Friday along
Posted by: | CommentsDazed Rambling have a good write-up of J Robert King’s wonderful Angel of Death.
King manages to handle the characterization of our two main characters expertly. The Angel of Death experiences a lot throughout the novel and changes accordingly and though the change is sometimes radical, it cannot be said that they are unexpected or unwarranted. The same goes with Leland, who is pretty much put through the wringer in the novel and shows it more and more as the novel progresses.
Read the full review here.
Over at Babel Clash, Dan Abnett continues his fascinating insight into all things writery: Hi, I’m Dan and I’ll be your God-Emperor of mankind.
Finally (for now) here’s an interview I did with The Literary Project some time ago, which has gone live today.
