Kay Kenyon - Writing the Most Ambitious Epic

From SFRevu:

Kay Kenyon's epic series, The Entire and the Rose, grows stronger with each new volume. This may well be the most ambitious epic science fiction series of the current decade. While clearly science fiction, the atmosphere and feel of the series has many of the qualities of fantasy and can be enjoyed by readers of that genre who do not like much science fiction.... If you are not already reading this series and you are at all interested in current science fiction, you really should be. Start with the first book, Bright of the Sky. (Ignore the way it seems to jump in the middle as if there was an earlier volume, Kenyon chose to put much of the early history in as flashbacks and information revealed to an amnesiac hero.) There is one book left of this four-book series, Prince of Stormswhich will come out January 2010. I am really looking forward to seeing how Kenyon is able to resolve everything. Very highly recommended.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: The Grave Thief

The Grave Thief© Tom Lloyd

Cover Illustration © Todd Lockwood
Design by Grace M. Conti-Zilsberger

A Conversation with James Enge

Tor.com has just uploaded my conversation with James Enge, author of the just-released Swords & Sorcery novel, Blood of Ambrose.I'm fascinated by Enge's world building, and his views on fantasy fiction in general. Check out the whole post, but here's a taste:

Morlock, as suits his ornery nature, was born out of annoyance. I’d just been rereading Wells’ The Time Machine and I was annoyed because I thought (and still think) that Wells stacked the deck unfairly against the Morlocks. Somehow this merged with a longstanding grievance I have against Tolkien: JRRT worked too hard to make elves the good guys, often at the expense of dwarves. And—because I was reading a lot of Arthurian source material at the time—I realized that “Morlock” looked like a lot of names in Arthurian legend: Morgan, Morgause, Morholt, Mordred. And so this character named Morlock Ambrosius was born, who was supposed to be to Merlin something like what Mordred was to Arthur.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: The Quiet War

Coming in September to US shores....

The Quiet War© Paul McAuley
Cover Illustration © Sparth
Design by Jacqueline Cooke

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Mark Chadbourn's Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour© Mark Chadbourn
Cover Illustration © John Picacio
Design by Nicole Sommer-Lecht

The eternal conflict between the Light and Dark once again blackens the skies and blights the land. On one side stand the Tuatha de Danaan, golden-skinned and beautiful, filled with all the might of angels. On the other are the Fomorii, monstrous devils hell-bent on destroying all human existence. And in the middle are the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, determined to use the strange power that binds them to the land in a last, desperate attempt to save the human race. Church, Ruth, Ryan, Laura and Shavi have joined forces with Tom, a hero from the mists of time, to wage a guerrilla war against the iron rule of the gods. But they didn't count on things going from bad to worse ...this is the stunning continuation of a powerful fantasy saga by one of Britain's most acclaimed young writers.

Starting With the World

I've been thinking about what door you use to find a story. I've heard writers say they start with character or with a science idea. Both are great jumping off points. But I start with the world.

Where will I take the reader? What milieu, what setting, what geography? In science fiction this question has obvious utility, but it's also a good question for mainstream stories, whether set in a circus, a law firm, or the arctic.

Beginning your story search with milieu can kick-start the whole novel, opening a door onto character, society, theme and science. I began with world building for Bright of the Sky. I asked where a galactic-scale story could happen if I didn't want to use space travel. The answer came, a parallel universe. Fine. And then the triggering idea: what if the universe had a shape? Thus began my discovery of the Entire, a tunnel universe with walls and a lid of fire for a sky.

After this, the other story pieces cascaded into place. It seemed as though there was an Entire, and I was uncovering its history. Who enters this universe as a stranger? Who built the place? Why? If it is infinitely large, how do the inhabitants travel? What culture would have evolved?

I've launched other novels from the world. Earth is covered with a crystal calculating matrix. (Maximum Ice.) Terraforming is failing, and the planet is reverting to what it used to be (Rift.)

Some characters will be especially challenged by being strangers in a specific place. These folks make excellent additions to your cast. Also, certain characters must exist in your milieu. If the world is as big as a galaxy, and if the mode of travel is upon a never-ending river, wouldn't there be a special role for river pilots? If you want to get analytical (let's)-- it makes sense that character is shaped by place. Desert, mountain, sea, the American deep South--these places spawn life-views, attitudes and cultural imperatives. Therefore, culture, too, may flow from place, from the very geography. In Dune, the culture arose from the desert, as surely as the prickly pear cactus from our own Southwest.

And so on, down the basic components of story, all springing from the soil, the unique physicality of place. And it makes a lovely answer when people ask you where you get your weird story ideas: From the land. Then smile enigmatically.

Morlock Ambrosius Has Arrived!

James Enge's Blood of Ambrose is now in stock at Amazon,and at B&N.com. Brick and mortar stores will soon follow!

“James Enge's work is like Conan as written by Raymond Chandler: rich, witty, aware of its genre's traditions but not bound by them, with a new surprise of plot or turn of phrase every moment.” —Paul Cornell, Hugo-nominated writer of Doctor Who and Marvel comics

Behind the king's life stands the menacing Protector, and beyond him lies the Protector's Shadow...

Centuries after the death of Uthar the Great, the throne of the Ontilian Empire lies vacant. The late emperor's brother-in-law and murderer, Lord Urdhven, appoints himself Protector to his nephew, young King Lathmar VII and sets out to kill anyone who stands between himself and mastery of the empire, including (if he can manage it) the king himself and his ancient but still formidable ancestress, Ambrosia Viviana.

When Ambrosia is accused of witchcraft and put to trial by combat, she is forced to play her trump card and call on her brother, Morlock Ambrosius—stateless person, master of all magical makers, deadly swordsman, and hopeless drunk.

As ministers of the king, they carry on the battle, magical and mundane, against the Protector and his shadowy patron. But all their struggles will be wasted unless the young king finds the strength to rule in his own right and his own name.

Free Online Reading: James Enge's "A Book of Silences"

April will see the release of James Enge's swords & sorcery novel, Blood of Ambrose,an epic work featuring Morlock Ambrosius, wandering swordsman and master of all magical makers. The book is a stand-alone adventure, but Morlock returns in the (already-delivered) follow-up, This Crooked Way, and we've just signed for a third Morlock novel, the wonderfully-titled The Wolf Age. But Morlock Ambrosius already has a significant following, as Enge has been chronicling his adventures in short fiction for some time prior to his novel debut. One such tale,"A Book of Silences," first appeared in the pages of Black Gate magazine. We are pleased to reprint it in its entirety at the Pyr Sample Chapters page. What's more, we will shortly be presenting "Fire and Sleet," which follows directly on the events of "A Book of Silences" and is an original novelette that will debut at the Pyr website for the first time anywhere. So, read and enjoy!

BSFA Award Shortlist Discussion

Readers of this blog who live near, or will be travelling to, London next Wednesday (25 March) might be interested in that evening's discussion of the four BSFA Award shortlisted titles featuring Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Alastair Reynolds and myself hosted by the BSFA themselves. The three of us have been asked to consider the great question “What do the BSFA Awards mean to you?” in The Antelope (22 Eaton Terrace, London, SW1W 8EZ) from 6pm onward. All welcome: there's no entry fee or tickets and BSFA non-members are just as welcome as members.

Regarding the titles on the BSFA shortlist, I have previously expatiated online, here, here, here and here.

Nearest Tube: Sloane Square.

Ian McDonald on the West Coast

Those of you on the west coast who want to catch Ian McDonald, he'll be signing at the Mysterious Galaxy Booth #614 at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, held at the UCLA campus on Sunday, April 26, at noon.