Adrian Collins's Blog, page 153

REVIEW: See S2

In one of the coolest, most visually appealing, and different pieces of SF I’ve watched in a while, See S2 really ramps up the scale of risk, the family drama, and the intense stupidity of Baba Voss and Magra’s children. Needless to say, herein lie spoilers for S1 (seriously, back the F away if this is going to impact your experience).

In See S2 Baba Voss enters the city of Trivantes to rescue his adopted daughter. His hulking, brutal, but kind of big hearted (to those he loves–see the family resemblance?) brother, Edo Voss, is waiting. Princess Magra tries to offset her sister’s growing madness as the queen throws body after body in the way of her great lie, silencing dissenters and starting wars with the militarily superior Travantes. Magra is also the start of the reintegration of the sighted into the world after 500 years of society treating them as heretics to be burned, though if those  sighted play any part other than soldiers for the men and breeders for the women remains to be seen.

This seismic shift in ideologies as the blind in power start seeing the benefits the sighted bring to their own conquests and start to try to re-shape the population’s theology around what can help them grasp and maintain power is a key theme this season. The sighted are popping up on both sides, and the impact they have on both militaries is massive—though the sighted under Edo seem to be used with far greater intelligence than those fighting under Baba Voss. A second major theme is between the two Voss brothers. They’ve been away from each other for what seems a lifetime, they’ve grown into wildly different men, and their different perspective on something from their past has the two deadliest warriors in the land on a collision course of epic proportions.

While See S2 is visually stunning with amazing choreography to continue the beautiful look and feel of this series established in See S1, there are a few things that really dragged this show down. For starters, and I reiterate my spoiler warning here, two characters that should have stayed dead at the end of last season did not die, and honestly, I feel a little robbed. Those character deaths landed, and it felt cheap to see them back on the screen.

Then, the son Kofun just drove me absolutely mental. I recognise the young kid making stupid decisions is a trope used to drive danger and tension and plot, but it was Haniwan in S1, and then she tagged in Kofun for S2, and I found myself sitting there hoping one of them would just get killed or have an intelligent thought so they stop being annoying and start creating interesting plot movement for their character arcs.

The ending scenes could also probably be telegraphed a mile off, robbing them of the emotional impact they should have had. They tried to jump on the Game of Thrones boat, stepped off the pier, and landed in the water.

Now that I’m done being a Negative Nathan, let’s talk about all the good See S2 manages. A sprawling story, plenty of lying and event perspective impacting the characters and story, massive battlescenes, a bitter landscape with even more bitter and broken people, and Jason Momoa and David Bautista absolutely smashing it on screen alongside Hera Hilmar, Alfre Woodard, and Sylvia Hoeks.

There’s plenty to be annoyed about in See S2, but in this reviewer’s opinion, there is plenty more to be excited about to tip the scales back in the right direction. I am crossing everything that See gets a season 3.

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An Interview With Author Zoje Stage

Pittsburg native and former filmmaker Zoje Stage is a USA Today and international bestselling author of Baby Teeth, Wonderland and now her newest release Getaway. A story where two sisters, Imogen and Beck, and a long-time friend Tilda are hiking in the majestic Grand Canyon’s backcountry. “But as the terrain grows tougher, tensions from their shared past bubble up. And when supplies begin to disappear, it becomes clear secrets aren’t the only thing they’re being stalked by.”

Zoje was kind enough to interview with Grimdark Magazine about her penchant for horror and suspense, writing, and Getaway.

[GdM] What kind of stories inspired you to become a writer? And if it wasn’t a story, what was your journey here?

[ZS] For decades my dream was to be a writer/director of independent films. At the time, I believed that film was the medium that encompassed all of my interests: writing, photography, theatre, etc. Unfortunately, due to finances and health issues, I never achieved in film what I’d hope to do. At the end of 2012 I made the difficult decision to leave my film aspirations behind and see if I could learn to write novels. The kinds of books I write are very similar to the types of movies I wanted to make, with stories that delve into interesting facets of human behavior amid a situation or setting where something weird is going on—naturally or supernaturally. A lot of my creative motivation is in exploring how people react to the strangeness going on around them.

[GdM] You have heavy film and screenplay experience. How does your background affect how you craft scenes for novels? Do you approach them visually? Do you storyboard? What is your process?

[ZS] I still think quite visually, and often an idea for a novel will start with an image or two. It was very challenging when I first switched from filmmaking to writing novels as I had to learn how to create an image entirely with words, while understanding that everyone imagines things differently. It helped that long before I was a filmmaker I wrote poetry, so I had some experience with using language expressively. Now I rather enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to translate the mood, setting, imagery that I see in my head using only the precision of sentences.

[GdM] Your first two novels, Baby Teeth, and Wonderland have supernatural elements to them? Do you find it easier to write a world where the world’s rules are changeable i.e., ones with supernatural elements or ones grounded entirely in reality?

[ZS] I find it much harder to write a world that’s grounded in reality. With Getaway in particular I tried to adhere to the specific geography of the trails and places I named in the Grand Canyon. This necessitated conforming my plot elements to what was physically possible given the terrain. Sometimes it’s a constructive challenge to have certain kinds of restrictions—it can help you stay focused. But I really love the freedom of letting my imagination run wild, which is likely why I’ve always been attracted to writing genres like horror and fantasy.

[GdM] Your stories have various horror aspects, whether psychological, supernatural, or suspense. Do you read horror novels? And if so, what scares you?

[ZS] I’d say my greater passion is for the various ways that suspense resides in a novel, and I read more thrillers and psychological stories than straight horror. I definitely like my horror to “ring true” (no matter how fantastic it may seem): I like to see characters realistically grappling with their situation. I’m pretty hard to scare, and when a book scares me it’s usually moments of off-kilter creepiness.

[GdM] Do you find writing a therapeutic outlet?

[ZS] I’ve maintained for a long time that writing is how I process the world. I swear sometimes I don’t know what I truly feel or think about something until I have a chance to sit down and write about it.

[GdM] Having released two novels amidst the pandemic, Wonderland released in 2020 and now Getaway in 2021, how has the experience of releasing differed as an author from that of Baby Teeth in 2018?

[ZS] Releasing books during a pandemic has been very difficult, on multiple fronts. There’s the business aspect: people are not necessarily as plugged into things like new book releases as they once might have been, and are concerned about their finances in a changing world. With Baby Teeth I was just getting the hang of making public appearances as an author…and then it all came to an end. Virtual events are wonderful in certain ways, but I often end up feeling quite disconnected. In many ways it feels like Wonderland, especially, was released into a black hole. My sense of these books being “published” doesn’t feel completely real, although this time around I’ve gotten to see Getaway in a number of bookstores (always a thrill!).

[GdM] Has the pandemic had any effect on your ability to be creative?

[ZS] It’s been a very strange year and a half, to say the least. Like many people, my ability to concentrate was impaired for quite a while and I was more inclined to write short pieces—poetry, essays, short stories. I am back to work now, though I still experience bouts of existential malaise. Everything seems very uncertain, which makes it hard to feel grounded and in a solid, safe place. Writing is always the thing that keeps me sane, but it takes a bit more willpower now.

[GdM] In an interview from a few years ago, you mentioned in jest that people won’t know who someone is as a writer until their third book. You went on to say, Baby Teeth has a very internal story with tight relationships. Wonderland has a very strong external element, but your third book has very tight relationships within an external environment. This brings me to the question about your third, recently released book, Getaway. Can you tell me a bit about it?

[ZS] Getaway is about a trio of thirty-something women (two of them sisters) who have been friends since high school. Over the years life and distance have pulled them in different directions and their bonds with each other are fraying. Worse, our hero Imogen has experienced some life traumas that make it increasingly hard for her to function well in the world. Her sister devises a Grand Canyon backpacking trip in an effort to help the three of them get re-connected, and hopes the magnificent environment will help Imogen heal. But soon into their adventure they meet someone very unfortunate, and their vacation goes awry.

On the surface, Getaway looks like an adventure thriller, but I think it’s equally a tale of psychological suspense. The characters find themselves in a situation that tests every ounce of their physical and moral resolve and because Imogen perceives herself as small and weak, her survival strategy becomes more internal and psychological.

[GdM] I read your inspiration for a Getaway was a camping experience with your family as a child. Can you elaborate on that?

[ZS] Getaway, indeed, has its origins in an odd encounter I had with my family on a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. We were in a remote area called Salt, where one party at a time was permitted to camp. I was in my teens, and in my emotionally-colored memory of it a haggard fellow appeared out of nowhere, wearing a pistol in a hip holster.

My dad and sister remembered it more accurately: he wasn’t carrying a gun, but he did mention that he’d recently gotten out of prison and was just “wandering around.” He also remarked that, upon crossing paths with a lone female ranger, he realized he could’ve picked up a rock and bashed her in the head and no one would ever know.

Needless to say the incident at Salt stuck with me through the years, as it marked the first time that being in nature carried a hint of human danger. After that, I was always more paranoid, especially when it was just me and my sister camping somewhere deserted, off-season. In my family’s story, the man walked on. Getaway explores the “what if” of a trio of backpackers who aren’t so lucky.

[GdM] Getaway doesn’t fit into any category or genre. There are elements of relationship discussion and familial strife, dealing with psychological turmoil, psychological suspense, survival, and even horror. Do you think that genre labeling is helpful for authors or a hindrance?

[ZS] For better or worse, I don’t think about genre when I write. While I endeavor to write dark and suspenseful books, more specific labels feel very restrictive to me. Labels exist primarily for marketing reasons—who is the audience, where is the book going to be shelved—but I think it affects how some readers approach a book. For instance, some readers have biases toward certain genres and won’t read things that are labeled in categories they believe they don’t like. On the flip side, some readers have extremely specific ideas about what a label like “horror” should mean, and if a book doesn’t conform to that they may be disappointed. For both of these reasons I always wince a little when my books are labeled, but I guess “dark and suspenseful” isn’t an official genre.

[GdM] In the prologue of Getaway, we meet Imogen and her experience with a shooting that happened in a Jewish Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Many of the feelings that Imogen experiences, “What could I have done?” and survivor’s guilt, is felt by victims of traumatic experiences. Imogen’s experiences wrang with authenticity. Did you do any specific research into this particular type of PTSD?

[ZS] I have experienced a very different sort of trauma than Imogen’s but because of my own experience it was important to me to create a character who was complex and relatable. As part of my own effort to understand trauma it was very helpful to read Waking the Tiger by Peter A. Levine. I do truly believe that as sensitive beings in a violent and uncertain world most—if not all—of us are living with trauma, even if we don’t realize it. I believe society itself is a product of trauma, and the more we damage our world and each other the more prevalent trauma becomes.

[GdM] I know that you are from Pittsburgh, specifically the Squirrel Hill neighborhood that had a similar shooting at the Tree of Life congregation in 2018. Is your connection to this area the source of inspiration for this prologue?

[ZS] It is. The Tree of Life shooting took place just blocks from my then-apartment. It was a very shocking and frightening morning, made even more memorable by having a Baby Teeth event to go to, which I’d considered canceling (but didn’t). I felt the repercussions of that incident in my neighborhood for months and months afterward. There were reminders in every storefront window: posters of the names of everyone who’d been killed; Stars of David dangling from every tree and parking meter. It was both poignant and hard to see all the time.

[GdM] The locations and scenes in Getaway play a more significant role than just as a space that characters move through, often seen in novels. They almost seem like they are characters themselves. Was that intentional? Or, was that how the writing evolved because you described something that had to be incredibly difficult to explain?

[ZS] The setting of everything I write is an integral part of my books. Baby Teeth would feel completely different if Suzette didn’t obsessively clean her already perfect prison of a house. Wonderland needs not just the isolation of the family’s new Adirondacks home, but the beauty and danger that manifests in extremely wintry conditions. Getaway picks up on those wilderness themes—beauty and danger—but in the context of being so deep in the Grand Canyon’s desert backcountry that the characters can’t consider any survival strategies beyond their own wit. The place they’d come for a back-to-nature vacation becomes hostile territory, almost an inescapable fortress. I think by necessity—and by its inherent awesome presence—the Grand Canyon feels very “alive” in this book, and even when the characters feel trapped and afraid they’re never unaware of the beauty around them.

[GdM] Can you tell us a bit about the other characters in the novel? We meet Imogen in the prologue, but who are the other characters who will share this journey with Imogen?

[ZS] Imogen’s life has made her somewhat paranoid and cautious, but she has a rich imagination—which Beck and Tilda think she relies on too much. Beck, Imogen’s older sister, lives a stable life with her equally successful wife. Imogen would describe her sister’s need to “fix everyone” as annoying, but it’s probably why Beck became a physician. Their friend Tilda was always a bit of a showwoman, so her life path took her from doing high school musicals to auditioning for American Idol. She’s made a career as a motivational speaker and influencer. At one point while writing Getaway I realized I’d chosen career paths for my three women where they were each basically their own boss. There is another character…but for the sake of avoiding spoilers I will let readers discover that on their own.

[GdM] Familial relationships are significant in Getaway, both born of blood and those relationships that happen when a friend becomes lifelong family. Do you think the mental growth and mending these characters had at the end of the story could have been achieved had the trip gone on without a hitch?

[ZS] Absolutely not. If everything had gone according to plan, perhaps Imogen and Tilda would have developed some new respect for each other—and then they would’ve gone right back to their old ways. I’ve thought a lot over the years about the impact of difficult situations—how soldiers bond on the battlefield. It can be true even for less traumatic circumstances, such as an arduous backpacking trip that goes according to plan. But part of what we do as novelists is put our characters through the worst things they can endure, to test their inner resolve in the hopes of learning something vital about themselves. Part of the magic of a book is that evolution can be experienced in condensed time, whereas in real life we’re learning and changing over a span of years.

[GdM] To hearken back to a previous question about getting to know a writer through their books? What is on the horizon for you? What can you say about your next novel?

[ZS] I believe come 2022 readers will get to see my first published novella, called (at least for now) The Girl Who Outgrew the World. As a dark yet whimsical fairy tale it’s a little “off brand” for me, but it is dear to my heart. It’s about an eleven-year-old girl, Lilly, who has an inexplicable growth spurt. When her father and doctors decide to take drastic action to curb her dangerous growth, Lilly runs away—and embarks on a journey to discover her true self. In the spirit of fairy tales, the story works on two levels and TGWOTW is also a parable for how patriarchy reacts to and treats, the female body.

I’ve also recently finished a new novel, but it’s at a delicate stage at the moment so I can’t say too much about it except that it’s an adult mother/daughter story, very psychological, a little batshit crazy.

[GdM] Are you reading something exciting right now? I had heard that you loved Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay. I, too, cried when I read it as well as Cabin at the End of the World. They are gut-punches of novels.

[ZS] I love both of those novels! I’ve read some great books this year—Cackle by Rachel Harrison, Don’t Look For Me by Wendy Walker, Dark Things I Adore by Katie Lattari, Rovers by Richard Lange. At the top of my reading pile right now are These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall, and The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward.

Read Getaway by Zoje Stage

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REVIEW: Spear by Nicola Griffith

Spear by Nicola Griffith is a gorgeous queer Arthurian novella out from Tor.com in April 2022. And if it sounds even the slightest bit like something you’d enjoy, this is a book to preorder now. It blew my mind as I read it on the day I received it. This slim volume manages to capture its reader and tell a complete story in just under two hundred pages, something which many longer books don’t achieve. This is accompanied by a beautiful cover and a series of interior illustrations by Rovina Cai, who is one of the best fantasy illustrators working right now. I could go on and on about how much I love seeing illustrations in books aimed at an adult audience, but that’s not what this review is about, so let’s just leave it at “they are beautiful and add to the story.”

Griffith manages to expertly craft a rich medieval world without overloading the reader and evoking the comforting familiarity of the Arthurian stories her audience will have grown up with, while at the same time subtly weaving in references to a more diverse Early Medieval world, one that is often overlooked. As a medieval historian in a past life, this is the book of my heart. It presents the queer and diverse world I see the middle ages as, and reading this has brought me so much joy. I spent most of 2020 reading every Arthurian retelling I could get my hands on, and believe me when I say that Spear is truly one of the best.

Peretur, the main character, is based on the many legends and versions of Parcival, one of the more well-known figures of the Arthurian corpus. Except, this Peretur is a woman. Because of how she interacts with the court, she is perceived as a man, which opens up an interesting dialogue about gender roles, perceptions – and whether heroes and heroines are really the same thing. Griffith makes it clear that to her, the two are entirely different, not least in the tropes that are employed to write about them – and Peretur, while female, is a hero.

In addition to that, the writing is both poetic and accessible, managing to tread that balance between craft and commercial appeal. While the story itself is well-rounded and perfectly contained at the length it is, I would have loved for Spear to be far longer, just so I could spend more time in the world and reading Griffith’s writing. And that’s the highest compliment I can give a book.

Read Spear by Nicola Griffith

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REVIEW: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I know Adrian Tchaikovsky best from works like Children of Time, Children of Ruin and Dogs of War where he uses other creatures, often affected by humanity’s meddling to talk about very relatable human issues, often dealing with the issue of communicating across species boundaries. Elder Race deals with similar core themes, but all of the protagonists are human. Sort of.

Lynesse Fourth Daughter is an impetuous spare heir in a devolved human society that is at a roughly high medieval state of development (or rather, regression) who seeks the assistance of Nyrgoth, the Elder sorcerer (Elder Race, get it?) to aid against a demon that is afflicting nearby lands. The problem is that Nyrgoth isn’t really a sorcerer but a low level anthropologist who’s notionally supposed to be tracking the development of a colony on behalf of the successors to the more developed human civilisation that originally set them there.

Yes, this is very much nailing the ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’ trope right on the head, but it does it very well.

Things are complicated by the facts of exactly why Nyrgoth is alone in his tower and has a reputation for coming to these people’s aid in former generations and the story really turns on the difficult relationship between Lynesse and Nyrgoth and their vastly different outlooks on the world.

Elder Race is not a long book, definitely in novella territory but it packs a lot of big ideas and sharp characterisation into the low word count. Tchaikovsky uses the contrast between the core characters as a way to show how people can be very different but also ultimately very much alike.

You have Lynesse being impetuous and determined while Nyr is restrained, overly cerebral and battles depression. Lynesse sees Nyr’s capabilities as magical while he’s all too aware of his limitations and the science at play. At the same time, for wildly different reasons both fear that they are failures and want to prove themselves, to find connection to a kindred spirit or find meaning in their lives.

The difficulties of communication are fun as well, as Nyr’s imperfect translations of Lynesse’s lingual drift leads to him trying to explain science to her but the meanings sound like magical terms, so he ends up saying “I’m not a sorcerer, I’m a magician” and similar to great mutual frustration.

Throw in the way that Nyr often misreads things like how clothing styles are supposed to work or the nuances of local power structures or manners and theres a neat comment on how being a more advanced, supposedly Elder Race and having a near omnipotent viewpoint isn’t as great when you lack context.

Ultimately, the demonic antagonist ends up being almost beyond Nyrgoth’s science anyway, which implies that there’s more going on in this universe than he’d previously been aware of and maybe they have made contact with a genuinely Elder Race and not just a coloniser with some cool toys. The shared existential dread of a genuine Outside Context Moment is a nice subversion of the tone of the story up to that point.

I also detected a fun pun where Lynesse refers to the adversary as a demon, yet how it works seems to be analogous to what a daemon in computer terminology does, except operating on a biological level.

All in all Elder Race is a really fun novella, displaying Tchaikovsky’s trademark sharp prose and big ideas conveyed in interesting ways. It feels like a nice thought experiment that worked out into a compelling story and I’d recommend this to existing Tchaikovsky fans, plus anyone who likes Iain M. Banks, Ann Leckie or Gareth L. Powell.

Read Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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REVIEW: Warhawk by Chris Wraight

Warhawk is the sixth (of eight) in the Siege of Terra series and 60th Horus Heresy novel in Black Library’s ongoing marathon exploring and expanding the foundational myth of the Warhammer 40k universe.

As such, as much as I enjoyed this book, I have to say that this is not a jumping on point. To start with the series, go all the way back to Horus Rising and work your way forward, with the background of the White Scars specifically set up in the previous novels by Wraight, Scars and Path of Heaven.

That fair warning out of the way and assuming you’re mostly up to date with the series, let’s continue.

Wow.

In a series of incredibly cinematic books, Warhawk is one of those I’d most like to see given the full motion picture treatment. I don’t want to spoil too much, but if you can imagine Independence Day with the Ride of the Rohirrim meets but with motorbikes and tanks going on underneath, you’re pretty much there. There’s also a section where a White Scar is riding his motorbike around the besieged imperial palace and his internal monologue is peppered with descriptions of what he can see and it’s one of the most comprehensible depictions of the scale of the palace and the conflict that I’ve yet read.

As much fun as the big action sequences are, they are made meaningful by the context of what’s gone before, the sense of rising tension that carries through the personal stories of this book and the wider series as a whole and the personal interactions that give heart to all the violence.

Here we see Jaghatai Khan, the titlar Warhawk, so long contained in a style of war he loathes cutting loose, and the White Scars legion getting their Big Moment of the series. We see the culmination of the character development of the Death Guard, their fall to the service of the plague god and the tension between Primarch Mortarion and First Captain Typhus. We see how the pressure of the siege is playing on the praetorian, Rogal Dorn. We finally see Sigismund unleashed.

One of the most significant, but subtle plot points of Warhawk is that this novel feels like a tipping point between the Imperium that could have been and what we actually end up in the ‘modern’ 40k setting as the Imperial Truth fades away and the faith of the Emperor as a deity takes over.

Of course, as is the case with almost all of the best Horus Heresy books, you come for the big moments between Primarchs and Space Marines doing violence, but what really hooks you is the human stories that give you a more relatable perspective on the conflict and whose heroism is so much more on account of their relative squishiness.

From the ageing logistics officer arranging the materiel for the Primarch she loves to the cobbled together tank crew riding into hell with remarkable good humour and the despairing commander who gets a chance to take his mothballed ship into a glorious final run, there is a sense of heart and defiance.

That’s the core of Warhawk. Jaghatai Khan and the White Scars were always supposed to laugh as they fought, the joyous warriors who rode like the wind and smiled as they did it. They’ve never really had the chance in this series, being manipulated and boxed in and ultimately set against the force that best exemplifies despairing attrition in the Death Guard.

Warhawk is the third last novel in this series and as such, we’re pretty much at the lowest moment. From a galaxy spanning empire, the Imperium is reduced to one city, besieged by an innumerably superior foe and seemingly doomed.

Into that setting, Jaghatai Khan decides he’d rather charge out and bloody the nose of the traitors, to maybe make relief possible if their allies can arrive and if not, to go out gloriously rather than sitting behind walls waiting to die. People follow him, and they ride and fight and smile in the face of impossible odds. The very personification of the defiance of human spirit against despair. This is the grimdarkest world imaginable, but let’s charge into the teeth of hell while we still can. I love it.

I’ve barely even touched the other treads pulling together the stories of Valdor, Erebus, Sigismund, Keeler, Loken and so on but it’s all tied together quite beautifully by Wraight,

Warhawk is a masterful work, because it’s not easy to tell a story that feels satisfying and self contained while weaving in a bunch of other threads and leading to an conclusion that comes in another book (likely helmed by another author.)

Warhawk leaves me satisfied that it’s core protagonists have had their big moment and a bit wrung out emotionally but breathless because I know what comes next. Old 40k lore tells me we have at least two (well three, but two are sequential and in the same place) Big Duels left, and two books to go.

I can’t wait.

Read Warhawk by Chris Wraight

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A public apology to authors recently published by GdM

When I started Grimdark Magazine I was a self-published author whose attempts at short story sales and books had not gone well. Whatever the reasons, I wanted to set up a space and a publication where authors of all methodologies and levels of fame could rub shoulders on the cover of something made specifically for the grimdark crowd in a fun, professional, and rewarding manner. I think for a good while, we achieved that.

Recently, there came a point where Grimdark Magazine stopped being a place where all the authors we worked with enjoyed their experience with our fiction editorial team. For some of the authors we worked with, especially during our most recent production, their experience with us was horrible. As a leader, I missed the point where we stopped being fun to work with, and I missed a lot of signs from people I know and respect that signalled there was a growing problem.

Last weekend there was a Twitter conversation started by two authors I highly respect and have previously worked with, and am currently working with, regarding the aggressive and condescending tone of the editorial notes from Grimdark Magazine’s fiction editor, Mike. This has resulted in further similar experiences being described both publicly or privately by both male and female authors through contacting the owners of the Twitter thread, or contacting me. Some of these experiences are to do with authors we’ve published, and some are Mike’s personal clients.

Apology from Mike Myers

Mike has provided his own statement regarding his conduct, below. I don’t agree with the totality of fault lying with Mike, and have provided my own apology and commitment after.

First of all, my thanks go out to Adrian and the grimdark community for giving me the chance to apologize. And second, this is my fault, not Adrian’s. He trusted me to represent GdM, and I failed to do that. In my increasing zeal to make GdM and The King Must Fall the best they can be, I very very poorly communicated my comments to the contributing authors. I now realize I was disrespectful, condescending, insulting, hurtful, and everything else along those lines. Even before one of the authors and then Adrian told me about the problem, I began to notice, in the second drafts of the TKMF stories coming in, that the authors were not happy (to put it mildly), and I knew I had fucked up. And I offer this sincere apology to everyone I have offended. I’m sorry.

I have decided to step down from GdM. It has been a great seven years, and I have (virtually) met some wonderful people. But I owe it to Adrian and all of you to step down now, let GdM continue with someone new, while I concentrate on making myself a better, kinder person.

I thank you all, and especially Adrian for giving me this wonderful opportunity. Cheers.

Mike

To confirm Mike’s statement, he will be stepping down from Grimdark Magazine. He’s spent seven years volunteering for our publication, which I am forever grateful for his work and friendship, and sorry I couldn’t catch this before it impacted the authors and him.

Apology from Adrian Collins

I, as owner of Grimdark Magazine and facilitator of these interactions, need to own my part in the experiences of the authors who trusted me to provide a positive publishing experience. I didn’t check the commentary I was facilitating, and that is 100% on me.

While speaking to one of the authors over the last few days, she provided some insight that really reminded me of what I originally set out to do, and how far we had strayed from that goal. They said that Grimdark Magazine might be the first time an author gets published. It might be the only time an author gets published. And based on the experience I provide them through Grimdark Magazine’s editorial process, it might be the only time they ever want to get published.

In any industry, let alone one where it is such a big emotional step to submit your work to either a publisher or to the market, to have your work edited in that manner is unacceptable. For authors who write novels for a living and to keep a roof over their family’s heads and have sent me stories either for the love of creating them or because of a personal business relationship with me, that manner is unacceptable. I believe that the publication experience I have provided to some of the amazing authors who’ve trusted me, some of whom have been a part of this magazine multiple times over the years (and often come to my rescue when a publishing line up falls apart at the last moment), has been unacceptable.

To those authors we’ve been working with, I am profoundly sorry.

I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to listen to some of the impacted author’s experiences on video calls, or over chat. It’s been an opportunity to listen, understand, and learn for how Grimdark Magazine can return to what we used to do so well. I will continue to focus on speaking to the authors, and on making sure that this is a line in the sand moment for Grimdark Magazine. We need to get back to providing a positive experience to all the authors we work with.

At this point, there will be no further commentary on this matter outside of with those authors impacted.

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REVIEW: Hammer and Bolter Episode 4: Fangs

In episode 4 of Warhammer TV’s Hammer and Bolter, Fangs, we finally get to my favourite 40k faction, the Space Wolves space marines. On the death world of Fenris three veteran Space Wolves sit around a gaming board waiting to see which young human aspirants survive to join the ranks of the Space Wolves.

At the same time three young men try to attract the attention of the Space Wolf selectors (known to the tribes of Fenris as Sky Warriors) through their martial prowess in hunting down and killing some of the monsters living in the frozen desert of their world. Should they be chosen, they will become space marines.

To the space wolf fan, it’s cool to see Ulrich the Slayer and Njal Stormcaller as characters in Fangs, as is it just damned cool to see the space marines in their first Hammer and Bolter appearance. The depiction of the Space Wolves fortress, the Fang, is suitably epic, and I enjoyed the blustery manner of the Wolves—very aligned to Bill King And Lee Lightner’s version of them in the Space Wolves six book series, versus, say Abnett’s more dour and regally feral (if I can say that) version of the Wolves in the Horus Heresy series.

In Fangs the fight scenes were pretty average, to be honest. Perhaps It’s  just part of this style of animation, but they didn’t seem to have much fluidity at all, nor believability. As these scenes make up a fair amount of the episode, this left me a bit disappointed.

Overall, an episode I enjoyed because I’ve loved the faction since age 14, because I’ve read about and even gamed with some of these characters on the tabletop, not because it was a great episode.

Watch Hammer and Bolter: Fangs

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REVIEW: Dark Dawn by Brian O’ Sullivan

Brian O’ Sullivan’s “Dark Dawn” is a work of interactive fiction about a dying man and a desperate final stand. Set in the world of the author’s Fionn series, readers/players get to experience a dark and gritty retelling of authentic Irish mythology in first-person. With a fifty-strong raiding party days away from the tiny village of Ráth Bládhma, we take on the role of Ultán, a grizzled scout who’s handy with an axe and suffering from a fatal case of black flux. In the pick- your-own-path tradition of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks or Choice of Games stories, the options readers select lead to different outcomes for the protagonist and the village itself and reveal different sections of the narrative.

In terms of prose, worldbuilding, and characterization, “Dark Dawn” packs a lot of punch for its relatively short length. As a man pondering his imminent mortality, Ultán is a fascinating POV character with a narrative voice flavored by his grim reflections and a gradual acceptance of the inevitable. Having lost his own wife and son to bandits, he has something of a personal stake and a second chance in the survival of Ráth Bládhma. By contrast, however, the author does an equally good job of recognizing the humanity of every character, even the antagonists, with a powerful economy of words and small moments. In this way, I think O’ Sullivan’s done a good job of translating the mythological to the personal and realistic.

One aspect of “Dark Dawn” I really enjoyed was the way even wrong choices led to unique sections of prose. There are some substantial passages, for example, the player only sees through missing the raiders’ scouts and losing the game. The game is a bit linear  (as far as I could tell after a few playthroughs) with one real ending and one set of choices to get there. However, quality writing and characters go a long way to counteract this, and I still thought it was a very enjoyable way to spend an hour or so.

Compared to similar interactive fiction gamebooks, “Dark Dawn” is significantly more book than game. Eschewing the mechanics, character sheet, and rulesets of Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf, the focus is purely on narrative. And although I found the story to be enjoyable on its own, it does function more as a prequel than anything else. A successful playthrough concludes before the actual impending raid on Ráth Bládhma and points readers to the Fionn series if they’re wanting more. While it did feel like something of an appetizer to the main course, it was an exceedingly good appetizer at that. Grimdark Magazine readers keen on Irish myth and/or Iron Age adventure should definitely check out this cool (and free!) little tale at Irishimbasbooks.com and try their own hand at saving Ráth Bládhma from a bloody fate.

Read Dark Dawn by Brian O’ Sullivan

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REVIEW: Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling started incredibly strong with great atmospheric detail and a very creepy vibe but puttered out and ended with a whimper. 

Evelyn Perdanu is a shipping magnate, the only living survivor of her family. She walks the city veiled and hidden away from the eyes of those around her. Her country is slowly dying, rotting away like food left out to spoil. Arriving from her last voyage out, she discovers that a plague has visited her city, and it is traced back to her crew. They act erratically and slip into catatonia. She begins to investigate the plague as much for the city’s sake and those in it as for her own company and family name. What she finds is complicated and horrific. 

Also highly confusing to me as a reader. 

This story started beautifully. It was atmospheric and enchanting. We learn little bits of the background of Evelyn’s life; we know a bit about the relationship she has with her assistant. We realize that Evelyn is a master herbalist, and she has used her herbal concoctions all over town, both for good and evil. This fantastic backstory for Evelyn gave me a solid foundation to picture her character in my mind. 

This all takes place in the first act of the story. 

When we start the second act, additional ideas and characters are added to the mix; the police captain, for instance. It gets confusing, and I was not sure of the importance of things. Should I, as a reader, be concerned by the Police Captain sniffing around? Or with the plague? Or with Evelyn’s business interests? 

By the third act, the story gets a bit stranger and still more confusing, and it just ends. I don’t want to give it away, as the ending is very out of the left field. 

Conceptually, this is a remarkable book. Starling absolutely knows how to work words into magic in the mind of the reader. During the story’s first half, my mind’s eye was covered in yellow smoke, twisted and thorny vines, and a woman sitting amongst it all veiled in black lace. It lost me in the second and by the third act, I was so confused by some things that I was just done. The atmospheric description and excellent detailing were constant, though, and that is why I finished the story. 

Read Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

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REVIEW: Beasts & Beauty by Soman Chainani

Beasts & Beauty by Soman Chainani is an interesting collection. It’s probably the youngest book I’ve reviewed for Grimdark Magazine, as these retold fairy tales sit between middle grade and young adult for the most part. This doesn’t mean that they are not enjoyable for an adult audience – I think they very much suitable for all ages even if they are aimed at a younger audience. The collection holds darker versions of twelve of the most famous stories told again and again in the western fairy tale corpus, wonderfully illustrated by Julia Iredale. The ARC I was sent for review only held preliminary sketches, but l came across a finished copy in a bookshop the other day (because yes, I am a slow reviewer these days, shame on me) and it looks absolutely gorgeous. These illustrations just add another dimension to the stories which I adore. I wish more books not aimed at small children came so heavily illustrated.

" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In general l enjoyed the anthology a lot – l am a fiend for retold folk tales, especially ones aimed at a YA audience. But I was also slightly disappointed at the choice of stories – it felt like the author chose from among t l this to other recent anthologies such as A Universe of Wishes (Ed. Dhonielle Clayton), which to be entirely fair collects the work of of a number authors rather than a single one, l feel Beasts & Beauty only wins out in terms of the high qualify of the physical object. While Chainani does transport some of the stories into more diverse contexts – for example his Hansel and Gretel is inspired by a South Asian setting – ultimately his stories don’t try and reinvent the source material to create something unique and modern. The one story that stood out to me was Jack and the Beanstalk, which twisted the known tale in unexpected ways, recasting the role of the villain entirely.

As a whole, the collection feels a bit like an attempt to profit from the late year gift-buying boom as the book is produced beautifully and will make a fantastic gift. I think it’s less of a must buy for those readers who simply love reading retellings, as there are other anthologies and collections out there that do that particular thing better or in a more creative-way. However, if you are a grimdark-loving reader and have a child or teen in your life who you want to bring over to the (grim) dark side look no further and get them Beasts & Beauty for Christmas.

Read Beasts & Beauty by Soman Chainani

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