Adrian Collins's Blog, page 74

An interview with Thiago Abdalla

Thiago Abdalla is author of the highly acclaimed dark epic fantasy series, the Ashes of Avarin, which kicks off with A Touch of Light, a finalist in Mark Lawrence’s 8th Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO8). The action continues with A Shade of Madness, the second book of the series. Abdalla has also published a prequel novella to the series, A Prelude to Ashes. The third volume, A Twist of Faith, will be released in late 2023 (you can check out a free excerpt here).

A Brazilian by birth, Abdalla grew up in the fantasy lands of Middle-earth, Azeroth, etc., which inspired him to create his own fantasy world. I recently had the pleasure of discussing with Thiago Abdalla about his fantasy world, literary inspirations, SPFBO8, and more.

[GdM] First, congratulations on A Touch of Light being selected as a finalist in SPFBO8, a very well-deserved recognition for your outstanding debut novel. Could you tell us about your experience as an SPFBO entrant and later as a finalist? I am always impressed with the sense of camaraderie that seems to develop among the finalists.

[TA] Thank you so much! It’s been such a crazy ride with this being my debut novel. So many new and rewarding experiences and probably most among them is SPFBO. Participating in SPFBO meant a lot to me firstly because it was created by Mark Lawrence, who, as you know, is my favorite author and someone I’ve been lucky enough to interact with. I admire Mark’s work on so many levels, so participating in “his” competition meant a lot.

The camaraderie, as you say, was the other big point from the competition. Fellow entrants, like Andrew Meredith, have become some of my closest friends.

Being a finalist was an incredible recognition for the first book I ever attempted writing. It took some time to sink in and I’m still not sure I believe it was all real.

[GdM] What recommendations would you have for other indie authors who are considering submitting their work to a future SPFBO?

[TA] The competition can be stressful as you wait for your book to be read and see others being cut. There’s also a fair share of luck involved. My recommendation would be to work on your book the best you can, and get professional editing if you can afford it. Be proud of what you’re submitting, then, and this might sound weird, forget about it. The competition is great, but only ten books out of three hundred get to the finals, your book isn’t bad if you’re cut (hence why my suggestion is to be proud of what you submit regardless). There are a ton of books that have been cut at every stage that still find massive success.

[GdM] A Touch of Light is noted for its Malazan-style worldbuilding which largely forgoes handholding for the reader. How did you decide to embrace this immersive style of worldbuilding?

[TA] I honestly wasn’t going for Malazan haha. I just really like being in the character’s skin and at moments I thought: well, the character knows this certain information already, they’re not going to explain it to themselves purely for the benefit of the reader. To me that feels like a professional swimmer thinking to himself how to perform the basic movements of a backstroke. It just doesn’t happen (or maybe it does, I’m a terrible swimmer and know nothing about professional swimming). I still find ways to show the reader the important stuff, but it’s heavily skewered toward showing rather than telling. With that said, I believe the important things are explained at the right time, so I’d suggest going with the flow and trusting that answers will come.

[GdM] The subject of death is taboo for one of the main religions in the Ashes of Avarin series. How did you develop this concept as one of the core beliefs of the Domain?

[TA] I’ve always had a particular view of death. I’ve had family members suffer like they’d lost a limb and I respect that, but my way of dealing with it was always different. I try to remember the good and tell myself I’ll meet the person again someday, even if we’re both spirits or something. It’s just a matter of time. This kind of thinking has always made me look a little cold I think. I’m never the person crying or caught in desperate grief and I’ve been judged by this reaction, or felt judged at least, as if I didn’t care for the person like everyone else who was crying. That sparked the idea, what if people couldn’t cry or grieve, or even talk about death? How would that affect a society? It all snowballed from there.

[GdM] For readers who are new to your series, do you recommend starting with A Touch of Light or your prequel novella, A Prelude to Ashes?

[TA] It depends on your reading style. If you don’t mind a big world, a large cast and a learn as you go type of storytelling, I’d recommend A Touch of Light. If you’d like to start with a more contained setting and be eased into some of the concepts of the world so that you have something to hold on to when the larger world of the novel engulfs you, then start with A Prelude to Ashes.

[GdM] Griffins feature prominently throughout the Ashes of Avarin series. What is it that has drawn you to griffins over more traditional dragons?

[TA] Everyone does dragons and I’m a hipster wannabe is the short answer. In seriousness, though, griffins are just damn cool and I really don’t know why more people don’t use them. I felt like so many people had already done dragons and I wasn’t confident I could add anything extremely original if I chose them.

[GdM] I love the emotion-based bonds that Sentinels such as Lynn form with their griffins. How did you develop this particular aspect of your magic system?

[TA] Emotions are our magic powers in real life. How many times have you not seen someone taken by anger that seems to have super strength? Or so happy they believe nothing can go wrong and it doesn’t? I just thought it was a cool bridge to our reality. A kind of ‘what if’ for readers. Developing it was hard because I didn’t want to fall into the same descriptive patterns. Also, were not always conscious of our emotions and that they are affecting us in the heat of the moment, so it was a fine line to tread. I think people will have to read the books to decide if I succeeded.                                                                                                    

[GdM] You introduced a new point of view character in A Shade of Madness. Could you tell us more about Kadmus and how he came to be?

[TA] I had the concept for him since outlining the series, so he’s been simmering in my brain even before I started writing A Touch of Light. I just really liked the concept of a healer that’s not black and white. In fact, Kadmus is extremely selfish and has his own reasons for healing people. He’s cold and detached which hearkens back to how people have judged my reaction to death, but at the same time, there’s something extremely human driving Kadmus. That objective (no spoilers) trumps all and one might even say Kadmus isn’t really selfish, he’s just blindly determined to succeed and will pay any price for it.

[GdM] Your loyal fans are eager to know: what can we expect in A Twist of Faith, the third book of your series? A Shade of Madness is quite a bit darker than A Touch of Light. Will this trend continue with A Twist of Faith?

[TA] Yes. Yes, yes, yes. My characters are so screwed. A Twist of Faith will have characters facing their ultimate decisions and where they fall at the end will ultimately shape the events to come in the final book of the series. Their trials will require a lot though, and I’d say it gets pretty dark.

[GdM] How many books are you planning in total for the Ashes of Avarin series? Are there any additional novellas or short stories in the works?

[TA] Four books. I have ideas for novellas and I’d love to write them, but we’ll see how fast I can finish the main series first.

[GdM] You’ve recently released a line of merchandise featuring the four glyphs from your series. Could you tell us more about these symbols and what they represent?

[TA] Those are the four Signs of the Seraph: The Breath and the Body, the Blood and the Bone. The idea, besides the cool alliteration, is that each of these is a branch of the church. The Sentinels represent the Breath, the Bishops of the Bone represent… the Bone and are experts at intelligence, the Priests of the Blood represent the Blood and are magic users focused on healing. The Body is represented by the faithful who make up the body of the faith. I’m really happy with those symbols. The concept was mine, but a good friend of mine drew them and I just loved the result. I even used the Sign of the Blood on the cover of A Prelude to Ashes because the main character is Adrian and well, if you’ve read A Shade of Madness, you know what his relationship to blood is.

[GdM] You’ve commented that Mark Lawrence is one of your greatest literary influences. His novels are so diverse, covering everything from grimdark fantasy to traditional epic fantasy and time-traveling sci-fi. Could you tell us more about Mark Lawrence’s specific influences on your writing? Do you have a favorite among his large catalog of books?

[TA] I think first and foremost, the prose. I’m not comparing mine to his, I’ll always think his prose is unbeatable, but I think I’ve picked up a few things that helped shape my style of writing and just having prose as something I value and work on. I also really appreciate Mark’s character development and the relationships they have. His characters have a very well set core that will drive them to the ends of the Earth, but they’ll never waver from who they truly are, even of they evolve and grow (Nona comes to mind). I absolutely love that and think I based some characters off of this writing concept. The rest is probably subconscious since I’ve read so many of his books. My favorite(s) are without a doubt The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (his latest book, which is astoundingly good), and The Girl and the Moon, that is just a love letter to any Mark Lawrence fan.

[GdM] Who are some of your biggest literary influences beyond Mark Lawrence?

[TA] I’ve enjoyed a lot of Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss, Daniel Abraham, N. K. Jemisin, George R. R. Martin, among others. They’ve all definitely had an influence on my writing in one way or another.

[GdM] Your books are also known for their absolutely stunning covers. Could you describe your process for developing these covers together with the wonderfully talented Alejandro Colucci? Do you work closely together to get all the details just right?

[TA] Most of the work went into developing the concept for book 1. After that, Alejandro just nailed what a cover in this series should look like. Developing the concept is a lengthy process, though. I researched the fantasy cover market a ton to get to where I wanted. Your cover has to be unique, but still be within what a reader expects of a fantasy cover. I have a whole PowerPoint presentation I can share haha.

[GdM] I know we should not speak of the dead, but inquiring minds must ask. Why do you hate raisins, Thiago? Were they the source of some childhood trauma?

[TA] They are a pointless, wretched, twisted mockery of grapes and should not exist. I just really, really, really hate the taste, but what really drives up the hate factor is that people put them into stuff they just shouldn’t, and instead of something wonderful like chocolate chip, for example! Death to raisins!

This interview was originally published in Grimdark Magazine Issue #36.

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Top five SFF video game cut scenes

I grew up playing LAN games of Age of Empires and Diablo 1, and designing trench warfare levels on Quake 2 at a mate’s place on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Through those games I fell in love with cut scenes. No matter was going on, if there was a cut scene playing, the world ending would not have broken my concentration from the screen. As I got older, and the technology available to animators improved, the world of cut scenes exploded thanks to franchises like Diablo and Starcraft. Now, they are a key part of the gaming experience, and if you’re not quite sure what I’m talking about you are in for a deadset treat. However, if you are a fellow cut scene fanatic, then I’m relatively sure it’s time to have an argument.

Let’s get stuck in! I bring you the top five video game cut scenes.

Battle for the Amerigo (Starcraft)

Hands down my favourite cut scene of all time. Battle for the Amerigo channels a little bit of the Aliens colonial soldiers and a little bit of the Tyranids from Warhammer 40,000 to create short-form cinematic brilliance. With a brooding environment and the overt cockiness of the marines at the start offset against the immediate fear and panic as they are attacked, Battle for the Amerigo is just pure chef’s kiss.

Inarius versus Lilith (Diable IV)

Having just finished a review of Diablo IV, I have to say that top-to-bottom this game is just pure dark beauty. Part of that beauty is its cut scenes–gothic horror gorgeousness. And Inarius vs. Lilith is the pinnacle of them. For me, the moment Inarius calls to the heavens and hears nothing is one of the greatest pieces of video storytelling in any video game, ever.

Dawn of War game intro

Fellow fans of Warhammer 40,000 were likely just as excited as I was when we found out Dawn of War was in the making. But when that intro scene was first played on screen, I imagine they joined me in absolutely frothing with excitement. This video captured tabletop wargaming perfectly with the Blood Ravens manning their defences while the crazy orks charged down the hill with an almighty waaaaggggghhhhhh. Pure fun.

Giving the Covenant back their Bomb (Halo 2)

Badarse. No other word sums up this video any better. Smoosh together all of the most epic action heroes into one suit of armour and you have the Master Chief. Then, strap him to a bomb capable of destroying a capital ship, fling him out into space, cut through some of the coolest space battle animations of the time to showcase the scope of the battle, and see what happens. This is pure awesomeness.

Intro for Quake 2

The cut scene that made me fall in love with cut scenes. This is back where–as best as this aging memory serves–it all started for me. This isn’t going to blow you away with explosions and action, but what this cut scene did was set the mood for the game like few have before, or after it. The scene set through news reports followed by growing panic of the drop troops as things start to go wrong is just magnificent audio storytelling.

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An Interview with Stephen Graham Jones

It’s a truism in the entertainment world that it takes twenty years to become an overnight success. Since the 2000 release of Stephen Graham Jones’ debut novel, The Fast Red Road: A Plainsong, he has released a string of critically well-received novels and novellas. However, it was not until the 2020 release of The Only Good Indians—which masterfully blended a sensitive meditation on the Native American experience with visceral, folklore-inspired chills—that Jones was catapulted to the forefront of horror stardom.

Jones has followed up The Only Good Indians with a new longform fiction project, the Indian Lake Trilogy. The first installment, My Heart is a Chainsaw, won the 2021 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel, the 2022 Shirley Jackson Award, and the 2022 Locus Award for Best Horror Novel. Its sequel, Don’t Fear the Reaper, was released as a hardcover on February 23, 2023. We spoke with Jones ahead of the release of the paperback edition of Don’t Fear the Reaper about his fan-favorite heroine, “elevated horror,” and recent slasher flicks.

[GdM] Your prickly, slasher-obsessed heroine Jade Daniels became an instant hit after her first appearance in My Heart is a Chainsaw. Her return in Don’t Fear the Reaper was highly anticipated, as demonstrated by the multitude of online selfies of fans sporting “Jade Daniels is my Final Girl” t-shirts. Why do you think Jade resonates so much with readers?

[SGJ] We all root for the underdog, don’t we? I think that might be part of it. And, that’s built right into horror. You always design your antagonist as bigger and badder than the hero, such that when and if they best that baddie, then it’s an upset—that underdog shouldn’t win. Neither should Jade. But heart and stubbornness count for a lot. Jade’s got heaps of both.

[GdM] In both fiction and horror cinema, creators often struggle with the middle installments of trilogies. How did you tackle this challenge with Don’t Fear the Reaper?

 [SGJ] First, I knew about that middle-of-the-trilogy slump, so was intent on avoiding it. Second, I had revisit two of my favorite middle instalments, The Two Towers and The Empire Strikes Back, to get the tone and angle of approach close to right. The trick with a middle instalment of a trilogy is that you’ve got to both “win” the dramatic line while also not yet concluding the narrative arc. The Fellowship bests Saruman, say, and that’s great and wonderful, but, too . . . Frodo’s in a pretty bad place, and Sauron’s still simmering over there on the horizon, portending all the sacrifices that are going to need to happen to vanquish him and restore Middle Earth. Or, Luke fights Vader to a near-standstill, which is to say, his Jedi training’s working out, but, too, not only does he lose his hand, but he finds out Vader’s his dad. To add onto the “down” of Empire, Han’s in carbonite, too. So, taking both of those as templates, as leads, as bars to rise to, in Reaper, Jade had to face off against all the badness in Proofrock this time around—including her own demons—but, first, in spite of that, the novel needed to end sort of “down,” and, second, it couldn’t complete her trilogy-long arc.

[GdM] Even when describing Dark Mill South’s bloody killing spree in Don’t Fear the Reaper, your work has a pronounced literary streak. How do you feel about the term “elevated horror”?

 [SGJ] Not in favor of it. I feel like it’s just people’s way of saying that they don’t really like horror, but they like this horror because it’s not like the rest. But “elevated horror” or “literary horror” always feels like an insult to all the stuff not included in that category. To me, “literary” means “that which can be returned to again and again, for more and more.” As opposed to “pulp,” I guess, which are one-reads—you leave the book on the train when you’re done, as you’ve milked it for all it had. Both of those are great, though, that’s the thing. It’s not hierarchy, it’s just different modes, different intents. And readers gravitate to whichever fits their tastes. Or they gravitate to whichever fits their tastes right then. Some days you want pulp, some days want to read a thing for the third or fourth time. And, another hesitancy I have with “literary horror” is that right now it’s kind of taken as a compliment—while also being an insult to the rest of that shelf—but I can suspect a day a few years down the road where “literary” shades into a meaning more like what we hear in movie write-ups, where the code-word is “deliberate,” which always means “super slow.” I can see a day where “literary” starts to be that kind of insult. Then? Then, the pulp stuff will be the mode actually concerned with pulling the reader through by the face. Me, I’m always aiming for pulp. I long to learn to do it better.

[GdM] Do you mainly write for yourself, or do you have a certain ideal reader in mind that you strive to entertain? Is it important to you to also reach people who don’t consider themselves horror fans?

 [SGJ] The crowd I write first for is the horror crowd. But yeah, I do try to, say, walk the non-initiates into the land of werewolves or whatever. I don’t want to be exclusive and form some kind of in-group where only those who’ve read all these other werewolf things can play. I think of genres as fields, with fences between them. I try to write my stuff such that the stories have legs long enough to step over those fields.

[GdM] Many readers’ first encounter with your novels is through the Indian Lake Trilogy and The Only Good Indians, but you have an extensive body of earlier work. With Angel of Indian Lake scheduled for March 2024, where would you direct readers in the meantime, after they devour Don’t Fear the Reaper?

 [SGJ] Mongrels, maybe? Or the audiobook The Babysitter Lives. Or my two recent novellas, Night of the Mannequins and Mapping the Interior. Or my comic book Earthdivers, if they read comics. These are all very different from each other, too.

[GdM] You recently appeared in Outland Entertainment’s Swords in the Shadows: A Swords & Sorcery Horror Anthology with the entertainingly gruesome short story “The Dog in the Corner.” You also have the digital short Conan: Lord of the Mount coming soon from Titan Books. Can we expect more Sword & Sorcery or grimdark fantasy fiction from you soon? What is motivating this apparent new push into dark fantasy?

 [SGJ] For me, it’s just opportunity in the form of invitations. I’ve always wanted to write something Conan, as he’s kind of what I cut my reader-teeth on, and I read a lot of fantasy, too. Reason I never write it? Worldbuilding. I tend to discover places and worlds as my characters walk through them. You can write a fantasy thing like that, of course, but it’ll take a while, I bet. Still? I might have to give it a go.

[GdM] For story reasons, Jade’s knowledge of recent horror releases is spotty. What newer films would she be obsessed with? Given her love of slasher flicks I suspect she’d be a Blumhouse Productions fan, but would she enjoy A24’s output? Do her preferences echo your own, or would there be some debate when choosing what to watch for a movie night?

 [SGJ] Yeah, her taste is very similar to mine, surprise. Meaning Happy Death Day and Freaky would be favorites. But I think she’d also dig the indie-stuff, like Last Girl Standing, The Mooring. And talking A24, yeah, I think Jade goes for Bodies Bodies Bodies. Really? I think she goes for any slasher she can see herself fighting her way through. Slashers are models for us all. That’s how Jade uses them.

[GdM] Thank you for sharing your time!

Read Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

 

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REVIEW: Neon Nights: A Cyberpunk Detective Thriller by Anna Mocikat

Neon Nights: A Cyberpunk Detective Thriller by Anna Mocikat is a spin-off of the very popular and engaging Behind Blue Eyes series that has already had a spin-off in the Nephilim: Origins trilogy. Neon Nights can be read as a standalone or introduction to the universe, however. Indeed, I would probably recommend an individual looking to try cyberpunk for the first time to try out Neon Nights first as opposed to Behind Blue Eyes. It is a simple and self-contained story that contains a bunch of classic sci-fi noir plots that can be finished in an afternoon.

The premise is Siro Ferreira-Nunes is a detective recently transferred from his home city of Olympias III (Brazil) to a district of Olympas I (North America). Specifically, Oldtown, which is the former city of Atlanta and now just the Red-Light District of Olympias I. It’s a couple of centuries in the future and most of the planet is under the control of one of three massive megacorporations that rule over country-sized arcologies.

Olympias’ residents are hedonistic materialists who consider monogamy deviant and live under a constant stream of propaganda reassuring them that they live in the most enlightened culture of all time. The novel is less interested in preaching at this Brave New World (*rimshot*) and more about telling a fun story, though.

Siro is assigned a new partner, Kate “Spider” Spader, and she serves as the cynical cowboy cop to his strait-laced idealist. Kate has been working in Oldtown for a very long time and it has largely resigned herself to not making any serious difference. This changes when Siro and Kate are assigned to investigate the death and organ harvesting of a mid-tier celebrity. This leads to them discovering a much-much larger case that involves cybernetics, sex, and the totalitarian government of Olympias.

If this sounds like a classic detective formula, it is and absolutely benefits from the familiarity of the tropes being used alongside a cyberpunk setting. The police are doing the same job they always have but have the dark edginess of being in a corrupt dystopia (that, nevertheless, seems pretty nice if you’re willing to overlook the darker side). We also get some interesting twists on the classic elements with Siro and Kate having a lot of sexual tension but then immediately moving on from it because that’s not this sort of society.

Speaking of sex, this is a very R-rated book with gruesome murders and an uninhibited sleazy society that benefits from remembering cyberpunk used to be edgy. This is a much darker book than the main Behind Blue Eyes series (and that’s hardly PG-13) but benefits for how in-your-face all of the sex, drugs, and violence is. I’ve felt that a lot of cyberpunk has been rather tame since the Nineties and felt more Shadow Run than Altered Carbon. This is much closer to the latter than the former. Still, some people may be put off by the graphic content in the book. Others may feel like it’s a selling point.

I wouldn’t say Neon Nights is grimdark, though, because Siro is about as good as a protagonist as you can have in this sort of sci-fi setting. He wants to do the best job he can possibly do and save some innocent lives if it’s possible. The fact he’s up against an unbelievably corrupt system makes anything he does dubious, though. I appreciate that he understands the necessity of playing office politics and people against one another, though. It makes him easy to root for even as you don’t have to rely on author fiat when he isn’t immediately taken out.

I also really liked Kate and she reminds me of some of my favorite hard edged female characters like early Anita Blake. While it’s 2023 and no longer as uncommon, it’s still nice to also have the hardened cynical cop who only has casual physical relationships be the woman. It’s a role reversal that’s still uncommon. The fact she’s a queer character is also a nice bonus, being an element of her character without being the focus.

In conclusion, Neon Nights is a pretty enjoyable novel and my kind of fiction. I love both detective novels as well as cyberpunk so it’s two great tastes that go great together. It’s also a good starter novel for the genre. Some readers may be put off by the amount of sex and violence, but I feel the sleaze is part of the world-building. This is a self-contained story, but I’d be happy to read a series starring these characters.

Read Neon Nights: A Cyberpunk Detective Thriller by Anna Mocikat

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REVIEW: A Cavern of Black Ice by J.V. Jones

A Cavern of Black Ice is an impressive opening entry in J.V. Jones’ dark and snowy fantasy epic, Sword of Shadows. I was invested from the start and gripped throughout as numerous hardships, betrayals, politics, magic, fate and the elements batter the characters that inhabit Jones’ world.

We are first introduced to a clansman of Clan Blackhail, Raif Sevrance. He has a unique talent that makes him an excellent archer when it comes to hunting game. In A Cavern of Black Ice‘s opening segments, Raif’s life changes dramatically and his place in the clan becomes uncertain. This is due to the fact that his morals and his quick-to-challenge nature do not align with a persuasive, wolf-like, and now pivotal superior clansman. Whereas Raif’s clan resides in a settlement amidst the snowy wastes and icy plains of the Northern Territories, the other main character Ash Marsh lives in Spire Vanis, a fortress city. The Vaingate of Spire Vanis is where a baby Ash was abandoned and left to die. Fortunately, she was found and raised as the foster child of the Surlord of Spire Vanis and Keeper of the Mask Fortress, Penthero Iss. We join Ash as she approaches womanhood and begins to question her place, relationships, and her surreal nightmares that involve pleading voices and a dark cavern.

She saw a cavern with walls of black ice. A burned hand reaching toward her, cracks between its fingers oozing blood. Dark eyes watching, waiting . . .

If I had to find similarities elsewhere in fantasy literature to describe A Cavern of Black Ice, I would summarise it as being like the following: the beyond-the-wall sections and the unpredictable cut-throat, nobody is indispensable nature of A Song of Ice and Fire, the awful-things-happen-to-your-favourite-characters emotional barrage of The Realm of the Elderlings, and the finely crafted characterisation of heroes, villains and everything in between a la Abercrombie’s The First Law.

Either way, you are not good for this clan, Raif Sevrance. You are raven born, chosen to watch the dead. And I fear that if you stay amongst us, you will watch us all die before your eyes have had their fill.

The world-building is a massive asset to Sword of Shadows‘ first book. Delivered through the eight-or-so point of view perspectives, Jones slowly reveals details about this vast, complicated, and intriguing world. Raif may reflect on knowledge passed on by his father about the dangers of clan life in the snowy wilds and Ash often contemplates the histories she has been taught throughout her lessons in Spire Vanis. As the novel progresses, seemingly isolated storylines, pieces of history, or nuggets of knowledge intricately overlap, then making sense in relation to what has come before; and this is a really rewarding experience as the bigger picture is developed. The pacing of the novel is steady, creating mystery and drama throughout. This leads to and heightens some extraordinary and scintillating stand-out moments, mental images of which will stay with me for a long long time.

The dying wind smelled of cold things from the north, of frozen lakes and ice fields and glaciers.

It is worth noting that I did have one initial concern when I started the novel, that descriptions of ice, snow, wind, frost, and the cold would get dull and repetitive yet, somehow, my worry was unfounded as Jones kept her descriptions fresh and engaging, really drawing me into her wonderful but unforgiving world. I wish to reiterate that this novel features some harsh moments, dark imagery, and scenes that could be upsetting including… ***potential spoiler following*** the rape of a main character shown through the eyes of a child’s point of view perspective.

Incorporating all of the above, A Cavern of Black Ice sets solid foundations, has many great characters, and is bursting with exciting possibilities in what could become an S-Tier dark fantasy masterpiece. 8.5/10.

A man had been hung, a popular rogue and ladies’ man, and the people of Spire Vanis had taken offense at his death. Not the fact of his death, rather the manner of it, for Penthero Iss had ordered his handsome face cut off and then stitched on backward. Ash swallowed hard. Sometimes her foster father did things like that just to see what such horrors would look like.

Read A Cavern of Black Ice by J.V. Jones

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REVIEW: A New Life

It’s been a while since I watched an episode of Hammer and Bolter on Warhammer TV but I tell you what, A New Life is magnificent. It’s Warhammer 40,000 storytelling at its best.

Set on an Imperial colony beset by a Tyranid invasion, this 20 minute short animation nails every aspect of this universe in all its grimdark glory. Our protagonists get warning that the wealthy and important are abandoning the colony, then one of their family gets word that an invasion is coming. It’s not fear. It’s not word of mouth. It’s a family on the Guard that knows. This is happening.

They flee into the depths of the city as the rest of the population cottons on and begins to panic. Imperial soldiers start massacring citizens to keep them clear of the launch pads for ships off world. As the city descends into chaos and the Tyranids descend on the city, will the family find refuge and save their baby?

Animated in the same style as the rest of the series, A New Life uses enough detail to be on message with the universe, while also allowing the story to rip along at a fast pace. The scenes are well played out, with multiple twists on the way through that just show the value of good short story writing underpinning whatever method and media you use to showcase it. The animation style doesn’t really lend itself tremendously well to the tyranids when they are shown massing, in my opinion, but it’s a small dislike for what is otherwise one of the best episodes so far.

A New Life is a brilliant short animation full of desperation and horror and guts, and humanity in all its shades of grey. An almost perfect episode in this series.

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Review: The Quiet Room by Terry Miles

Twisty, twisty, twisty, The Quiet Room by Terry Miles takes you on another strange path down the Rabbit hole. 

The “Rabbits” series by storyteller Terry Miles is based on the world created by his serialized podcast of the same name with the titular catchphrase, “R U Playing.” So again, we are faced with the question, “What is Rabbits?” And frankly, there is no way for me to illuminate that, but I can tell you what I know. 

The series idea of Rabbits is a swirling collection of chapters and stories hinting at an underground game called Rabbits. It’s characters and us readers following clues and seeing patterns in multiple dimensions. In The Quiet Room, the second novel in the series, Rowan Chess is starting to see patterns; the idea of Rabbits is popping up around him. To such an extent that it is getting hard to ignore them. On the flip side, Emily Connors suddenly finds herself trapped in a dimensional stream where the game does not exist and nothing feels right.

While the story had me in the first pages, this is a dark and complicated read; it is the type of story that would be difficult to wade through if you are not thoroughly familiar with the first book. Even then, because of the complexity, you may have had to reread the first book recently to familiarize yourself. The Quiet Room hops from area to area, dimension to dimension, and person to person. It is not a narrative that moves in a straight line, jagged line, or anything resembling a line, more like a yarn knot. That is one of the positives and detractors of a story like this. Some folks who read it, myself, included love puzzles and piecing the story bits together. But compared to the first book, The Quiet Room has an even faster pacing. I got lost a few times, and that is saying something because I had to keep notes in the first book to keep it all straight. Some of it is too much, and I wish Miles had developed things further in a couple of areas to solidify characters so I had a general feel for them, but maybe this is him setting the series up for a grand crescendo. Honestly, anything with this story is possible. 

If you like your stories with traditional storytelling, characters, plot arcs, or narrative structure, this book will not be for you. But if you want to walk on the wild side and try something different, possibly cult-worthy, I suggest giving this a go….after reading book 1, Rabbits.

READ THE QUIET ROOM BY TERRY MILES

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REVIEW: Schrader’s Chord by Scott Leeds

Murder. Suicide. Accident. Natural. These are the four facets of death according to Ivan Schrader. Anyone who performs the ritual correctly and plays the four records Schrader left behind is marked for death – and cursed to see the dead come alive. Scott Leeds’ Schrader’s Chord is a powerful debut, simultaneously scary, haunting and emotional. Strong characters and a well-paced plot round off the package. I do want to flag a trigger warning for suicide and self-harm, both on the page and off. For those who are perhaps a bit squeamish, there are strong elements of body horror throughout the book, discussed in detail at times.

Charlie thought he’d left his father’s record shop behind him when he moved to New York to work for a record label. Compartmentalised, just like other painful things, not to be remembered or thought about. And then, Raymond Remick dies and leaves him the shop – and a case with four mysterious records. Schrader’s records. Turns out they make the dead come back to life, and Charlie, his sister and their friends need all the help they can get to survive this. From Charlie’s dead father, for example. Maybe Charlie needs to deal with his unresolved feelings after all…

And that really is the central strength of Schrader’s Chord. It’s not a splatter horror novel, though there is plenty of gore. The story itself, however, is about relationships and family. The nuance and development of Raymond’s relationship with both his biological son Charlie and Ana, a young employee at the shop who is perhaps something of a chance to do better, stands out especially. These relationship arcs slowly unravel over the course of the story, as unspoken things get uttered and emotions need to be confronted. The story doesn’t shy away from showing the ugly, the fallout of decisions years ago – and use it as a cathartic element. Much of what takes place outside of the main quest plot is rooted in these relationships, in struggles the characters have carried around for years. It is clear throughout that the characters all deeply care about each other even if they don’t know how to approach certain topics or harbour resentment. These relationship arcs add another dimension of narrative tension to a story that is already compelling and fast-paced on a plot level.

I found myself completely immersed in Schrader’s Chord, and its vivid prose. The writing makes the story come alive in a tangible way, evoking atmosphere without distracting from plot and characters. Like Charlie, many readers will find themselves falling for Ana and her stubborn determination. Charlie and Raymond are brilliant characters too, flawed and prone to hurting others when they themselves feel vulnerable. Other characters perhaps don’t get quite the same level of detail, but as they are drawn through emotions and relationships, the reader gets a sense for them that exceeds what is on the page.

Schrader’s Chord proves that Scott Leeds has a promising future as a horror writer. A perfect book for spooky season – and one that will make you want to dust off the record player and perhaps return to the analog world for a bit.

Read Schrader’s Chord by Scott Leeds

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REVIEW: Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout by Bartosz Sztybor (W), Roberto Ricci (A), Fabiana Mascolo (C)

Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout is another of Dark Horse Comics’ adaptations of CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 universe (well, technically, Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk universe). I had mixed feelings on the comics with Trauma Team and Your Voice not really doing it for me but really enjoying You Have My Word and Big City Dreams. This is the best of the comics by far, in my opinion, and I really enjoyed You Have My Word.

The premise of the setting is that the United States has fallen but there are many city states with advanced technology but tremendous divides between the rich and poor. The chief of these is Night City and it is a hellhole of crime as well as violence. It is also a place of tremendous opportunity, at least for criminals, and the tabletop RPG (as well as video game) is all about achieving that Big Score that will make your dreams come true.

In Blackout, Arturo is a braindance editor that repairs equipment for people to live out their virtual fantasies as an escape from the harshness of the quote-unquote “real world.” Arturo lives with an Edgerunner named AI-Beta, who has been driven out of the business for reasons unknown but are implied to be an untrustworthy nature regarding money. Arturo has an alcoholic police officer named Dinesh living at the foot of his stairs and bosses who do not appreciate him.

Arturo dreams of using braindances to help people and cure them of their vices. However, this is something his company has no interest in pursuing. Addiction to braindances is part of their business model after all, as is keeping people buying things to distract them from their crushing problems. After Arturo tries to help a prisoner from suffering horrific torture in prison by reliving his execution over and over, he’s fired from his job. Which leads him to decide that he needs to pursue his dream by any means necessary: robbing a bank.

If this sounds like a lot more character development than is typical with these comics then you are correct. This has a lot more “character” than the majority and I absolutely love the oddball cast of characters. There’s a lighter, more “fun” tone to the story despite dealing with a lot of very dark themes. It helps that Arturo is also one of the very few “good” characters in Night City even if he’s still a criminal trying to rob a bank.

One of the problems with the Cyberpunk 2077 spin offs is the fact they tend to be overly depressing. While I understand bittersweet or outright downer endings are common with the film noir influences, it should be noted that things like Blade Runner and Neuromancer usually had some small level of hope for our protagonists. That’s not even bringing up works like Hardwired or Ghost in the Shell that usually have our heroes triumph. Here, the ending is significantly more upbeat, and I feel it says something about how bad the other ones were given it still has some darkness.

The art is pretty good and the storytelling pretty darn engaging. As such, I would definitely recommend Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout and You Have My Word as the best of the Cyberpunk 2077 comics. I don’t dislike any of them, but I feel if you’re going to visit Night City, these are the two you would enjoy most for a visit.

Read Cyberpunk 2077: Blackout

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Grimdark Magazine Issue #36 is here!

Welcome to issue #36 of Grimdark Magazine. In this issue, we are focused on telling longer stories vis-à-vis the novella or serialized short stories. Short story master T.R. Napper has given us an incredible novella-length story about a one-armed sword master.

Napper’s story, A Marked Man, has strong Japanese samurai and Western themes with a magic system based around tattoos. And since tattoos play a large part in the narrative as well as the overall aesthetic of the story, I wanted to incorporate a tattoo style into the cover that both encapsulated the feel of the story as well as being highly illustrative and immediately I knew that the Trash Polka style would suit it to a tee. Napper’s story is concise while creating a whole world and magic system. This brevity of words while remaining impactful is one of the defining qualities of well-written short-form fiction, and Napper has it down.

Additionally, we have three other stories that should feed your grimdark-loving soul: Ken Scholes, who has appeared in Grimdark Magazine multiple times, brings us That Old Time Religion. Author Michael R. Fletcher has two stories this month. These take place in the same world and involve a necromancer and a rotting swordsman. One we loved so much we bought it twice.

Also, we have some exciting interviews this month that span the gamut of fantasy and horror: Jim Butcher, Patrick Rothfuss, Stephen Graham Jones, Mariely Lares, and Thiago Abdalla.

So, kick back, pop a beer, and get ready to dive into some deliciously dark short stories. We hope you love them as much as we do.

The Grimdark Magazine Issue #36 cover by Carlos Diaz

We spoke a little bit about the gorgeous cover art for this issue last week, based on T.R. Napper’s short story. Now, here it is in it’s fully marked up glory!

The lineup

Hopefully that intro and that cover have you pretty excited! Here is the full line up for this quarter.

FICTIONThat Old Time Religion by Ken ScholesDeath at the Pass by Michael R. FletcherDeath and Dignity by Michael R. FletcherA Marked Man by T.R. NapperNON-FICTIONAn Interview with Patrick Rothfuss by Beth Tabler and John MauroReview: Last To Leave the Room by Caitlin StarlingAn Interview with Stephen Graham Jones by Robin MarxA Love Letter to the Darkness of Final Fantasy by Aaron S. JonesAn Interview with Jim Butcher by Beth TablerReview: Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely LaresAn Interview with Mariely LaresRead Grimdark Magazine Issue #36

Head over to our webstore to get your ePub or PDF version, or buy from Amazon below.

 

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