David Anthony Durham's Blog, page 25
December 19, 2011
Strange Horizons on TSB
Niall Harrison has just included a review of The Sacred Band for his weekly blog post at Strange Horizons. He says some terrific things. I'm very grateful he connected so strongly with the book - and the series in general.
Among other things, he wrote: "The Sacred Band is a rich, rewarding novel that is a patient, gracious reminder that we hold the world in trust, and must try to improve on it, generation to generation. I suspect there's only room for one epic fantasy on next year's Hugo ballot for Best Novel -- you know the one -- but I'd love to see this one up there as well."
You can read the full review HERE: Sunday Reading.
Among other things, he wrote: "The Sacred Band is a rich, rewarding novel that is a patient, gracious reminder that we hold the world in trust, and must try to improve on it, generation to generation. I suspect there's only room for one epic fantasy on next year's Hugo ballot for Best Novel -- you know the one -- but I'd love to see this one up there as well."
You can read the full review HERE: Sunday Reading.
Niall Harrison has just included a review of The Sacred B...
Niall Harrison has just included a review of The Sacred Band for his weekly blog post at Strange Horizons. He says some terrific things. I'm very grateful he connected so strongly with the book - and the series in general.
Among other things, he wrote: "The Sacred Band is a rich, rewarding novel that is a patient, gracious reminder that we hold the world in trust, and must try to improve on it, generation to generation. I suspect there's only room for one epic fantasy on next year's Hugo ballot for Best Novel -- you know the one -- but I'd love to see this one up there as well."
You can read the full review HERE: Sunday Reading.
Among other things, he wrote: "The Sacred Band is a rich, rewarding novel that is a patient, gracious reminder that we hold the world in trust, and must try to improve on it, generation to generation. I suspect there's only room for one epic fantasy on next year's Hugo ballot for Best Novel -- you know the one -- but I'd love to see this one up there as well."
You can read the full review HERE: Sunday Reading.
Sheeran #3
A third offering from Mr. Sheeran.
"The A Team":
"The A Team":
December 18, 2011
Sheeran #2
Here's the second Ed Sheeran video I offer for you consideration - "Lego House":
Sheeran #1
Heard of Ed Sheeran? He's a singer, a musician, a kid doing - I believe - some really interesting stuff. I dig him enough that I want you to watch a video. Thing is, if you really don't know who this guy is I don't want you to look him up. Just watch this, and chill...
And then I'll soon post another video from him. Four days. Four videos. If you hang with me on this for a few days you'll see why I think he's so cool. Can you do that? I'm hoping so.
To begin, try this - "You Need Me, I Don't Need You":
And then I'll soon post another video from him. Four days. Four videos. If you hang with me on this for a few days you'll see why I think he's so cool. Can you do that? I'm hoping so.
To begin, try this - "You Need Me, I Don't Need You":
December 17, 2011
Not Loving Lovecraft
Nnedi Okorafor has a very interesting post regarding the statuette of her recent World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for Who Fears Death.The statuette is a bust of H.P. Lovecraft. Sound okay to you? Well, it's not so cut and dry if you're an African American. (Or if you're sensitive to the legacy of racism.)
Wonder what I'm talking about? Let Nnedi - with some help from China Mieville - explain.
December 16, 2011
Elbakin.net on L' Alliance sacrée
The terrific French Fantasy website, Elbakin.net, has just posted it's review of
L' Alliance sacrée
(The Sacred Band). They were very generous, giving it a rating of 8 out of 10, and suggesting (I think) that it may be the best book of the series!They gave the same ranking to La Guerre du Mein (The War With the Mein), and that one ended up becoming a finalist for Le Prix Imaginales. It got me a trip to France!I'm already very pleased, but if that could happen again I'd be thrilled...
Here's the review.
December 14, 2011
Film Patience
I got some papers in the post today. I had to go down to the bottom of the track (1/2 mile from the house) to get them. Ice. Rain. Snow. Winds up to 60mph. Sleet...
Whatever. Just December at Upper Park. No worries.
The papers (which were a bit damp - I had to dry them out on the radiator) were contracts for renewing the film rights option on Gabriel's Story. Yah! This is the eight or so year that Gabriel's Story has been in the capable hands of Redwave Films. They're an independent production company based in the UK, with Uberto Pasolini in charge. He's the guy behind The Full Monty. Since that rather huge hit they've specialized mostly in smaller films. He's got what could be a bigger one coming out next year, Bel Ami, starring Robert Patinson, Christina Ricci, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colm Meaney. Quite a cast.
What about my novel? They've been working on it for years. There is a director attached. There is a screenplay. They've been pitching talent - especially for the role of Marshall - slowly and steadily. Last year they had to put things on hold a bit because the director,
Don't recall what Gabriel's Story is? Well, it's my first novel, an historical set in the American West. Here's how Publishers Weekly described it in a starred review (I've cut a few spoilery bits out):
"The old West, both beautiful and brutal, is the setting of Durham's magnificently realized debut novel, a classic coming-of-age story of an African-American boy. Shortly after the Civil War, 15-year-old Gabriel Lynch, his mother and younger brother head out from Baltimore to meet Gabriel's new stepfather in Kansas, where the family hopes to make a fresh start as farmers. But Gabriel finds homesteading to be backbreaking and depressing and is soon lured away by cruel, charismatic Marshall Hogg, who's leading a group of cowboys down into Texas. It seems a dream come true for Gabriel, but then the nightmare begins... Durham is a born storyteller: each step of Gabriel's descent into hell proceeds from the natural logic of the narrative itself, which manages to be inevitable even as it's totally surprising. Equally impressive is Durham's gift for describing the awful beauty of the American West: "The April sky was not a thing of air and gas," writes Durham. "Rather it lay like a solid ceiling of slate, pressing the living down into the prairie." The tale's racial dimension is subtly and intelligently developed, and though some readers may be turned off by the violence Gabriel witnesses, all will be impressed by Durham's maturity, skill and lovingly crafted prose."
Sound like the makings of a film? I hope so. Patience, though. Patience...
Whatever. Just December at Upper Park. No worries.
The papers (which were a bit damp - I had to dry them out on the radiator) were contracts for renewing the film rights option on Gabriel's Story. Yah! This is the eight or so year that Gabriel's Story has been in the capable hands of Redwave Films. They're an independent production company based in the UK, with Uberto Pasolini in charge. He's the guy behind The Full Monty. Since that rather huge hit they've specialized mostly in smaller films. He's got what could be a bigger one coming out next year, Bel Ami, starring Robert Patinson, Christina Ricci, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Colm Meaney. Quite a cast.What about my novel? They've been working on it for years. There is a director attached. There is a screenplay. They've been pitching talent - especially for the role of Marshall - slowly and steadily. Last year they had to put things on hold a bit because the director,
Don't recall what Gabriel's Story is? Well, it's my first novel, an historical set in the American West. Here's how Publishers Weekly described it in a starred review (I've cut a few spoilery bits out):
"The old West, both beautiful and brutal, is the setting of Durham's magnificently realized debut novel, a classic coming-of-age story of an African-American boy. Shortly after the Civil War, 15-year-old Gabriel Lynch, his mother and younger brother head out from Baltimore to meet Gabriel's new stepfather in Kansas, where the family hopes to make a fresh start as farmers. But Gabriel finds homesteading to be backbreaking and depressing and is soon lured away by cruel, charismatic Marshall Hogg, who's leading a group of cowboys down into Texas. It seems a dream come true for Gabriel, but then the nightmare begins... Durham is a born storyteller: each step of Gabriel's descent into hell proceeds from the natural logic of the narrative itself, which manages to be inevitable even as it's totally surprising. Equally impressive is Durham's gift for describing the awful beauty of the American West: "The April sky was not a thing of air and gas," writes Durham. "Rather it lay like a solid ceiling of slate, pressing the living down into the prairie." The tale's racial dimension is subtly and intelligently developed, and though some readers may be turned off by the violence Gabriel witnesses, all will be impressed by Durham's maturity, skill and lovingly crafted prose."
Sound like the makings of a film? I hope so. Patience, though. Patience...
December 11, 2011
Colors, Colours...
My daughter, Maya, every now and then gives us little glimpses of her life outside of our house. Tonight she mentioned that the kids in her school - the Breadalbane Academy in Aberfeldy, Scotland - don't know much about America. (Weird that, considering... um, what's on tv over here.)
Apparently, she mentioned that she lived in California for a while. True enough. It got her a barrage of questions.
Question: "Were you in a gang?"
Answer: "A gang? No."
Question: "Did you have a gun?"
Answer: "What? No!"
Question: "Did your dad have a gun?..."
It went on like that for a while. By the end of it, I doubt any of them believed she actually lived in Cali at all...
Apparently, she mentioned that she lived in California for a while. True enough. It got her a barrage of questions.
Question: "Were you in a gang?"
Answer: "A gang? No."
Question: "Did you have a gun?"
Answer: "What? No!"
Question: "Did your dad have a gun?..."
It went on like that for a while. By the end of it, I doubt any of them believed she actually lived in Cali at all...
December 9, 2011
Now here's a nice review of The Sacred Band. Short, clear...
Now here's a nice review of The Sacred Band. Short, clear, spoiler free, and insightful. At least, to my ear the reviewer very much read the book I believe myself to have written.
Strangely, that's not always the case...
It's HERE, at Objectionable Material.
Strangely, that's not always the case...
It's HERE, at Objectionable Material.
