Minions of the Moon - Who's Reading? / Discussion

[Melanti]

The April book is supposed to be Minions of the Moon by Richard Bowes.


I do have this checked out from the library. Is anyone else going to read it too?

[Jalilah]

That's great Melanti! I have a library copy too!

[Katy]

Oh I have this book! I'll join in.

[Margaret]

I will probably join in on this one as well.

[Melanti]

Just finished it this evening. It's a very odd book and a bit confusing in places...

There's three timelines intertwining. The first is when Kevin is young and just beginning to be addicted to drugs. The second is in his 30's when he's starting to try to kick the habit. The third is when he's older and thinking back on everything as his partner is dying of Aids. Since there's just a chapter break and no header, sometimes it takes a page or two until you can figure out what timeline that chapter is about.

This really reminds me of something else that I've read but I can't remember what, exactly. Maybe a little of Elizabeth Hand - but not the writing style - just the aspect that it's a bit hard to tell what's alcohol/drugs and what is really happening.

Maybe a bit of Perfect Circle in that it stars a ne'er do well type character dealing with strange visions - a doppleganger in Kevin's case and ghosts in Stewart's book.

I'd put this at 3 1/2 stars and am trying to decide whether to round up to 4 or down to 3.

[Odette]

Happy to say the library has this one (finally!)
I have it on order.

[Richard]

Since I wrote it, I can at least answer questions about it.

[David]

I just placed a hold on this book. I should have time to start it this weekend.

[Melanti]

Welcome, Rick, though I have to warn you we're not the most talkative of groups!

Looking through your website a bit, I'm seeing that Minions of the Moon is a fix-up novel of sorts - that is, composed of a set of previously separate short stories - which probably explains the transitions from one chapter to another that I noted earlier.

Did you write the stories/chapters in the order that they were presented in Minions? And did you have to do much editing to make the stories fit together as they do or did you always have Grierson's overall time line worked out in your head as you were writing the individual stories?

[Katy]

Rick wrote: "Since I wrote it, I can at least answer questions about it."

Cool, thanks

[Richard]

The first story narrated by Kevin Grierson in what eventually became MINIONS OF THE MOON was "On Death and the Deuce." It's set in Hell's Kitchen and Time Square in New York in 1974. Somewhat rewritten it's Chapter Seven in Minions

The story was intensely personal. I wrote it in 1991 and it was published in May 1992 in the Magazine of Fantasy&Science Fiction. I'd only recently begun writing short stories (I'd published three novels)
and this was the first to see print. The initial reaction was very good, the story was anthologized a couple of times. Kris Rusch, the editor of F&SF, asked for more. I wrote "The Judges of the Secret Court," "A Beggar at the Bridge" and "I Died Sir, In Flame Sir" which became the basis for Chapters 8, 9 and 10. Somewhere in there Kris told me I had a novel.

[Jalilah]

Melanti wrote: "Just finished it this evening. It's a very odd book and a bit confusing in places...

There's three timelines intertwining. The first is when Kevin is young and just beginning to be addicted to d..."

I agree Melanti and also find it a bit confusing. That being said, up to now, I am finding it quite an interesting and very original read. I like the dark grittiness of it and I agree that aspect as well as the fantastic under the surface also reminds me of Elizabeth Hand and Stina Leicht who wrote Of Blood and Honey and a bit of a Last Exit to Brooklyn.

Oh my! I will certainly look at the YMCA differently from now on!

[Jalilah]

Rick wrote: "Since I wrote it, I can at least answer questions about it."

Richard I would love it if you could explain more about the book Scot Jr had, " A Garland Knot for Children". Is it something you made up or is it from Irish Mythology? I enjoyed Kevin's relationship with Scot and their Islands game, however had a hard time imagining what the Garland knot was.

[Richard]

"The Garland Knot for Children" is an invention. There were many 19th century compilations of verse and fairy tales for kids. Rhy's "Fairy Gold" is maybe the best known. This particular copy happens to be an accursed heirloom of Scot Callendar's family. It gets passed on to his son and winds its way through MINIONS.
The Islands Game is based on The Game of the Islands from H.G. Wells 1913 book FLOOR GAMES. Along with LITTLE WARS it's a book (with photos) about playing with toys and is widely used by child psychiatrists today in sand table play therapy. Kevin has been taught the game by an uncle from Dublin and teaches it to young Scott.