Author Interview: Mark Lawrence

Novels:
Prince of Thorns
King of Thorns
Emperor of Thorns

In addition to writing novels, Mr. Lawrence also writes short stories and poetry (click the links to read several of each).

Website: princeofthorns.com

> What can readers expect from your Broken Empire trilogy?

I think a lot of authors find this a hard question to answer. Authors like to talk about the writing. Talking about the story is more difficult because it's asking for hundreds of thousands of words to be shoe-horned into tens of words.

The Broken Empire trilogy is about a charming, dangerous, and amoral boy growing into a charming, dangerous, and amoral young man. On the journey he cuts down pretty much everything and everyone who gets in his way, and he's rather creative when it comes to the business of killing.

Where Prince of Thorns differs from a lot of fantasy books is that the story is the main character, Jorg. It's as much about who he is and why he is as it is about what he does. There's no evil overlord threatening the goodly lands of Generica. There are no dragons, no fireworky mages spewing out magic like they just ate a bad spell. Our protagonist is a nasty piece of work and no crime seems too bad for him if it’s a path to his goals. He makes no apologies for his actions and isn’t seeking redemption. However, if you read between the lines he delivers, you discover a new perspective on him that whilst it doesn't excuse his deeds, does go some way to explaining them.

So, turning tens of words into ten, it's a violent enthusiastic fantasy with a deeper sub-text.

> Why did you decide to make Jorg an anti-hero rather than a traditional hero figure?

I find these tags of hero, anti-hero, and villain rather restrictive, as if fantasy were something laid out according to certain rules, when in reality it should be the least constrained of all fiction.

The inspiration for the character came from Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange which also features a violent and amoral protagonist who confuses us by being at the same time charming and intelligent. I wanted to see if I could work a similar magic in a fantasy book.

 > You've worked in the field of artificial intelligence.  Why do you write fantasy rather than science fiction?

I still work in that field, but if I worked as a doctor should I then write medical dramas? Or if I were a lawyer should I write fiction about crime and judgement? If that were true who would we be left with to write fantasy? Would we need people who worked by day as unicorn wranglers or dragon farmers to write fantasy? Fantasy was my first love long before I discovered I could solve equations. My mother read me Lord of the Rings when I was seven.

> What made you want to be a writer?

I never harboured any great desire to be a writer, and certainly no expectation of it. I just enjoyed writing – so I did! Nobody was more surprised than me when someone wanted to print my work and sell it.

 > If you could, would you change places with any of your characters?

No. My life isn’t all milk and honey but my characters all have it much tougher than I do. I’m much happier on this side of the keyboard.

> What were your literary influences for the Broken Empire trilogy ?

The inspiration for the protagonist, Jorg, came from A Clockwork Orange. Beyond that I have no influences I’m aware of, and probably many that I’m not aware of. Certainly reading George Martin’s A Game of Thronesreawakened my interest in fantasy, convincing me that the elements I loved in fantasy when growing up could be re-imagined in a much more adult and literary fashion without losing that magic.

> Beyond the matter of length, do you find it easier writing short stories, poems or novels?

When it’s time for a poem then a poem comes easy. But I couldn’t write one every day. The shorter the form the more effort per word I would say in general, but that effort is mainly in waiting for the idea or sentiment or vision to bubble up from wherever it is that these things bubble from.

> What was the hardest scene for you to write?

Emotionally that would be a scene in King of Thorns involving a dog. I had my only ever piece of hate-mail over that.

> When and where do you write?

I write wherever I can sit down and get some quiet, normally late at night when all my other duties are taken care of.

> What’s the best/worst thing about writing?

Writing is like scratching an itch. The need to do it builds up. Then you do it, and for a while the need is satisfied. So the best thing is that it scratches that itch. If I didn’t write I’d have to do something else creative.

I’m having difficulty coming up with a worst thing... it’s all pretty good. I guess the worst thing is that it’s time consuming and you could have done something else good in those hours. I’ve not managed to play a computer game in two years and I’d really quite like to. It’s just I’d rather write.

> What is something you didn’t know about the publishing industry before you had your first book published?

That would be EVERYTHING. I didn’t have the slightest clue about or interest in the publishing industry before my first book was published. I guess my biggest misconception was that the authors of the books in the bookshops were making their living by writing, when in fact very few of them can afford to give up the day job.

> Do you have any advice for hopeful authors?

Keep hoping.

But really it’s only sensible to invest all that time and effort if you enjoy it and find the writing to be its own reward.

> Any tips against writers block?

No. I’ve never had it. If I don’t want to write, I don’t write. I don’t consider that to be writer’s block.

> How do you discipline yourself to write? 

I don’t. I write if I want to.

3 Videos of Interest

I've received several emails lately with promotional trailers for some movies of interest.

The first is a documentary about John W. Campbell, Jr. by DMZ and Eric Solstein.

Here's a quick synopsis from Mr. Solstein's youtube page:

Science Fiction erupted into the modern age in 1938 when John W. Campbell, Jr. took over as editor at Astounding Science Fiction magazine. This is the story of one unique man who managed to create our modern vision of the future.

It's told by some of SF's greatest writers: Isaac Asimov, Harry Harrison, Frederik Pohl, Michael Moorcock, Philip Jose Farmer, Brian Aldiss, Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson, Barry Malzberg, Ben Bova, Hal Clement, Bruce Sterling, Phil Klass &/or William Tenn, James Gunn and Samuel R. Delany.

The second video is a kickstarter campaign for a short film called Reality Check.  I'm not keen on their backer rewards but the film sounds interesting.  There's 15 days left to support it.

Here's the premise from their site.

Elion is an insurance agent who time-travels to check the validity of insurance claims. A job known as “The Watcher,” Elion, has one last assignment as a “Watcher,” which if she can solve will lead to a promotion.

The reward?  Elion will gain the ability to take her own time trip and gain information as to the whereabouts of her missing family, and the inner workings of Reality Check. She discovers along the way that corruption begins on a personal level. A decision she makes in the past will change the course of her future forever.

And last but not least, for you horror fans out there, Devil's Pass is a found footage movie coming out Sept 27th.

From the email:

The real life mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident has baffled investigators and researchers for decades, and rumors have attributed their strange deaths to everything from  alien encounters to government conspiracies. Check out the brand new trailer to join a new generation of explorers as they make their way through the infamous Ural Mountains and uncover secrets more shocking than they could have ever imagined. 

SF Author Quiz - Answers

This is the answer key to the quiz I posted here.  If you haven't see that post, go back and read it first.














So how did you do?  I don't think we realize just how much information we get from a book cover, and how quickly we judge our interest based on it.  I considered doing a second quiz, showing the book covers with the author's names removed, to see if people could judge the books by gender based on those.  Or, for that matter, their own interest level.  As much as we hear, and may believe in the phrase, 'don't judge a book by its cover', so much of what happens in our brains is unconscious, and a cover, or badly written synopsis, can really bias us against an otherwise fantastic book.

(Edited to add: Basically I'm curious how many people 'don't read women' based on bias.  Yes, interest is a factor, I'm not a huge fan of books that focus on the romance over the plot and yes, a lot of women write (and read) romance focused books.  I guess I want to point out that not all women write that and if you're ignoring all books by women because there's one aspect of women's writing you don't like - whether perceived or true - then you're missing out.  I also don't want people to feel like they 'have' to read books by women.  Reading is a leisure activity.  Read what you enjoy.  Just don't unilaterally exclude an entire branch of writing based on bias.  Read the backs of books, maybe you'll find some - by people you otherwise wouldn't have picked up - that interest you.)

Again, if you liked this quiz and would like to see more (or just synopses without info so you can see if the book idea interests you without recourse to the cover art or author's name) then tell me in the comments and I'll make up some more of them.  Same goes for if you like the cover idea mentioned above.

I hope, if you're an SF fan or not, that you found something that interests you in the synopses I chose for this quiz.

Here are your answers:

1) Brain Plague - Joan Slonczewski (female)

2) Lost in Translation - Edward Willett (male)

3) Exogene - T. C. McCarthy (male)

4) Nothing Human - Nancy Kress (female)

5) Up Against It - M. J. Locke (female)

6) Warchild - Karin Lowachee (female)

7) The Last Mortal Man - Syne Mitchell (female)

8) Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand - Samuel Delany (male)

9) Seeds of Earth - Michael Cobley (male)

10) Dark Space - Marianne de Pierres (female)

SF Author Quiz - Judging a book by its Synopsis

A few days ago I read yet another post by a male SF fan who's somehow never read books by female SF author (and had somehow never heard of many well know, respected, award winning female SF authors).

My first impulse was to write a rant post.  Surely we've reached the point that if you're writing something on the internet you're also net savvy enough to be able to google 'female SF authors' to address your ignorance.  I've decided not to give suggestions on these types of posts anymore.  If someone honestly wants to find authors of a particular gender, race, sexuality, etc. then maybe doing the footwork to 1) find them and 2) see what's good, will convince them to actually read some books by people who are different from them.  I'm just getting the impression that writing an 'I haven't read X' post is becoming the 'I've admitted my fault and now I don't need to fix my fault' post.  The act of telling people what you're doing/planning on doing makes you feel good, so you don't end up actually DOING anything to address the problem.

So instead of a rant (ok, a major rant since that previous paragraph's a bit of a minor one) I've decided (at my husband's prompting) to do a quiz instead.  If you honestly judge books based on how much they interest you - rather than the cover or author's name - then try and guess whether the following books were written by a man or a woman base solely on the premise.  And note that the writing itself doesn't count, as it's the book's synopsis and thereby written by someone in the marketing department, not the author.

Because the bookshelves of people who honestly don't care about the gender of the author aren't just filled with books by men.  If you're truly interested in reading a good story it won't matter to you who the author is.

A few notes on my choices.  I purposely picked obscure/little known authors/books (both male and female) so they'd be harder to recognize by synopsis.  Some of these books are out of print.  Also, I picked hard SF books only, including some military SF and some space opera.  I'm putting the answers in a different post, which you can find here.

If you like this idea - getting the chance to examine books without being biased by the cover/author, then tell me in the comments and I'll do some more of these for different genres/sub-genres.  Also, if you do recognize a book, please don't mention the title/author in the comments.  Let others try their luck.

1) A starving artist on the planet Veledon agrees to let a colony of "brain enhancers" occupy her skull. These microscopic creatures live in the brain's outer linings, causing bursts of genius-or irreparable harm. The creatures themselves are like tiny human beings; one of their greatest concerns is getting their young to breed.

2) Kathryn and Jarrikk - she a human translator and he a S'sinn translator - had every reason to hate one another. Yet only by working together do they stand any chance of averting interstellar war.

3) She's a monster in the body of an eighteen-year-old girl. Bred by scientists, grown in vats, indoctrinated by the government, she and her sisters will win this war-no matter the cost.

And the costs are high. Their lifespan is short; as they age they become unstable and undergo a process called "the spoiling." On their eighteenth birthday they are discharged. Lined up and shot like cattle.

However, the truth is, Catherine and her sisters may not be strictly human, but they're not animals. They can twist their genomes and indoctrinate them to follow the principles of Faith and Death, but they can't shut off the part of them that wants more than war. Catherine may have only known death, but she dreams of life, and she will get it at any cost.

4) Early in the 21st century, global warming has caused sickness and death among plants, animals, and humans. Suddenly aliens contact and genetically modify a group of 14-years-olds, inviting them to visit their spacecraft. After several months of living among the aliens and studying genetics, the students discover that the aliens have been manipulating them and rebel. Upon their return to Earth, the girls in the group discover that they are pregnant and can only wonder what form their unborn children will take. Generations later, the offspring of these children seek to use their alien knowledge to change their genetic code, to allow them to live and prosper in an environment that is quickly becoming uninhabitable from the dual scourges of global warming and biowarfare. But after all the generations of change, will the genetically modified creatures resemble their ancestors, or will nothing human remain?

5) Jane Navio is the resource manager of Phoecea, an asteroid colony poised on the knife-edge of hard vacuum and unforgiving space. A mishap has dumped megatons of water and methane out the colony’s air lock, putting the entire human population at risk.

Jane discovers that the crisis may have been engineered by the Martian crime syndicate, as a means of executing a coup that will turn Phocaea into a client-state. And if that wasn't bad enough, an AI that spawned during the emergency has gone rogue…and there’s a giant x-factor in the form of the transhumanist Viridian cult that lives in Phocaea's bowels.

Jane’s in the prime of her career—she’s only a bit over a century old—but the conflict between politics and life-support is tearing her apart. To save her colony and her career, she’s going to have to solve several mysteries at once—a challenge that will put her up against all the difficulties, contradictions, and awkward compromises entailed in the human colonization of outer space.

6) When Jos' parents are killed in an attack on their trading ship, the boy is kidnapped by the attackers and then escapes - only to fall into the alien hands of humanity's greatest enemies. He is soon coerced into becoming a spy against the human race.

7) In the twenty-fourth century, nano-designed biology has turned the world into humanity's playground. And entrepreneur Lucius Sterling has created a trillion-dollar empire solving the world's problems: poverty, disease, war, and even death. But when a new technology attacks the fundamental building blocks of nano-biology, the survival of humanity is at stake.And only Sterling's estranged grandson, Jack, can stop the destruction.

8) What are the repercussions, once it has been made public, that two individuals have been found to be each other's perfect erotic object out to "point nine-nine-nine and several nines percent more"? What will it do to the individuals involved, to the city they inhabit, to their geosector, to their entire world society, especially when one is an illiterate worker, the sole survivor of a world destroyed by "cultural fugue," and the other is--you!

9) The first intelligent species to encounter mankind attacked without warning. Merciless. Relentless. Unstoppable. With little hope of halting the invasion, Earth''s last roll of the dice was to dispatch three colony ships, seeds of Earth, to different parts of the galaxy. The human race would live on ... somewhere.

150 years later, the planet Darien hosts a thriving human settlement, which enjoys a peaceful relationship with an indigenous race, the scholarly Uvovo. But there are secrets buried on Darien''s forest moon. Secrets that go back to an apocalyptic battle fought between ancient races at the dawn of galactic civilization. Unknown to its colonists, Darien is about to become the focus of an intergalactic power struggle where the true stakes are beyond their comprehension. And what choices will the Uvovo make when their true nature is revealed and the skies grow dark with the enemy?

10) While drifting in space, lost due to navigational failure, a mineral scout discovers God. When word gets out, academics from the studiums across Orion scramble to gain the Entity’s favor. However, not all the sentients of Orion hold this "god" in awe—some, like the philosophers of Scolar and the Transhumans of Extropy are deeply suspicious. Onto the grand stage of interplanetary academic politics, intellectual conceit, and dubious theology walks Baronessa Mira Fedor. Her planet has been torn apart by the invasion of a race of giant tardigrades. Only the Orion League of Sentient Species can lend aid, but OLOSS is preoccupied with communicating with God. Mira, together with the rowdy, misogynist Jo-Jo Rasterovich, is left to her own resources to find help. In doing so she unmasks a galaxy-sized intrigue. But will she live long enough to tell anyone.

Once again, the answers can be found here.

Book Review: Omens by Kelley Armstrong

Pros: interesting premise, fast-paced mystery, good set up for series

Cons: protagonists show little emotion, paranormal elements are light

Twenty-four year old socialite Olivia Taylor-Jones's life is turned upside down when she discovers that not only is she adopted, her birth parents are notorious serial killers.  Running to avoid the media and protect her mother and fiancee, Olivia ends up in Cainsville, a small town outside Chicago.  While trying to get by on her own she starts investigating the murder case that put her parents behind bars.  And her superstition about omens seems to be giving her good guidance lately.

There's a lot going on in this novel.  There's Olivia's coming of age, as she's forced from her home and social expectations and allowed to find what she wants out of life.  There's the murder mystery, long gone cold with few leads that haven't been followed by others.  And there's the town, with it's unique mixture of people, many of whom have some connection to Britain's folkloric past - though Olivia's mostly unaware of this and the reader's only given hints.  This book is primarily grounding for the new series.  We're introduced to the main players, including the town itself, with its numerous gargoyles and mysterious happenings.  

I loved the plot, that this girl discovers she's the kid of serial killers and how she deals with it.  And she deals with it remarkably well.  Despite the many things she learns, sees and does, she never breaks down.  Which is surprising, because she sees and does some horrific things.  It was strange not seeing her deal with the grief and shock that would have accompanied some of what she does/encounters.  But it certainly set her up as a strong character - much like Ripley from the Alien franchise.  Kick-ass and capable, but not always right.  In many ways she's well complemented by Gabriel Walsh, the lawyer who offers his aid - for a fee - who also displays little emotion.  I liked that the groundwork of a romance between them was set up, but that it's being allowed to develop naturally - assuming that's the direction the author is taking their relationship.

It's a quick, entertaining read and a good set up for what sounds like an interesting series.

Out August 20th.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels Coming in September 2013

This list is drawn from Amazon.ca and therefore reflects Canadian release dates for books.

Hardcover:

Doctor Who: The Official 50th Anniversary Annual – BBC

Book of Iron – Elizabeth Bear

Terra – Mitch Benn

The Halloween Legion: The Great Goblin Invasion – Martin Powell, Thomas Boatwright & Diana Leto

Jewels in the Dust – Peter Crowther

Monsters of the Earth – David Drake

Marauder – Gary Gibson

The Power of Twelve – William Gladstone

Mage's Blood – David Hair

The Year of the Ladybird – Graham Joyce

Kinslayer – Jay Kristoff

The Dead Run – Adam Mansbach

Evening's Empires – Paul McAuley

Warhammer 40K: Lords of Mars – Graham McNeill

The One-Eyed Man – L. E. Modesitt, Jr. 

Delia's Shadow – Jaime Lee Moyer

Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard – Kim Newman

Isaac Asimov's I Robot: To Obey – Mickey Zucker Reichert

On the Steel Breeze – Alastair Reynolds

Shaman – Kim Stanley Robinson

Vicious – V. E. Schwab

The Grim Company – Luke Scull

Hot Times in Magma City – Robert Silverberg

Crysis: Escalation – Gavin Smith

The Given Sacrifice – S. M. Stirling

How the World Became Quiet – Rachel Swirsky

Horse of a Different Color: Stories – Howard Waldrop

Happy Hour in Hell – Tad Williams

Trade Paperback:

War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches – Kevin J. Anderson

Betraying the God of Light – Jared Angel

Torchwood: Another Life – Peter Anghelides

Blue – Lou Aronica

Jupiter War – Neal Asher

The Mammoth Book of Time Travel SF – Mike Ashley, Ed.

Expedition Beyond – Roger Bagg

Fuse – Julianna Baggott

The Hydrogen Sonata – Iain Banks

Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl – David Barnett

Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa? – Andrez Bergen

Shades of Blue and Gray: Ghosts of the Civil War – Steve Berman, Ed.

The Incrementalists – Steven Brust & Skyler White

Between Two Fires – Christopher Buehlman

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance – Lois McMaster Bujold

A Calculated Life – Anne Charnock

The Angel Stone – Juliet Dark

Myths and Legends: Thor: The Viking God of Thunder – Graeme Davis & Miguel Coimbra

Gods of Earth – Craig DeLancey

The Early Science Fiction of Philip K. Dick – Philip K. Dick

Wikiworld – Paul DiFilippo

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine Omnibus – Christian Dunn

Fire: The Witch Hunt Continues – Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

The Circle: The Witch Hunt Continues – Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

Herald of the Storm – Richard Ford

Orders From Above – J. M. Forrest

Tombstone Blues – Chadwick Ginther

Stories of Terror and the Supernatural – Herman Graf

Warhammer 40K: The Death of Integrity – Guy Haley

Gallow: Cold Redemption – Nathan Hawke

Warhammer: The Tears of Isha – Darius Hinks

Charming – Elliott James

The Trillionist – Sagan Jeffries

Torchwood: Exodus Code – John & Carole Barrowman

Torchwood: Exodus Code – John & Carole Barrowman

Shadows Over Innsmouth – Stephen Jones, Ed.

The Maggot People – Henning Koch

The Spirit Keeper – K. B. Laugheed

Torchwood: Trace Memory – David Llewellyn

Fire Logic – Laurie Marks

The Delphi Room – Melia McClure

Warhammer 40K: Priests of Mars – Graham McNeill

The Undead Hordes of Kangul – Jon Merz

Father Gaetano's Puppet Cathechism – Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden

The Patron Saint of Unattractive People – Teresa Milbrodt

This Strange Way of Dying – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Heroes Lost and Found – Sheryl Nantus

Torchwood: Into the Silence – Sarah Pinborough

Coming of Age – B. Pine

Was – Geoff Ryman

23 Years on Fire – Joel Shepherd

The Rose and the Thorn – Michael Sullivan

War Master's Gate – Adrian Tchaikovsky

Empire of the Blood Omnibus – Gav Thorpe

Roverandom – J. R. R. Tolkien

Dateline: Atlantis – Lynn Voedisch

The God's Wife – Lynn Voedisch

She Walks in Darkness – Evangeline Walton

The Scroll of Years – Chris Willrich

About Time 7: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who – Tat Wood

The Uncovering – Jes Young

The Legend of Snow Wolf: Redemption – F. Lit Yu

Mass Market Paperback:

Until Again – Lou Aronica

Chasing the Shadows – Keri Arthur

Daughter of the Sword – Steve Bein

Shaman of Stonewylde – Kit Berry

The Daylight War – Peter Brett

Cold Days – Jim Butcher

The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight – Jack Campbell

Dr. Who: Sting of the Zygons – Stephen Cole

Dr. Who: The Krillitane Storm – Christopher Cooper

King Breaker – Rowena Cory Daniells

Celtic Moon – Jan DeLima

Warhammer 40K: Betrayer – Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Dr. Who: Hunter's Moon – Paul Finch

Dr. Who: The Slitheen Excursion – Simon Guerrier

A Study in Silks – Emma Jane Holloway

The Plague Forge – Jason Hough

V-Wars – Jonathan Maberry

Freedom's Challenge – Anne McCaffrey (reprint)

Star Trek: The Fall: The Crimson Shadow – Una McCormack

Voyage of the Fox Rider – Dennis McKiernan

The Savage Dead – Joe McKinney

Seven Forges – James Moore

On Midnight Wings – Adrian Phoenix

Dr. Who: Winner Takes All – Jacqueline Rayner

Dr. Who: The Deviant Strain – Justin Richards

Forgotten Realms: The Last Threshold – R. A. Salvatore

Still Life With Shape-Shifter – Sharon Shinn

Revenant Eve – Sherwood Smith

Sea Glass – Maria Snyder

Phoenix Rising – Ryk E. Spoor

Lord of Mountains – S. M. Stirling

Stonecast – Anton Strout

Prince Thief – David Tallerman 

Hunter of Sherwood: Knight of Shadows – Tony Venables

Kiss of Death – Debbie Viguie

Ritual Magic – Eileen Wilks

Previous Dragon – Liz Williams 

Snake Agent – Liz Williams 

The Demon and the City – Liz Williams 

The Iron Khan – Liz Williams

The Poison Maker – Liz Williams

The Shadow Pavilion – Liz Williams 

ebook (Kindle and Carina Press releases):

Fangborn – Dana Cameron

Corroded – Karina Cooper

Cry Murder! In a Small Voice – Greer Gilman

Voice of the Demon – Kate Jacoby

The Volatile Amazon – Sandy James

Fairies in My Fireplace – R. L. Naquin

Redemption – Stephanie Tyler

Crystal Venom – Steve Wheeler

Ice Red – Jael Wye

Trask Industries: Your Future

A great ad for Trask Industries as promotion for X-Men: Days of Future Past.