Friday, August 15, 2008
Two things of interest this week. For those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area especially, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a nice half-page interview with moi in their Thursday arts-and-books weekend supplement. I sound kind of smart! The piece can also be found online at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/14/NS581269R3.DTL&type=books
There is also a solid review of Plague War up now at SF Reviews, which is especially cool because (a) this guy’s a tough cookie to impress, and (b) he’d said specifically that he didn’t want to see any sequels out of me, only new storylines, because Year set the bar too high. Looks like War made the cut! In fact, he considered giving it an extra half-star over Year. I’ll take that any day of the week. The full review is here at
http://www.sfreviews.net/carlson_plague_war.html
Labels: Book review of PLAGUE WAR, San Francisco Chronicle interview, SF Reviews
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Wow, Jeff, great reviews!
But you should insist on being called a thriller author instead of a science fiction author. Not to be snooty -- SF is my love just as it is yours -- but the Plague series is SF in the same way Crichton's books are SF. Calling them thrillers gives you a much larger audience.
And you can return to your roots with good old fashioned "Frozen Sky"-type SF any time you want.
Joe Jordan
But you should insist on being called a thriller author instead of a science fiction author. Not to be snooty -- SF is my love just as it is yours -- but the Plague series is SF in the same way Crichton's books are SF. Calling them thrillers gives you a much larger audience.
And you can return to your roots with good old fashioned "Frozen Sky"-type SF any time you want.
Joe Jordan
# posted by 
: August 16, 2008 at 10:08 AM
: August 16, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Ha ha. Thanks, Joe. I did repeatedly emphasize that I consider myself a tech thriller kind of guy, and that my books are no more aliens-and-death-rays "sci fi" than Crichton or Preston, et. al., but sometimes, especially to the uninitiated, it's exciting and weird to interview one of them strange "science fiction writers." And the books do say "Science Fiction" on the spine. The guy at the Chronicle didn't ask for (or need) my permission to tag me as such, nor am I such a celebrity that I can demand the chance to vet a piece before it goes to print. Maybe some day! ;)
Meanwhile, I was happy just to play with the big boys in a major metropolitan newspaper.
Meanwhile, I was happy just to play with the big boys in a major metropolitan newspaper.
It was great to read a review of Plague War - and a great review to help consolidate the swirling reactions of a fan.
Plague Year left-off on a note of genuine hope and purpose for the two characters we came to know. Plague War began by dashing the solace of its predecessor’s ending with the cruel realities of what that purpose entailed.
Newcombe emerged as a great supporting roll, and his departure was mourned. The description of the subtle group dynamics of the first survivors encountered was like the critique of a psychologist and catches the reader off-guard, but was also fitting to the way the author approaches the unique reality of his world. The unspoken feelings and the ultimate expression of those feelings between Cam and Ruth could take any reader back to the raw and unembellished feelings of any romance they've ever had. The horrifying destruction of the U.S. Capital felt like the logical conclusion to the game of chess that the pragmatic Leadville leadership was playing - but played with too much pride considering at least half their moves were reactions to things beyond their control. The reader can pick-up a hint that Leadville's intentions were perhaps not quite as sinister as Ruth believed. The Russian/Chinese invasion was also a matter of pride for any American reader, but my god of course they would have known a vaccine was in the open with Leadville's obvious efforts to retrieve it.
Perhaps the main casualty of the novel was the machine plague itself, because despite some homage it became overshadowed by the developments that counteracted it. So some of the mesmerizing horror of Plague Year was lost - but only to the returning reader, and why not move beyond that dynamic of the first novel.
Since the purpose was to see what would happen next in the extraordinary world created in Plague Year, this new novel succeeds like any answer to a complex and suspense filled question. The final conclusion feels as elusive as can be, and yet it seems secure in the hands of the plague world's creator - and the suspense is as ever present as before.
Plague Year left-off on a note of genuine hope and purpose for the two characters we came to know. Plague War began by dashing the solace of its predecessor’s ending with the cruel realities of what that purpose entailed.
Newcombe emerged as a great supporting roll, and his departure was mourned. The description of the subtle group dynamics of the first survivors encountered was like the critique of a psychologist and catches the reader off-guard, but was also fitting to the way the author approaches the unique reality of his world. The unspoken feelings and the ultimate expression of those feelings between Cam and Ruth could take any reader back to the raw and unembellished feelings of any romance they've ever had. The horrifying destruction of the U.S. Capital felt like the logical conclusion to the game of chess that the pragmatic Leadville leadership was playing - but played with too much pride considering at least half their moves were reactions to things beyond their control. The reader can pick-up a hint that Leadville's intentions were perhaps not quite as sinister as Ruth believed. The Russian/Chinese invasion was also a matter of pride for any American reader, but my god of course they would have known a vaccine was in the open with Leadville's obvious efforts to retrieve it.
Perhaps the main casualty of the novel was the machine plague itself, because despite some homage it became overshadowed by the developments that counteracted it. So some of the mesmerizing horror of Plague Year was lost - but only to the returning reader, and why not move beyond that dynamic of the first novel.
Since the purpose was to see what would happen next in the extraordinary world created in Plague Year, this new novel succeeds like any answer to a complex and suspense filled question. The final conclusion feels as elusive as can be, and yet it seems secure in the hands of the plague world's creator - and the suspense is as ever present as before.
# posted by : August 20, 2008 at 9:40 PM
: August 20, 2008 at 9:40 PM
I love you, Anonymous.
Serious, what a review! How come you're not writing for the New York Times?!? I especially appreciate the appreciation of the way that the first band of mountaintop survivors were described; I put a lot of thought into how their group dynamics would have evolved, and I'm glad that those scenes struck you in particular.
I also agree that it was sort of sad to move the "mesmerizing horror" of the machine plague into the background of the story, but I didn't see how I could advance the books without furthering the development and the spread of the vaccine nanotech. It did change the story. Hopefully in interesting ways!
Thank you again for the good and remarkable thoughts on the book.
Serious, what a review! How come you're not writing for the New York Times?!? I especially appreciate the appreciation of the way that the first band of mountaintop survivors were described; I put a lot of thought into how their group dynamics would have evolved, and I'm glad that those scenes struck you in particular.
I also agree that it was sort of sad to move the "mesmerizing horror" of the machine plague into the background of the story, but I didn't see how I could advance the books without furthering the development and the spread of the vaccine nanotech. It did change the story. Hopefully in interesting ways!
Thank you again for the good and remarkable thoughts on the book.
Hey Jeff,
It's an honor that you appreciated my thoughts on Plague War :) It's clear that a great deal of talent was invested in these novels, and the praise from SF Reviews is so right-on.
The change in character from Plague Year was definitely the best direction that Plague War could have ventured, and it was definitely in interesting ways! I almost envy someone who picked-up Plague War and had to then step back into the back-story of Plague Year.
As an avid CO hiker, I'm privledged this very year to have passed through Leadville (twice), Aspen, visited Castle Peak, and even noticed a road sign between Silverton and Durango that marked 10,000 ft. elevation - it sturs the imagination.
Mind Plague won't come soon enough for me, so God-speed Jeff Carlson!
Rob Norris
Denver, CO
It's an honor that you appreciated my thoughts on Plague War :) It's clear that a great deal of talent was invested in these novels, and the praise from SF Reviews is so right-on.
The change in character from Plague Year was definitely the best direction that Plague War could have ventured, and it was definitely in interesting ways! I almost envy someone who picked-up Plague War and had to then step back into the back-story of Plague Year.
As an avid CO hiker, I'm privledged this very year to have passed through Leadville (twice), Aspen, visited Castle Peak, and even noticed a road sign between Silverton and Durango that marked 10,000 ft. elevation - it sturs the imagination.
Mind Plague won't come soon enough for me, so God-speed Jeff Carlson!
Rob Norris
Denver, CO
# posted by : August 22, 2008 at 9:35 PM
: August 22, 2008 at 9:35 PM
Denver Rob! I'm sorry we didn't the chance to catch up at WorldCon, man, but thank *you* for the continuing support.
As for trilogies and the like, one of my favorites is Richard Morgan's Takashi Kovacs books, which, if you haven't read them, are Blade Runner sort of sci fi detective thrillers. Very dark. As you might imagine, I love 'em. But while the first one, ALTERED CARBON, seems to be the most popular (and won the Philip K. Dick award to prove it), my favorite remains the second, BROKEN ANGELS, which does have a different emotional resonance than the other two. I thought it was haunting and provocative and real, and I immediately nominated it for the Nebula, which is one of the big highlights of earning your SFWA membership. ANGELS didn't win, or even make the short list, but that's what I thought about it. Excellent stuff!
Back on point: Each of the three books are distinct from each other, which is good. I didn't consciously set out to give WAR its own direction away from YEAR (and obviously a lot of the themes, characters, and ideas are the same, since it is an ongoing trilogy), but I've found that books really do take on a life of their own. I just write 'em. ;)
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As for trilogies and the like, one of my favorites is Richard Morgan's Takashi Kovacs books, which, if you haven't read them, are Blade Runner sort of sci fi detective thrillers. Very dark. As you might imagine, I love 'em. But while the first one, ALTERED CARBON, seems to be the most popular (and won the Philip K. Dick award to prove it), my favorite remains the second, BROKEN ANGELS, which does have a different emotional resonance than the other two. I thought it was haunting and provocative and real, and I immediately nominated it for the Nebula, which is one of the big highlights of earning your SFWA membership. ANGELS didn't win, or even make the short list, but that's what I thought about it. Excellent stuff!
Back on point: Each of the three books are distinct from each other, which is good. I didn't consciously set out to give WAR its own direction away from YEAR (and obviously a lot of the themes, characters, and ideas are the same, since it is an ongoing trilogy), but I've found that books really do take on a life of their own. I just write 'em. ;)
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