…in an outdoor used bookshop in Ojai, CA (Bart’s Books). In the past, I’d always snatch up all the copies of any Chung Kuo novels I could find (hence this bookshelf) so that I could lend out as needed, or in case of apocalypse or something, I’d be guaranteed something good to read. These days, that urge is less urgent, knowing that the series is back in print in a bigger-and-better version. Accordingly, I left these copies there, awaiting the next collector.
It was very strange, because on Monday last, the day after the party, I sat down and, in the space of an hour, wrote over two thousand words of storyline for BURYING (as we’ll shorten it from henceforth). And If I hadn’t been working, I’d probably have started writing it there and then. Because the wall had come down. Whatever it was that stopped me from working on a fantasy novel had suddenly departed, and though I’ve a ton and a half of other things to do next year, writing the first draft of BURYING THE SMITH will definitely be one of them. And before you ask, that’s the way I work and have worked these past thirty years. I always shadow the work I’m supposed to be writing with another. That’s probably why I have so many unpublished novels – roughly twenty in all… and it makes me think that maybe their purpose wasn’t to be novels after all, but to be simply activity that allowed me to write what I should have been writing and (more to the point) was actually being paid for.
But BURYING is just so rich. Already I have the feeling that it’s real and that I’m just tapping in from this reality. Glimpsing stuff I really oughtn’t to see. And I’m pretty certain that the scenario is totally unlike any other you’ll have seen within fantasy. Oh, it’ll be a Wingrove novel, you can be sure, with nasty things happening to nice people and a high body count… I’m not going senile yet… And, if Matt at the fan site agrees, maybe we’ll run it there, in its pristine state. That might be fun.
– http://www.chung-kuo.net/?q=content/falling-walls (emphasis added)
Yes, Matt at the fan site agrees.
As of now, Son of Heaven has come from behind as it now winning the SFBooks Book of the Year poll with 18.8% of the votes. If you haven’t voted yet, go do it now and help it maintain its lead. I needn’t remind Chung Kuo fans that the more continued acclaim the series gets, the more likely we are to see more Chung Kuo content in the future (short stories, novellas, dare I say… a realization of a film/TV adaptation?). Go vote!
Vote here: http://sfbook.com/sfbook-book-of-the-year-2011.htm
Son of Heaven is up for the 2011 Book of the Year at SFBooks! It’s up against up 11 other books. Let’s show the SF world that Chung Kuo fans mean business. Vote now!
Here’s the link: http://sfbook.com/sfbook-book-of-the-year-2011.htm
Here are some reviews floating around the web for Daylight on Iron Mountain, all of them very positive. Numerical/star scores, if any, are indicated in bold. If any reviews more pop up, leave a comment with the details and I’ll add them to the list!
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From Geek Syndicate:
4/5 “…a good read, fast paced and engaging…”
From The Wertzone:
4.5/5 “rammed to overflowing with political intrigue, corporate scheming, desperate struggles for human survival and, in the final section, a mind-boggling war which is vast in scope… a compelling, page-turning SF epic which leaves the reader eager for more”
From Mark Yon, sffworld.com:
“consistent and enjoyable… the new series is starting to step up a gear and has become a must read series for me… this is a glorious development”
From Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Reviews:
5/5 “…again impressed with the sheer depth and sense of immersion that the author manages to impart on the pages, the knowledge and research that must have gone into creating this book and the series itself is quite staggering. The result is a realistic and sobering feeling of a dystopian future… Characterisation is superb, full of human strengths, weaknesses, passions and emotions… I can honestly say that I loved every minute of this book, it’s such an incredibly rich and immersive journey…”
From The Guardian:
“Wingrove pulls off a difficult feat… Excellent.”
