Interview Manda Scott

After receiving my first review copy through the courtesy of the nice people from Bantam Books, Miss Manda Scott, the author of "The Crystal Skull", had the amability to answer my questions for my first interview. Manda Scott is a veterinary surgeon and she was trained at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine. She was nominated for the 1997 Orange Prize with the novel "Hen's Teeth" and for the 2003 Edgar Award with the novel "No Good Deed". Her works include also the "Boudica" series. You can find her full bibliography at Fantastic Fiction.

Dark Wolf: I know that you are a veterinary surgeon and I think this comes from the passion and care for animals, but can you tell us from where comes the passion for writing?

Manda Scott: To be honest, I have no idea, but it's always been there. When I was a child, our family home was a raptor rehab centre and I spent my life writing books that had been "written by" the owls... I started a novel when I was 8 or so... I imagine it came from being a particularly introverted child who lived her life mostly through books and through animals, but that's an easy adult's viewpoint.

Dark Wolf: From the genres of your novels, crime fiction, historical fiction, thriller is there one closer to your heart?

Manda Scott: Anything well-written is close to my heart and there are very few of those... A well-written historical thriller is a joy, but any book where language, plot and character are exceptionally crafted is a fantastic find. I just wish there were more of them.

DW: Do you consider trying another genre in the future?

MS: Definitely. I think as writers, we have an opportunity and an ethical and moral obligation not only to hold a mirror to who we were and who we could be (Boudica), but also to show how we can progress forward. There are a lot of futuristic dystopias - I just read Susan Hall's book, "The Carhullan Army" - which was excellent - but we have a window of opportunity now to fashion our future for when the oil runs out - and we need to have imagined how it could be. So I have plans for a book doing exactly that, although quite what genre it would fit into is debatable.

DW: How do you feel knowing that your novels travel through world, being translated and read in many countries?

MS: Very, very good! (as long as they're good translations, of course)

DW: I noticed in "The Crystal Skull" a load of information and I think the research work for such a novel must have been very hard. How long does it take the research for a novel?

MS: It takes anything up to 6 months at the start, and then ongoing research while I'm writing. I'd been thinking about Skull for a while, so the lead-in reasearch was shorter, but the work during it, particularly on the Tudor thread, was greater.

DW: Does your passion for climbing influenced the passion of "The Crystal Skull" character, Stella, for caving?

MS: Definitely. Though I am hugely scared of caving, so I was, in a way, writing through my own fear of being trapped underground. But the dynamics of caving and climbing are very similar, and the experience of the utter awe at the magnitude and magnificence of the earth are common to both.

DW: Do you belive that the prophecy present in your novel, that the world would end on 21.12.2012 can be true?

MS: I don't think 2012 is an end date, but I do, absolutely think it's the mid-point in an event cycle which will end in the total annihilation of mankind and the extinction of millions of species if we don't act now. I think we're recognisably in that event cycle - but there is still time to act. That's why I wrote the book.

DW: Considering that mayan history appears in your novel, may I ask if you saw Mr. Mel Gibson's movie "Apocalypto"? Did you liked it?

MS: I'm afraid to say I haven't seen it. I don't really watch TV or movies much, though I'll probably go to see "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" when it comes out next month, just for curiosity - and because we have various people interested in making a film of the book and so it would be useful to know what's in the film. The advance stuff I've heard suggest it's not particularly linked.

DW: Considering the controversy around this movie and the fact that you write historical fiction, do you belive that the historical facts and information must be very accurate or you can improvise?

MS: The known facts - when they are facts (such as the fact that stirrups weren't invented in Roman times, and so Gladiator was one big long anachronism) must be accurate. The opinions based on cultural prejudice which are displayed as fact must be challenged.

DW: In the end, can you tell us if you have any ideas or any plans for a new book?

MS: I'm writing a book which has my file title "FIRE!" (short, easy to find on the computer) which I would like to have the final title of "The Spy, The Saint and The Messiah's Daughter" which is set in 64 AD, the year of the Great Fire of Rome. It is a chance to look tangentially at some of the survivors of the Boudica series, being set only 3 years after the end of the Boudican revolt, but primarily it's a Roman spy thriller set in Gaul and Rome in which Seneca is the ageing spymaster who has lost control of Saulos the Herodian, one of his primary agents (we know him as St. Paul) and has to persuade his other remaining agent to stop Saulos before he burns Rome in fulfilment of a prophecy. It's largely looking at very early Christianity and the schizm between Paul and the early Hebrew church from which he was excommunicated. It should be ready for publication some time in 2009.

Miss Scott it has been an honor and a pleasure and thank you once again for your answers and amability.

The 2007 Nebula Awards

The winners of 2007 Nebula Awards are:

Best Novel: "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon

Best Novella: "Fountain of Age" by Nancy Kress (published by Asimov's on july 2007, you can read it at Asimov's)

Best Novelette: "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang (published by Fantasy & Science Fiction on september 2007, you can read it at SF Site)

Best Short Story: "Always" by Karen Joy Fowler (published by Asimov's on may 2007, you can read it at Asimov's)

Best Script: "Pan's Labyrinth" by Guillermo del Toro

Andre Norton Award: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

"The Crystal Skull" by Manda Scott

"The Crystal Skull"

by Manda Scott

Format: Paperback, 544 pages

Publisher: Bantam Books

Sometimes I feel I have to change a little the registry of my reading and go with other genre than fantasy, science-fiction and horror. Manda Scott's "The Crystal Skull" helped me do this different reading.

The novel follows two main characters and their two storylines, separated by a little over 400 years, but connected through time by a relic, a blue stone skull, and by a prophecy, that the end of the world will come at 21.12.2012. The first character, Cedric Owen, a physician, Master of Arts and doctor of philosophy, inherited the blue stone skull from his grandmother and he has to flee England because of the threat of Inquisition. He finds out that he has to travel to New Spain to learn about the past, the present and the future of the blue stone skull and he has to hide and protect it so that only the proper wielder of the stone to find it in the future. The second character, Stella Cody, an astro-physicist and a passionate caver, finds the blue stone skull after 419 years with the help of her husband and after they cracked the codes left by Cedric Owen. She learns that the future of the world lies in her hands and in the use of the blue stone skull.

Manda Scott manages to successfully blend the two stories and to create a compact tale. I liked mostly the story that takes part in the past, because the author manages to create a credible atmosphere of that time and also to make very good descriptions of the places present in the story, like Paris or New Spain. I found the characters of this storyline more of my taste, beside Cedric Owen, Fernandez de Aguilar being an interesting character. Also Manda Scott manages to sustain the suspense until the end and to have some interesting twists and turns at the end of the novel.

I found the characters from modern day part a little flat and simple. Also I think the pace of the novel in this part is a little too slow and the tension a little weak. But the author recovers this weak points in the final part of the novel, where the pace and suspense are well build and keeps you turning the pages.

Overall I found in "The Crystal Skull" a fun and relaxing read and I will certainly look for Manda Scott's "Boudica" books because I enjoyed the historical fiction made by the author in this novel.

Goblin War

I found this Declaration of War through John's blog Grasping for the Wind and it made my day (you can read Jim Hines' post here).

HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH! for the goblins :).

"Promise of the Witch-King" by R.A. Salvatore

"Promise of the Witch-King"

by R.A. Salvatore

Format: Paperback, 384 pages

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast

I fell in love with fantasy literature since I had started reading. In fantasy one of my favourite character is Drizzt Do'Urden, created by R.A. Salvatore. Through Drizzt Do'Urden I met Jarlaxle, a mercenary drow elf, and Artemis Entreri, an assassin, the arch-enemy of Drizzt, the main characters of "Promise of the Witch-King".

In "Promise of the Witch-King", the second novel of "The Sellswords" trilogy, Jarlaxle and Artemis arrive in Bloodstone Lands following their adventures in Calimport. Here they are hired by two dragon sisters, Ilnezhara and Tazmikella, to find some relics that belonged to the Witch-King Zhengyi. So, the two of them become part of a group of adventurers that goes in the town of Palishchuk to investigate a castle that appeared after such a relic is found and used. Inside the castle, and I will say this without spoiling your read, they will come across some very interesting moments.

The novel is basically a "dungeon crawl", not my favourite type of story, because I think it's predictable and limited. But R.A. Salvatore does an amzing job in "Promise of the Witch-King" and manages to keep me interested all the way to the finish. He creates an intrigue and some twists and turns that extends the limits of this dungeon crawl.

Even from the opening part of the novel, when Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri explore a tower of a lich, the pace is quick, full of action and details, and it gets better in the next chapters. The fighting scenes are great, very well described, keeping the high standard as well as the others of this kind of the author. I enjoyed this scenes very much, like I enjoyed the humour of some dialogues, amusing and entertaining, like I enjoyed the funny sequences of the Kneebreakers, a band of halflings or the way Athrogate, a dwarf, talks using rhymes. I enjoyed Jarlaxle, a character that begins to develop and is not tipical in fantasy literature.

In this novel R.A. Salvatore introduces new characters, but I think they are a little underdeveloped. Also I wondered how and why Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri found themselves in Bloodstone Lands, following the events in the first novel of the trilogy, "Servant of the Shard". But this are minor issues considering the bigger picture, they can be easily overcome in the next novel. Adding that the author teases us with a small part of Jarlaxle's past and that the cold and calculated assassin Artemis Entreri has an inner conflict and developes more human feelings I certainly will read with interest the third book of the trilogy, "Road of the Patriarch".

"Promise of the Witch-King" offered me a engaging and entertaining reading, and this novel confirms that R.A. Salvatore is one of the best fantasy writers (also I loved the cover art of Todd Lockwood). I recommend the novel, but if you haven't read the first novel, "Servant of the Shard", it is better to start with that one because it will help you get used to the two main characters and their actions

In the mailbox

Yesterday in my mailbox I found a package containing "Witness", a novel that Bill Blais was kind enough to send me. I have a tough week at work, but I think I will be able to start reading it next week. Until then you can find a very nice review of the novel at Sandstorm Reviews.

Misplaced treasures

I realized recently that I have some books that I read and that for the moment it is difficult to find them again. I remember them more or less clearly and I remember that all were borrowed from libraries or friends. I was thinking a few days ago that I really miss reading some of those books. Considering that my close friend and neighbor lives now in Ireland (we used to exchange many books) and the fact that the situation of libraries in my country can be defined as poor I have to find new sources for this titles. Let's see some of the titles that I miss the most.

"Skull City" by Lucius Shepard. This short story is one that I really wish to read once again. If I recall exactly is about a guy, addicted to drugs, that is hired to test a new drug and that drug sends him in a parallel world. This short story appeared in my country in a magazine named "Anticipatia" (The Anticipation) and I borrowed it from my friend that now lives in Ireland. I know that Subterranean Press will publish in august "The Best of Lucius Shepard" and I know that if I order the limited edition I receive an exclusive trade paperback volume "Skull City and Other Lost Stories", but I find it a little expansive for me.

"The Overlords of War" by Gerard Klein. This is one of the best science-fiction titles that I read, as I remember. The book was borrowed by my father but after 10 years he can't recall from where he got it. I also can't remember exactly the plot, only that I really liked it.

The Rocambole novels by Pierre Alexis Ponson du Terrail. This is a series of novels, mainly historical and crime fiction, and describes the adventure of Rocambole, the main character of these series. These books I borrowed from the local library about 15 years ago, but now they don't have the novels anymore.

"Ascenseur pour l'echafaud" (Elevator to the Gallows) by Noel Calef. Although is a crime fiction I will mention it because I really liked it and has an original idea. It's about a man that commits the perfect crime, but remains blocked in the elevator when leaves the crime scene. This title was also borrowed from my friend and I think he has it with him.

But despite all this difficulties I'm certain that one dat I will find them and read them once again.