The Forest of Stars by Heather Kassner - Book Review

 

'Left all alone after her mother passes away, twelve-year-old Louisa LaRoche watches the sky for her father. Long ago, a powerful gust of wind swept through town, stealing him away on the wings of his untamed magic—the same magic that stirs within Louisa. As if she is made of hollow bones and too much air, her feet never quite touch the ground.

'But for all her sky gazing, Louisa finds her fortune on the leaf-strewn street when she spots a gleaming black-and-gold invitation—a ticket to the Carnival Beneath the Stars. If her father fits in nowhere else, maybe she’ll find him there, dazzling crowds alongside the other strange and wonderful feats. Only, soon after she arrives, a tightrope act ends disastrously—and suspiciously. As fate tugs Louisa closer to the stars, she must decide if she’s willing to slip into the injured performer’s role, despite the darkness plucking at the carnival’s magical threads.'

The Forest of Stars is the new middle-grade novel from Titan Books that feels dark and creepy, yet is packed with magic and love as a young girl sets out into the world to search for her father.

The story centres on Louisa LaRoche, a girl who's always been special. For as long as she can remember Louisa has been unable to touch the ground. Floating above the floor, never able to set her feet on the ground, Louisa has kept her ability hidden from the outside world through fear that she will be rejected, seen as a devil child. 

Having always been cared for and protected by her mother, Louisa's life is thrown upside down when her mother passes away, leaving Louisa alone in a dark and frightening city covered in ash. With next to nothing to her name Louisa takes to begging on the streets for any coin that she can get, but when instead of money she finds a golden ticket, one for the Carnival Beneath the Stars she begins to form a plan. Having been told how her father was just like her, and how he was swept away by the wind one day she comes to the conclusion that a carnival of wonders might be the perfect place to start looking for her father.

Setting out for the carnival Louisa discovers a world of magic and wonders that she never dreamed could exist. Not only does she learn that her abilities come from magic, but that there are others in the world like her; people with amazing abilities. With a vast and potentially dangerous world open before her Louisa has to choose whether to continue on her search on her own, or whether to join the carnival where her new friends live, hoping to one day find her father among the crowds.

Louisa makes for an interesting protagonist, as apart from a few small pieces of information that she has at the beginning of the story she's pretty unaware of the world outside of her home with her mother, and it allows the readers to discover a lot of this strange, magical place alongside her. She has no idea how she has the ability to float, she doesn't know that there are other people like her in the world, and she often finds herself trying to catch up on these amazing revelations at the same time as us.

Along Louisa's journey she begins to discover that not only do other people have strange abilities, but that they're all vastly different. The people at the carnival use their powers to put on shows for people who would otherwise hate and fear them, and have come to for a tight knit family. Whilst Louisa is very much a girl who's never had to rely on anyone but her mother, and has never really had any friends before, it's this sense of kindness and companionship that draws her to the carnival more so than her pursuit to find her father; and we discover that Louisa is actually quite a lonely girl. She doesn't really know how to interact with people, how to open up to others and make friends, and getting to see her come out of her shell and do so is one of the highlights of the book.

Her friends make for an interesting bunch, some with magical abilities, some without, but all of them connected together through the carnival. As such, when something begins to threaten the carnival, and those who live there, Louisa begins to find her new life slipping away from her. I loved this aspect of the book, that it was her desire to help and protect her new family, rather than some special status as some kind of 'chosen one' that set her out to do heroic things and try to solve a dangerous mystery. It gave her more agency as a person, and it's nice to see a children's book where the people putting themselves in danger are doing it simply because they feel like it's the right thing to do.

Aside from the interesting characters Heather Kassner also manages to craft an interesting world, albeit one we don't learn much about. We get small hints at what the world is like, from the ash covered city that Louisa grew up in, to the spooky forest the carnival travels to, to the towns and cities beyond. There's a sense that this is a large place, one with varying types of people and mysteries to be discovered, even if we spend the majority of our time within the walls of the carnival itself. 

Despite not learning a huge amount we get a decent sense of the world that Louisa inhabits, and this really infuses the feel of the book. The story feels mystical and Gothic, and whilst I personally don't like his films it instantly brings to mind the works of Tim Burton, and the way that he's able to make something dark and spooky that borders on scary, yet feels right at home as a children's tale. It's like The Addams Family mixed in with The Greatest Showman, even though it feels like neither of those things and something completely it's own and unique to itself.

The Forest of Stars is a book that feels closer to a fairy-tale than anything else, a story with love and family at it's centre, but with a lot of darkness mixed in too. The book is suffused with dark, almost Gothic tones that make the wonders of the Carnival Under The Stars feel slightly dreamlike and almost nightmarish at times. Despite this, it never goes into the realm of horror, and I can see it drawing in readers of all ages.

My only real criticism of the the book is that I wanted more. I wanted to spend more time with Louisa. I wanted to get to know her new friends more. I wanted to see more of the inhabitants of the carnival and get to know some of them. I wanted to see more of the world. I'm hoping that this won't be the last of these characters, that we'll get more of these characters and the carnival in the future. If not, it's still a wonderful, imaginative book, and one that I had a huge amount of fun reading.

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The Loop - Jeremy Robert Johnson Interview

 

After reading the The Loop, I had a quick chat with author Jeremy Robert Johnson about the book, writing YA, and what it's like releasing a story about an infection during a global pandemic. The full review of The Loop  can be found here.

The Loop is your first foray into YA, and you’ve said that you studied up on the genre before writing the book. Was it a difficult process coming to YA for the first time after your other work?

Not so much difficult as really compelling. Being an avid reader as a kid in the 80’s YA wasn’t really the marketing juggernaut/genre that it’s become today. Most of what I read early on - King/Lansdale/McCammon/Barker/Crichton/Ludlum/Skipp & Spector, et al. - came from the spinning paperback racks at the drugstore. If a book happened to have kids in it, I loved that, but it was an even greater thrill to read about the adult world, and there tended to be more transgressive kicks in “mature” novels.

So, when my agent asked if I’d considered writing YA horror I told her I’d need to do some research (outside of what I’d read as a kid that has since been re-categorized as YA, like The Outsiders and Lord of the Flies (both of which figure heavily in the DNA of The Loop). So I spent weeks reading and analysing contemporary YA, trying to figure out what element of the genre would pull me in and make me interested in writing within its constraints. And for me, with YA, that was the immersion in character and feeling, and that sense that your character could be really flawed and honest.

Funny thing is, though, after my novel Skullcrack City took off editors weren’t asking me for YA anymore. They wanted more of whatever crazy thing I’d accidentally pulled off in Skullcrack. So even though The Loop began as a YA concept, it then mutated into a much more brutal, bleak sci-fi/horror throwback that happened to feature young protagonists. Now it’s YA in the same sense that, say, King’s Carrie or Cutter’s The Troop are YA.

Quite often in YA stories they tend to focus on popular white kids, even if they think of themselves as more of an outside, but you made your leads kids from poor families, people of colour, and people who are bullied by their peers. What made you pick the characters you did for your main cast?

Well, no joke, part of it stems from a vision I had in a sensory deprivation tank. I was pretty blocked on the novel, so I meditated on the work and about 45 minutes into a tank float the word “Lucia” formed from swirling green stars and I knew then that Lucy/Lucia, the main character, was going to be my entry point to the story and the heart of the thing.

After that, I had to ask who she was, and how I could honour her story. Since a big part of The Loop is just me snitching on my hometown, and how rough it was on a sensitive little nerd like me, that led me to think about my friends who had it even harder - kids who were adopted, or multiple amputees, or secretly gay, or living in deep poverty, or surviving as people of colour in this very openly racist town. I mean, I had some brutal experiences as a kid, some of which are hinted at in the book, but my friends had it even worse. And the thing is, despite everything they survived, so many of them were still the coolest fucking kids you’d ever meet. So Lucy and Bakhit and Brewer are amalgams of these folks I knew, and I did my best to pay tribute to how they lived and struggled and how much I admired them.

Jeremy's novel Skullcrack City

Was there one particular thing that inspired you to write the story of The Loop? Is technology running out of control a particular topic that appeals to you?

Unregulated corporate and governmental abuses of all forms fascinate and horrify me, and “technology out of control” is always good for some sci-fi kicks. So that’s definitely one of the core elements that drives The Loop.

Even more central, I think, in both Skullcrack City and The Loop, is this examination of all the ways which so many human systems, especially capitalism, inherently cause us to dehumanize each other. The moment everything is supply and demand and assets, and humans are delineated as consumers and resources, we’re in some way reduced. An economic value is placed on each of us within a system where psychopaths and sociopaths thrive, and mould the rules to their liking. They use everything in their power to deny us our collective strength and awareness by stoking conflict and making differences and otherness a threat. And the things they are willing to do to us and our shared global environment, just so they can stay on top of this fucked up system, swimming in their grotesque abundance…it’s tough NOT to be obsessed with that.

The Loop has some moments where the narrative cuts away to extracts from the podcast Nightwatch, which deals with conspiracy theories. Are you a fan of conspiracy theories, do you find them interesting or a good place for story ideas?

When I was young and into The X-files/Weekly World News/Art Bell/SubGenius stuff I was definitely a fan of conspiracy theories. It’s thrilling to let your imagination run wild and to explore all these weird permutations and possible realities. I didn’t necessarily believe much of it, but I enjoyed it.

Lately, though, it’s much harder view conspiracy theories as flights of fancy, because people are buying into straight-up toxic, demonstrably/objectively wrong bullshit and then they’re acting on it. Before the internet, this stuff would just manifest in, like, your weird uncle hoarding tranquilizer darts, highlighting nonsensical book passages, and claiming Arnold Schwarzenegger had inducted him into something called the Military Mafia. You could wave it away. Don’t invite that dude to the next picnic, you know? But the advent of niche internet cultures, filter bubbles, destabilizing dis-info campaigns, etc. have turned far too many of us into that crazy uncle.

In some ways the story reminded me of things like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Thing in how you were never sure who to trust. Were you tempted to push those themes further in the narrative at all, make it an even bigger part of the book?

Ha! I actually watched Philip Kaufman’s version of Invasion the week before I started the novel, because I wanted that mood to kind of infect the work. And I definitely wanted to have that amorphous aspect of both The Thing and the first Alien film built into the antagonist. That idea of something being so alien to your understanding of the world that you truly don’t know how it works or what it may be capable of…I love that.

I feel like I pushed that sense of paranoia pretty far—especially if you consider Lucy’s underlying PTSD and the fact that she doesn’t really get to trust people even before everything explodes into chaos—but I always wanted to be sure that Lucy and her friends were somewhat trustworthy…that at the centre there was this new little family born out of trauma and the need to survive, but that they could trust and maybe even love each other.

Jeremy's novel In The River

The Loop isn’t your first book, but it is one that you’re having to release during lock-downs and quarantines, how different has the experience of releasing this book been?

Wildly different! So many Zoom readings and print interviews, so few public events and conventions. Honestly, that post-release period where you get to go public with your book and travel and meet readers and go out for drinks and talk books…that’s always been one of the “push prizes” that keeps me going during the long, lonely stretch of actually writing a book. So I have missed it dearly.

The release of The Loop has been a really beautiful experience with so many career-changing high points. But I have experienced most of those high points from a makeshift temporary office in my garage. It’s been odd.

Do you feel that releasing a book that has an element of viral infection in it during Corona has made this an easier sell to people?

It’s been a mix! The Loop was kind of “2020 on crack” with all the quarantine/outbreak aspects, the racial/economic/class conflicts, the shady government, the bio-implants, etc. So for some folks it’s too on the nose, even though it’s so far over-the-top. On the flip-side, a lot of readers have told me that it was really cathartic to see characters struggling through this absolute nightmare version of what we were living through.

My guess is that the vibe you get from it really depends on the expectation you bring—this thing is pretty wild, and it often moves like a thriller, but it’s much more a confrontational and weird and literary horror novel than it is some idealized escapist fantasy. There’s sweetness and humour in there—you have to have that light with the dark—but there’s all kinds of darkness too.

You’ve written quite a few short stories. Do you prefer those kind of stories over writing novels, or do you find each has its own good points?

I prefer writing novels as an overall experience. You get to play with the rise and fall of the story, and you get to spend more time on character. And having that large scope, for me, allows the big surprises or moments to land with more gravity.

That being said, I love the experimental and precise nature of short fiction, both as a writer and reader, and shorts are a great way to express a singular mood or vision or idea.

Jeremy's novel Entropy in Bloom

How has writing been whilst having to juggle the extra stress and workload during Covid, and are there any handy tips you can recommend for trying to be creative whilst having to manage a lot of things?

Well, as a guy who, on top of the writing commitments, has also been a college student and, unexpectedly, a full-time home-school teacher for my son since the pandemic hit, my best tip is:

Be kind to yourself.

You can’t get as much done right now. You won’t. It’s a fucking pandemic. Even if you had good systems for creativity in place prior to the outbreak, it’s likely those things have been disrupted. Life feels pretty unpredictable.

So make space for your art. Accomplish what you can, when you can. And just enjoy the experience of creating.

If people who’ve read The Loop wanted to check out more of your work what would you say is the best thing to check out?

For people who want an even crazier novel: Skulcrack City

For people who want a wide range of short fiction: Entropy In Bloom

For people who want a heartfelt, experimental meditation on loss: In The River

And finally, are you able to tell us about what’s going to be next for you and what people can look forward to seeing from you?

My next big project will be a series of long overdue book re-releases through an imprint called Coevolution Press. Brand new editions of Skullcrack City and In The River are coming, as well as a collection titled All The Wrong Ideas which gathers all of my weirdest short stories with the novella Extinction Journals. It’ll be so wonderful to have all those books readily available again.

Beyond that there are novels, novellas, and film/TV projects in the works, but nothing I can talk about yet. And, fingers crossed, I really want to get out there and tour behind the next book. I need to sign some books and meet some excellent weirdoes as soon as humanly possible…

Anyone who wants to find out more about Jeremy and his work can visit his website to discover more.

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The Sun Casts No Shadow by Mark Richardson - Blog Tour

 

'Wellington Thorneycroft is content picking pockets, taking Ambrosia, screwing prostitutes, and simply surviving in the hellish, walled City. But everything changes when he spots a spectral woman who wordlessly conveys the message: We’ll escape together. Suddenly, Thorneycroft’s life is turned upside down as he’s pulled along a circuitous path to an unknowable freedom: a path marked by violence, sex, and metaphysical dread.'

The City, a vast and unnamed place filled with the downtrodden and the dispossessed is the setting for Mark Richardson's novel, The Sun Casts No Shadow, a story that plays with reality and takes the reader on an odd journey into the unknowable.

Wellington Thorneycroft is an orphan, having grown up being told that the best life he can hope for is to become one of the depressed and faceless workers in The Factory, the massive facility at the heart of The City that belches out smoke and hides the sky for all those who live within the massive walls of the only place many of them will ever know. Deciding that he wants something else for himself he becomes a pickpocket, robbing other citizens of The City, spending his ill earned money of drink, drugs, and sex.

Wellington his mostly happy with this life, content enough to go through the motions of living in a place he can never hope to escape from. But one day this is all changed when he sees the vision of a beautiful woman, a woman who seems able to speak words directly into his head, telling him 'We'll escape together'.

This woman becomes an obsession for Wellington, and he begins to search for her in every crowd, every sleazy bar. When he finds a woman who looks similar to her Wellington begins to visit her at the club she works at everyday, and they eventually form a relationship, one that leads Wellington to begin working for one of the biggest, and most dangerous criminals in The City. Now his life begins to change, he has a girlfriend, he has money, connections, power. He begins to forget about the woman from his vision; but when a job goes wrong Wellington not only learns that the woman really does exist, but his entire life spirals out of control and he'll be forced to choose if he really does want to escape with her or not.

The world of The Sun Casts No Shadow is a strange one, and for a lot of the time it feels like a pretty bleak science fiction story, taking readers to some strange future city where humanity is existing within its walls. People have forgotten what's outside of their city, content to live, work, and die inside their massive prison, due in part to the mood altering drugs that run freely. It feels dystopian, and borderline apocalyptic; but it's not until we begin to learn more that we see hints that there might be something else to this world, something fantastical. Mark Richardson weaves elements of fantasy and the supernatural into the narrative in subtle ways, and you begin to question exactly what type of story this is and the unexplained becomes more and more commonplace. 

Wellington is a great antagonist to explore this world with. At first he seems as hopeless as everyone else, having long ago given himself over to living out his days in relative squalor inside The City. He doesn't question what lies beyond the walls, what goes on inside the factory, or if there could be something better. He's as much a victim as everyone else there, ground down by a lifetime of hopelessness. Over the course of the book, however, he beings to see that there might be more to the world than he knows. He begins to question what might be possible, and he starts to hope for a better fate for himself.

Instead of being inspiring, this hope feels so tragic. Wellington seems to be the only person who can see that The City isn't a good thing, that people need to dream of more, and the fact that he's alone in this is so sad at times. Part of me wished that he'd have been able to convince others of what he came to learn over the course of the book, that he might be the start of bigger and better things for everyone, that his refusal to live as part of this system would be a catalyst for change and betterment. Sadly, much like in the real world a single person is often not enough to foment any real change, and the book feels more like a tragedy than anything else.

The way the book manages to walk this fine line between hope and tragedy is honestly very impressive, and it skips between moments that feel like fantasy and grim darkness without skipping a beat, but it all works so well together. Richardson does a lot of world-building, yet leaves out enough detail that you're not quite sure what could really be going on, or what could be possible. It feels incredibly grounded at times, and so dreamlike the next. I feel like the story shouldn't work, that there's so many factors that should clash against each other and stop it from making sense, yet it all seems to perfect together.

I'm not sure if there's a good way of describing The Sun Casts No Shadow without it sounding like an odd, jumbled mess, but it's so not that. It's a book of contradictions and opposites that make a cohesive whole where it feels like anything is possible, yet you come to feel like there was only the one way the story could possibly have ended. It's a book that is so hard to describe, but so easy to recommend. So do yourself a favour and go and give it a read as soon as you can.

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The Dancing Plague by Gareth Brookes – Book Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

'The Dancing Plague tells a true story, from 1518, when hundreds of inhabitants of Strasbourg were suddenly seized by the strange and unstoppable compulsion to dance, from the imagined perspective of Mary, one of its witnesses. Prone to mystic visions as a child, betrayed in the convent to which she flees, then abused by her loutish husband, Mary endures her life as an oppressed and ultimately scapegoated woman with courage, strength, and inspiring beauty. As difficult to interpret now (as a psychological reaction to social injustice?) as it was then (as a collective demonic possession?), the story of the “Dancing Plague” finds suitably extraordinary expression in the utterly unique mixed-media style Gareth Brookes has devised to tell it. The pioneering blend of his trademark “pyrographic” technique with sumptuously colourful (and literal) embroidery perfectly reflects, in a beautiful work of art, the enduring fragility of our human condition – from “choreomania” to coronavirus.'

The Dancing Plague of 1518 is definitely one of the strangest mysteries to ever exist. One summer’s day the inhabitants of Strasbourg, in what’s today France, began to dance in the streets. This began with a single person who started dancing and wouldn’t stop; not at the behest of their family, not to sleep, not to eat. They just kept on dancing. But then it spread to others, and more and more people began to join in. By the end up to 400 people were taking part, with no obvious reason or cause. They danced until their feet bled and they dropped from exhaustion.

This is what writer Gareth Brookes explores in The Dancing Plague, and delves into possible reasons for the outbreak. The story follows the life of Mary, a woman who has been plagued by strange visions and images her whole life. Mary chooses to flee to a convent in order to banish her visions, but soon comes to see them as a gift from God, allowing her to see demons and wickedness. 

But when she tells those around her about this she is betrayed, her fellow sisters and the priests turning against her. After fleeing the convent Mary settles down with her new husband in Strasbourg, and has a family. But one day she begins to see strange demonic entities in the street, entities that are taking hold of the townspeople and forcing them to dance uncontrollably.

Brookes uses the mystery of the Dancing Plague to tell the story of a woman used as a scapegoat by those around her, who’s blamed for the evil in the world, who’s treated with suspicion for deviating from the expected norm by even a small bit. So it’s pretty historically accurate for how quickly men would turn on women throughout European history.

What really made the book stand out from other graphic novels, however, is the art style; one that I’m pretty confident in saying is unique to this book. Every single page, each and every panel, resembles a tapestry. The book immediately brought to mind the imagery of the Bayeux Tapestry, possibly one of the most famous tapestries in the world, and it really helped to transport me back in time.

Whilst this art style is unique and stands out, it does however have a few negative things about it. The first, and one that most people probably wouldn’t care about, is that the style brings to mind art from a much earlier period than the 1500s, and is more reminiscent of medieval art than it is art of the Renaissance period.

The other thing about the artwork is that it does sometimes become a little difficult to know who everyone is, thanks to the super simplified drawings. It can be hard to know who is in a particular scene unless the characters are addressed by name. Despite this, it’s still one of the most visually unique books around.

The Dancing Plague was an interesting book, one that took one of the strangest phenomenons in history and tried to put a human story in the middle of it, a story that talks about the abuse and suffering women have had to endure over the centuries. It’s not a particularly long read, but if you’re looking for an interesting way to spend an hour or two it will definitely entertain.

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Battle Royale – Limited Edition 4K UHD Blu-ray - Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Battle Royale has been a hit since it was first released in 2000, receiving rave reviews around the world. Based upon the book by Koushun Takami, the story has been adapted to manga, western comics, and the big screen. Now both the first and second films are getting a gorgeous 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video, allowing audiences the chance to see this genre-defining piece in amazing quality.

Battle Royale tells the story of the children of Third Year Class-B Shiroiwa Junior High School, who are the latest group of teens to be selected to take part in the BR ACT, an initiative passed by the Japanese government to try to combat the growing number of unruly and disruptive young people in their country. Having been selected as this year’s participants, the class are taken to a remote island where they will be forced to fight and kill each other until only one remains. To ensure the kids take part, every student has been fitted with a special collar with an explosive device. If they try to fight back against those behind things, or if they enter any forbidden area the collars will detonate, killing them.

The second film, Battle Royale 2: Requiem, picks up three years after the events of the first movie, where the survivors of previous games have come together to form a resistance group, The Wild Seven, to try and fight against the government. In response, the government has adapted the BR ACT, forcing those chosen to compete to fight together as a strike force against the rebels on their island fortress, pitting innocent children against desperate freedom fighters in a battle to the death. Much like the first film, anyone who refuses to fight will be eliminated by the government.

It’s clear to see how Battle Royale inspired a plethora of dystopian stories, especially things such as The Hunger Games, but it’s also one of the most realistic of these films, presenting a grim future that’s not too different from our own. This isn’t a world where a tyrannical government is using their advanced technology to cow those under them, keeping people in rigid caste systems or anything like that. The world presented in Battle Royale is one where a desperate government put something in place as the only solution they could see, and people went along with it. The first film presents a very bleak story where no one would ever dream of standing up against such a thing, whilst the sequel shows how hard and futile such a rebellion would probably be.

The first two discs of this set are given over to the original film, with a theatrical and director’s cut that have both received 4K transfers from the original film negatives, making these the sharpest quality versions of both films to date. Having seen the film on both DVD and regular Blu-ray I can say that there is a definite difference here, and whilst some of the darker scenes do have a slight bit of grain to them, overall they look fantastic. The sequel doesn’t fare as well as the original in terms of visual quality, but still looks incredibly good, and like the first one comes in both a theatrical and director’s cut.

Alongside these updated versions of the movie are a whole host of fascinating extra features, including some new ones just for this set. The first film gets a new audio commentary from film critics Tom Mes and Jasper Sharpe, who are able to offer a lot of insights that are unique to these kind of retrospective commentaries from film critics and historians. There are also a number of behind the scenes features for both movies, showing how the films were made, and the impact that they had. The fifth disc in the set is also a soundtrack CD, so you can pretend that you’re being hunted by your classmates if you listen to it whilst out for a run.

The new set also comes with a 120 page book, a booklet filled with essays and articles, a set of cards, and a reversible poster, just to give you a little extra bang for your buck. Whilst these items didn’t come included with our review copy, I know that Arrow put a lot of care and attention into these little extras, so I’m sure that they’ll be great quality too.

As someone who’s been a fan of this film since it first came out, and has owned multiple copies of the book, it’s a set that I’ve been excited about for a while. And it didn’t disappoint. Even though I’ve got other special edition versions and limited sets for this film this one is able to offer something new and exciting, and I loved every minute of it.

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Counter Histories: Rock Hill – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

The Friendship Nine are one of the lesser known groups to have made a stand during the fight for equal rights in the United States during the 1960s, with a story that shows the varying methods of protests employed to raise awareness and push for equality. Now their story is brought to the screen by director Frederick Taylor (credited here as Fr3deR1ck), alongside interviews with the members of this pioneering group.

The film tells the story of nine young Black men who, on the morning of January 31st 1961, entered McCrory’s diner in Rock Hill, North Carolina, and sat at the counter. Whilst this might not seem to be a particularly bold move at first, the film soon makes it clear that this action was taken at a time where Black people were not allowed to sit at restaurant counters, where they had to attend Black schools, drink from separate water fountains, and when Black people were being lynched by bigots and racists.

What made the Friendship Nine different was that they went into this knowing that they were going to get trouble, and that they would be arrested. They chose to put themselves at risk, making the decision that none of them would fight back, be rude, or attempt to resist in any way. Their aim was to be arrested but to refuse bail, something that was costing the NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) a lot of money. Their strategy of ‘Jail, No Bail’ saw the nine of them face a month in jail, forced to perform hard labour.

Over the course of Counter Histories: Rock Hill we get to know some of the members of the Friendship Nine, with several of them speaking openly and candidly not just about that day in 1961, but the entire fight for equality for Black people in the US. These interviews are interspersed with recreations of the sit in, as well as television and radio footage from the time.

Whilst the content of the film is incredibly interesting, and the story of the Friendship Nine is one that needs more recognition and acknowledgement, some of the way it’s presented makes it less impactful than it could be. The film has no narration, and it’s down to the members of the Friendship Nine to talk us through what happened in their own words, alongside a handful of other people involved, and related media. Whilst this is a good approach, as it makes the topic feel a lot more personal, like the audience is learning it from those there rather than just being lectured about the incident, the way it’s assembled here left me feeling less informed than I wanted to be.

The film tends to jump around a lot, with many of the people talking on camera going on to talk about things outside of the event itself. Now, this is always informative, and they cover things such as how some of them came to be involved in the protest, or what they would go on to do after it, and the continued racism they had to face; however, they’re presented in a way where we’re jumping back and forth to the actual event. The lack of clear chronology means that you’re sometimes feeling like you’re going off topic a bit, and having to come back round to the main point. It feels less like a planned out documentary, and more a conversation with the people involved, complete with asides and tangents.

This feeling of disconnect is further fed with the continued use of reenactments of the event. Half a dozen scenes seem to have been shot, but the film goes back to them time and time again, with the film slowed down to enable the shots to last longer. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with these moments in themselves, after seeing the young actors enter the diner and sit at the counter for the tenth time it had very much lost its impact.

The film isn’t bad though, and the footage included, both of the interviews with the Friendship Nine members and from old news reels, in incredibly informative and educational. The film taught me a lot, and elicited strong emotions in me more than once. It made me angry that such injustices were allowed to take place, but it also made me feel hope that things could be better thanks to the actions of activists like the Friendship Nine and others who fought for equality. The film also showed that so many of the arguments from those standing against progress haven’t changed in six decades, with so many of the speeches from segregationists being eerily similar to those being made today about marginalised groups.

Counter Histories: Rock Hill shows one of the lesser known moments from the US civil rights movement, of brave and defiant action taken by ordinary men who stood up and did something extraordinary. It showed that the fight for equality was fought on so many fronts, in so many ways, and whilst there’s still so much work still to be done, not just in the US but the entire world, positive change is possible.

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The Beast of Harwood Forest - Dan Smith Interview

 

After reading the new novel The Beast of Harwood Forest I spoke to author Dan Smith and asked him a few questions about the project. The full review for The Beast of Harwood Forest can be found here.

The Beast of Harwood Forest is a follow-up to The Invasion of Crooked Oak, was it easier to write as a second book, or was there an extra degree of pressure because of how well received the first book was?

The truth is, I was just excited to be writing about Pete, Nancy, and Krish again. The books are a joy to write! I have always loved a creepy mystery, so it’s great fun to write some of my own, and it’s a pleasure to work with Barrington Stoke. It’s very kind of you to say that The Invasion of Crooked Oak was well-received, and I hope readers enjoy the new adventure.

The book has some really creepy moments in it, is it difficult writing spooky stories for children because there’s the need to not make it too scary for younger readers?

There’s something exciting about having a bit of a scare, isn’t there? When I read excerpts to groups of children, I can see the excitement in their eyes, and lots of teachers and librarians tell me that children are asking them for creepy stories. You’re right that it’s important for the stories not to be too creepy, but I also think it’s important not to hold back too much. I wouldn’t write anything too horrifying, but it’s good to make your reader’s pulse quicken just a bit … isn’t it?

There’s a campfire story early in the book about a ghostly Grey Lady, it’s really spooky and I loved that part of the book. Were you ever tempted to have the kids investigate something ghostly like that? And could we possibly hope to see more of this story in a future book?

I love that part too! It’s my nod to the classic moment in ‘80’s slasher films when the kids are sitting by the campfire, hearing the legend of Jason, or Cropsy, or whatever monster we’re going to see. I have thought about having the kids investigate something ghostly, but one of the themes of the Crooked Oak stories is that there is always some kind of real-world explanation for what is happening, no matter how strange that explanation is. I would never want to do a Scooby-Doo style unmasking (that was always a disappointment to me) so a ghostly story would have to have exactly the right idea.

Both Crooked Oak books are available from
Barrington Stoke now!

The main part of the story is about the Harwood Institute, an old MOD facility from World War 2 where secret experiments went on. What was a chief inspiration for this part of the story?

I wanted there to be a real-world explanation for The Beast, and for the reader to believe that there really could be something like that. Bizarre science experiments are a great way to create all manner of horrors, so it fit really well. I’m a big fan of horror films, especially from the 1980’s, and in many of those stories we find monsters created through experimentation, so I had lots of inspiration to draw on. Scientific experimentation is also a key element of one of my favourite videogame series – Resident Evil – so that may have played a part too.

One of the characters compares the experiments to Resident Evil, and one of the scientists is called W. Birkin. Please tell me this is a nod to Resident Evil 2?

Yes, it definitely is. I’ve been playing and re-playing Resident Evil games for years, and I love them. I’m actually a bit of a horror geek and if you look closely at the Crooked Oak stories, you’ll find lots of secret shout-outs to some of my favourite horror films, books, and videogames. I wonder if anyone will spot them?

How did you go about designing the Grendel creature, what was that process like?

Mainly, I had a lot of fun researching pictures of monsters and different interpretations of Grendel. I love the Beowulf story, so that was always going to be an influence, but mostly I put together the elements that I thought would make the beast look scary. When I saw Chris King’s initial concept, I was blown away! He did an amazing job of turning my words into a terrifying creature.

What’s the process like with Chris King working on the book? Do you pick out key moments that you think should be illustrated, or is that something that is down to Chris or the publisher?

I don’t really have much involvement in that side of things. My publisher, Barrington Stoke, briefs the illustrator, Chris, so I really have no idea what scenes they have chosen until I see the first rough illustrations. I’m always in awe when I see the different stages as the roughs become finalised. We look over them very carefully, and Barrington Stoke is very strict about the presentation of the scenes. The books are designed with a particular type of reader in mind so it’s important that the illustrations inform the text in the right way. The details have to be right. If Nancy is holding her phone in the text, she has to be holding it in the illustration too.

Dan's adult thriller novel,
'Red Winter'.

Are you planning to write any more books with Pete, Krish, and Nancy, and if so what kind of spooky things can we look forward to next?

I’m working on another Crooked Oak story right now. I think I’m allowed to tell you that. I don’t want to give too much away but I can tell you that this one is going to be horrifying! It will make your skin crawl. In fact, you’ll be banging out your shoes and checking under the bed after this one!

As well as writing children’s fiction you’ve also written a number of adult thriller books. Is the process different when you come to write these different types of books?

The thrillers I wrote for adults are very heavily researched stories, so yes there’s a big difference between those and a Crooked Oak story. I do research for the Crooked Oak stories, but it’s not such a long and detailed process. Obviously, I write the Crooked Oak stories with a much younger audience in mind, but one of the biggest differences between these and any other stories I write is that Barrington Stoke has an additional step in the publication process – one which ensures that the stories are accessible to as many young readers as possible.

You’ve travelled around the world a lot over the course of your life, would you say that this has helped to inspire your writing in any ways?

Yes, it has definitely influenced some of my writing, but not all of it. And it’s important for me to add that it’s not essential for a writer to have had life like mine. There is no exclusivity on imagination – anyone can make up and write stories.

What can people look forward to seeing from you in the future?

I’m currently working on another Crooked Oak story, so I’ll be trying to scare a few readers with that. I also have a book coming out next year called The Weeping Tree, which is a longer novel featuring a bleak windswept island, a dangerous causeway, an otherworldly pact, and a search for three mysterious treasures. I’m really proud of it, so I hope everyone likes it.

Anyone interested in seeing more of Dan's work can head over to his website to find more on his back catalogue.

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The Beast of Harwood Forest by Dan Smith - Book Review

 

'What’s hiding in Harwood Forest?

'When Pete, Nancy and Krish arrive at Heathland Camp for a school trip, they’re in for an adventure – just not the kind they were expecting. Nearby sits the abandoned Harwood Institute. The crumbling buildings are out of bounds but strange screams come from the surrounding forest at night. Mystery shrouds the events that took place at the institute during the war, so Pete and his friends make it their mission to find out the truth. But the forest is hiding a sinister secret, and the trio could be in real danger ... Are some mysteries best left undisturbed?'

The Beast of Harwood Forest is the spooky follow-up to last years The Invasion of Crooked Oak, and proves to be a creepy and tense monster caper.

I feel I need to admit that I've not read the previous book in this series, which I know is bad of me, but that being said, I was able to jump straight into this book without any difficulty as Dan Smith has managed to make it very easy for new readers to get to know the characters. The book could have very easily been a stand-alone adventure, and for that it's very accessible for those, like myself, who missed out on the first book.

The story follows Pete, Nancy, and Krish, three friends who love to investigate the creepy and the supernatural. On a school residential trip, they expect to spend the week taking part in zip-line activities, campfire cookouts, and if they're lucky a spooky story or two. However, when Pete sees an abandoned building set deep in the nearby Harwood Forest he feels like it's the perfect kind of place to check out.

Unfortunately, the camp staff won't tell him much about it, other than the kids aren't supposed to go there. With no other way to find out what the place is about he, Krish, and Nancy decide to sneak out of their dorms one night and go and explore. The plan sounds easy, but when they discover some dark, secret experiments from the war, and something stalking them through the darkness their night of fun becomes a race to escape.

Dan Smith is really, really good at building atmosphere, and despite the relatively short length of the book (only 110 pages) he manages to pack it full of creepy location and tense moments. From the very start, when Pete sees the distant Harwood Institute, things begin to build towards their inevitable conclusion, as Pete becomes almost obsessed with the strange buildings. They're a constant thing, always on the edge of the scene, or the focus of Pete's thoughts that they almost take on a life of their own.

The book doesn't just rely on this, however, and once the trio head out into the woods they quickly find some creepy things hidden inside them; strange offerings hanging in the trees, ruined buildings, and a batch of files that hold some disturbing secrets. 

The thing to remember about the book though is that it's for kids, and as such whilst it does have a lot of tense and scary moments it never pushes too far into full blown horror, and manages to walk that very fine line where kids will get some scares reading it but hopefully won't end up having nightmares.

There's also a bunch of great illustrations throughout by Chris King, who really manages to bring the story to life. Whilst the gorgeous cover art is presented in full colour the interior work is done in black and white, and this just adds to the atmosphere of the story. The dark and moody nature of the grey-scale images means that even those moments set during the daytime have an air of foreboding, and the times where we get to actually see the creature that haunts the woods is brilliant. The artwork goes so well with the story that I found myself wanting more, and hoping that perhaps one day the creative team would come together to turn it into a full graphic novel.

The Beast of Harwood Forest is the perfect story for young readers who like to get a little scared, who are like our three heroes and have a fascination with the spooky and supernatural. But it's also a story that older readers will get a kick out of, as Dan Smith is able to craft a tale that's interesting an engaging enough to span all ages.

Make sure to check back later today for an interview with Dan Smith.

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Rogue: Untouched - Alisa Kwitney Interview

 

After reading the new Marvel Heroines novel, Rogue: Untouched, I had a chat with author Alisa Kwitney about what it was like writing for one of the most iconic X-Men. Full review for Rogue: Untouched can be found here.

How long have you been a fan of the X-Men, and what is it about them that appeals to you?

I was an X-Men reader back in college, in the eighties, so I met them in their original Chris Claremont incarnation. I immediately fell in love with the romantic soap opera element, combined with all these weighty philosophical and psychological ingredients. In the nineties I was also reading Alpha Flight and the New Mutants.

What made you pick Rogue for this story, what about her character and story that drew you to her?

I’ve always wanted to write Rogue. I love that she’s so snarky and vulnerable and powerful. A lot of female superhero characters are more emotionally balanced than their male counterparts, and I’ve always been drawn to characters that are weird and charismatic and a little neurotic. I love watching TV shows like Fleabag and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and my goal is to write characters that feel emotionally authentic, but to write them with as much humour as possible.

Was it hard to delve into the backstory of such an established character, one who has sometimes some very conflicting background and origins, or were you given a lot of free reign to do what you wanted?

Well, I had a lot of free reign, but yet still I accidentally broke from my approved outline like a runaway horse. I blame the pandemic. My Aconyte editor was incredibly kind, and allowed me to write Marvel a letter explaining why I had deviated from the outline and asking for retroactive approval. But I would definitely not recommend any writers try this at home with their Marvel prose novels.

Chris Claremont's X-Men

The story brings in some other characters from the Marvel Universe, some very niche and not very well known ones too, were there any characters that you wanted to use but couldn’t find a way of fitting them into the story?

Not really. I would love to write other X-Men, like Kitty Pryde, but I was very focused here on choosing characters who would serve the story. I was just so happy that I was able to write a Rogue and Gambit love story with full-on secrets and jealousy and weird twists. In retro 80’s terms, I got to write a glam Dynasty meets body horror Reanimator—with some celebrity Love Boat cameos thrown in.

Your book takes some characters that have often been used as villains in the X-Men lore and have given them a more heroic or at least nuanced take, showing them to have motivations beyond ‘being evil’. Was it important to you that these characters be more than just one dimensional bad guys?

I don’t believe in Pure Good against Unadulterated Evil, so I can’t really write it. Even my favourite horror novels, like Rosemary’s Baby, have nuanced villains. (I’m not talking about Satan here, I’m talking about Rosemary’s hubsand, who is the real villain of the story.) The X-Men also lend themselves to nuanced storytelling, because one of the central conflicts is the question of how mutants should respond to human prejudice. Some mutants want to prove that they are allies, and others feel that humans will always view mutants as a threat, so there is no way to co-exist without mutants asserting their power and claiming the upper hand. No one is just moustache twirling and seeking wealth and power. 

The book features the first meeting between Rogue and Gambit, and sows the seeds for their romance. Was it hard creating the start of one of the more iconic comic romances but making it feel fresh and new to your own story?

I love writing the spark and dance of early courtship, so it wasn’t hard at all. There’s a lot of rom com in both my superhero prose stories, but it’s umami rom com. I’ve written a lot of courtship stories in prose, but getting to try my hand at Rogue and Gambit was definitely a bucket list wish.

After this would you want to continue Rogues story, or do you feel like you’ve told the story you wanted to tell with her?

I’m not sure. I loved writing Rogue, but I do have a fun idea for what happens next. On the other hand, I’ve got a lot of other projects I’m eager to do as well, and there’s never enough time to write them all!

Alisa's DC graphic novel,
Mystic U.

Are there any other X-Women you’d like to write for other than Rogue, any heroes or villains that you’d like to give the same treatment to?

Off the top of my head, I would love write to Kitty Pryde. I’d also love to write new versions of Shanna the She Devil and the Cat, feminist icons from my childhood. After WandaVision, I’d also love to do an Agatha Harkness book.

If people enjoyed this book what else of yours can they check out to give them a similar experience?

My Avengers prose novel, which is also a full cast audio book, has some similar feels. I’ve also been told that all my books, no matter the genre, are recognizably mine because of the voice. Mystik U, which is a DC Comics graphic novel featuring Zatanna, might also be fun for readers who enjoyed Rogue.

What can we expect to see from you next?

I’m currently working on a humorous time travel comic book mini-series with the artist Alain Mauricet for AHOY comics. I’m also starting Endless, a new podcast about the Sandman comics, with my friend, story expert Lani Diane Rich. The podcast will be a good preparation for the upcoming Netflix Sandman TV series. 

Anyone interested in seeing more of Alisa's work can head over to her website to find more on her back catalogue.

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Rogue: Untouched by Alisa Kwitney - Book Review

 

'Mutant powers are a curse for Rogue, but two strangers will change her life forever, in this explosive superhero novel, the first title in the Marvel Heroines series

'Rogue’s life sucks: she lives alone in an abandoned cabin, works a terrible diner job and hides from everyone. When your first kiss almost kills a guy, it’s hard to trust anyone – even yourself. Then two people arrive in town who could change her life, and she finally gets a choice: follow a mysterious billionaire who says she’s scouting for gifted interns, or the handsome card shark with eerie red eyes. Except they’re not the only ones watching her… Rogue will have to trust in herself and accept the powers she’s suppressed, to decide her own fate – before someone else does.'

Let's be honest, the X-Men have some strange and often conflicting stories, and have been through so many tweaks, retcons, and re-tellings that trying to keep a cohesive understanding of the characters and the universe can be a bit of a challenge at times. As such, getting the chance to forget everything I've seen before and just taking some of the characters I know and love as they come in a brand new setting was a wonderful treat; and it also means that readers can come to Rogue: Untouched without any prior knowledge of the X-Men and still have a hell of a good time.

The book follows young Anna Marie, though she prefers just Marie, a nineteen-year-old living in a tiny apartment in an old plantation house, trying to work enough shifts at the small town's diner until she can get enough cash to head to New Orleans and try to make a fresh start. Marie dropped out of school when her boyfriend, the star footballer, fell into a coma after she kissed him, and she became the focus of local gossip and scorn. Having fallen out with her overly religious aunt, Marie feels like her life isn't going anywhere and just wants out.

Her life takes a dramatic turn, however, when a smooth talking Cajun named Remy show up in her diner one day. After upsetting a couple of the local bullies Remy is on the receiving end of a beat-down until Marie steps in and saves him. Unsure what to do, she takes the handsome stranger back to her place and fixes him up the best she can. Marie quickly finds herself attracted to the handsome gentleman, but won't let herself get too close. Determined to get him out of her apartment and out off her life she's shocked to discover that not only is he a mutant, but that he claims she is too.

Now Marie begins to explore her potentially dangerous new powers, whilst also balancing her life and the possibility of getting a scholarship from the impressive Borgia School, the owner of which has been coming into her diner lately. If this wasn't hard enough, Remy's on the run from some very dangerous people; and they may have tracked him back to Marie.

Rogue: Untouched definitely introduces readers to the world of mutants in a slow way, having them being something on the fringes of the story. Rather than dropping readers into a world filled with brightly costumed heroes they're shown a world much like our own. The mutants are something that 'regular' folk talk about in the abstract, 'how would you react to one', and 'should they be given rights' and it very clearly mirrors real world issues like racial equality, and queer rights. It's mostly background flavour at first, allowing us to get to know Marie before it introduces explosive powers and people who don't look human.

I think this was not only a very clever choice from Alisa Kwitney, but one that made the most sense. Whilst there are a lot of X-Men in the Marvel Universe mutants are still pretty rare, and most people would probably not be aware of knowing any. It's something that would be talked about, but that most people wouldn't have much first hand experience in. The book realises that, and very much crafts a world that feels like ours rather than one with brightly coloured heroes flying around.

It also means that for a good portion of the book we get to put our focus on Marie, and we get to know her really well. Even in comics where she's a focus I feel like I've not really gotten to know Rogue very well. She's often portrayed as an outgoing and confident woman, though one who uses that to hide her true feelings. There are occasional moments of insight into her, normally focused on her being unable to touch people and how that causes her pain, but that't about it. Here we get to know her as a real person. We get to learn about her past, her hopes and dreams for the future. We get to see what makes her tick, and it might be one of the best depictions of Rogue because of that.

But, she's not the only character to fill the pages, and readers get some other well known mutants showing up too. There are a handful that make smaller appearances towards the latter half of the book, and one who has a big connection to Rogue, but I'm not really going to talk about them too much so as not to spoil anything. What I will say is that these characters were a lot of fun, and whilst I suspected who one of them was the first time we saw them it was still a lot of fun waiting for that reveal, and seeing how they formed a relationship with Marie.

The one I will talk about, however, is Remy. Gambit is a character I've never really liked a whole lot if I'm being honest. There's a lot about him to like, his outfit looks cool, he's got awesome eyes, his power is neat, and he's got a lot of charm. But I think a lot of writers push a little too hard to make Gambit the 'cool' character, and this only makes me struggle to enjoy him. He becomes a caricature rather than a real person. Kwitney, however, removes a lot these expectations for the character. He's no longer being made into the 'cool' person on the team, as there is no team. Instead he's allowed a chance to breathe and be his own person.

The Gambit presented in this book has a lot of charm, sure, but he's not just spending all of his time flirting with Rogue and trying to get in her pants. He actually seems to care about her as a person, and treats her as more than just his latest conquest; a trap that some writers seem to fall into. Watching him and Marie get close, and form a very real friendship was such a fresh take on the two of them. I got to see him as someone gently introducing someone to their newly discovered powers, acting as a mentor. It's a dynamic I can't remember the two of them ever really having before, but it works so well here.

Alisa Kwitney has experience writing young adult books, and it really shows here. This isn't a story about a super heroine going off on an adventure and using her powers to take down a villain, it's the story of a young woman learning about herself, of discovering new things and learning to embrace who she is. The story works so well not because of the powers or the action, but because it's a story about people. Not only is this approach something that feels fresh and new to these characters, but it's one that I hope to see again with other comic book heroes.

Make sure to check back later today for an interview with Alisa Kwitney.

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