David R Slayton

Aug232012

The Final Frontier – Now with Explosions!

Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers – I came of age in a time of great space opera and science fiction. They drew me in, excited my mind, and though the physics were sometimes less than accurate (sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum), the space battles awed me. The more ships and fighters zipping racing across a star field, the more enthralled I became. I love the humanism at the heart of classic Star Trek, the mythic journey of Star Wars, and the religious echoes in Galactica; but a busy space battle, with broadsides and collisions, never fails me. This same spirit, of massive fleets racing towards each other, guides Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet series.

Campbell starts on a good premise: the Alliance fleet has been trapped far behind enemy lines. The death of their leadership forces the fleet to turn to John “Black Jack” Geary, a war hero revived after a century of survival sleep. Finding himself retroactively promoted and the object of hero worship by a fleet whose military protocols he barely recognizes, Geary is given the seemingly impossible task of getting the fleet safely back to Alliance space.

What follows is a long trek from system to system. The fleet is battered, under-supplied, and utterly cut off from friendly support. Internal tensions flare, threatening Geary’s leadership as he attempts to restore order to the fleet’s command structure. As I read through, I find myself looking forward to the next battle, where Geary’s mastery of tactics often snatches victory from defeat; but Campbell uses the time between battles well. Sabotage adds to the tension as Geary struggles to realign the fleet’s priorities.

I’ll admit that I found the first book, Dauntless, a little thin on the characterization. Geary’s setbacks didn’t seem to hit him hard enough, but as the series advances, Campbell does a remarkable job of spinning several plates at once. The characters become more realized, and Campbell even manages to make me laugh out loud from time to time. I’m nearly to Victorious, the final book in the original series, when we’ll learn if the fleet makes it home or not. I have to say that I’ve really enjoyed the trip.

Aug192012

Starting a New Year Right

This isn’t really a blog post. It’s more a love note to a band and an expression of gratitude to the universe.

No music has ever influenced my spiritual or creative self more than Dead Can Dance. Whether it’s their original albums or Lisa Gerrard’s solo work, I return to them year after year. They’ve been a huge part of my life since I thought I was going to be a painter, when I was a poet, and now that I see myself as a novelist. A crush gave me their Passage in Time collected hits album, and while he’s long gone from my life, Dead Can Dance has forever lingered. When my grandmother, the closest family I’ve had, died, I listened to Lisa Gerrard’s Mirror Pool album until I could contain my grief and board the plane. When I drove to Delphi to see the ruins of the oracle, I listened to a mix of their most ethereal songs.

I never thought I’d see them live. They ended their collaboration not too long after I discovered them. If you asked me to name one group I’d pay nearly any amount to see live, Dead Can Dance would be my instant answer. But a reunion tour has come together, their second that I know of (I simply couldn’t manage the first as they didn’t come anywhere near Denver).

So I’m going to Dead Can Dance tonight, in the city I’ve made my home, on my birthday, and I couldn’t ask for a better gift.

Aug62012

Feedback: Closing the Loop

You can’t learn to write in a vacuum. Feedback, and learning to take it, are both essential to your growth as a writer. Like editing, feedback sharpens your awareness of what you need to work on. But too much of anything, including feedback, can introduce fresh problems.

In the case of feedback, too much can put you into an endless editing cycle. You finish a draft, you solicit feedback, you edit again. Wash, rinse, repeat – then it’s been years and you’re still trying to finish that novel. When the feedback loop is out of control you have to stop, find your own editorial voice, and re-center your work. Asking yourself some questions can help:

1. Is my book ready for feedback? Putting your work out there is a lot like sending your child off to her first day of school. She’s unlearned, untested, but she should be dressed and armed with glue, crayons, and a straw for firing spitballs. Similarly, your writing should be ready for people to see it. It doesn’t need to be perfect, that’s the whole point of soliciting feedback, but it should be complete. You should know what your writing is about, where it’s going, and who it’s intended for. Imagine you’re going to be interviewed about it. When your book is published, who’s going to want to buy it? Can you sum up the plot in a few sentences? If asked, can you explain your vision for the novel? If you can’t answer these questions, you’re probably not ready for feedback.

2. Who’s your audience? Every book has an audience. It may be as small as your own family or as large as a dedicated fan base. Even if you’re writing towards commercial success, you still have an audience. Stephen King, in On Writing, suggests identifying an ideal reader, a single person you’re writing to. This gives you an excellent way of narrowing your audience to a specific person. But however you do it, identify the person or people you’re writing to. Your work should be targeting them. They should enjoy what you’re creating. Imagine their response to your work. Play with them. Entertain them. But don’t never them. Even when you’re deep in the zone, crafting a fantastic bit of dialogue, some tiny part of you should be wondering if the audience will care.

3. Are you trying to please everyone? The other side of the audience coin is the scope of the feedback. In a critique group or workshop, you’re going to get, and give, a lot of feedback. Much of it is going to come from other writers, all of whom have their own vision for their writing, and much of it isn’t going to apply. This is where developing a clear relationship with your internal editor is crucial. You have to balance what the critique says against your work. Some of the feedback will resonate, indicate an area where you need to improve. Some of it won’t pertain to what you’re trying to do. Take all the feedback as it’s given, and say thank you. Someone took the time to read your work and give you input on it. They’ve done you a kind favor. Then sift through their notes and see what truly applies and what doesn’t. You can’t please anyone, and you shouldn’t try, especially if the feedback would change what your book is trying to do.

4. Are you listening to the feedback you’re getting? It’s very easy to put your writing on an artistic pedestal, consider it above feedback, and ignore whatever comes at you. This is a terrible way to behave in a workshop, and arrogance is generally a sign of some deep insecurity about your work. But it’s also easy to self-deprecate, be insecure, and let all the feedback you get guide your writing, thereby creating the endless feedback loop. The first situation is easy to fix: open your mind. If you can’t, don’t sign up for workshops. Please. The rest of us will thank you. The second situation has a more elegant solution. Develop your inner editor. If you don’t have one, create one. I imagine mine as J. Jonah Jameson from Spider-Man. All the feedback goes to him first. Waving his noxious cigar, he decides which feedback resonates, matters, and gets passed on to the more sensitive writer part of myself. The rest he still reads, scanning carefully for ways to improve my writing, but he still sets it aside. He doesn’t order a full rewrite of the book because one person didn’t like the love interest.

May12012

Big Ideas in a Vacuum: the Prefect by Alastair Reynolds

Ghosts in the machine who believe they’re alive, ten thousand space stations, each with its own government or political system, a woman whose only hope for survival is an instant decapitation: these are just a few of the big ideas floating around in Alastair Reynolds’ the Prefect.

My tour of Science Fiction brought me to the Prefect on a whim, and what a read it was. Though Reynolds constructs a complex universe, he doesn’t let the diverse concepts eclipse the central plot.

A dangerous conspiracy with vast tendrils threatens the Glitter Band, the democratic confederacy of ten thousand unique habitats. Despite the scope of the danger, murder is murder, and that’s where Prefects come in. Prefects protect the Glitter Band from crime, corruption, and other threats. Reynolds uses three points of view, the primary being that of Tom Dreyfus, a field Prefect who occasionally borders on the cliché. Thankfully, Reynolds doesn’t stress the noir theme too heavily.

The plot rocks along until nearly every thread is tied off. The most seemingly disparate elements get woven together. Reynolds injects enough action, including the ballsiest escape sequence I’ve ever read. I was pleased to learn that the Prefect is one in a much larger series, one I’m looking forward to exploring.

Feb112012

Yeah, I’m Reading Janet Evanovich, You Gotta Problem with That?

Fresh off ingesting Jack McDevitt’s Alex Benedict series, I’m in the mood for a little fluff. A bit of chick lit, but even then, I’m learning something about writing.

Evanovich’s long running Stephanie Plum series sets the bar for women out of their depth. Like Sookie Stackhouse, Stephanie’s got money troubles. Both characters have down to earth problems that help ground them in reality despite their outlandish adventures. Money’s a problem for Stephanie, so she stumbles her way into bounty hunting.

I’m more immediately fond of Stephanie: she’s thirty-something, more mature, with an outlandish, though believable, family and a nasty divorce under her belt.
Stephanie doesn’t pick up a gun, go after her bounty, and proceed to blow away the bad guys matrix-style. She comes across realistically: afraid of her weapon, clumsy in her pursuit, and occasionally downright stupid in her mistakes.

Evanovich moves things along with short sentences and unexpected turns of phrase that freshen up clichés. Her descriptive paragraphs have an almost staccato rhythm. Stephanie usually gets her man, but never without threat or setbacks.

A “serious” writer might argue that there’s little value in such a read. At that I stick out my tongue and get back to reading. Good writing reads quick, doesn’t mire the reader, and above all, entertains. I love a deep read, but they really make me smile. Evanovich makes me laugh out loud or cringe with concern. She provokes an emotional response, which not enough science fiction or fantasy do well.

Jan132012

Historical Mysteries Out Among the Stars

Big ideas are the foundation of a great Science Fiction story. Where fantasy enchants, science fiction inspires. I know I’ve enjoyed the read when I put down a Sci Fi book and find my brain spinning as I ponder the implication of a technology or social development.

Science Fiction isn’t an easy sell these days. Most agents won’t touch it and few publishers show interest. In a time when fantasy is thriving, largely due to the urban, Science Fiction is languishing. I suspect that a large part of the issue is that Sci Fi is often inaccessible. It isn’t easy on the brain, and stories based on science can be dull.

A good science fiction story needs neither aliens nor lasers (look at Battlestar Galactica) to work. Not that I’m opposed to aliens and lasers. I am after all, a devoted Farscape fan who never got over its cancellation, but it’s depth I’m seeking in a good science fiction novel. I want that feeling of my brain spinning, of big ideas looming on the horizon, and of course I want to be entertained.

Jack McDevitt’s Alex Benedict novels give me all of these things in a slick package. Alex isn’t the most highly regarded guy around: an antique dealer accused of damaging historical sites, he’s nevertheless very good at his profession. McDevitt made a good turn when he switched the point of view in the books from Alex to his partner Chase. She’s a more dynamic character and being out of the loop of Alex’s brilliant insights, is more relatable for the reader.

McDevitt places a juicy mystery at the heart of each novel, and it’s usually something Alex and Chase stumble into on their way to something else. The reveal is always bigger than life, though the victory is occasionally bittersweet.
My original intent in reading this series was to read one, review it, then read another; but I became so entranced that I ripped through the series in a couple of weeks.

I enjoyed Polaris, but find that the books get better with time.* Seeker, with its discussion of the role of history in contemporary life, captivated me. McDevitt seasons the plot with questions on government and politics. The place of religion in a cosmos where man has spread out among the stars is a major theme in all of the books, particular in Firebird, but I think my favorite so far has been the Devil’s Eye. It has everything I love in Science Fiction: the big idea, a terrible secret buried by authority, remote stellar outposts, and even an appearance by McDevitt’s one alien species, the telepathic mutes. The Devil’s Eye delves into the tensions we all face with our governments and our place in things. All of the books use quotes to start new chapters, usually these are from future books McDevitt has created. The Devil’s Eye draws heavily on a series of horror novels, and McDevitt uses them to inject some commentary on the art of writing into things.

*There’s a point I’d like to make on this, which is that mid-list authors are struggling these days. A lack of high sales is pushing a lot of writers out of writing and it’s unfortunate. McDevitt is a perfect example of a talent that needed time to mature, and he’s a great example of tenacity too.

Jan22012

Faith and Fantasy: Why You Should Read the Curse of Chalion

I was raised with a strict ban on magic, during the 80s when people thought playing Dungeons and Dragons might cause you to kill yourself. Mike Warnke’s the Satan Seller was required reading in our house, and there lurked this terrible fear that Satanists and witches lurked around every corner, ready to maim or kill you. But by banning fantasy, my mother deprived us of a mirror that might have helped us think about good versus evil and our relationship to religion. Fantasy can open the mind, and theology, as it often arises in fantasy, can lead to deep discussions on the nature of faith.

It’s easy to ascribe a coincidence to divine intervention. You think of someone you haven’t seen for a while and run into them the next day, or the person you sit next to on a plane turns out to have been in your high school class. Coincidences often demonstrate that the world is truly a little place.

In fiction coincidences are common by necessity. A good plot relies on chance encounters, connections and events driven by nothing more than the need for them to happen. Connecting plot elements through coincidence can reduce the number of extra characters and help keep the reader interested.

In the Curse of Chalion, coincidence reflects the will of the gods and their limited ability to affect the actions of mankind. I’m going to try and discuss Lois McMaster Bujold’s technique without spoiling too much, but it may not be possible to avoid giving some key elements away. Bujold’s theology holds a logical depth that goes far behind the simplistic deus ex machina employed in so many stories. The gods struggle with their own goals, which might coincide with the goals of man, but in Chalion, the gods simply cannot work upon the world. They are barred by man’s free will. To effect a change upon the world, they must find an agent who’s willing to cast their own will aside. Most often this takes the form of characters who’ve been driven far beyond their limits. Their broken nature leaves them open to the gods’ use.

The Curse of Chalion ignores many of the typical fantasy devices: there are few action scenes or swordfights. Bujold could have chosen to tell the story of the handsome young prince new to his throne, or she could have focused on the Royess Iselle, a fascinating character who despite the limitations placed on her power by her gender, is a powerful young woman who finds ways of succeeding inside those limitations. Instead Bujold chooses for her protagonist Caz, a broken man in his thirties who’s middle-aged in his society. He arrives on the scene irrevocably changed by unfortunate circumstance, unable to lift pen or sword, poor and unrecognizable to even those few nobles who might remember him. From there Bujold weaves Caz into the politics of his day. Caz finds himself caring about more than mere survival again as his spirit heals from his terrible ordeals. Yet it’s not long before he’s once again pushed past his limits, and in that space, the broken man takes actions he never would have considered before.

The Curse of Chalion is a thoughtful fantasy, the sort of story that you ponder long after the book is closed. I put it down and immediately wanted to read more theology and philosophy.

Dec172011

The Magic in the Mundane: A Home at the End of the World

Genre fiction offers escape, entertainment, and release from the boring. Reading it, we spend time with vampires and witches, sexy wizards, and complex villains. Genre fiction is often bigger than life, with an almost comic book feel. Regular life, and literary fiction, don’t usually involve the fate of the world.

Instead, the best literary books amplify. They hold a lens up to simple, common experiences, and if written well, encourage us to see them in another light. A good book can take a cliché event, polish it off, and find a new facet we haven’t seen before. That facet, often something universal, strikes a chord with us because it reflects our own lives and experiences.

Michael Cunningham’s a Home at the End of the World is such a book. Transformative, it’s a book that revels in events that could be sentimental but resists painting them with those colors. Four points of view cross and overlap at just the right intervals. Big events in the characters’ lives often occur off screen, between points of view that highlight more important, more intimate moments. What shapes these characters isn’t the death of a parent, at least not by the end. Rather, they grow through the tiniest bit of personal introspection and struggle to explain this to one another.

At its core a Home at the End of the World is dealing with a particular existential malady, one we all feel: the sense that we’re waiting for our lives to start, even as life passes us by. Yet it doesn’t try to remedy this feeling. The characters move through the decades without a resolution until the very end, when Cunningham conjures an ending for them that perfectly reflects much earlier moments while showing us that the characters have truly found a change in their internal landscape.

I read a lot of good books. A Home at the End of the World is a truly great one.

Dec112011

Failing to Fall in Love or “Just How Timelagged Are You?”

We all love certain books a bit more than others. They might not be bestsellers, or they might be critically acclaimed, but we think of them as ours, like no one else knows they even exist.

My ex used to carry a copy of Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog around almost constantly. His copy was dog-eared and worn, yet he’d faithfully re-read it, annually. For perhaps that reason, like I felt that I’d be trespassing on his devotion, I didn’t read the book until now.

What I found was a novel of comic misadventure and wonderful misdirection as two time travelers stumble about the Victorian era, trying to find a hideous piece of sculpture whose whereabouts are responsible for a possible melting of the continuum. No pressure. And yet, the contemporary Victorian characters, completely oblivious to the situation, thwart the travelers through all their eccentric meandering.

The book satisfied, particularly at the denouement. Pets, who I think don’t get enough presence in fiction, are a large part of it all. Mysteries compound and resolve. As much as I enjoyed the story, I didn’t love the book. I can analyze it to death: the tension took a bit too long. I was never as caught up in the circumstances as I wanted to be. Willis’ characters are clever. The end really wrapped it all up nicely. I think this is what agents mean when they reject a manuscript with the confusing statement “I just didn’t fall in love.”

To Say Nothing of the Dog is a good book, one I’m glad I finally read. Yet it definitely didn’t inspire in me the devotion it does in Brian. Conversely, I know that trying to explain my love of Gail Carriger or Margaret Atwood and convince people to read their books doesn’t always go very well.

What drives us to fall in love with a book? What makes a book so important to one person but completely passable to another? I don’t think there’s a good answer, which is what makes that agent response so frustrating to the aspiring author. It’s as an ineffable quality as what makes us love a person. Sometimes, to the outside observer, it’s something only we can see.

Dec42011

Safe Flying, Anne McCaffrey

Time flying, chronal refugees, eugenics, lost and found heirs to great houses, sexual politics, and of course, dragons. These were all elements of the Dragonriders of Pern, Anne McCaffrey’s wonderful series.

In the eighties science fiction and fantasy were dominated by women: McCaffrey’s books stood beside those of Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton, C.J. Cherryh, Melanie Rawn, and Margaret Weiss (though I must fairly mention Tracy Hickman). Many of these writers discarded the tired retread of Tolkien’s conventions and mashed Sci-fi into their fantasy creations. Pern was such a world.

I haven’t been to Pern in a while, though I can picture the covers in my mind as though I were still a kid browsing my local Waldenbooks. I found out today McCaffrey had died at the age of 85. She had a long run, a long life, which I’d hope for anyone. She was a prolific author with a decorous career.

Safe flying, Anne. We’ll miss you. Thank you for the stories.

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