Did you catch the Trump Colorado border wall remark last week? If so, you’ll like this. My good friend Rex Mannheim released an e-book satirizing recent news. Here’s a preview of one of the articles in the book, along with the titles of the other articles:
Trump Cedes New Mexico to Mexico to Justify “Colorado Border Wall” Remark
Washington, D.C. (AP) — Following his claim at a recent rally that the United States is building a border wall in Colorado, President Donald Trump officially ceded the state of New Mexico to Mexico and then denied it had ever been part of the U.S.
“Of course the wall’s going to be in Colorado,” Trump said when confronted by reporters on the White House lawn, with Marine One’s rotors churning in the background. “The United States border has always included Colorado. You people should really learn your geography.” (Read more in the book!)
New California Law Limits Wildfires to 35 a Year
Buttigieg’s “Air and Water for All Who Want It” plan met with criticism
Opinion column by Uncle Frank: Where Were the Kurds During the Hundred Years’ War?
Amelia Smith is a New England fantasy author whom I first crossed paths with at Boskone last year. She has made a name for herself writing both fiction and nonfiction. In this interview I ask Smith about her fantasy series, Dragonsfall, and its prequels. But first, here’s a quick bio:
Amelia Smith
Amelia Smith lives on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where she’s currently beach-combing and beating the tick-infested bushes in search of her next big idea. Meanwhile, she’s working on a variety of small projects, including articles for a local magazine and a historical romance.
Deck: How long have you been writing fantasy, and what kind of training or study did you have?
Smith: I co-wrote a fantasy story with a friend of mine in our Freshman year of high school, back in the mid-1980s, and have written on and off since then. We wrote that story in longhand and passed the pile of paper back and forth each day, writing on alternate nights. I think it was pretty awful. I probably still have it somewhere but I’m afraid to dig it out. We tried it again the next year, using primitive word processors, but fizzled out before reaching the end.
I went on to Pomona College where I cobbled together a self-designed major in Ethnomusicology. I told people that it was an excuse to travel around the world and go to parties. After graduating, I moved back to Martha’s Vineyard, did some landscaping, worked retail, traveled some more, then decided to go to divinity school. After that I tried architecture school. If I’d done the architecture school one round earlier I might have stuck with it, but as it was I was thoroughly burned out on school by that point.
Deck: What led you to transition from poetry to fantasy?
Smith: Many people write poetry. A much smaller number of people read it. With fantasy, I think that there are at least as many readers as writers, and hence a better chance of finding an audience. I was tired of writing into the void and maybe I also wanted to work on something that had more substance and story to it.
Deck: Who are your biggest influences?
Smith: Growing up, my idea of fantasy was shaped by C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain series, and other mid-20th century children’s/YA fantasy. I moved on to read a pretty decent range of fantasy for grownups, but I don’t think I’ve escaped those formative influences. Before I started writing my fantasy series, I read a lot of Guy Gavriel Kay, Charles De Lint, and some Marion Zimmer Bradley, among others. Connie Willis is another favorite. These days, though, I’m much more excited about newer authors like V.E. Schwab, Naomi Novik, and N. K. Jemisin … and a bit peeved by the phenomenon of so many female authors using their initials rather than their names.
Deck: Has living on Martha’s Vineyard had any effect on your fantasy fiction?
Smith: Living on an island has been great in that it’s a small community where you get to know people complete with their overlapping webs of friends, family, and jobs. The connections holding the community together are much more apparent than they would be in a bigger place, and more typical of how humans have lived for most of our history. In cities, where there’s more anonymity, I think it’s harder to see the influence of individual personalities on the community as a whole.
We also have a lot of writers here, which makes what I do seem more normal… not that anyone here on the island aspires to normalcy.
Deck: What is the relationship between your Dragonsfall trilogy and the Anamat books?
Smith: Initially, this was going to make it one long, 5-book series, but the trilogy really can be read on its own and I think those books are stronger than the two Anamat books, which feature the same core characters in their youth.
Deck: What was the inspiration for the dragon-gods and the world they inhabit?
Smith: It was really a mash-up of things inspired by aspects of Asian- and European-style dragons thrown in with some thoughts about Indian, Greek, and ancient Near Eastern mythologies, all of which stewed together and came out as these dragon-god figures intrinsic to the land but who also have bodily forms that can appear separate from the land itself.
Deck: What do you think is the strongest selling point for readers to check out your Dragonsfall series?
Smith: This is one of those questions that I didn’t think about going in. I wanted to see what sacred prostitution would look like in a fantasy world, and I wasn’t sold on the way Jacqueline Carey did it – her religion was too much like Christianity, and it just didn’t ring true to me. I thought that it made a lot more sense with primordial, cthonic gods.
The story grew out of that. I’m told that the worldbuilding is a strong point, but it’s a slower story built around characters and relationships (none of them classically romantic) rather than an action-adventure story. That said, I do try to get my fight scenes right.
Deck: Why do you think we enjoy stories that include magic, monsters, and other elements that would be impossible in real life?
Smith: I read because I want to go places that I can’t go in real life. I like to travel to other cultures, other times in history, and even to places that never were and probably never will be. I mean, if I want to go to America I can just get on the boat and go there myself. Beyond that, magic lets us explore ways of being that we can’t get to in the world of 20th-century style realist literary fiction.
Deck: Do you face any challenges or misconceptions from the general reading audience when writing in the fantasy genre? Do you try to target readers who already “get” the genre?
Smith: So many people who don’t read fantasy think that it’s just for kids. That’s the main misconception I run into. One bookstore employee here said that she couldn’t read fantasy because it was all about men having manly adventures – obviously she wasn’t reading the same books I am.
For this series I’ve mostly tried to reach readers who already like the genre and are somewhat aware of its diversity. If I veer off into magical realism, though, I’ll also try to reach readers of literary fiction.
Deck: What led you to move away from fantasy for your next projects? Could you tell us about your progress on the romance and cookbook?
Smith: Fantasy is hard! I’m looking for a change of pace and I want to experiment with different types of writing. That said, I’ve made very little progress on any one project since wrapping up Chronicles at the beginning of the year. Now I’m exploring a concept for a semi-historical story with magical realist elements, alongside the historical romance which I may put out under a pen name because it really does fill a different emotional need.
The cookbook is a very different kind of project and is proceeding at a snail’s pace. It will probably take me at least a year to test all the recipes.
Deck: We all know the big names in fantasy — do you have any recommendations of books by current writers in the genre who may not (yet) be well known?
Smith: There is so much good stuff out there and I have a huge stack of it waiting to be read. That said, one of my favorite recent reads was The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French. The plotting is great and there’s a lot of lowbrow humor. In a completely different vein I’d like to recommend one of my critique partner’s books, Till Human Voices Wake Us, by Victoria Goddard, which is full of historical and literary references.
Most of the other recent books I’ve read that I would recommend are in other genres or were trad-published and have good legs under them already.
Deck: What do you love to do in your spare time that has nothing to do with writing fantasy?
Smith: I have two young children so that takes up most of my time. Nearly everything I do feeds into writing fantasy in one way or another, but I do try to get away from the desk. I practice take long walks, cook, and practice aikido very casually (I used to be serious about it when my spine was bouncier). I’m also learning to play guitar, just for the heck of it.
To commemorate Alien: Covenant coming out in theaters (though note that the reviews are mixed thus far), here are five science fiction books about aliens that are also releasing this month. At this late date in May, all are available except for Injection Burn, which will be coming out next week.
1. Netherspace by Andrew Lane & Nigel Foster – Available now
Authors Lane and Foster became tired of the recurring sci-fi trope that humans can always quickly find a way to communicate with aliens. “In our polite, English way we said bullshit to that,” said the authors in a recent interview. So in Netherspace, humans still don’t understand the Gliese alien race, even after trading with them for forty years. Now, with the aliens kidnapping humans, artist Marc and assassin Kara must team up to solve the mystery.
2. Pawn by Timothy Zahn – Available now
Zahn kicks off a new series, The Sybil’s War, with Pawn, in which petty criminal Nicole and gangster Bungie are abducted by aliens and taken to a ship called the Fyrantha. When Nicole learns that she and her fellow laborers are pawns in a bizarre game pitting different alien species against each other, she vows to rebel. Timothy Zahn’s biggest claim to fame is his collection of Star Wars tie-in novels, including the Thrawn trilogy.
3. Substrate Phantoms by Jessica Reisman – Available now
Weird accidents and power surges are occurring on the space station Termagenti. Is the station haunted–or is there an alien on board? Jhinsei must figure out how the members of his operations team died before their ghosts drive him insane. If you’re in Austin tomorrow, be sure to check out the launch party for Substrate Phantoms at Malvern Books. It’ll feature original music for the book performed by a local band; how cool is that?
4. The Gauntlet by Megan Shepherd – Available now
The Gauntlet is the finale of The Cage, a YA series about teenagers from Earth who have been abducted by aliens and must struggle to survive. Trapped in an oppressive lunar colony, Cora and her friends must endeavor to set humanity free by winning a competition called the Gauntlet. This is Shepherd’s second YA trilogy; the first was The Madman’s Daughter, a series described as “gothic suspense.”
5. Injection Burn by Jason M. Hough – May 30
Skyler Luiken and his comrades must rescue a friendly alien race from a faraway planet. But a fearsome fleet of ships called the Swarm Blockade stands in their way.Injection Burn is book 4 of 5 in The Dire Earth Cycle but is also intended to be another entry point for newcomers to the series, acting as a “duology” with another book coming out next month, Escape Velocity. Hough is also a game designer who co-wrote a tie-in novel for the video game Mass Effect Andromeda, which Jeff still needs to get around to playing.
So, what will you be reading over Memorial Day weekend?
Do you like Game of Thrones? I’m a huge fan of the show. But then again, I started reading the A Song of Ice & Fire book series that the show is based on almost twenty years ago (old!). I’ve been living with these characters for literally half my life. I was curious to see how someone brand new to the world of Westeros would react to the show, especially someone who hasn’t really tried reading or watching fantasy. So I asked my mom to watch the pilot episode of the show and then interviewed her about her thoughts.
Jeff: First and most important question: what would you name your direwolf puppy if you found one?
Susan: Bob.
Jeff: What did you expect going into the show? How much had you heard about Game of Thrones?
Susan: I knew that Game of Thrones is very popular and violent. Other than knowing that this is a medieval fantasy, I did not know what to expect.
Jeff: How did it compare with the level of violence you’re able to tolerate in other shows?
Susan: I watch a lot of violent crime shows so I was able to tolerate the gore and mayhem.
Jeff: What were the most memorable moments of this episode for you
Susan: The scenes of extremely violent and wanton behavior were quite memorable, particularly when Jaime had sex with his sister. I also found it interesting when scenes of affection between the Starks were juxtaposed with scenes of murders.
Jeff: Do the Starks remind you of your own family at all?
Susan: Wasn’t there some competition between the older brother and the bastard brother?
Jeff: Yes, and also Theon.
Susan: Who’s Theon?
Jeff: How about the Lannisters?
Susan: Oh my God. Oh. Those siblings were nothing like my siblings.
Jeff: Which character or characters do you have the most sympathy for right now? Anyone?
Susan: I have the most sympathy for Daenerys because she wants to go home and was forced to marry a creepy barbarian.
Jeff: Let’s talk about that wedding for a minute. What did you think of the entertainment they chose to include in it?
Susan: It was X-rated. Nothing like either of my weddings.
Jeff: If you were the director of this episode, what would you do differently?
Susan: I might have inserted an opening crawl at the beginning, like in StarWars,to explain what was going on. I also might have skipped Catelyn’s warning to Bran not to climb, as I immediately assumed that at some point Bran would fall off a wall.
Jeff: What do you think are going to be the consequences of Bran “falling” off that wall?
Susan: I think it will lead to war between the Starks and Lannisters.
Jeff: As someone who hasn’t read the books, did you find the episode confusing?
Susan: Yes, I found the first episode to be a little confusing because in the beginning I didn’t really know what was going on. Also, there are many interesting characters, but their names are so unique that I had trouble remembering their names and keeping track of them.
Jeff: What do you hope will happen in the next episode?
Susan: I want to find out what happens to Eddard’s family after he leaves to become the right hand of the king. I would also like to see the demise of Khal. I want to know more about the White Walkers.
Jeff: If you lived in the world of Westeros, what kind of job/position do you think you would have?
Susan: I might have worked in a shop or market. It doesn’t appear that there are any social workers or customer service agents in this world, nor female bankers.
Jeff: What would your shop sell?
Susan: Yogurt, coffee, and Cheez-Its.
Game of Thrones makes its season 7 debut on Sunday, July 16. If you need to catch up, check out HBO GO; also, the first six seasons of the TV show and the first five books are on Amazon. Warning: the most recent two books in the series are a little meandering, and the sixth book may not be released until spring of 2032.
Just like in human history itself, the concept of empire has always played an important part in speculative fiction. It’s a recurring theme in both science fiction (Asimov’s Galactic Empire, Dune, Star Wars, Bujold’s Barrayaran Empire, etc.) and fantasy (Lawrence’s Broken Empire trilogy, Sanderson’s Mistborn series, Final Fantasy, etc.). Here are five speculative fiction books about empires coming out this month, across various genres: alternate history, science fiction, and fantasy.
1. Eagle and Empire by Alan Smale – May 16
Eagle and Empire is the final book in the Clash of Eagles trilogy, an alternate history in which the Roman Empire invades North America. In this book, the Mongol Horde threatens to shatter the fragile truce between the Romans and the Native American League. Interestingly, Clash of Eagles is also the title of a previous alternate history novel by another author, Leo Rutman.
2. The Empire’s Ghost by Isabelle Steiger – May 16
In The Empire’s Ghost, a dictator is seeking to rebuild the once-mighty empire of Elesthene. Only an alliance of commoners and nobles from kingdoms scattered across the continent can hope to stop him. The author’s debut, this fantasy novel received a favorable review from Publishers Weekly, though apparently much of the book is a setup for the sequel.
3. The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren – May 23
In The Caledonian Gambit, the galaxy’s two biggest powers, the Illyrican Empire and the Commonwealth, are embroiled in a cold war. Commonwealth spy Simon Kovalic and Caledonian refugee Eli Brody must work together in an audacious attempt to bring peace to the galaxy. Here’s a blog post by the author about the long road to publication for this book, a reminder not to give up!
4. Free Space by Sean Danker – Available now
In Free Space, the sequel to Admiral, the Admiral has brokered peace between the Evagardian Empire and the Commonwealth (this seems to be turning into a theme of its own; apparently empires and Commonwealths just do not get along) but then gets kidnapped. However, he has a secret weapon at his disposal — a female super-soldier from the Empire.
5. Vanguard by Jack Campbell – May 16
The author of the Lost Fleet series begins a new military science fiction series with Vanguard. The Alliance, an intergalactic band of colonists, is fighting for survival after pirates from another world threaten the colonies. Two growing interstellar empires are heading into inescapable conflict. Campbell uses his own experience as a naval officer to heighten the military realism of his books.
Which books coming out this month are you excited about?
News from Jeff Deck: Look for my story, “Making the Transition,” in the new anthology Murder Ink 2: Sixteen More Tales of New England Newsroom Crime. It’s a peek into the world of my upcoming urban fantasy series, The Shadow Over Portsmouth; I’ll be releasing the first book in the series this summer, City of Ports. Also coming up: I’ll be reading during “Wyrd: A Horror Reading Event” on Thursday, June 8 in Salem, Mass., along with several other authors including the Stoker-winning Tom Deady.
Deck: Who are your biggest influences?
Smith: This is one of those questions that I didn’t think about going in. I wanted to see what sacred prostitution would look like in a fantasy world, and I wasn’t sold on the way Jacqueline Carey did it – her religion was too much like Christianity, and it just didn’t ring true to me. I thought that it made a lot more sense with primordial, cthonic gods.
To commemorate Alien: Covenant coming out in theaters (though note that the 
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