Guest Post: Gregory D Little, Unwilling Souls/Ungrateful Gods
3 April 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Gregory D Little, Ungrateful God, Unwilling Souls
Last year I read Unwilling Souls by Gregory D Little. This was one of my favourite books out of the 30 I checked out as part of an event called the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off. My review is here. Luckily Greg accepted my invitation to visit and provide a guest post and today, I’m really pleased to welcome him to my blog. Thanks for taking part.
First off, huge thanks to Lynn for welcoming me to her blog! When she so kindly offered to let me do a guest post after my book, Unwilling Souls, narrowly missed the finals of #SFPBO 2, I jumped at the chance. With the release of my next book in the series, Ungrateful God (which comes out March 24th, 2017), I figured a perfect topic would be to discuss the challenge of writing sequels.
Ungrateful God is the first sequel I’ve actually put to paper. As with most things you do for the first time, reality frequently failed to conform to my expectations.
Greg’s Misconception #1: “Book 1 was a big chase across multiple crazy cities. Nobody is going to want to see that again.”
Unwilling Souls focuses on Ses Lucani’s plight as the secret daughter of a terrorist mastermind and a business magnate in a society on the cusp of industrialization-by-magic. Early on she has the misfortune to be present in the prison of the gods (where she apprentices to be a kind of smith that functions as one of their jailers) during a terrorist attack trying to break open the prison. Her father is the natural suspect, so Ses is forced to run and is pursued incessantly by agents of the Centrality government. While trying to find asylum with one of her parents, she flees from a city carved entirely into an immense crocodile skull to a city built into the skeleton of a titanic snake draped across a mountain pass to a city built into the dead husk of a gigantic tarantula whose horse-sized offspring serve as a kind of police force.
For Ungrateful God, I worried that repeating this format would come across as boring or self-indulgent with regard to the worldbuilding. I wanted to narrow the focus in Ses’s story to a single location, a barnacle city studding the husk of a vast ghost crab, and really dig into a single, driving mystery: why can’t anyone remember what happens there at night?
But my editor was concerned. Had I drifted too far from the brand expectation my first book had set up? Would people expect another rollicking world-tour novel and be turned away by the slower-burning mystery? I took his concerns to heart and rewrote much of Ungrateful God’s first third, attempting to amplify the sense of danger and menace Ses faces and introducing the main villain earlier on. I’m very pleased with the end result, and while the book still feels different than its predecessor (a goal of mine for the series), I think the build up to the ABSOLUTELY INSANE back half will keep readers fully invested.
Greg’s Misconception #2: “This will be easy! I’ve already done the worldbuilding legwork in the first book! Now I can just reap the rewards!”
Oh, past-self, what a fool you were. While it’s true that I laid the groundwork in the first book, a sequel has to catch readers up on all that to make sure it is fresh in their minds. Also, people forget important plot points and there is always the chance a reader will pick up and read the second book in the series first, so not only did I have to catch readers up on the worldbuilding from the first book, but the plot as well. (Note: while I’ve done my best to bring readers up-to-speed on events and I’d rather you buy the second book than none of them, I can’t recommend strongly enough starting with Unwilling Souls. This is a serialized, not an episodic, series.)
In addition, I obviously wanted to expand upon—and on occasion, subvert—what Ses knows or believes she knows about how the world around her works. This keeps the sense of wonder (sometimes horror) fresh for both her and the reader. So where she gains a kind of mind control power she barely understands in Unwilling Souls, in Ungrateful God she learns a bit more about it and the hazards, both moral and mortal, it can pose. If I do my job right, each book in the series will reframe the reader’s view of the world.
Greg’s Misconception #3: “I’ve written books with tons of POVs before! Surely adding a second POV to this series won’t create too many problems.”
Adding secondary POVs has been the plan since early on, as I want the series to grow more epic in scope with each installment, and one way to do that is to increase the number of vantage points who can impact and inform the plot. For readers of Unwilling Souls, I’m pleased to report that you’ll very much recognize the new POV character, and should have some strong opinions about them.
Aside from expanding the overall scope of the series, my goals for this secondary POV were to provide another look at a controversial character we’d heretofore only seen from Ses’s POV, and to spend some more time in the Pit, the hollowed-out center of the planet in which the gods have been imprisoned. I had multiple calls from readers to set more scenes there. My editor liked the secondary plot, but said I needed to find a way to better (and earlier) tie it back to Ses’s story. Since the two plots are physically separate, I turned to that old staple of tension, dramatic irony. Now something one character overhears can inform the reader of a crucial bit of information regarding the other plot without tipping off that character too early, and two separate but related plots can gradually thread themselves together while retaining their autonomy.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope you’ll check out my work! I can’t wait to see the challenges a third book will bring. Thanks again to Lynn for the generous offer and all her effort in the #SPFBO!
Greg. Thanks so much for the guest post – hope everyone enjoys reading about your experience writing a sequel. I’m looking forward to picking up No.2 soon.
And finally, a few links:
Goodreads: Unwilling Souls and Ungrateful God
About the author:
Rocket Scientist by day, fantasy and science fiction author by night, Gregory D. Little’s short fiction has appeared in The Colored Lens and A Game of Horns: A Red Unicorn Anthology. He is currently working on his fantasy YA series Unwilling Souls, set in a world where technology is powered by the souls of the dead, the gods are locked away in the hollowed out center of the planet, and what remains of humanity has rebuilt its cities out of the corpses of the great beasts that destroyed them.
Gregory D. Little is a member of and regular contributor to the Fictorians writing blog (www.fictorians.com). He lives in Virginia with his wife and their yellow lab.
www.gregorydlittle.com
www.facebook.com/gregorydlittleauthor
Purchase Links:
Unwilling Souls
Book 1 of the Unwilling Souls series
Ungrateful God
Book 2 of the Unwilling Souls series
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
3 April 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book of the Ancestor #1, Mark Lawrence, Red Sister
Red Sister is the start of the third series written by Mark Lawrence and I’ll start by saying it’s a great start.
I’ll give a brief overview of the plot. We make the acquaintance of Nona at the start of the story. She’s about to be fitted for a hangman’s noose for attempting to murder the son of a rather prominent member of society.. Unsurprisingly, and not a spoiler to say, she never makes her final fitting – that would have been a very short book would it not! Before her execution can be carried out she finds herself rescued, or more succinctly put, stolen away by Abbess Glass of the Sweet Mercy Convent. Not yet ten years old Nona is different. The people of her village knew this, and mostly avoided her – until that cruel day on which she was given away to a child collector to be sold in the City. Abbess Glass recognises this difference and believes that rather than making Nona something to fear it makes her something special. From them on we spend time with Nona as she is initiated into the school and undertakes a number of trials and tribulations, eventually makes friends and puts the word ‘trust’ to the test.
Now, when I summarise the plot like that it seems, even to me, to be on the sparse side and yet that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is plenty going on here, we have a story that gradually reveals thing from the past, we have the story as it moves forward in the present and we also witness some incredibly intriguing snippets taken from the future and that compulsion to read forward and find out how all these elements come together is strong indeed.
I confess that coming of age novels are something of a weakness for me and put the characters into a training/school setting and I’m probably ready to be bowled over. Yes, I loved Harry Potter – as did just about everybody I know – but, don’t pick this up thinking you’re picking up anything like HP – or YA for that matter. This book is dark, it’s bleak, the world is a slowly dying, cold and harsh place to live and the there is bloody violence meted out by cruel and brutal characters.
There are certainly friendships developed, and indeed that particular aspect is one of the main focuses as the story moves forward but, be in no doubt, these girls are learning, more often than not the hard way, how to become cold blooded killers. Nona. Yes, she is an amazing character. Just to be clear, I don’t think she’s amazing simply because of her difference or her abilities, the power that lies beneath the surface, the simmering belief that she’s going to become kickass or the chosen one – no, I really liked her because of her vulnerability. Her need to be accepted and the desperation she feels that she never will be accepted because of her differences. She longs for friendship and this need makes her an unreliable narrator which in turn makes the story even more compelling as you strive to get to the truth. Put simply she doesn’t want people to truly know her because she learnt the hard way that the truth will drive them away – so she tells untruths.
And there are plenty of other great characters. The Abbess herself, along with a couple of the other nuns made for great reading. I also really liked the addition of Zole – a really interesting character who I hope we learn more about. Not exactly a welcome addition to the Convent when she makes her first appearance but she has a lot to offer and I’m very curious about her. What I find myself particularly drawn to in books at the moment is character development and this story is strongly focused on the characters. Lawrence paints them in all their diversity with their fears and hopes, jealousies and ambitions. Nobody is truly good or bad, there are little shades of everything mixed in there.
In terms of the world – I’m not going to go into great depth. This series is known as the Book of the Ancestors and I think that tells a story by itself. Four tribes originally existed, all with different abilities. Strength, speed, magical ability or the ability to walk The Path. The blood from these tribes has been passed down but weakened over the years but every now and again a child will display a particular affinity for one of the original tribes. Nona is descended from the Hunska which means she has incredible speed – or does it mean that everything else around her slows down. Anyway, as the story moves along we find out a lot more about the magic involved such as the ability to walk The Path. We also learn that the world here is one that is narrowing. A thin corridor of habitable land surrounded by ice on both sides, perhaps a possible future envisaged right here in which the sun is failing and the Moon is literally falling from the sky.
The icing on the cake of course is the writing. This book is just beautifully written. Lawrence twists and turns and takes us all along for the ride. He gives us the archetypal ‘chosen one’ stereotype and then proceeds to pull it apart. He delivers some real moments of betrayal and that ending. Exactly when is the next book due out?
So, all that said, I admit I really struggled to start this review because having read the Broken Empire and the Red Queen’s War my first instinct was to start by making comparisons. It’s natural to do so really and yet at the same time it was, to put it bluntly, simply doing my head in comparing them. At the end of the day they’re all intrinsically similar, the writing style and the bleakness of the world and yet, in frustratingly Golum like fashion, they’re also fundamentally different. So, is this Lawrence’s best work? Is Nona my favourite of his character creations. I don’t think I could answer that – it’s like when somebody asks you ‘what’s your favourite book’ What? How many favourites can I have?? Surely not just one. You might just as well ask me which is my favourite child. They’re all individual and I love them all.
A young girl with potential, a nunnery that trains it’s novices in the art of assassination and uses magic to help fulfil their aims. Smooth prose, bleak overtones and intriguing twists. Obviously I loved this.
I received a copy of Red Sister for review – for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Weekly Wrap Up : 2/4/17
This week is a very quick wrap up because I’ve already completed a monthly wrap up (here).
So, simply to say that this week I’m hoping to read these two wonderful looking books:
The Path of Flames by Phil Tucker
Borrowed Souls by Chelsea Mueller
And, finally, my cover highlight this week:
This is going to be one of my next reads too and I can’t wait! Plus checkout the most excellent cover:
How was your week? What you currently reading?
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
The Keeper of Lost Things is what I would call a feel good book. It’s not my typical read to be honest, it’s not full of dragons, vampires or fae, no grimdark, no snark, no cursing up a storm but it’s one of those books that contains what I suppose I would describe as gentle fantasy. There is a hint of ghosts, a whisper of fate working in strange ways and ensuring that people’s paths cross and there’s a lovely coming together of all things in a completely over the top saccharine and yet strangely satisfying way. It’s one of those books that plays on those thoughts that we probably all harbour that maybe there is ‘something else’. What I will say before I go any further is this book had me entranced, it had moments of pure laugh out loud delight and moments of sadness and sincerity.
There are a number of elements to this story which I’ll try and simplify by describing the characters.
Anthony Peardew is an elderly gentleman. An author who lives in a beautiful house where time seems to stand still. Anthony is the keeper of lost things. Unfortunately years ago he suffered the tragic loss of the love of his life, at the same time he lost a trinket that he believed linked the two of them together. Since then he has collected lost things. The things he finds when he’s out walking. He meticulously labels and keeps them and hopes to reunite these objects with their owners although he doesn’t really know how to do so.
Laura started working for Anthony a number of years ago. Her marriage broke down, she finally shook of her philandering husband but had very little else in her life until she took up this job. Originally as Anthony’s assistant, typing up his stories and then as the stories dry up she continues almost as his housekeeper but really more than that as a friend. When Anthony passes away he leaves his house and his little emporium of objects to Laura and requests that she tries to reunite them with their owners. So, unexpectedly Laura finds herself with a lovely home and a purpose all in one unexpected blow.
Sunshine is the girl next door. What a lovely character she is, quirky and with a beautiful nature. A character that really does live up to her name. Freddy is the gardener, and of course he’s the rugged mind candy of the piece – nothing wrong with some mind candy every now and again imho.
Alongside this we have a parallel story which takes place some years earlier involving a young woman called Eunice and her best friend Bomber. This is a story of unrequited love that grows into a deep friendship. Also a story of things lost and found.
So, this is, without doubt a story that is sweet. A treacly confection, dripping with syrup and oozing with sugar. There is no suspense. You pretty much know that all of these things are simply going to work out. Really, there isn’t any particular attention to detail, and as a nitpicker I do like my attention to detail. And yet, in spite of all of this, I loved it. So there you go. Sometimes that is how the cookie crumbles. I had my cake and I ate it, cherry on top, the lot.
The writing is lovely, the book has a charming whimsical feel, a budding romance and a general overall coming together of all things in a very pleasing way. New beginnings and bursting with hope. On top of that there are a collection of lovely sideline stories – Anthony used to write imaginary stories about the objects he found – or more to the point the people who lost them – and they really are quite inspired.
The Keeper of Lost Things hooked me more than I expected and for the short time it took me to blast through the pages it held me in my own little bubble of bliss. A little keeper this one.
I received a copy courtesy of the publisher for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My 7th book: Final Stage: #SPFBO 16
1 April 2017
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Chronicles of the Black Gate, Phil Tucker, SPFBO, The Path of Flames
November 1st saw the start of the second stage of the SPFBO – the Self Published Fantasy Blog off organised by Mark Lawrence. All the details can be found here.
Today I’m highlighting the seventh book that I will be reading for the SPFBO. All the books have been drawn randomly. Book No 1: Shadow Soul by Caitlyn Davis, review here. Second book Paternus by Dyrk Ashton (review here). My third book was the The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French. The fourth book was Larcourt K A Krantz ( Fire Born, Blood Blessed #1) My review is here. The fifth book was Defence of Ráth Bládhma (Fionn mac Cumhaill #1) by Brian O’Sullivan, review here. My sixth book out of the hat was The Music Box Girl by K.A. Stewart and my review for that will follow shortly. My seventh book is The Path of Flames by Phil Tucker. Check it out:
A war fueled by the dark powers of forbidden sorcery is about to engulf the Ascendant Empire. Agerastian heretics, armed with black fire and fueled by bitter hatred, seek to sever the ancient portals that unite the empire – and in so doing destroy it.
Asho–a squire with a reviled past–sees his liege, the Lady Kyferin, and her meager forces banished to an infamous ruin. Beset by tragedy and betrayal, demons and an approaching army, the fate of the Kyferins hangs by the slenderest of threads. Asho realizes that their sole hope of survival may lie hidden within the depths of his scarred soul–a secret that could reverse their fortunes and reveal the truth behind the war that wracks their empire.
Unpredictable, fast paced, and packed with unforgettable characters, The Path of Flames is the first installment in a gripping new epic fantasy series.
Books and travelling with Lynn 