Michael Burgin

Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

Pohl’s dystopia-flavored future

Review by Michael Burgin

Early 2011 has seen a slew of releases from the elder guard of grandmasters of fantasy and science fiction. January brought Home Fires by Gene Wolfe, March the return of Richard Matheson with Other Kingdoms, and now in April we have All the Lives He Led by Frederik Pohl. At the venerable age of 91, Pohl out-elders both Matheson (85) and Wolfe (79), though his latest book shows little slackening of the legendary editor and writer’s creative powers.

In All the Lives He Led, Pohl introduces the reader to a dystopic future where the eruption of a super volcano beneath Yellowstone National Park has rendered much of North America a wasteland and many of its inhabitant no better than second-class citizens of a Third World country.

Worse, the global community itself is plagued by what might best be described as pandemic terrorism. No cause is too small, no slight too ancient and no splinter group too splintery to prevent the blowing up of monuments and infrastructure, and the indiscriminate slaying of civilians.

Though the Yellowstone eruption would be fertile enough ground for a novel, it’s actually just a distant backdrop for the main story. The action centers around narrator Brad Sheridan—an American-born indentured servant/emigree—and his employment at the ancient site of Pompeii as it approaches Il Giubileo, the bimillennial celebration of the eruption that destroyed the original city. Thanks to a combination of holographic technology and good old-fashioned quasi-slave labor (proving some aspects of seasonal employment will never change), Pompeii has become a theme park of Disney-ing proportions.

During the course of All the Lives He Led, Sheridan works to pay off his debt, support his destitute (and somewhat freeloading) parents back in the refugee slums of the United States, and build a relationship with Gerda Fleming, a fellow Il Giubileo employee—a romance that brings with it an ever-expanding ring of repercussions for Sheridan. All the while, he strives to stay clear of an intrusive international and local security apparatus—a task made more difficult by his past connections and present company.

Like any good dystopic tale, the decisions and actions of the protagonist trigger not so much judgment as introspection, and the unanswered questions concerning Sheridan become self-directed questions for the reader. If positions were reversed, would I behave differently? And what decisions would I make going forward?

Pohl leaves the reader alone to wrestle with those questions.

Early 2011 has seen a slew of releases from the elder guard of grandmasters of fantasy and science fiction. January brought Home Fires by Gene Wolfe, March the return of Richard Matheson with Other Kingdoms, and now in April we have All the Lives He…

Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

That warm, fuzzy feeling

Review by Michael Burgin

When I saw the title of John Scalzi’s new book, Fuzzy Nation, it triggered warm memories of reading H. Beam Piper’s original book, Little Fuzzy. Published in 1962, just two years before his suicide, Little Fuzzy was the first of three books penned by Piper regarding a band of cute, furry creatures on the planet Zarathustra, the subsequent effort to establish the sapience of the species (an act opposed by an intergalactic mining company with resources to exploit), and the fallout of that effort.

Initially, I assumed Scalzi’s book was a long-time-coming sequel to Piper’s original Fuzzy books. There had already been two: Fuzzy Bones (1981) by William Tuning and Golden Dream: A Fuzzy Odyssey (1982) by Ardath Mayhar. As it turns out, such a sequel has been published this year—it just wasn’t Scalzi’s book. Fuzzy Ergo Sum by Wolfgang Diehr was published this March and hailed as “the first new Fuzzy novel in almost 30 years.”

No, it turns out that Fuzzy Nation is not a sequel. It’s not a shared-world anthology, nor is it even a rogue piece of self-published fan fiction. Instead, Fuzzy Nation is a fully authorized reboot of the series.

The idea of the reboot—telling a story afresh, discarding the previously established continuity and canon—is well-established in film, television and comic books. (Not surprisingly, many examples of film reboots have comic books as their original source.) But though there are numerous reboots of film and TV franchises necessitated by aging actors, dated source material or special effects (Star Trek, James Bond, Battlestar Galactica ), or by less-than-stellar predecessors (The Hulk, Judge Dredd), the reboot is not a term associated with non-serial fiction.

It’s easy to imagine a “reboot wave” sweeping through literary genres as publishers and literary estates, especially those who treat their properties exclusively as assets to exploit rather than treasures to preserve, see a chance to reinvigorate income streams by pairing a hot author with an aging text.

Therefore, it was with apprehension and even a smidge of antagonism that I started Fuzzy Nation. After all, this book could be a harbinger for the impending despoilment of many a childhood (and adulthood) classic! Alas, my fears quickly gave way before a simpler realization: Fuzzy Nation is a very good read. From the opening pages where prospector Jack Holloway (or his dog, Carl, depending on who you ask) blows up a cliff and discovers a fortune, to his meeting with Papa Fuzzy and the other members of the fuzzy family, to the riveting courtroom battle that will determine their fates—Scalzi delivers a story that unfailingly entertains.

The plot skips along deftly, bringing the reader along every step of the way, and it easily qualified as a “blew-past-my-bedtime” read. (Apparently, that’s not unusual for a Scalzi book—I plan on knocking out his Old Man’s War as soon as I get my hands on a copy.)

In the end, Fuzzy Nation is what every good reboot should be—a sensitive re-imagining by a talented author inspired by the original material. And though there is still ample cause for apprehension about the potential impact of a reboot trend on genre fiction, even should the worse come to pass, John Scalzi’s novel will stand as an exception rather than the rule.

 

 

When I saw the title of John Scalzi’s new book, Fuzzy Nation, it triggered warm memories of reading H. Beam Piper’s original book, Little Fuzzy. Published in 1962, just two years before his suicide, Little Fuzzy was the first of three books penned by Piper…

Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

Howard Andrew Jones’ superb debut is no mirage

Review by Michael Burgin

“The parrot lay on the floor of his cage, one claw thrust stiffly toward the tiny wooden swing suspended above him. The black olive clenched in his beak was the definitive sign that Pago was a corpse, for while he had fooled us all by playing dead in the past, he had never failed to consume an olive.”

In the space of the first two sentences of his new book, The Desert of Souls, Howard Andrew Jones has captured the reader. By the end of the first page—and in my case, the first paragraph—the crisp, evocative imagery has gripped one’s attention as tightly as the black olive in the beak of the recently departed Pago. Much to its author’s credit, that grip only tightens in the pages that follow.

The Desert of Souls has been described as Sherlock Holmes meets the Arabian Nights meets Robert E. Howard. The comparisons are apt, and in the case of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous duo, overt. The martially adept Captain Asim partners with the erudite Dabir, a scholar whose principle weapons are his piercing intelligence and keen observations. (Like Doyle’s Watson, Asim serves as the story’s narrator and his friend’s biographer.) Fantastic adventure ensues. Though this is only the first book, the tandem of Asim and Dabir shows great promise to be worthy of the “great fictional duos” mantle worn by the likes of Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Bilbo and Gandalf, and even Kirk and Spock.

The rich tapestry of 8th-century Baghdad recalls some of Scheherazade’s most engaging tales, and the supernatural horrors faced by Asim and Dabir during the course of their adventures could just as easily have menaced the likes of Conan, Solomon Kane or Bran Mak Morn. The engaging pulpiness of Jones’ book is not surprising, given the author is himself “an acknowledged expert on fiction writer Harold Lamb.” Lamb, a contemporary of Howard and horror godfather H.P. Lovecraft, penned tales of the Crusades and the Far East for Adventure, one of the most critically acclaimed magazines of the pulp era.

But though comparisons to the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert E. Howard are merited due to plot and authorial provenance, there’s an even more fundamental similarity. At its heart, Jones’ work is a great read—a page-turner in its purest form. As such, The Desert of Souls is a powerful place—it can wreck sleeping schedules, cause chores to be neglected and, best of all, make one yearn for the next installment.

“The parrot lay on the floor of his cage, one claw thrust stiffly toward the tiny wooden swing suspended above him. The black olive clenched in his beak was the definitive sign that Pago was a corpse, for while he had fooled us all by…

Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

A finely tuned tale from McKillip

Review by Michael Burgin

Upon reading Patricia A. McKillip's latest, The Bards of Bone Plain, one is struck by its symmetry. The tale is a neatly crafted puzzle—two narratives: one past, one present. As each narrative is told in alternating turn, it soon becomes clear that both the Big Question and the Big Answer are being unveiled simultaneously, if only the reader can make sense of it all.

In the present, the action centers primarily on Phelan Cle. A graduate student and exasperated son, Phelan strives to understand his distant and drunken father, Jonah, while searching for that Holy Grail of grad students everywhere, a  thesis topic.

Phelan's search for answers folds neatly into the second narrative, which centers upon the life of Nairn, an unschooled yet highly talented bard who lived centuries earlier. The relevance of Nairn's tale quickly intertwines with that of Phelan and Jonah, but even if the reader sees what is coming ahead of the big reveal (your average ppr—percipience per reader—may vary), no enjoyment is lost. By then, the hook is set, the alternating narratives have converged, and the reader has more pressing narrative concerns.

The book's structural neatness could easily prove forced or, worse, boring, in the hands of a lesser writer, but McKillip is an accomplished fantasist. She knows how much to relay, when to relay it, and when to move on to the next development. As a result, the economy of form and plotting—and indeed the entire world McKillip has constructed—itself mirrors a finely crafted riddle, answer included.

For readers who fancy themselves fans of bardic fiction, the title characters in The Bards of Bone Plain will be recognized as archetypal representations of the profession derived from the British Isles-rooted traditions of bard as poet, performer and chronicler. This should come as no surprise, as it is an archetype that McKillip herself helped solidify in the late 1970s with her influential Riddle Master Trilogy (The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir to Sea and Fire and Harpist in the Wind). If modern depictions of elves and dwarves stem from J.R.R. Tolkien, vampires from Anne Rice and zombies from George Romero, then contemporary fantasy bards have authors like McKillip (and Charles DeLint) to thank for their current shape in the popular consciousness.

With The Bards of Bone Plain, McKillip shows she has few peers when it comes to this brand of bard-olatry.

Upon reading Patricia A. McKillip's latest, The Bards of Bone Plain, one is struck by its symmetry. The tale is a neatly crafted puzzle—two narratives: one past, one present. As each narrative is told in alternating turn, it soon becomes clear that both the Big Question…

Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

A classic collection comes back, with new stories

Review by Michael Burgin

Imagine a world filled with people with superpowers. With its rerelease of Wild Cards I, the first book in the shared-world anthology series edited by fantasy titan George R.R. Martin, Tor Books wants to make it a little easier for you to do just that. The anthology, first released in 1986, presents an alternate history where an alien virus unleashed in the immediate aftermath of World War II irrevocably changes the human condition. Granted, the result isn’t always—or even often—Superman. In fact, those who are infected (“draw a wild card”) are more likely to be horribly disfigured or killed (“draw a joker”) as to gain a useful ability (“draw an ace”).

To newcomers, the anthology’s “real world” take on the super-powered might seem a well-trodden path. After all, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s acclaimed 1986 limited series comic Watchmen presented a similar, grittier version of how the traditional comic hero, that paragon of human virtue, might fare in a world where those less noble human traits—lust, ambition, greed, etc.—abound. Along with Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns,Watchmen was a seismic event in hero “theory,” forever altering the tone and tenor of superhero storytelling in ways that are the rule, not the exception, these days. But the Wild Cards series actually was introduced the same year as Watchmen andDark Knight. It’s less copycat than it is concurrent generation, and deserves a measure of respect as such.

Shared-world anthologies can sometimes be off-putting, or at the very least confusing, as disparate writing styles clash to the detriment of the larger world being built. Wild Cards I certainly has a diverse and skilled range of voices—from the late Roger Zelazny, one of the giants of fantasy and science fiction, to Nebula Award winners Edward Bryant, Howard Waldrop and Walter Jon Williams. But George R.R. Martin provides plenty of reader-centering ligature between the tales in the form of a prologue, interludes and an appendix, as well as in his editing and ordering of the stories. First-time readers will quickly gain their footing in this world of Aces, Jokers and “ nats” (slang for “ naturals” —those unaffected by the virus), even as different perspectives and time periods are presented. As for existing fans, the new edition includes three new stories (by Michael Cassutt, David D. Levine and Carrie Vaughn)—perhaps reason enough to purchase Wild Cards I a second time.

With HBO bringing Martin’s landmark fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, to televisions everywhere starting in the spring of 2011, interest in Martin’s other projects should spike as viewers—many of them uninitiated in the genre—check out other works with his name attached. (Just ask Charlaine Harris what impact HBO’sTrue Blood—based on her Southern Vampire Mysteries series—had on interest in her body of work.)

Taken together, Wild Cards I isn’t necessarily greater than the sum of its parts, but it doesn’t need to be. If you enjoy Harry Turtledove-esque forays into alternate history, fantastic tales of super-powered protagonists or just like pulp fiction-fueled, bite-sized excursions away from the day-to-day, Wild Cards I has plenty to offer. 

Imagine a world filled with people with superpowers. With its rerelease of Wild Cards I, the first book in the shared-world anthology series edited by fantasy titan George R.R. Martin, Tor Books wants to make it a little easier for you to do just that. The anthology,…

Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

More gripping tales from Butcher’s Dresden Files

Review by Michael Burgin

Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series is the literary equivalent of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Like that blend of chocolate and peanut butter, the mix of hard-boiled detective fiction with traditional fantasy elements adds up to “two great tastes that taste great together.” Protagonist Harry Dresden, a Chicago-based P.I./professional wizard, has been the subject of 12 books, numerous short stories, a television series and a role-playing game. And he’s helped make his creator Butcher a frequent resident on the New York Times bestseller list.

Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files gathers together all but two of the Dresden universe tales. It also features a new story—the novelette “Aftermath,” which takes place, as the title suggests, immediately following the explosive finale to Butcher’s 12th and most recent Dresden novel, Changes.

Though someone new to the Dresden Files could pick up Side Jobs without too much confusion—Butcher is careful to refresh character descriptions and over-arching plot details—I wouldn’t recommend it. Over the course of 12 books, Harry Dresden’s life has experienced more than its fair share of plot thickening and denouements. It would be easy to spoil more than a few of them by reading this collection first.

But Side Jobs is not aimed at the unchristened—it’s meant for the hordes of fans hungry for everything Dresden. As such, each story is prefaced with a few words, or a few paragraphs, from Butcher explaining the genesis of the story, where it first appeared, and where in the overall publishing timeline it fits.

As a supplement for the hardcore Dresden-phile, Side Jobs hits the mark. This is especially the case with “Backup” and “Aftermath,” two stories that deviate from the traditional “first-person Harry” approach. The former is told from the perspective of Thomas, Dresden’s half-brother and a vampire of the White Court, while the latter is seen through the eyes of Karrin Murphy, an officer of the Chicago police department and one of the series’ principle characters. After so many adventures told by Dresden, it’s refreshing to get into the minds of some of the other characters.

Of course, the biggest drop of honey in Side Jobs is “Aftermath” itself. The end of Changes—equal parts barn-burner and cliffhanger—left readers with some pressing fears for both Harry and the series, and until the next book, Ghost Story, hits the stands in April 2011, “Aftermath” is the only glimpse of the post-Changes universe fans are likely to get.

This glimpse alone is likely to make the reading of Side Jobs a full-time preoccupation.

Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series is the literary equivalent of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Like that blend of chocolate and peanut butter, the mix of hard-boiled detective fiction with traditional fantasy elements adds up to “two great tastes that taste great together.” Protagonist Harry…

Science Fiction & FantasyScience Fiction

Future is now in Gibson’s new novel

Review by Michael Burgin

Much has been made of cyberpunk godfather William Gibson’s transition from the dystopic future of Mona Lisa Overdrive and Virtual Light to the contemporary setting of his recent novels. Starting with 2003’s Pattern Recognition and continuing in 2007’s Spook Country, Gibson abandoned the world of Molly Millions and Wintermute for present-day cool finders, benzo addicts and ex-CIA agents. The result? A world no less fascinating and characters no less intriguing.

In Zero History, the third novel of Gibson’s Bigend trilogy, a few years have passed since Hollis Henry last worked for the Belgian marketing mastermind Hubertus Bigend, a relationship she is eager to avoid re-establishing. But as happens with most who find themselves subject to the gravity of Bigend’s attention, Henry is quickly pulled back in as she searches for the reclusive maker of Gabriel Hounds, an anti-brand of denim apparel. She is joined in her search by her fellow Spook Country alum, Milgrim, an ex-drug addict (the “ex” thanks to Bigend) who is slowly rediscovering the person paved over by all the years of addiction.

Gibson is, as always, a meticulous world builder—every piece of clothing and décor comes with a detailed provenance, and even the most mundane material “actor” in a scene is described with exacting specificity. That taxi hailed on page one? “Pearlescent silver, this one. Glyphed in Prussian blue […] a smoother simulacrum of its black ancestors, its faux-leather upholstery a shade of orthopedic fawn.”

The relentless attention to detail could easily stop a reader in his or her tracks, yet somehow, it doesn’t—plot, pace and people keep the pages turning. (Though I did keep a pen nearby, building a list of the many references that escaped me for a later Wiki binge.)

Zero History sees the welcome return of most of the cast from Spook Country (and not a few of those from Pattern Recognition). This cast is an immediate and sustained strength of the novel—not necessarily because a reader need know them already, but because, like any good world builder, Gibson is allowing the potential of his characters to be realized. While such character-based brand recognition is found most easily in anti-hero Hubertus Bigend, described by Gibson in one interview as “a cross between Marshall McLuhan and a Bond villain,” it’s also evident in Milgrim, whose growth provides moments of unexpected poignancy.

Gibson’s latest novel may be set in the present, but the author’s eye for the “impending new” is no less keen, and one leaves Zero History with the feeling that Gibson has not turned his eye away from the future—the future has just moved much, much closer to us.

Much has been made of cyberpunk godfather William Gibson’s transition from the dystopic future of Mona Lisa Overdrive and Virtual Light to the contemporary setting of his recent novels. Starting with 2003’s Pattern Recognition and continuing in 2007’s Spook Country, Gibson abandoned the world of…

Science Fiction & FantasyFantasy

R.A. Salvatore

Interview by Michael Burgin

In the decades since he was first introduced, Drizzt Do’Urden has become a fantasy archetype on par with any of Tolkien’s Middle Earth crew. But unlike Bilbo, Gandalf and company, Drizzt’s adventures are still being newly minted by creator R.A. Salvatore. Neverwinter, the followup to 2010’s Gauntlgrym, is the second of six planned books in the Neverwinter Saga, a series that races ahead 100 years in the Forgotten Realms timeline. With the last of his original companions gone, Drizzt must forge new bonds while facing determined, powerful foes at every turn. While it’s anyone’s guess what awaits Salvatore’s iconic protagonist, it’s certain where the book itself will go—straight to The New York Times bestseller list, where 23 of Salvatore’s earlier books have already been.

You’ve written more than 20 novels featuring Drizzt Do’Urden. That’s a lot of books, a lot of New York Times bestseller lists and a lot of built-in and built-up fan assumptions and desires. Do you ever find your creative direction—be it for a character or an entire story—altered by the pull of reader expectations?
It’s hard to find that balance emotionally between satisfying yourself and satisfying the fans. I’ve always erred on the side of satisfying my own creative needs; I’m letting the story tell me where to go. And let’s be honest, when Wizards of the Coast decides to fast-forward the Forgotten Realms a hundred years, that forces some changes upon me that I might not have done otherwise. That’s just the reality of working in a shared world. I’m not going to be mad about it. If I don’t like it, I can go write in somebody else’s sandbox or make my own. But as far as the fans go, their reactions do have an impact.

Can you give us an example?
I wrote a book called Road of the Patriarch, featuring Artemis Entreri and Jarlaxle—both villains.  Entreri has been a intricate part of the Drizzt series pretty much from the beginning. I wrote a short story [called “The Third Level” that recounts] his origin—as a child he was betrayed by a relative, by his mother, by a church, by everybody around him. At the end of Road of the Patriarch, Entreri has just burned down this temple in the city and he’s got a priest up on the ledge. He tells him to go, rebuild, stop lying to the people and to follow the tenets of his god, or Entreri will come back and burn the temple down again, this time with the priest in it. Right after that, he tells Jarlaxle, “Go away, I don’t need you anymore.” To me, that was Entreri for the first time in his life not hating himself. To me, that was a proper ending for Artemis Entreri.

Then the letters started coming in. Letters and emails from people sharing really personal stories of betrayals as children where they had been similarly abused, and begging me to keep going with Entreri. They had to see him healthy; they had to see him come through the other side of this epiphany he had in that book.

That sounds like a pretty heavy load to put on a fantasy writer.
It’s humbling. It’s a reminder that when you’re writing books and putting them up there for public consumption, people are letting you into their lives just a little bit as well. There’s no other way to put it—it’s humbling.

And how do you feel about fan fiction?
I won’t be beholden to it, but I love that people think enough of [my work] to go and do that. I’m not going to read it because that would get me in trouble, but if people want to do it, fine. If they try and sell is, they’re going to get sued, but that’s a whole different ball game.

What’s the latest on a Drizzt movie?
The good news is Hasbro really wants a Drizzt movie now. [Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast, which owns the Forgotten Realms setting.] With the Transformers movies and G.I. Joe, they’ve made lots of money in movies, so they are very interested in doing it. They are raising the profile; they are contacting people. Will anything come of it? I don’t know.

One of the things working against us? They are protecting an enormously successful and stable franchise. Every year a Drizzt book comes out, we know how many we’re going to sell. A good movie would help the franchise, but a really bad one could hurt something we all love.

You’ve written more than 53 novels in the last 20 years. That’s basically the definition of “prolific.” What’s an average writing workday look like for you?
On an average day, I get about two hours at the computer. Typically, the amount of words I can do in a day is between 500 and 2,000. Once I get over 2,000, I’ve kinda drained the battery. Every now and then, I have a 5,000-word day—usually a battle scene—but I haven’t had many of those lately. I must be getting old.

In addition to your host of writing endeavors, you’ve also been working, along with Todd McFarlane and Ken Ralston, for Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios, which is releasing the open world role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning in 2012. Your title is Executive Creator of Worlds . . .
Yes, I’m a creator of worlds—a CoW.

How does lore-building for a massive multiplayer online game compare with writing a novel?
It was very much like when I created the whole world of Corona for my DemonWars books. My job is not to design a game. We have mechanics designers—very good ones—who figure out things like class balance, the merits of fast travel versus walking or riding mounts, etc. No, my job was be the historian of the world, a world I’ve created. When a player enters the world, it has to all make sense. Why are these races where they are? Why does this particular faction hate that particular faction? Does the economy makes sense?

For the first year, all we did was world-build. I had a content team and an art team. I would meet with each team every week. At first, in the meetings with the content team, they would come in and say: “Here’s what we’re doing,” and present what they were working on. My most common response? “No. No. No.” Then I would take out the green binder that is the bible of our world, slam it down and say “How does what you’re doing relate to this? Because this is the Bible. You have to go by this.” After about three months I knew my job was almost done. Instead of “No, no, no!” I was saying, “Aw, that’s cool!” because they were getting it.

So you’re working with Todd McFarlane. You’re working with Curt Schilling. You’ve been on book tours with legends like Gaiman, Pratchett and Moorcock. Who else would you love to meet or work with?
I’d like to meet Vin Diesel because I know he’s read the books and we almost did the television series at one point, apparently. (He was interested in doing one.) I’d really like to meet him and get to know him a little bit. He’s a pretty cool guy from everything I’ve heard. I’d like to work with Ronnie Howard. If Ronnie Howard ever called me up and said, “I want to do one of your books in a movie,” I’d die on the spot because I just love his work.

How often do you have a “recognized in the street” moment?
Not often—I’m a writer. But there are moments. I was at a Renaissance Fair—King Richard’s Faire in Carver, Massachusetts, about 10-15 years ago, and who showed up but Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. They are having a blast. They are hanging out with people and are as fun as you would think from watching their music videos. All day long, people are following Tyler and Perry around like little puppy dogs, including most of the people I had come with. At one point, I’m standing outside this vendor’s stall. I’m just standing there enjoying this great October day in New England. Tyler and Perry are standing like 10 feet away from me, and for some reason they are alone. Then this kid walks out of the stall, looks over and his eyes pop out of his head. He goes running up, right past them, to me. They both looked at me, so I just kinda crossed my arms and went, “Hah!” So yeah, there are moments.

 

Michael Burgin writes from Nashville. You can find the entire transcript of his talk with R.A. Salvatore here.

 

In the decades since he was first introduced, Drizzt Do’Urden has become a fantasy archetype on par with any of Tolkien’s Middle Earth crew. But unlike Bilbo, Gandalf and company, Drizzt’s adventures are still being newly minted by creator R.A. Salvatore. Neverwinter, the followup to…

Mystery & SuspenseSuspense

Neal Baer & Jonathan Greene

Interview by Michael Burgin

Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene have worked on popular shows like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “ER,” but Kill Switch marks their long-form fiction debut. The novel centers on forensic psychiatrist Claire Waters and NYPD detective Nick Lawler. Troubled by a traumatic event from deep in her past, Waters finds herself at the epicenter of a serial killer’s rampage. We contacted Baer and Greene for the scoop on their brilliant new heroine and writing as a team.

What do you think readers will like most about Claire Waters?
Her courage and vulnerability. Readers will find that Claire’s quest for the truth evolves into a journey to discover her own truth, a deep look into her soul. In the face of severe adversity, her ability to finally tap into her fears is what eventually leads her to not just solve the crime, but to begin to answer the question we all ask ourselves: “Who am I?” How we can live with a tragedy that shakes and perhaps scars our soul?

You two have worked together for a long time. How does your collaborative process work?
Nine years ago we developed an idea for a feature film, using all the characters in the novel. Years later, our book agent, Lydia Wills, asked us if we had a medical thriller and it so happens we had the movie outline, which ultimately became the outline for the novel. Our process is one of writing and constantly rewriting. We spend hours together talking through the plot points, writing and rewriting the outline and then writing the chapters. Jon wrote the first chapters and Neal rewrote them. In the last third we alternated writing and rewriting each other’s chapters.

What was the biggest challenge you encountered in adapting a movie outline into a book?
The biggest challenge is that an outline for a movie is based on scenes. What the characters think and feel, see and hear, is played out through dialogue and screen direction as interpreted by the director and actors. Writing a novel, however, was liberating. We were free to write what the characters are thinking—which of course you can’t do in a movie script, unless you rely on voiceover. In writing a novel, one has complete control over the characters—there are no actors, directors, cinematographers, art directors. Everything is presented through words. It’s a challenge, and it’s exhilarating to have the freedom to create a story for a medium that does not rely on others to carry out your vision.

It’s exhilarating to have the freedom to create a story for a medium that does not rely on others to carry out your vision.

What kind of research did you do in order to write your book?
Neal: As a pediatrician, I’m interested in medical ethics and the question of how far we should take biological research, especially as it allows us to do things that were once considered unimaginable. For instance, should we concoct viruses that combine the most lethal elements of, say, smallpox and ebola? Should we clone children? Where does research cross an ethical line? In light of these interests, I contacted Dr. Alfred Goldberg, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School, which I attended, to help us better understand research in apoptosis or programmed cell death, a real area of burgeoning interest not only to biologists but also to physicians, because it may hold the answers in treating and curing cancer.

Lawler’s character suffers from a relatively rare degenerative vision disorder. Did that come from any particular personal experience?
Neal: Yes, I have a sibling with retinitis pigmentosa, so I’m well aware of the emotional and physical problems it poses, how it affects one’s life and the lives of loved ones.

The principal protagonists of Kill Switch—Dr. Claire Waters and NYPD detective Nick Lawler—get off to a rocky start, yet by book’s end they have not come completely full circle to the more intimate relationship a reader might expect. Is this “taking it slow” for benefit of the series arc, or does it suggest Lawler might not be featured as prominently in future books?
What we’ve found over the years, especially in our work on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," is that the best and most entertaining drama doesn’t wrap things up in neat little packages at the end. Based on the emotional trauma Claire suffers through her journey, we thought it would be unrealistic for her to start a romantic relationship with Nick by the end of this book. As for their future together, readers will have wait for the next installment.

When writing the book, did you ever feel the need to navigate around the specter of Clarice Starling (the main character from 1988’s The Silence of the Lambs) in your portrayal of Claire Waters?
No. Clarice Starling is a very different character from Claire Waters; most notably Clarice comes from a law enforcement family and has been trained as an FBI agent, whereas Claire is the child of a physicist and biology teacher. Claire is thrown into a situation she never dreamed of and finds herself having to engage the help of a cop to stop a serial killer. The only similarity is that the both have first names that start with the letters CLA.

Kill Switch is promoted as the first of a series. How far have you gone in the process of writing future entries?
We are currently outlining the second book in the series.

What’s next for Claire Waters?
Without giving anything away, she’ll be faced with another mystery that will test her abilities as a forensic psychiatrist and put her in grave danger.

Though Kill Switch marks a transition for you both from television to print, how likely are we to see Claire Waters and Nick Lawler on screen—big or small—in the future?
We hope to be able to announce this soon. Stay tuned.

Are there any authors or series that you’d cite as inspirations for Kill Switch?
Jon: I’ve been a voracious reader my whole life, starting with mostly non-fiction (true crime, medical, political, biography) until someone gave me my first Robert Ludlum novel, The Chancellor Manuscript, when I was high school, and from there I was hooked. I quickly devoured The Matarese Circle (what I think is Ludlum’s finest work) and The Bourne Identity. That led me to other authors: James Patterson, Thomas Harris, David Baldacci to name just a few. The last thriller I read (and I consider this a thriller) was Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, which I couldn’t put down.

Neal: I’m a die-hard movie fan so I am drawn to Hitchcock—any Hitchcock film, but particularly ­Vertigo—and film noir. You’ll find many allusions to these films, such as character names, quotes and even anagrams, in the book.

What are your favorite activities to do when you aren’t writing?
Jon: Anything involving my children, playing the piano and singing (not publicly), reading, tennis, catching up on all the great films I haven’t seen, both new and old.

Neal: Making documentary films; working with social entrepreneurs on projects to improve the world; solving the New York Times crossword puzzle, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays.

Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene have worked on popular shows like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “ER,” but Kill Switch marks their long-form fiction debut. The novel centers on forensic psychiatrist Claire Waters and NYPD detective Nick Lawler. Troubled by a traumatic event from deep in her…

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Trending Features

All Features