The Hollows is an enjoyably gripping blend that starts as a police procedural, quickly engages horror’s shared DNA with thriller fiction, and ultimately descends (in the best sense) into cosmic elder god nightmare. It also works well as a social deconstruction of folklore, splicing Peak District place names with the roles of individuals in village […]
Jeff Noon has always been fascinated by borders. He describes his first novel, ‘Vurt’, as something brought across the frontier between this world and another. His early work was full of characters traversing portals, whether formed by physical structures or drugs. It’s an obsession that includes his writing process. Many writers listen to music while […]
‘If Then’ is a deeply original, compelling and often disturbing piece of very English science fiction. The mysterious title suggests early code with the variables removed and the book’s structure hints at the binary; it’s divided in two with the first part titled ‘If’ (suggesting the future), the other titled ‘Then’, (suggesting the past). The […]
In this extraordinary first novel, the British Empire attempts to exert its commercial and cultural influence into the Faelands, also known as Arcadia, with predictably disastrous results. Narrated by Catherine Helstone, sister of missionary Laon, the story at first channels and then pretty much becomes a sublimation of Romantic ideals as the siblings attempt to […]
Life in Sci-Fi 