Once Through the Mangle

Noël Coward said (1) “I love criticism so long as it’s unqualified praise.” My own relationship to criticism has been long in developing. As an unread author, to start with, you tend to be short of any actual constructive feedback. It is a curse, and it is also a shield. Whilst the only criticism you might get […]

Ho ho ho from Sanctacaris

Well, it's that time of year again. ;I wish all of you the very best for the last few days of 2007, and looking forward very much to 2008. ;  In the old country (1), they have a saying: May This Be The Worst Of Our Days. Here's to many good ones to come. ;  Adrian Tchaikovsky (2). 25th December […]

Make History Fantasy (1)

A curious niche genrelet usually located within fantasy/science fiction’s bounds is that of alternative history. This is the quintessential “what if” genre – only with the lens turned not on the future, as with hard SF, but on the past.   The genre is a relatively recent one, and perhaps this is to do with changing outlooks […]

Cradle of Civilisation

The dominion of the Moth-kinden before the revolution was mostly referred to by its masters as “ours”, but by the other old Inapt powers as the Shadowlands or the Darklands after the Moths’ nocturnal habits. After their fall, and the rise of the Beetle and Ant-kinden free city-states, the term “the Lowlands” began to be […]

The Cave of Wonders

So, I’d sent the completed manuscript of Empire off to my agent, and another of these habitual long waits ensued. Mind you, if by this stage you’re not able to deal with long waits, then, well…   Actually, that’s bunkum. Hope is a curse. It inflames the senses. Sentence a man to ten lashes, and the eleventh lash […]

Last Refuge of the Snake-Oil Salesmen

Well, not the last refuge, given that our entire society, and most specifically economy, is liberally greased with the stuff, as a look at any advert (1) will show you. After all, we live in a society where the amount of money you stand to make would seem to be inversely proportional to the actual need society […]