I've always talked a lot about how much music inspires me, and in fact how I couldn't live without it. I miss a day with no music. In the past three years I've been privileged to go to several concerts featuring my two most favourite bands - The Rasmus, who inspired so much of the tone and feel in my Keir series and got me writing again, and Starset who have now become my favourite band to write to, and who I never expected to ever see in concert in the UK. I've now seen them FOUR times, twice as support and twice in their own right on tour. I saw them in February as headline, and each time I think I've already seen them at their best, they just set the bar higher again, with a super appropriate change of image and a set of songs that fit with our current pandemic.
While The Rasmus still take full credit for inspiring Keir, Starset have definitely taken the top spot as my SFR muse. Why? Not just because I love their music and lyrics, but because to me they encapsulate what SFR is, or at least the kind I like to write. Star-crossed lovers, separated by space and time, galaxies colliding, telepathy, enslavement, end of the world stuff. And it's not just music. No, these guys have a novel and a graphic novel out too. They are all about the science, and the fate of humanity, travel to other worlds, and messages from the future. It's not just what they do, it's what they are. Wrap all that up in a song and a video, and I'm a happy space bunny. Just as an example, the video below has always reminded me of The Martian (or rather The Martian reminds me of this, since I saw the music video first).
Or if that doesn't light your fire, you could try Breaking Benjamin's Ashes of Eden (undertones of Passengers), Linkin Park's In The End (for a touch of apocalyptic), or The Rasmus with Justify (a very Keir song, lol).
Writing Update
So, since editing and publishing my Christmas story last year, I've been working on Redemption 2.5, the story my editor felt was missing before book three of the series. I'd always had a vague idea for it in my head, but it wasn't until the release of Starset's Vessels album helped me fix some frankly terrible elements in book three and turn it into something that might actually work that I felt I could do something with it. Despite slowly recovering from burn out and wanting to write again, working full time didn't leave me much...well...time! However, by the start of this year I felt I might be approaching a point with it where I was thinking about booking actual edits for it. Well, more the point of 'omg, this story sucks!!' But as things happen, my beloved editor posted a discount for edits booked and I took it as a sign. Redemption 2.5 was booked for a slot in June. I've now completed the first round, and while I was waiting for those I've finally finished a solstice scifi novella, tidied up an angel short story, and re-opened book 3. Seems I'm an all or nothing kind of person...
In the past few years, I have really struggled to read. Up until my 30s, I was a voracious reader - as a kid, I would read pretty much anything and everything, even my mum's Mills and Boon or my dad's Ian Fleming and Alexander Kent books, when everything of my own had run out. It was in my teens that my preferences fell into the scifi and fantasy genres predominantly, and later a definite leaning to SFR (though at the time I didn't even know it was called that).
In my 30s parenthood made it difficult to find time to read. I'm not a person who likes to be pulled out of a book once I'm in - I'm more a 'devour in one sitting' than a 'chapter a day' kind of reader - so having children meant I'd rarely get through a story. I'm not sure if it was the constant disturbances that broke my ability to stick with a book, or just that real life was a lot more demanding. Whatever, as the years went by, even when I got time to devote to a book I found it increasingly hard to settle to one. Publishing didn't help because it meant I started to analyse even old favourites with a much more critical eye, unable to switch off editing mode even when not in the middle of edits of my own. I became increasingly picky, only liking a very specific area of SFR. Finding new ones became harder as authors either ignorantly or wilfully mis-classified their books' genre on Amazon, and Amazon's own insistence on stuffing sponsored posts into searches, making it too hard a slog. When I did have a hankering to read, I went back to old favourites rather than risk anything new despite the dozens of free reads sitting untouched on my Kindle.
So reading a brand new book is a rare occurrence. But this book I've chosen to review today is different. In the normal scheme of things, I probably wouldn't have picked it up myself. I'm not really into Earth setting conspiracy theories, and the cover wouldn't have caught my eye. It was bought for me as a Christmas present.
SETI radio astronomer Dr. Stephen Browning wakes disoriented and confused in a dingy gas station bathroom. He stumbles home trying to put the pieces of his night back together, only to learn that new tenants have been living in his apartment for over a month. They can offer no explanation, only a letter, written in his own handwriting with three simple words: Shave your head. Desperate to understand what is happening, Browning follows the instructions and is shocked to discover a string of numbers concealed beneath his hair--a series of coordinates tattooed upon the side of his head--coordinates which lead him to the Allen Telescope Array, where he becomes the unwitting recipient of a mysterious signal originating six light years away. His world slowly unraveling, Browning sets out on an epic journey to decipher the meaning of the cryptic transmission, quickly finding that he is merely a helpless pawn in a much bigger game. He soon learns that the secret transmission holds not only a message from the far reaches of the galaxy but a dire warning from the future. Little does Browning know that unless he can protect the transmission from falling into the wrong hands, not only will the warning come to pass but a far greater threat awaits mankind.
Review:
I'm going to straight up admit to some instant bias here, because this isn't just a book. This is the origin story for my favourite band, and as such that made it really difficult to review as a normal book. If I was reviewing it as an actual stand-alone story, I'd say this was in need of an edit to tighten it up, or at least a proof-reader to fix the most obvious errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting. The story can feel somewhat disjointed as it's presented as a collection of an individual's account mostly but interspersed with journals, security reports, observed data, and intelligence files. It also has a rather jarring switch of perspectives right at the end as it changes from the main character we've followed throughout to a secondary character. As conspiracy theory stories go, this still manages to spring a few surprises and twists, while running along believable lines of a huge cover-up. It follows the creation of the Starset Society (the 'authors' of the book), who have now turned to music to spread the message at the heart of the story - a transmission from the future warning of a disaster ahead for humanity. If you're familiar with the band's songs, it ties in quite seamlessly with their concerts, or demonstrations as they prefer to call them. Warning - if you're off to a demonstration and haven't read the book, please be aware there are spoilers during their performances, something I sadly wasn't expecting before seeing them live in February. That's what I get for not reading it when I got it, lol. It's another nice touch though, which adds to the book and the music.
Although the style of writing is a little dry and a touch emotionless (one reason I switched from straight SF to SFR which tends to have more emotional impact for me), there's a lyrical edge to it. One minute the author has written a somewhat sexist description of the female lead, the next he's describing a kiss like he's writing the lyrics to one of their songs. And despite this not being my typical type of book. I got really attached to the main character and his computer hacker female partner. The twist at the end was shocker and I think was a bit like getting to the end of a book and being told it was all a dream (but not exactly that because I'm trying to keep this spoiler free).
In conclusions:
Normally I wouldn't have even picked this type of book up, but despite the need for at least proof-reading and not being my typical thing, it definitely had something because I'm still thinking about this book and the characters weeks after finishing it. I'd love a sequel but I guess really that's their music. Overall, I enjoyed this book and happy I stuck with it because really I needed something different and this was certainly that. Would I recommend it? Yes, I think I would, but if you aren't a fan of their music it may lose some of its meaning taken just as a book alone. And that at least gives it a unique feature.
These trials make us who we are, who we are, we are We're motivated by the scars that we're made of These trials make us who we are, who we are, we are We take our places in the dark And turn our hearts to the stars...
Book Update
I am currently procrastinating over the first round of edits returned to me but will have them sent back soon. *looks shifty* Meanwhile I'm debating if I want to spend money on editing for two further stand-alone pieces, a scifi novella and an angel themed short. Do or do not...
...is a quote from Hans Christian Andersen (according to a quick Google. These days I'm always a little suspicious.). If I was ever asked what is the one thing I couldn't live without (other than coming back with the sensible answer of sustenance), it's music. I'm pretty much plugged into my mp3 player every hour of the day I'm alone, and can't go a day without music unless you want a seriously moody person on your hands. Lots of authors seem to find inspiration in music, make soundtracks for their books and characters, and I'm no different. My debut novel Keir owes much of its existence to the music of a certain Finnish rock band - The Rasmus - whose three albums at that time not only helped keep me sane during the writing process but heavily influenced the tone and character of the story. Justify is Keir's song most of all.
And on Sunday I got to see them perform live for the third time since I became a fan. Even more awesomely I got a close encounter with band member Eero who snuck out a fire exit while we were queueing. I managed actual words but tried to play it cool - I didn't think he wanted someone doing the whole fangirl thing at him (but damn it, I wish I'd asked for a photo. Not that anyone else would care - this is something I will always remember and be grateful for!).
The venue was quite small and cozy, and we had an excellent view (though my feeble camera lies about that). Not right at the front with the younger die hard fans, but on a second level balcony where no longshanks could get in front of me and block my view!
My phone also completely failed to save the video of their opening song, but luckily plenty of other people didn't have that problem, including my friend and fellow fan Irene Jones. Warning, there's a lot of strobe lighting and flash photography.
And of course they played the song they're most famous for.
The only problem with the cozy venue was lead singer Lauri was occasionally drowned out by his own fans singing. A shame because I love his voice, but I can't deny I wasn't singing along too. :P
But if you want to hear all the songs associated with Keir, go HERE to listen to my unofficial soundtrack and maybe play it as you read. :) Oh, plus a rare couple selfie taken outside King's Cross station (yes, THAT King's Cross station mentioned in the Harry Potter books).
Status Update
I've abandoned NaNoWriMo - it got me writing again, I have 10K on a new story and got my edits done. Aim achieved. At this stage I'm far too far behind to ever catch up so I will just keep pootling along with things.
GotG II was on in our lounge room not so long ago. I’m not a
huge comic book fan – haven’t seen the Avengers movies, or many of the
superhero things, but I quite enjoyed GotG I (especially the music – and Rocket
and Groot) so what the hey?
Final verdict – I probably liked it better than the first movie. Except
for the music. I’ve had the song “Brandy” playing in my head since I saw the
movie. I always liked that song (yes, I know the words) but enough, already. It
was probably the only song in the movie I actually knew – which shows I wasn’t
a great pop music fan in the ‘80’s. Probably one of my classical phases. Verdi,
anyone?
Anyway, back to the movie. It was fun seeing Kurt Russel in
action as Quill’s father. I remember Russell from lots of SF type films. Escape
from New York, and especially the original Stargate movie. And a cameo from
Sylvester Stallone, with promise of things to come. It seems Hollywood’s Old
Guard are seeing the value of the comic book genre. Baby Groot was an absolute
delight, Rocket was his usual irascible self, getting everybody into trouble, Drax
took everything literally, as always, and Quill and Gamora danced around each
other. The baddies were a mix of pirates and sophisticates. The sophisticates
turned out to be much nastier than I expected, and the pirates were – pirates.
Not nice at all.
That's not to say the movie was perfect. One particular scene between
Quill, his father, and his mother's memory jarred for me. But for the
rest, I could keep myself in suspension of belief pretty easily.
What I really love about these movies is the SFX. Quill has
armor tucked behind his ear (wow). Spacesuits are available at the press of a button - and although they look insubstantial, they do the job. Rocket puts the very wrecked spaceship back
together by running a device over the shattered panels. One assumes the ship’s
AI reconstructs the atoms the way they’re supposed to be. Quill’s dad (Ego) has
some wonderful tech, including a ship that refines its shape as required.
The plot was the usual mix of fast action and derring-do as
our band of warriors get each other out of trouble. What holds it all together is that the action
has a theme. It’s all about Family. What is family? What is it not? You might
get a little misty-eyed here and there, and the teasers in the credits will
have you hangin’ out for GotG III. I suspect it will be more interesting than
this December’s new Star Wars. (Lord, I hope I’m wrong about that…)
Just one more small thing. Remember that song in the opening credits of the first movie?
Back in the '80's some of us were bulk unimpressed with that mangling of this song.
Well, this wasn't the post I expected to be writing...
2016 was a bad year. So many of us lost icons that had meant so much to us. I still haven't got over some of them. But 2017 isn't shaping up all that well either. On Thursday, just as we began the long school summer holiday, I saw a tweet about Linkin Park, and my heart sank. Then shattered. Chester Bennington had been found dead, probably suicide. He was five years younger than me.
I only became a fan recently, and quite by accident. One of my many internet friends came over to meet me for real and suggested a trip to the cinema. We went to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I'm not a huge fan, but it was action packed and entertaining if not particularly challenging mentally. It had something else though. A song called New Divide by Linkin Park.
I loved the sound of it and the lyrics, and played it endlessly after downloading it. After watching a few of their videos on Scuzz, most of which had a scifi look and sound to me, I went looking for more of their music and found they'd done a track for The Matrix. They went on to have another song featured in the third Transformer film - Iridescent.
Chester's voice and music inspired and transform two of my books. Thanks to the album Living Things, the chaotic, scattered mess that became When Dark Falls gained an identity and a darkly industrial feel, as well as turning into a superhero romance with a coherent story.
Chester's lesser known band Dead by Sunrise became the sound track to the hardest book I've written so far - my Louisiana zombie story, Restless In Peaceville - along with an LP track called The Little Things Give You Away.
I even had one of their songs picked out to be played at my funeral (morbid, I know, but I'm conscious every day of the fact my mum passed away at 43 and I'm just about to turn 47, so it preys on my mind a bit. Oh, and watch the video. You'll see why I find them so scifi-y).
I haven't loved everything they've done. I'm sorry to say it but I couldn't even sit through the entirety of their two latest singles. They'd gone in a direction I didn't like, but their ever evolving sound and willingness to experiment might well have brought me back to the next album. But that will never happen now. I'm just glad that I found them when I did and at least got to see them play live once. I will treasure that.
RIP Chester Bennington. I hope you've finally found peace.
