[Rocket Sheep]

Oh that's so typical of a man. When a girl's in trouble, he's there with all the answers, acting macho, but ask for a bit of help around the house, and oh no, he's too busy doing things with his meerkat! ;)

I always thought Satre was the one who was keen on meerkats.

I wish someone else would hurry up and read the book and ask some sensible questions.

[mistri]

Finished the book yesterday. Didn't mean to take so long but I spend so much time (attempting) writing these days that I hardly leave myself any time for reading.

Really enjoyed it, and no, I didn't notice that parts 1 and 2 happened in part 3. My only excuse is that I was really caught up in the story.

'Veniss is supposed to be a cold, sharp knife aimed at the heart' you said, and it is. I liked the fact there was no padding, that everything was written so tightly. It's rare in fantasy these days.

I'm not sure if I have any questions, at the moment, I think the story and its aftermath just need to whirl around in my mind for a while.

[Erfael]

Okay. It was only two and a half weeks late, but I finally got my hot little hands on a copy and read this one. Loved it.

I'm a form junkie, and having the three sections each in the relative tense was just great for me. Further, how they all fit into the third section was also great. I think that this book could translate very well to a symphonic poem or large chamber work...maybe I'll pass it around to some composer friends of mine...

I am also a myth junkie, and this book worked well for me in a hero's journey way, as well. From Shadrach's origins in the middle world to the discovery of the problem to the descent into the wierd to the return to the mundane above world, all along assisted by "magical" helpers and guideposts, the story worked very well from a mythological archetypal perspective. Are you familiar with Campbellian ideas on myth? Did you have a mythological structure in mind when you were writing the book, or did the storytelling just naturally progress in that way?

The closest relation to a specific myth seems to be the Orpheus myth, even with specific things such as the crossing of the water (Styx) and not looking back on the way out of the underworld, but with other elements present such as entering the giant fish. If Orpheus was a template, was there a specific decision that you made to have Shadrach succeed in getting Nicola back where Orpheus failed with Euridice?

That's all for now. Look forward to some discussion now that I'm read up.

[Archren]

I haven't read Veniss Underground, and when I was in the bookstore over the weekend I still couldn't find it. I am incredibly bummed about this, since it means that I can't really participate here. However, before someone realizes that, let me just shout out to Jeff that I read "City of Saints and Madmen" and LOVED it! It was fantastic, some of the best fantasy I have EVER read. (Also read "Thackery T. Lambshead" & loved everything about it. Congrats on a fantastic compilation!)

Just had to take advantage of having an author here to send some public fan mail. <runs away now :D >

[Erfael]

I haven't read Veniss Underground, and when I was in the bookstore over the weekend I still couldn't find it. I am incredibly bummed about this, since it means that I can't really participate here. However, before someone realizes that, let me just shout out to Jeff that I read "City of Saints and Madmen" and LOVED it! It was fantastic, some of the best fantasy I have EVER read. (Also read "Thackery T. Lambshead" & loved everything about it. Congrats on a fantastic compilation!)

Just had to take advantage of having an author here to send some public fan mail. <runs away now :D >

*nudge, nudge* You won't find it in a store. You'll have to order it online or have the store special-order it.

[JeffVan]

Hey, glad you liked City of Saints. As of Sept. 26 of this year, Veniss should be in every store in the US, courtesy of Bantam. It'll also include most all of the Veniss-related stories, as it turns out.

Re Veniss and the "other meerkat"--it's a fine question. I just have a lousy answer, is all. :)

Yes--Shadrach succeeds because unlike Orpheus, he's crazy by that point. Also, because does he really succeed? He succeeds in the short-term, but the underground's still there, pulling at him, and pulling at the future of the city. I did review the Orpheus myth. I did specifically want to have references to it, as a kind of additional "overlay" or layer in the novel. However, I must admit that many of the details that have mythological resonance...were just there naturally. I tend to write resonant images without thinking about it.

Jeff

[FicusFan]

I found Quin's Shanghai Circus by Edward Whittemore at Boskone last weekend and picked it up because of this thread. It looks very interesting. Old Earth Books has re-printed that book and the Jerusalem Quartet , not cheap though.

[JeffVan]

Yeah--I love those Whittemore books.

Okay, since it's getting to the end of the month, I thought it's prime time for a funny confession re Veniss Underground.

The first time I saw meerkats was about 5 minutes while flipping channels. I thought, wow, these things are great. However, during the time I was watching, there was no context for size. I thought they were, like, three or four feet tall. So I start writing Veniss...and then I come across another nature special, and suddenly I see a person right next to a meerkat, and I realize they're at best about 3/4th of a foot tall...which makes them much less menacing. And I realize, nobody's gonna believe the meerkats in Veniss are menacing. So that's when I added the fix that the genetically modified meerkats in the future portrayed in Veniss also had gorilla/kangaroo genes.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Rocket Sheep]

And there was me thinking you had a life-long affinity for meerkats because of your name and knew all about them... like me and sheep (mind you... I was raised by sheep - oh sorry... I mentioned them again).

I can see the gorilla in size and dexterity of hands... but where does the roo fit in? Pouches, fat tails, diurnal, lots of lazing around belly scratching in the sun, likes running at cars at night time?

[Eventine]

They make an interesting steak to sell to foreign tourists? :D

Jeff - as long as you don't tell me you saw a guppy on a documentary and came up with the idea of Quin's "fortress" I think we'll let it pass.