Welcome to the latest exciting instalment of The Starved Blog, the science fiction newsletter from The Sunday Times worst-selling author, Thomas Norford. I say “welcome” as if anyone reads this nonsense. Nevermind, onward!
Hype
The Starved God Audiobook: Promo Codes!
Too lazy to actually pick up a book and turn the pages? Tired of all that looking? Had your arms ripped off in a weird sexual escapade with a combine harvester? Fear not! The Starved God is coming to Audible very soon, and I’ll have a bunch of promo codes to give out to people for a free copy. If you’re interested, or know someone who might be, hit me up. Here’s the retail sample:
Moulton Village Festival
Me and my fellow Northants Author, Joy Burnett, had a table at the Moulton Village Festival to flog some of our wares. I sold two copies of The Starved God, Joy sold 9 or 10 of her various works. She’s got the gift of the gab, I tells yer. Despite the strong Wickerman / Midsommar vibes, it was a fun day. Check out Joy’s latest novel by hitting the button below.
Book Signing at Long Buckby
I’m doing a book signing. It’s on the 17th of June 10am-12 noon, at Long Buckby Library. Proceeds are going to the library, which is community run, and Cancer Research. If you want to see a middle-aged man looking bored and sad, come along.
Northants Authors Events
In a similar vein, I’m going to be at the library in Corby on the 12th of August, and the Kettering Literature Festival on the 16th of September, flogging books with other members of Northants Authors. I might be called upon to give a talk at the Kettering event, but hopefully not.
Nice Reviews of The Starved God
Had some nice reviews for The Starved God recently, including one from an established author, Jon F. Ziegler. He didn’t just blow smoke up my rectum though - he had some very useful criticism which I shall endeavour to assimilate in the spirit of quality improvement. If you’re inclined to read it, go to Jon’s website, Sharrukin’s Palace.
This is still my favourite review though:
Work in Progress Report
I’m close to finishing the basic outline for my next novel, which I think is going to be called The Silent Earth, or The Sleeping Earth (which do you prefer?). It’s looking like it’s going to be a cross of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Children of Men. If nothing else, the cover will be a great as I’m commissioning an artist pal to create it (hi Batty).
Here are some exciting plot elements I’ve devised. (I would say ‘spoilers ahead’ but no one’s reading this, and even if you are, you’ll probably never read the book anyway, and even if you do, you’ll have probably forgotten by that time, and even if you don’t, you’re probably my wife or daughter and I’ve told you all the plot anyway):
A new mysterious baddie who goes by the moniker The Fluke, and his 2nd in command, The Black Fox.
Alien creatures causing a big ‘ol train crash and eating people.
A world-altering epilogue.
A mad character based on Dennis Hopper’s photojournalist character from Apocalypse Now.
Psychoactive alien gland-juice.
Britain descending into quasi-fascism in response to the world economy grinding to a halt.
Competition Time!
Here’s a competition for you: come up with a good name for a hipster farm shop, situated near a canal. Preferably pun-based. The winning entry will feature in the next novel and the winner will be included in the acknowledgements!
Something Cheered, Something Weird, and Something Beard. AKA Science Fiction Reviews of the Month.
Something Cheered: Well Known and Celebrated Science Fiction Books.
The 5th Child by Doris Lessing.
This one is by a Nobel Prize winner, no less, and you don’t get much more cheered than that. Lessing wrote an epic SF series called Argo in Conopus, or Canopus in Argos, or something like that. I started it but it was heavy going. The 5th Child is a lot more accessible. It’s about a kid with severe behavioural problems, who may in fact be a Neanderthal throwback, who totally disrupts his family's serene existence. As the father of a kid who’s a little…different…it resonates somewhat. There’s a sequel too, Ben in the World.
Rating: 46 out of 47 Chromosomes
Something Weird: Underappreciated or Little-Known Science Fiction Books.
The Name of the Shadow by Mars G. Everson.
Rather like The Starved God, this is technically science fiction because the author has made an effort at plausibility, but it reads like a fantasy novel. A young chap in an isolated community takes it on himself to hunt a terrible beast which has been eating people and cattle, setting him onto a path of darkness and discovery. The world is intriguing and well realised, and the characters - especially the main character, Arlan - are rounded, ambiguous and complex. I liked the tone of the book as well - it has a kind of detached, brooding atmosphere about it. It gets quite dark. It’s self-published and a little rough around the edges here and there, but good fun.
Rating: 6 Mars bars out of 8
Something Beard: Science Fiction Books by Men with Beards.
Seveneves by Neal Stevenson.
Proper hard SF this - full of technical detail, spanning thousands of years and all that. The Moon gets destroyed, causing Earth’s atmosphere to be boiled away, and so humanity ekes out a desperate existence on a space station. It follows the action all the way from before the disaster to thousands of years afterwards. The mind boggles to think of the amount of research that goes into a book like this. I enjoyed it, but I must admit I kind of glossed over a lot of the technical bits, rather like Andy Weir’s books (The Martian, Project Hail Mary), although the characters aren’t as smug as Weir’s.
Rating: 6 Eves out of 7
Further nonsense
I’m on this thing called Book Funnel. I don’t really understand it if I’m honest, but the basic principle is that you advertise your book on a group promotion, and all the featured authors agree to share the link to the promo on their social media, blogs etc. So have a look at the link if you want, and you might find a gem. In a convoluted way, you clicking on the link will help me out, I think.