Are you implicit in horror? (The Unblemished)

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Weirdmonger	Are you implicit in horror? (The Unblemished)	Lead	[-]
Posts: 358 (05/17/08 10:43:23) Shockliner Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	A character in 'The Unblemished' by Conrad Williams (Virgin books) says: 'I am like them, but I'm not like them. I helped them. Unwittingly, unwillingly. Occasionally it felt as though I was on their side. But I'm not. I know I'm not.' I fear the character is in denial. This dangerous book is now in all bookshops, airports, and so forth. By reading it, are we being drawn into this circle? By joining in discussions on Shocklines? By writing about horror? We scarcely know what we do. We are party to it, without realising. Even in the late nineteen-eighties you could find a Conrad Williams story in 'Dementia 13' magazine and other small beginnings. The foul fruit is now being harvested. Please do not add to this thread, because that is what is wanted. Silly Idea - The Baser Pulps - Nemonymous - The Weirdmonger Wheel - Weirdmonger (Prime Book) The Top Tier Shockliner Demon previously known as DF Lewis
Mike Philbin		#1	[-]
Posts: 2163 (05/17/08 10:53:16) Shocklineraholic Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I'm in awe about how far Conrad Williams has come - when will the world truly recognise his greatness? July 15 2008, Silverthought Press publish Bukkakeworld and Planet of the Owls in trade paperback.
Gary Mc		#2	[-]
Posts: 1817 (05/17/08 11:02:25) Shocklineraholic Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Conrad is an awesome talent. One of the best. He's also an incredibly nice bloke. He deserves this suvvess, and I hope it continues.
pendragon		#3	[-]
Posts: 754 (05/17/08 11:50:38) Master Shockliner Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Anyone read his latest story in Black Static - "Zombie"? Very strange and wierd, yet you work it out at the end. Reading The Unblemished now: only a quarter of the way, yet even now it deserves the IHG award.
Weirdmonger		#4	[-]
Posts: 359 (05/17/08 12:47:43) Shockliner Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I feel myself being cannibalised by a Conradian 'Mr Can', but before I finally succumb and become part of the Horror conspiracy of which we are all part, by liking books such as this or by simply posting here, let me say... ...that 'The Unblemished' is a fabrication of truth made into a terrible tangible nightmare by its endless pages of poetica-viscera. Over-dosing on language. Where does the light come from to enable the characters to see each other? Is London's electricity still running? Or, rather, where has the light gone to ... to leave such dark visibility? Like a theatre or cinema still working properly despite being in someone's nightmare. Or like this post, one that needs no maintenance once it's posted. Read or not. 'The Unblemished' - a book that we hope will bring a mass market back to the Horror genre? Nah! It's far too good for that, far too frightening. And that's me talking at last. Undeniably. Silly Idea - The Baser Pulps - Nemonymous - The Weirdmonger Wheel - Weirdmonger (Prime Book) The Top Tier Shockliner Demon previously known as DF Lewis Last Edited By: Weirdmonger 05/17/08 13:03:46. Edited 2 times.
Michael Johnston		#5	[-]
Posts: 59 (05/17/08 13:23:46) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Still can't understand why it didn't (at least) make the Stoker shortlist - can only put it down to its original 500 copy print run. Really looking forward to his first book as Conrad A. Williams from Solaris, Decay Inevitable. "Decay Inevitable is one of the grittiest modern fantasies ever written, and a masterful dark thriller. Sean Redman is a failed policeman who cannot escape the job. Will Lacey is a husband who witnesses the birth of a monster. Cheke is a killing machine programmed to erase every trace of an experiment gone horribly wrong… Decay Inevitable is a novel charting the grim territories of the shadow line that trembles at the very end of life. These are badlands of horrifying dreams and demons where a black market in unspeakable goods thrives. A race is on to unearth the secrets of the soul… secrets woven into the fabric of death itself." http://www.solarisbooks.com/press-releases/press-release-conrad.asp
Weirdmonger		#6	[-]
Posts: 360 (05/17/08 23:35:14) Shockliner Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	I wake this morning with some unshakeable, inexplicable trepidation, having written what I did above. I today intend, with even greater trepidation, to read the last quarter of the book. Silly Idea - The Baser Pulps - Nemonymous - The Weirdmonger Wheel - Weirdmonger (Prime Book) The Top Tier Shockliner Demon previously known as DF Lewis
rileybooks		#7	[-]
Posts: 973 (05/18/08 01:34:56) Master Shockliner Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Still can't understand why it didn't (at least) make the Stoker shortlist - can only put it down to its original 500 copy print run. That's bound to have a significant impact on a book's chances of reaching that far, especially if a book is published in the UK and the vast majority of those voting are American. Sheer economics comes into it there - and accessibility. Unfortunate, but inevitable. Still, the most important thing is not whether or not it won an award - something forgotten soon enough - but the way in which the work is viewed by its readers. On this Conrad Williams has won hands down. David
Michael Johnston		#8	[-]
Posts: 60 (05/18/08 04:27:47) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	rileybooks wrote: Still can't understand why it didn't (at least) make the Stoker shortlist - can only put it down to its original 500 copy print run. That's bound to have a significant impact on a book's chances of reaching that far, especially if a book is published in the UK and the vast majority of those voting are American. Sheer economics comes into it there - and accessibility. Unfortunate, but inevitable. Still, the most important thing is not whether or not it won an award - something forgotten soon enough - but the way in which the work is viewed by its readers. On this Conrad Williams has won hands down. David Although in this case the book originally had a US publication - Earthling (but still garnered enough British readers to make it onto the BFA shortlist!). One could ask, however, why such a recognisably excellent book was given such a limited print run, rather than a healthier 1000-1500. If Virgin hadn't picked it up then it would have remained unknown to many. This is where the value of judged awards (like the IHG and Shirley Jackson) lies I think - picking up on books that might have been missed or had limited print runs or a high price-tag. It was the case with the anthology that year as well - Subterranean's excellent Lords of the Razor won the IHG but didn't make the Stoker shortlist, which was probably due to its 500 copy print run and $100 price. I agree, however, that awards aren't everything.
Weirdmonger		#9	[-]
Posts: 362 (05/18/08 23:58:48) Shockliner Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Michael Johnston wrote: If Virgin hadn't picked it up then it would have remained unknown to many When fortuitous circumstances happen to coincide with great talent, as in this case, one has an unstoppable force. Silly Idea - The Baser Pulps - Nemonymous - The Weirdmonger Wheel - Weirdmonger (Prime Book) The Top Tier Shockliner Demon previously known as DF Lewis
Michael Johnston		#10	[-]
Posts: 63 (05/19/08 00:29:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Indeed. Plus he got the opportunity to 'improve' it from the Earthling edition. As he describes himself: "My new editor at Virgin wanted some changes, despite the great reviews and the Hollywood interest and the awards nominations. And I agreed with him. There are a few problems with the book in terms of plot and pace. A year down the line, such things become more identifiable to a writer who otherwise might be a little too close to the text. I'm sure that every writer wishes (s)he was able to give their MS one last polish before it was produced. I'm glad I got the chance to do so, and that I have an editor who knows his onions, has a deep love of the genre and, as he warned me early on, is a 'very hands-on type of editor'. Luckily, I'm not a hands-off kind of writer. So what's changed for the paperback? Well, chapter order has been jiggled, one character has been subsumed by another, two characters die earlier than planned, a couple of chapters have been excised, a couple of chapters have been added... Structurally, I hope, it's tighter, leaner and hangs together more logically." http://blog.conradwilliams.net/2007/11/unblemished.html

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Are you implicit in horror? (The Unblemished)

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