James Lovegrove on his forthcoming Solaris novel, ‘The Age of Ra’ : UK SF Book News

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Feb

7

James Lovegrove on his forthcoming Solaris novel, ‘The Age of Ra’

Posted in: UKSFBN Talks To on 7th February 2008 by UKSFBN admin

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on a new deal for UK author James Lovegrove for a novel called The Age of Ra, to be published by Solaris Books.

Intrigued by the concept, we dropped James a line with a few questions to see if he'd be prepared to shed a little more light on the background to the new novel.

UKSFBN: It sounds from the synopsis that with The Age of Ra you're once again exploring the weird zone where prose fiction meets comic-book plotlines? Is that the case, or will the novel be more of a straight alternate-history?

James Lovegrove: "Originally George Mann at Solaris asked me to do an alternate-history story for them, and I was only too happy to oblige, especially as I'd already dipped a toe in the water of that genre with Provender Gleed and it's a genre I've always liked.

"I sent Solaris three ideas, and the one they jumped at, which happened to be the one I was most eager to do, was The Age of Ra. It isn't straight alternate history, in as much as I'm not introducing real-world events and figures into it to hold them up for comparison or to make satirical points, à la Moorcock.

"It's more a fantasy-flavoured imagining of how the world might have turned out if (a) gods are real and (b) one of the pantheons decided to turf out all the others and claim the entire earth for itself. One of George's other requests was that the novel be pulp-fiction-ish, or at any rate have pulpy elements, and again I was only too happy to oblige, because lately I've been analysing what it is I like about certain comics and pop-culture movies, things such as the pace, the scene changes and the outlandish characters and plot turns, and wondering how I might be able to synthesise those with my own writing.

"I've been inclining in that direction with my teen fantasy series and it seemed foolish not to try and do the same with my 'serious', 'grown-up' books as well. In other words, The Age of Ra is a foretaste of the direction I see my work going in the next few years: more rompy but still with a serious edge."

UKSFBN: Allow us to be the first to draw the surely inevitable comparison with the Stargate-SG1 franchise and ask whether you're a fan of the TV series, or if it provided any inspiration for The Age of Ra?

James Lovegrove: "How politely put, and you're welcome to make that comparison. I can safely tell you, however, that I have seen not one single episode of any of the Stargate TV series and I watched the movie when it came out and thought it to be one of the worst films ever made (so I doubt very much that I would want to emulate it in any way).

"I think, arguing from a position of ignorance, that the only point of similarity here between my book and the world of Stargate is the use of Egyptian motifs and symbology. The way I treat the Egyptian gods and their religion in Ra has, if anything, been influenced by the way Neil Gaiman dealt with the Endless in Sandman, in that they're archetypes, prone to recognisably human foibles and failings, and yet inordinately powerful nonetheless. The Age of Ra explores their interaction with the human realm and the dramatic consequences that even their pettiest decisions have on worldly affairs.

"It's a theme I started exploring way back in Days, with the Day brothers making arbitrary choices and these affecting everyone in the shop below them adversely, and continued to explore in Provender Gleed, where the Families can happily trigger world wars over the smallest and most trivial disagreements.

"This stems from my feeling that our rulers these days simply couldn't care about the lives of the people they're supposed to be looking after and protecting. 'With great power comes great responsibility', as some classical sage once said, and it's an adage that gets disproven time and again in the modern world. Which makes me rather angry. In fact, it makes me a little bit Clarkson at times. And you wouldn't like me when I'm Clarkson."

UKSFBN: To-date, you've tended to write stand-alone novels. Is this the case with The Age of Ra, or will it be the basis for an ongoing series?

James Lovegrove: "I can't see The Age of Ra becoming the first of a series. The way I've plotted it, there's very little wiggle room at the end for continuing the story. The only idea that has crossed my mind in that respect is doing a trilogy in each of which a different pantheon has defeated the others and then examining how that would affect the mundane world. So there might be an Age of Zeus and an Age of Odin...

"The only drawback with this is that I can't see how to make each world sufficiently distinct from the other two. Although that isn't to say I mightn't try. It'd be great fun to have the Ancient Greek gods messing around, the way they do, and to have the belligerent Norse deities presiding over a world where mead is constantly quaffed in dining halls and Valhalla is just a sword thrust away for every man."

UKSFBN: What else are you working on at the moment? Will you be writing anything else for Barrington Stoke's line for reluctant readers? And do you have any plans to return to the world of Worldstorm for a sequel, as previously-mooted?

James Lovegrove: "I've got a new Barrington Stoke book coming out in early 2009, or perhaps sooner. It's called Free Runner and it's about a kid who does parkour and has 23 minutes to cross from one side of a housing estate to the other in order to save his father's life. It was an absolute treat to write, and I'm only hoping that by the time it comes out parkour hasn't become just another fad of yesteryear. I doubt it will.

"As for the Worldstorm sequel(s), that's almost certainly not going to happen now. The ending of that book would seem to pose a question that a follow-up book might answer, but as it is, I like the fact that the story is self-contained yet open-ended, because I'm one of those writers who feel that the reader shouldn't always be left with neat and tidy solutions and that speculating about what occurs after the story closes is a valuable and engaging pastime. It's fun to imagine how the characters might go on beyond the final page of the book, and usually more satisfying than if the author comes back and decides to tell you."

For more information about James Lovegrove, his work to-date and his future projects, visit his website at www.jameslovegrove.com.

Source: James Lovegrove

Titles featured in this article
Title	Author	Amazon Info
Worldstorm	James Lovegrove
Title	Author	Amazon Info
Provender Gleed	James Lovegrove
Title	Author	Amazon Info
Days	James Lovegrove