Hypnerotomachiapet

I originally wrote this in December 2011 as part of my Brutal Light blog promo tour. As the blog it originally appeared on no longer exists, I’m reposting it here. Yay?

One of the things I’m frequently asked about are my influences. As someone who’s read a lot, in a lot of genres, that’s a topic I can go on about for quite a while–the list of authors range from Stephen King to Terry Pratchett to Michael Connelly to Clive Barker to… well, you get the idea. But even within this list, there are certain books I can pick out that exerted great influence on both my reading choices and my storytelling style. I can’t rightly say how much any particular one of these examples influenced me when it came to writing my debut dark fantasy novel Brutal Light, but collectively, I think it’s safe to say they left their mark. Here are seven books that made me, and my writing, weird(er):

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

This was not my first introduction to Lovecraft–that had been the wonderfully-titled Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre, a collection of some of his short fiction–but it was the one that left the deepest impression on me. The deliberate, atmospheric pacing of this journey into the ruins of a lost civilization had me on edge the first time I read it, and it excited my mind around the details of what would later become the Mythos the way it had not quite been before.

The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson

This one took a while to win me over–at first I didn’t know what to think of the careening strangeness of the narrative and the hyperbolic mix of what I assume is every conspiracy theory out there up to the point of the novel’s publication. Then at some point, maybe a hundred pages in, it started gelling, and from that point I was hooked. It’s lost a little of its lustre over the years–the conspiracy stuff is a bit dated, and some passages seem more juvenile than provocative–but overall it’s still a hell of a trip.

Valis by Philip K. Dick

Valis was my introduction to Philip K. Dick’s strange and addictive works. Probably it wasn’t the best one to start with; it came at a point late in his career and life where he was evidently not too concerned with being ‘accessible.’ It’s a bizarre story to begin with, with its main character, Horselover Fat, contacted directly by God via a mysterious pink laser. Then it gets stranger, as Horselover seeks to understand his experience, with esoteric theories and crackpot paranoia continually throwing the events of his life into newer and weirder lights. I just recently re-read this one, and its as baffling and entertaining as I remember.

Dead Boys, Dead Girls, Dead Things by Richard Calder

By the time I got to this book, I’d read my share of cyberpunk science fiction, and had my head spun around by the likes of Philip K. Dick and Robert Anton Wilson. I thought I was ready. But I don’t think anything could have prepared me for the convoluted, paranoid, utterly perverse, high-voltage trip that is the Dead trilogy. The first book, Dead Boys, makes at least a passing attempt at a standardized story structure, but the next two sail off into rampaging, obsessive apocalyptic madness. This one left my head spinning for weeks. I really wish Calder’s publisher would get his books into e-format; I’d buy them all in a heartbeat.

God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert

Now, I’d taken the first three books in the Dune series in stride. They were fine, weird beasts in and of themselves, full of complex ideas and strange events. But this one trumped them all. It took me a long time to really come to terms with Leto’s merger with a sandworm and his transformation into a near-immortal, unstable tyrant, and to appreciate the paradoxical depths of the philosophical discussions within. It’s a flawed book, certainly, but unlike anything I had read to that point (the mid-eighties, when I was an impressionable lad). One of these days I’ll have to read it again, just to see if it stands up to my memories of it.

Zod Wallop by William Browning Spencer

While the idea of a book as a doorway into another world is hardly new, I was unprepared for how this book would affect me. The action takes place both in the ‘real’ world, where ex-children’s book author Harry Gainesborough has escaped the institution where he was being treated for depression following the death of his daughter, and the world of Zod Wallop, the fantasy world of the books he wrote with said daughter as the central character. The transitions between worlds are seamless, and the climax is as emotionally stunning as I’ve ever read. It’s a strange and amazing journey.

Imajica by Clive Barker

This was my introduction to Clive Barker. You might as well have dropped a bus on me. Barker’s framework of a hidden world behind the superficial façade of this one completely drew me in with the depth of its obsessive detailing, the complicated story threads, and the sheer power of its metaphysical invention. It’s a beautiful, perverse, and terrifying work–still my favorite of Barker’s, and one that undoubtedly left its mark on my writing since.

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and a contributor to the dark fiction anthology Fading Light. His blog originates here. Brutal Light cover art: Dawne Dominique.

Mirrored from Gary W. Olson.

Feed (Book 1 of the Newsflesh Trilogy) by Mira Grant

In the year 2039, twenty-five years after a virus caused humans and animals to become flesh-craving zombies, a team of bloggers is recruited to cover the campaign of a U.S. Presidential candidate. They are soon drawn into a tense situation in which virus outbreaks seem to dog the campaign, and what they learn could cost them more than their lives.

This first book in the Feed trilogy offers solid suspense and action against a well-extrapolated science fiction backdrop. One of the most refreshing things about it is that it doesn’t see zombie hordes as a sign of the end of all things–life goes on, even though it’s a life transformed in ways large and small by the possibility of becoming a zombie at any time (not just following death). Suspenseful, thrilling, compelling, and ultimately moving, it’s well worth checking out, even if zombies aren’t ordinarly ‘your thing.’

Corrupts, Absolutely? edited by Lincoln Crisler

Corrupts Absolutely? is a collection of 21 short tales on the very dark side of having metahuman abilities, with stories ranging from a wounded man who brings his explosive rage to bear on those he blames for the deaths of his wife and daughter-to-be (“Retribution” by Tim Marquitz) to a world where metahumans live under more restrictions than sex offenders and being a hero is a crime (“Pride” by Wayne Ligon) to a woman whose concerns over the ultimate use of the robo-suit she lead development of are trumped by pragmatic realities (“Fixed” by Trisha J. Wooldridge). The metahuman abilities and settings vary widely, as do the contributing authors’ styles, making for an entertaining selection of tales.

As is often the case, a story collection has its high and low points. Not all of the tales here worked for me, but my enjoyment level overall was high. In addition to the previously mentioned stories, my favorites included “Ozymandias Revisited” by A.S. Fox (where having godlike powers leads to having godlike problems), and “Illusion” by Karina Fabian (exploring the toll taken by telepathic abilities on a young telepath). Its a compelling collection of dark fiction where the ‘heroes’ are often not at all heroic, and well worth checking out.

Sings with Stars by Bethany Grenier

Gigi Storme’s life has turned upside down in the blink of an eye. On society’s margins in our world, she discovers that she has come from another–a world of clockwork and magic–one in which she is destined to play a central role, whether she’s ready to or not. Her survival, and the survival of those around her, depends on not only learning her new abilities, but upon learning how to love, and even forgive.

The steampunk elements in this YA novel seem to me to be mainly in the fashion and visible technology of the otherdimensional world Gigi came from. The overall story is one that will not be unfamiliar to fantasy readers–a young woman discovers her destiny and magical powers and must contend against an implacable foe, while dealing with uncertainty and betrayal on all sides. Bethany Grenier does a good job of bringing this plot to life, and investing the characters with depth and complexity, and ends up delivering a world that readers can easily and happily lose themselves in for a while.

Apartment 14F: An Oriental Ghost Story by Christian Saunders

Jerry, newly arrived in China as an English teacher, settles in to his lonely new apartment, unaware that he will soon be drawn into the mystery of what happened to the apartment’s previous tenant. What he learns frightens him, but even this knowledge may not be enough to drive him away… or to save him.

This story manages to do a lot within its very brief span. It creates an atmosphere of lingering dread, not only of the ghost itself, but of its loneliness and need. It’s an effective and slightly surreal tale of alienation and terror, easily read in a single sitting.

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light. His blog originates here. Photo: silver-john/Bigstock.com.

Mirrored from Gary W. Olson.

New on my blog: Short Reviews: Su Halfwerk's Intricate Entanglements / Simon Haynes' Hal Spacejock

Also of note: Live and Let Fly by Karina Fabian (who I interviewed on my blog last week) now has a pre-order link: http://tinyurl.com/LiveAndLetFly

New on my blog: Short Reviews: JE Gurley's Blood Lust / Fiona Dodwell's Obsessed

New on my blog: Short Reviews: Greg Chapman's Torment

From my blog: Short Reviews: Bryan Thomas Schmidt's 'The Worker Prince'

It's been a busy couple of months since I last posted a real update here. Of course, if you've been reading here, you've already seen the cover art for my book, and the trailer for it. But I've also been doing other stuff, such as participating in panels at ConClave 2011 and preparing essays and interview answers for the virtual blog tour that will start in December when Brutal Light is published.

I've also, on my writerly blog, hosted a guest blog with Kathryn Meyer Griffith on her book Egyptian Heart, along with three reviews (of Bernie Mojzes's The Evil Gazebo, Micheal Grin's Princess Nonomi, and Greg R. Fishbone's Galaxy Games: The Challengers), a couple bag-o-links posts (such as this and today's entry), plus a longer entry considering the future of e-books vs. paper books.

(Note: I've been kind of playing it low-key with linking to my writerly blog from here, but I'll be switching to same-day or next-day linking of individual posts from here on in... if ony because it takes forever to do these roundups.)

Outside of writing... I'm still taking things day to day. I've done a bit of present-shopping, done a bit of gaming (including a 1980s Doctor Who roleplaying game played with some friends I just met at ConClave), and have otherwise just tried to stay on top of things. I've started reading books on bugs, both in science and folklore, in anticipation of my next work, and have been outlining and writing new stuff when I can chisel out the time for it. If it seems from this post that the book is occupying a large portion of my conscious mind away from my day job... well, it is, and I expect it to stay that way for the next two-to-three months. It comes with the territory. When it comes time to do it all over again for my next book, I'll hopefully have learned enough from this experience to manage it better, though for a first-timer I think I'm doing okay.