Plugging: CHILD OF FIRE, novel by Harry Connelly
wcmartell
House... and is Del Rey's big fall paperback release. It's the first
book he ever sold. I was going to buy it for my London trip, but the
book came out the day of my flight and no one at a book store would
slip me a copy before the street date. So I bought it when I got back,
for my Hong Kong flight... which never happened due to a late visa.
So, I popped open the book a couple of days ago - and just finished
it. Was almost impossible to put down. Relentless pacing, and
escalating conflict, and cool stuff.
I am not the kind of person to read fantasy novels - science fiction
is okay, but anything with wizards just sounds silly to me. Harry's
book CHILD OF FIRE is about a sorceress and magic spells and crap -
but it's written like a noir action story. Remember those HBO movies
that combined Lovecraft and Chandler? Not like that...
CHILD OF FIRE is like a Hammett Conetental Op novel like RED HARVEST
meets HALLOWEEN 3 and Lovecraft - and impossible to put down! Ray
Lilly is a career criminal (car thief) who is awaiting trial for some
murders he didn't do that have a supernatural element. His public
defender is replaced by some slick mob lawyer who tells Ray he'll make
the charges go away if Ray forgets the supernatural stuff he saw and
even sets him up with a job as a driver. This is no normal mob lawyer
- this guy is from the 20 Palace Society - an organization of
Sorcerers. Ray's driving job is for..
Annalese Powess, a sorceress-assassin who kills those who use black
magic without permission from the 20 Palace Society mob. Rogue
socerers, people who find some spellbook and use it... anyone who is
using black magic in some way that might bring down the heat on the
mob - or maybe get in their way. All of this stuff is back story we
have to piece together as we read - because the book hits the ground
running! It opens with Ray and Annalise on the way to a hit...
Small town in Washington State has an overly successful toy factory -
and children who spontaneously combust... and the kid's parents forget
they even had kids. They find ways to rationalize the car seats and
toys in the front yard. This is one of those small towns with a secret
- and also a bunch of warring factions that would rather the two
outsiders be dead.
Just when you think things can't get worse - Annalise tells Ray that
part of his job is to be the "red shirt" decoy that gets killed so
that she can attack... but when she attacks, Annalise discovers the
evil in this town is more powerrful than she is. Ray survives,
Annalize is seriously wounded... and now all of that evil from all of
the different factions in the town are coming after Ray. He is the man
in the middle and must figure out who and what is behind all of this
in order to survive.
This thing was a real page turner, and *really dark* - kids burn to
death in the first ten pages. If the book has any problem, it's *too*
fast paced. No place to close it and sleep... and sometimes things
happens so fast that you have to read carefully so that you don't miss
anything. I know Harry, but the reviews on Amazon are mostly good:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345508890/secretsofactions
And Del Rey has already bought the next two books in the series (Harry
has written both already - playing beat the clock so that they could
put the first chapter of the second book in here and get them ready).
He was on a panel at ComiCon, too. I'm not the only one who liked the
book... and I didn't just like it because my friend wrote it. I really
want to read the next ones.
- Bill
RonB
> This thing was a real page turner, and *really dark* - kids burn to
> death in the first ten pages. If the book has any problem, it's *too*
> fast paced. No place to close it and sleep... and sometimes things
> happens so fast that you have to read carefully so that you don't miss
> anything. I know Harry, but the reviews on Amazon are mostly good:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345508890/secretsofactions
>
> And Del Rey has already bought the next two books in the series (Harry
> has written both already - playing beat the clock so that they could put
> the first chapter of the second book in here and get them ready). He was
> on a panel at ComiCon, too. I'm not the only one who liked the book...
> and I didn't just like it because my friend wrote it. I really want to
> read the next ones.
Thanks for the heads-up, you've definitely got me interested. When are
you going to get the rights to adopt it as a screenplay?
--
RonB
"There's a story there...somewhere"
RonB
> adopt it as a screenplay?
Ahem! ...*adapt* it as a screenplay?
Martin B
>> adopt it as a screenplay?
>
> Ahem! ...*adapt* it as a screenplay?
Is he adept at it?
--
Martin B
wcmartell
Harry probably already has the screenplay version.
He was banging his head against the big screenwriting wall for years
and decided to apply what he knew about story to a novel... and sold
one. He told me everyone thinks the book is cinematic and could easily
be a movie (and that's the screenwriting background coming through).
Also said Random House editors liked how well structured it was - also
screenwriting background. Harry is a good guy and worked hard and it's
great that they bought his book and have made it a series.
I just finished reading it, and wanted to help get the word out. Even
though Random House has done publicity, grass-roots stuff and word of
mouth sometimes reaches people the big publicity machine can't reach.
And, I have no idea how big a publisher's "publicity machine" is these
days.
- Bill
Sammyo
> I just finished reading it, and wanted to help get the word out. Even
> though Random House has done publicity, grass-roots stuff and word of
> mouth sometimes reaches people the big publicity machine can't reach.
> And, I have no idea how big a publisher's "publicity machine" is these
> days.
>
> - Bill
Ha, he's good! I was going to suggest he submit his name to a certain
blog... he did already:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/09/29/the-big-idea-harry-connolly/