Nobody's Children
Our new novel -- or rather, linked trilogy of novellas -- Nobody's Children is available here from Big Finish Productions. It's the first thing Kate and I have written together since Fallen Gods (this time with Phil Purser-Hallard, who wrote the third novella), and I think it's really rather good.
As I'm sure you're aware, with so much Who-related stuff coming our way at the moment, it's so easy for any one individual story to disappear into the void. And I'd love to know that this story is being read, and hopefully even thought about a bit.
So... here's what I'd like to offer.
Write a review. Yes, you. Post it here, or on the thread on the book in Outpost Gallifrey. Tell me what you think -- not just in a thumbs-up thumbs-down way, but what the book makes you feel, what you think the authors were trying to say, what was driving them to write this.
(Because I'd quite honestly like to know. My share of the book -- "The Loyal Left Hand" -- was a very strange experience for me, in writing terms... it was done very much on instinct, without my usual obsessive scene-by-scene planning and rationalization. There are some bits in there which I'm not sure why I wrote them, except that they felt right. I'd love to know if anyone has any idea... whether it communicates anything to them, and if so what it communicates.)
And the author of the best review... Well, you'll have your choice of prizes. Either an autographed copy of whichever of our books we still have spare copies of... or I'll write a story for you, to your custom order. Any kind of Who or Benny story you want, up to a reasonable length, as a thank-you.
The thing is, you don't even have to like the book to win. What I'm looking for, most of all, is a review which can show me something about the book -- for good or for ill. Something I hadn't thought about in the writing process. Something I'm too close to the book to see. If it didn't work for you, see if you can put your finger on what was missing. If it did work, I'd love to see how it worked.
I know there are some brilliant reviewers out there in fandom -- I've seen reviews in the past which have articulated what I had to say better than I did in the book itself. I've seen people who've disagreed intelligently with the aims of a book, and pointed out things which made me slap my forehead. But so much of the time the really insightful stuff gets overlooked -- either drowned in the shouty back-and-forth of online argument over petty points, or completely ignored because there's something much bigger going on elsewhere in fandom. This time I want to do whatever small thing I can to reward the sheer cleverness of fan critique.
So... buy the book. And write to me. Even if you don't want to do a review, buy the book anyway. It's got Draconian power politics. It's got lots of baby shapeshifting sponges. It's got "Mission Accomplished" leaving a mess in its wake. It's got a resistance leader named Spong. It's got Benny having a bit of a midlife crisis, and Jason coming up with something to celebrate their ten-year divorceiversary. It's got a sex scene (in Kate's bit) to die for, and a kiss I'm rather fond of. It's got Benny crashlanding from orbit into the ocean, and swordfighting with an umbrella. It's got Peter beginning to grow up the hard way. It's got the real reason Draconian women aren't permitted to speak in the presence of the Emperor. It's got Fight Club for mums. It's got the legend of Karshtakavarr. It's got a long-buried secret courtesy of Benny's dad. It's got Phil Purser-Hallard doing a terribly clever resolution of a galaxy-spanning plot. It's got, IMHO -- and I can say this because Phil wrote it, not either of us -- one of the neatest Braxiatel moments I've ever seen.
It's got Benny fighting to the death to save her child, and an entire generation of children.
And I hope you like it.
As I'm sure you're aware, with so much Who-related stuff coming our way at the moment, it's so easy for any one individual story to disappear into the void. And I'd love to know that this story is being read, and hopefully even thought about a bit.
So... here's what I'd like to offer.
Write a review. Yes, you. Post it here, or on the thread on the book in Outpost Gallifrey. Tell me what you think -- not just in a thumbs-up thumbs-down way, but what the book makes you feel, what you think the authors were trying to say, what was driving them to write this.
(Because I'd quite honestly like to know. My share of the book -- "The Loyal Left Hand" -- was a very strange experience for me, in writing terms... it was done very much on instinct, without my usual obsessive scene-by-scene planning and rationalization. There are some bits in there which I'm not sure why I wrote them, except that they felt right. I'd love to know if anyone has any idea... whether it communicates anything to them, and if so what it communicates.)
And the author of the best review... Well, you'll have your choice of prizes. Either an autographed copy of whichever of our books we still have spare copies of... or I'll write a story for you, to your custom order. Any kind of Who or Benny story you want, up to a reasonable length, as a thank-you.
The thing is, you don't even have to like the book to win. What I'm looking for, most of all, is a review which can show me something about the book -- for good or for ill. Something I hadn't thought about in the writing process. Something I'm too close to the book to see. If it didn't work for you, see if you can put your finger on what was missing. If it did work, I'd love to see how it worked.
I know there are some brilliant reviewers out there in fandom -- I've seen reviews in the past which have articulated what I had to say better than I did in the book itself. I've seen people who've disagreed intelligently with the aims of a book, and pointed out things which made me slap my forehead. But so much of the time the really insightful stuff gets overlooked -- either drowned in the shouty back-and-forth of online argument over petty points, or completely ignored because there's something much bigger going on elsewhere in fandom. This time I want to do whatever small thing I can to reward the sheer cleverness of fan critique.
So... buy the book. And write to me. Even if you don't want to do a review, buy the book anyway. It's got Draconian power politics. It's got lots of baby shapeshifting sponges. It's got "Mission Accomplished" leaving a mess in its wake. It's got a resistance leader named Spong. It's got Benny having a bit of a midlife crisis, and Jason coming up with something to celebrate their ten-year divorceiversary. It's got a sex scene (in Kate's bit) to die for, and a kiss I'm rather fond of. It's got Benny crashlanding from orbit into the ocean, and swordfighting with an umbrella. It's got Peter beginning to grow up the hard way. It's got the real reason Draconian women aren't permitted to speak in the presence of the Emperor. It's got Fight Club for mums. It's got the legend of Karshtakavarr. It's got a long-buried secret courtesy of Benny's dad. It's got Phil Purser-Hallard doing a terribly clever resolution of a galaxy-spanning plot. It's got, IMHO -- and I can say this because Phil wrote it, not either of us -- one of the neatest Braxiatel moments I've ever seen.
It's got Benny fighting to the death to save her child, and an entire generation of children.
And I hope you like it.