Posts
.
For every thing there is a season, saith the prophet. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted... a time for proper modesty and a time to brag.
The proper time for writers to brag is when they have a new book out and the critics smile upon it favorably. So you will forgive me for pointing out that The Iron Dragon's Mother made it onto Kirkus's and Tor.com's and The Wall Street Journal's lists of the best fantasy & sf of the year.
I don't keep track of these things but I think that's a personal best.
Matthew Keeley, in Tor.com, writes, "In my review, I called it 'one of the best fantasies of the year.' I stand by that evaluation." You can find that list here.
Kirkus calls The Iron Dragon's Mother "another bravura performance, with a surprise ending that, after a moment's reflection, isn't so surprising after all,"adding, "Discworld meets Faust. They do not like each other. Philip Pullman picks up the pieces." You can find that judment here.
Finally, in The Wall Street Journal, Tom Shippey concludes, "Mr. Swanwick builds a world at once finely detailed and complex almost beyond comprehension. It’s one to read over and over again." This, alas, is behind a paywall, but subscribers can find it here.
I'd be a little embarrassed by all this praise if it weren't for the fact that what these reviews describe is exactly the kind of book I was trying to write: something different, something absorbing, something that might be--pray God--worth a reader's love.
Speaking of which, my book is not exactly alone on any of these lists. Even if you enjoy it as excessively as I hope you will, it can't possibly be the only book there that you'd enjoy. Why not wander through the listings a little, making notes on what novels you really should give a try?
*
4 comments:
As a reader, I can confirm you did indeed create a book worth a reader's love. The play of prophecy, offhand comments becoming completely significant, various individuals and great powers all trying to game the system you create combine to make it very much a book of our times.
I take issue with one of the descriptions you quote: I enjoy your writing far more than Philip Pullman's.
Michael, with typical modesty, you omitted mention of the headline of Tom Shippey’s review, a phrase of his which will soon be emblazoned across all your books in perpetuity:
THE FINEST WORLD-BUILDER SINCE TOLKIEN
Shippey can say that with more gravitas than most . . .
Your friend,
HWW
Wow! When Tom Shippey puts you on the same shelf with the Tolkien it's not just eucatastrophic.
Greeting, Mr. Swanwick! This is Stephen Notley, creator of Bob the Angry Flower, writing to ask if you'd be interested in a copy of the latest Bob the Angry Flower book, called Bob the Angry Flower: exciting space adventure.
I ask because I just finished The Iron Dragon's Mother (Loved it! So deft! Comical and achingly insightful in equal measure! Bravo!) and I thought, "Hey, wait a minute... The Iron Dragon's Mother came out just last year, in 2019. And it just so happens that I also had a clever and amusing book (the aforementioned Bob the Angry Flower: exciting space adventure) come out last year as well. And since I had a vague memory of some connection between us, which I confirmed by digging up the "What Would Bob the Angry Flower Do?" short story on the Internet, I thought, "Golly! I wonder if Michael Swanwick would be interested in my own clever and amusing (if I do say so myself) 2019 publication?
So, if this interests you at all, please feel free to contact me at stephennotley@comcast.net with your mailing address. With those slender data I could dial up a fresh book for you from Amazon and have it off to you in half a jiffy.
And if not, well, please do accept my reader's delight at The Iron Dragon's Mother. It's a corker!
Yours,
Stephen Notley
www.angryflower.com
Post a Comment