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Sax laid bare in today's Sun

Sax

06:37 / 01.07.05

Hinterland has a review in today's Sun (UK tabloid).

Which is a bit weird - the Sun reviewing a small press genre novel.

Granted, it's largely a precis of the plot from the back cover blurb, but hey.

It says:

"Intriguing psychological thriller by a first-time novelist. Why does a mass-produced painting leave its owners horribly dead? Why does no-one speak of the lost girls living on a small island in the middle of the duck pond? And who sits inthe sinister black cars that watch the streets?
"These mysteries set a young journalist lurching away from the normal, everyday life he leads and into a nightmarish world he never knew existed."

Ariadne

06:44 / 01.07.05

Excellent. I realise I can't really compare your book with honey but I'm about to.

When my Dad ran a healthfood shop he had to read the Sun every day because if it mentioned that (say) Manuka honey is good for stomach problems, or cashew nuts make you hear better, he knew he had to run to the Cash and Carry and stock up - because the shop would be full of people clamouring for whatever this week's in-thing was. What the Sun says, goes. So I hope Waterstone's is taking note.

Benny the Ball

07:38 / 01.07.05

Should carry more weight than the SFX review anyway.... ha ha.

Spaniel

08:09 / 01.07.05

Tis very true, The Sun has a crazy effect on product sales - at least in my experience.

You go, Saxer!

Loomis

08:52 / 01.07.05

It's not online is it? I searched their website but couldn't find it. I wonder if the page three girl will comment on it.

Sax

08:55 / 01.07.05

Kirsty, 23, from Pinner, says: "I don't normally do dystopian magical realism but the discordian aspects of Hinterland really made me moist."

Loomis

08:58 / 01.07.05

You know, that would be my review too.

_Boboss

11:02 / 01.07.05

that sfx review - felt pretty pleased with himself for getting the invisibles angle innee? reckon maybe he done a search webwise, saw all the gush here and did a 'got your number matey' in the way geeks are wont.

begs, is the invisibles the only discordio, Fortastic fantsy fic he's read lately? cos from where i sit it looks like the burgeoning wave, the long missing strand that'll allow writers to use the magic scalpel of sf etc. to, well, just dig around in human concepts and emotions, and seem like the real world, y'know like literature's supposed to.

hinterland is good because it smashes standard sf over its cy/jacked head with a soapy kitchen sink just like the one in your house. does that even - my god - even yes better than the invisibles.

still, nice you're in the sun eh? regards to rupe.

and isn't it good to be back?

Ariadne

11:33 / 01.07.05

I was brave and bought a copy, Loomis, so you can ogle p3 tonight.

sleazenation

11:50 / 01.07.05

For a minute there i thought ariadne was talking about sax's book... I suppose the now inevitable second edition could have a page three stunnah in mark of gratitude...

Benny the Ball

13:49 / 01.07.05

Sax, your book is next in my pile, and I have less than 100 pages of Man in The High Castle to read and not much work on over the next week, so... like the sound of the next novel though, on your agents page.

■

16:33 / 05.07.05

Here we go, the magic of teh interweb means you don't need to hunt a copy down.

HINTERLAND

By Sax (Immanion Press, Pounds 12.99): Intriguing psychological thriller by a first-time novelist. Why does a mass-produced painting leave its owners horribly dead? Why does no one speak of the lost girls living on a small island in the middle of the duck pond? And who sits in the
sinister black cars that watch the streets?

These mysteries set a young journalist lurching away from the normal, everyday life he leads and into a nightmarish world he never knew existed.

haus of fraser

17:14 / 05.07.05

I'm off on hols next week and i was thinking what new books i should be reading? sounds perfect...

Congrats on the reviews so far I'm looking forward to it.

lonely as a cloud...

08:12 / 06.07.05

Amazon.co.uk sez: "A cracking mix of urban legend, sci-fi, comic book dystopia, Greek mythology and detective fiction from a highly promising first-time novelist. The author's prose flows like a dream. Worth buying for the final two chapters alone." I'll definitely have to pick this up next time I'm book-shopping, Sax.

Char Aina

08:58 / 06.07.05

linked to amazon frae the blog.
i'll grab a copy as soon as i get some cashish about me.

why does no one speak of the lost girls?
why??

sounds wicked.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

09:10 / 06.07.05

Just (finally) ordered my copy from Amazon- neither Waterstone's in Angel or my local bookshop (which I try to support as much as possible) could find it in their databases...

However...

And I just want to make this ABSOLUTELY CLEAR...

It had NOTHING, NOTHING I tell you, to do with The Sun.

To be honest, even if it wasn't by Sax, the blurb would have got me to shell out the cash on its own. I just read it to a friend of mine and her response was "why the fuck haven't you read that already?"

Sax

09:58 / 06.07.05

You're all lovely, lovely people. And I love you all. And if you want hot love, then contact me. Via my agent.

There's more Hinterland-related shite here.

And Stoatie, that's a bit worrying that your local shops couldn't order it. Especially Waterstone's - it's supposed to be orderable from anywhere as it's registered with all the book distribution people. I'll get Immanion to look into that.

And I believe you about The Sun. Really.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

10:19 / 06.07.05

To be fair, the guy at Waterstone's could have just not been firing on all cylinders that day- there's always the possibility he spelt the name wrong or something.

I'm guessing the local bookshop probably do like we did when I worked in a bookshop- instead of accessing an online databse for ordering, we had a CD update every few months, and the next one may not be out yet. Or something.

Char Aina

07:17 / 22.10.05

i have ordered the book in borders under a false name.
i thought you should know.

how go the sales?
are you more famous than jesus yet?
or just buddha?

Sax

11:53 / 09.11.05

I have more clothes than Jesus, and more hair than Buddha (the fat laughing one, at any rate).

Toksik, you are fast becoming my favourite bearded Barbelither.

Just think, if everyone on Barbelith ordered Hinterland under a false name from a chain bookshop, I could probably buy a plasma TV.

Char Aina

12:07 / 09.11.05

plasma for homo saxiens!

people, we have a cause.

■

12:13 / 09.11.05

Yes, but you do realise that all booksellers past and present would also be honour-bound to kill you for it. The only example of a woman whose family get away with such a tactic on a regular basis it is the writer of these books.

Do you want to be aligned with such people?

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