Yes, I have now seen the film, and so being both a blogger and an SFF/FSF/’speculative fiction’ (although seriously, isn’t all fiction speculative?)  blogger to boot, I thought it incumbent upon me to share a few of my terribly important thoughts—aka, ‘wot I fort, roight?!’

Overall, I erred on the side of liking it, but with reservations.

In terms of the positives—well it’s Fantasy and a fairytale retelling of Snow White, so I am already well disposed toward liking. And this film is visually spectacular, so much so that I think I could have enjoyed it for that alone. I loved the music, too, which I thought really worked with the visual strengths of the film. Other positives included some of the magical imagery, such as the crow army at the beginning and the obsidian-glass constructs at the end—and the charge along the beach, while strategically and tactically ludicrous, was again visually rather splendid.

I think it is fitting that the movie poster focuses on Charlize Theron as the wicked Queen and Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman, as performance-wise I felt they carried the film between them. To the movie’s credit, its makers did try to give Snow White some agency, especially at the beginning and the end, but overall I felt she lacked it—she spent far too much to the film being the ‘beautiful chosen one’ but without much to back it up. Some may blame Kristen Stewart for this, but overall I felt she did a reasonable job with what she was given to work with—but she wasn’t given terribly much. And the character of William, her childhood friend, despite a few “Legolas moments” with the bow, was lacklustre.

My major reservation though, and the reason why I believe the film always felt ‘off its centre’ for me, was because of the plot. Not to put too fine a point on it, I felt the filmmakers didn’t know quite what story they wanted to tell: was it a coming of age story; an adventure yarn; a fantasy-horror; a romance; a movie about the righting of the world’s wrongs? Rather than being coherently one kind of story, a little bit of everything got thrown into the mix—and that’s what it felt like watching it: there was a little taste of a great many elements in the melange, but the overall recipe failed to satisfy.

And I could definitely have done without the whole fairy sanctuary scene, which I really felt was totally unnnecessary—not to mention out-of-keeping with the direction of the rest of the story and its more gritty approach to fairytale retelling.

I had other minor reservations—like the persistence in film of having swords/knives picked up by their blades, which are meant to be killing sharp. Plus a huntsman would be unlikely to carry a war axe. A hatchet for around the hunting camp maybe, but not not a war axe. Just sayin’

But a far more major reservation was the treatment of the traditional seven companions as “comic relief dwarves.”  I found it drearily predictable and yes, demeaning. Sigh.

Yet despite all this I still enjoyed the film overall, in a mild sort of a way—chiefly because of the visual spectacle, but also because, despite the plot confusion and failures in the areas mentioned, I felt the film was nonetheless trying to do something a little different, a little more exciting. And it came close enough to succeeding that I could at least perceive what (I felt) they were trying to do.

As my Tuesday Poem feature today, I am linking to my recent Women on Air inteview with Bernadette Hall, editor of Best New Zealand Poems 2011.

I feel Bernie gives us a fascinating insight into the process of selecting last year’s “crown of good company” in New Zealand poetry — as well as concluding with a powerful reading of James Norcliffe’s The Death of Seneca.

To listen: click here

Then either click on the ‘Play’ button, or download the MP3

You may also find two of Bernie’s own poems here on the blog as earlier Tuesday Poem features:

• Angel Fish
• The Fox

Both were published in her 2009 collection, The Lustre Jug (Victoria University Press)

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To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets from around the world, click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

The Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012

As you may know, The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night Book One) recently won the international Gemmell Morningstar Award.

As one of the authors on the original Morningstar longlist, I was asked if I would submit an article on why I chose to write in the Fantasy genre and also the influences on my writing style, that might be posted on the Gemmell Awards site.

Although the article did not in fact post, I thought it might be of sufficient interest, given the award win, to post here—although I will admit to having cribbed a little for the Awards acceptance speech, posted here. 😉

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“Why I Chose To Write In The Fantasy Genre And Influences On My Fantasy Writing

I have been asked to share the reasons why I chose Fantasy as a genre, but I think the truth is more the other way about—from a very early age Fantasy chose me. I always loved fairytales and I still remember that first moment of wonder and delight when, together with Lucy Pevensie, I stepped through the back of a wardrobe and discovered Narnia. I quickly went on to read many other Fantasy authors, such as Alan Garner and Diana Wynne Jones, and recall how the prevailing darkness of Garner’s “Elidor” stayed with me, inspiring my own first imagining of a gloom-shot, twilight world—a world that has finally taken form in “The Heir of Night.”

Around the same time that I was discovering Narnia, Elidor and Dalemark, a teacher displayed a poster of the twelve Olympian gods on my classroom wall. I was utterly absorbed by the brief bios that went with each deity and instantly began reading everything I could find on Greek mythology, quickly progressing to Norse, Egyptian and any other available material—an enthusiasm that has endured and undoubtedly shaped my work.

Given this background, it is not surprising that as a teen I went on to read works such as “The Lord of the Rings”, with its strong mythological influence, and the epic-in-scale “Dune”. It would be fair to say that I left no book in the library—suitable or unsuitable—unread, but formative influences that still stand out include Robert Heinlein’s “The Door into Summer”, for sparking an interest in Science Fiction in its own right, and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s “The Mists of Avalon.” I loved the way Bradley blended Celtic myth and real history—and told the entire story from the perspective of the women in the Arthurian cycle, opening up the notion that women’s history and women’s voices in and through storytelling had something to say: something that mattered.

Although I have always been drawn to Fantasy-Science Fiction (FSF), history has been an equally strong storytelling influence. I read non-fiction history as well, but would cite novelists such as Rosemary Sutcliff, Mary Renault and Robert Graves as strong influences on my style of Fantasy writing. And of course influences are never restricted to books—I can also point to my work in environmental management and with indigenous land rights, as well as many years practising martial arts, as influences on my storytelling.

But given that “The Heir of Night” has been nominated for the Gemmell Awards I do want to talk about David Gemmell and his particular influence on my writing. The first novel I read was “Waylander”, and from the moment I began reading I was a Gemmell fan. I love the epic sweep of his stories and the sense of contending light and dark—but also the many shades of human fallibility between those extremes. And I have always been strongly drawn to his writing of heroism, sacrifice and duty—and the ability of friendship and love, in rare circumstances, to transcend ambition and self-interest. The standout example for me has always been the friendship between Tenaka Khan and Ananais in “The King Beyond the Gate.” But from that very first reading of “Waylander” I thought: “Yes! Yes, these are the kind of stories I want to tell, too.”

So to return to why I write Fantasy—at one level the answer remains that I have no choice, because my ideas for novels have always come in the guise of Fantasy. But a second, equally true answer is that I write Fantasy because I love reading Fantasy—that sense of wonder and delight I encountered with “The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe”, the mystery and terror of “Elidor”, and the power and epic sweep of “The Lord of the Rings” and “Legend.” As a writer, Fantasy allows me possibility: to explore otherness and play with “what if”—to take that wild ride beyond the real and the ordinary, to the farthest reaches of the imagination. And to aspire to create the very best Fantasy, stories whose only borders are discovery, a realm shared between writer and reader.”

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I feel it’s been too long since my “Just Arrived” or “What I’m Reading” posts have included a book of poetry—so today I’m delighted to tell you that I’m reading Helen Heath’s debut collection, Graft, recently out from Victoria University Press.

One of the aspects that immediately interested me with this book was what I call the “history of science” poems, focused around such seminal figures as Sir Isaac Newton (Night’s Magic), Marie Curie (Radiant), astronomer Beatrice Tinsley (Spiral Arms) and Galileo Galilei (And Yet It Moves.) The poem Making Tea In The Universe, which won the inuagural ScienceTeller Poetry Award in 2011 is also part of this sequence—possibly, given my own interest in both history and science, my favourite in the collection.

Having said that, there are several other very fine sequences, around the life and death of the poet’s mother, what I think of as the Fairytale commentary sequence, with the prose poem Fairytale iv: O Brother possibly my favourite. I particularly liked the way it linked the traditional Hansel & Gretel fairytale with more contemporary experience of the same themes. As those who know me also know, so called “prose poetry” is generally “not my favourite”—but in this case I really have to make an exception.

The other very strong section in the book is titled Ithaca, but unlike the legendary history that informs my own Ithaca Conversations sequence, this is again a more contemporary version of ‘odyssey’—exploring the return journeys of emigrant children to the ancestral earth. The sequences Postcards and the title work Graft, both explore these themes.

I am finding Graft a strong, well crafted collection overall, but with some outstanding individual poems as well. I am looking forward to interviewing Helen Heath for Women on Air this coming week and also—with her agreement—bringing you a Tuesday Poem feature.

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'Newton was not the first of the age of reason
He was the last of the magicians...' – John Maynard Keynes

When Isaac closes his eyes
he is hanging, arms outstretched
only faith keeps him
from falling – a magic trick.
In his left hand is the Book of Revelations
in the right, the Book of Nature,
written in geometry.

– from Night’s Magic

(c) Helen Heath, Graft, Victoria University Press, 2012

The Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012

Yes, it’s here: the Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012–and I have to say it’s quite wonderful. As far as I can tell, it’s made of crystal—it definitely has some “weight” to it, as well as catching the light. (And besides, the box says so!)

Our (That’s HEIR & moi) Orbit editor Jenni Hill also included the Awards ceremony invitation and programme, as she put it “a little bent–nerves during the awards announcements” — but I find those are the kind of creases I can bear. 😉

Enjoy! (I am.)

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Invitation & programme

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With all the English language editions of 'The Heir of Night'

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Flowers, wine, chocolate -- celebration is in the air 😉

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Firstly I have to own up: ‘Once Upon A Time In Aotearoa’ is the fabulous title of Tina Makereti’s equally fabulous short story collection—with a title like that you have to check it out if you haven’t already! And if you haven’t already, well then, you definitely should have!

But in the spirit of short fiction, or in this case very short fiction, today is National Flash Fiction Day in New Zealand and I believe several fun events are happening around the country. To find out what’s happening in your area, check out the Flash Events page, here.

And there are two great events happening right here in good ole quaky-shaky Christchurch:

* The Hagley Writers’ Institute are putting on two Flash readings with Christchurch City Libraries’ branches: “Hear tiny stories with a big wallop by Hagley Writers” at —

* Literary journal Catalyst is also getting into the Flash spirit and hosting an online fiesta of flash fiction in the form of a ‘24 Hour Flash‘ — on right now, here. And you could be published as a result, so definitely worth a look, if not a shot.

Plus it’s not just Christchurch and other realtime locales round the country: the Tuesday Poem community also celebrated Flash Fiction this week, both on the central Hub (curated by guest editor Michelle Elvy) here, and on the sites of the community’s poets — see links in the sidebar!

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Note (prompted by Paul’s comment): ‘Aotearoa’ is the Maori name for ‘New Zealand’ and both names are official so both/either may be used.  ‘Aotearoa’ translates as ‘land of the long white cloud.’

Introduction:

Today I am delighted to bring you an interview with Kristin Cashore, the multiple award-winning and Starred-review author of Graceling (2008) and Fire (2009). I think there are few contemporary authors who have enjoyed such immediate success as Ms Cashore with her debut novel, Graceling, setting a benchmark for YA fantasy adventure with a strong, independent young heroine—but with plenty of romance in the mix as well.

Today’s interview focuses on Bitterblue, Kristin Cashore’s newly released third novel, which returns readers to the world of Graceling and Fire. You may recall that I featured a “Just Arrived” post for Bitterblue on 29 April, here, and wrote:

“I appreciate Cashore’s storytelling approach…[and]…am looking forward to what she does with Bitterblue’s story.”

I can tell you right now that I loved Bitterblue—but I hope the best testimony to the book will lie in the interview, so now welcome Kristin Cashore to “…on Anything, Really.”

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The Interview

Helen:  Bitterblue is your third novel and returns to the world of Graceling and Fire, but in particular to the kingdom of Monsea—ruled by the tyrant Leck in Graceling—where it picks up the story of Leck’s daughter, Bitterblue. What led you to want to tell her story as your “next book”?

Kristin:  It’s impossible to predict where a book idea is going to come from. This one happened differently from any other book I’ve ever written or tried to write; it was like a bolt of lightning, and consequently, I remember exactly where I was. I was standing in the sun, on the balcony over the courtyard in the main branch of the Jacksonville Public Library in Jacksonville, Florida, having a casual phone conversation with my mother. I told her I wasn’t sure what I was going to write once I was done with Fire. She said to me something along the lines of, “You know who’s interesting, Kristin? Bitterblue.” When she said the word, it was like a puzzle piece falling into place – in a puzzle I hadn’t even realized I was building! In that moment, I didn’t know what the story was going to be, but I knew, with conviction, that it would be Bitterblue’s story. It was kind of weird, to be honest. Then, as I began to plan the book and realize what the plot needed to be, my mental understanding caught up with my emotional understanding. The story became clear to me; Bitterblue’s need to deal with her past became apparent. Maybe she’d been asking me to help her tell her story all along, but I didn’t hear her until the moment my mother spoke her name.

Helen:  Bitterblue is also strongly focused around consequences arising from Monsea’s past under Leck, both for individual people and the society as a whole. Did you set out to explore consequences in this way, or did the focus evolve through the act of telling Bitterblue’s story?

Kristin: I knew from the start that this book would be not just about Bitterblue, but about Leck. I knew it would be about the broken people all around Bitterblue, and Bitterblue’s struggle to figure out how to bring her kingdom into the light. It couldn’t realistically have been about anything else. The young queen of a kingdom that’s endured what the Monseans have endured would realistically be faced with Bitterblue’s situation, and a young woman who’s experienced the trauma Bitterblue has experienced would need to face it in order to heal. That being said, it wasn’t until I was well into the story that I realized just how much darkness Bitterblue was going to have to face.

Helen:  As a reader, I have to say that the story direction felt utterly right: the sense of consequences playing out gave the book an integrity that really drew me in. Another distinguishing aspect of this book is that although both Graceling and Fire are centered on heroines with superpowers, Bitterblue has none. Do you see this as departing from current trends in YA Fantasy?

Kristin:  I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I’m not up on current trends in YA Fantasy. I tend not to read it while I’m writing it, because reading fantasy while writing fantasy can create a kind of interference – it can become difficult to keep a fresh mind. And I’ve been writing fantasy nonstop for years! I could talk a lot about the mystery genre if you asked, because I’ve been reading plenty of those.:) But I don’t know what’s hot in YA Fantasy.

I will say that writing about a “non-magical” protagonist was definitely different from writing about a protagonist with superpowers. I could relate to Bitterblue more than I ever did to Katsa or Fire. Her vulnerabilities felt more familiar to me. Honestly, by the time I was done, she felt like my daughter. That never happened with Katsa or Fire. It was an absolute pleasure to write about a “regular” person.

Helen:  So what do you, as the author, love most about Bitterblue’s character?

Kristin:  I love her loneliness. I love her loyalty. I love how much she loves her friends. I love how hard she tries, and I love her refusal to give up.

Helen:  Yes, that is definitely the Bitterblue I met, but I was also impressed by her generosity, as well as her “fidelity”:  the way she strives to keeps faith with her subjects, and the truth of the past, and those she loves, even those who cause her more than a little trouble – not just “cool friends” like Katsa and Po.

But speaking of Katsa and Po, a strong romance is central to both Graceling (Katsa and Po) and Fire (Fire and Brigan), but although there is romantic attraction, it does not feel either so central or so strong in Bitterblue. Why is that?

Kristin:  Bitterblue is a different character, with a different story. From my outside perspective as a writer, I’m not interested in writing the same story over and over; but more importantly, once inside a story, I’m committed to writing what feels like the true story. Bitterblue falls in love for the first time, and that’s an important experience for her. But she has a whole lot more going on than Katsa or Fire ever did. She’s defining herself in terms of her relationships with the people she already loves, her relationship with the past and future, and perhaps most vitally, her relationship with her kingdom. She’s the same age Katsa and Fire were, but she seems younger to me in some ways. And I do think it’s relevant that romance is more complicated for a queen. Let’s give her time.

Helen:  “Hear hear” to not replicating the same story over and over! Another aspect of Bitterblue that really intrigued me though, was the part codes and code breaking play in the story. Is this something you’ve always been interested in, or did you have to do a lot of research for the book—or both?

Kristin:  This question gets to one of the funniest things about being a fiction writer. I enjoy the idea of ciphers as a construct in a book, but I’m not particularly interested in solving ciphers myself. I don’t particularly enjoy the mental challenge of them, nor do I always understand them; often, if they show up in a book I’m reading, I feel a bit bored and skip them. But when I’m writing a book, my protagonists have interests, and I need to learn about those interests even if they don’t interest me. I need to become good at things that my characters are good at (or at least, get some help, so that I can fake being good!). Bitterblue is better at mental arithmetic than I am, for example, and she’s worlds better at ciphering than I am.  I did a lot of research into ciphers for this book, and it was enjoyable – I had fun choosing what kinds of ciphers I wanted to use where, and I very much enjoyed playing with them as a plot device. I also got help from a few people – linguist Dr. Lance Nathan, my sister Dorothy Cashore, and my mother – and working with all of these people was a delight. But the actual ciphering was a headache!

Helen:  May I compliment you on your research then, because I found the codes aspect of the book both fun and convincing. You’re obviously close to both your mother and sister: are they your key “early feedback” people for the book or do you have others?

Kristin:  It really depends on timing; I share various revisions with various people, depending on the needs of the manuscript. My earliest readers these days tend to be my editor and agent, both of whom have had the kindness and fortitude to read some very rough first drafts. Once I have the manuscript in good enough shape that I feel like reading it wouldn’t be an utter waste of my sisters’ time, I tend to give it to my sisters Dorothy and Catherine. Perhaps a broader range of carefully-chosen friends will read the next revision after that. This process is essential. Every line of feedback is essential. I surely hope everyone is getting something out of it, because there aren’t enough words to express how helpful it is to me! My parents tend not to read it until it’s in final or nearly final form, making them two of my first “early feedback” people for the final book as it enters the world—which tends to be a comforting way to begin that process.:)

Helen:  Kristin, thank you very much for agreeing to be interviewed for “…on Anything, Really.”  As I said in the introduction, I loved Bitterblue — in fact it may just be my favourite Kristin Cashore novel yet! — and I have very much enjoyed working with you to bring the interview together.

Kristin:  Helen, thank you so much for these truly wonderful questions! It was a pleasure.

Addendum:

In response to EmmaB’s comment and questions, posted below, Kristin Cashore has replied as follows:

“It was fascinating to consider class issues while writing Bitterblue, Bitterblue being in many ways unaware of her own enormous privilege and naïve about the differences between her and Saf, for example. And thinking about class more is definitely — unavoidably, with the ideas I’m considering — part of my plan for the future. I don’t talk about books I haven’t written yet, so that’s all I’ll say for now. But it’s a fascinating issue, and definitely has relevance in my fantasy world!”

Helen: Thank you, Kristin and Emma!

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About The Author:

Kristin Cashore wrote the New York Times bestsellers Graceling and Fire, both of which have been named ALA Best Books for Young Adults. Graceling is the winner of the 2009 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature and Fire is the winner of Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award. The books are world travelers, currently scheduled to be published in thirty languages. Her third book, Bitterblue, has just been released internationally.

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Other Recent Author Interviews on “… Anything, Really”:

To read, click on the links immediately below:

• Daniel Abraham & The Dragon’s Path
• Mary Victoria & Oracle’s Fire
• Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris, Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel
• An Interview with Brandon Sanderson
• A Magical Mystery Tour through “Men Briefly Explained” with Poet, Tim Jones
• An Interview with John R Fultz—Author of “Seven Princes”

The David Gemmell Award Ceremony: Stage Backdrop

Today I am delighted to be able to share some photos from the Gemmell Award ceremony last Friday night in London, where very excitingly, The Heir of Night won the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy Newcomer.

Credit to Stan Nicholls and Sandy Auden for their photos of the ceremony.

The 3 trophies, L-R: Legend; Ravenheart; Morningstar

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Jenni Hill of Orbit receives the Morningstar Award for ‘The Heir of Night’

Close up: the Morningstar award

Jenni Hill accepts the award on behalf of Orbit & myself

The award & the books

Learning Italian

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(c) Catherine Fitchett

Published in Flap: the chook book 2, The Hen House, Christchurch 2010

Reproduced here with permission.

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About the Poem: The Poet’s Note

“This is one of a number of poems that have arisen out of my intensive study of my family history over the last ten years. As I pursue the details of ancestors’ lives,  I often find myself wondering “what if”. If my great-grandfather hadn’t gone bankrupt he would never have come to New Zealand – then my grandparents would never have met and I wouldn’t be here. Or, if my grandfather hadn’t taught me to play chess, I wouldn’t have met my husband (I would still be here, but my children wouldn’t).  The poem didn’t come together, however, until I read Elizabeth Gordon’s column in The Press one Saturday early in 2009, when she discussed words that had come into English from Italian. The description of the word “influenza” as meaning “the influence of the stars” reminded me not only of the death of my great-aunt, Harry’s wife, in the 1918 influenza epidemic, but also of the many small coincidences that make up our existence.”

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About the Poet: 

Catherine Fitchett has had a varied career as forensic scientist, stay at home mother, and currently works in accounts. She has been writing poetry for the last ten to twelve years.  Her poetry has been published in Takahe, The Press, online at Blackmail Press and in various anthologies, including two collections from the small Christchurch group, the Poetry Chooks. in 2011 she was highly commended in the New Zealand Poetry Society competition and earlier this year was placed third in the inaugural Poems in the Waiting Room contest.

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To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets from around the world, click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

UK/AU/NZ mass market paperback

The timing, I imagine, is pure coincidence, but on the same day The Heir of Night won the Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012, it also got a new review in AurealisXpress:

“I was completely and unexpectedly drawn into this first novel in Lowe’s Wall of Night series. Having missed it on its release a couple of years ago, I read it in preparation for reading and reviewing the second book, released in April of this year. Upon finishing it, I decided it really deserved a review of its own, I enjoyed it that much …

… In The Heir of Night, Lowe evokes a sense of elegance and myth, over a refreshing realism and grit. There’s a sense of familiarity in themes and archetypes, but she takes them further, and handles them expertly and fondly. I particularly appreciate the unremarked sexual equality of the culture, and the point-of-view contributions to the narrative of many of the older characters. Definitely catch this, if you haven’t already.”

Review by Carissa Thorp