Karin Lowachee at Ad Astra...

[fajrdrako]

The guests of honour at Ad Astra, the science fiction convention in Toronto, didn't interest me this year. But Karin Lowachee did, and she was going to be doing a reading. That made it worth going to the con, for me. She is the best new author I've discovered in years.

Her books, if you don't know them (and haven't heard me enthuse about them yet) are Warchild, Burndive, and Cagebird, all set in the same universe - I call it the Macedon universe, because of the ship on which much of the action is set, though I haven't heard other people call it that. Psychology, adolescence, and boys warped by war - I can't think of an easy way to describe these books in a few words, so I won't try. Brilliant, flawed, more than worth reading and rereading. I'll try to make my comments on the talk spoiler-free, so don't worry about what you'll learn here if you haven't read them.

So... Highlights of her talk:

• Karin Lowachee started out by explaining that she is at work on her fourth novel, which is not set in the same universe as the previous three. At first, this disappointed me. Then she read her short story, also not set in the same universe, and I didn't care any more. I look forward to anything she writes.



• She is not ready to talk about her new novel - she hasn't written enough of it yet for that.



• Her ultimate plan is to write a series of eight books set in the Macedon universe. The first three are published. #4 would be about the Black Ops, a theme set up in Cagebird. She called them "the fourth player in galactic politics", the first three presumably being Captain Cairo Azarcon of the warship Macedon and the EarthHub government behind him, Warboy - also known as Niko, the human sympathizer who is admiral for the enemy Striviic-na - and the pirates who prey on everyone. #5 would 'wrap it up' (she didn't say in what way). #6 would be about Niko's mother and father, the sympathizers who align themselves with the Striviic-na. #7 would be Ash's story - Ash being Niko's brother, a significant character in Warchild, and part of this would be from Niko's point of view. #8 would bring us back to the characters in the first three books. Pressed a little, she added that there might be stand-alone books and stories along the way, "Easter eggs" filling in gaps in the story.



• She said that the refugee camp described in Cagebird, in which Yuri was growing up, was based on settlements she worked at in northern Canada, teaching adult education. I found the refugee camp scenes chilling. Bleak and convincing.



• She quoted a critic of Cagebird who argued against her winning the Philip K. Dick Award (for which she had been nominated) because there was a strong theme of the protagonist loving his abuser.
  
  "You mean it wasn't politically correct enough?" I blurted.
  
  "Everyone has a different opinion," she said. "I don't think things are that simple."
  
  I thought - but didn't say - yes, that's why these books are so good. People aren't oversimplified.



• She talked about the difficulty of creating or understanding alien cultures, when there are human cultures even here in Canada we can't fully communicate with, as their language has concepts ours can't translate, but can only approximate. There are different ways of seeing the world even among humans.



• I asked about Errit Dorr, with a plot point I hadn't been able to fully understand, despite having discussed it with numerous other fans. I had wondered how Erret Dorr had learned Cairo Azarcon's mind-blowing secret, and why, knowing it, he revealed it to Jos. Karin explained that Errit had been a tunnel rat who, at the age of fourteen or so, had wanted to get a position on the Macedon, and had invented the gauntlet run (which we see in Warchild) in order to do so. He became a surrogate son to Cairo, who at that time had little opportunity to see his actual son, Ryan. This gave Errit a unique position on the ship, and Cairo confided in him. He also made him his spy on jetdeck. Errit knew that Jos would not repeat what he told him about Cairo's past, and he knew Jos knew that he meant his threat to kill him if he did. He knew that the information might help Jos. Erret was a good, insightful judge of people.
  
  Karin also said that she couldn't write in Erret's voice, couldn't be in his head, if she writes the book about him it will have to be in someone else's viewpoint, since Erret has a language and outlook all his own.
  
  I hope she will write Erret's story, however she does it.



• The story Karin read was from the anthology Mythspring, an anthology of SF stories with their basis in Canadian myth. I wouldn't have gravitated to a book with this theme, but Karin's story, This Ink Feels Like Sorrow, was mesmerizing. She does not have an expressive reading voice, but the story is so well written it was like stepping into another world; I felt as if I knew the unnamed protagonist intimately after only a few paragraphs, and despite the brevity of the story he was as interesting as Jos, Ryan or Yuri, the heroes of the novels. His craft is evoking emotion in the coloured inks of tattoos: "We're all a little colour-blind, a little empty of emotion... I can even ink an absence." And lines like: "It's only a lie if you don't believe it."

Comments

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

You say, several times, something on the order of, "Thinks too differently." The final lines about "This Ink Feels Like Sorrow" finished the impression for me: this author knows, or is trying to know, neuro-atypical people...? And is deeply involved in trying to write it.

Just a thought.

I'm going to look up her books... thank you.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

his author knows, or is trying to know, neuro-atypical people...?

The author writes about troubled people - you'll see when you read. And she writes insightfully.

I hope you enjoy them. I did, very much.

[benbenberi.livejournal.com]

Fascinating -- thanks for the report! Sounds like bunches of good stuff to look forward to, eventually.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think so. It's intriguing that Karin Lowachee gave no hint as to the subject matter of the novel she's currently working on. I'm looking forward to it, whatever it is.

[abrakadabrah.livejournal.com]

Extended growl.

Are you boycotting the Bujold list for some reason? Cause, um, you didn't think this would interest them me? (There's been a good conversation at Marzipan too the last few days)

Good thing I stumbled on Dargie's lj today for no reason at all, then found a link to your lj on her friend list.

Anyway, it sounds like she is working on the Errit Dorr piece, since all that backstory was nowhere in evidence in that book.

I wonder what group was in that Northern Canadian Settlement? Eskimos? Indians? Are there Canadian Indian settlements up north?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Are you boycotting the Bujold list for some reason?

Good heavens no. Just scrambling to read what I can when I can.

Cause, um, you didn't think this would interest them me?

Yeah, I plan to post it there too as soon as I have the chance!

(There's been a good conversation at Marzipan too the last few days)

I noticed! And I will probably leap into it one of these days, cannon firing. As it is I've had time to read one message in then, just to whet my appetite.

Anyway, it sounds like she is working on the Errit Dorr piece, since all that backstory was nowhere in evidence in that book.

She has obviously been thinking a lot about him, since his history was obviously clear in her head.

I wonder what group was in that Northern Canadian Settlement? Eskimos? Indians? Are there Canadian Indian settlements up north?

Yes, it all just depends how far north. I think she said where she was but I can't remember. She obviously knows a lot about the Inuit - she cited them when talking about how they made tattoos - so I think she really was in the Arctic.

[abrakadabrah.livejournal.com]

Inuit makes a lot of sense for Jos dealing with the strangeness and alien sense of the striviirc na. Remember we guessed Japanese, but this makes more sense. And I guess she is a native herself, from the pic, which explains why I had a hard time with her name when I was first learning it.

Hi! The author here. :)

[battle-of-one.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting your report!! And providing links to my books no less! :D It was fantastic to meet and talk to you. I just wanted to clear up a few points here :) [Naming it the Macedon Universe is great, I like that too.]

# Her ultimate plan is to write a series of eight books set in the Macedon universe. The first three are published. #4 would be about the Black Ops, a theme set up in Cagebird. She called them "the fourth player in galactic politics", the first three presumably being Captain Cairo Azarcon of the warship Macedon and the EarthHub government behind him, Warboy - also known as Niko, the human sympathizer who is admiral for the enemy Striviic-na - and the pirates who prey on everyone.

+ Exactly.

#5 would 'wrap it up' (she didn't say in what way).

+ 5 is Enas S'tlian's story, 6 is Ash-dan's, 7 is Niko's, and the 8th if needed would 'wrap it up' :D

# She said that the refugee camp described in Cagebird, in which Yuri was growing up, was based on settlements she worked at in northern Canada, teaching adult education. I found the refugee camp scenes chilling. Bleak and convincing.

+ partially based, yeah. I also saw some things about refugee camps in the Ukraine, I believe it was, and that filled in some details as well.

# She quoted a critic of Cagebird who argued against her winning the Philip K. Dick Award (for which she had been nominated) because there was a strong theme of the protagonist loving his abuser.

+ I didn't win the PKD Award, Cagebird was nominated though. :)

# I asked about Errit Dorr, with a plot point I hadn't been able to fully understand, despite having discussed it with numerous other fans. I had wondered how Errit Dorr had learned Cairo Azarcon's mind-blowing secret, and why, knowing it, he revealed it to Jos. Karin explained that Errit had been a tunnel rat who, at the age of fourteen or so, had wanted to get a position on the Macedon, and had invented the gauntlet run (which we see in Warchild) in order to do so. He became a surrogate son to Cairo, who at that time had little opportunity to see his actual son, Ryan. This gave Errit a unique position on the ship, and Cairo confided in him. He also made him his spy on jetdeck. Errit knew that Jos would not repeat what he told him about Cairo's past, and he knew Jos knew that he meant his threat to kill him if he did. He knew that the information might help Jos. Errit was a good, insightful judge of people.

+ Erret didn't invent the gauntlet run, but instead of approaching the recruiters like a normal person, he instigated (that was a better word that I should've used) his own gauntlet by harassing the jets on station so he could prove himself. Which he did.

Peace!!

[battle-of-one.livejournal.com]

Japanese was an influence, then I did my revisions while working in the Arctic. I'm not Native myself, actually. :)

Erret

[battle-of-one.livejournal.com]

I usually have far more backstory than what is shown in books, since it's good for me to know these things even if they don't end up being really pertinent to the story at hand. :)

Inuit. And yeah, if you look up Nunavut on wikipedia, you will get a basic idea. :)

Re: Erret

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I usually have far more backstory than what is shown in books

Makes me smile to think of it. And drool a little. We can think about the characters and wonder, but you know the truth of it.

And yeah, if you look up Nunavut on wikipedia, you will get a basic idea. :)

Somewhere colder than Ottawa! An amazing concept.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I like the international influences, but then, I would. I know only too little about Inuit culture or language - so many people of so many types, so little time.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

The author writes about troubled people

Okay. But, I still ask, is she writing about neuro-atypical people?

Yes, I will see when I read her works -- and I will be on the look-out for them as soon as I get the chance.

Re: Hi! The author here. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting your report!

My pleasure. I haven't got around to writing up the rest of Ad Astra yet - I have my priorities.

Naming it the Macedon Universe is great, I like that too.

Good! I love that ship - partly because it's Cairo's domain, but I loved the way it seemed so real and practical... so much a world of its own, cut off from the rest of the world, where the strays and orphans could find a place. I never really got its geography sorted out in my head but that didn't matter, I had a mental image of the various rooms and areas, and the hulking exterior.

And of course I love its name.

8th if needed would 'wrap it up' :D

"If needed", you say? Some of us are greedy enough to want more - whether necessary or not.

I also saw some things about refugee camps in the Ukraine, I believe it was, and that filled in some details as well.

Although each individual and setting is unique, I imagine there's a lot of sameness to that sort of experience, or to the way people react psychologically to those conditions. Regardless of where it is.

I didn't win the PKD Award, Cagebird was nominated though. :)

It should have won. Too bad I didn't have a vote!

Erret

Oops I misspelled his name. Apologies to him.

he instigated (that was a better word that I should've used) his own gauntlet by harassing the jets on station so he could prove himself. Which he did.

Masterfully, I'm sure! I love his spirit.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I still ask, is she writing about neuro-atypical people?

Not in my opinion. I would say that she is writing about very normal people - in all the best senses of the word 'normal' - who are warped by horrific circumstances, and who develop certain skills to cope psychologically. These skills are important to their survival but would not, in better circumstances, be necesarily healthy for the individual or their society.

Your take on it may be different, as it often is - and that's always interesting.

I will see when I read her works --

Yes, you will. I'm trying to say this all without spoilers - both the nature of the horrific circumstances, and the nature of the coping mechanisms.

I hope you enjoy these even a fraction as much as I did.