Book Review – The Big Smoke by Jason Nahrung

I doesn’t seem that long ago that I was reviewing Book 1 of this series, Blood and Dust but it’s been two and a half years.

Blood and Dust was initially released through Xoum digital publishing, both it and The Big Smoke have now been picked up in paperback and digital formats by genre specialist publishers, Clan Destine Press.  I read The Big Smoke in two sittings and although time has dulled the memories of how well paced Blood and Dust was, I have a feeling that Nahrung has got better (which is significant considering I already had a high opinion of his work).

All the stuff that I liked in Blood and Dust is here; a distinct Australian flavour that doesn’t strike the wrong chord and cause me to cringe(culturally), well articulated differences between city and country, there’s even state rivalry.

Relocating the story to the “Big Smoke” (slang for The City) brings with it some challenges, specifically creating a believable culture of vampires living in the capital of the Queensland.  In Blood and Dust it was just a vampire bikie gang versus corporate vampires and Kevin caught in between.  In The Big Smoke, there’s got to be more cultural complexity and those cultures have work together as well as under/ along side mundane society.

Here I think Nahrung has done exceptionally well filling out vampire culture in Brisbane and hinting at the rest of Australia.  If we don’t somehow get another book in the series, it won’t be a stake through the heart but I will be sorely miffed. 

There’s the Von Schiller organisation and a whole host of competing vassal families somewhat reminiscent of the world of the Godfather, where the Don is an ancient Teutonic vampire with access to the vampiric equivalent of elite paratroopers. 

The plot is deceptively simple.  Kevin Matheson has come to Brisbane to kill the vampire that killed his mother and consumed her memories.  As if Kevin being turned himself wasn’t enough, Mira Von Schiller had to desecrate his mother’s memory.  So, all Kevin has to do is storm the near impregnable Thorn, a latter-day fortress of concrete and glass and kill her.  Only it’s never that simple.

Not quite the road trip that Blood and Dust was, The Big Smoke still manages to feel like high octane excitement and Nahrung has been quite content to let some of his darlings die and not rise again. A classic revenge tale combined with internecine Vampire politics, a touch of hard boiled cynicism and a body count to match a Bruce Willis movie.

More of this Mr Nahrung and a movie/television miniseries starring Aaron Pederson as Taipan if you please.

This review copy was provided by Clan Destine Press.

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eBook Review–Blood and Dust by Jason Nahrung

Blood and Dust is the just released Australian Vampire novel by dark fantasy author Jason Nahrung.  If you’ve just obtained an ereader recently and you like your vampires dark, sensuous and dangerous - buy it.

I am a fan of Jason’s short fiction, where he manages to infuse old tropes with a distinct aussie flavour, something that goes a bit deeper than location and slang.

Nahrung’s a Queensland country boy, though he now lives in the big smoke and there’s a bit of that country sensibility that comes through in the writing, an attitude, a perspective.

The tale centres around Kevin, a mechanic in his parent’s servo in a dying town in outback Queensland.  Kevin looks set to marry his girlfriend, inherit the servo and maintain the status quo until, by an unlucky twist of fate, he becomes embroiled in a turf war between two vampire clans The Von Schiller Organisation and the Night Riders, a vampire bikie gang.

What I really enjoyed about the novel, aside from the action driven story was Jason’s infusion of Australian flavour, subtle enough to avoid cultural cringe, consistent enough to deliver a tone or mood that is distinct.  There’s an acknowledgement of Aboriginal history, of stolen generations. There’s an observation of country life that most rural Australian’s would have no trouble recognizing.
Bringing a European myth into an Australian setting, especially a rural one and having it stick is, I think, a considerable hurdle.  It’s quiet easy for me to imagine vampires in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney for example but not so much in the “Sunshine State”. But Jason has done it and done it well.

I shake the red earth from my hands as I put the book down and dream fitful dreams filled with the roar of Harleys, the smell blood and Bon Scott singing Highway to Hell.
Give us some more Jason, to slake our thirst.

The book was provided by the author you can purchase it through Xoum and other digital outlets. Clandestine Press who have brought the work out in eBook and Paperback formats here. The sequal, The Big Smoke is also available.

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Book Release–Blood and Dust by Jason Nahrung

I was scooped on this release by Jason himself (helps when you are the author),but it’s here folks, in time for Christmas or just after,  when your previously luddite book reading relatives are looking to fill up their kobo/kindle/tablet/iphone with good fiction.

Kevin Matheson works at his family’s service station in the Queensland outback. Life is all about cricket, fishing, the pub, his girlfriend. Then it all gets blown to hell – he’s caught up in a hideous, unbelievable world of cops and monsters in which two rival gangs of vampires vie for control, all while maintaining a charade of humanity.

Kevin has to cope with his new existence as a vampire, adapt to the destruction of his family and play the politics of the supernatural world. The biker Taipan and his lover Kala make for unlikely allies as they lead the nomadic Night Riders in their fight to be free of the control of the Brisbane-based Von Schiller group, led by the ruthless Mira and her pack of blood-addicted human servants.

I like Mr Nahrung’s vampires, none of that sparkly, vegetarian stare fest crap from Twilight, yeah you heard me Twilight.

You can buy it at all good digital outlets but start at Xoum and check out there other titles.

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Speaking of Blood and Dust

Here’s the cover for Jason Nahrung’s Blood and Dust, from Xoum.  I presume the titles will be available through major digital publishers like Amazon, Kobo etc as their doesn’t appear to be a buy link on the site.

Here’s the jacket copy/blurb:

Kevin Matheson works at his family’s service station in the Queensland outback. Life is all about cricket, fishing, the pub, his girlfriend. Then it all gets blown to hell – he’s caught up in a hideous, unbelievable world of cops and monsters in which two rival gangs of vampires vie for control, all while maintaining a charade of humanity.

Kevin has to cope with his new existence as a vampire, adapt to the destruction of his family and play the politics of the supernatural world. The biker Taipan and his lover Kala make for unlikely allies as they lead the nomadic Night Riders in their fight to be free of the control of the Brisbane-based Von Schiller group, led by the ruthless Mira and her pack of blood-addicted human servants.

 

I like Jason’s Vampires.  None of this sparkly rubbish. It started with his short Smoking, Waiting for the Dawn which was undeniably Vampires in a sunburnt country.  Then he hit me with Salvaged.

So yeah I’m hanging out for this one.  Price on publication will be AUD$4.99.

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Book Review–Salvage by Jason Nahrung

Salvage is a novella by Jason Nahrung, published by Twelfth Planet Press.

A seaside gothic, I believe Jason called it, and Salvage does indeed fit that bill. 

It’s a mixture of subtle interpersonal horror and romance, though there are moments of vigorous, overt horror as well. 

The Tale

I think it best to come to this tale with as little knowledge as possible.  I had guessed some of the overt horror elements before picking it up and while it didn’t ruin my enjoyment I would have liked to have come to it as “clean” as possible. The blurb should suffice:

Seeking to salvage their foundering marriage, Melanie and Richard retreat to an isolated beach house on a remote Queensland island.

Intrigued by a chance encounter with a stranger, Melanie begins to drift away from her husband and towards Helena, only to discover that Helena has her own demons, ageless and steeped in blood.

As Richard’s world and Helena’s collide, Melanie must choose which future she wants, before the dark tide pulls her under … forever.

What I‘ve read of Nahrung’s work previously has made me uncomfortable in that glorious sense that good writers of Horror or Dark Fantasy do.  He achieves this by focussing more on the horror or tragedy to be found in the space between people.  In the ever so ordinary break down of relationships, family and friendships.

 

Cutting close 

Salvage has  a subtle horror that cuts close to the bone.  For while we are unlikely to fall prey to werewolves or vampires (featuring in his early works), each of us has had the fortune of having built relationships and the misfortune of having them fail.

This horror in the every day is balanced with a careful, subtle crafting of the landscape.  Much like the watercolour by Dion Hamill that graces the cover, Nahrung does a wonderful job of layering subtleties from the first sentence.

The cabin emerged like a neglected mausoleum from the blue-velvet twilight, it’s bare timber walls bleached to the colour of old bone by the jeep’s headlights.

While Salvage is set on an island somewhere off the Queensland coast, Nahrung’s writing somehow manages to dull the Sunshine State’s weather, to cloud what should be an island paradise.

There’s some not so subtle eroticism as well; love, passion and death collide in a tale that offers you both a deft plucking of your heart strings and a churning of your insides.

Thanks for the discomfort Mr Nahrung.

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Giveaway–Salvage by Jason Nahrung

Twelfth Planet Press in all their generosity have up on Goodreads 3 copies of Jason Nahrung’s Salvage.

You can go here and enter.

If you live in Melbourne and are going to Continuum 8 I believe that Mr Nahrung will be there with copies to sell and sign – details when I know for sure.

But if you are a fan of his work you can put in a pre-order here.

 

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Cover Candy – Salvage by Jason Nahrung

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Jason informs us that the cover from his novella Salvage, soon to be released by Twelfth Planet Press has been released ---------------------------->

If my memory serves me correctly the artist is Dion Hamill who also did some of the work on Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres.

Jason alo informs us that Salvage is available for pre-order in paperback from Twelfth Planet Press for $15 plus postage.

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“It's as if I've taken [festival] heroin, and now I can't ever have it again.”

 

Such is my feeling towards the Adelaide Festival.  I was able to take one day off work and take a 6 hour round trip in travel time, to get to hear one of my favourite authors and Queen of the Festival, Margo Lanagan talk. 

I could have stayed the entire week (indeed I am contemplating doing that next year).  I very briefly entertained the thought of camping in the park.  Such is the power that being around writers and book loving folk.

Kudos to the organisers who set up the sound stages at the Pioneer Women's Park, there were two stages, not 100 metres apart going all day and no feedback or interference whatsoever. 

My only other recent experience of author talks was at Brisbane Supanova where authors were tucked away in an alcove under the main hall, it had the acoustics of a concrete car park.

Some photo’s taken of the festival by the multi talented Cat Sparks. Thankfully without me in them.

Coffee and the best day ever

So my morning began having coffee with the soon to be famous Cat Sparks¹ who kindly bought me coffee and who just so happened to be sharing a table in the park with Margo Lanagan, and Kelly Link.  So for about the first 10 minutes I was having an internal dialogue with myself that went something akin to:

Sean: “Hey it’s Cat Sparks, Margo Lanagan and Kelly Link”

Sean2: “Shut up I am trying to listen to the conversation and sound intelligent”

Sean: ”But It's OMG! CAT SPARKS, MARGO LANAGAN and KELLY LINK”

and then I got over myself and enjoyed the conversation.  Thank you Margo and Cat.

Cat had to leave to catch a flight home, but before she did she introduced me quickly to Kate Eltham of the Queensland Writers Centre (who doesn’t look as blue as her Twitter avatar) and a tired English chap who had been kept awake by a snoring Ian Mond. Rob was his name.  Such a gentleman, very concerned about the fact that I might be perspiring and about to faint - I was wearing a jumper (it was mild day but by English standards, probably close to the temperature of the surface of the sun).

Halfway through the conversation I realised I was talking to Rob Shearman of Dalek fame.  I had missed out hearing he and Ian Mond talk at the sold out Dr Who talk. So I was stoked to have a quick chat.

Mid morning we learned of the passing of Paul Haines, a wonderful man, a superlative writer, a human being, that from all accounts was taken too soon.²

With Margo’s talk set for the afternoon I listened in to the various “literary” authors speaking before chuffing off to the city for some lunch.

Ushered

Upon my return I was ushered by a usher for standing in the isle – apparently blocking peoples exit.  But as Michael Cathcart finished talking to Alan Hollinghurst I ploughed through the crowd to steal a chair in the centre.

And who should be behind me but Jason Nahrung and Kirstyn McDermott.  So after a blinder of a talk by Margo Lanagan and Michael Crummey (you should get his latest book : Galore) I enjoyed bookish talk with some other authors who I admire.  We passed through the book tent whereupon our wallets and purses got lighter and our book laden arms got heavier.

And now, I know it’s a writers festival and it’s not that far fetched to expect to bump into writers, but upon exiting the tent we bumped into the Dr’s Brain or more commonly known as Dr Angela Slatter and Dr Lisa Hannett. 

A very entertaining mauling of the Twilight series was begun with some improvised hand puppeteering by Kelly Link’s husband.  Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and I had to rush off and secure some flights to England before I could hear the end of it.

I bumped into the lovely Kelly Link, later on King WIlliam Street and she very kindly signed the Steampunk anthology she had edited³ . Authors are the coolest people.

It was an absolute blast of a day.  A big thank you to the authors I met who shared their time and thoughts with me.  I have some treasured memories. I feel honoured and privileged to have shared your company.

Regards

Sean

Post Festival Rehab

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^{1. Well she’s famous to us in the specific community but going by her awards alone she deserves to be known more widely – check out her bio here ↩}

^{2. Paul had been suffering cancer. ↩}

^{3. Somehow I missed the entire table devoted to her novels ↩}

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Aurealis Number 47

Aurealis 47 the February Issue has been released and sadly it’s no longer free¹ . 

Aurealis now retails at less than “a half decent cup of coffee” price of $2.99. 

With that you get two new pieces of speculative fiction, reviews, a non fiction essay and links to speculative fiction happenings on the web.

If you are skint or cheap payment averse you can still get half the issue for nothing on preview (click here and scroll down).

But I can get a whole ebook for that

Some may  well say “I can get a whole ebook for that.”  To which I have a number of responses:

1. Knock yourself out, but you’ll be missing out on this publication
2. I call it investing in our local specific culture, an investment for which I actually receive something straight away.
3. I am still not sure what effect 99c deals will have on publishing and authors in the long run and am prepared to pay extra particularly to small presses and publications.
4. I hope that when I get around to finishing some short fiction that there will still be a market to submit it to.  Paying local talent, means that talent can keep on writing and providing us with a unique view.
5. Issue 47 references yours truly and I am ever so slightly narcissistic and obviously think you should pay for something that mentions me.

In all seriousness though 100 pages of Australian Specfic goodness for less than a coffee/ice cream.

This issue features a slightly grisly historical fantasy piece by Jenny Blackford and some Aussie outback flavoured horror by Jason Nahrung and a Non Fiction Essay by Crisetta MacLeod in addition to reviews and other web materials.

The magazine also contains to collate and publish feedback from each issue.  Want something extra in the magazine, or feel something’s not working?  Let the team know.

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^{1.To be honest though it two issues for nix was a damn good deal.  ↩}

Dreaming Again–Quality Aussie Short Fiction

I managed to borrow Dreaming Again Edited by Jack Dann through interlibrary loan. 

I probably won’t get through all the stories before I have to return it but just wanted to say that I am somewhat blown away by the collection.  I have just been randomly dipping into stories before I go to bed of a night and I can’t say I have come across a story that I have felt “Meh!” about.

The collection was published in 2008 and was  a follow up to the earlier (and now hard to find) Dreaming Down Under duology that received critical acclaim.

I will be hunting for the book in Brisbane when I travel up for Supanova, so if any readers know of good second hand stores in Brisbane that specialise in Speculative fiction, let me know.

(Edit: As I was checking out the amazon links for the books mentioned above I noticed that Amazon have slashed the price on Dreaming Again – picked it up for $13.00 Aud delivered – click here to purchase)

Stories read so far:

Nightship by Kim Westwood – On the recommendation of Ian Mond from Writer and the Critic.  A bleak future Australia, with some interesting twists on culture and gender. 

The Last Great House of Isla Tortuga by Peter M. Ball – Gothic horror meets Pirates of the Caribbean.  While I am a fan of Peter’s Twelfth Planet Press releases, the writing in this short blew me out of the water.

The Jacaranda Wife by Angela Slatter - An Australian fairy tale.  It’s Australian colonial with echoes of the myths and legends of the old country.

Smoking, Waiting for the Dawn by Jason Nahrung – Brilliant hunting story that mixes very Australian tradition of Commissions to eradicate certain feral species with vampires.

The Fifth Star in the Southern Cross by Margo Lanagan – Just started this one and like most Lanagan short stories, it’s disturbing me (but in a good way).

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