The effect of technology on such a long-standing institution as publishing fascinates me. One site fully exploring these developments is renowned literary website Infinity Plus. Run by Science Fiction/Fantasy writer Keith Brooke, the website now has a section devoted to ebooks, where the tech-savvy reader can buy short stories at an affordable price. Including work from Brooke himself, Eric Brown, John Grant, Kaitlin Queen and Anna Tambour. The inestimable Keith Brooke was kind enough to send me some copies for review, so without further fuss here's the first ebook review; Eric Brown's A Writer's Life.
Daniel Ellis, a mid-level Yorkshire writer, lives with his lukewarm partner Mina. After reading a brief encyclopedia entry on author Edward Vaughans an obsessive investigation of the author's life and works is started, empowered by the similarity of the pair's writing. This obsession goes from charmingly parochial to dangerously intrusive, as elements of the arcane-infatuated Vaughan's life are uncovered that were best left fallow. The pace of the tale is like a snowball pushed downhill, the deceptively modest start building up speed and mass as it rolls. Powerful and unusual events gather around this humble core to construct a story of scope and vision, as intricate as a snowflake, the domestic start highlighting exactly how unusual and perilous these events are to an everyday-man like Daniel Ellis.
The character of Ellis himself is astoundingly believable; I kept thinking I was reading Eric Brown's autobiography. It's no surprise that a writer can write about a writer, but beyond Ellis's talk of hackwork and writer's block (which as a writer I can certainly sympathise with), his interactions with Mina reveal in him the peculiar characteristic of many novelists; self-effacing enough to accept fault, be it in writing or in a relationship, but proud enough to stand up for what's important even if you stand alone. These are stances I think everyone has been forced to assume occasionally. Mina herself is the perfect portrayal of an emotionally scarred woman, who gave so much only to have it torn away that she is unable to give again. Traditional gender roles are delightfully reversed, with the pragmatic Mina chiding Daniel for his castle-in-the-sky fantasies, with Daniel growing increasingly frustrated with Mina's total inability to accept anything beyond the rational.
In conclusion, my first foray into Eric Brown's work was very enjoyable. Fortunately I have a couple more review copies of his work lying around, so I can always do another ebook review and pretend it's 'work'. For the low price, A Writer's Life is a great addition to anyone's Kindle, smart-phone or PC, and I for one shall be keeping an eye out for any new books on Infinity Plus. They might want another review done...
Thomas Jarrett - Tom is a Creative Writing graduate from the University of Essex who can't resist a joke. He mainly enjoys writing SF, Fantasy and ...
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