Benjamin Hope: Author of The Procurement of Souls
Benjamin Hope author of fantasy novel Procurement of Souls
Genre: Traditional Tales/Fairy Tales Publisher: Virago Press Carter’s fairy-tale compilation spans the globe in a celebration of the world’s eclectic cultural and social heritage, kept alive for centuries through the power of the spoken word. The stories are inventively yet intuitively grouped and their allegorical spirit preserved through simple language and stark imagery. It’s humorous,... Continue Reading →
I miss the independent bookshops in my town. We had two good ones but they folded and went under a number of years ago now; maybe a decade or even more. I miss the smell of paper and printing ink from the collective mass of newly unpacked titles that met you at the threshold. I... Continue Reading →
Genre: Gothic; Mystery; Horror; Supernatural Publisher: Virago When Dr Faraday attends the Ayres’ Hundreds Hall estate, he quickly becomes a family friend and privy to their troubles: Roderick’s lingering post-war trauma; Mrs Ayre’s grief for her late daughter; their collective struggles to maintain the increasingly dilapidated estate. Waters’ haunting narrative has shades of Shirley Jackson... Continue Reading →
I don’t mean to rock the boat or put a bee in your bonnet but I think there may be space for a cliché or two in one’s narrative. This may come as a bolt from the blue for some readers but I would ask you not to jump to conclusions like a bull in... Continue Reading →
I couldn't resist recommending another of Poe's gothic short-story masterpieces: Genre: Gothic Horror Publisher: Various – Public Domain When the Red Death follows Prince Prospero and his revellers to their masquerade ball, no one is spared. Poe’s ruthless allegorical tale of human mortality is saturated with gothic tradition: from the castellated abbey setting; to the visceral... Continue Reading →
Genre: Gothic Horror Publisher: Various – Public Domain Fortunato’s latest insult will be his last when Montresor leads him in a vengeful plot to his live-entombment. The narrative is unashamedly macabre; the description vivid and sinister. The king of the 19th century American short story sucks all glimmer of hope from this brutal tale until... Continue Reading →
Useful Books for Research into the Victorian and Late Georgian Periods I mentioned at the end of my article, On Researching for an Alternative History Novel, that I would offer up some of the most useful titles I have come across when trying to construct a believable context from which my fictional worlds could grow.... Continue Reading →
Genre: Grimdark Fantasy; High/Epic Fantasy Publisher: Gollancz When mercenary, Monza Murcatto, is betrayed and left for dead, she joins forces with a host of brilliantly-observed yet suspect characters and sets out on a rampage of vengeance. This is Abercrombie at his absolute best: riotous and inventive narrative; wicked dialogue; brutal violence; and biting humour, set... Continue Reading →
When writing fantasy, especially alternative history such as the turn-of-the-century late-Victorian-styled world in which The Procurement of Souls is set, how does the writer ensure they hook the reader sufficiently enough that they are prepared to suspend their disbelief and immerse themselves within the story? Surely anything goes: it’s fantasy/science fiction, after all! Perhaps not... Continue Reading →
Genre: Alternate History; Gothic Horror Publisher: Corvus Books When Michael Crawford inadvertently attracts a vampiric Nephilim for a life-mate, it gruesomely murders his bride in their wedding-bed. Crawford fleas, befriending Keats and other Romantics, Shelley and Byron, whose own viciously jealous Nephilim are at once the source of their creativity and of their isolation. Gory... Continue Reading →
Benjamin Hope: Author of The Procurement of Souls 