Gully Foyle

Craig DeLouie’s new novel One of Us, out now from Orbit Books, is a dark fantasy tale that plays out against the backdrop of a plague-changed Huntsville, Georgia in 1984. Today. the author joins us to talk about how the novel fits into the tradition of Southern Gothic, and provides you with a reading list of his favorites in the genre.

With its powerful themes and titillating use of the grotesque, Southern Gothic has a venerable literary tradition that today offers fertile ground for a fun, pulpy, atmospheric brand of dark fantasy.

The roots of Southern Gothic’s trace back to the Gothic movement in Victorian England, giving us works like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and later stories like Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Southern Gothic adopted the tradition and made it distinctly American, from authors like Harper Lee and Donald Ray Pollock to Rough South writers like Cormac McCarthy. Popular themes include complex and deeply flawed characters, the grotesque, a society in decay, and social issues such as prejudice and poverty.

In these stories, the mansions are in ruins, the past looms over the present, and the larger-than-life residents aren’t quite right in the head. Repressed desires threaten to burst in lust, violence, and other taboo acts. Magic, the supernatural, and the Devil himself may haunt the swamps. An atmosphere of mystery and history pervade the earthy setting. A big lie may be lived or challenged.

In my view, mixing Southern Gothic with fantasy isn’t so much a mash-up as a natural fit. The genre is highly adaptable to the grotesque, whether it be monsters, ghosts, demons, or any other fantasy or magical realism element. Its themes are powerful and universal, its settings brooding and atmospheric, its dialogue spiced with wit and wisdom passed down through generations.

Dark fantasy and magical realism elements are made even greater and more believable in their contrast against the earthy setting, people who are ordinary but also larger-than-life, and a mundane rural/small town world.

When I was considering writing my monster novel One of Us, the Southern Gothic style begged for a treatment. The novel is about a disease that produces a generation of monsters now growing up scorned and rejected in orphanages throughout the rural South in 1984. While monstrous in appearance, they have the hearts and minds of teenaged children.

As they grow up oppressed, they begin to develop extraordinary abilities that will allow them to revolt and claim their birthright, recalling themes from The Island of Dr. Moreau and Planet of the Apes.

The story, which focuses on an ensemble cast including the monster children and the residents of the nearby town, explores prejudice, generational conflict, and what makes a monster a monster. It features complex characters and dark elements such as transgressive desires, social decay, and the grotesque. The main focus is on the major characters’ humanity, whether monster or not.

The novel was a heck of a lot of fun to write, and I hope it’s as fun to read.

If you’ve got an appetite for Southern Gothic with a strong genre flavor, you can also try these other works, which tackle similar themes from different angles.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds, by Cherie Priest
Eden traces her diseased family tree across the South and back in time to the Civil War, where her investigation leads to a supernatural climax.

Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Sethe escapes slavery and is now haunted by memories of the horrifying plantation she escaped and the ghost of her dead baby “Beloved”—until a teenaged girl appears with the same name.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Ava, a 13-year-old girl growing up in an alligator-wrestling theme park, must make a magical journey to save her family when its matriarch falls ill.

Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice
Louis, a vampire, shares his 200-year-long life story to a reporter, a story that begins in 1790s New Orleans.

Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy
In 1849, a boy joins a scalp hunting gang whose spiritual leader (the Judge) may be God or the Devil, taking him through a hellish Wild West landscape filled with violence.

Burying the Honeysuckle Girls, by Emily Carpenter
Fresh from rehab, Althea goes home to learn a terrifying secret—that for three generations, the women in her family have gone mad and died after turning thirty—forcing her on a trek to unravel the mystery before her looming birthday.

What Blooms from Dust ,by James Markert
Facing the electric chair, Jeremiah is given a second chance at life but on his way home to Nowhere, Oklahoma, he discovers a world that has been overtaken by the Dust Bowl. To save his despairing town, he must learn to forgive himself for his past’s sins and secrets.

Compulsion, by Martina Boone
Barrie travels to live at her aunt’s South Carolina mansion to discover an ancient spirit cursed her family while giving magical gifts to the area’s two other leading families, putting them all at odds. Hunted by unseen forces, she must find a way to break the curse.

With its roots in English Gothic, Southern Gothic fiction endures as its own unique fictional flavor. Often over the top in their delivery and sophisticated in their themes, these stories titillate. For fans of Southern Gothic or fantasy lit who alike seek something fresh, Southern Gothic fantasy offers a distinctive and fun read.

One of Us is available now.

The post 10 Fantasy Books Steeped in the Southern Gothic appeared first on The B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog.

One of Us, by Craig DiLouie (July 17, Orbit—Hardcover)
In Huntsville, Georgia in 1968, a mysterious and untreatable sexually-transmitted disease moves through the population, resulting in stillborn and malformed babies. The ones that survive are known as the Plague Generation, and are rejected by the community. They are gathered in The Home, where they are mistreated and abused. When the Plague children begin to develop powers, they see a chance to break free from the “Normals” who have imprisoned and tortured them, and they begin to plot a war against humanity—but their burgeoning powers have attracted the notice of the government, which sees great potential for these children as weapons, even as they slowly come into their own in terrifying and violent ways.

Kill the Farm Boy, by Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson (July 17, Del Rey—Hardcover)
Hearne and Dawson set out to undermine the white male patriarchy in a hilarious and surprisingly deep fantasy in the Pratchett mold. The titular, clichéd farm boy destined to save the world is killed more or less immediately after being anointed the Chosen One, but his death doesn’t end the threat to the world. A colorful band of unlikely heroes must assemble to do the job for him, including a half-rabbit bard, an aspiring evil wizard whose main skill is conjuring bread, a rogue lacking any sort of coordination, and, naturally, a talking goat. Their quest to take on the Dark Lord infesting their world with evil curses and evil-er magic is filled with plenty of jokes, songs, and riffs on the fundamental importance of cheese—but also delves into the inner lives of these crazy characters, making them real, interesting people. (Which is more than can be said of many super-serious epic fantasy stories.)

The Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2018 Edition, edited by Rich Horton (July 17, Prime Books—Paperback)
Horton again gathers the best and the brightest in sci-fi and fantasy short fiction into one immense volume, including standout stories by Charlie Jane Anders (“Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue”), Kameron Hurley (“The Fisherman and the Pig”), Samuel R. Delany (“The Hermit of Houston”), Peter Watts (“ZeroS”), Tobiad S. Buckell (“Shoggoths in Traffic”), Yoon Ha Lee (“Extracurricular Activities”), and Karen Joy Fowler (“Persephone of the Crows”) among man others, drawn from places as diverse as Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and, in a sign of the times, from authors’ own Patreons.

Apocalypse Nyx, by Kameron Hurley (July 17, Tachyon Publications—Paperback)
Nyx, who readers met in Hurley’s Bel Dame Apocrypha series, is a mercenary with a serious drinking problem, which is really only a coping mechanism for her serious everything else problem. In five standalone stories, Nyx and her messed-up crew take on a series of dispiriting jobs as they fight for survival in a world dominated by enormous insects—a world composed of war-blasted wastelands, in which bug magicians plot to exploit an endless war for their own gains. Nyx investigates the death of an ex-con, pays off old debts, and manages to keep her and her team alive—barely—in the midst of a holy war on a planet where technology is all about genetically-altered bugs. In the end, bare survival may be all they’re capable of—but fans of the Bel Dame books will catch plenty of arch references to future adventures and terrible fates that haven’t been served up just yet.

The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, by Seanan McGuire (July 17, DAW—Paperback)
This sequel to Sparrow Hill Road returns us to a distant corner of McGuire’s InCryptid universe, and reunites us with restless, hitchhiking spirit Rose Marshall. Rose has found peace in death, helping spirits move on to the next plane of existence and reveling in finally being with her true love. But the man who killed her, Bobby Cross, drives a car that runs on the spirits of the dead, and he wants nothing more than to finally claim Rose’s soul. Rose is protected from Cross by a magical tattoo—but when he manages to damage it, she finds herself suddenly alive again—much to her horror. In order to get back to the death she loves, Rose will have to team up with a former enemy, someone she’s not entirely certain she can—or should—trust.

Condomnauts, by Yoss (July 17, Restless Books—Paperback)
In the 24th century, mankind encounters alien civilizations and makes a startling discovery: trust and deals are sealed galaxy-wide with sexual encounters, the idea being an act of physical intimacy is better than any mere signature. This gives rise to Contract Specialists—sexual ambassadors known as Condomnauts whose job is to, um, seal the deal, with the fate of the world on the line. While most Condomnauts are genetically-enhanced to be able to handle a wide range of alien biologies and preferences, Josué Valdés rises from the harsh streets of Rubble City, Cuba, to the ranks of the Condomnauts as a “natural,” a sexual being whose skills are only eclipsed by his ego. When the first alien ambassadors from outside the galaxy itself arrive, offering untold advances and knowledge, Josué faces his biggest challenge, and will need every inch of his talent to pull it off. Yoss (A Planet for Rent, Super Extra Grande) is Cuba’s most celebrated contemporary science fiction author, and we’re delighted another one of his gonzo works has been translated into English.

The War in the Dark, by Nick Setchfield
In Europe of the 1960s, there’s the Cold War, and then there’s the real war going on in the shadows. British Intelligence agent Christopher Winter is drawn into the darkness when an assassination goes wrong and forces him to flee Britain. His impromptu alliance with a mysterious Soviet woman finds him traveling across Europe in search of the occult knowledge that could tip the balance of power in the world and give the Russians the upper hand.

The Hidden World, by Melinda Snodgrass
Royal heir Mercedes de Arango was the first woman ever to graduate from the Solar League’s elite military training academy, alongside scholarship student Tracy Belmanor. Fourteen years have passed, and the lives of the two former friends have diverged dramatically: she’s hoping for a military victory to secure her people’s allegiance, while he’s commanding a small smuggling vessel. Their paths rejoin in the latest in the Imperials series, as Tracy must decide how far he’ll go for the woman who betrayed him.

Ghosts of War: Retribution, by Paul Robinson
Cole Traske just wanted to get on with life and get back to work after the death of his mentor. Really. The secretive Cole is the new leader of Penumbra, an team of misfit toughs involved in shadowy interplanetary ops. A chance encounter with a figure from his past sees him throwing everything aside in favor of a galaxy-wide quest for vengeance. This is hard-edged, action-packed sci-fi.

Competence, by Gail Carriger
The Custard Protocol series has been charming, silly, and a little sexy, in all the best ways. In Carriger’s latest steampunk-y novel, the adventures of Miss Primrose Tunstell continue. Alongside the crew of the airship Spotted Custard, Prim encounters evidence of a new type of vampire and heads off to Peru to investigate. Pirates, subterfuge, and many cups of tea follow.

The Cloven: The Vorrh, by Brian Catling
Catling’s imaginative dark fantasy series, named for a vast African forest that’s all that remains of paradise, concludes. In the world of the series, divine knowledge was only ever intended for trees, and Adam’s transgression in stealing the apple lead to a conflict between humans and trees that lasts into the 20th century. In this volume, Nazis are begin to descend upon Africa as the global conflict encouraged by the forest threatens all life.

Constance Verity Saves the World, by A. Lee Martinez
In her last adventure, Constance gave up gave up her life of adventure in favor of leading a perfectly ordinary existence. It’s dull as dirt, and that’s just how she likes it. But the universe needs to fill her old role, though, and choose a new Adventurer to carry on in her place. The problem is, not all of the contenders are worthy, and selecting the wrong person could lead to disaster. Reluctantly, but inevitably, Connie is forced out of retirement in order to ensure that her old job winds up in good hands.

The Expert System’s Brother, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Genre-agnostic award-winner Adrian Tchaikovsky offers up a slender coming-of-age novella. Handry, a 13-year old living in the village of Aro, attends a Severance ceremony where a potion is splashed on a criminal as punishment. When the potion is accidentally splashed on Handry instead, he spends the next few years starving, covered in a painful rash. Shunned by the community, Handry’s life gets worse when his sister (and only ally) Melory is possessed by one of the spirits that govern Aro, and orders that Handry be exiled. Handry decides to take his fate into his own hands, leaving before he can be expelled and traveling into a wilderness dominated by insects, a world wider and wilder than he would have thought possible.

Mystic Dragon, by Jason Denzel
Denzel, a prominent superfan of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, offers an epic fantasy in the same mold. It’s the story of Pomella AnDone, who seven years ago  became apprentice to a Mystic. Although she has learned a great deal about mastering the art of Myst, she is unprepared for the responsibility she’ll have to take on when her world is threatened by an incursion from the magical realm of the Fayün. As the two worlds combine into one, chaos and destruction reign, and the Mystics gather to try to protect what they can—including a dangerous and unpredictable prodigy named Shevia. Pomella begins to suspect the powerful girl has evil intentions, but is uncertain if she—or anybody—is strong enough to stop her.

What new books are you picking up today?

The post This Week’s New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books: Plague Children, Fearless Mercenaries, and Sexytime in Space appeared first on The B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog.