Well, first part is done, next part (much shorter) will be out next week. i better get writing as i only have a few more pieces in the tank. please forgive and point out poor punctuation / grammar and any other confusions. and hopefully someone will find this enjoyable. (And because me, I wrote THE BOY WITH THE IRON HANDS instead of THE BOY WITH THE IRON FISTS. now corrected. so already the mistake process on full view.
Urth! Thinking Flesh! Lol love this! This is the funnest world building ever. And my heart strings are getting pulled already for Gilgamek. I’m hooked.
Stellar opening! This definitely lived up to my hype and anticipation. I was surprised (in a good way) by how dense and intricate the worldbuilding was here. Yet it still feels like a solid YA setup to explore more grounded sociological issues with your hero being ostracized for his flesh. The futuristic Mesopotamian setting is also really fun.
But my FAVORITE thing about this so far is the narrator. I really miss narrators like this in fantasy, where everyone seems to be stuck to third person limited. This feels like an old fashioned omniscient narrator but still one steeped in the culture and dialect of the setting whose not afraid to share their opinion. The narrator feels like just as much of a character in the story as the others (maybe one we'll actually meet, maybe not).
clearly i love these punchy victorian style narrators too. and while not everyone's going to be a fan of the worldbuilding "tax" at the door im hoping its a small price to pay for a story filled with mixed race machines and Bird people.
God, honestly, it's refreshing. I read The Ballad of the Sad Cafe not too long ago and loved the change up of narrator style—more presence, telling the tale, chatting with the reader.
The epic of Gilgamesh was dormant for so long in our pop culture. I if it was Elif Shafak's recent novel what brought your attention to it… or what was it? By the way, I loved the novel so much! It’s brilliant!
alas, no. in 2012 i wrote a piece called EPIC GILGAMESH which was an less than satisfactory attempt at a kid's novel. turned out it was neither a novel nor very fun for kids. i always thought the story of Gilgamesh intriguing for reasons both obvious and personal.
if gene wolfe aint in the mix, it aint a mix worth having! but yeah i cant help shouting out some obvious influences. and then hopefully turning them on their head. once we get a couple more of these up will open a discussion page where we can dilate on these matters.
Great! Nice surprise I opened just to check what it was and read it all at once. Cool process to do this experiment. I do feel like Substack could be such a cool fiction platform.
Well, first part is done, next part (much shorter) will be out next week. i better get writing as i only have a few more pieces in the tank. please forgive and point out poor punctuation / grammar and any other confusions. and hopefully someone will find this enjoyable. (And because me, I wrote THE BOY WITH THE IRON HANDS instead of THE BOY WITH THE IRON FISTS. now corrected. so already the mistake process on full view.
I feel lucky to be reading this tale and lucky to be reading it alongside other readers. I feel like we're all going on an adventure together.
Urth! Thinking Flesh! Lol love this! This is the funnest world building ever. And my heart strings are getting pulled already for Gilgamek. I’m hooked.
Stellar opening! This definitely lived up to my hype and anticipation. I was surprised (in a good way) by how dense and intricate the worldbuilding was here. Yet it still feels like a solid YA setup to explore more grounded sociological issues with your hero being ostracized for his flesh. The futuristic Mesopotamian setting is also really fun.
But my FAVORITE thing about this so far is the narrator. I really miss narrators like this in fantasy, where everyone seems to be stuck to third person limited. This feels like an old fashioned omniscient narrator but still one steeped in the culture and dialect of the setting whose not afraid to share their opinion. The narrator feels like just as much of a character in the story as the others (maybe one we'll actually meet, maybe not).
Very much looking forward to next week.
clearly i love these punchy victorian style narrators too. and while not everyone's going to be a fan of the worldbuilding "tax" at the door im hoping its a small price to pay for a story filled with mixed race machines and Bird people.
God, honestly, it's refreshing. I read The Ballad of the Sad Cafe not too long ago and loved the change up of narrator style—more presence, telling the tale, chatting with the reader.
I’m hooked! Looking forward to the next installment.
Love this and Firelei Baez's work!
The mek knuckles was a really fine detail that brought him to life for me. Do they make noise as they walk? I want to picture the way they move!
Still gasping...this has me by the throat...a mek named Gilgamek who's all flesh...and Urth...this is going to be some epic--
The epic of Gilgamesh was dormant for so long in our pop culture. I if it was Elif Shafak's recent novel what brought your attention to it… or what was it? By the way, I loved the novel so much! It’s brilliant!
alas, no. in 2012 i wrote a piece called EPIC GILGAMESH which was an less than satisfactory attempt at a kid's novel. turned out it was neither a novel nor very fun for kids. i always thought the story of Gilgamesh intriguing for reasons both obvious and personal.
Urth... Autarch... Cyborgs... 👀
Anybody else getting some Gene Wolfe vibes? Or is that just me?
Great intro btw. Love the strong narrative voice and the deft upfront world building.
if gene wolfe aint in the mix, it aint a mix worth having! but yeah i cant help shouting out some obvious influences. and then hopefully turning them on their head. once we get a couple more of these up will open a discussion page where we can dilate on these matters.
Love it! I’ll keep an eye out for the discussion.
Great! Nice surprise I opened just to check what it was and read it all at once. Cool process to do this experiment. I do feel like Substack could be such a cool fiction platform.
"Flesh everywhere!
Was any part of him Machine?" Um. And that City ID. No parents and a horror to the eyes. Who or what is this boy?
Ha! I loved this. More and longer if you can please
alas, next piece is shorter and that’s the nature of this type of project especially when one writers slowwwwww
Yeah, an ancient transformation for our times. Not that I am a YA but I think you'll have them hooked from the get go. Wonderful.
I liked it from the moment I read the title--looking forward to more.
Love this.