One of the attending authors on the day is Tony Ballantyne who has taken time to answer a few questions before the event.
UB: First of all can tell us a little about your current series of books with Tor, which started with the excellent Twisted Metal (review link) and saw Blood and Iron released this summer?
TB: My current series is set on a world inhabited solely by robots: it deals with the societies that might arise on such a place, and how the robots would view the human beings who come to deal with them. Everything is seen through the eyes of the robots. The human reader may be aware of things that the robots themselves don't notice - the robots are unreliable narrators to say the least - but the human reader may begin to wonder if we are missing something about our own world, too.
UB: What appeals so much to you about a world of robots and metal?
TB: The fact that it is so clearly mechanistic. Everything is the result of twisting metal: the process by which a robot's mind is made. The passion; the violence; the art; the degradation: everything is the result of nothing more than ten thousand twists in a length of wire.
UB: You are running an SF workshop at Other Worlds on November 6th, can you tell us a little about what people can expect from that?
TB: I've just finished writing an essay about the post human in SF, so, whilst it's still fresh in my mind, I'm planning something to do with writing post human characters. Hopefully those attending will be able to take something new away that will help them in their own writing.
UB: This is not your first Alt.Fiction event, can you tell us about your first Alt.Fiction and what you think makes the event special to the people who attend every year?
TB: I've been to several Alt.Fictions now. I keep coming back because they're small and focussed, they gather a range of people: fans, writers, publishers, those new to the genre; they're friendly; they have an interesting range of panels; and they're quite centrally located for most of the country. Most of all, though, they're fun. A great event for anyone interested in SF/Fantasy.
UB: Finally can you recommend one must read Sci Fi novel for people new to the genre?
TB: Oooh- I'd say The Space Merchants by Pohl and Kornbluth, as it's probably the first SF novel that really excited me, but I'd go on to recommend Gollancz's SF Masterworks series: reprints of classic SF novels. Whoever is choosing those books is doing an excellent job, you won't go wrong with any of them.
Our thanks to Tony for his time.
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