California Bones, new novel by Greg van Eekhout
Shaun Farrell (some of you know who he is) returns from the great beyond to interview Greg van Eekhout, author of CALIFORNIA BONES, for this fourth appearance on Adventures in Scifi Publishing. It’s a little known fact that Greg has technically appeared in well over 150 episodes of the show as his voice has been used in the podcast intro for several years.
Shaun and Greg discuss:
- Greg’s journey from a short story writer to a novelist;
- The inheritance of magic through the consumption of wizards;
- Whether or not his novel can be read as a love-letter to Los Angeles or a critique of it;
- Walt Disney as a Sorcerer;
- And much more!
California Bones by Greg van Eekhout
When Daniel Blackland was six, he ingested his first bone fragment, a bit of kraken spine plucked out of the sand during a visit with his demanding, brilliant, and powerful magician father, Sebastian.
When Daniel was twelve, he watched Sebastian die at the hands of the Hierarch of Southern California, devoured for the heightened magic layered deep within his bones.
Now, years later, Daniel is a petty thief with a forged identity. Hiding amid the crowds in Los Angeles—the capital of the Kingdom of Southern California—Daniel is trying to go straight. But his crime-boss uncle has a heist he wants Daniel to perform: break into the Hierarch’s storehouse of magical artifacts and retrieve Sebastian’s sword, an object of untold power.
For this dangerous mission, Daniel will need a team he can rely on, so he brings in his closest friends from his years in the criminal world. There’s Moth, who can take a bullet and heal in mere minutes. Jo Alverado, illusionist. The multitalented Cassandra, Daniel’s ex. And, new to them all, the enigmatic, knowledgeable Emma, with her British accent and her own grudge against the powers-that-be. The stakes are high, and the stage is set for a showdown that might just break the magic that protects a long-corrupt regime.
Extravagant and yet moving, Greg van Eekhout’s California Bones is an epic adventure set in a city of canals and secrets and casual brutality–different from the world we know, yet familiar and true.
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Shaun Farrell
Show Creator
Shaun started Adventures in Scifi Publshing because he loves speculative fiction. Plain and simple. He has written articles for Strange Horizons, Clarksworld Magazine, and Far Sector SFFH. Some of his favorite writers are Ray Bradbury, Dan Simmons, Kay Kenyon, Frank Herbert, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Tobias Buckell, to name a few.
In addition to loving great literature, Shaun is an aspiring novelist and actor. He recently completed principle photography in his first major role in a feature film, Death Dress, to be released in 2011.
Shaun handed over the reins of Adventures in SciFi Publishing in June of 2013 to Timothy C. Ward. Episode 208, “Make it So” is his announcement and temporary farewell.
Shaun lives in Northern California with his wife and two children.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 46:21 — 64.2MB)
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