

05-15-14: A 2014 Interview with Jeff VanderMeer, 'Authority' Edition



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"...the land people don't talk to the sky people don't talk to the water people..."



Jeff VanderMeer







I had an ARC of 'Authority,' a novel I really enjoyed, as it combined many of what I consider to be Jeff's strengths. I love VanderMeer's peculiar sense of humor, on full display here, and we talked about that approach in this novel. VanderMeer and I share a bit of background in that we both spent some time in the Tech world, and both found ourselves in companies where the workplace slowly morphed into something oddly funny. Jeff captures that feeling quite well in this novel.



You'll also hear Jeff talk about an adaptation, and refreshingly, it's the most realistic version I've heard. VanderMeer opines that he'd let the adapters take a stab at doing it their way. A book is after all a very different medium than a movie or, what we all want to see in this post-fantasy-blockbuster-that-needs-no-advertising-here world, a big ol' premium-channel no-adverts mini-series. By the way, if the studios were smart, they'd run those series in movie theaters for limited runs before they show up on the small screen. I bet they'd clean up.



My hope is that this interview can give readers who dropped into 'Annihilation' the instant it came out a few good insights into 'Authority' without really ever treading into what actually transpires in the novel. Jeff VanderMeer wrote and asked me if I could snip off the bits of our interview done earlier this year that referred specifically to what is now his latest book, ' Authority .' I thought it might make a pertinent podcast to accompany my review of the book, which has a release date of last week.I had an ARC of 'Authority,' a novel I really enjoyed, as it combined many of what I consider to be Jeff's strengths. I love VanderMeer's peculiar sense of humor, on full display here, and we talked about that approach in this novel. VanderMeer and I share a bit of background in that we both spent some time in the Tech world, and both found ourselves in companies where the workplace slowly morphed into something oddly funny. Jeff captures that feeling quite well in this novel.You'll also hear Jeff talk about an adaptation, and refreshingly, it's the most realistic version I've heard. VanderMeer opines that he'd let the adapters take a stab at doing it their way. A book is after all a very different medium than a movie or, what we all want to see in this post-fantasy-blockbuster-that-needs-no-advertising-here world, a big ol' premium-channel no-adverts mini-series. By the way, if the studios were smart, they'd run those series in movie theaters for limited runs before they show up on the small screen. I bet they'd clean up.My hope is that this interview can give readers who dropped into 'Annihilation' the instant it came out a few good insights into 'Authority' without really ever treading into what actually transpires in the novel. You can hear this interview by following this link to the MP3 audio file.







05-13-14 UPDATE: Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 162: Justin Go, 'The Steady Running of the Hour'



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The podcasts/radio broadcasts will be of books worth your valuable reading time. I'll try to keep the reports under four minutes, for a radio-friendly format.



My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.



The one-hundred sixty-second episode is a look at Justin Go and '



Here's a link to the MP3 audio file of Time to Read, Episode 162: Justin Go, 'The Steady Running of the Hour' Here's the one-hundred sixty-second episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the two-year mark, I'm going to make an effort to stay ahead, so that podcast listeners can get the same sort of "sneak preview" effect that radio listeners get each Friday morning. This week, I'm way behind, but who knows what the hell might happen. I am hoping to get back up and stumbling. I have lots of great books in the hopper to review and lots of great interviews to podcast.The podcasts/radio broadcasts will be of books worth your valuable reading time. I'll try to keep the reports under four minutes, for a radio-friendly format. If you want to run them on your show or podcast, let me know. My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.The one-hundred sixty-second episode is a look at Justin Go and ' The Steady Running of the Hour .'



