



The Mirror's Truth

When Far-Gone Dead Return

All Consuming

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About the Author

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About the Book

is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author who first hit the shelves 2 years ago with a cyberpunk novel called 88 . It was a novel that garnered some attention and rave reviews, but I predict it's next week's release of Beyond Redemption that will establish him as a dominant force in the genre. It's a book that's been called, and- but that only scratches the surface.I'll be sharing my enthusiastic review next week but, in the meantime, Michael has graciously agreed to stop by and set the stage . . .Thanks for having me! I love being had. Wait...what?Right, me: Nah, fuck it. I'm not all that interesting. I'm just a dude sitting around without pants (or socks) who likes to two-finger-type the strange stories he dreams up. I don't even leave my office unless hunger or the need for more caffeine drives me out. Totally boring. All those rumours about secret ninja training and how I used to kill for CSIS are so much bullshit. Beyond Redemption is a book about madness and as such you know it's going to be dark. When most of the characters are varying shades of bug-fuck crazy, you can't really expect a happy ending.I was tired of fantasy books with beautiful people with nice hair on the covers. I was tired of fantasy books where people learned valuable life lessons and came away as better human beings. Most people don't learn. Pick a topic like religion, politics, or economics and go out and try and convince someone of the opposite of whatever their opinion is. Beyond Redemption isn't a neat new fantasy world, it's where we live.I'd never heard of grimdark until my agent used it in reference to Beyond Redemption . I was a little irked until I realized who the other authors being labelled as grimdark were. These folks are writing my favourite fantasy! Go ahead, throw me in there! The initial idea came from a song by a local Toronto band called Dirty Penny . It was about the conflict between the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro and Atahualpa, the emperor of the Tawantinsuyu (the Incan Empire). The twist was that it was viewed as a war of ideologies rather than muskets and spears. I took that neat idea and then totally fucked it up.I am Bedeckt. My belief in my sanity is unshakeable.I'm a role-playing nerd from way back. I treated this as a gaming system and built the rules defining this reality and the effects of madness before I started writing. Some of that made it to the Wiki I've been building, along with a lot of other random babbling.Geisteskranken (the delusional) absolutely had to be defined in detail before I started writing. For reasons I am unwilling to discuss I very much wanted this to be a world defined by insanity and yet working to immutable laws. From the Ascended deranged to the common sane, all bow to those laws.This book was far too much fun to write. I didn't see how deplorable most of the characters were until it was finished. At that point I figured I'd written an unpublishable novel.I started with a vague idea as to who the cast would be but let them develop alongside the story. Much as I like detailing the background I don't plan the plot at all. I start with a simple story (kidnapping!) and then throw the characters into it. I schizophrenically become each character while writing their sections (did I say I was sane somewhere?). The entire novel came out of crazy people reacting to the choices of other crazy people.I wrote that scene telling myself my mom would probably never read the book. At that point it never occurred to me it would be published. Now she's definitely going to read it. Sigh.I'm not interested in writing insane erotica (eratica?). I wrote the scene I needed to write to tell the story I wanted and gave no thought to pulling it back. I write by visualizing scenes and then trying to capture them. I saw that scene and knew it had to happen. Sometimes it's better to leave some things to the reader's imagination.The reviews so far have been amazing, unlike anything I could have hoped or dreamed. A starred review from, andsaid "…there aren’t many fantasy novels as smart, ambitious, and excellently written as this one." I did not see that coming. And reviews from independant bloggers have been equally amazing.Some of the themes aren't exactly subtle and it's damned dark. The book crashes into a lot of ideals and beliefs (and delusions) that people hold close to their hearts. I kind of expected some anger. I'm sure it's not too late.I'd read other stories where human brains were used as computers. It occurred to me that adult brains (bogged down by preconceptions, learned responses, odd beliefs, and a general malaise when it comes to learning new things) made shitty computers. I started with the assumption that Artificial Intelligence wouldn't happen (not an opinion, I just needed that for the plot) and that humanity's need for computing power would someday outstrip technology. Human brains would be used as biological computers and eventually a black market would spring up to supply the needs of those outside the confines of the law. I realized these people would see a young autistic child as the perfect computer and not at all see that she might have plans of her own. 88 was written prior to fatherhood. I do wonder how I might have written it differently if it came after.I've read them and love their books, but they weren't an influence. At least not consciously. I'll have to go with happy coincidence. Michael Moorcock definitely influenced the kind of story I want to tell, though I don't think I write anything like him. Elric. 'Nuff said.Neal Stephenson showed me that it was okay to go for over-the-top gratuitously cool. Snow Crash broke my mind.Hemingway taught me to carve a sentence to its essentials.I'm not claiming I achieved any of this.These days I can not get enough Sylosis . I pretty much put all four albums on constant repeat. A reunion pretty doubtful. Everyone has (kinda) grown up and has jobs and lives and responsibilities. If I ever have free time I'd love to write and record and instrumental soundtrack for Beyond Redemption . Unfortunately I'm not sure I play enough these days to keep my chops up to par. Though I do throw some sweeps into the acoustic ninja-princess adventure songs I make up for my daughter.) was originally titled(stolen from a Wilfred Owen poem). If you've finished Beyond Redemption , that might make some sense. It takes place shortly after the end of the first book. Initial test-reader feedback has been extremely positive.The) is an unrelated story taking place in the same world. New cultures and city-states and delusions to explore. Great fun...if you like seriously messed up and dark stories. One of my test-readers asked, 'what the fuck is wrong with you?'Eventually the two story lines will crash together.Yes and no. There's a blog tour in progress. The details can be found on the Pump Up Your Book page.There's no book tours or signings currently planned, though if Beyond Redemption does well, that might change.I see you're in the Niagara area. My wife and I leave our daughter with the in-laws and head out there to do winery tours and get sloshed whenever we have something to celebrate. Ifbuy the next two books we'll definitely be celebrating. Maybe we can hook up for a pint and I'll bring you a copy.Cheers!is a science fiction and fantasy author. His novel, Beyond Redemption, a work of dark fantasy and rampant delusion, is being published by HARPER Voyager and is slated for release June 16th, 2015.His début novel, 88, a cyberpunk tale about harvesting children for their brains, was released by Five Rivers Publishing in 2013. 88 is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and elsewhere.The next two Manifest Delusions novels, THE ALL CONSUMING, and WHEN FAR-GONE DEAD RETURN are currently in various stages of editing while Michael tries to be the best husband and dad he can be.Michael is represented by Cameron McClure of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.A darkly imaginative writer in the tradition of Joe Abercrombie, Peter V. Brett, and Neil Gaiman conjures a gritty mind-bending fantasy, set in a world where delusion becomes reality . . . and the fulfillment of humanity’s desires may well prove to be its undoing.When belief defines reality, those with the strongest convictions—the crazy, the obsessive, the delusional—have the power to shape the world.And someone is just mad enough to believe he can create a god . . .Violent and dark, the world is filled with the Geistrekranken—men and women whose delusions manifest. Sustained by their own belief—and the beliefs of those around them—they can manipulate their surroundings. For the High Priest Konig, that means creating order out of the chaos in his city-state, leading his believers to focus on one thing: helping a young man, Morgen, ascend to become a god. A god they can control.Trouble is, there are many who would see a god in their thrall, including the High Priest’s own doppelgangers, a Slaver no one can resist, and three slaves led by possibly the only sane man left.As these forces converge on the boy, there’s one more obstacle: time is running out. Because as the delusions become more powerful, the also become harder to control. The fate of the Geistrekranken is to inevitably find oneself in the Afterdeath. The question, then, is:Who will rule there?