Tuesday 26 April 2011

EasterCon interrupts coverage of Meteor Strike in Wold Newton

At Precipitation With Insight we have a predilection for casting and re-casting, so that was foremost in my mind as I read through Rod Rees' prequel to the Wold Newton meteor strike (punctuated as it is with a trip to EasterCon). I'm having a think about the best way to present my choice of cast, but there are a couple of things I can't wait to put out there.

There's not much to add regarding the story itself, it's pretty self contained and pretty cool, but what I will say, with regard to The Demi-Monde, is this - The Demi-Monde: Winter is set in a virtual world peopled with genuine historical figures, while this is, true to the Wold Newton Universe, set in the real world (Wold Newton) and peopled with fictional historical characters, albeit ancestors of the characters we know. 

I'm assuming that there is no Wold Newton within the Demi-Monde, with it all being overpopulated cities, and what action there is taking place in the real world doesn't seem to have much of a connection - except one.


This reminded me of something I forgot to mention in my synopsis of the prologue, which is that Norma mentions "The Professor" as she is being chased, but he denies any knowledge (as far as I can remember) of how she got into the Demi-Monde in the first place. I'm assuming "The Professor" is Bole and that "The Professor" at the end of the book is also Bole. Of course, it could be that there is another professor character that we don't get to find out about until a later volume. Either way Bole is key, since he is the only character to have a direct connection with the Wold Newton stuff on Rees' blog and The Demi-Monde: Winter.

There. That's that said.

One last thing. Loved the inclusion of Heathcliff.

Wuthering Heights can't be that far from Wold Newton.

5 comments:

  1. As I'm not particularly well-read I don't really get all the Wold Newtown links etc. so all that is a bit beyond me, but the Bole element of the Demi-Monde is particularly interesting. I maybe didn't read the book as carefully as I should have, and didn't notice the Professor/Norma question, but in the epilogue what's of note is how Aaliz refers to the Professor as "an ally". Presumably then the Professor that Ella spots at the bank is the real one, after having been through the Rite of Transference already and replaced in the Real World with his doppelganger, as Ella and Aaliz have just done.

    You may have mentioned this already, but I haven't read your whole blog so I may have missed it.

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  2. I of course meant Norma and Aaliz, not Ella and Aaliz. Silly me.

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  3. Hi ML!
    Left a reply over on your Slow Reader blog.

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  4. Got it, thanks! Journey review forthcoming. If you check out Rees' blog he mentions about the story behind Norma's getting lost in the Demi-Monde, and it looks like it might not make it into the books :(

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  5. Wonder why he's not suggested it for the "Special Edition"? Maybe he'll do a special edition for Fall with a prequel - he says he's already written it so it fits in with his including "deleted chapters" in the ebook and leaving it until after Fall will maybe round the whole thing off. That said, if he does put it on the website we'll get it for free!

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