10 things you might not know about THE AUTOMATION – a dark fantasy novel about ancient Automata invading our modern world:
- There are Automata (uppercase-A, yes, thank you) in this novel. They’re divine as fuck and not made by men – and they’re often mistaken for human. Here’s a lowercase-a automaton to illustrate what they are NOT like:
- Those Automata can only function with a human soul. Thus, they need a human “Master” to wind them up. This makes for some awkward situations for some of the characters.
- The Greco-Roman gods Vulcan and Venus have small roles in the novel. Though they play a bigger part later on in the series and will likely eff more shit up for the poor human characters.
- One of the characters is a cat. Don’t ignore the cat. Though the cat can ignore YOU.
- One character’s sexuality is changed in the novel. Because the gods Vulcan and Venus need him to like girls instead of boys. And it’s not fair.
- The Narrator (whose abbreviated name is B.L.A.) and the Editor (Gabbler, whose contributions show up as footnotes) are also characters in the story. It’s actually B.L.A.’s memoir, you could say (though Gabbler is of the mind it’s – ahem – obviously embellished). [But just to be clear: the novel is written by one person, not two, despite what they tell you. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN].
- It is for readers who like sf novels set in “this” world like: Vicious, The Magicians, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, American Gods, The Just City.
- It claims to be Epic Poetry, but it’s written in prose. Thus “Prose Epic” is apparently applicable.
- The novel breaks the fourth wall. It knows it’s a novel. Meta to the max.
- You can read the first chapter online for free. Be our guest. Enjoy the show.
THE AUTOMATION is available in paperback and for DRM-free Kindle download. In all countries. Maybe. Probably. WE DON’T KNOW, OK?
[“BLA and GB Gabbler” (really just a pen name – singular) are the Editor and Narrator behind THE AUTOMATION, vol. 1 of the Circo del Herrero series. They are on facebook, twitter, tumblr, goodreads, and Vulcan’s shit list.]
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