A-Z Blogging Challenge: Black Light by K. A. Bedford - Reviewed

It's twelve years since Ruth Black was notified that her husband had been killed, one of many casualties during the Great War but even now how he died remains a mystery. An eccentric woman of means, she has moved to the sleepy coastal fishing town of Pelican River in Western Australia where, cossetted by her servants, she writes 'scientific romances' and is making a new life. Her comfortable existence is shattered by the arrival of her Aunt Julia warning that she has visions showing Ruth's life is in danger. Initially sceptical, Ruth and her friend Gordon Duncombe, soon realise Julia is not exaggerating. But who would hate her so much?  The three find themselves in a desperate race to stop the unknown enemy from carrying out his plan.

K. A. Bedford is better known for his science fiction - his Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait is one of my all time favourites - so Black Light, a paranormal thriller, is something of a departure but he's definitely nailed it. The meticulously researched 1920s setting is detailed but not laboured and it anchors the story in reality. That said there's a lot going on in this world that is unexpected and outside our familiar existence. There are the elves, accidentally brought by the early colonists and slowly fading away so far from their native soil, and magic - both black and white but equally dangerous. Against this background there are unanswered questions from Ruth's past and the malevolence of her pursuer which together combine to make a gripping story. The author taps into many of the ideas occupying intellectuals in the early part of the twentieth century like spiritualism ( a favourite interest of Arthur Conan Doyle), time travel (with a nod to H. G. Wells) and science which prompted the beginnings of science fiction (Ruth writes 'scientific romances', an early name for science fiction).

I liked much about this novel. In particular, I like Ruth who is not afraid to ignore societal norms - she wears 'mannish' clothes and has unfashionably short hair - although she hides the insecurities that living her life the way she wants has caused. At the same time she is intelligent, brave and thoughtful and we can see why she is beloved by those who are prepared to accept her as she is. I'd very much like to hear more from Ruth.

Black Light was published in January 2015 by Fremantle Press and is available from the publisher, and other booksellers as a paperback and an ebook and will be available from Amazon.com from June 1. Highly recommended.

Review: Paradox Resolution by K. A. Bedford

Paradox Resolution (published by Canadian publisher Edge ) is the sequel to Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait (my review of it is here).

Aloysius "Spider" Webb and his artist ex-wife, Molly, (at least she will be his ex-wife as soon as he signs the divorce papers) are back from the horrors of End of Time. Free of the influence and manipulations of his previous (and now vanished) boss, Dickhead McMahon, Spider's life is back to normal. He is still working at Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait, now taken over by an Indian company, where the new state of the art equipment might have made going to work pleasant if he didn't hate time machines and the stupidity of the average time traveller. To make things worse, the time machine repair business is declining as time machines evolve and the world descends into economic chaos.

In his private life little has changed. He and police inspector Iris Street remain friends. He is still living in a capsule hotel and performing household tasks for Molly, while at work, when not otherwise occupied, he tinkers with training the coffee droid (a much higher functioning one than that in the previous book) in search of the perfect cup of coffee.That is until he opens the break room fridge one morning and makes an horrific discovery. This is soon the least of his worries as he finds his new boss has plans for him that are way beyond his job description.

Paradox Resolution is somewhat more bleak than Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait although the author's light touch leavens the darker elements. While there's plenty of action - time travel tends to make things very complicated and fast moving - this book is more about Spider's personal journey and what he learns about himself. He has a lot to resolve in both his personal life and his work situation and his experiences at the End of Time have left deep scars. This means there's introspection as well as action and the author has succeeded in maintaining what can be a tricky balance with the introspective sections often a welcome relief. Before the end Spider has had to question many of his beliefs and make some very hard decisions.

Along with those like Iris and Molly from the first book, Spider finds himself enmeshed with a number of new, equally well-rounded, characters who have their own stories. Even the bad guys tend to be more flawed than outright evil, with their motivations making them human and so believable. Spider is not the only one who has to come to terms with his future and past. Others have their own lessons to learn too.

The unexplained science may not appeal to those who like hard science fiction but, set as it is in a future world with inevitable and believable advances in technology, Paradox Resolution, like Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait, is a suspenseful story, full of twists and with an unexpected and satisfying conclusion to Spider's story.

Paradox Resolution is available as an e-book as well as in print.

Aurealis Awards

Well deserved congratulations to all the winners, especially Western Australians, K. A. Bedford, Best Science Fiction novel for Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait, Jonathan Strahan, editor Best Anthology for The Starry Rift and Shaun Tan, Best Illustrated Book for Tales From Outer Suburbia (even if he has abandoned us for brighter lights). Best collection winner, Magic Dirt by Sean Williams was published locally by Ticonderoga Publishing run by Russell B. Farr and also deserves a mention in the West Aussie list of achievers.

Edit: In West Aussie successes I omitted to mention Trent Jamieson who is not a West Australian but took out Best Young Adult Short Story for Cracks in Shiny Issue 2 put out by Twelfth Planet Press which is Western Australian.

It was good to see Simon Brown, one of the Clarion South 2007 tutors, win Best Science Fiction Short Story for The Empire in Dreaming Again. Coincidentally I had just finished reading this without realising it was a finalist and enjoyed it thoroughly.

The complete list of winners is here but after looking at that you could go here and make the list of finalists a reading checklist. This was a extremely strong field and the judges must have had a very difficult time separating out the winners from such quality. I've read enough of the finalists to want to read the rest. I think you'd enjoy them too.