The Year of the Knife by G.D. Penman
Published by: Meerkat Press
Publication date: October 31st, 2017
Genres: Adult, Thriller, Urban Fantasy
Agent "Sully" Sullivan is one of the top cops in the Imperial Bureau of Investigation. A veteran witch of the British Empire who isn’t afraid to use her magical skills to crack a case. But Sully might need more than a good education and raw power to stop the string of grisly murders that have been springing up across the American Colonies. Every one of them marked by the same chilling calling card, a warning in the form of a legion of voices screaming out through the killers’ mouths: "It IS tHe YEAr oF the KNife."
Sully’s investigation will drag her away from the comforts of home in New Amsterdam, the beautiful but useless hyacinth macaw that used to be her boss, and the loving arms of her undead girlfriend, in a thrilling race against time, demonic forces and a shadowy conspiracy that will do anything to keep its hold on power and ensure that Sully takes their secrets to her grave, as soon as possible.
G.D. Penman’s imaginative The Year of the Knife is a fun, fast-paced urban fantasy mystery with an engaging set of characters, most notably Agent Sully of the Imperial Bureau of Investigation.
~AUTHOR INTERVIEW with G.D. Penman~
1) What gave you the inspiration for the
storyline?
I read a lot of urban fantasy where the existence of magic has had no impact on the history of the world and it ruins my suspension of disbelief. In The Year of the Knife, I wanted to show all the myriad changes to history and culture that the verified existence of the supernatural would create.
I read a lot of urban fantasy where the existence of magic has had no impact on the history of the world and it ruins my suspension of disbelief. In The Year of the Knife, I wanted to show all the myriad changes to history and culture that the verified existence of the supernatural would create.
2) Are there any hidden themes in the
book that you hope readers will discover?
I had been reading a lot of American
history when I started to write this book, and the promise of America; what it
was intended to be and what it could be, heavily influenced the plot as it
moved forward, completely reshaping the ending into its current form.
3) Are any of the characters based on
real people you know?
No, I am not a complete hack.
Having said that; there are certainly elements of my own personality in some of the characters. Sully’s foul temper. Raavi’s fascination with the strange. Leonard’s tendency towards sesquipedalian speech.
4) Who has influenced you most as a
writer?
Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana showed me that fantasy could tackle bigger and deeper issues than literary fiction. H P Lovecraft’s persistent existential dread crept in when I was a depressed teenager. Depending on my mood at the time, I would probably point to one of those two.
5) If you could have any three literary
characters over to your place for game night, who would you invite, what would
you play, what would you serve, and why?
Gandalf the Grey, Severus Snape and
Esmerelda Weatherwax are cordially invited to come and play Magic: The
Gathering. And since I suspect none of them will have ever had the pleasure, we
will accompany it with the traditional refreshment of pizza.
Author Bio:G D Penman writes Speculative Fiction. He lives in Scotland with his partner and children, some of whom are human. He is a firm believer in the axiom that any story is made better by dragons. His beard has won an award. If you have ever read a story with Kaiju and queer people, it was probably one of his. In those few precious moments that he isn’t parenting or writing he likes to watch cartoons, play video and tabletop games, read more books than are entirely feasible and continue his quest to eat the flesh of every living species.
Thanks for being on the tour! :)
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