Books by author: Thomas Claburn

I've been reading Thomas Claburn's blog Lot 49 for a year or so, and I'm always impressed with his pithy, insightful jabs at current events. I was curious about his novel, Reflecting Fires, but a little hesitant to take the time to read something self-published. Happily, I needn't have worried.

Reflecting Fires is novel of ideas cast as a work of speculative fiction. The back cover claims that it is set in the distant future, against the backdrop of a war between man and machine, but you'd have a hard time figuring this out from the first fifty or so pages. Instead, you'd find yourself plunged into a disorienting world that seems feudal, to the point that you expect to have a scene featuring peasants wielding pitchforks and torches. There are little hints that some of the inhabitants of this world aren't quite human, and there's more than a little intrigue going on that you can't quite figure out, but Claburn does a good job of tossing the reader enough clues to keep up the interest level without giving away the novel's secrets too easily. After 100 pages, you're completely hooked, and over the course of the 150-odd remaining pages, the pieces fall into place, and it becomes clear that nothing in the novel is insignificant — it's all important to the story.

During my reading, I was reminded of two other novels. Reflecting Fires is similar to Wolfe's Book of the New Sun in the distant future feudal setting, and in the mostly subtle play of advanced technology in what is primarily a human story. It is also similar to Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker in that clues are spread throughout the novel, and it takes most of the novel for the reader to piece together how the world works. I was pleased to note that upon rereading, the first few chapters made complete sense, and did not feel at all artificial. It's as if Claburn immersed himself in the world and then told the story as if he was an inhabitant. There are characters and subplots that I would have liked to see fleshed out more (Rose, Dahlia, Skye and Calx are all all interesting creations, but I feel as if I barely know them). The story line could easily bear the weight of a 400 page novel; as it stands, the writing borders on being too economical.

On a side note, I was saddened to see the "lexicon" inserted at the beginning of the book. Claburn uses many terms that are unique to this novel in their application, but I usually find it more rewarding to figure out what they mean from the context. I would have been happier if Claburn had reduced the number of jargon words by half and left it to the reader to gain his own understanding. (I make this same criticism of the American editions of Riddley Walker, which contain an entirely unnecessary glossary.)

I hope Claburn writes more. He has a fertile imagination, and his writing is solid.