Archive for May, 2010

Posted on May 30, 2010 - by MG

Invisible City – new artwork and trailer for US & Canada readers

The Joshua Files finally reaches North America in July, with the publication of Invisible City by Walker Books for Young Readers.
We’re planning a few things to celebrate – a competition exclusively for new readers in the USA&Canada. But also, here finally is the book trailer featuring the Walker edition artwork.
I love all the foreign editions of Joshua, but this one is very special. It’s the first cover that reflects my own ideas of how the cover art might look, when I was first writing Invisible City (or as it was called back then, Todd Garcia: Boy Archaelogist – The Lost City).

The artwork may be more traditional ‘adventure-style’ than the amazing, ground-breaking, innovative, deadly-neon-slipcover of the UK, French, Spanish, Catalan, German and Hungarian editions. It draws on the style of influential artist Frederick Catherwood, who back in the 1840s visited the ruins with traveler John Lloyd Stephens and created those first, memorable images of the ruined Mayan cities, which were to stun readers in the developed world.

My friend Chris Maslanka, an eminent puzzlist (who devises fiendish puzzles for The Guardian and The Oxford Times – watch Chris and his evil twin Mikhail show readers how to crack the codes in the first three Joshua books) brought me four copies of the Polish edition of Invisible City, Archivum Josha – Niewidzialne Miasto, which I’ve been meaning to give to various Polish friends in Oxford. It made me very happy to hold these foreign editions in my hands, to know that readers in so many countries are reading them. An amazing thing really, doesn’t feel like it’s anything to do with me either. Rather wonderful!

Posted on May 27, 2010 - by MG

Anyone else get lost in LOST?

On Monday morning we set the alarm and woke early to watch the LOST finale live from the USA. I made berry smoothies and marmalade toast and coffee, it was well worth the effort!

When it was over, we weren’t happy. We didn’t understand. It was all very fulfilling on an emotional level; all those lovers reunited in the Sideways world. But what did it mean?

Not since X-Files have I actually had to resort to programme notes to understand a TV show. My instinct is that TV entertainment should be simple enough not to require you to RTFM (read the ahem manual).

But actually why not? Why can’t a mainstream TV show be pitched at a deep enough level that you need to discuss it afterwards?

So I’ve spent some time looking for the best articles about the finale, which might help me to explain what happened, what was going on all along, because really, we weren’t trying hard enough. We had just been watching it an assuming that every t would be crossed and i dotted.

Well, it ain’t!

Last night at dinner I sat down with husband and 17-year old and explained the show/finale based on the various theories I’ve read. 17-year old in particular was delighted and is going to spread the word at her school, where the overall reaction to the finale was negative. Like mine initially. They were all dead? It was all a dream? Dammit, give me back my time!

If you were a keen Lostie who lost it a bit with the finale, maybe like me these articles will help you find your LOST love again.

LOST finale recap: And In The End

Lost Finale Explained Well – allegedly written by a writer who worked on the show

But first here’s a little glossary to Lostie terminology:

• MIB – Man In Black aka the Smoke Monster, Smokey
• FLocke - False Locke aka MIB
• Sideways world – the world that seemed to be ‘created’ when the nuclear bomb went off and the Oceanic flight never crashed.
• Lostaways – the passengers who crashed in the same part of the island as Jack, Sawyer etc.
• Island Magic – anything at all that is a bit weird/magical
• Holy Wormhole – the source of light at the centre of the island.

Just like with X-Files, we’re left with many questions. For example:

1. Why is Aaron a baby in the church at the end? We know he was at least three in Real Life. I don’t want to be a baby in the afterlife! Fair enough if you died as a baby but if not…
2. Desmond became some kind of super-being immune to EM powers and Island Magic, who didn’t get smoked when he went into the Holy Wormhole, OK. So how come Jack didn’t get smoked?
3. How did Jacob manage to leave the island to fetch up all the Candidates?

Not that I have a problem with threads being left untied! The glimpses of backstory that we did see about the island’s long, mysterious past were tantalising; the temple, the statue etc, Mother, only make me enjoy it more.

It’s good to have this to share with the Teenager. I think we’ll be talking about it for a few evenings to come.

So – if you have any answers, theories, etc, let me know!