MC: For people unfamiliar with the universe that you’ve created in your novels, can you set the stage a bit?
TB: The three books so far are each books that illuminate a bit more about a series of worlds all connected via wormholes. In Crystal Rain I explored one world, Nanagada, settled by people from the Caribbean. In Ragamuffin I opened things up by showing that there were 48 worlds all connected by wormholes, all ruled by the Satrapy: Satraps being large, trilobyte-like aliens with strong colonialist ethics. Humanity is one a handful of alien races that the Satraps consider themselves Patrons to, and in Ragamuffin the book is about how humanity deals with their place in the universe. In Sly Mongoose I’ve shown some of the consequences to what people chose to do about the Satraps, and also focused on exploring a world and people who are caught up in the middle of all that.
Also, on Buckell’s site, he’s put up the first four chapters of Sly Mongoose for a free preview. Read ’em here:
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2008/02/28/sly-mongoose-chapter-one/
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2008/09/25/sly-mongoose-chapter-two/
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2008/09/26/sly-mongoose-chapter-three/
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2008/09/29/sly-mongoose-chapter-four/
I see that smile.