The Codemancer Novel: First update
My favorite book of 2012 was written for 10-year-olds.
Or, to be more specific, children that fall under the "middle grade" division.
Between you and I, a part of me is still standing around gawking at the idea, eyes owl-round with shock at what the rest of her has become. For years, I was one of those people, an elitist SFF reader who campaigned against the segregation between fiction for adults and reading material for teenagers. I didn't want adolescents to begin their literary habits with Twilight or Percy Jackson or any of the hundreds of The Hunger Games clones. I wanted them to be christened with the Laundry Files, Johannes Cabal, and Bel Dame Apocrypha.
But, then someone told me that Terry Prachett's Tiffany Aching books were intended for teenagers, and the foundation of my world gave away. I was reading, even delighting in something intended for precocious tweens. How did that even happen? The curiosity became academic. I started actively purchasing Young Adult books, just to see if I could maintain my antagonistic stance.
Two months and twenty books later later, I had the answer.
I still dislike Percy Jackson, although that might have more to do with what it has done with Greek mythology than the actual writing. (Yes, Disney’s Hercules totally gets a nose crinkle.) The Divergent franchise still makes me cringe, and anything with a love triangle will still instantly make my hackles raise. But, YA contains some brilliant stuff and a surprising amount of contributions from the most unexpected sources.
Take Richard Kadrey, for example. Probably best known for the amazing Butcher Bird and his gritty Sandman Slim franchise, the author wrote a book called Dead Set sometime back, which is about a punk-loving teenage girl who goes into the Underworld in search of her father. It’s a more anaemic read compared to his other work but Dead Set makes up for it by addressing some complicated topics: self-harm, personal sacrifice, the physical death of one parent, and the slow, emotional death of another.
It’s easy to forget that YA titles don’t have to be stripped-down, sanitized version of books for adults. They can be feisty and terrifying. Lauren Beukes’ recently published Broken Monsters is ostensibly a book for adults, but it also includes a fascinating and somewhat uncomfortable take on adolescent life. Online predators? Harassment? Misdemeanor on Chatroulette? Ego-mottled school politics? The checkboxes are ticked here.
YA books have blunter narratives. Their ideas are written in block letters or carved into mile-high stone tablets. The prose is sharper, more biting, and less prone towards wasting time on graphic descriptions. But that doesn’t make them any less intelligent. More innocent, perhaps, but certainly not lacking in cleverness. They’re parables, modern-day fairy tales, the voices of the older generation looking to help the young traverse some dangerous territory. The best YA books are warnings, asking its readers to open their eyes and take stock of issues before they can turn into neuroses, or windows into a world that has only begun to become accessible.
Which is partially why I was so excited about running into Robert Lockhart from Important Little Games a few weeks after I hit that particular epiphany. He was looking for someone to write a companion novel for Codemancer, an edutainment game that is looking to inspire a love of programming in younger kids. Obviously, I applied. What was miraculous was, in spite of a rambly interview, he ended up saying, “Yes.”
There are a lot of things that I’m hoping to accomplish with the Codemancer novel, which has been tentatively codenamed “The Missing Familiars” for the time being. One of them is creating a book that is potentially appealing to both kids and adults. As I’ve mentioned earlier, my favorite title of 2014 is a book for middle-grade kids. It’s called A Face Like Glass, and it is magical.
The main character is a little girl named Neverfell, who finds herself somehow entangled in the world of Caverna, a subterranean kingdom ruled by dangerously smiling nobles and craftsmen gifted in the art of True Delicacies. Here, wines are predatory liquids capable of draining memories, cheeses can be turned into explosive devices, and perfumers are artisans who have their eyes ritualistically removed upon apprenticeship. Even more enchantingly, this is a world where no one is capable of developing expressions without help. The poor are given only a few faces to select from, while the rich are blessed with rich and various faces. It’s wild, weird, and it is all deliciously written.
Here, let me find you a few quotes:
“I know how it is," Madame Appeline said, narrowing her slanting eyes slightly over her ice-cream smile. "There is a feeling deep down inside you, isn’t there? All the time. It bothers you. You don’t really know what it is, or how to describe it. You do not have a Face for it. And so you scan all the Face catalogues, and ask for Faces for every birthday because perhaps, just perhaps, if you had the right Face, you might understand what you are feeling. You need to find that Face."
“At one o’clock, the ever-logical Right-Eye Grand Steward woke up to discover that during his sleep his left-eyed counterpart had executed three of his advisors for treason, ordered the creation of a new carp pool and banned limericks. Worse still, no progress had been made in tracking down the Kleptomancer, and of the two people believed to be his accomplices, both had been released from prison and one had been appointed food taster. Right-Eye was not amused. He had known for centuries that he could trust nobody but himself. Now he was seriously starting to wonder about himself.”
Lovely, isn’t it? Frances Hardinge’s writing is both extravagant yet simplistic, ruled by cunning phrases and earthy, vivid descriptions that demand the use of the imagination instead of a dictionary. An articulate tween could probably read her work, possibly with some guidance from a parent, but it is readable. I’m hoping that The Missing Familiars will be the same.
Stylistic stuff aside, we’ll also exploring a variety of thoughtful themes with The Missing Familiars, including bullying, broken families, societal manipulations, sexism, and some other ideas that I’m going to keep under my hat for the time being. And it won’t just be about that. The Missing Familiars will also be an outright adventure.
After setting a few ground rules, Rob was kind enough to let me go a little wild with the Codemancer universe, and the novel will go into detail about that. Are you curious about the logistics of actually owning a familiar? Have you ever wondered what would occur if a prey and predator species were to find themselves in the same room? If there are age limits or even laws against having certain animals in place? Have you contemplated if anyone would associate religious significance with the introduction of Codemancy? We’re going to check that out right here.
And that’s all for now. Consider this a teaser, a sneak peek into the kind of narratives and stylistic choices you might be able to expect from The Missing Familiars. We’re about three chapters into the novel so far, and there might be a sneak peek at the contents soon enough. Expect regular weekly updates on the progress of The Missing Familiars, including looks at the characters, their motivations, and possibly even discussions about the Codemancer universe itself. Have questions? Feel free to either Tweet, email me, or even remark on stuff on the Tumblr!
