Interviewing Stark Holborn

Hellooo!! I recently reviewed the amazing Ten Low by Stark Holborn an adventure on a far flung world that never stayed in one genre for too long. Wanting to know more I caught up with Stark to talk Science fiction!

How would you book tempt Ten Low?

I’ll keep it simple and say if you liked Mad Max: Fury Road, you’ll like this. But the book also has elements of Firefly, Halo Jones, acid westerns and a whole array of morally dubious characters in a queernorm setting.

What drew you to your choice of lead characters?

Ten and Gabi were the first characters who came into my head; the very first seed of the novel, before the setting or the plot even. The story really revolves around them. They are polar opposites, and their enmity should be clear-cut, but they find each other increasingly hard to quantify in simple terms: Ten is a criminal, but a healer. Gabi has been used and wronged by the very ruling authority she represents. There are no easy answers between them, and that’s what made their journey fascinating, to me.

How did you find creating your own science fiction universe? Any new challenges?

In the past, a lot of my inspiration has come from research, looking up historical maps, objects, diaries, accounts etc. So I had to change my practice a bit and research widely, often going around ideas – everything from political economy to edible insects – rather than digging down into specific detail. But I loved it. I actually got stuck in the middle of writing and decided to spend a couple of days noting down everything I knew or imagined about the universe; the planets, moons, food, religions, freight system, prisons, slang, fashions… Anyone looking for hard science detail will probably be disappointed; I never go into exactly how the guns or the ships actually work, for example, because for me it’s not about that, more about evocation and atmosphere. 

What is your favourite kind of science fiction?

I love low-fi sci-fi; worlds that feel lived in and recycled, rather than shiny, well-oiled space stations. Some of my favourite science fiction combines complex subject matter with incredibly haunting, memorable world-building that’s nevertheless worn lightly: details woven through the text rather than dumped in. Hard to be a God by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky is one example, The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin, Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson… I’m a huge Philip K. Dick fan. I read A Maze of Death just before writing Ten Low and it has become a surprise favourite of mine.

I loved how the story moved from action, drama and even a touch of horror. Do you enjoy crossing boundaries?

I didn’t really think about it when I was writing the book, to be honest! I just wrote what I wanted to… But yes, I enjoy blurring genre boundaries. They’re too rigid most of the time anyway.

Is there room for more stories in this universe in the future?

Absolutely. (In the meantime, you can read a prequel short story “Snake Eyes” for free by signing up to my newsletter. I’ve also written a short piece of interactive fiction set in Falco’s bar with you can play for free on Itch.io).

What else can we look forward to from you next?

I’m hoping that spring 2022 will see another instalment of my Triggernometry series, but science fiction wise, I’m making tentative lunges towards something big and weird and space-faring that should be quite different to anything I’ve done before.

What is your recommendation for a great summer read this year?

WELL I’m lucky enough to have a proof of Tade Thompson’s new novel, Far From the Light of Heaven, which has leapfrogged my TBR pile, but that’s not officially out until October. For short stories, I’m diving into The Best of World SF Vol. 1, edited by Lavie Tidhar and I’m also eagerly awaiting my copy of And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed. Other than that, my favourite summer-set book of all time is probably The Owl Service by Alan Garner. I must have read it about twenty times and it never fails to draw me back in.