I failed my 11-plus and there weren’t all that many books being passed around at my school, stuff like In Praise of Older Women [by Stephen Vizinczey], just dirty novels really! George Orwell interested me because of the clarity of his vision and the simplicity of his writing but at that point I really liked fantasy and I was very keen on Mervyn Peake and Gormenghast. It wasn’t until I left school and started coming across a richer world of ideas, when books like The Dice Man, Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse-F ive came shining through, that I began to think there might be a way of telling stories connected with life itself. Oh, ho,’ I hear you say. ‘This scoundrel, like all the scoundrels who followed him, is going to tell us he has reformed!’

Waterstones Manchester Deansgate event with Mark Illis. It’s a double launch!– Mark’s launching his book, The Impossible; on the Run. I’ll be talking about The Lost Witch. JULY 21st There’s a lot of lying bastards about, politically, and Loki seemed a way to explore the nature of lying This is a retelling that is contemporary in tone, at once amusing and relatable. It is a heartfelt plea to overthrow the old gods of power and authority and instigate a new era ruled by love and intelligence. While the language is crude at times, Burgess’ writing is also very funny, lyrical, thought provoking, and atmospheric.As a Norse (Dane) I've been wanting to read more books inspired by/retellings of Norse mythology, but they're not as easy to come by as certain other mythologies cough Greek cough, so I was excited when I came across this one - and it's also told by one of the best Norse gods, Loki ( I'm not biased.. you are)! Here’s some places and dates where I’ll be reading from and talking about the new book. See if I’m coming anywhere near you. More detail to follow as I get it myself. That reading was for me a fun and enthralling experience, the Norse myths being dismantled and reassembled with a very modern sensibility. Indeed some of the overtly "religiously" aspects are presented in what was for me, as a Christian, a very suggestive way - clearly, for all his confinement, Loki has a good knowledge of the modern work. Take for example Thor's passion, dying nailed to a tree before descending to the Underworld and arising again, bearing the scars of his experience. This was a very horrifying, but also moving, account, as much so for me as any Easter passion. Other elements touch on the modern understanding of gender fluidity, with one of the gods (I won't say who, because spoilers) challenging the rigid, patriarchal regime of Thor and Odin with their developing understanding of their own identity.

My aim is not to deny anything. I have my flaws. Unlike the other gods I am aware of them. I embrace them, in fact. They make me what I am. But I have also done a great deal of good in my time – more good than bad, I like to think. I have been your friend from the beginning. I gave you fire, when the gods would keep you in the darkness. They changed my name so that you could not know, but it was me, it was me all the time. I showed you the wheel, the smithy, the plough to name but a few. Believe me when I say that my compa- triots have not loved me for any of it. I will finish this book, purely out of my respect to Loki. But I’m also sorry that another piece of pop culture involving him as a main character is such a crap. Lucinda Roy continues the Dreambird Chronicles, her explosive first foray into speculative fiction, with Flying the Coop, the thought-provoking sequel to The Freedom Race England has been taken over by the Bloods, a far right Christian sect, white supremicists propped up by a fanatical new government in the USA. Marti, a mixed race trans girl, represents everything they hate in one person. All she wants to do is leave the country, even if it means dumping her baby brother Michael and her best friend Maude. But there she discovers that her dad might still be alive, and has had his mind re-written by the Bloods in the ERAC, the Evangelical Rehabilitation Centre in Huntingdon, she has no choice but to go down south into Blood’s territory, in the very slight hope that she can rescue him.Told with wit, verve and some decidedly adolescent scatological humour, it’s a book that exerts a curious charm’ What started as an interesting experiment turns out to be one of the most boring retellings of myths I have ever read. What a great deal of fun this was! ‘Loki’ is Burgess’ first novel for adult readers having previously written for children and young adults. He is also a winner of the prestigious Carnegie Medal. There was no question of it being something I was aiming at young people. When you write for young people, it’s not that you’re censoring yourself, it’s that you’re writing about being that age. Loki isn’t about being that age; there isn’t anyone of that age in it. I’ve made a career out of remembering being a teenager and trying to relate to that time, but it was bloody long ago! I don’t really have much more to say about it. Adult stuff is where I’m looking now. I’ve got more Norse gods bubbling away – I want to get grips with Odin at some point – as well as a long-term project around the childhood of Bill Sikes [from Oliver Twist].