Earlier this month, I reviewed Richard Kadrey’s new novel “The Grand Dark” for the LA Times; as I wrote, “His latest is “The Grand Dark,” a noir, diesel punk book set in a Weimar world of war trauma, debauchery, cabaret and looming disaster — and it’s superb.”
As part of his publicity for the book, Kadrey appeared on Rick Kleffel’s (previously) podcast, “Narrative Species,” for a wide-ranging, hour-long conversation about the various species of noir, what is and isn’t horror, and the role of art during the buildup to a fascist takeover (MP3). It’s a characteristically great interview with Kadrey, who is always fascinating, and Kleffel, who is a perspicacious literary thinker and critic.
Kadrey’s urban creation knows no boundaries of genre. He crafts his world with the precise language of science fiction and the wild abandon of modern fantasy. Keeping it tightly focused and ever-immersive are his carefully crafted characters. Read a page or so of this book, and you won’t be thinking of genre. Instead, you’ll start to worry for and with Largo. He’s no naïve kid from the sticks. He’s a scrappy, yet caring underdog from a bad part of town with no plans to return.
Richard Kadrey The Grand Dark [Rick Kleffel/Narrative Species]
(Thanks, Rick!)