Gilman, Felix 1974-

PERSONAL:

Born 1974, in London, England; married: wife's name Sarah. Education: Holds two degrees in history from Oxford University; Harvard Law School, J.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. Agent—Howard Morhaim, Howard Morhaim Literary Agency, 30 Pierrepont St., Brooklyn, New York 11201. E-mail—felix@felixgilman.com.

CAREER:

Writer and attorney. Worked in telecommunications journalism and served as a law clerk for a federal judge, New York, NY.

WRITINGS:

Thunderer (fantasy novel), Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer Felix Gilman was born in 1974, in London, England. He earned two degrees in history from Oxford University, then worked in telecommunications journalism before enrolling at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After graduating with his J.D., he moved to New York, New York, where he worked as a law clerk for a federal judge. However, the law is not Gilman's only interest, and between jobs, he wrote his first novel to be published, a work of epic fantasy titled Thunderer, released by Bantam Books in 2008.

Gilman's creativity and imagination are apparent on the his home page, where he provides a fake autobiography that is more diverse and entertaining than the contents of many novels. In the fictional version of his life, he claims to have committed suicide in 1924 by shooting himself, a deed that supposedly took place in a remote cabin in the wooded mountains of Massachusetts, where his corpse was discovered, gnawed by rats. In addition, the cabin reportedly boasted signs of having been attacked by strange creatures that left messages scrawled on the interior walls in an unrecognizable language. Gilman further claims to have spent time in a mental institution prior to his suicide, during which he wrote thirty-two books in what might very well have been the same unknown language, all of which had supposedly been dictated to him by Yith, an alien being. Gilman's home page also includes his answer to the supposedly pressing question of why readers should vote for him for president of the United States, a list of numerous unpublished works that he has written, information pertaining to his education—both real and imagined—and a few bare facts that can be sifted out from the numerous falsehoods that make up the majority of the inventive Web site.

In reality, Gilman began to write when he was just a child, growing up in Chislehurst, England, filling page after page with cramped handwriting. In an interview with Jeff VanderMeer for SF Site: The Home Page for Science Fiction and Fantasy, Gilman remarked, "I used to nick [steal] stacks of notebooks from school and fill them with the most god-awful crap." By the time he became a teenager and somewhat more aware of quality over quantity, Gilman had more or less turned to other pursuits. However, he occasionally indulged his creative tendencies while attending Oxford University, but even that output eventually trickled to nothing. Writing, though, remained at the back of his mind until he found himself idle, between jobs, and with sufficient funds that he could spend the six-month period writing rather than working at a miscellaneous job designed to pay the rent during the gap. He told his friends that he was writing articles for various law reviews during the period, unwilling to share his true pursuit until it was actually successful.

Thunderer takes place in the city of Ararat, an unmappable metropolis that owes much of its architecture and atmosphere to Victor Hugo's depiction of nineteenth-century Paris, France, and Venice, Italy, during the Renaissance. Ararat is also influenced by the works of Jules Verne, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, and J.M. Barrie. Arjun, a young male composer who is seeking the intangible Voice, arrives in Ararat from his home in the city of Gad, only to discover that Ararat is actually populated with numerous gods, making his search far more difficult than he anticipated. The city of Ararat is in something of an uproar, due to the return of the Bird-God, a creature that blesses the city with its presence only rarely, but when it does, it distributes gifts of a magical nature across the city. Arjun, while searching for his city's god, inadvertently releases a god that has been held captive for the protection of the city, putting everyone in immense danger. At the same time, readers meet a street kid named Jack Sheppard, who, thanks to the diversion of the Bird-God's arrival, manages to escape the workhouse where he has been imprisoned and return to the streets. Only then does he realize he has been blessed by the Bird-God with the ability to fly, and he uses his new powers to start his own gang: the Thunderers. A contributor to the Fantasy Book Critic Web log stated that in Thunderer, Gilman delivers "a memorable cast of characters, and wonderfully polished prose."

Although not all reviews of Thunderer were uniformly positive, most critics praised his debut novel. The Fantasy Book Critics Web log contributor remarked: "What an interesting concoction … Gilman has conjured up!" A reviewer for Publishers Weekly found the novel's overall plot somewhat inconsistent, but concluded that a "strongly conveyed atmosphere and intriguing characters make this a distinctive debut." Booklist reviewer Roland Green declared that "Gilman is far above average for a first novelist." Robert Folsom, in a review for the Kansas City Star, commented that "Gilman's opening pages show a deep imagination at work, not only with regard to an ever-changing city but also to the gods that alter it by whim." Locus Online reviewer Faren Miller concluded: "The various plot threads lead to a powerful series of denouements that could serve as both endings and beginnings, extending beyond the city and deep into its heart."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 2007, Roland Green, review of Thunderer, p. 30.

Kansas City Star, January 20, 2008, Robert Folsom, "Fantasy & Science Fiction: Felix Gilman's Debut Novel Raises a City of Gods," review of Thunderer.

Library Journal, December 1, 2007, Jackie Cassada, review of Thunderer, p. 104.

Publishers Weekly, October 29, 2007, review of Thunderer, p. 35.

ONLINE

Fantasy Book Critic Web log,http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/ (December 17, 2007), review of Thunderer; (February 8, 2008), "Interview with Felix Gilman."

Felix Gilman Home Page,http://felixgilman.com (August 13, 2008).

Locus Online,http://www.locusmag.com/ (April 1, 2008), Faren Miller, review of Thunderer.

Omnivoracious Web site,http://www.omnivoracious.com/ (March 1, 2008), Jeff VanderMeer, "Thunderin' Felix Gilman's Thunderer."

Science Fiction and Fantasy World,http://www.sffworld.com/ (March 3, 2008), Rob H. Bedford, review of Thunderer.

Sci-Fi Weekly,http://www.scifi.com/sfw/ (January 28, 2008), Paul DiFilippo, review of Thunderer.

SF Site: The Home Page for Science Fiction and Fantasy,http://www.sfsite.com/ (April 1, 2007), Jeff VanderMeer, "Dispatches from Smaragdine," author interview.

Spectra Pulse Facebook Page,http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spectra-Pulse/ (January 3, 2008), author interview.