Hello and welcome to Track of Words for this SFF Community Spotlight interview, where I’m thrilled to be chatting to Sarah Deeming, Reviews Editor for the British Fantasy Society! In this ongoing series of interviews I’m celebrating and promoting the work of the bloggers and reviewers who put so much time and effort into making the science fiction and fantasy book community such a great place, and I was really keen to talk to Sarah as both a reviewer herself and the person in charge of reviews at the BFS. If you’re not already following the BFS reviews, head over to the website and check it out – there’s loads of good stuff there.
Whether you’re interested in the life of a reviewer, what’s involved in organising reviews for the BFS website, the indie publishing community, or you’re just on the lookout for recommendations of great SFF novels and graphic novels (aren’t we all?), this interview has got you covered! So without further ado, let’s get on with it.
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Track of Words: To begin with, tell us a bit about yourself as a reader, and as a reviewer.
Sarah Deeming: Hi, I’m Sarah, and I am the Reviews Editor for the British Fantasy Society. I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember and there was always a book in my bag, you never know when you’ll have some free time for a quick read. Having the Kindle app and ePub on my phone has been revolutionary for my poor shoulders because I don’t need to have a physical book on me.
I have been reviewing for about 6 years (has it really been that long?!), and I am a sucker for anything that says zombie or xenomorph. Whenever I review something, I look beyond my personal opinion, although that is an important part of a review. As someone who wants to be scared, not every book I read will hit those criteria, but that doesn’t stop me from appreciating the story and the work that’s gone into creating it.
ToW: How did you get into reviewing in the first place?
SD: Like most things in my life, I saw an opportunity and took a chance. The BFS Reviews Editor before me, Phil, put a tweet out for reviewers, and I thought, why not? I did that for about two years, and then Phil stepped down and asked for volunteers to replace him. I wasn’t expecting to get the position, but my philosophy is if I don’t ask, then I’ll never get it, and here I am 3 years later. It kept me sane during the lockdowns and has given me the opportunity to read things I would never have picked up by myself.
ToW: How do you choose what to review? Do you write about everything you read, or do you have a decision-making process for which books you’re going to cover?
SD: All the books for the BFS to review come to me, so I choose from those. There are so many great books coming through that I must be selective. I always let the other reviewers choose first then I pick from what’s left. Unless there’s something from Adrian Tchaikovsky or about zombies or xenomorphs, in which case, they’re mine!
I juggle a full-time job and managing a house with reviewing, so, at the moment, I’m only reading review books. However, I have a little stash of books for pleasure that I add to throughout the year to read over my summer and Christmas holidays. These books have caught my eye over the year, and I would have read them if someone else hadn’t requested them. This summer, I read Ren Hutching’s Under Fortunate Stars and Equinox by David Towsey based on reviews sent through. For Christmas, I have Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao and T. Kingfisher’s Nettle & Bone to look forward to.
I also read and loved Under Fortunate Stars and Equinox – fantastic books!
ToW: There are all sorts of ways to write a book review, but for you personally what makes a great review and what are you aiming for with your own reviews?
SD: For me, a great review goes beyond a rewording of the blurb. I like to mention any running themes, especially if they relate to current issues in the news or are picked up in other books I’ve read. I also like to mention my favourite part or character of the book because that will have elevated the book beyond the others I’ve read. Recently, I read City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and my favourite character was a university lecturer who thought he was so clever and indispensable. But he was fooling himself, and I loved his character journey as all his delusions were stripped away.
I try to be spoiler free as much as possible because I want the reader to experience the twists and turns for themselves. Sometimes that can be really hard, but I enjoy the challenge of doing a decent review without giving everything away.
I also leave any politics at the door. If I have an issue with the author, I focus on the book and not the author. After all, I’m reviewing the book, not the person.
ToW: What’s your process like for writing a review? For example, do you make notes as you go along and/or highlight interesting scenes/moments/bits of dialogue in the book while you’re reading? Do you start with a blank page and write whatever comes to mind, or write down some key points and assemble them into a cohesive whole?
SD: I have a special notebook into which I always put my thoughts as soon as I go along, so I don’t forget anything. I also use coloured sticky tabs to highlight anything in the book that I particularly loved or not, and when I write, I can bring everything together.
Even though I have all that information to hand when I sit down to write, I put a heading on my blank page and hop from one heading to the other until I’ve covered everything I want to. Using headings means I’m not writing straight on a blank page, so it’s less daunting. I sit on my reviews for a day or two before editing them. That space between writing and editing helps me see my errors, and then I hand the review to my husband (who is a non-reader!), and if he understands me, then I’m happy.
ToW: What’s involved in organising the reviews page for the British Fantasy Society? What do you look for in a review?
SD: What I look for in a review is pretty much what I aim for in my own. I need the review to make sense first and foremost. I haven’t read the book, so if I can’t work out what’s going on, then neither will our reader. I also like a coherent beginning, middle and end that finishes with an opinion. I respect honesty and balance in a review, so I don’t mind a bit of criticism, provided it is explained and not aimed at the author.
Organising the pages is perhaps the easiest part of my job because the editors before me set up a standard page for me to put the reviews into and fiddle around with as I see fit, and I am eternally grateful to them. The reviewers also send me their work in a set format (thank you, everyone!). Then it’s all about adding pictures with alternate text. Hence, our reviews are as accessible as possible and add the right hashtags and link the publisher. I tend to link the publisher instead of the author so the author doesn’t drown under noise and the publisher can act as a gatekeeper for them.
ToW: Writing reviews can be a lot of hard work – what do you find the challenges to be?
SD: Usually, finding the time to sit down and write reviews is my biggest challenge. Life is so busy; my house is never quiet, with dogs and children all over the place, so actually carving out the time to write a review is hard. However, the notepad really helps with that, and when I do sit down to write, I usually put something on the TV because I find the background noise helps me concentrate.
Unfortunately, it’s far easier to explain why I didn’t like something than why I loved it, but it’s crucial that I do. I can’t just say, “oh my gosh, it was amazing; buy it!” Well, I could, but that wouldn’t be a great review. I need to put words around the emotions the book created in me, which can be really hard. That’s where the notepad comes in handy.
ToW: What motivates you to keep coming back, keep writing reviews and working with other reviewers?
SD: In a word – community. I love chatting with the other BFS reviewers because we share the same passion for books, and I can get excited about something I’ve read without fear of being looked at like a mad woman. Also, talking to them all during Covid kept me sane. Meeting some of them at Fantasycon is a massive bonus. This year in London was like meeting old friends for the first time.
Then there’s the respect I have for the immense amount of work that goes into writing and producing a book. It can take years before the germ of an idea becomes a reality I can hold in my hand and settle down to. That hard work and perseverance deserve recognition, and that keeps me reviewing. Being asked to review someone’s literary baby is a real privilege.
ToW: Has there been a particularly popular BFS review that people keep checking out? If so, what do you think it is about that review which keeps people coming back to it?
SD: The indie publishing community is really supportive, as it should be; they are releasing some fantastic works without the budgets of the bigger publishing houses. I’m not sure about a specific review, but I can tell you that our reviews of indie books usually get lots of support and sharing. I’m a big fan of horror if that hasn’t already become obvious, and the scariest book I’ve read is A Quiet Apocalypse by Dave Jeffery from Demain Publishing. I was lucky enough to read the series and even beta-read the final book (one of the greatest moments of my life), and those reviews were popular and well-shared.
ToW: Tell us a bit about your latest review.
SD: My last review was a graphic novel – The Human Target Volume 1 by Tom King and illustrated by Greg Smallwood, and it is one of my favourite books of the year, so when I say it was a hard review to write, you’ll remember what I said about it being harder for me to say why I loved something than not.
The story is clever; Christopher Chance is a bodyguard who protects you by taking on your appearance and drawing your assassins to him. But he fails one mission and only has days to live. He spends them hunting his killer, who, it would appear, is one of the Justice League International. The story is told like a 1950’s detective noir with Christopher’s laid-back, perceptive inner monologue running over the panels, which is incredibly atmospheric in itself, but Greg Smallwood’s art is in the same style, so the book is a perfect marriage of art and words.
As it’s a graphic novel, it’s essential to give the same amount of time to the art, colour choices and font type because all these affect our reading. If a particular word is in a different font, someone has made a choice because they wanted that word highlighted. I feel my review should recognise the choices made and how they affected the overall story feel.
ToW: What would you say is your favourite book of the year so far, and why?
SD: Can I only give one? That’s unfair. I can’t give one book that’s my favourite, so I’m going to cheat and give my favourite by genre.
Not Good for Maidens by Toni Bovalino is my favourite fantasy of the year. It’s a retelling of the Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti and is full of strong female characters told over two timelines where the past and present come together.
I’ve already mentioned my favourite sci-fi – Ren Hutching’s Under Fortunate Stars. It’s like Star Trek: First Contact with a bit of Firefly shenanigans thrown in for good measure.
Ally Wilkes’s All the White Spaces is my favourite horror of the year. She mixes tension and suspense, then wraps the whole thing in the cold, dark isolation of the Antarctic. It was so atmospheric it’s impossible to put down.
Oh, and The Human Target Volume 1 by Tom King and Greg Smallwood. If it wasn’t obvious, I loved it; go buy it!
ToW: Are there any interesting trends in SFF, or in publishing as a whole, that you’re seeing a lot of at the moment?
SD: Quite a few sci-fi books explore the theme of a lab-grown army. Over the last few years, some of my favourite books have included this element, such as The Rush’s Edge by Ginger Smith and Adrian Tchaikovsky’s The Final Architecture series. Both feature men or women who have been specifically grown to be soldiers. They are designed physically and mentally to be the perfect soldier, and both authors explore the moral ramifications of disposable humans.
I don’t think I really need to mention climate fiction, or cli-fi, as a growing trend, but I’m going to because I find it both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Cli-fi is not really a dystopian future; it’s now. I read Tim Lebbon’s The Last Storm during the summer heatwave when we were warned not to go out during the day. At the time, I worked as a dinner lady at my local school, which I walked to because it was only five minutes away. Even though I was under an umbrella, I still managed to burn my calves where they weren’t protected. We had to work hard to keep the kids hydrated and allow them to enjoy their break times without overexerting themselves. For me, The Last Storm isn’t as bad as an author’s imagination can get; I saw the beginning of it this summer.
ToW: If you’re not reading or working on reviews, where can you usually be found?
SD: Oh, I am the embodiment of the 2020 lockdowns. I baked banana bread, got a puppy (a chocolate Labrador called Wispa), and learned to crochet. So, when I’m not reading, I’m usually out walking the dogs (ours is a lockdown puppy success story, Wispa is so amazing we decided to get another one), or I’m crocheting. I aim to do all the Ghost-Type Pokémon to decorate my house during Halloween.
ToW: Finally, tell us about the book (or books) that you’re most looking forward to reading in the coming weeks or months.
SD: Adrian Tchaikovsky’s next instalment of his The Final Architecture series (Lords of Uncreation) will be out next year, which I am looking forward to and dreading at the same time. The way the second book, Eyes of the Void, finished, I’m not sure I have the emotional fortitude for what’s coming.
I don’t read a lot of fantasy now, it was all I read when I was younger, so I think I’m a little overloaded by it. However, I really enjoyed Devon Madson’s The Reborn Empire series and the final book, We Dream of Gods, comes out next year. It has some very strong female characters, and I need to see how it ends.
I read Skyfarer and Dragon Road by Joseph Brassey a few years ago, the first two in his The Drifting Lands series, and really enjoyed them. Dragon Road had space zombies, so, of course, I was going to love it. It’s been a long old wait, but book three, Prince of Clay, comes out in 2023. I need this book. I need the closure.
I’m also looking forward to Teen Titans: Robin by Kami Garcia and illustrated by Gabriel Picolo. I’ve been a huge Batman fan since Michael Keaton brooded onto our screens in a black latex mask, so anything with a Robin in it gets my full attention. Kami and Gabriel have brought the Teen Titans right up to date for young adults and absolutely nailed it. Robin is the fourth book in the collection, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I appreciate ebooks. They are good for the environment and storage, but when it comes to graphic novels, I need physical copies so I can drool over the pictures.
Finally, I’m looking forward to the next volume of The Human Target, yes, that one again; I really did love it.
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Big thanks to Sarah for taking the time to do this interview (as part of the 2022 Track of Words Advent Calendar) and contribute such interesting answers, and also for the amazing work she does running the BFS reviews. The British Fantasy Society is an SFF institution, and I’m proud to contribute the occasional review myself (although I should write more – sorry Sarah!) – do make sure you check out the BFS site if you’re not already a regular visitor. You can also follow the British Fantasy Society on Twitter, and Sarah’s own Twitter account.
I hope you enjoyed reading this interview as much as I did putting it together. I’ve got lots of great plans for future SFF Community Spotlight interviews, but I’d love to know what you think, and what you’d like to see in future interviews. Let me know (either in the comments below, or over on Twitter) if you’ve got any ideas, requests or suggestions!
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