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So, I’ve been busy. I know, I know… every few months (ahem, years) I come back to this blog with an excuse and it’s always the same one. I’d much rather pen a ninety-thousand-word novel than write a two-thousand-word blog post. I am getting better, though and recent participation in anthologies and shared projects with other writers has spurred me on to get back into blogging a bit. Timing-wise, it’s probably a good idea especially with the release of ‘Motherland Climax by Vlad Putting’ only two months away!
First off, I know what you’re thinking. The title, right? Let me dig into the background a little bit.
Around a year and a half ago I read ‘The Iron Dream’ by Norman Spinrad. It utterly blew my mind in that way fantastic books do. It’s a satire set in a world where a certain genocidal German dictator emigrated to the USA instead of entering politics and became an illustrator and novelist. In his seminal work, he wrote about a post-apocalyptic future where mutants reigned supreme and ‘pure’ humans were in the minority. The story follows a ‘pure’ human character who retakes his country, rebuilds society in his image, and wages relentless war against mutant nations.
If you’ve read anything on World War Two, you can see the parallels.
It was the discourse at the start and end of the book that really hooked me in. The fact that it’s a book-within-a-book allows the suspension of belief to the point that for me, it was like reading what a deranged genocidal maniac dreamed of doing, in a world where he lived a normal, everyday life.
My mind went into overdrive after reading it. I wanted to write something like it so I turned my attention to whose perspective it could be written from. If you follow me on social media, you most likely know I’m a firm supporter of Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion, so my thoughts shifted to a certain Russian politician. What if he never entered politics and instead penned a series of novels? What would he write about? Who would his characters be? With that train of thought ‘Motherland Climax by Vlad Putting’ was born.
The Foreword of the novel (it’s actually Chapter One) sets the scene. It explains the backstory of how a former Russian KGB operative moved to the UK and eventually wrote what was to become a best-selling series of novels featuring super-spy Victor Petrov. The world itself is geopolitically quite different from our own, with vague references to the two World Wars never happening and even a mention of a ‘Corsican novelist named Napoleon.’
Colonialism is still very much alive with the likes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Iceland and Ireland, the Confederate States of America, and the Holy Roman Empire vying for supremacy, often at the expense of the Rus Empire. Against this backdrop Victor Petrov will stop at nothing to seize political power for himself, install the neo-Bolshevik Republic of the Rus, and wage unrepenting war against the hated ‘Doctrine of Equality.’
I describe most (if not all) of the novel as written in ‘purple prose’, a delightful term I only discovered after penning it. Essentially, the writing style is gratuitous, excessive, and at times, downright barmy. There are sections dedicated to how manly the Victor Petrov character is from fighting a bear in the Siberian wilderness, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with ninja assassins on a plane to taking on two divisions of heavily armed insurgents, alone, while piloting a mech.
Ludicrous, I know, but I approached this story with the sole purpose of tearing up the rulebook. I wrote it from the perspective of someone who, in our world, wields massive power, but in the setting of the story, doesn’t. The novel draws on a feeling of inferiority and the need to be glorified and worshipped while espousing views that I think most people would find abhorrent.
In the Afterword (the last chapter) a contemporary fictional author delves into some of the themes and ideas in the book in an attempt to understand why this series is so popular. That for me, sums it up nicely, and hopefully explains what I was trying to do with this project.
The excessive number of times the ‘Motherland’ is referenced, (mostly in a weirdly erotic manner) is also explored in the Afterword. The author ponders if it’s an ‘Oedipus Complex but on a nationalistic scale’ and they’re right. Dictators and those who seize power often link their egos with the country they’ve usurped. Any past, perceived slight on their person becomes one for the entire nation to endure.
More than anything, the Victor Petrov character dreams of bringing the Motherland to her natural climax on the world stage. The persecution and suffering he experienced in his early career becomes the driver behind him making the neo-Bolshevik Republic of the Rus the world’s preeminent economic, political, and military power.
I genuinely have no idea how Motherland Climax will be received since it’s such a radical departure from what I’d normally write. This is my first foray into satire and alternative history, and I’m hopeful people enjoy it and see what I was trying to do. Thankfully, pre-publication reviews and feedback have been positive, so fingers crossed that trend continues.
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be delving more into the world of Motherland Climax, plus updates on my other projects (yes, three books coming this year alone). Stay tuned, and if you’ve read this far, well done.
Go pour yourself a nice cup of coffee/carbonated beverage/water or beer, if you partake.
You’ve earned it!
Motherland Climax by Vlad Puting is available for pre-order now:
https://www.damienlarkinbooks.com/shop/pre-order-motherland-climax-by-vlad-puting
Motherland Climax by Vlad Puting is available for pre-order now:
https://www.damienlarkinbooks.com/shop/pre-order-motherland-climax-by-vlad-puting