Remember The Eight? Here's the sequel
October 23, 2008
THE FIRE will debut on the New York Times bestseller list some twenty years after Katherine Neville's prequel, THE EIGHT, hit the list. Neville deserves it. THE FIRE is a Quest thriller that takes only the main characters and the mysterious (invented) chess set from THE EIGHT. Neville tells me this afternoon in her hotel suite -- Portland is the second city on her book tour, other than Ann Arbor, Michigan -- that her editor demanded that she do all new research. She dances through time and all over the map in THE FIRE.
The thriller centers on the daughter of THE EIGHT'S Cat -- Alexandra Solarin -- a child chess prodigy -- who is now in her twenties. Xie's mother sought to save her by striking chess from her life. And yet, there is the jewel-encrusted Black Queen at stake in a Game whose resurrection is signaled by the disappearance of Cat, herself.
As I pull out my mic and my mini-disc recorder, Katherine's stories are already spilling out of her. She gives me a beautiful leather bookmark for my copy of THE FIRE, and a card, and offers to sign my book. I accept all, thanking her, urgently wanting to learn what took twenty years for her sequel to a book I loved. I had interviewed her by phone about THE EIGHT all those years ago. I have a recollection of Katherine as sweet and almost shy, quietly spoken and humble.
She seems more comfortable with her success now. And she seems guided by the stars, a trait I passionately love...and embrace.
Katherine says she was nearly ready to write THE FIRE in 1992, but nothing happened. She says she writes by serendipity -- and if story lines and research don't just pop up, she puts the manuscript aside. What finally spurred her on to write THE FIRE -- was the plane that smashed into the Pentagon just across from her apartment in Washington DC on September 11th, 2001. And, later, being summoned by the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Treasury who had read THE EIGHT -- and was inspired to learn to play chess as a result. Oddly, he had mastered chess in Baghdad -- which is where Katherine had much earlier decided to set the origin of this majestic chess set.
What I find most charming about my hour with Katherine is her answer to my last question. I want to know what she would like readers to take away from THE FIRE. She tells me that she insisted the book hit stores before the election. Katherine says a powerful tool for cosmic transformation is revealed in THE FIRE. Nestled in that message is what we need right now, before November 4th.
THE FIRE will debut on the New York Times bestseller list some twenty years after Katherine Neville's prequel, THE EIGHT, hit the list. Neville deserves it. THE FIRE is a Quest thriller that takes only the main characters and the mysterious (invented) chess set from THE EIGHT. Neville tells me this afternoon in her hotel suite -- Portland is the second city on her book tour, other than Ann Arbor, Michigan -- that her editor demanded that she do all new research. She dances through time and all over the map in THE FIRE.
The thriller centers on the daughter of THE EIGHT'S Cat -- Alexandra Solarin -- a child chess prodigy -- who is now in her twenties. Xie's mother sought to save her by striking chess from her life. And yet, there is the jewel-encrusted Black Queen at stake in a Game whose resurrection is signaled by the disappearance of Cat, herself.
As I pull out my mic and my mini-disc recorder, Katherine's stories are already spilling out of her. She gives me a beautiful leather bookmark for my copy of THE FIRE, and a card, and offers to sign my book. I accept all, thanking her, urgently wanting to learn what took twenty years for her sequel to a book I loved. I had interviewed her by phone about THE EIGHT all those years ago. I have a recollection of Katherine as sweet and almost shy, quietly spoken and humble.
She seems more comfortable with her success now. And she seems guided by the stars, a trait I passionately love...and embrace.
Katherine says she was nearly ready to write THE FIRE in 1992, but nothing happened. She says she writes by serendipity -- and if story lines and research don't just pop up, she puts the manuscript aside. What finally spurred her on to write THE FIRE -- was the plane that smashed into the Pentagon just across from her apartment in Washington DC on September 11th, 2001. And, later, being summoned by the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Treasury who had read THE EIGHT -- and was inspired to learn to play chess as a result. Oddly, he had mastered chess in Baghdad -- which is where Katherine had much earlier decided to set the origin of this majestic chess set.
What I find most charming about my hour with Katherine is her answer to my last question. I want to know what she would like readers to take away from THE FIRE. She tells me that she insisted the book hit stores before the election. Katherine says a powerful tool for cosmic transformation is revealed in THE FIRE. Nestled in that message is what we need right now, before November 4th.
Labels: book review, chess, election day., Katherine Neville, serendipity, THE EIGHT, THE FIRE
posted by Diana Page Jordan @ 10:42 PM
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