The Subterrene War Interviews…

Yesterday I stumbled across the Subterrene War website, dedicated to the science fiction series by T.C. McCarthy. The series begins with Germline, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and is followed by Exogene (available now) and Chimera (out later this year).

If you like your sci-fi gritty, grim, and with a brutalist aesthetic, then this series is definitely for you. As I say in my review, it also reminded me a little of Hunter S. Thompson in tone.

I’ll be reading and reviewing Exogene in the very near future, but in the meantime, I thought I’d share the character interviews McCarthy scripted. So, without further ado…

Colonel Martin:

Lieutenant Chopiak:

Dr. Parsons:

Private Matthews:

Also on CR: An Interview with T.C. McCarthy

“Germline” by T.C. McCarthy (Orbit)

A journalist goes native in a future war, loses grip on reality…

Germline (n.) – A secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers (slang).

War is Oscar Wendell’s ticket to greatness. A reporter for the Stars and Stripes, he has a pass to the front lines of a brutal conflict over natural resources, where genetics – the germline soldiers – battle heavily armed troops deep beneath the icy, mineral-rich mountains of Kazakhstan.

But the front is nothing like Oscar imagined. The genetic soldiers are more human than he bargained for, too. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of drugs and adrenaline, lines are beginning to blur. And if Oscar doesn’t find a way out of the chaos soon, he may never get back.

I first heard about Germline quite a while ago, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting a chance to read it. As soon as it arrived in the post, I put aside the novel I was about to start, and dove right in. I’m glad I did – Germline is an intense, bizarre, and engrossing ride along with a man who is spiralling into his own private hell amidst what can only be described as a hell on earth (yes, he’s pretty unlucky…). It’s different to any other science-fiction I’ve read, and I will certainly be following the trilogy closely and eagerly.

Artwork: EXOGENE by T.C. McCarthy (Orbit)

Just another quick artwork post (there are some really nice pieces of work being released recently, so I’ve decided to take the opportunity to share them).

T.C. McCarthy’s debut novel, Germline has only just come off the presses (it’s released next month), but Orbit have pre-empted the release by showing us the artwork for the author’s second novel, Exogene (both novels are part of McCarthy’s Subterrene War series).