SAVILE, Steve 1969-
(Steven Savile)

PERSONAL:

Born October, 1969, in Newcastle, England; divorced. Education: Attended Newcastle College; Northumbria University, B.A., 1992, M.A., 1997.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Stockholm, Sweden.

CAREER:

Writer, novelist, short-story writer, and publisher. Nyx Books (a small press publishing house), cofounder.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Best Short Story award nominee, British Fantasy Society, 1999, for "Remember Me Yesterday"; Best Collection award nominee, British Fantasy Society, 1999, for Icarus Descending; Writers of the Future Award, 2002, for "Bury My Heart at the Garrick."

WRITINGS:

FICTION

Return of the Jedi, Henderson (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England), 1997.

(Editor) Scaremongers 2: Redbrick Eden (short stories), Tanjen (South Wigston, England), 1998.

Icarus Descending (short stories), Enigmatic P., 1999.

Secret Life of Colors, Darktales Publications, 2000.

The Sufferer's Song (e-book), 2000.

Similar Monsters, Cosmos Books (Canton, OH), 2001.

(Editor) Black Gondolier, Midnight House (Seattle, WA), 2001.

(Editor) Smoke Ghost, Midnight House (Seattle, WA), 2002.

Laughing Boy's Shadow, Darkfantastique, 2003.

Houdini's Last Illusion (revised and expanded version of short story, "Bury My Heart at the Garrick"), Telos Publishing (Tolworth, Surrey, England), 2004.

Angel Road (short stories), Elastic Press (Norwich, England), 2004.

The Fragrance of You (graphic novel), NyX, 2005.

Inheritance ("Warhammer" novel; Von Carstein Trilogy, Book 1), Black Library (Nottingham, England), 2006.

Dominion ("Warhammer" novel; Von Carstein Trilogy, Book 2), Black Library (Nottingham, England), 2006.

(Editor, with Alethea Kontis) Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology, introduction by Arthur C. Clarke, Tor (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of "Doctor Who" stories for Big Finish. Editor, with John Pelan, of Last Days, a mosaic novel. Contributor to anthologies, including Unnatural Selection, Vivisections, Something Wicked, Scaremongers, The Asylum: Bedtime Stories for the Criminally Insane, The Alsiso Project, and Poe's Progeny.

SIDELIGHTS:

Novelist, short-story writer, and editor Steve Savile is cofounder of Nyx Books, a small press publisher of horror and dark fantasy. He is a prolific author of short stories, and his works can be found assembled in a number of collections. In Icarus Descending, the characters of the title story share a prickly bond forged of guilt, despair, and self-hatred. "Remember Me Yesterday" is a story of outcasts, time wasted, and lives lived on the edge of acceptable society by a group of disaffected, surrealistic young people. "Icarus Descending is an opportunity to soak in the thick, sensuous atmosphere Savile creates with every word," commented Lisa DuMond on SF Site.

Savile's novel Secret Life of Colors follows the life of Gabriel Rush, a former cop who has been rendered by circumstances into a shattered husk of his former self. A sleazy, lowbrow private investigator, Gabriel seems to have little reason to continue his charade of work, taking pictures of subjects in compromising positions. In the course of his unpleasant job, however, one photograph snags his attention; the woman in the photo displays a peculiar pattern on her cheek, which Gabriel cannot confirm was actually present when the photograph was taken. He knows he has to warn the woman because he recognizes the pattern as the signature mutilation mark of a serial murderer known as the Trinity Killer, a monstrous figure that instills fear throughout New York City. Rush knows more than the public does about the Trinity Killer, however, and that knowledge fills him with cold fear of what the murderer will do if he has the opportunity. DuMond, in another SF Site review, observed that readers of Savile's novel "will enjoy the pleasure of Savile's prose and the amazing breadth of his ideas."

Angel Road contains thirteen stories focusing on a variety of angels, including fallen angels, human-seeming angels, and the standard Heavenly angels. "The Pain, Heartbreak, and Redemption of Owen Frost" finds characters Owen, Alsiso, and Alsiso's protectors locked into a predetermined fate that they can't control. In "The God of Forgotten Things," a story that DuMond called "breathtaking," the god of the title travels a strict and determined course, but fails to reach the destination he had in mind. "This Broken Land" recounts a gathering of angelic powers for a showdown that seems to be predetermined, with an outcome that the story's characters cannot admit even to themselves. "In a Steve Savile story, nothing is ever as it should be, but, oddly, at the end of every piece it seems absolutely certain that nothing could be changed. Whatever happens, it is inevitable in hindsight," commented DuMond in another SF Site review.

Savile is the editor, with Alethea Kontis, of the fund-raising collection of short stories Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology. This anthology of speculative fiction features an introduction by the venerable Arthur C. Clarke, who as a resident of Sri Lanka saw firsthand the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami. David Gerrold, in "Report from the Near Future: Crystallization," tells the story of the day the entire Los Angeles freeway system locked up, traffic freezing in place in a process not dissimilar from crystallization. Sharon Shinn contributes "The Double Edged Sword," which a Kirkus Reviews critic called an "evocative and beautifully written fantasy about an exiled healer who must face her past." Adam Roberts, with "And Tomorrow And," retells MacBeth as a dark comedy. Brian Aldiss writes a tale of tigers, while industry notables Larry Niven and Joe Haldeman contribute new stories, and Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson present a new tale of Dune. "The entire collection constitutes thought-provoking entertainment for a good cause," commented Carl Hays in Booklist.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2006, Carl Hays, review of Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology, p. 28.

Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2006, review of Elemental, p. 214.

Library Journal, April 15, 2006, Jackie Cassada, review of Elemental, p. 70.

Publishers Weekly, April 10, 2006, review of Elemental, p. 50.

ONLINE

Cosmos Books Web site,http://www.cosmos-books.com/ (November 12, 2006).

Emerald City,http://www.emcit.com/ (November 12, 2006), Cheryl Morgan, "Elements of Hope," review of Elemental.

Fantastic Fiction,http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ (November 12, 2006), bibliography of Steve Savile.

Haunted Computer,http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/ (November 12, 2006), Scott Nicholson, "Steve Savile: Is There a 'u' in 'Horrour'?" interview with Steve Savile.

Infinity Plus,http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/ (November 12, 2006), Alethea Kontis, "An Interview with Steven Savile"; Jason Gould, review of Scaremongers 2: Redbrick Eden.

Really Scary,http://www.reallyscary.com/ (November 12, 2006), Mark Sieber, "A Really Scary Conversation with Author Steve Savile."

SF Site,http://www.sfsite.com/ (November 12, 2006), Nathan Brazil, review of Houdini's Last Illusion; Lisa DuMond, review of Similar Monsters; Lisa DuMond, review of Secret Life of Colors; Lisa DuMond, review of Icarus Descending.

Steven Savile Home Page,http://www.stevensavile.com (November 12, 2006).

Steve Savile's Castle,http://www.geocities.com/similarangels/ (November 12, 2006).

Storytellers Unplugged,http://www.storytellersunplugged.com/ (November 12, 2006), profile of Steve Savile.*