Yesterday’s Hero by Jonathan Wood
Last week we shared that GeekDad is hosting free digital versions of Jonathan Wood’s two books, No Hero and its brand new sequel, Yesterday’s Hero for the next week. Well, if you still haven’t had a chance to download them, or for some reason just haven’t heard, or just need another reminder or reason, here’s an interview with the author himself. We break out of the usual mold a bit, and his answers are not to be missed!
You can find out more about Jonathan at his website, Cogs and Neurons, or follow him on Twitter @thexmedic.
GeekDad: Tell us a little about the inspiration behind the No Hero series
Jonathan Wood: I like that we’re framing this in terms of “inspiration” that sounds so much better than “ripping off…”
To be honest, there are a ton of individual inspirations to the series. Some scenes are tied very specifically to particular instances (for example, No Hero has a scene in a Peruvian temple which directly draws on my love of Indiana Jones). In other cases the themes are more pervasive – if you missed the Lovecraft homage going on in No Hero then you’re probably the sort of person who needs to be reminded than you use your face to read.
But I think the overall inspiration tying the others together is my love of pulp. I want to capture the sense of adventure, and the bombast, and the sheer ridiculousness of old pulp fantasies. So when I pull on something near and dear to my heart like Hellboy or a James Rollins thriller, I’m always putting it through that filter. So when there’s a monster fight, it’s not just a monster fight. It’s a fight against a zombie T-Rex. And not only that but it’s a zombie T-Rex summoned by a time travelling Russian cyborg wizard. That sort of thing…
GD: Do you consider video games an influence? If so, which ones?
JW: I’m happy to be influenced by anything I can get my hands on, and video games certainly form a large part of my cultural diet. From a long time back I can remember the Final Fantasy games opened up a whole world of non-Western fantasy tropes for me, which I hadn’t been exposed to before. And more recently games like Fallout and Mass Effect have really highlighted the power of moral decision-making in stories.
Also, it’s impossible to not have video games influence your lexicon of action scenes. They’re so cinematic these days. I suspect there’s a lot of subconscious influence in how I choreograph my action that comes from games like Gears of War, and God of War, and… well anything ending in War really.
GD: Top ten action flicks?
JW: God, I love this question…
OK, the first two are obvious to me. Die Hard and The Matrix. Those movies bookended the 90s and are still massively influential. Die Hard taught us that its fun to watch our hero get pounded on. The Matrix taught us how to mash genres and styles, and how just to look damn cool.
If I’m going to throw out The Matrix, then I have to mention Ghost in the Shell, which it relies on heavily. Just a wonderful stylish action movie, which is also willing to break from the ass-kickery to deal with quotes from philosophers and literary theorists. What’s not to love?
And now I’m in anime territory, so Akira needs a shout out as well. Epic in its scope, its ambition, it’s over-the-top violence. Just a cool ambitious movie that hits so many right notes, it’s hard to care that it confuses the crap out of me.
Aliens is another personal favorite. It captures the creepy weirdness of the first movie, but ratchets up the kick ass to 11.
It would be a crime to list action movies and not mention James Bond. I’m not sure he’s my favorite Bond, but I think Timothy Dalton may have done my favorite Bond movies. He hits the nostalgia buttons just right. And of his short run, I did love License to Kill especially. Those films capture the adventure, and the fun of the films, but ground them with a grittiness that fakes realism. It’s artful.
I’ve already mentioned Indiana Jones, but I want to call it out again. Especially The Last Crusade, which is my personal favorite. Harrison Ford and Sean Connery? It’s like the axis of awesome.
Romancing the Stone is possibly a little low on action, and maybe more of an adventure movie, but I’m keeping it here anyway, because it’s awesome.
To make up for the potential action light inclusion, I’m throwing in 300. Frank Miller is misogynistic, and obsessed with the idea of “real men,” and the movie has way too many man nipples for any regular piece of celluloid, but the movie is just an outstanding testament to testosterone.
That’s 9, right?
There are so many movies to put into the last spot… Maybe something less well known. The Brotherhood of the Wolf is a french movie with kung fu and sword fights and Monica Bellucci in a corset.
GD: How are you a GeekDad?
JW: Well, I have offspring, so that’s half of that. As for how I’m a geek… You’re giving away my fantasy novels aren’t you? But I have been hardcore geeking since my childhood Transformers obsession. And I started roleplaying at about nine… I think my credentials are good.
GD: Scariest Lovecraftian monster?
JW: I feel like, definitionally, it should be Cthulhu. The whole dead god dreaming thing, tentacles coming out of his face. But for some reason, and I have a hard time putting my finger on it, I have always been a big fan of Nyarlathotep. He’s just a small Egyptian dude, really, but his effect is so devastating. There’s something about him that is just absolutely terrifying.
GD: Your personal weapon of choice against it?
JW: Well… the way Lovecraft set up the game he rigged it so you can’t win. These are unspeakable horrors that steal you sanity. There’s nothing you can do.
That said, if it doesn’t really matter what you take up against it, then surely some sort of nerdy uber-weapon should be used just for fun. If there’s a way to rig a shotgun to a chainsaw – I want that.
GD: Which books are you reading this summer?
JW: Just to confirm my geek cred… I just finished reading the excellent The Hammer and The Blade by Paul S. Kemp, which was a big throwback to the fantasy of my early teenage years. Just a ton of fun. So now I am following that up with a copy of The Icewind Dale Trilogy (all three books in one!) by R. A. Salvatore. I’ve never read his work before. And I’m also always listening to an audiobook – that’s easy for me to fit into my schedule – so Glen Cook’s The Black Company is in rotation right now.
