In VOX LIT October 2018 :
 IN THE FREE BOOK LOVERS' MAG VOXLIT ON-LINE THIS MONTH:

​***A CURE FOR THOSE POST-HOLIDAY BLUES***

​The summer is over, it is back to work for everyone, and we offer his month’s edition to cheer you up in the dark days leading into winter.

We have news of our contributors, Kyrian and Ted, and, in our ongoing series of articles on literary genres, James writes on the history and popularity of the spy novel.
In the Satire section, Paul Johnson  contributes an amusing story on the vagaries of modern life and how it is played out in social media.  

Have you ever found yourself a bit confused as you read a chapter of a novel. Our Writers Notes section looks at the idea of continuity  and how it applies to novelists. 

In our features section, we have something which will be invaluable to all children between about 8 and 18 years old. Parents and teachers are also counselled to check it out too, if only so they are prepared for the new level of erudition they can expect from the well-informed pupils who have read it. 

And, finally, there are the usual new book reviews from Ted and James. Enjoy and share!

Click for these other ARTICLES ....

James Gault investigates how novelists have supported the feminist movement

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SATIRE
Mind Pamphlet By: Paul Johnson

Dear Falandry,
 
As you know I have always been partial to our correspondence by mail, however, in an effort to be more current, and at your insistence, I have decided to take some steps. Ten minutes ago a younger version of myself logged into the social network, MindPamphlet. Once inside it became apparent that no one could agree on anything and yet everyone was correct. This was truly confusing as it is completely true and clearly impossible all at once.
Read more here.
    THE MAN-BOOKER SHORT-LIST AUTHORS

Last month we produced a fun little Man Booker competition, still available here. Those of you who had a go at this, or indeed anyone else, may  like to know that they have published the short list. Here it is:
 
Anna Burns (UK)             
Milkman (Faber & Faber)

Esi Edugyan (Canada)     
Washington Black (Serpent’s Tail)

Daisy Johnson (UK)                                 
Everything Under (Jonathan Cape)

Rachel Kushner (USA)                            
The Mars Room (Jonathan Cape)

Richard Powers (USA)                            
The Overstory (William Heinemann)

Robin Robertson (UK)                            
The Long Take (Picador)

Last month's ManBooker competition available here  
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            THE ONE DAY WRITING CHALLENGE 

Although it sounds like it, this wasn’t a competition. Author and Voice of Literature contributor Ted Bun had an idea, wrote the story and published it on Amazon all in one day. Why? Why not? It’s the kind of mad thing writers do from time to time. It’s a very short Sci-Fi story set in a post Armageddon society and is available on Amazon. Those of you who know Ted as a prolific author of naturist fiction, be prepared for a surprise.    
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HISTORY OF THE GENRE
The espionage thriller – a history and analysis

Secrets, subterfuge and spies. The essential ingredients of one of the most popular types of what is often labelled as ‘airport fiction’. You know what I mean. The stuff business men pick up to read on business trips: mind fodder to kill time in airport lounges, on planes, on long train journeys. The good ones are invariably engrossing, diverting, and entertaining. But perhaps they lack epic scale, intellectually challenging themes, profound characterisation. Is this a fair assessment of the spy novel?

As a lover of this genre of course I’m going to say no. A good spy novel is as hard to write and as satisfying to read as anything else. A memorable one requires great writing and great characters as well as great plots. Nor are they even exclusively ‘man books’. The best examples of the genre hold the interest of everyone.  

The birth of the spy novel is often attributed to the 1821 novel, ‘The Spy’, from the American novelist James Fennimore Cooper, of ‘Last of the Mohicans’ fame. But the genre seemed to have gone into decline for the rest of the 19th century, to be revived at the beginning of the 20th century. Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Kim’ came out in 1900, but Robert Esrkine Childer’s ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ from 1903 is most often credited as the first true spy thriller. This story of espionage was very influential on later spy story writers. Not only did it become the model for one form of spy story format, but it was also a warning about the growing German militarisation which culminated in the Great War of 1914. For this reason it foreshadowed the political themes we find in later spy novels.

We can think of the spy genre as consisting of two distinct types. The first is the adventure spy story, of which Childer’s novel is a prime example.  In this type, action and intrigue predominate. It has been a long lasting genre. John Buchan’s ‘The Thirty Nin Steps’ was publishedin 1907. Later examples are Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and the Alastair MacLean best sellers, such as ‘The Guns of Navarone’ or ‘Ice Station Zebra’. The tradition of the adventure spy story is carried on today by, among others, the popular American novelist Tom Clancy and the British writer Frederick Forsyth.

In the second type of spy story, the spotlight is shone not on action but on psychological aspects. These stories are not devoid of evil actions, but the intrigue is driven by what the characters say and think rather than what they do. The master of this style is the British ex-spy David Cornwell who writes as John Le Carre, with a list of blockbusters such as ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’ and ‘Smileys People’. Another proponent of this style is Len Deighton (The Ipcress File’ inter alia).
What attracts me to the Spy genre is its exploration of truth and lies. Although the settings are invariably realistic, the fact that the reader is never able to trust anything that is said opens up so many possibilities for developing mystery and tension. Any decently written spy story has to be page turner.  

But in the murky world of espionage, truth is often at least as strange, exciting and intriguing as fiction. So let me point you in the direction of the talented Ben McIntyre, whose investigative factual accounts of real spies from World War II to the present day are written with all the skill of the best of his fictional counterparts. Dip into his books like ‘Operation Mincemeat’ or ‘Double Cross’ and you’ll see what I mean: all the fun of a spy novel with the additional edge of it all being true.        

​Contributed by James Gault.
                                KYRIAN’S NEW MAGAZINE
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Our regular contributor Kyrian Lyndon is publishing her own magazine. Called Brave Wings Magazine, it focuses on the human condition—whatever we experience in life that helps us learn, grow, and evolve. There are articles on literary topics too. See the first issue here.
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           CLICK THIS PICTURE FOR THE VOXLIT BOOKSHOP    -   LINKS TO ALL BOOKS BY OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Our contributors have been busy Here are their new books 

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​Evangeline Pfeiffer has a stolen secret. There are those who will kill her to get it back.Unwittingly, she becomes an accomplice in the murder of Nazi agent Ludwig Kraus. Thrown together with the killer, a Polish spy, Kasha, her only hope is to escape to Spain.
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Jerry and Fran Tilson ran away to France a few months ago
Today is a big day in becoming part of the community. They are having a housewarming party for their new friends and neighbours.
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Mark Anthony, the anointed King of the Braxin clan, is moving towards replacing biological sentience to power the BRAINPIPE interstellar transit system created and owned by the Braxin and managed by the Perileom.

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