‘BOUDICA SEEPED INTO MY BONES BUT I
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THE BEST BOOKS, COMICS & EVENTS
Back to the uture
WANTED TO STRETCH OTHER MUSCLES'
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Having tackled modern cops and ancient monarchs, Manda Scott turns to time- hopping intrigue. She tells Allan Radcliffe about having one foot in the past
ccasionally a writer appears on the literary
stage who refuses to be straitjacketed by
expectation. Scots-born Manda Scott l'irst attracted critical acclaim and a loyal readership in the late 90s with a series ot' beautifully crafted contemporary thrillers. including No (iom/ l)('('(/. With the crime writing world poised attentively at her l'eet. Scott then performed something of a volte lace by embarking on the Bout/it'd: Urchin/ire series. The quartet ot' exhaustively researched historical novels. which explores the conquests ot’ the liceni queen. marked otit the erstwhile veterinary surgeon as that rare thing: a writer capable ol‘ melding imaginative scope. lyrical prose and compelling narrative drive.
‘Writing straightl‘orvv'ard contemporary thrillers was an essential part ol' my apprenticeship.‘ says Scott. ‘The Bout/it'll books were essentially historical thrillers. it was just that I needed to build the culture more than in a contemporary thrillerf Having recently emerged from four years of writing about pre-Roman Iron Age Britain and smoke rising from campfires. Scott is ready to inhabit the modern world again. ‘I loved the Houdini series; it seeped into my bones and the characters still live with me. but I needed a break and. as a writer. wanted to stretch other mtiscles.‘ Ironically. tor a writer keen to get back to the lititure.
Scott‘s new novel. The (‘i'yzv‘iu/ Skull. was triggered by a visit to the British Museum and an encounter with the eponymous clear quart/ t‘till-si/ed skull. which is believed to have been used by the ancient Mayan civilisation of Central America for its healing and supernatural powers.
36 THE LIST 13 Dec .Ja" .‘c‘cfi
Inspired by this encounter. Scott dreamed tip the tale ill a beautilul crystal sktill. which. unearthed alter
l'our centuries. becomes the dangerous property ol'
Stella ('ody. The author weaves Stella's desperate attempts to locate its intended resting place with a parallel plot set in lingland at the time ol' the Armada. Add to that a l’arisian encounter with Nostradamus and a Mayan prophecy that the world will end lll
lel2 and you have a time—hopping entanglement ol
intrigue to trample all over The l)(l llllt i' (’m/i'.
'lilit' (TVS/(II SAii/l shares with the “NIH/It'll series an exploration ol‘ pressing contemporary issues such as humanin 's cavalier attitude to the earth through historical events. “I set ottt primarily to write a last— moving. sharply plotted contemporary thriller based on what I knew ol the (‘ry stal Skull legendsf says Scott. '()nly once I‘d begun did it become apparent that I needed an anchor on the origins of~ the skulls and the Tudor thread grew l'rom that. I couldn't go back to the prehistoric .\laya. it's just too far removed l‘l'tllll our society. l neverconsidered l‘tl want to write about lili/abethan lingland but I enjoy ed it.’
While Scott maintains that she plans a return to contemporary crime fiction i'l need to come back to this reality occasionally ‘ l. she is currently working on The Phoenix fire which revisits some ol' the Peripheral characters ll'tllll the lluiii/it (1 series. ‘lt's turning into a Roman spy thrillerf she says. 'vvliiclt is spectacularly good fun to w rite.‘
The Crystal Skull is published by Bantam on Tue 1 Jan.
* Crime Scene Edinburgh: 20 Years of Rankin and Rebus With the Rebus legend now consigned to the archives (we think). this exhibition tracks the development of Rankin and his merry creation. National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, until Sun 73 Jan.
>l< Big Word A rare performance from Jenny Lindsay. as well as verse from Gangs of Dundee author Gary Robertson in this final Big Word event of the year. The Jazz Bar. Edinburgh, Thu 20 Dec.
* Manda Scott With The Crystal Skull, this Scottish writer sticks another string onto her already packed bow. See preview. left. Bantam.
>l< Michael Billington The world of British theatre since 1945 is the arena for the esteemed drama critic to analyse in State of the Nation. See review. page 37. Faber.
>i< Fidel Castro & Ignacio Ramonet Quite an existence has been led by the Cuban leader with the permanent stogie in his gob. In My Life he tells just about all. See review. page 37. Allen Lane.
* Steve Saflel With an intro from Stan Lee. Spider-Man: The Icon is a vast. glossy compendium of the sticky guy's myriad worlds. It features the history of the webbed wonder plus information on all the merchandise, cartoons and various spin-offs you could possibly think of. See review, page 38. Titan.
* Will Eisner Here comes another gem salvaged from the Norton archive with Life, in Pictures a collection of personal stories which is as close as Eisner came to writing an autobiography. Three superb graphic novels and two shorter works are put together here. See review. page 38. Norton.