What Lies Beneath the Clocktower on tour: April 21 – May 13
Ever seen an interactive fiction reading? No? You’re missing out. But, if you live in Pittsburgh, Richmond, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Charlottesville, and basically anywhere in North Carolina, now’s your chance!
AK author & editor Margaret Killjoy is on tour to promote his new book, What Lies Beneath the Clock Tower, an anti-colonial steampunk adventure-of-your-own-choosing book. Audience members participate in a consensus-based decision-making process to guide the novel’s absinthe-drunk protagonist through a land filled with gnomes and goblins, wrestling with a variety of ethical choices, and at least a few policemen too. It’s loads of fun, and a unique experience. This is definitely not the choose-your-own adventure story you read as a kid (those are trademarked anyway, so this is really not that), but it’s worth every second. Plus, as a bonus, zines and other materials from Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness, Combustion Books, and AK Press on sale!
Dates
- April 21 at the Big Idea Bookstore & Cafe in Pittsburgh, PA. 5pm.
- April 23 at the Wingnut in Richmond, VA. 7pm.
- April 24 at Internationalist Books in Chapel Hill, NC. 7pm.
- April 28 at the Steampunk Ball at Davenport & Winkleperry in Pittsboro, NC. 9pm.
- April 30 at Firestorm Cafe & Books in Asheville, NC. 6pm.
- May 2 at the Iron Rail in New Orleans, LA. 6pm.
- May 3 at the East Side Social Center (4202 canal street) in Houston, TX. 7pm.
- May 4-6 I will be performing as an accordionist and presenting and tabling at AetherFest in San Antonio, TX.
- May 9 at Random Row Books in Charlottesville, VA. 7pm.
- May 13 at Back Pages Books in Waltham, MA as part of the Watch City Festival. 11am.
Praise for What Lies Beneath the Clock Tower:
“If you make your way through to the end, you’ll discover that Killjoy’s not just spinning a shaggy-dog story—there’s a surprising amount of heart and adventure to be had if you’re bold enough to choose the path of heroism.”
—Cory Doctorow, author of For The Win
“In What Lies Beneath the Clock Tower, the estimable Margaret Killjoy takes a story-form usually associated with younger readers and infuses it with decadence and absinthe along with delirious and dissolute fantasy. If you’re choosing your own adventure, I strongly recommend you make it this one.”
—Alan Moore, author of Watchmen
“A highly imaginative, energetic debut that’s subversive and intelligent.”
—Jeff VanderMeer, author of Shriek: An Afterword
“As I aspire to be a drunken and feckless adventurer myself, I felt great kinship with Our Hero Gregory. Well done sir, well done indeed!”
—Jake von Slatt, proprietor of steampunkworkshop.com
“Reading What Lies Beneath the Clock Tower is a bit like playing Dungeons & Dragons with a bunch of grad students while Monty Python’s Flying Circus marathons in the background. It offers the pleasure of watching someone very smart do some thing very silly, and do it with style and skill. You will laugh and while you laugh this trickster author will unleash goblins in your mind to ferment a cognitive revolution.”
—William Alexander, for Rain Taxi