Dietro le Quinte: Isis Unbound di Allyson Bird

Introduzione
Il Posto Nero, in collaborazione con l'agenzia letteraria Dark Circle, oggi propone un approfondimento sul romanzo horror steampunk Isis Unbound di Allyson Bird, che ha recentemente ricevuto una nomination come miglior romanzo d'esordio alla edizione in corso del Bram Stoker Awards della Horror Writers Association. Allyson Bird, già premiata nel 2009 con il British Fantasy Award per la raccolta di racconti Bull Runnings for Girls, propone un romanzo davvero originale, lo conosceremo meglio attraverso alcuni contributi esclusivi, come un commento dell'autrice, che ci racconterà come è nato il romanzo, la recensione di Gene O'Neill, grande autore di genere, le bozze della realizzazione della cover di Daniele Serra, la lettura di un estratto del capitolo 17, scelto dall'autrice stessa in quanto ambientato in Italia, e altre informazioni di carattere generale. Ma ora entriamo nel mondo di Isis Unbound:
Descrizione e Commento
Ispirato in parte da Frankenstein di Mary Shelley, dal Prometeo Liberato di Percy Shelley e dalle opere di H. Rider Haggard, Isis Unbound è un romanzo ambientato in un alternativo 1890 a Manceastrae in Britannia, governata da un discendente di Cleopatra e Antonio, che in questa versione steampunk della storia ha vinto la battaglia di Azio duemila anni fa. Le divinità egizie sono qualcosa di reale, ma solo un dio può uccidere un altro dio. Questo è proprio quello che accade, Nephythys ha ucciso la sorella Iside, ora i morti non possono più andare nell’oltretomba, le loro fila si ingrossano sempre più, si assiste a un’orda di zombi che vaga senza fine.
Il romanzo di Allyson Bird è una vivida illustrazione del mito e della follia, una finestra aperta su un mondo sconosciuto, del quale osserviamo i colori impastati dalla fresca narrativa dell’autrice, capaci di virare con efficacia dalle luci alle ombre, continuamente. Allyson Bird riesce a mescolare e manovrare con sapienza realtà storica e finzione, un equilibrio molto difficile da raggiungere che offre spessore a questo romanzo, che si offre come frutto gustoso per gli appassionati della narrativa steampunk, horror e dark fantasy.
L’autrice aumenta il vortice delle emozioni evocate dalla storia con una grande cura dei dettagli storici, che fanno parte di una lunga ricerca, affiancandoli alle tecnologie tipiche del mondo steampunk. Peste, tirannia, il declino dell’impero egizio, umani coinvolti nelle macchinazioni degli dei, Isis Unbound è qualcosa di profondamente nuovo e affascinante.

Allyson Bird racconta come è nato il romanzo Isis Unbound
"L'ispirazione che mi ha portato a scrivere Isis Unbound parte da lontano, deriva dalle letture di narrativa pulp che mi hanno accompagnato da quando avevo dieci anni. I titoli che mi avevano più colpito erano quelli di Edgar Rice Burroughs e Robert E. Howard. Avevo voglia d'avventura, di viaggiare in Europa e ancora più lontano. Ricordo di aver letto con passione Il Signore della Guerra di Marte. Amavo anche leggere storie sugli dei, le creature mitiche e la loro interazione con i mortali. Ricordo ancora vividamente il film Giasone e gli Argonauti. Talos era ben saldo nella mia memoria mentre scrivevo la scena finale di Isis Unbound con il serpente e il Minotauro. All'università ho studiato i classici, come Frankenstein di Mary Shelley e Prometeo Liberato di Percy Blysshe, e ho letto molti testi di mitologia greca, romana ed egizia. Ho il sospetto di aver incosciamente iniziato questo romanzo più che altro per avere l'occasione di visitare Pompei e Roma pochi anni fa, comunque troppi"
Cosa ne pensano altri autori: la recensione di Gene O'Neill
Il Romanzo storico è qualcosa di molto complesso da scrivere. Oltre a raccontare una storia avvincente, lo scrittore deve assicurarsi che fatti e nomi riportati corrispondano alla realtà, che nulla sia stato manipolato ai fini della trama Creare con efficacia questo mix di realtà e finzione rappresenta un elevato grado di difficoltà. Solo i migliori scrittori tentano questa sfida, spesso tardi nella loro carriera Ma Allyson Bird fa sembrare tutto questo molto facile nel suo romanzo Isis Unbound. Ci troviamo dunque davanti a una scrittrice esperta, una veterana dei romanzi storici e mitologici?  No, non è così, sorprendentemente questo è il suo primo romanzo, ed è davvero un lavoro eccellente La prosa è ricca, gratificante con una densità di dettagli, la trama è avvincente, i personaggi del tutto credibili Un romanzo adatto al lettore di genere ma anche al lettore tradizionale Un opera che raccomando vivamente.

Gene O'Neill  - autore di genere pluripremiato, autore di The Burden of Indigo e altri bestsellers
Le bozze della cover realizzata da Daniele Serra
La cover di Isis Unbound è stata realizzata da Daniele Serra, illustratore di fama internazionale, due volte finalista al British Fantasy Award, altro autore rappresentato dalla agenzia letteraria Dark Circle. In questo "dietro le quinte" abbiamo l'occasione di vedere, per la prima volta, le bozze e le prove della cover, che hanno poi guidato verso il risultato finale; una illustrazione molto evocativa, potente, estremamente rappresentativa dell'anima della storia scritta da Allyson Bird. Per maggiori informazioni su Daniele Serra: http://www.multigrade.it/

Lettura: Estratto del capitolo 17 di Isis Umbround
When The Alexander berthed at Civitavecchia, Gaius was in a foul mood. He’d been arguing with Cleopatra about her going off on what he said was a wasted journey. It had ended badly and he couldn’t wait to get away from her. Loyal though he was, she had tested him to the limit. They should never have gone to Britanniae in the first place. If she had listened to him, over a year ago, Cleopatra would have had Clovis killed, and they would have all been saved the trouble they had now.
Gaius warmed his hands near one of the braziers. Would he ever get warm again, he thought. His old back injury was playing up, and he turned his back on the fire to warm it and try to ease the pain. A slave gave him a  cup of warm wine and some cheese. He ate quickly and gulped the wine down with one eye on the darkening sky. Whilst he drank, a messenger reported to him of the recent events in Rome. Cleopatra appeared briefly on deck, but on seeing Gaius, hurried below.

Civitavecchia was about three hours on horseback from Rome. Gaius sent for horses for himself and some of his men and took his leave of Cleopatra. The Alexander was part of a fleet of fifty ships and before he left he shouted orders at the captains to get them loaded with coal and made ready for battle. He made sure that orders were issued to take the Chinese mercenaries with them. Most barracks and the training camps forthe recruits were close by anyway, so it would not take long to gather an army together. They weren’t all as well trained as they would have been byspring, but there was no helping that. Then his thoughts turned to the problem at hand, and he prepared to set out for Rome.
He hadn’t liked the idea of The Alexander going off without him and he had tried to talk Cleopatra out of following the so-called Isis. They wouldn’t be able to catch her anyway, but he was still worried. Cleopatra was determined to search for Isis and go to the Library of Alexandria. Cleopatra wouldn’t listen, and although he did want to be by her side, he would have to gather an army quickly, and get back to Britanniae.
Gaius thought about the fact that he hadn’t been away long from Rome, but he hadn’t wanted to go to Britanniae in the first place. Clovis was a fool, and a mad fool at that, but a mad fool could still be a danger. If any of the royals had been paid off with promises of land and power whilst he had been away, Cleopatra’s rule would be undermined further. Fear of the latest plague, and that it had been sent because Isis no longer supported Cleopatra, was spreading, too. He had heard that from men in his own ranks.
The roads were bad from the port to Rome. It had started to rain as soon as they had left and it didn’t drain away as quickly as it usually did, so the journey took longer than expected. The landscape was stark and cold, but the summers of the last decade hadn’t been much better, since the massive volcano in Krakatoa in the 1880’s, had put paid to good crops for a few years. Each grey summer had resulted in a shortage of food, and another opportunity for plague to spread. In previous years it had taken a hold, but not as badly as it had since the eruption. Gaius remembered his youth, where he spent many happy summers at his grandfather’s vineyard outside Rome. Each summer spent playing with his cousins, running around the vineyard, until all were dizzy from the heat. Each summer tending the grapes with the slaves, and sitting at his grandfather’s knee, whilst he told stories of the early empire of Anthony and Cleopatra. The glorious reign, where society flourished and the empire grew larger, as their children and their children’s children built upon their success. A far cry from the ruined empire of the 1890’s

Horses and men were freezing by the time they got to Rome. It was now sleeting and Gaius could hardly feel his fingers. He had to get a slave to remove his leather gloves so he could read the letters, which had been about to be sent to him in Britanniae. Nothing seemed to be wrong in Rome, but there was something Seto, the councillor who had been left in charge, wasn’t saying. He suspected that from the tone of the letter.
Gaius needed a bath after his journey. He had his own bathing room in his house, but he had left orders for his staff to lock up the house, or most of it, until his return. So, he sent someone ahead to have it opened up and for Thaddeus, one of his household, to meet him there.
After he had wiped most of the mud off himself, he quickly changed his clothes and made for the public bath-house with Thaddeus. It was late afternoon, and he’d probably run into a few people he’d rather not. But, he needed to be seen as back, in control, and the bath-house was the hub of gossip and intrigue, as it had been for thousands of years. Two thousand years of the empire, which now was more unstable and poorer than when Anthony and Cleopatra had formed it. Two thousand years of Roman and Egyptian culture, or rather a curious mixture of both. Anthony and Cleopatra could have got rid of the history books relating to the nature of the power and customs of each civilisation, but they had chosen not to do that. They had not been book burners, and Gaius couldn’t make his mind up if that had been foolish or admirable. There were some who hoped for the return to a Roman or Egyptian Empire, and had never accepted what they called a mongrel breed of both. Recently, before he’d left for Britanniae, he had heard speeches on street corners calling for a return to pure Roman rule. Although the army had been modelled on the Roman rather than Egyptian one, it had been well paid, and soldiers were given large pensions when they retired. However, there were others who now hungered for the old Roman ways.


Profilo dell'autrice:
Allyson Bird: Autrice inglese di horror e dark fantasy, ha vinto il British Fantasy Award con la sua raccolta Bull Runnings for Girls. Tra le altre sue opere: la raccolta Wine and Rank Poison (con l’introduzione di Joe Lansdale) e il romanzo Isis Unbound, finalista alla edizione in corso del Bram Stoker Awards della Horror Writers Association come miglior romanzo d'esordio. Insieme a Joel lane ha curato l’antologia Never Again. Web: www.birdsnest.me.uk/ Allyson Bird è rappresentata in Italia in esclusiva dalla Agenzia Letteraria Dark Circle

per maggiori informazioni: info@darkcircle.it