When Steve Aylett got in touch about his latest book, I knew it was one I simply had to feature on Linda’s Book Bag. I’m so disappointed not to have time to fit in a read yet, but, as many of you know, there’s just too much going on in my life at the moment. However, Steve kindly agreed to stay in with me instead so let’s find out more:
Staying in with Steve Aylett
Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag Steve and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.
Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?
I’ve brought my new book The Book Lovers, which is a sort-of-steampunk satire about intellectual love and revolution. I think it’s the best thing I’ve done, and even normal people can read it!
I hope abnormal ones can too! What can we expect from an evening in with The Book Lovers?
It’s a very rich philosophical caper with a Pythonesque humour to it, as well as being a love story of the mind. There’s a lot about the very intense, sometimes physical effects a book or notion can have on a person.
Interesting. Tell me more.
Many of the characters are synaesthetic, which means they experience ideas as colourful shapes, bursting geometries and flavours. These characters pass books around covertly like contraband. They value ideas and the real power of words.
This sounds a bit like me at my U3A book group, Steve!
And it’s set in a world where books are very nearly illegal, leaving certain people with a thirst they can barely explain in public. These people recognise each other and work together like a kind of underground, while casually firing epigrams around like bullets. But we see how it’s a very human, juicy desire, this hunger for a connection of ideas. We see that someone can literally be in love with someone’s head and what goes on inside it. It’s an intensity I don’t often see expressed. I think it’s beautiful.
The Book Lovers sounds brilliant. How has it been received?
Grant Morrison said it was “a box of fabulous surrealist eclairs” and Robin Ince says “Every sentence is a wonderland, every phrase a treat.” I like to compress as many ideas as possible into a story, a sort of multi-coloured rush, so it can be re-read and come across differently each time.
You must be very pleased with those comments. I love a book that operates on many levels, Steve. I really am going to have to find time to read The Book Lovers. Thank you so much for sending me a copy.
What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?
I’ve also brought along my battered copy of my favourite book in the world, The Horse’s Mouth by Joyce Cary. It’s all seen through the eyes of a painter, so it’s a visually rich book – you see these glowing paint-thick visions of London as the narrator shambles about. He’s a scamp who does anything to get paints and a surface to paint on, so he steals and rips people off – you might not like him in real life but he’s a great character for adventures. The book is funny and wise and amazing, while being real. I love it.
I think art and literature are often perfect bedfellows – creatives painting with words and artistic media. And that sounds like another book I need to add to my towering TBR.
Thanks so much for staying in with me to chat about The Book Lovers Steve. I love the sound of it and will give Linda’s Book Bag readers a few more details:
The Book Lovers
The kidnap of a rebellious heiress leads Inspector Nightjar into a steampunk underworld of brain love, greed and revolution.
Can the Raven Method uncover the big Truth? What powers Thousand Tower City? Why are books telling unfamiliar stories? How cosy is anarchy?
Published in December 2024, The Book Lovers is available online and from all good booksellers like Blackwells and Waterstones.
About Steve Aylett
Steve Aylett is the author of LINT, Heart of the Original and Fain the Sorcerer. He lives in the Highlands of Scotland.
For further information, visit Steve’s website, or find him on Bluesky.
