The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Rush Novel In The Works

Posted on | February 13, 2012 | 11 Comments

by Smitty

Pollstar reports that the new Rush record is going to have a novel backing it:

Science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson recently announced on his website that he will write a novelization of Rush’s upcoming album, Clockwork Angels.
Anderson, who wrote a slew of “Star Wars” books in the 1990s, including his Jedi Academy trilogy as well as the Young Jedi Knights series with author Rebecca Moesta, is working with his longtime friend, Rush drummer Neil Peart on the project.
“For more than twenty years, Neil and I have wanted to collaborate on something MAJOR, a way we could tie together our imaginations, and at last that’s happening,” Anderson wrote.
“I’m writing the novelization of Rush’s forthcoming album, Clockwork Angels, their first new CD in five years. Imagine if someone had written the novel of The Wall, Tommy, or Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band when those classic albums were released. For Rush fans, Clockwork Angels is that project.”
Anderson said he worked with Peart to “flesh out” the story as well as with artist Hugh Syme whose paintings will fill the CD booklet. The author described the story as a “young man’s quest to follow his dreams” who is “caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos.”

Excellent. If I may confess, I’ve been enjoying The Boneyard in the car on the commute, and they offered a nice retro piece from Hemispheres today that was almost about how Hope and Change stay the same:

Category: Music, Video

Comments

11 Responses to “Rush Novel In The Works”

  1. Mike G.
    February 13th, 2012 @ 9:59 pm

    Amazing the music these guys produced with only a three man band, aint it?

  2. EBL
    February 13th, 2012 @ 10:22 pm

    I thought you were talking about Limbaugh.  

    Hey look Stacy and Smitty at a Rush show!  

  3. Tennwriter
    February 13th, 2012 @ 10:41 pm

    Hmmm, I read one of KJA’s novels (not the Star Wars), and was not that impressed.  It was lefty, and smug, and a bit boring and illogical except to a lefty.  It did actually impress me…it impressed me to be very cautious before I read another one of his works.

  4. richard mcenroe
    February 13th, 2012 @ 10:59 pm

    Meh, been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, sold it on e-bay…

    Way back in the 80’s a Belgian techno-pop-industrial-whatever band called Portion Control took my first novel, The Shattered Stars, and turned it into an album under the title “Far Stars and Future Times”.  Might have been nice if they’d asked me, or paid me, but it’s out there.

    Saw a copy once years ago and stupidly didn’t pick it up before the store died.  If anyone knows where I can find a copy, I’d appreciate.

  5. Bob Belvedere
    February 14th, 2012 @ 8:00 am

     My one and only vinyl album popped-up on E-Bay last year:
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHADOWPLAY-Private-Obscure-Post-Punk-Darkwave-LP-Camp-Saints-JOY-DIVISION-/130574869892

    You might try Discogs; they had our album as well with links to sellers:
    http://www.discogs.com/Shadowplay-The-Camp-Of-The-Saints/release/3097735

  6. Bob Belvedere
    February 14th, 2012 @ 8:02 am

    I’m happy to hear about this.  This could be an exciting next step for the band, although I always wished they’d try their hand at rock opera – a genre that has never really gotten off the ground [anyone want to finance my rock version of The Ring Of The Nibelung????].

  7. richard mcenroe
    February 14th, 2012 @ 10:39 am

    I thought that was Quadrophenia.  It was long enough.  Although Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Center of the Earth was way more pretentious.

  8. richard mcenroe
    February 14th, 2012 @ 10:42 am

    I can just see your Valkyrie Chorus:

    Whatcha gonna do wit all dat junk, all dat junk inside yo’ trunk?

    I’m gonna armor all dat junk…

  9. ThePaganTemple
    February 14th, 2012 @ 12:18 pm

    Books cost close to thirty dollars now, paperbacks are ten. If the book is based on the music of Rush I think I’ll pass. That’s a lot of money for a mediocre book. 

  10. Jonathan Camp
    February 14th, 2012 @ 4:55 pm

    I read KJA’s JEdi Academy trilogy was it released due to being very very into all things Star Wars at the time.  I have resolved never to read anything by that hack ever again.  He didn’t understand what makes Star Wars Star Wars (and sadly, George Lucas seems to have forgetton it as well).  And it was boring, and a bad story, and. . . yeah.  I like Dune as well, but I’ve not read and of the KJA/Brian Herbert collaborations.  Nope, not ever gonna put a dime in KJA’s pocket.  He needs to find a line of work other than authoring.

  11. richard mcenroe
    February 14th, 2012 @ 8:24 pm

    Thanks for the suggestion; I’ll check it out.