Introducing: Risen

This is a Book Introduction guest post from M. T. Miller, introducing a "grim but funny" book. The description reminds me a bit of the movie Memento, which might just be enough to make me pick it up. Read the introduction and see if it intrigues you, too.

Risen

by M.T. Miller

Risen began as more of a statement than a story. I was thinking about where the entertainment industry was heading, and I didn’t like it. A cheap, grey paste was slowly becoming the norm, threatening to consume all the character, all the grit that I’ve grown to love as a fan of darker stories. It wasn’t unexpected at all. Successful mass-market products would naturally make way for even more mass market products, and I would be left with less and less enjoyable material.

After a good bit of consideration, I’ve decided to contribute by creating my own brand of literary fiction. Make something that I myself would enjoy as a reader. A story unbound by the rule of trying to please everyone, because doing that inevitably castrates the work. Thus, I’ve come up with the idea of writing a book about a dirty, horrible world, where no punch would be pulled. Incredibly original, huh? Of course not. Grim and dark fiction is by far not new. However, most such fiction is (in my own personal opinion) more dedicated to being grim and dark than to being entertaining. And isn’t the purpose of a good book to entertain? I think so.

So, I’ve tried to fill all 87 pages of Risen with as much intriguing mystery, visceral action, and witty dialogue as I could fit inside its virtual covers. I did want to make it longer, but my conscience just wouldn’t allow it. This is my idea of distilled entertainment, and I want to share it with everyone who wants to know.

You will notice that I didn’t say all that much about what the book is about. This is semi-deliberate. Given that the story is about a partial amnesiac, I think it would be important for the reader to have as much of an idea about the overall setting as the main character does. You will rise from the ground just like the Nameless did, and I hope that his journey will be a memorable one for you.

Find M. T. Miller on Twitter: @MillerNameless.

Buy the book at Amazon.