Archive for the ‘Jerry Gordon’ Category
Let me set the scene a little for you: This past January, at ConFusion, Jerry says he has a novel coming out soon. And of course I say “oh?”
He tells me what the book is about. He tells me the significance of the pre-order announcement and the significance of the book being released on April 19th (hey, that’s today!). After that conversation, I couldn’t get the idea of this book out of my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about the research that must have gone into this book, what possessed him to write on this particular subject, how he went about writing a cult leader, the power of faith and religion, and how law enforcement officers attacking civilians is nothing new.
I’ve been waiting for the book ever since.
Breaking The World is a fast paced alternate history thriller that takes place in Waco, Texas, in the summer of 1993. Ringing any bells? Does this photo look familiar?
(I swiped this photo from Jerry’s website)
Breaking the World asks the question “What if David Koresh was right, and the world really was ending?”
Jerry was kind enough to let me ask him all sorts of questions, most of which are a variation of “wait, what? but, how? and dude, why??”. Because I really did want to know why would someone write a novel about the Branch Davidians. Is it easier to research something like this now, because more than 20 years have passed? Did Jerry’s Google Search history get him on any no-fly lists? I had a bazillion questions. Like I said, Jerry is very kind.
Just joining us? Click here to read my review of Breaking the World. click here to order the book directly from the publisher. Click here to visit Jerry’s website.
Let’s get to the interview! I promise, no (ok, only a few teeny) spoilers ahead! Not to mention insider info about the significance of names, social media to the rescue, the process of writing a non-believer who is stuck in a religious cult, how people have been reacting to this book, and that even when history is written by the victors, a darker truth is often hiding right beneath the surface.
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Little Red Reviewer: I was fourteen years old when “Waco” happened. Newsmedia was very different in 1993, and all I remember is seeing Koresh’s photo on TV, and lots of footage of burning buildings in the Texas sun. (CNN existed, we didn’t have cable TV) I may have been too young to understand, but more likely I just wasn’t paying attention and was too busy being a teenager to care. Fast forward 25 years, and we have multiple 24 hour news stations, tons of social media, and the ability to instantly put live videos online. If the Branch Davidian stand off happened in an age of smartphones and social media, would things have gone down differently? How might both sides use social media to their advantage? In any stand-off situation, do you think social media is a help, or a hindrance?
Breaking the World by Jerry Gordon
Posted on: April 15, 2018
Breaking the World, by Jerry Gordon
Release date: April 19th 2018
where I got it: received review copy from the publisher (Thanks Apex*!!)
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In 1993 I was fourteen years old. I was excited about high school, excited about boys, was obsessed with the movie Jurassic Park, I was finally old enough to listen to Nirvana and Aerosmith. We read The Odyssey in 9th grade, and I fell in love with mythology, epic stories, and oracles. It was a good year to be fourteen. My parents watched the evening news religiously as I flitted in and out of the living room, disappointed that I couldn’t watch sitcoms or Star Trek because they were watching boring news. I remember some guy’s photo being on TV a lot, aviator sunglasses, wavy brown hair. He just looked like some guy. I remember seeing footage of a flat landscape and a building that was on fire. I didn’t realize I should be paying attention.
The guy with the sunglasses was David Koresh, and the burning building was the Branch Davidian Church in Waco, Texas. What would become known as “Waco”, involved a 51 day standoff between the Branch Davidians and the FBI. Both sides were convinced they were right. Over 70 people were killed in the fire. And all I remember was some guy’s photo on TV.
Taking a cue from the alternate history author Tim Powers, Jerry Gordon has to fit (nearly) everything that happens in Breaking the World into the historical framework of what we think we know about the siege on the Branch Davidian Church, locked into the timeline of when and how the FBI surrounded and tear gassed the compound, to who escaped and how, to when the fire started, to how many people were inside the compound when it burned. Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of “Waco”, Breaking the World was officially announced for pre-order on Feb 28th, and will be released on April 19th, lining up exactly with when the siege started and ended.
The novel is told from the point of view of Cyrus, a teenager who lives at the compound. Cyrus could care less about religion and god and the end of the world, he could freakin’ care less about David Koresh. But, since David is technically sorta Cyrus’s step dad, the two of them develop and civil relationship where they respect one another, to the point where David asks Cyrus’s advice on a number of occasions. David is softspoken, not always confident, uninterested in attention, and he cares deeply for the people who have come to his church. He believes the seals are beginning to break, and that he needs to keep his people safe.
Cyrus and his best friends, Marshal and Rachel, dream of running away together. Marshal grew up at the compound, but Rachel is a recent arrival. Yeah, there’s plenty of novels in which a handful of fifteen year olds run away, but this isn’t that story. These kids have no money, no way to get to a train or bus station, they don’t know how to drive, they barely have access to a telephone. And remember when this takes place – cell phones weren’t a thing, plenty of adults did not have credit cards that their adventurous children could steal, and payphones were only helpful if you could actually get to one. Leaving Waco is going to have a stay a dream for Cyrus and his friends for a little while longer, because the siege begins in the first chapter of the book. The three best friends are old enough to understand they may not live through this, and too young to be able to do much about it.
the Little Red Reviewer 
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