Writer Spotlight: Alex S. Garcia
Welcome to the seventh installment of Writer Spotlight. This week’s focus is Alex S. Garcia. I’ve reviewed two of Garcia’s novellas, one novelette, and six short stories.
Recurring Themes:
Immortality & Humanity / Life After Death
Referencing Light and Shadows
Epic, Grand-Scale Battles
Atmospheric/Cosmic Horror
Corruption of Power
Contemplations on Freedom/Loss of Freedom
Day One - Feb 12
1 & 2. “On Fields of Sorrow” (Novella, pages 1-66)
An interwoven tale of a human and a fae and the forces conspiring around them.
In this novella, Garcia introduces us to themes of war, discrimination/racial tension between elves and humans, disease/sickness, and in Timma’s case, an obsession with finding a lost father while fighting against her own people to do it. Interestingly, the setting is of Ancient Rome, though, of course, with magic/elves, which incorporates a theme on immortality and the difficulties around varying lengths of life. I’m interested to see where this novella goes!
Day Two - Feb 13
3. “On Fields of Sorrow” (Novella, Pages 67-98)
Naedil and Timma find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.
4. “Battle of Braxia” (Novella, Pages 1-19)
Exhi becomes the padhin of her people when they put a slug in her head.
Pairing:
These two novellas both have themes of epic battles fought on a huge scale! One is fantasy, and the other science fiction, but I thought it was interesting that both also had themes of how society puts expectations on individuals, and how they try to break out of those expectations. I also noted that both of these stories included strained relationships with parents.
Individually:
“On Fields of Sorrow” I thought it was cool that Timma became a soldier, and that in this version of the Roman Empire, sexism / patriarchy wasn’t so exclusive. There is still sexism and harassment, but gender roles are nonconforming. It also had themes around the shortness of human life compared to elves and the complexities that come with that.
“Battle of Braxia” introduced readers to some body horror, as well, as Exhi’s people force the slug on her, and some kind of divination power that the slug allows her to use once it has settled in her brain.
Day Three - Feb 14
5 & 6. “Battle of Braxia” (Novella, Pages 20-55)
Exhi gets caught in the middle of an epic space war.
I noticed a theme about freedom throughout the rest of this novella. There’s an illusion of freedom when Exhi is still learning how people can manipulate and use her for her abilities and a point where she learns she is taking freedom from others as well.
Day Four - Feb 15
7. “The Essence of Symmetry” Published in Fall Into the Abyss Anthology
Life after death sometimes means you have to fix what’s wrong with death.
8. “When Winter Came”
An ancient evil is killing, and the narrator tries to find a way to stop it.
Pairing:
These two stories both have themes about life after death!
Individually:
“The Essence of Symmetry” was really interesting. I love after-death stories! The concept that there is something wrong with the death/life process is also something I’ve loved playing around with in my own writing. I really liked the last line as it came full circle, reemphasizing the title and overall theme of symmetry.
“When Winter Came” slotted directly in the horror genre, and introduced the reader to possession, hauntings, and communicating with the dead.
Day Five - Feb 16
9. “By the Light of the Weeping Moon”
Varus finds himself helping a group of wights as they follow a prophecy.
10. “Salamandra Sun”
Thimmin and Kelle are smart young street thieves. They could totally steal the sun.
Pairing:
These two stories seemed pretty different to me! Though, I noted something that I believe is part of Garcia’s Xen’in universe: that of how magic works. Specifically, the one who hires them wants the light of the sun, not the heat, which is something also mentioned in “By the Light.”
Individually:
“By the Light” had ancient prophecies, a vampire POV, a magic fight, and planar shifting! It also incorporated themes on what a monster is and the shortness of human life, a reflection that showed up in “On Fields of Sorrow” as well. The tone of this piece reminded me of “When Winter Came” as it’s more horror.
Favorite line: “It is easier to accept someone when you do not know their secrets.”
“Salamandra Sun” had kid street thieves and a heist plot. The concept of an artificial magical sun that always shines is super interesting. There is also a theme here that touched on corruption in power, which is the flip side of the theme on freedom as seen in “Braxia.”
Day Six - Feb 17
11 & 12. “To Mourn the Stars” (Novelette)
In the far future, a pair of spies investigate a corrupt businessman and find out he has connections to a very powerful entity.
This one had reflections on the end/entropy of the universe, which reminded me of “The Essence of Symmetry.” Maar-yehq’Tah was also fascinating to me, in how they were described as the remnants of a god, but also the core of a star, and had the vibes of an eldritch horror. I also noticed a parallel to “Salamandra Sun” because of the corruption of power theme.
Day Seven - Feb 18
13. Within These Walls
A lost couple venture into a mansion and encounter a haunting curse.
14. The Waystation
When people ride the Waystation, they tend to disappear.
Pairing:
These two stories are both atmospheric horror, my favorite kind! There’s also a sense of mounting dread /suspense in both. And a loss of freedom in both.
Individually: (Spoilers below!)
“Within These Walls” is probably my favorite out of Garcia’s stories. I really liked the reveal about the four-person merge and gothic horror is such a cool subgenre. There’s a recurring theme about an ancient curse, which was also in “When Winter Came.” I also want to note that Garcia has a talent for last lines coming full circle from the beginning, which I also noticed in “Essence of Symmetry.”
“The Waystation” incorporated the use of manipulation of matter, illusions, and mindscapes, similar to what happened in “Essence of Symmetry.” There’s also something I noticed just now, that promises and contracts are a running theme as well. “Fields of Sorrow” has Timma contracting with the soldiers, and “Battle of Braxia” has it when Exhi promises to help both sides of the war at different times. “Essence of Symmetry” has the protagonist promise to fix what’s wrong with death, and “By the Light” definitely has it because Varus has a thing about promises. “Salamandra Sun” has the two thieves contracting/working for the Guild, and finally, “Waystation” has a definite use of contracts through signing names. Also, lastly, I noticed that shadows/light make an appearance in this story, joining “By the Light” and “Salamandra.”
Personal Favorite: “Within These Walls”
Summary!
If I were to summarize Garcia’s style in one sentence, I would say he works well with suspense and atmospheric horror, and incorporates grand scale battles and magical fight scenes while contemplating topics like life after death, the difficulty around immortality, and how freedom can often be an illusion.
Interview Questions
What are the themes you tend to return to the most in your work overall? Why do think that is?
Garcia: The first two that spring to mind are immortality and sacrifice. Kind of funny cause writing that line I'm realizing something I'd never noticed before, how those two are sort of opposites--not necessarily, of course, because there are different types of sacrifices, but when it's about sacrificing one's life, then that sort of goes against the notion of immortality, doesn't it? Okay, now I want to write something about that opposition specifically lol.
But anyway, yeah, those two often recur in my writing. Immortality I kind of always knew about, because I'm fascinated with mythology, infinity, and the concept of living forever. My favorite writer is Roger Zelazny and I remember reading some reviewers criticizing how often his stories were about immortality. And I'd be thinking but that's what makes them so fun! I love that about him (not just that, obviously, but it's a big part of the draw for me).
Sacrifice on the other hand is a strange one. I remember writing a story one day and suddenly noticing that sacrifice was its main theme, and then realizing that it was a recurring motif in my writing that I hadn't been aware of until then. No idea why I'm drawn to this. Perhaps because of that polarity with immortality?
I add these more purposefully in my stories now, by the way, though I also try not to make ALL I write about sacrifice and/or immortality.
Another thing I love are ancient civilizations--exploring ruins, uncovering secrets from the past, etc. I love that kind of stuff, though I suppose that's more of a setting than a theme per se.
Other than that, I like to ask big questions--or, rather, have my characters struggle with philosophical dilemmas, even if it's not necessarily at the heart of the story. A good example is Count Varushka, who is technically an immortal monster who is trying to become more like a human, which leads him to question a lot of things about his nature, his instincts, his beliefs, etc.
2. What is one of the characters in your short stories/flash pieces that you relate to the most, and why?
Garcia: I don't know that there's any one character that I really relate to in that sense. Writing, for me, is more about exploring ideas and questioning life. Still, I have two characters--Jean-Jack Laroch and the aforementioned Count Varushka--who are modeled after my brother. He actually created them for Renaissance Faires where he would dress up as them. Sadly, he passed away in 2018 and that's when I found out (through one of his best friends) about those two characters. I decided to bring them to life, as a tribute, and tried to imagine how he might have portrayed them.
Now the reason I mention this is that I wrote a story where Jean-Jack Laroch travels back home when he learns his brother has fallen sick. But by the time he gets there, it's too late, and the brother is gone. Obviously, this one's more personal, even though I kind of shifted things around a bit, but if I had to point to one character I relate to the most, I'd say Laroch in this particular piece is the one:
"The Parting of the Ways"
https://xenin.substack.com/p/jjl003
3. What short fiction author do you look up to? Why?
Garcia: I'm ashamed to say that I never read much short fiction in my life--as a reader, I always was more into novels--though I'm trying to make up for that now.
That said, if I had to point to a favorite, I'd again have to mention Roger Zelazny. Though he's better known for his novels, he also wrote a ton of shorts. One in particular that stood out for me and that I still remember years later is the Hugo-nominated "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" about a linguist/poet studying the dying civilization of Mars.
His novelette "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" is another amazing piece--a retelling of Moby Dick in a Science-Fiction setting! That one won a Nebula in 1966 and was also nominated for a Hugo.
Anything else you’d like to say about your work?
Garcia: I tend to be drawn to the darker side of things, I'm not sure why. I'm more of a positive/optimistic kind of guy in real life... though perhaps less so now with how the world has been spiraling out of control, but even when I was younger I was already writing pretty dark stuff. Without ever really going into horror, at least not gore, I was never drawn to that. Though I've been known to include some graphic stuff once in a while. I don't know why that is.
Maybe because the darkness helps me see the light more clearly?
I will need to ponder on this some more.
Thanks for the opportunity!