New York City
1 December, 4:52 a.m.
Workers on the New York Subway called it the Mole, an ordinary electric engine from a subway train that had been converted into a street-sweeper on rails.
Late at night, when subway services were at a minimum, the Mole would amble through the tunnels, its rotating forward sweepers scooping up any debris that might have fallen onto the tracks during the previous day. At the end of its run, all that debris would be tipped from the Mole into a furnace and destroyed.
Later that night, the Mole made its usual trip through the subway tunnel adjoining the State Library. And as it passed the Con Edison Booster Valve, the driver began to doze.
He never noticed the open doorway, never noticed the crumpled interior -- packed solid with collapsed bricks and fragmented concrete.
And he never noticed the soft clink-clink of metal on metal that rattled underneath the Mole as it went past the Booster Valve.
The Mole ambled off down the tunnel, and all that remained in its wake was a pair of handcuffs, clasped to the track.
AN INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW REILLY
THE WRITING OF CONTEST
What inspired you to write Contest?
There were two key inspirations for me to actually sit down and write Contest. First, the works of Michael Crichton. I still believe that Dr Crichton is the best storyteller in the world today. Not only are his stories original, they are also told at a cracking pace. Back in 1993, the year after I finished high school, my brother, Stephen, gave me a book and said, 'I'm told Steven Spielberg is going to make this into a movie, it's about a theme park built around genetically-engineered dinosaurs.' More than any other book I have read, Jurassic Park made me want to tell big action stories (especially stories with big scary 'animal' elements).
In terms of the story, the inspiration to write Contest came from my love of sports. I think there is drama in any kind of competition. All I did to turn that into a story was to make my contest the ultimate contest -- if you win, you live; if you lose, you die.
Contest originally appeared in late 1996 in self-published form. What are the differences -- if any -- between the self-published version and this one?
In terms of the overall story, there are no differences. Structurally, it is exactly the same now as it was back in 1996. The differences come in the finer detail -- in the way Swain does battle with the other contestants. The biggest alterations I made were in the 'final confrontation' scenes involving Swain and the three big villains of the book: Bellos, Reese and the Karanadon. In the original version of the book, these scenes were not as complex. Now they are bigger, badder and meaner.
The other big change was the addition of the Konda and the Rachnid. In the 1996 version, these two contestants weren't named or described. The reason for this was simple: when I originally wrote the book, I dreamed up six different alien species (Reese, Bellos, the Codex, Balthazar, the hoods and the Karanadon) and I just couldn't think up any more! But after a few years of thinking about Contest, I came up with these two extra species. So I put them in.
Apart from those, there are a lot of small changes, ranging from tightening the narrative in places to telling the reader how Swain's wife died, a piece of backstory that didn't appear in the self-published edition.
You mentioned that there are 'big scary animal elements' in your novels. Tell us about the various creatures in your books. Why are they there and why do you choose the ones you do?
I wish I could think of some loftier purpose, but the true reason for the big scary animal elements is very simple: they're there to eat people. I think there is nothing better in a book or movie than to see someone running from a big scary creature (think Jurassic Park, Jaws, or Aliens).
As for why I choose the creatures I choose, well, in Ice Station, for instance, I selected killer whales and elephant seals because I wanted the water to be a dangerous place -- kind of like Jaws. The elephant seals were also the guardians, so to speak, of the underground cavern -- making it a challenge to get there. In Temple I went one step further, and tried to make land and water dangerous places to be. There I used rapas (big, black, five-foot-tall cats which are the subject of myths in South America) and caimans (large crocodilians). I chose those animals because I wanted Temple to be darker and scarier than Ice Station. As for Contest, well, as any Hollywood screenwriter will tell you, the best creatures of all are the ones you make up. For when you create an alien species, there are absolutely no limits. They can bleed acid (Alien), they can see via infra-red (Predator), or they can just be bigger, meaner and nastier than the biggest, meanest and nastiest Earth-based creatures.
Do you have the ending in your head when you start writing a new novel?
Ah, yes! This is Frequently Asked Question No. 1. Whenever I meet people and they discover I am an author, they always ask this question! The answer is: yes... usually.
The reason I say 'yes ... usually' is because I feel that some flexibility is always required.
For example, the last line of Temple (which I won't give away, for those who haven't read it) was something that occurred to me halfway through writing the book. I love that line, and it's a great reason to remain flexible.
As for Contest, one question that nagged me all the way through the writing process was: How the hell am I going to kill the Karanadon? The answer -- using Swain's wrist-band -- came to me completely out of the blue. It just hit me. I started dancing around the house, pumping my fists in the air. It was so neat, so tidy, it saved Swain and yet it left no trace of the Karanadon. But neat as it appears in the book, it was not something I knew from the very start. Again, flexibility.
I see you have a new author photo for this book. Any reason for the change?
Yes -- too much grief from my friends! Some took to calling me 'Mr Suave' because of the old photo! I kind of liked it, but it was getting a little dated (it was taken in 1997, before I had glasses). The new one looks more like the real me!
Any final words?
As always, I just hope you all enjoyed the book, and I hope to see you next time.
MR
Sydney
November 2000
