Spin
British Fantasy Award nominee 2014.
A novella. The second release in the TTA Novellas series. Art by Ben Baldwin.
In Nina Allan's re-imagining of the Arachne myth, Layla, a weaver of extraordinary talent, leaves home to make her own way in life.
She heads to Atoll City in a modern alternate Greece, attracting the interest of an old lady along the way. The old lady informs Layla that she knew her mother, and of the gift the woman once possessed.
A gift that brought tragedy on Layla's family.
A gift that Layla too possesses.
Spin has picked up some very enthusiastic advance praise:
“Nina Allan’s re-imagining of the Arachne myth, with its receding overlays of the modern and the antique, creates a space all its own. The scene is clean and minimal, the light Mediterranean, the story seems musing and sad: but by the last two pages, Spin has you in a grip that persists long after you put it down.” - M. John Harrison
“The writing is precise, the imagery vividly sensual; by re-imagining ancient myth in a stunningly realised alternate Greece, Nina Allan traps you in a web of story.” - Paul Kincaid
“Spin blends contemporary, fantastical, and futuristic elements in a way that Nina Allan is making her own.” - David Hebblethwaite
“Allan expertly weaves SF, fantasy and mythology into a subtle, seamless, dreamlike whole. I loved it.” - Neil Williamson
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Nina Allan
Nina Allan was born in Whitechapel, London, grew up in the Midlands and West Sussex, and studied Russian literature at the University of Exeter and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. She wrote her first short story at the age of six. Recurring obsessions include old clocks and rare insects, forgotten manuscripts and abandoned houses. Writers who have inspired and continue to inspire her include among many others Vladimir Nabokov, Iris Murdoch, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul Auster, J. G Ballard, Roberto Bolano, M. John Harrison and of course Christopher Priest, her partner and first reader. They live and work in the historic seaside town of Hastings, East Sussex.
TTA Novellas
TTA Novellas consists of six books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
