From the description: ”[it]starts with the true life story of two badly burned boys being treated with stem cell generated skin grafts in 1983. We then follow the successes and setbacks of a group of researchers working together to use stem cells to cure blindness, whilst being introduced to knotty issues that are part of the process, including stem cell regulation and the controversial ethical issues surrounding the subject. Whilst some of the story lines sound like science fiction they are in fact all true, despite the fact the script was written by the well-known Scottish Science Fiction writer, Ken Macleod. Comic book artist Edward Ross illustrated the script with his clear, friendly and attractive artwork, whilst stem cell researchers from OptiStem provided the real-life examples of their research and experiences.”

Although Ken is best known for being one of the UK’s top SF writers his own educational background is in science, he’s always delighted in incorporating real scientific thinking into his fiction and in recent years he has been doing a stellar job as a writer in residence with science teams in Edinburgh (I caught some of the talks that were part of that residency, which were open to all, and they were fascinating and a good way to get the public thinking about the scientific research we rely on). Away from his Filmish self published comics I enjoyed so much Edward is no stranger to educational, science-based comics now either, having also worked recently on illustrating a comic work with Glasgow University’s Jamie Hall on a comic on malaria. The work is nice, simple and clear, taking in some of the early discoveries in the field of stem cells in medicine and the applications to help heal conditions which previously had few viable treatments that could be used for them, including the use of the research to literally grow more new skin to heal boys hideously burned in a bad fire.

I rather like the way the comic took some pains to explain the enormous effort that goes into scientific research, how many years of dedicated work goes on at the most basic levels to see where these new techniques can be pushed, some leading to fruitful new areas of further research, some eating years of work but leading nowhere (but as it makes clear, the research needs to be done, it is the only way to find which techniques and possible therapies could be viable and helpful in the long run – and any real scientific research has to consider the long run), and also how funding is required to sustain such efforts on the potential promise of new discoveries that can vastly improve human health and wellbeing, as well as commenting on the way some possible new discoveries are taken by the media and overblown in the usual tabloid style leading to a perhaps unrealistic expectation of how effective new therapies will be and how quickly they can be developed and delivered – the comic, thankfully, tries to put the reality of the research into some clear context.

Ken documents working on Hope Beyond Hype on his blog – his first comics work, for which he thanks, among others, former Tharg David Bishop (who, as regular readers will recall, also now teaches on a course in genre writing, including comics work, at Edinburgh’s Napier University), for advice in how to script a comic. You can read Hope Beyond Hype on the Euro Stem Cell site, download it as a PDF or order a printed version via Edinburgh University’s site. And one a related note I’d like to say a huge congrats to Edward and his other half (and Edinburgh Science Fiction Book Group regular) Mary on the recent birth of their wee boy.

As you can imagine that means an impressively large roster of guests and I’m not even going to attempt to go through them all here, but among some of the names that stand out for geeks are some well-kent face from the worlds of science fiction, comics and cartooning. Local lad Iain Banks will be on hand of course, and the excellent Ken MacLeod and the far too damned clever Adam Roberts will be in discussion together (just finished Ken’s new book, the Resotration Game, recently, highly recommended mature SF mixed with post Cold War espionage thriller).  Some regular faves of the FPI crew will be entertaining the young ‘uns, with Sarah McIntyre and Garen Ewing both on hands and encouraging the kids to draw their own comics.

(Alan Moore portrait from the cover of the recent Stool Pigeon issue)

The great Steve Bell has also been let loose at this year’s Book Fest – now I think most of us would go along just to see Steve, undoubtebly one of the UK’s finest editorial cartoonists. But Steve is also a guest selector this year and that means he gets to pick out his own guests – and he’s lined up fellow cartoonist, the equally brilliant Martin Rowson (who in addition to his regular editorial cartooning has also recently created a grpahic novel adaptation of Sterne’s Tristram Shandy for SelfMadeHero), the legendary Garry Trudeau and also the great bearded god of British comics, Mr Alan Moore, magus and gentleman. Yes, Alan Moore at the world’s biggest literary festival – don’t you like the sound of that? I do and I’ll be going along – expect a report on the blog after the events. Seeing any of these creators would be exciting, seeing all of them may lead to thrill power overload, but I’m willing to risk it.

“Can things only get better or do we have to look over a mountain of rubble to see beyond the next fifty years?  Scottish writers are leading a renaissance in British speculative fiction, but does our national identity have any future at all?” If you’re going to be in Glasgow then that’s a brilliant gig to get along to, my own bookshelves all have space dedicated to each of those writers and I’d recommend them all (I find it amusing that Morgan who established himself with hardboiled SF has now moved into hardboiled fantasy while Cobley who made a name in fantasy has now moved into an excellent SF series). Brit science fiction in general has been producing some simply fabulous work in recent years – as with a lot of recent comics we’re spoiled with an embarassment of riches to choose from – and for reasons we’ve never quite understood the Scottish scene has been particularly spectacular. Must be something in the water. Like the single malt.

You should check out the programme because there are some great authors appearing during the festival, including Bryan Talbot who will be in conversation with Denise Mina on Friday 12th of March at 7.30pm; check the Aye Write site for full details of all events

“The idea of calling the events following September 11th and what were living through now and no doubt will live through more of in the future, is that in sometime twenty odd years hence this might be looked back on as the ‘Faith Wars’. It was part of the set up of the book, the idea being that both the United Kingdom and the United States might come out of these wars having lost them essentially to the other rising powers- China and Russia.”

“It doesn’t however come to an all nuclear exchange but they do lose the war and could blame it on religious lobbying in one kind or another. And that is one of the factors of the events that some of the characters call the Second Enlightenment whilst others call it the Great Rejection. That being just as the First Enlightenment put forward the separation of the church from the state, constitutionally established in the US but doesn’t quite exist in the UK .”

The paperback edition of Night Sessions came out just recently from the good folks at Orbit and I chose the hardback as one of my books of the year in 2008, its a highly compelling piece of mature science fiction and, as with all of Ken’s books, deals with themes of morality and politics in an interesting way; if you’re looking for a good novel to slip into your carry-on luggage to read on holiday I highly recommend it.

“Writers’ Bloc is proud to present a night of literary mayhem featuring original fiction that gives the double helix an extra twist; ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum Writers in Residence Ken MacLeod and Pippa Goldschmidt will be special guest performers for the evening. The show will also feature new fiction by Writers’ Bloc stalwarts including Jack Deighton, Gavin Inglis, Stefan Pearson and Andrew J. Wilson.

Expect genetically modified footballers, an investigation of whether death is an acquired trait and something that can only be described as Gattaca for neds… Writers’ Bloc is Edinburgh’s premier spoken-word performance group. Its members include published and prize-winning poets and novelists, who present original material with attitude.”

The Mutant Scum! evening takes place in the Pleasance Cabaret Bar, Edinburgh, from 7.45pm on Thursday July 2nd, check the site for more details.