by Steven Erikson
(2008)
Publisher: PS Publishing
In this fictitious country of Canada the arts scene is ruled by technocrats who thrive in a secret, nepotistic society of granting agencies, bursaries, awards and peer review boards, all designed to permit self-proclaimed artists to survive without an audience.
In Revolvo, self-proclaimed “hack genre writer” Steven Erikson provides a daring expose of creative skullduggery in the wilds of a country suffering an interminable identity crisis.
The names of plenty of real people have been changed and all specific details of the setting have been messed with, so if anyone guesses a certain prairie city in the middle Canada, where the author used to live, well, you’d be plain wrong. Besides, it was a long time ago and his memory is not so good.