I can’t stop thinking big . . .
That’s a line from “Caravan,” the first single from Rush’s new album Clockwork Angels—definitely words to live by.
I have always drawn writing inspiration from music, and in particular from legendary rock band Rush. My first novel, Resurrection, Inc. (1988), was closely inspired by their album Grace Under Pressure, which also led to a long-standing friendship with Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. Over more than twenty years, I can point to dozens of my other novels and stories that bear a clear Rush influence (and even, occasionally, offer a little bit of lyrical inspiration in the other direction).
Neil and I wrote a dark-fantasy short story together, “Drumbeats,” but we have always wanted to collaborate on something major, a way we could tie together our imaginations—and we’ve achieved it at last with Clockwork Angels: The Novel.
The music in Clockwork Angels—the band’s twentieth studio album—tells a wonderful dystopian story, ripe for fleshing out as a full novel. In a young man’s quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.
Neil approached me about writing the novel version several years ago while he was in the early planning stages of the album, and we discussed the story as it developed, building the characters, the adventures, the ideas, sometimes with a dozen e-mail exchanges per day. (Neil is himself an accomplished writer, with books such as Ghost Rider, Roadshow, and Far and Away.) As the album came together, I began writing, armed with the lyrics for all the songs and with Neil’s careful feedback, chapter by chapter, scene by scene. We also had input from the artist Hugh Syme, whose beautiful illustrations added even more ingredients to the mix.
Clockwork Angels: The Novel is an exciting, innovative project that brings together music and prose, wrapped around a colorful, exciting story. Imagine if someone had written the novel of The Wall, Tommy, or Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band when those classic albums were released. For Rush fans, this is that dream project—but not only for Rush fans, or Kevin J. Anderson fans, or steampunk fans, or fantasy fans. We hope readers of all types will fall in love with the story.
After all, we can’t stop thinking big . . .
—Kevin J. Anderson
For something like twenty years, Kevin and I have discussed working on a project together that would marry music, lyrics, and prose fiction. The right idea and timing eluded us for a long time, but at last, both converged perfectly. It is as though that occasion had to wait until both of us were truly ready, as mature artists and—perhaps—as mature human beings, too.
With the novelization of Clockwork Angels, Kevin’s unparalleled world-building and story-building skills fully engaged with my lyrics and their expressed ideas, and no writer could be more “comfortable” in a steampunk world (a genre partly pioneered by Kevin, after all).
Much of our shared conception (I know—the “marry,” “engaged,” and “conception” series—metaphors of true collaboration!) was worked through on a day off between two Rush shows at Red Rocks in Colorado—when Kevin led me on a hike to the top of Mount Evans. That was fitting, because it is the kind of setting in which much of Kevin’s writing is created—dictated during long hikes in mountains, deserts, and canyonlands. (Part of my reason for setting the song “Seven Cities of Gold” in a landscape resembling the American Southwest reflects both true history and our shared love for that region.)
As my 38 years with Rush will attest, I very much enjoy collaboration with like-minded artists. Working up this story with Kevin was one of the easiest, yet most satisfying projects I have ever shared—easiest because we almost always simply agreed with each other’s ideas, and most satisfying because I am so proud of the result.
When my bandmates and I finish a new album, we always hope people will be as excited about it as we are—and that is just how Kevin and I feel about Clockwork Angels: The Novel.
—Neil Peart
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