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Thursday, August 10, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com ARTS
Tal Klein discusses sci-fi
debut novel ‘The Punch’
With his debut novel “The
Punch
Escrow,”
author
Tal
Klein constructs a thrilling and
thought-provoking
narrative
that blends the realms of love
stories, hard science fiction and
reeling suspense in one cohesive
and addicting work. Set in the
near future, the world of “The
Punch Escrow” is characterized
by teleportation as the dominant
means of transportation as well
as the shadowy corporation that
controls it. The novel follows
protagonist Joel Byram after he
is accidentally duplicated mid-
transport and must confront
the ensuing consequences to his
autonomy and his marriage. In an
interview with the Daily, Klein
discussed his fascination with
teleportation, his writing process
and the cinematic potential for
the world of “The Punch Escrow.”
Klein’s novel exists in the
genre of hard science fiction, a
niche category of sci-fi defined
by its commitment to scientific
accuracy within the fictional
narrative. Before writing his
novel, Klein spent three years
doing
rigorous
research
to
understand the intricacies of
his imagined technology and
ensure its feasibility. The pages
of “The Punch Escrow” are
distinctly characterized by the
massive footnotes at the bottom
of almost every page, in which
the protagonist explains the real
science behind the seemingly
imagined concepts and tech.
Klein’s fluid movement between
literary voice and scientific fact
sets his novel apart from others
in its genre. Teleportation in
the novel acts as a catalyst
for the novel’s major conflict.
As
a
marketing
executive,
teleportation
holds
certain
interest for Klein beyond its
scientific challenges.
“I think the thing that really
attracted me to teleportation was
that I was told it was impossible.
And, you know, I’m a startup
guy. I’m an entrepreneur, and I
started companies, and I market
products, and whenever someone
tells me something is impossible
I see that as a challenge... I
wanted to find an origin story
for the commercialization of
teleportation,
like
when
did
it
become
anthropologically
accepted by society, and then put
a plot inside that world,” he said.
“The
Punch
Escrow”
also
deals largely with the theme of
societal control by a dominant
and
secretive
corporation.
This theme is largely present
in contemporary society, with
Snowden’s
revelation
of
the
NSA’s
civilian
monitoring
programs and the practice of
internet companies collecting
and selling user data. When
asked
about
these
literary
themes in conjunction with their
presence in the real world Klein
explained, “I think one of the
things we have to accept is that
as society evolves, data becomes
currency,
telemetry
becomes
currency... I don’t advocate for
that kind of world in the book,
and I don’t warn about that kind
of world in the book — I see it as
a pragmatic continuance of the
current vector that our society’s
on today.”
“What I do see is a large
disenfranchisement in the world
with this notion of governmental
control and I think the way I
drew corporations in my book is
not so much corporate takeover
of governments — it’s more
presented in the context of people
revolting
against
the
notion
of being managed by things
they
don’t
understand.
And
corporations, although they may
be capitalistic and greedy, are at
least defined by profits and losses
which are tangible things we can
grasp onto,” he added.
While Klein is a successful
chief marketing officer, he is new
to the process of writing novels.
In describing his writing process,
Klein remarked on the surprises
of being challenged after already
achieving professional success.
“What surprised me is how
humbling the editorial process
can be. It’s ruthless. And I’m
40, so I felt like I’ve gotten to
an age where I no longer have to
be humble.” Regardless, Klein
emphasized
the
welcomed
humility of the process and his
reignited passion for writing:
“If I could change anything,
I would have started writing
novels earlier in life, because I’ve
found a lot of zen in the process
of writing.”
Klein and his team recently
negotiated
a
landmark
deal
with Lionsgate for “The Punch
Escrow” and two subsequent
books.
As
the
books
don’t
necessarily have to be sequels,
Klein
is
excited
to
explore
aspects of his imagined world
that were only hinted at in “The
Punch Escrow.” What’s next for
Klein is another period of heavy
research, furious writing in the
stolen hours of the night and
hopefully “The Punch Escrow”
on the silver screen.
“There’s
a
lot
of
things
that happen in ‘The Punch
Escrow’ that I spent a lot of
time researching that obviously
didn’t make it into the book...
So right now, I think in a lot
of ways what I’m doing is a
lot of research. Right now I’m
researching ‘The Last War,’ and
I’m reading a lot of books on
letters from the front, soldiers
from World War I and World
War II. Lionsgate calls this
project ‘The Future,’ they don’t
call it ‘The Punch Escrow,’
because they bought a world,”
he said.
SYDNEY COHEN
Daily Arts Writer
Of his 56 novels written over
43 years, Stephen King has
most often referred to his eight-
volume epic “The Dark Tower”
as his magnum opus. Spanning
multiple
genres
and
literary
universes, the series tells the
story of Roland Deschain, the
last of a noble group of pseudo-
knights called gunslingers, who
constantly strives to reach the
titular tower, which functions as
a kind of lynchpin at the center
of the multiverse, keeping the
forces of darkness at bay.
Due to the at times outlandish
nature of the books, a direct
adaptation would have been
nearly impossible. There’s even
an argument to be made that to
have done so would have missed
the point of them entirely, as one
of the major themes of the series
is the power of art to create new
worlds. The problem with the
adaptation of “The Dark Tower”
isn’t that changes were made.
It’s that the changes that were
made resulted in a film that only
fleetingly brushes up against the
epic tone to which it aspires.
The most baffling of director
Nikolaj Arcel’s creative decisions
comes into focus early on, as much
of the focus takes place in the real
world as opposed to more fantastic
settings. Early scenes are devoted
almost entirely to the relationship
between Jake Chambers (Tom
Taylor, “Broken Hearts”) and
his family, as the young boy feels
distanced from his family due
to visions of the Dark Tower.
Not only is this type of broken
family dynamic — communicated
through longing glances at photos
of happier times — commonplace,
but it is at a total disconnect with
the rest of the story. Was there
really no better way to begin an
epic western-fantasy-horror piece
than with 20 minutes of generic
family drama?
What’s more is that after a
brief jaunt to Mid-World, a post-
apocalyptic alternate dimension,
the drama returns to New York
City so Roland (Idris Elba, “Star
Trek Beyond”) can partake in
fish-out-of-water jokes. It’s not
that Elba doesn’t sell the humor
of the moments, or even that
humor itself is unwelcome, but
juxtaposed against a quest to save
an infinite array of universes from
an impending army of Satanic
creatures, these kind of jokes have
not only been done before, but
they feel completely out of place.
Perhaps
what’s
most
disappointing
about
this
is
that, for the too-brief scenes
set in Mid-World, “The Dark
Tower” is actually quite a bit of
fun. As Roland, Elba provides a
presence that is perhaps never as
commanding as it should be, but
still embodies the stoic, tragic
essence of the character that
makes him so interesting.
BOOK REVIEW
MOVIE REVIEW
“The Punch
Escrow”
Tal Klein
Geek and Sundry
What surprised
me is how
humbling the
editorial process
can be
‘The Dark Tower’
does book injustice
JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
Daily Arts Writer
“The Dark
Tower”
Rave Cinemas,
Quality 16
Columbia
Pictures
COLUMBIA PICTURES
Idris Elba locked and loaded
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