Title: Parallax
Author: Paul Williams
Release Date: September 2014
Publisher: illusio & baqer
Book Description: Danny Anderson lives in Sulphide, a copper mining town in the outback of Australia. Taking refuge from a gang of bullies who tortures animals, he and his two friends Jennifer and Gustave discover a parallel universe through a cave. In this universe, bullies are eaten by the animals they torture, Animal Police arrest people for the crime of cannibalism (eating meat), and pain inflicted on others is felt by the perpetrators.
But far from being the Eden they first envision, it is a frightening world where justice is harsh. They escape into a series of worlds, but each parallel universe is worse than the previous one, until they discover a perfect utopia, where—it seems—everything they wanted the world to be is true: animal suffering is abolished, humans live in harmony with nature, and justice is done—but not all is as perfect as it appears.
About the Author: Paul Williams has his PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin, and is now a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He has published fiction, young adult novels, a memoir, educational readers, short stories and articles, and his books have been set in schools across Africa. Paul currently resides in Australia and you can learn more about him on his Website (http://paul-a-williams.com/)
Here is an Interview with the Author!
How did you come up with the title?
I had many ideas for titles, but I wanted to find a scientific word that somehow explained the idea of parallel worlds.Parallax means ‘alteration’ in Greek and is about how objects look in a different place. In my novel, the whole world is altered and seen from a different angle.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes: I think the message is obvious, but for those who don’t get it, it’s about being kind to all animals… and treating them with respect.
How much of the book is realistic?
A lot! When I was eleven years old, I felt this burning sense of the world being wrong, and wanted to change it. I also lived in a pokey little mining town in the middle of nowhere, like my characters, who are seeking some adventure to make their lives exciting.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life? Based on me. I wanted so badly for there to be an entrance to another parallel world somewhere and used to fantasize about the caves I explored, wishing behind that crevice there would be a portal to another world.
What books have influenced your life most? My dad read Huckleberry Finn to me when I was young and that stuck in my mind somehow, about a young boy trying to fight against the whole of his society, and be himself, to be free.
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