Tobias Buckell's "Sly Mongoose"

Tobias Buckell is a Caribbean born SF/F writer. His short fiction has appeared in magazines (such as Nature) and various anthologies. His books include Ragamuffin and Crystal Rain.

He applied “the Page 69 Test” and “the Page 99 Test” to his new novel, Sly Mongoose, and reported the following:

The pg 99 test -- Is Ford Madox Ford's statement "Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you," accurate for your book?

Page 99 is a blank page between the 'parts' of my book, so I certainly hope not! LOL.

The pg 69 test -- is it representative of the rest of the book? would a reader skimming that page be inclined to read on?

I think that page 69 would a be a good page. On this page one of my main characters, Pepper, is in a room full of people aboard a spaceship full of people getting infected by some sort of virus. One of the infected tries to break through a door and attack the people hiding away, and it's a tense situation. Hopefully people would be compelled to read on!

Watch the video trailer for Sly Mongoose.

Learn more about the book and author at Tobias Buckell's website and his blog.

--Marshal Zeringue