Hi, I’m Ryan Oakley.
I’m the author of Technicolor Ultra Mall and I’ve been keeping this blog, The Grumpy Owl, for years. It covers culture, tech, style, politics and, sometimes, baseball. The Grumpy Owl is a public scrap and notebook.
I’m available for interviews, readings, panels and all that. Just drop me a line at ryan dot oakley at gmail dot com
Now, on to what other people have said . . .
Reviews of Technicolor Ultra Mall
“Ryan Oakley kicks all kinds of butt. This is the story Philip K. Dick would have written if he’d lived to today: over-the-top, incisively satirical, and packing a major wallop. The prose sings even as the story makes you squirm; underneath all the slickness and sickness there’s a passionate human heart, beating so damn fast it warps space. Oakley is a supernova about to blow – a major new talent ready to burst on the scene – and with this, his first novel, he’ll light up the entire sky.”
– Robert J. Sawyer
Hugo Award-winning author of HOMINDS
Nebula Award-winning author of THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT
“Reading Ryan Oakley’s writing is like being lit-jacked. Once Oakley’s forty-five caliber prose is aimed between your eyes, you’ll never forget it.”
–Minister Faust
Phillip K. Dick Prize Shortlisted author of THE COYOTE KINGS OF THE SPACE-AGE BACHELOR PAD
The Carl Brandon Society Kindred Award, Special Citation (Runner Up) Phillip K. Dick Award author of FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF DR. BRAIN
“Oakley isn’t so much concerned with what science fiction has been, but rather where it can go. And, unlike most of his contemporaries, he doesn’t just write from his head, but from his gut. His work somehow manages to be both unsettling and deeply absorbing.”
–Jeff Lemire
Eisner-nominated Graphic novelist of the ESSEX COUNTY TRILOGY,
THE NOBODY,
SWEET TOOTH from Vertigo.
THE ATOM and the upcoming SUPERBOY series for DC Comics
“Be prepared for gang violence, the objectification of women, swearing, sexual scenes and language, torture, dismemberment, drug usage, adverts, and Santa’s name being used as a curse word. Anyways, consider yourself warned, and enjoy the show.”
“The consumerist mall-as-dystopia is not a wholly original idea, but I can’t remember ever encountering one so unflinchingly brutal as Technicolor Ultra Mall. From the opening blaze of profanity-peppered violence to the bleak cataclysm of its conclusion, Oakley never eases the pressure, tearing aside the glossy veils of commerce to reveal the cynical profiteering beneath. This book is yet another data point for the adage about science fiction novels being about the time in which they are written more than the time in which they are set, and as the global economy goes from bad to worse it’s only going to look more timely. We already live in Oakley’s mall, sealed off from the over-polluted outside world like the arcologies of the classic satirical RPG Paranoia, everything we see or hear or feel mediated by businesses interests, our politics a polarised red vs. blue puppet show that distracts us from the real game being played by the high rollers, our lingering primate instincts and tribal urges leveraged in order to maintain and prop up a profitable hierarchy.”
“Do not go into Technicolor Ultra Mall expecting a pleasure read. Oh, sure, you’re going to be hooked and will be entertained and all those things you want from a good book, but some part of you is going to come away feeling battered and bloodstained. “
“There were times when this one reminded me of Mallworld by Somtow Sucharitkul from way back when, crossed with a bit ofMax Headroom. The setting is indeed a giant mall which has become a city unto itself, in fact almost a civilization unto itself. Against this backdrop we have several individual stories that aren’t entirely unrelated but the plot is almost incidental. The book is about the mall and the way people interact in an enclosed environment. The language is fresh, inventive, and fast moving. One of the blurbs compares Oakley to Philip K. Dick but I would have said K.W. Jeter. There are hints of bizarre humor, and it’s obviously in part a satire, but it’s also deadly serious. This is one of those books that are worth some extra effort to track them down.”
“If you like your fiction efficient, with a lot of violence and a little transcendence mixed in with the bleakness, this is the book for you.”
“Beneath the violence of Technicolor are interesting, realistic, and sometimes exaggerated characters facing extreme conditions, on both the red and green levels. Communication is mediated by antisocial codes and television, but the characters manage to relate when they want to and when they try. They are still human, by turns repulsive and sympathetic, obnoxious and innocent. Without these conflicted characters, the violence they commit might be too much—too hard to take, too pointless, too blunt. Oakley makes it work and, as a result, the book is a strong first effort.”
Adam Gorley of The New Dilettantes.
Ryan and Style
“21st century Beau Brummel.”
–Toronto Life Style Guide: The city’s definitive best dressed list: Toronto’s 12 Most Stylish people
“He was a pinstriped vision, carefully treading the line between aristocrat and pimp . . . There was a certain je ne sais quoi… An air of “that’s right, bitches” about him that I found entirely justified.”
The Great Shoe Debate: Ryan Oakley, sartorialist and author of Technicolor Ultra Mall, is shoes on: From the National Post
Interviews and Whatnot
The Proust Questionnaire with Ryan Oakley: Open Book Toronto
Ryan Oakley Recommends Yellow, Blue, Tibia by Adam Roberts: Advent Book Blog
