The phrase, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” takes on a perverse new meaning in Arlington author Shaun Hamill’s stunning second novel, The Dissonance. Here, what traumatizes you unlocks magical abilities, and that’s why it’s still a horror novel despite Hamill’s intention to turn toward fantasy.
“I feel like there is more horrific imagery in The Dissonance than in Cosmology,” he says of his first novel, A Cosmology of Monsters. “One of the reasons it took so long was that I felt paralyzed by the thought of just being a horror author. What’s the next horror novel I’m supposed to write? I made a choice to step away in another direction but ended up staying close to it."
The new novel follows four people as teenagers and as adults, 25 years after a tragedy in their small Texas town. All four, from homes in various states of breakdown, form an instant bond. They stumble across a book of magic one day and unlock their ability to harness the “dissonance,” which is, in essence, the friction between the jagged edges of reality when things go wrong. Under the tutelage of the ambitious and often cruel Professor Marsh, they explore their magical nature while also coming of age.
Hamill drew on Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell when writing The Dissonance, and his gesture-based magic system and disdain for gatekeeping hierarchy reflects that. However, it also has deep shades of Stephen King’s It. The foursome of Hal, Athena, Erin and Peter are the most immediate draw in the book as they seek solace in magical study from their own decaying home lives. It’s impossible not to see the parallels of adolescents escaping abusive homes and uncaring parents by delving into fantasy worlds. It just happens more overtly in Hamill’s book.
“We’re all living in Stephen King’s shadow, and I need to get comfortable with that,” says Hamill. “His books practically raised me. That’ll never change, and I don’t want it to.”
The admiration is mutual. King praised Cosmology as, "If John Irving ever wrote a horror novel, it would be something like this. I loved it,” as quoted on the book's dust jacket.
The world of The Dissonance is full of grotesqueries. Professor Marsh seems like a mundane if cold man, but quickly morphs into a riveting villain eager to exploit his proteges for his personal gain. He’s a fascinating monster who feels all too familiar despite his sorcerous powers.
“I love stories about toxic mentors, or at least complicated ones,” says Hamill. “I was in an MFA program, and those programs are famous for being breeding grounds for inappropriate relationships. Not necessarily sexual, but pure cruelty. I didn’t live through any, but it’s a part of the culture. Without endorsing it or forgiving it, I was interested in exploring it.”
There is an honest grit to Hamill’s writing that makes it perfect for the 2020s. Like fellow Texan Stephen Graham Jones, Hamill has a love of the decrepit side of small-town life where drug addiction, poverty and small-minded cruelty offer their own spin on fantasy and Gothic tropes. Mixing fantastic abilities and alien dimensions with some trailer kid’s parental issues is, well, dissonant. That friction, like love, is where the magic happens.
The Dissonance is a remarkable follow-up to one of the best horror debuts in recent memory. Hamill displays an ability to create good people in weird circumstances in a way that has a reader rooting for them from page one. It’s an uncomfortable book full of painful stories and alarming twists, but it’s also a chronicle of how people heal from the wounds the world inflicts on them. That alone makes it perfect for this day and age.
“I feel like there is more horrific imagery in The Dissonance than in Cosmology,” he says of his first novel, A Cosmology of Monsters. “One of the reasons it took so long was that I felt paralyzed by the thought of just being a horror author. What’s the next horror novel I’m supposed to write? I made a choice to step away in another direction but ended up staying close to it."
The new novel follows four people as teenagers and as adults, 25 years after a tragedy in their small Texas town. All four, from homes in various states of breakdown, form an instant bond. They stumble across a book of magic one day and unlock their ability to harness the “dissonance,” which is, in essence, the friction between the jagged edges of reality when things go wrong. Under the tutelage of the ambitious and often cruel Professor Marsh, they explore their magical nature while also coming of age.
Hamill drew on Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell when writing The Dissonance, and his gesture-based magic system and disdain for gatekeeping hierarchy reflects that. However, it also has deep shades of Stephen King’s It. The foursome of Hal, Athena, Erin and Peter are the most immediate draw in the book as they seek solace in magical study from their own decaying home lives. It’s impossible not to see the parallels of adolescents escaping abusive homes and uncaring parents by delving into fantasy worlds. It just happens more overtly in Hamill’s book.
Masters of Horror
“We’re all living in Stephen King’s shadow, and I need to get comfortable with that,” says Hamill. “His books practically raised me. That’ll never change, and I don’t want it to.”The admiration is mutual. King praised Cosmology as, "If John Irving ever wrote a horror novel, it would be something like this. I loved it,” as quoted on the book's dust jacket.
The world of The Dissonance is full of grotesqueries. Professor Marsh seems like a mundane if cold man, but quickly morphs into a riveting villain eager to exploit his proteges for his personal gain. He’s a fascinating monster who feels all too familiar despite his sorcerous powers.
“I love stories about toxic mentors, or at least complicated ones,” says Hamill. “I was in an MFA program, and those programs are famous for being breeding grounds for inappropriate relationships. Not necessarily sexual, but pure cruelty. I didn’t live through any, but it’s a part of the culture. Without endorsing it or forgiving it, I was interested in exploring it.”
There is an honest grit to Hamill’s writing that makes it perfect for the 2020s. Like fellow Texan Stephen Graham Jones, Hamill has a love of the decrepit side of small-town life where drug addiction, poverty and small-minded cruelty offer their own spin on fantasy and Gothic tropes. Mixing fantastic abilities and alien dimensions with some trailer kid’s parental issues is, well, dissonant. That friction, like love, is where the magic happens.
The Dissonance is a remarkable follow-up to one of the best horror debuts in recent memory. Hamill displays an ability to create good people in weird circumstances in a way that has a reader rooting for them from page one. It’s an uncomfortable book full of painful stories and alarming twists, but it’s also a chronicle of how people heal from the wounds the world inflicts on them. That alone makes it perfect for this day and age.
The Dissonance will be available from Penguin Random House starting July 23.
