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James Bow

Goodreads Author

Born

in Toronto, ON, Canada

Website

http://bowjamesbow.ca

Twitter

jamesbowKWTO

Genre

Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science

Member Since

May 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/jamesbow

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I was born in downtown Toronto on April 19, 1972 and lived there until my folks moved up to Kitchener in 1991 so I could attend the University of Waterloo. I’ve lived in Kitchener ever since. I’ve been trained as an urban planner, and I’ve worked as a database manager, web designer, circulation manager, administrative assistant, layout designer and office manager. The one consistent thing about my varied academic and professional career has been a love of writing.

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Popular Answered Questions

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

James Bow My ideas come from a number of sources. The oldest file I have in my directory containing all my "Icarus Down" drafts is entitled "World Kite" and it …moreMy ideas come from a number of sources. The oldest file I have in my directory containing all my "Icarus Down" drafts is entitled "World Kite" and it says:

"Last night I dreamed about a boy who built himself a kite to fly around the world. It wasn't a pleasant journey because the people around the world were in distress, fighting each other. But somehow his journey helped enough people to make a difference.

"The boy lived on an isolated village at the top of a huge cliff. His fellow children made fun of him and his wish to fly, until he shocks them all by jumping off the cliff and flying. (Note, even the bullies don't consider throwing him off the cliff. They just want him to go back to the village to be humiliated. They get a little scared when he proposes to jump)"

The boy is Simon, obviously -- a young man who isn't appreciated by the people around him, but finds something deep inside himself which surprises everyone. He doesn't end up flying away. Indeed, he falls. Subsequent drafts of "Icarus Down" wiped away the kite element, and suspended the city halfway down the chasm, rather than being at the edge of the cliff. Two more significant ideas came from other sources.

"Invisible Cities", by Italian author Italo Calvino, is an important book in my life. I read it during my university years and I keep coming back to it. It's a series of imaginary (or are they?) cities described by Marco Polo to Kublai Khan in between Marco's many journeys. One of the cities he describes is Octavia, a city suspended from cables hung between two mountain peaks. Where everything in normal cities builds up, Octavia builds down, hanging from its precarious perch. That gave me the idea of cities suspended halfway down the chasm, and it's one reason why one of those cities on the planet is called Octavia. I only needed to ask the questions: "What are they hiding from if they have to suspend their cities off the ground? And why are they hiding from the sun at the top of the cliffs?"

Diane Wynne Jones "The Merlin Conspiracy" provides the answer to the latter question. I loved her stories of fascinating worlds that people can visit through magical portals, and one stuck in the mind from this book. In this book, Wynne Jones imagined a city that hugged the side of a deep chasm, keeping in the shade from a terrible sun. It was a rigid caste system, and the lower your caste, the higher you were on the chasm, closer to the sun. The "untouchables" lived on the roofs and in the plains above, where the sun produced horrible tumours on their skin.

Couple Octavia and Wynne Jones' world together, and you have the setting for "Icarus Down". Now, I just needed to ask questions: "why were they there? What were they hiding from? Why were they hiding from it?" From that, the story emerged.(less)

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This question contains spoilers... (view spoiler)

James Bow Mar, thanks for your question, and my apologies for my delay in writing back (Goodreads don't notify me when I receive questions).

Note, anybody readi…moreMar, thanks for your question, and my apologies for my delay in writing back (Goodreads don't notify me when I receive questions).

Note, anybody reading this, that spoilers follow.

Simon definitely means Aaron in this context. He suspects that Nathaniel killed Isaac, and has some evidence to that effect. However, he SAW Nathaniel kill Aaron directly (the bloody knife on top of the anchor), so that may have brought that up in Simon's accusation earlier.

He has a lot to say, and not much time to say it in, I think. Does that help?

Edited to add: further to my point, I'd refer you to the early part of the first chapter, bottom of page 2 and top of 3 where Simon says, "...because when I remember it, it still feels like my fault." That may be another reason why Isaac didn't come up top of his mind when he accused Nathaniel.(less)

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Combine Editions
James Bow’s books

Average rating: 3.85 · 492 ratings · 145 reviews · 93 distinct works • Similar authors

	Icarus Down 3.81 avg rating — 90 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Unwritten Girl 3.79 avg rating — 61 ratings — published 2006 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Night Girl really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 2019 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Young City 3.65 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 2008 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fathom Five 3.72 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 2007 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sun Runners 4.50 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2024 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lamborghini 3.75 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2010 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tales from the Silence 4.75 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2024 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Canadian Structures and Sustainability 2.90 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2018 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Maker Projects for Kids Who Love Robotics 3.50 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2016 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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James Bow's Blog

Promotional Considerations and Thank Yous

Photo by Damian Baranowski.

I've been away longer than I intended from this blog, and I remember back in the days of blogging when "longer than I intended" was about two or three days. In the years since, this blog has gone silent for months. But I was away longer than I intended and I felt increasingly bad about that. So perhaps that's a hopeful sign for the health of this blog.

We talked a bit abo

Series by James Bow

The Unwritten Books (3 books)
by

James Bow (Goodreads Author)

3.73 avg rating — 140 ratings

Disasters in Canada: Prepare and Be Safe (1 book)
by

James Bow (Goodreads Author)

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings

Disasters in Canada: Prepare and Be Safe (1 book)
by

James Bow (Goodreads Author)

0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings

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James liked Anthony's review of The Night Girl: "The Review This was such a unique and engaging fantasy read. The setting of Toronto became just as much a character as the rest of the characters in this book; its unique sights and sounds were captured in the detailed, beautiful imagery the author po" Read more of this review »
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James liked _sassy_39's review of The Night Girl: "The Night Girl by James Bow is a captivating read. The story follows Perpetua, who arrives in Toronto with just $500 in her pocket, determined to start a new life. On her first day in the city, she meets Fergus, a kind taxi driver who offers her a di" Read more of this review »
Oct 07, 2025 07:05AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Night Girl by James Bow. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Night Girl by James Bow <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
James and 1 other person liked Lori Alden Holuta's review of The Night Girl: "When author James Bow offered me a copy of The Night Girl, he described it as a “story about a young woman who comes to the big city looking for work, and finds it as an admin assistant at an employment agency that finds work for goblins and trolls.”" Read more of this review »
Aug 23, 2025 04:48PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Night Girl by James Bow. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Night Girl by James Bow <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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James liked M.H. Questus's review of Tales from the Silence: "A wonderful reminder that the science fiction is at its best in short stories. A collection of authors all writing in the same universe/timeline as "The Sun Runners," this work was a lovely revisit to the setting as seen through the eyes of some trul" Read more of this review »
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Quotes by James Bow (?)

“Old words die hard.”
― James Bow, Icarus Down

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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James’s Quotes

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”
― Plato

tags: attributed-no-source, compassion, kindness

10072 likes

“If you choose to believe me, good. Now I will tell you how Octavia, the spider-web city, is made. There is a precipice between two steep mountains: the city is over the void, bound to the two crests with ropes and chains and catwalks. You walk on the little wooden ties, careful not to set your foot in the open spaces, or you cling to the hempen strands. Below there is nothing for hundreds and hundreds of feet: a few clouds glide past; farther down you can glimpse the chasm's bed.
This is the foundation of the city: a net which serves as passage and as support. All the rest, instead of rising up, is hung below: rope ladders, hammocks, houses made like sacks, clothes hangers, terraces like gondolas, skins of water, gas jets, spits, baskets on strings, dumb-waiters, showers, trapezes and rings for children's games, cable cars, chandeliers, pots with trailing plants.
Suspended over the abyss, the life of Octavia's inhabitants is less uncertain than in other cities. They know the net will only last so long.”
― Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

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“The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space.”
― Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

540 likes

“Old words die hard.”
― James Bow, Icarus Down

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“Besides, when you hit your thumb with an eight-pound hammer it’s nice to be able to blaspheme. It takes a very special and strong-minded kind of atheist to jump up and down with their hand clasped under their other armpit and shout, “Oh, random fluctuations-in-the-space-time-contiuum!” or “Aaargh, primitive-and-outmoded-concept on a crutch!”
― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms

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