,
Luke F.D. Marsden

Luke F.D. Marsden’s Followers (33)

member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
member photo
dianne b.
1,881 books | 379 friends

Hannah
395 books | 11 friends

James B...
2,272 books | 289 friends

Harry W...
1,747 books | 733 friends

Mike Ro...
820 books | 212 friends

Thomas ...
51 books | 1 friend

Alison ...
1,209 books | 44 friends

John Au...
87 books | 6 friends

More friends…

Luke F.D. Marsden

Goodreads Author


Born
Bristol, The United Kingdom
Website

Genre

Member Since
November 2014

URL


Luke F. D. Marsden lives in the South West of England. His books and short stories combine metaphysical and visionary fiction with realism and detailed observation. He has travelled extensively in six continents and brings the cumulative experiences of these journeys to his writing. He is a graduate of Oxford University in Molecular Biology and holds a Master's degree in Computer Science. These fields of study have taught him how little we know about the world and our own minds.

"I think that the ability of literature, at its best, to unlock and engage the power of the imagination makes it the most powerful art form. Two and a half thousand years of philosophy, medicine, biology and psychology since Aristotle have yet to produce even a basi
...more

To ask Luke F.D. Marsden questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Luke F.D. Marsden When someone picks up your book to read it, they are making a personal investment of their precious time in the words that *you* have written, over an…moreWhen someone picks up your book to read it, they are making a personal investment of their precious time in the words that *you* have written, over and above everything that everyone else has ever written. That is an incredible honour. Never forget this.(less)
Luke F.D. Marsden I can't remember which climber it was, but they likened rock climbing to art and ice climbing to a craft. It set me thinking about the differences bet…moreI can't remember which climber it was, but they likened rock climbing to art and ice climbing to a craft. It set me thinking about the differences between the two. I believe writing combines aspects of both. The bursts of inspiration, the creation of the aesthetic, are the art. The discipline needed to overhaul, re-work and do the million tiny adjustments required to bring the work to a finished whole; that is the craft. I'll only write when I feel inspired - I wouldn't expect anybody to read my books otherwise. The more prosaic things like proofreading and copy editing I leave for the between-times.(less)
Average rating: 3.99 · 68 ratings · 22 reviews · 4 distinct worksSimilar authors
Wondering, the Way is Made:...

3.91 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Celestines: A Short Story

4.25 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2015
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Mirrored Ocean: A Short...

4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2015
Rate this book
Clear rating
The Isle of the Antella: A ...

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2015
Rate this book
Clear rating

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Celestial dust devils: The story of a book cover

When creating the cover for my most recent story, The Celestines, I went looking for inspiration among pictures of space. The story is about a race of ghostly beings that derive all of their energy from starlight, dedicating their existences to exchanging ideas which they record in the dust of their planet. To my amazement, I happened across not only some good space images but something that rese Read more of this blog post »
4 likes ·   •  4 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on September 06, 2015 23:52 Tags: brain, consciousness, mars, space, the-celestines
The High Valley
Luke Marsden is currently reading
bookshelves: currently-reading
Rate this book
Clear rating

 
Quotes by Luke F.D. Marsden  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“The places we visited were always richer and always more intricate than one could imagine. I loved to find out about the world, the good and the bad, in this way. For me, observing things with my own eyes was the only way. My wanderlust was also a wonderlust.”
Luke F.D. Marsden, Wondering, the Way is Made: A South American Odyssey
tags: travel

“Travelling the dusty highways in the early evenings, just as the light began to fade, I would look out along the perpendicular dirt tracks that joined the road at intervals. They undulated away gently into the distance; slow streams of people in twos and threes and fours walked them, through the haze, talking easily, making their way back from wherever lay beyond. I longed to take every one of these turnings, to step out along every track in the morning, to return at dusk, to see what lay over each of these horizons and to share in the stories of those that returned from them. My trajectory, and that of each one of us, was that of a meteor, shedding millions of tiny sparks of possibility with every passing second, each with the capacity to ignite a flash of experience, but nearly all of which quickly burned up and vanished as it was left behind. The fire that moved forward was the flame of our lives.”
Luke F.D. Marsden, Wondering, the Way is Made: A South American Odyssey
tags: travel

“You see, mzungus make these programmes because in their countries they know that everything will work correctly. And when they come to Uganda they still make their programmes but they forget that things don't work here like they do when they are at home. And then when something goes wrong, like there's no petrol, or the road has been flooded, or the battery doesn't work, they can't do all the things in their programme. Sometimes, even when they are at home, the programme doesn't work. At these times, when the programme goes bad, it makes them very unhappy. Very unhappy.”
Luke F.D. Marsden, Wondering, the Way is Made: A South American Odyssey

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
*~Can't Stop Read...: Wondering, the Way is Made 1 7 Dec 26, 2014 01:00PM  
21st Century Lite...: Literary fiction and travel: Wondering, the Way is Made 1 17 Dec 29, 2014 12:52PM  
Reading with Style: This topic has been closed to new comments. FA 18 Reading Plans 12 47 Sep 04, 2018 07:45AM  
UK Book Club: * A folder for Author Promotions 1233 1379 Dec 17, 2025 06:18AM  
Goodreads Authors...: * Welcome Literary Fiction Authors and Readers!! 673 3248 Dec 18, 2025 08:51AM  
Modern Good Reads: * Authors Please Introduce Your Books Here 1207 1920 Dec 30, 2025 04:28PM  
Goodreads Authors...: * Author List 7761 21189 2 hours, 9 min ago  
“I'll always be a word man, better than a bird man”
Jim Morrison
tags: poetry

“People who are strangers to liquor are incapable of talking about literature.”
Mo Yan

“The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it's right. If it disturbs you it's wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed.”
Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

“All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

26989 Goodreads Authors/Readers — 55721 members — last activity 48 minutes ago
This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more
52937 Around the World in 80 Books — 30765 members — last activity 34 minutes ago
Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, translated works, travel writing, or explorin ...more
660 Green Group — 1990 members — last activity 4 hours, 6 min ago
The Green group is about living in a sustainable manner--how human activity affects the environment and how a changing climate/environment affects how ...more
1281 Travel Literature Makes My Heart Beat Faster.. — 1110 members — last activity Aug 29, 2025 08:23PM
Do you adore a good piece of travel literature/travelogue? Than this is the group for you!
53809 Around the World — 1887 members — last activity 1 hour, 44 min ago
Each year we look at our to-be-read shelves and choose which countries of the world we want to travel through. Some of our members map their journeys ...more
59543 21st Century Literature — 3484 members — last activity Dec 30, 2025 01:46AM
For people interested in keeping up with the modern literary classics. We will be reading fiction and fine literature from 2000 to present, with the i ...more
99986 Modern Good Reads — 6771 members — last activity Dec 30, 2025 04:28PM
Modern Good Reads connects readers with books, authors, & challenges. We want to chat, inform, & provide events & discussions, a home for readers and ...more
1139 Science and Inquiry — 4458 members — last activity Dec 30, 2025 07:59PM
This Group explores scientific topics. We have an active monthly book club, as well as discussions on a variety of topics including science in the new ...more
97 Great African Reads — 4155 members — last activity 5 hours, 47 min ago
Here is an overview of the group reads & activities: Regional reads Nominations and Book discussions. Buddy Reads Find someone to read along with!. Sh ...more
1218 The Next Best Book Club — 25897 members — last activity 19 hours, 25 min ago
Are you searching for the NEXT best book? Are you willing to kiss all your spare cash goodbye? Are you easily distracted by independent bookshops, bi ...more
More of Luke’s groups…
Comments (showing 1-7)    post a comment »
dateDown arrow    newest »

message 7: by Harry

Harry Whitewolf That's cool mate. I never got quite as far down as Patagonia. Best of luck with the paperback- it look slick!


message 6: by Luke

Luke Marsden Harry wrote: "I'm loving the cover of the new paperback edition of your book Luke!"

Thanks Harry! It's been good to get the paperback out. The cover photo is one I took myself down in Patagonia, not too far from San Martín de los Andes. The flat-topped hill on the horizon was a favoured haunt of condors - they'd jump off and catch the thermals.


message 5: by Harry

Harry Whitewolf I'm loving the cover of the new paperback edition of your book Luke!


message 4: by Luke

Luke Marsden Haha, cheers Rebecca. I was already scraping the barrel of atlatl jokes - I would shortly have been forced to concede defeat! Likewise looking forward to talking books :)


Rebecca Gransden Thanks for the friend request Luke. I suppose it was either that or go on punning on atalatls into infinity. Can't wait for more exciting, generally book themed, discussion :)


message 2: by Luke

Luke Marsden Cheers Leo, or should that be Skål :) The pleasure's mine!


message 1: by Leo

Leo Robertson Hiya Luke, nice to make your acquaintance and it was a pleasure for me to read your ask-the-author responses! Looking forward to your book chat :)


back to top