Braken Fences, Wolf Kurtoglu’s first novel, has been described as ‘masterful’ (the Blether Region) and ‘the best novel written in Scots in recent times’ (Rab Wilson, Lallans). You can now enjoy listening to this ‘epic tale with believable characters’ in a year long series of exclusive fortnightly podcasts.

We continue our podcast of Wulf Kurtoglu’s novel Braken Fences with the second part of Chapter 1. The story is set in a near future when the struggle between rationalism and religious fundamentalism has been fought to a standstill. Once again there are blank areas on the map. Beyond the partitioned Borders, genetic experiments have altered human senses, and Neanderthals mingle with bandits and Buddhist monks in the mountains of Central Asia. Braken Fences explores themes of identity, allegiance and freedom, and for good measure throws in a scientifically plausible reason why the Neanderthals died out.

In the previous instalment, we were introduced to Pandit Varshini as he heard the news that his granddaughter Beatrice had been killed in an air-crash. Beatrice was returning from a posting, as welfare officer, deep within the Fundamentalist Zone (FZ), where the Rational World (RW) maintains an old nuclear reactor in Xinjiang. However, we discover that Beatrice has survived the crash along with a technician, Bill Henderson. But in the meantime, the Pandit is persuaded by Guangwu Bang’s shady Tibetan refugee network to donate Beatrice’s identity to his protegée Rongye, an illegal Tibetan immigrant.

A date for your diary: the first part of Chapter 2 will be podcast on 11 October 2012.

Wulf has a blog here where you can find further information about the novel. The novel can be bought here.