Matthew Clapham – författare

What links Sylvia Plath, El Cid, Judit Polgar, General Franco, and Javier Bardem doing karaoke in his undies? A conundrum that could only be answered by a city as unique and unexpected as Benidorm.But what is Benidorm? How did its present form come about, with its distinctive architecture and economy, and its larger – and lairier – than life reputation?Rising from its tranquil bay like a misplaced Manhattan, it has been challenging preconceived notions ever since Mayor Pedro Zaragoza Orts drew up plans to revive his poverty-stricken fishing village back in the 1950s.So is the Mediterranean’s most successful holiday resort a vision of heaven or hell?Think you know Benidorm? Think again.

Between Folly and Hubris is a series of separate stories spanning different eras and societies, with one common theme: humanity's reckless self-destruction. From Ancient Alexandrians to Elizabethan Londoners to robot warriors of a future apocalypse, and from billionaire penthouses to Alaskan fishing shacks to suburban call centres. Each of these tales looks at the way in which our misguided attitudes towards the environment we inhabit and the technology we create sow the potential seeds of our degradation and destruction. Whether bleakly harsh or wryly humorous, they expose the folly and hubris that dog humankind.

Dusting off ancient hieroglyphs in a desert cave, intrepid scholar Jerome and his rather more trepid assistant Leo are expecting linguistic enlightenment. Instead they become embroiled in the Vizier's wicked schemes to enslave the world through his timberpunk translation tech.Can they and their engineering ally Daedalus assemble an eccentric team of unlikely specialists to thwart these dastardly plans in a race against – and through – time?Romping from the palaces of Ancient Egypt to the fleshpots of Georgian London, The League of Eponymous Jellyfish is a playful fantasy in the tradition of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Terry Gilliam, interwoven with timely social satire as to the abuse of power and technology.