Category: Random Stuff

Ian McDonald: WorldCon Guest Of Honour (Part 1)

Posted on Friday, August 2nd, 2019

Ian McDonald is a Guest of Honour at this year’s WorldCon, to be held in Dublin from August 15-19. We thought this would be a great time, therefore, to highlight some of his amazing, critically-acclaimed and award-winning novels. His most recent series, Luna, has been getting a lot of attention as new translation editions are released. (Ian’s conquest of the world continues at quite the impressive pace!)

Given how substantial his backlist is, we’re going to split this into two posts (the second will go up next Friday). Today, we’ll take a look at Ian’s other series.

One of Ian’s most critically-acclaimed series is India 2047, which includes RIVER OF GODS and CYBERABAD DAYS. Published in the UK by Gollancz, the novels are also available as eBook in the US (via JABberwocky’s eBook Program). Here’s the synopsis for RIVER OF GODS…

August 15th, 2047. Happy Hundredth Birthday, India … On the eve of Mother India’s hundredth birthday, ten people are doing ten very different things. In the next few weeks, all these people will be swept together to decide the fate of the nation. From gangsters to government advisors, from superstitious street-boys to scientists to computer-generated soap stars, River of Gods shows a civilization in flux – a river of gods.

RIVER OF GODS is an epic SF novel as sprawling, vibrant and colourful as the sub-continent it describes. This is an SF novel that blew apart the narrow anglo and US-centric concerns of the genre and ushered in a new global consciousness for the genre.

Ian has two novels set on a future Mars: DESOLATION ROAD and ARES EXPRESS. Available now, published by the JABberwocky eBook Program.

It all began thirty years ago on Mars, with a greenperson. But by the time it all finished, the town of Desolation Road had experienced every conceivable abnormality from Adam Black’s Wonderful Travelling Chautauqua and Educational ‘Stravaganza (complete with its very own captive angel) to the Astounding Tatterdemalion Air Bazaar. Its inhabitants ranged from Dr. Alimantando, the town’s founder and resident genius, to the Babooshka, a barren grandmother who just wants her own child—grown in a fruit jar; from Rajendra Das, mechanical hobo who has a mystical way with machines to the Gallacelli brothers, identical triplets who fell in love with—and married—the same woman.

Ian’s first series was Chaga, which includes CHAGA/EVOLUTION’S ROAD, KIRINYA, and TENDELEO’S STORY. The trilogy is now available as eBooks, published by JABberwocky. The first two books have also been published in Germany, by Heyne.

On the trail of the mystery of Saturn’s disappearing moons, network journalist Gaby McAslan finds herself in Africa researching the Kilimanjaro Event: a meteor-strike in Kenya which caused the stunning African landscape to give way to something equally beautiful – and indescribably alien. Dubbed the ‘Chaga’, the alien flora destroys all man-made materials, and moulds human flesh, bone and spirit to its own designs. But when Gaby finds the first man to survive the Chaga’s changes, she realizes it has its own plans for humankind… Against the backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro, McDonald weaves a staggering tale of keen human observation and speculation, as the Kilimanjaro Event changes the course of the human race by exposure to something beyond its imagination.

Everness is Ian’s YA sci-fi trilogy: PLANESRUNNER, BE MY ENEMY, and EMPRESS OF THE SUN. First published by Jo Fletcher Books in the UK and Pyr Books in North America, the series has now been reissued through the JABberwocky eBook program (UK and US). The series offers younger readers a perfect entry point into McDonald’s work — sci-fi that is both intelligent and action-packed, this series is also accessible and thoroughly entertaining. Here’s the synopsis for the first book…

There is not one you. There are many yous. There is not one world. There are many worlds. Ours is one among billions of parallel earths.

When Everett Singh’s scientist father is kidnapped from the streets of London, he leaves young Everett a mysterious app on his computer: the Infundibulum, the map of all the parallel earths, the most valuable object in the multiverse. There are dark forces in the Plenitude of Known Worlds who will stop at nothing to get it. They’ve got power, authority, the might of ten planets—some of them more technologically advanced than our Earth—at their fingertips. He’s got wits, intelligence, and a knack for Indian cooking.

Everett must trick his way through the Heisenberg Gate that his dad helped build and go on the run in a parallel Earth. But to rescue his dad from Charlotte Villiers and the sinister Order, this Planesrunner’s going to need friends. Friends like Captain Anastasia Sixsmyth, her adopted daughter, Sen, and the crew of the airship Everness.

Can they rescue Everett’s father and get the Infundibulum to safety? The game is afoot!

The Everness series has also been published in a number of foreign territories.

Alan Turing to be on the New £50 Note!

Posted on Thursday, July 18th, 2019

Earlier this week, the Bank of England announced that Alan Turing will be on the new £50! This is very cool news, and we thought it was also a good time to point you in the direction of ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA, the best-selling and critically-acclaimed biography by Andrew Hodges! Published by Vintage in the UK, and Princeton University Press in the US, here’s the synopsis…

Alan Turing was the mathematician whose cipher-cracking transformed the Second World War. Taken on by British Intelligence in 1938, as a shy young Cambridge don, he combined brilliant logic with a flair for engineering. In 1940 his machines were breaking the Enigma-enciphered messages of Nazi Germany’s air force. He then headed the penetration of the super-secure U-boat communications.

But his vision went far beyond this achievement. Before the war he had invented the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the first design for a digital computer.

Turing’s far-sighted plans for the digital era forged ahead into a vision for Artificial Intelligence. However, in 1952 his homosexuality rendered him a criminal and he was subjected to humiliating treatment. In 1954, aged 41, Alan Turing took his own life.

The biography was also adapted into the Academy Award-winning movie, THE IMITATION GAME, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightly, Charles Dance and more. The book has also been published widely in translation.

Anne Griffin interviewed for Audible Sessions! WHEN ALL IS SAID also a Waterstones Book of the Month!

Posted on Friday, July 12th, 2019

Anne Griffin — the author of the critically-acclaimed, best-selling debut WHEN ALL IS SAID — has been interviewed for Audible’s Sessions series of author interviews. You can get the interview, for free, direct from Audible (UK, US).

Joining us at Audible Studios is Anne Griffin, debut author of the next great Irish novel, When All Is Said.   

Griffin’s novel depicts an Irish farmer who orders five drinks over the course of one night to toast each of the five most important people in his life. His life is laid bare, in its loves and feuds, regrets and triumphs, all through the five people who have left him behind.   

We spoke about her inspiration for the book, her literary career so far and what her plans are for the future. 

WHEN ALL IS SAID was recently released in paperback in the UK and Ireland (Sceptre), and is a Waterstones Book of the Month!

It is also available in hardcover in the US (St. Martin’s Press). It is also, of course, available in audiobook formats in both territories. The novel has also been conquering other territories, and has been released in a number of translated editions (with more on the way!).

Here’s the synopsis…

Five toasts. Five people. One lifetime.

‘I’m here to remember – all that I have been and all that I will never be again.’

At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.

Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories – of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice – the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare.

Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.

Here are just some of the great responses to the novel so far…

‘Anne Griffin’s debut novel is a must read. Beautifully observed, masterful story telling – stunning!’ — Graham Norton

‘An extraordinary novel, a poetic writer, and a story that moved me to tears… There is something special here.’ — John Boyne

‘Beautiful. Intimate. Tearful. Aching and lyrical. So simply and beautifully told.’ — Louise Penny

‘Beautifully written, unhurried and thoughtful, a lonely man truthfully wrought and a character you love from the off, in spite of his flaws or maybe because of them… a terrific debut.’ — Kit de Waal, award-winning author of My Name is Leon

‘Griffin’s portrait of an Irish octogenarian provides a stage for the exploration of guilt, regret, and loss, all in the course of one memorable night.’ — Kirkus

‘Maurice’s humor, his keen observations on class and family, and his colloquial language, as well as Griffin’s strong sense of place, create the feeling of a life connected to many others by strands of affection and hatred.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘A hugely enjoyable, engrossing novel, a genuine page-turner. Maurice is a fabulous character, wonderfully flawed and completely engaging; his voice is familiar and real, full of sadness and regret and defiance, and unexpected tenderness.’ — Donal Ryan, award-winning author of The Spinning Heart

‘[An] impressively confident debut … Maurice Hannigan emerges as an engaging, compassionate creation’ — Guardian

‘Pitch-perfect prose… Moving and beautifully written, this is a wonderfully assured debut.’ — Mail on Sunday

‘It’s all beautifully done; a tale told in the plain but poetic prose of a man who recognises the tragic truths gleaned from a life of love and loss. A gem of a book.’ 5* — Sunday Express

‘A proper tear-jerker, but one that will ultimately leave you feeling hopeful.’ — Grazia

Short Fiction Watch: Aliette de Bodard, Ian McDonald & Lavie Tidhar among the BEST SF OF THE YEAR…

Posted on Friday, July 5th, 2019

Today we have a bit of a smorgasbord of short fiction to draw your attention to, from Aliette de Bodard, Ian McDonald, and Lavie Tidhar.

Let’s start with Aliette de Bodard, who has stories featuring in three different publications (pictured at the top). First, Aliette has a story in MISSION CRITICAL, an anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan, due to be published by Solaris. Here’s the collection’s synopsis…

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM…

Life is fragile. The difference between success and failure can come down to nothing – the thread of a screw, the flick of a switch – and when it goes wrong, you fix it. Or someone dies.

Mission Critical takes us from our world, across the Solar System, and out into deep space to tell the stories of people who had to do the impossible.

And do it fast.

In addition to this, Aliette has stories in the latest issue of Clarkesworld (“Two Sisters in Exile”, also available online), and also the first anthology from New Accelerator (“A Dance of Dust and Life”).

THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF THE YEAR: VOL. 4 has stories from Aliette, Ian McDonald, and Lavie Tidhar. Published by Night Shade Books, here’s the relevant content…

  • “Ten Landscapes of Nili Fossae” by Ian McDonald (2001: An Odyssey in Words, edited by Ian Whates and Tom Hunter)
  • “The Buried Giant” by Lavie Tidhar (Robots vs. Fairies, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe)
  • “Among the Water Buffaloes, a Tiger’s Steps” by Aliette de Bodard (Mechanical Animals, edited by Selena Chambers and Jason Heller)

Ian McDonald is the author of, most recently, the Luna series — NEW MOON, WOLF MOON, and MOON RISING — published by Gollancz (UK) and Tor Books (US). He is also the author of the novellas TIME WAS and the forthcoming THE MENACE FROM FARSIDE (Tor.com).

Lavie Tidhar is the author of a number of award-winning and critically-acclaimed novels and novellas, including UNHOLY LAND (Tachyon), CENTRAL STATION (Tachyon), A MAN LIES DREAMING (Hodder/Melville House), THE VIOLENT CENTURY (Hodder/Tachyon), OSAMA, and his first novel for young readers, CANDY (Scholastic).

Aliette is also the author of the Dominion of the Fallen series, published by Gollancz in the UK and Roc Books in North America (1-2): THE HOUSE OF SHATTERED WINGS, THE HOUSE OF BINDING THORNS, and the upcoming THE HOUSE OF SUNDERING FLAMES. She is also the author of IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE (JABberwocky), THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE (Subterranean Press/JABberwocky), and OF WARS, AND MEMORIES, AND STARLIGHT (Subterranean Press).

Lavie Tidhar pens SVALBARD PuzzleTale!

Posted on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019

Lavie Tidhar, multi-award-winning and critically acclaimed novelist, has contributed a story to a new endeavour: PuzzleTales! The story is SVALBARD, a new sci-fi tale.

An interactive story-driven puzzle, here’s the pitch: ‘Read a chapter of a short story. Solve a puzzle. Unlock the next part of the tale. Can you reach the end?’ The puzzles were created by prolific puzzle master and founder of Braingle.com, Jake Olefsky. Here are some more details, from the website…

You are about to embark on a unique puzzle solving experience with Svalbard, a sci-fi short story by Lavie Tidhar. Travel along with Mai as she explores a utopian post-apocalyptic world and discovers ancient time vaults, forgotten robot enclaves and slumbering super computers. Help her scavenge for old technology in the ruined cities and discover ancient secrets about previous civilizations. Between chapters of the story, you will encounter a variety of different puzzles that you must solve to unlock the next chapter. There are multiple paths through this non-linear story, and many secrets to discover as you play along.

Do you have the mental fortitude necessary to conquer all 40+ puzzles and unlock the entire story?

Lavie Tidhar is also the author of UNHOLY LAND, CENTRAL STATION (Tachyon Publications), A MAN LIES DREAMING (Hodder in UK, Melville House in North America), THE VIOLENT CENTURY (Tachyon in North America, Hodder in the UK), OSAMA (PS Publishing), the Bookman Chronicles (Angry Robot), and the new novel for young readers CANDY (Scholastic).

Ian McDonald and Lavie Tidhar are Campbell Memorial Award nominees!

Posted on Monday, June 24th, 2019

We are very happy to share the news that both Ian McDonald and Lavie Tidhar have both been nominated for the 2019 John W. Campbell Memorial Award!

The award will be presented during the Campbell Conference, to be held June 28-30, 2019 at the University of Kansas Student Union in Lawrence, Kansas. While this does leave us slightly conflicted (they both deserve to win!), we wanted to share our congratulations, as well as some information about the author’s nominated books.

Ian McDonald‘s latest novella, TIME WAS, is published by Tor.com, and has also been nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award. Here’s the synopsis…

A love story stitched across time and war, shaped by the power of books, and ultimately destroyed by it.

In the heart of World War II, Tom and Ben became lovers. Brought together by a secret project designed to hide British targets from German radar, the two founded a love that could not be revealed. When the project went wrong, Tom and Ben vanished into nothingness, presumed dead. Their bodies were never found.

Now the two are lost in time, hunting each other across decades, leaving clues in books of poetry and trying to make their desperate timelines overlap.

UNHOLY LAND is Lavie Tidhar‘s latest novel, and is published by Tachyon Publications. The novel has already racked up an impressive list of other commendations since its publication. Here’s the synopsis…

Lior Tirosh is a semi-successful author of pulp fiction, an inadvertent time traveler, and an ongoing source of disappointment to his father.

Tirosh has returned to his homeland in East Africa. But Palestina — a Jewish state founded in the early 20th century — has grown dangerous. The government is building a vast border wall to keep out African refugees. Unrest in Ararat City is growing. And Tirosh’s childhood friend, trying to deliver a warning, has turned up dead in his hotel room. A state security officer has identified Tirosh as a suspect in a string of murders, and a rogue agent is stalking Tirosh through transdimensional rifts — possible futures that can only be prevented by avoiding the mistakes of the past.

From the bestselling author of Central Station comes an extraordinary new novel recalling China Miéville and Michael Chabon, entertaining and subversive in equal measures.

Congratulations again to both Ian and Lavie!

THE OCTOBER MAN is #3 on the Sunday Times Bestseller List!

Posted on Wednesday, June 19th, 2019

Just a very quick note to share the news that Ben Aaronovitch‘s latest novella, THE OCTOBER MAN is #3 on the Sunday Times Bestseller list this week! Published in the UK by Gollancz, it is out now!

Many congratulations to Ben — very well deserved! And, of course, thank you to all the readers who bought the book!

In case you’ve managed to miss any information about the book, here’s the synopsis…

Trier is famous for wine, Romans and for being Germany’s oldest city. So when a man is found dead with, his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth.

Fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything.

Enter Investigator Tobias Winter, whose aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger and paperwork. With the help of frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he’s quick to link the first victim to a group of ordinary middle aged men – and to realise they may have accidentally reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century. But the rot is still spreading, literally and with the suspect list extending to people born before Frederick the Great solving the case may mean unearthing the city’s secret magical history.

… so long as that history doesn’t kill them first.

THE OCTOBER MAN is also available in North America, published by Subterranean Press.

‘In this enjoyable spin-off from the Rivers of London urban fantasy series, Aaronovitch successfully transfers his blend of the supernatural and humor from England to the Continent as he introduces Tobias Winter, a German police officer who practices magic… Supernatural mystery fans who enjoy more whimsical takes on the paranormal will hope for more of Winter and Sommer.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘THE OCTOBER MAN introduces Tobias Winter, a sanctioned magic practitioner who investigates the supernatural angles of crimes for the Abteilung KDA (which fans will recognize as the German extension of the British Folly)… Aaronovitch delivers yet another classic detective novel rich with the magical world building accomplished in his previous work.’ — Booklist

‘Winter’s stolidness is a feature rather than a bug. While there are moments of adventure and daring, the story of this crime is both a satisfying whodunit and a primer on how magic works in Deutschland. THE OCTOBER MAN would be an interesting place to enter the Rivers of London world… Those who know the Folly will appreciate this outsider’s view of Grant and Nightingale, as well as learn a bit about how the latter spent the war, while still greatly enjoying Aaronovitch’s work, even if it is set someplace new.’ — Locus

 

Short Fiction Watch: Lavie Tidhar is among the BEST OF BRITISH SF 2018!

Posted on Monday, June 17th, 2019

In this edition of Short Fiction Watch, we wanted to draw your attention to the upcoming collection BEST OF BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION 2018, edited by Donna Scott. Due to be published by Newcon Press on August 21st, 2019 (with an official launch at Dublin Worldcon), the book includes Lavie Tidhar‘s story TALKING TO GHOSTS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD!

Lavie Tidhar is the author of many critically-acclaimed, multi-award-winning and -nominated novels and short stories. Most recently, his novels UNHOLY LAND and CENTRAL STATION, published by Tachyon Publications.

Andrew Cartmel’s MURDER SWING is a top 10 Crime Novel pick in Germany!

Posted on Wednesday, June 5th, 2019

We’re very happy to report that WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX, the first novel in Andrew Cartmel‘s critically-acclaimed Vinyl Detective mystery series, has been selected as a top 10 crime pick by Germany’s Deutchlandfunk Kultur website! The novel is a ‘Super Mix aus Comic, Krimi und Groteske, heiter bis jazzig.’ (A superb mix of comedy, gritty crime and cheerful jazz.)

Published in Germany by Suhrkamp Verlag as MURDER SWING, here’s the synopsis…

London, heute: Er ist ein Plattensammler, ein Spezialist für äußerst seltene LPs, die er kauft und verkauft. Die Jobbeschreibung auf seiner Visitenkarte lautet: ›Vinyl-Detektiv‹. Und manche Leute nehmen das ganz wörtlich – so wie die geheimnisvolle Nevada Warren, die ihn für eine Unsumme anheuert, um für einen anonymen Auftraggeber eine Platte zu finden, die zu der schmalen Produktion eines winzigen kalifornischen Jazz-Labels gehört, das in den 1950ern nur ein Jahr existierte.

Bald häufen sich seltsame Todesfällen, die allesamt mit dieser Platte zu tun haben könnten. Aber was könnte auf ihr zu hören sein, was sie so ungemein wertvoll macht? Und was hat einer der mächtigsten Konzerne der weltweiten Unterhaltungsindustrie damit zu tun? Zu allem Überfluss hat unser Detektiv bald auch noch die »Aryian Twins« Heinz und Heidi an der Hacke, zwei ziemlich extravagante Killer…

The Vinyl Detective series is published in English by Titan Books: WRITTEN IN DEAD WAX, THE RUN-OUT GROOVE, VICTORY DISC, and FLIP BACK.

Here’s some of that aforementioned critical acclaim…

‘This charming mystery feels as companionable as a leisurely afternoon trawling the vintage shops with a good friend.’ — Kirkus

‘… fast-paced, lighthearted adventure… marvelously inventive and endlessly fascinating…’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Author Cartmel has combined the tropes of the several genres into a surprising, refreshing story centered around old-fashioned records… the story delivers multiple chuckles per chapter… Based on this volume, the series will be a hit.’ — New York Journal of Books

‘The story is so charming, funny and engaging… You can really tell that Andrew Cartmel is intimately familiar with both London and the vinyl scene. There is a wonderful sense of time and place, each location filled with a varied cast of colourful characters… Even more impressive, the protagonist’s passion for vinyl never comes across as preachy or boring. There is an engaging tapestry of technical information and jazz history being woven throughout, so convincing that it would take an expert to separate fact from fiction… The Vinyl Detective has it all… intrigue, mystery, romance, action, travel, humour, music, history… It’s the perfect chilled-out read… It’s British crime fiction with an American jazz soundtrack and it’s delightful. As long as Andrew Cartmel keeps spinning these characters, I’ll keep reading.’ (9/10) — Alternative Magazine Online

‘[Cartmel’s] charity-shop-haunting, record-fair-regular vinyl obsessive with an encyclopaedic knowledge of jazz is a natural and welcome addition to the genre’s pantheon… a highly entertaining cast of supporting characters… a pair of utterly convincing cats which effortlessly steal every scene in which they appear… a sharp, amusing and compulsively readable detective yarn packed with witty asides dealing with everyone from Sun Ra to Elvis Presley, as enjoyably accessible to the jazz obsessive as it is to the general reader.’ — London Jazz News

Aliette de Bodard nominated for a Lammy Award!

Posted on Thursday, May 30th, 2019

Hot on the heels of the author’s recent Nebula Awards win, and also multiple Hugo nominations, we are delighted to share the news that Aliette de Bodard has also been nominated for a Lammy Award! Specifically, IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE is a finalist in the category of LGBTQ Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror! The winner will be announced next week, June 3rd!

The critically-acclaimed IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE is published by JABberwocky. Here’s the synopsis…

A dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast from the award-winning author of the Dominion of the Fallen series.

When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn’s amusement. But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yên: she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems stern and unbending, but as the days pass Yên comes to see her kinder and caring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted to the dragon who is her master and jailer. In the end, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies — and whether it will survive the revelation of Vu Côn’s dark, unspeakable secrets…

Here is just a small selection taken from the aforementioned critical acclaim…

‘This intriguing, Sapphic, Vietnamese take on Beauty and the Beast is recommended for fans of De Bodard’s previous works or readers who enjoy diverse, lushly described fantasy.’ — Library Journal

‘De Bodard has taken the outline of a classic fable and turned it into a hall of mirrors as ravishing as it is disturbing.’ — Locus (Gary K. Wolfe)

‘This is a compelling short novel, with vivid and fascinating characters. (It’s so compelling, in fact, that every time I went back to it while writing this review to check a spelling, I found myself car­ried away for pages on end before I could recall myself to my work.) For me, it’s an utter delight: a really enjoyable, polished and gleaming jewel of a story. I sincerely hope de Bodard returns to these characters and to this world.’ — Locus

‘A dark gender-fluid recasting of Beauty and the Beast with multidimensional dragons that just falls over into novella length and should be on awards ballots’ — Jonathan Strahan, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year

‘… beautifully written. Aliette de Bodard’s prose is always on point. If you want evidence, just read one of her short stories…  de Bodard never fails to create breathtaking and complex worlds… I loved IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE, and I know I’ll be recommending it going forward.’ — The Illustrated Page

‘[A] closely-observed and darkly compelling Beauty-and-the Beast retelling between a scholar and a dragon… a story that deserves attention: you should all keep an eye out and read it.’ — Liz Bourke

‘As a reframing of a classic fairy tale, IN THE VANISHERS’ PALACE is subversive and bold; as a romance, it is tentative, touching, and sweet.’ — Barnes & Noble

‘I loved the worldbuilding throughout this story… a very enjoyable and often even soothing book, despite some fearful moments and emotional distress for the characters… I’ll follow [de Bodard] to whatever subgenre she wants to explore next.’ — Skiffy & Fanty

The novel is also available as an audiobook.

James P. Blaylock reflects on Life, Family and more in excellent Orange Coast Magazine Article

Posted on Thursday, May 23rd, 2019

‘Back in the mid-1980s, when my wife, Viki, and I had been living in downtown Orange for 10 years, I decided to build a treehouse out of redwood fence lumber in a Fuerte avocado tree that sat in the corner of our backyard. I was well past 30 at the time, and the tree was probably twice my age and 40 feet high. We had two young sons, John and Danny, and so it might seem that I wanted to build the treehouse for them — and I did — but I also wanted to build it for me. Anything worth doing has a number of solidly good reasons for getting done. And in any event, a treehouse is its own excuse…’

So begins an essay by James P. Blaylock, reflecting on life, family, neighbourhood, and memories. The piece was published in Orange Coast Magazine back in June 2018. You may have seen us Tweet about the article, but we just wanted to take this opportunity to share it again here. It’s a great example of Blaylock’s writing, and we thought it would be of interest to fans of his novels.

James is the author of the Langdon St. Ives series of novels and novellas, published by Titan Books and Subterranean Press.

Blaylock is also the author of a number of other novels, available as eBooks via the JABberwocky eBook Program, some of which were also published by Subterranean Press.

Ben Aaronovitch introduces Pratchetts GUARDS!

Posted on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019

In case you missed it, Ben Aaronovitch has written an introduction to the latest edition of Terry Prachett’s GUARDS! GUARDS!, the eighth novel in the Discworld series and first to focus on Ankh-Morpork’s City Watch and Sam Vimes. The novel is published by Corgi in the UK.

‘Vimes ran a practised eye over the assortment before him. It was the usual Ankh-Morpork mob in times of crisis; half of them were here to complain, a quarter of them were here to watch the other half, and the remainder were here to rob, importune or sell hotdogs to the rest.’

Insurrection is in the air in Ankh-Morpork. The Haves and Have-Nots are about to fall out all over again. Captain Sam Vimes of the city’s ramshackle Night Watch is used to this. It’s enough to drive a man to drink. Well, to drink more. But this time, something is different – the Have-Nots have found the key to a dormant, lethal weapon that even they don’t fully understand, and they’re about to unleash a campaign of terror on the city. Time for Captain Vimes to sober up.

Ben’s latest novel, LIES SLEEPING, was released in paperback last week in the UK (Gollancz) — it is the seventh novel featuring Peter Grant.

His next book is the novella THE OCTOBER MAN, due to be published by Gollancz (UK), Subterranean Press (North America) and DTV (Germany).

CENTRAL STATION Nominated for Award in Spain!

Posted on Tuesday, May 21st, 2019

Lavie Tidhar‘s critically-acclaimed novel CENTRAL STATION has garnered another award nomination! This time, the Spanish-language edition (translated by Alexander Páez) has been nominated for Spain’s Kelvin 505 Award! The winner will be announced at the Celsius 232 convention on July 14th, 2019.

Published in Spain as ESTACIÓN CENTRAL, by Alethé, here’s the synopsis…

Una diáspora mundial ha dejado un cuarto de millón de personas a los pies de una estación espacial. Las culturas chocan en la vida real y en la virtual. La vida apenas tiene valor, y la información tiene incluso menos.

Mucho ha cambiado cuando Boris Chong vuelve de Marte a Tel Aviv. La examante de Boris está criando a un extraño y familiar niño que puede meterse en el torrente de información con el simple roce de un dedo. Su prima  está enamoradísima de un robotnik: un soldado ciborg destrozado que necesita mendigar piezas de repuesto. Su padre tiene una enfermedad terminal, una plaga mental multigeneracional. Y una atormentada vampira informática ha seguido a Boris a un lugar al que tiene prohibido volver.

Alzándose sobre todos ellos está la Estación Central, el núcleo interplanetario en medio de todo: la Tel Aviv con sus constantes cambios; una potente arena virtual y las colonias espaciales donde la humanidad se ha marcado para escapar de los estragos de la pobreza y la guerra. Todo está conectado por los Otros, poderosas entidades alienígenas que, a través de la Conversación (un torrente inestable de conciencia) suponen el inicio de un cambio irreversible.

En la Estación Central, los humanos y las máquinas siguen adaptándose, prosperando e incluso… evolucionando.

The novel has the following award wins and nominations…

  • 2017 John W. Campbell Award Winner
  • 2018 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award Winner
  • 2017 Arthur C. Clarke Award, Shortlist
  • 2016 British Science Fiction Award, Longlist
  • 2017 Geffen Award nominee, Best Translated Science Fiction Book
  • 2019 Premio Italia, Best International Novel, Finalist (Italy)
  • 2019 Kurd Laßwitz Preis Shortlist (Germany)

CENTRAL STATION is published in English by Tachyon Publications, and has been published widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

A worldwide diaspora has left a quarter of a million people at the foot of a space station. Cultures collide in real life and virtual reality. Life is cheap, and data is cheaper.

When Boris Chong returns to Tel Aviv from Mars, much has changed. Boris’s ex-lover is raising a strangely familiar child who can tap into the datastream of a mind with the touch of a finger. His cousin is infatuated with a robotnik — a damaged cyborg soldier who might as well be begging for parts. His father is terminally-ill with a multigenerational mind-plague. And a hunted data-vampire has followed Boris to where she is forbidden to return.

Rising above them is Central Station, the interplanetary hub between all things: the constantly shifting Tel Aviv; a powerful virtual arena, and the space colonies where humanity has gone to escape the ravages of poverty and war. Everything is connected by the Others, powerful alien entities who, through the Conversation — a shifting, flowing stream of consciousness — are just the beginning of irrevocable change.

At Central Station, humans and machines continue to adapt, thrive… and even evolve.

The cover is by Sarah Anne Langton, and it also has racked up some awards and nominations…

  • 2016 British Science Fiction Award Best Cover Illustration
  • Chesley Award, Best Cover Illustration
  • 2017 British Fantasy Society – Shortlist for Best Artist

THE TEA MASTER, THE DETECTIVE and the Nebula Award!

Posted on Sunday, May 19th, 2019

We are delighted to report that Aliette de Bodard has won a Nebula Award for her novella THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE! The winners were announced yesterday at the Nebula Conference and Awards in Los Angeles.

The novella is published in North America by Subterranean Press, and elsewhere via the JABberwocky eBook Program. Here’s the synopsis…

Welcome to the Scattered Pearls Belt, a collection of ring habitats and orbitals ruled by exiled human scholars and powerful families, and held together by living mindships who carry people and freight between the stars. In this fluid society, human and mindship avatars mingle in corridors and in function rooms, and physical and virtual realities overlap, the appearance of environments easily modified and adapted to interlocutors or current mood.

A transport ship discharged from military service after a traumatic injury, The Shadow’s Child now ekes out a precarious living as a brewer of mind-altering drugs for the comfort of space-travellers. Meanwhile, abrasive and eccentric scholar Long Chau wants to find a corpse for a scientific study. When Long Chau walks into her office, The Shadow’s Child expects an unpleasant but easy assignment. When the corpse turns out to have been murdered, Long Chau feels compelled to investigate, dragging The  Shadow’s Child with her.

As they dig deep into the victim’s past, The Shadow’s Child realises that the investigation points to Long Chau’s own murky past–and, ultimately, to the dark and unbearable void that lies between the stars…

Here, too, are just a few of the great reviews the novella has received…

‘A science-fictional ode to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, where the Holmes figure is a sharp and biting disgraced aristocratic scholar with a solid core of empathy, and the Watson-figure is a mindship with post-traumatic stress disorder from her war experiences… This is a measured, almost stately story, right up until a conclusion that explodes in fast-paced tension. It preserves the empathy and the intensity of the original Sherlockian stories, while being told in de Bodard’s sharp prose and modern style. The worldbuilding… sparkles. The characters have presence: they’re individual and compelling. And it ends it a way that recalls the original Holmes and Watson, while being perfectly appropriate to itself.’ — Tor.com

‘De Bodard revisits her far-future Xuya universe setting with this gripping novella about damaged characters driven to search for the truth… De Bodard constructs a convincingly gritty setting and a pair of unique characters with provocative histories and compelling motivations. The story works as well as both science fiction and murder mystery, exploring a future where pride, guilt, and mercy are not solely the province of humans.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘As a classical blend of far-future SF and traditional murder mystery, THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE should satisfy readers unfamiliar with the Xuya universe, but at the same time it’s an intriguing introduction to that universe, much of which seems to lie just outside the borders of this entertaining tale.’ — Locus (Gary K. Wolfe)

‘De Bodard’s world building glitters, and her characters are deeply compelling… It becomes clear early on that THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is strongly influenced by, if not directly based upon, the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. It’s measured, almost stately, up until the conclusion, where the tension explodes into high gear. It preserves the empathy and the intensity of the original Sherlockian stories, while being told in de Bodard’s cut-glass prose and inimitable modern style. This is a really satisfying story, deeply invested in choosing to do the right thing – and in the importance of kindness. I strongly recommend it.’ — Locus (Liz Bourke)

‘[A] delicate, gender-bent recasting of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the far future of her Xuya universe, the gorgeously mannered space opera setting of celebrated novellas… a window onto a beautifully developed world that widens the meaning of space opera, one that centers on Chinese and Vietnamese cultures and customs instead of Western military conventions, and is all the more welcome for it.’ — New York Times

So, once again: Congratulations, Aliette!

THE OCTOBER MAN Independent Bookshop Tour!

Posted on Friday, May 17th, 2019

We are very happy to announce that Ben Aaronovitch will be embarking on a 15-stop book tour to mark and celebrate the release of his latest book, THE OCTOBER MAN, and also Independent Bookshop Week in the UK! Ben will be visiting as many local bookshops as is physically possibly (not to mention playing rather fast-and-loose with the definition of a “week”). We would love to see as many of you as possible on this tour, so be sure to buy your tickets as quickly as possible, in order to reserve your place. (We expects tickets to go fast, so do not tarry!)

Sunday 9th June 6:30pm, CYMERA, Edinburgh

Tuesday 11th June 6:30pm, Goldsboro Books, London (Covent Garden)

Wednesday 12th June 6:30pm, Daunt Books Hampstead, London (Hampstead)

Thursday 13th June 7:30pm, Toppings & Company Ely, Ely, Cambridgeshire

Friday 14th June 7pm, Haslemere Bookshop, Haslemere, Surrey

Sunday 16th June 7pm, Linghams Booksellers, Wirral, Cheshire

Monday 17th June 7pm, Lindum Books, Lincoln

Tuesday 18th June 12:30pm – 1:30pm, The Bakewell Bookshop, Bakewell, Derby

Tuesday 18th June 7:30pm, Kibworth Books, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire

Wednesday 19th June 1pm – 2pm, Burway Books, Church Stretton, Shropshire

Wednesday 19th June 7:30pm, Book-ish, Crickhowell, Wales

Thursday 20th June 12pm – 1pm, Mostly Books, Abingdon, Oxfordshire

Thursday 20th June 7:30pm, Bookseller Crow, London (Crystal Palace)

Friday 21st June 12:30pm – 1:30pm, Storysmith, Bristol

Friday 21st June 6:30pm, Winstone’s Sidmouth, Sidmouth, Devon

THE OCTOBER MAN is set in the same world as Ben’s internationally best-selling, critically-acclaimed Peter Grant/Rivers of London series, albeit this time with a new protagonist! Here’s the synopsis…

Trier is famous for wine, Romans and for being Germany’s oldest city. So when a man is found dead with, his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth.

Fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything.

Enter Investigator Tobias Winter, whose aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger and paperwork. With the help of frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he’s quick to link the first victim to a group of ordinary middle aged men — and to realise they may have accidentally reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century. But the rot is still spreading, literally and with the suspect list extending to people born before Frederick the Great, solving the case may mean unearthing the city’s secret magical history.

…so long as that history doesn’t kill them first.

THE OCTOBER MAN is published in the UK by Gollancz on June 13th. You can preorder a copy through your local Independent Bookshop, here. The novella is also due to be published in North America by Subterranean Press, and is available to order now.

Here are just a couple of the early reviews the novella has received…

‘In this enjoyable spin-off from the Rivers of London urban fantasy series, Aaronovitch successfully transfers his blend of the supernatural and humor from England to the Continent as he introduces Tobias Winter, a German police officer who practices magic… Supernatural mystery fans who enjoy more whimsical takes on the paranormal will hope for more of Winter and Sommer.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Aaronovitch expands the universe of his Rivers of London series (Broken Homes, 2014) to include new characters operating in different countries with ties to supernatural crimes and detective work. THE OCTOBER MAN introduces Tobias Winter, a sanctioned magic practitioner who investigates the supernatural angles of crimes for the Abteilung KDA (which fans will recognize as the German extension of the British Folly)… Aaronovitch delivers yet another classic detective novel rich with the magical world building accomplished in his previous work.’ — Booklist

‘Winter’s stolidness is a feature rather than a bug. While there are moments of adventure and daring, the story of this crime is both a satisfying whodunit and a primer on how magic works in Deutschland. THE OCTOBER MAN would be an interesting place to enter the Rivers of London world. Rather than fae, a new reader would anticipate werewolves, perhaps — and still greatly enjoy Aaronovitch’s work. Those who know the Folly will appreciate this outsider’s view of Grant and Nightingale, as well as learn a bit about how the latter spent the war, while still greatly enjoying Aaronovitch’s work, even if it is set someplace new.’ — Locus (Adrienne Martini)