Ian McDonald’s RIVER OF GODS out now in Bulgaria!


Ian McDonald‘s RIVER OF GODS is out now in Bulgaria! The first novel in the author’s India 2047 sci-fi series, it is published by Хермес as Река на боговете. Here’s the synopsis…

В този роман на фокус е Индия през 2047 г. На фона на шеметен напредък в нанотехнологиите Иън Макдоналд вплита в сложна сюжетна мрежа източната митология и традиционна култура със свръхестествени същества, роботи, изкуствен интелект. Паралелните съдби на героите се събират в точката, в която поличитечски реалности, митология и авангардна наука са едно. А философският гръбнак на тази завладяваща история изправя читателя пред въпросите на трансхуманизма за границите на човешкото.

The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in North America via the JABberwocky eBook Program. Both also publish the second novel in the series: CYBERABAD DAYS. Here’s the English-language 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.

Here are just a few of the great reviews the novel has received…

‘A staggering achievement, brilliantly imagined and endlessly surprising … A brave, brilliant and wonderful novel’  —  Christopher Priest, Guardian

‘Hugely adventurous and entertaining, sumptuously inventive and full of heart… it is likely to rank as Ian McDonald’s finest creative achievement.’  —  Locus

‘An ambitious science fiction thriller set in a futuristic India that is fabulously rewarding… in terms of risk-taking, sheer scale, ideas, detail, inventiveness, and intellectual scope there are few recent books to match River of Gods, and as a novel about India, there is nothing like it… [It’s] not just the definitive thriller set in India but the most richly imaginative thriller about India.’  —  The Hindu (India’s National Newspaper)

‘This ambitious portrait of a future India from British author McDonald (Desolation Road) offers multitudes: gods, castes, protagonists, cultures….readers will become increasingly hooked as the pieces of McDonald’s richly detailed world fall into place. Already nominated for both Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke awards, this is sure to be one of the more talked-about SF novels of the year.’  —  Publishers Weekly

‘[A] bold, brave look at India on the eve of its centennial, 41 years from now… McDonald takes his readers from India’s darkest depths to its most opulent heights, from rioting mobs and the devastated poor to high-level politicians and lavish parties. He handles his complex plot with flair and confidence and deftly shows how technological advances and social changes have subtly changed lives. RIVER OF GODS is a major achievement from a writer who is becoming one of the best sf novelists of our time.’  —  Washington Post

‘[P]erhaps his most accomplished novel to date. It’s a dense and sometimes difficult read, reminiscent of William Gibson in full-throttle cultural-immersion mode, packed with technical jargon, religious and sociological observation and allusions to art both high and low. But RIVER OF GODS amply rewards careful consideration and more than delivers its share of straight-ahead entertainment. Already a multiple-award nominee following its British publication, McDonald’s latest ranks as one of the best science fiction novels published in the United States this year.’  —  San Francisco Chronicle

EMPRESS OF THE SUN available in Bulgaria


EMPRESS OF THE SUN, the third novel in Ian McDonald‘s critically-acclaimed YA sci-fi series, is now available in Bulgaria! Published by Artline Studios as Императрицата на слънцето, here’s the synopsis…

Въздушният кораб Евърнес прави Скок на Хайзенберг към алтернативна Земя, различна от всичко, което екипажът е виждал. Еверет, Сен и останалите се озовават над равнина, която се простира безкрайно във всички посоки, без хоризонт. Натъкват се в средата на битка между фракции от две враждуващи нации. Дали екипажът ще намери спасение в този чужд свят или ще попаднат на място, отправящо се стремглаво към апокалипсис?

Artline has also published the first two novels in the Everness series:.

The Everness series is published in the UK by Jo Fletcher Books, and in the US by Pyr Books. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Everett Singh is just your normal Punjabi-English geek who loves maths and cooking — oh, and his dad’s a genius who’s been exiled to a parallel world. No matter how dangerous the mission, Everett and Sen, daughter of an airship captain are determined to bring his dad home.

When Everett Singh’s dad was randomly sent to one of the many parallel worlds in the multiverse, Everett discovered a way to find him — on the quarantined planet E1, home of the terrifying Nahn.

Now he and the crew of the airship Everness have followed the trail to the next world — and his father.

But this is a world where dinosaurs have had sixty-five million years to evolve, where death is the key to the throne and where the Empress of the Sun has a plan to wipe out every other creature on her planet… and then take her conquest to Earth.

And all she needs is the key to travelling through the parallel universes: Everett’s infundibulum…

Artline has also published the first novel in Ian’s latest series, the critically-acclaimed Luna science fiction series — which is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Tor Books, and also in select other territories.

 

Ian McDonald’s LUNA Out Now in Bulgaria


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Ian McDonald‘s LUNA: NEW MOON continues its steady conquest of the world, and is out today in Bulgaria! Published by Artline Studios as Луна: Новолуние, here’s the synopsis…

Луната иска да те убие. И има хиляда начина да го направи. Жестокият студ на вакуума. Смъртоносните дъждове на радиацията. Задушаващият прах, по-стар от Земята. Все по-крехките ти кости. А може и да не ти останат пари за вода. Или въздух. Или просто да застанеш на пътя на един от Петте Дракона – корпорациите, които властват над Луната и управляват изобилието ù от ресурси и възможности. Но ти ще останеш – защото Луната може да те направи по-богат, отколкото някога си си представял. Адриана Корта е на осемдесет години. Семейството ù управлява Корта Хелио. Заедно са оцелели през кървавите корпоративни войни и опасния период на мир, който ги е последвал. Но сега този мир се разпада. Адриана може да умре, но няма да се остави да я убият – нито съперниците ù, нито Луната. И каквото и да се случи с нея, Корта Хелио няма да загине. Новият роман на Иън Макдоналд е един вълнуващ, кървав епос  – фантастика, на чиято сцена мерят сили коварни магнати, влиятелни матриарси и космически Кръстници. Оставете се на тази изпълнена с живот картина да ви пренесе в един опасен свят, където между живота и смъртта винаги има само една крачка.

The first in the Luna series, it is published in the UK by Gollancz and in the US by Tor Books (paperback edition out in September). It has also been acquired for the German, Spanish and Polish markets, with more to come! Here is the English-language synopsis…

The scions of a falling house must navigate a world of corporate warfare to maintain their family’s status in the Moon’s vicious political atmosphere.

The Moon wants to kill you.

Maybe it will kill you when the per diem for your allotted food, water, and air runs out, just before you hit paydirt. Maybe it will kill you when you are trapped between the reigning corporations-the Five Dragons-in a foolish gamble against a futuristic feudal society. On the Moon, you must fight for every inch you want to gain. And that is just what Adriana Corta did.

As the leader of the Moon’s newest “dragon,” Adriana has wrested control of the Moon’s Helium-3 industry from the Mackenzie Metal corporation and fought to earn her family’s new status. Now, in the twilight of her life, Adriana finds her corporation-Corta Helio-confronted by the many enemies she made during her meteoric rise. If the Corta family is to survive, Adriana’s five children must defend their mother’s empire from her many enemies… and each other.

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Here’s just a small selection from the critical acclaim the novel has received…

‘Smart, funny, passionate and at times quite dark, McDonald brings the touch we’ve seen in RIVER OF GODS and DERVISH HOUSE to an entirely new culture as it evolves in a distant hostile place where business or family rules all… it’s terrific. My only complaint: it leaves you wanting the second book right now!’ — Jonathan Strahan

‘McDonald… begins his superb near-future series… scintillating, violent, and decadent world. McDonald creates a complex and fascinating civilization featuring believable technology, and the characters are fully developed, with individually gripping stories. Watch for this brilliantly constructed family saga on next year’s award ballots.’ — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

‘Heralds the welcome return of one of western science fiction’s foremost globally oriented authors. Bristling with the energy and action… Nestled within a narrative of lunar colonization driven by STEM developments and a decimated, post-oil Earth economy, LUNA burns with the desperate anxieties of the late-capitalist, financialized age: the universalization of debt, the demand for contingent and flexible labor, and the resulting polarized wealth gap… one of McDonald’s greatest strengths: an ability to think through the uneven development and cultural diffusion of global economic and technological change… McDonald’s worlds, whether grim, hopeful, or — as is often the case — both, feel lived in rather than culturally depleted or used up… With an action narrative driving this political commentary, LUNA is actually a fantastically fun read as well as an important one.’ — LA Review of Books

Almost monolithic in its ambition. In its gravitas and tension and, alas, tragedy, it’s damn near Shakespearian… a setting so brilliantly built and deftly embellished that buying into it isn’t ever an issue; a vast cast of characters as satisfying and sympathetic individually as they are as part of McDonald’s elaborate ensemble; and a plot composed of so many threads that you never know where it’s going to go — except that when it ends, it’s destined to end terribly… a world as wicked as it is convincing… only a matter of time before CBS sets about broadening the appeal of this magnificent bastard of a book.‘ Tor.com

The second novel in the series, LUNA: WOLF MOON, is also due to be published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Tor Books.

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