Archive for Extracts

Kim Stanley Robinson reads from 2312

“One stands on a pebble next to a star…”

In his stunning novel, 2312 [UK | US | ANZ], Kim Stanley Robinson combines detailed research with a vivid imagination to create the most incredible descriptions of our galaxy 300 years in the future.  While he was in the UK, we filmed him reading from the book at Toppings in Bath (big thank you to Jeanette Weston at Magus Studios).

Here he reads a passage depicting dawn on the planet Mercury… prepare to be entranced.

And for a chance to win a SIGNED hardback of 2312, comment below with your favourite quote from the reading!  (Terms and Conditions apply)

http://youtu.be/kRHOX8mRALE

BITTER SEEDS – a classified report

C L A S S I F I E DThe briliant debut novel BITTER SEEDS from Ian Tregillis - a supernatural alternate history of World War II where British Warlocks combat Nazi superhumans   I N F O R M A T I O N

YEAR: 1939.                 PROJECT: Milkweed

Raybould Marsh and other members of British Intelligence recently seized a damaged reel of film from enemy territory.

It appears to show German troops walking through walls, bursting into flames and hurling tanks into the air from afar.

This film, along with other classified reports, confirms our worst fears: that a Nazi scientist has been endowing German troops with unnatural, unstoppable powers.

British Intelligence may be forced to resort to our own dark methods to hold the impending invasion at bay.

– – – End of report – – –

Bitter Seeds (UK | ANZ), the phenomenal debut novel from Ian Tregillis, is released today. Read an extract here.

‘A major talent . . . I can’t wait to see more’ George R. R. Martin 

‘Mad English warlocks battling twisted Nazi psychics? Yes please, thank  you . . . A white-knuckle plot, beautiful  descriptions, and complex  characters’ Cory Doctorow

‘Remarkable . . . A confident and thrilling debut’ SFX Magazine

‘ Just superb’ Fantasy Book Critic

‘Tregillis delivers a dynamite first novel in Bitter Seeds’ SFRevu

‘Nothing short of an awesome read as far as I’m concerned’ Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review

‘Easily one of the most impressive debut works I’ve read’ Bookworm Blues

How to become a superhero

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillia, an alternative history of World War II featuring superhuman Nazis and British WarlocksHow does one create a superhero? Movies such as The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man make it look straightforward, if not exactly easy. Hollywood would have us believe superpowers aren’t all that unusual. Perhaps I’m a skeptic, but I sometimes wonder if the difficulties in become superhuman aren’t underestimated just a bit.

After all, you can’t plan for a freak accident. You can’t plan on being bitten by a special arachnid, as was Spider-Man. You can’t plan to accidentally survive a massive dose of gamma radiation, like the Hulk. You can’t plan to be born of Asgard, like Thor. Most of us will never have the opportunity to volunteer for an experimental super-soldier program, as did Captain America.

But what about the self-made superheroes? Those who deliberately transcend their limitations, using technology and (frankly) vast piles of money? Well, as much as I’d like to become Iron Man, I’m not a supergenius billionaire industrialist with massive technological resources at my disposal. What about Batman? I’m out of luck there, too, because I’m not a reclusive borderline-sociopath multi-millionaire with the peak physical conditioning of a dozen Olympic athletes combined. It’s safe to say these paths are closed off to most people.

So what to do if you’re cash-strapped but can’t rely upon serendipity to do the hard work? (more…)

First contact with alien life . . . how will the world react?

David Brin's new science fiction novel EXISTENCE, about first contact with alien lifeDavid Brin’s upcoming science fiction novel EXISTENCE (UK |ANZ) centres around the discovery of an alien artifact floating high in Earth’s Orbit. It also boldly suggests that our continued existence was never a given. So we wanted to ask, what could First Contact mean for mankind? Are we on a tipping point? Read on for a collection of short excerpts from the book – and see this instance of First Contact from multiple angles . . .

In all of human history, only a few cultures ever managed to guide themselves across such a transition after making contact with superior outsiders, without first passing through long generations of intimidation and victimhood. Or tearing themselves apart . . .

 THE MOMENT OF DISCOVERY

Gerald Livingstone is a galactic garbage trawler, clearing up the residue of mankind’s now long-forgotten forays into the galaxy. The strangely alien artifact he stumbles across calls to him subliminally . . .

Could this really be a messenger from some alien civilization?

Bare fingertips hovered over the translucent surface, causing ripples to flow, as if preparing to meet him at the point of contact. Whatever lay within . . . it somehow knew. It sensed the nearness of living flesh.

What if it really is alien? And dangerous?

He couldn’t help suddenly imagining the oblong ovoid — gripped between his thighs — as something out of science fiction. A cuckoo’s egg. Perhaps a Trojan Horse. “Contamination” could work both ways. Might it be a terrible mistake to touch the thing? (more…)

Assassins, dreamworlds and a plague of nightmares: welcome to THE SHADOWED SUN

The fantasy novel THE SHADOWED SUN by the multilple-award winning N. K Jemisin - featuring assassins, dreamworlds and a plague of nightmaresThere are books that come along that I don’t just thoroughly enjoy, but that I feel intensely, overwhelmingly privileged to work on. THE SHADOWED SUN is one of those novels.

I don’t need to tell everyone what a stunning high fantasy writer N. K. Jemisin is. Her talents are already widely acknowledged, given that her debut novel THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS (UK | US | ANZ) was nominated for pretty much every fantasy award out there.

But even so, I underestimated just how utterly captivated I would be by THE KILLING MOON (UK | US | ANZ) and THE SHADOWED SUN (UK | US | ANZ ), books 1 and 2 in the Dreamblood duology. I didn’t think anything could top the Inheritance novels, but if it’s possible I was even more intoxicated. I09 seemed to agree when they said:

The Dreamblood duology is sure to cement Jemisin’s place as one of the most exciting and innovative new fantasy authors of recent years.

There’s something beautifully poetic about a little girl’s dreams becoming a plague upon a city.

Both novels in the Dreamblood duology are based around a religion of dreaming. It’s a dual world, where the realm of dreams is as real a place as the realm of waking. Where a soul that wonders in the dreamworld can find peace or be lost to ever-lasting torment.

In the city of Gujaareh, the priests of the dream goddess are able to harness the magic of the sleeping mind. These priests are both revered and feared, as they can use this gathered magic to either to heal . . . or kill those judged corrupt. And they move silently across the rooftops of the city at night to administer the chosen judgements. (more…)

Read a sample from BLUE-BLOODED VAMP

Blue-Blooded Vamp by Jaye WellsIn just a few short weeks BLUE-BLOODED VAMP (US | UK | AUS), the fifth and final volume of the Sabina Kane series, will be released!

Sabina and friends set off for Italy hunting for the means to defeat Cain, the father of all vampires and the man who murdered her family. Revenge may finally be within reach unless Cain finds her first. It all comes to a head in this dramatic series conclusion.

Check out this excerpt from BLUE-BLOODED VAMP or start the series from the beginning with RED-HEADED STEPCHILD (US | UK | AUS).

The St. Charles streetcar lumbered its way toward the Garden District like a mourner in a funeral procession. The rocking motion should have soothed me, but I was pretty sure I was beyond ever relaxing again.

Adam sat next me. His warm hand on my leg helped dispel some of the chill. He wore his trademark brown duster and heavy boots. The goatee and muscled frame added to his general air of menace, but the mage’s real danger lay in his ability to wield magical weapons.

In addition to being my partner, he was also my . . . boyfriend? No, too high school. Lover? Ugh. Consort? Meh.

I guess when it came down to it, he was just my mancy, plain and simple. And his presence had become as critical to my equilibrium as gravity or blood.

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2312 by KIM STANLEY ROBINSON: Read the Prologue

A very nice review in the May edition of Locus ends: “2312 is as flat-out a celebration of the possibilities of SF as I’ve seen in years … it’s a catalog of wonders.” It reminded me of the opening sentence of the novel:

“The sun is always just about to rise.”

What a great first sentence, for a novel in any genre, but particularly one concerned – from start to finish – with possibilities.

More early praise for this remarkable novel:

 

From SF writer Iain M. Banks:

Intellectually engaged and intensely humane in a way SF rarely is, exuberantly speculative in a way only the best SF can be, this is the work of a writer at or approaching the top of his game.

From thriller writer Robert Crais:

Robinson (Galileo’s Dream) delivers a challenging, compelling masterpiece of science fiction…Robinson’s extraordinary completeness of vision results in a magnificently realized, meticulously detailed future in which social and biological changes keep pace with technological developments.

From Publishers Weekly (starred review):

Robinson’s extraordinary completeness of vision results in a magnificently realized, meticulously detailed future in which social and biological changes keep pace with technological developments.

The book will be available at the end of May (US | UK | AUS) and you can read the entire prologue here.

An excerpt (or two) from Mira Grant’s BLACKOUT

Chapter one of Mira Grant’s Blackout, the final book in her Newsflesh trilogy, is now available on io9! WARNING: this excerpt contains HUGE spoilers for the first two books. Proceed with caution.

Today, an intrepid Newsie hacked into the CDC computer system and liberated another file. For this one, though, you’ll have to do a little digging…

Each of these five blogs has part of the code you’ll need to access this second, top-secret document:
Rose-Owls and Pumpkin Girls (The Journal of Seanan McGuire)
The Mary Sue
Sword & Laser
SF Signal
Fantasy Café

Once you’ve gathered all five codes, you can access the encrypted document here on the Orbit site.

Read an excerpt from THE KING’S BLOOD

When an act of harrowing betrayal threatens to set the cities afire, all certainties are called into question. The high and powerful will fall, the despised and broken shall rise up, and everything will be remade. 

The King's Blood by Daniel Abraham

THE KING’S BLOOD (US | UK | ANZ) is the next chapter in The Dagger and Coin series.  Read an excerpt from this thrilling fantasy by Daniel Abraham.

“With a deft and light hand, Abraham questions and explores the fantasy-world assumptions that most authors take for granted, telling an enjoyable and genuinely innovative adventure story along the way” — Publishers Weekly, starred review. If you haven’t read THE DRAGON’S PATH (US | UK | ANZ) now is a great time to start.

“The apostate, called Kitap rol Keshmet among other things, stood in the soft city rain, the taint in his blood pressing at him, goading him, but being ignored. Fear and dread welled up in his throat.

In any of the cities and villages of the Keshet or Borja or Put, the temple would have been the central fact of the community, a point of pride and honor, and the axis about which all life turned. In the vast glory of Camnipol, it was only another of a thousand such structures, awe-​inspiring in its scope, beauty, and grandeur, and rendered unremarkable by its company.

The city was the heart of Imperial Antea as Imperial Antea was the heart of Firstblood power in the world, but Camnipol was older than the kingdom it ruled. Every age had left its mark here, every generation growing on the ruins of the old until the earth below the dark-​cobbled streets was not soil, but the wreckage of what had come before. It was a city of black and gold, of wealth and desperate poverty. Its walls rose around it like a boast of invulnerability, and its noble quarters displayed great mansions and towers and temples casually, as if the grandeur was trivial, normal, and mundane. Had Camnipol been a knight, he would have worn black-​enameled armor and a cloak of fine-​worked wool. Had it been a woman, she would have been too handsome to look away from and too intimidating to speak with. Instead, it was a city, and it was Camnipol.”

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Read an excerpt from VENGEANCE

Ten years ago, two children witnessed a murder that still haunts them as adults. Now a chance meeting brings these two strangers together to uncover the secrets of a kingdom and evil that will throw the land into chaos.

Vengeance by Ian IrvineVENGEANCE (US | UK | AUS)  is an epic tale of revenge and redemption from Ian Irvine, one of fantasy’s finest storytellers. Read an excerpt from the first book of The Tainted Realms series.

“Matriarch Ady, can I check the Solaces for you?” said Wil, staring at the locked basalt door behind her. “Can I, please?”

Ady frowned at the quivering, cross-eyed youth, then laid her scribing tool beside the partly engraved sheet of spelter and flexed her aching fingers. “The Solaces are for the matriarchs’ eyes only. Go and polish the clangours.”

Wil, who was neither handsome nor clever, knew that Ady only kept him around because he worked hard. And because, years ago, he had revealed a gift for shillilar, morrow-sight. Having been robbed of their past, the matriarchs used even their weakest tools to protect Cython’s future.

Though Wil was so lowly that he might never earn a tattoo, he desperately wanted to be special, to matter. But he had another reason for wanting to look at the Solaces, one he dared not mention to anyone. A later shillilar had told him that there was something wrong, something the matriarchs weren’t telling them. Perhaps—heretical thought—something they didn’t know.

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