Archive for Contents

Free discussion event at the LSE with Jon Courtenay Grimwood and Ken MacLeod

 

Jon Courtenay Grimwood and Ken MacLeod will be taking part in a panel discussion on ‘Science Fiction and International Orders’ at the London School of Economics on Thursday 17th February.  The event will look at what scholars in the social sciences can learn from the imagined worlds of science fiction and fantasy.  Tickets are free but must be registered for here and the event is from1.15-2.45pm.

Full details can be found here.

Cover Launch: THE FINAL EVOLUTION by Jeff Somers

I hate to see a good series of covers come to a close, but I can’t be too sad because Avery Cates is finishing with a bang…or, more accurately, with SILVER INK. This is a case where the cover jpeg just doesn’t do the image justice, because there’s just no way to show you the metallic silver hotness this cover will convey in print. Just trust me.

The Final Evolution by Jeff Somers is the 5th Avery Cates book and if you have been enjoying the series so far you certainly won’t be disappointed. If you haven’t been reading the series yet — I understand, there are some readers out there that can’t stand being tortured by open-ended series and will only read series as a set — now is the time to get started!

After the jump, I’ll give you a bit of a teaser and all the covers in the series… (more…)

A Must-Read Short Story by Jesse Bullington

Jesse Bullington, well regarded for his debut novel The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart (and who soon will become even more highly regarded when his next novel, THE ENTERPRISE OF DEATH, goes on sale March 25), has quite a remarkable short story up at Beneath Ceaseless Skies entitled “The Adventures of Ernst, Who Began a Man, Became a Cyclops, and Finished a Hero.”

If you’re already familiar with Jesse’s work, you’ll already have some idea as to what to expect.

If you aren’t yet familiar, this is the perfect introduction.

(And visit his website, if you want to know more.)

LA Fans: Have Tea with Gail Carriger April 10

Fans in the greater Los Angeles area (that is to say, a good part of SoCal) will be pleased to know that Gail and Donna Ricci, familiar to all as the model for Alexia Tarabotti on the covers of SOULLESS, CHANGELESS, and BLAMELESS, will be hosting a tea in Pasadena on Sunday, April 10, 2011. Full details will be provided to ticket holders; tickets are limited.

Gail will be happy to answer questions and sign books at the event. She highly recommends that hats be worn. Stylish, silly — so long as they’re memorable.

Cover Launch: GERMLINE by T. C. McCarthy

Here’s a fresh new cover launch for everyone this gloomy Monday. For your viewing pleasure, I give you GERMLINE by T. C. McCarthy. It’s a story about a journalist in the vein of Hunter S. Thompson who is embedded with a group of US soldiers in a near-future war. It’s a fabulous look at what a war in the future could be like, but the perspective of the character we see it all thru keeps it really grounded and human. It reminded me simultaneously of The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, and the Transmetropolitan comics written by Warren Ellis. The author has experience in the CIA and works in biotechnology, so the books are amazingly well-informed, and plausible.

What’s also cool is we just finished the cover for Book 2 (no, I can’t show you yet) and the story is awesome. This is definitely going to be a series to keep up with. Each book is going to be told from the perspective of a different person in the war.

Anyway, back to the art! Steve Stone did the photoillustration and I just love the tone and texture. It definitely says military, definitely says future-but-not-too-far, and it really captures that there’s more going on under the surface here. I love the textures Steve worked in.

Here’s a little teaser: (more…)

The Orbit posse at the SFX weekender!

We’re all back in the office now, getting back to normal life after our incredibly fun, appropriately raucous and strangely surreal time at the SFX Weekender. We’ve been looking though our photos, which we feel we ought to share with you.

To be honest, there are certain things we can’t really tell you about – e.g. what shapes were being thrown by Rose Tremlett and myself on the dancefloor to Craig Charles’ DJ set, how unreasonably scared we were of the Stormtroopers, how many dubious sausages of questionable origin were consumed throughout the weekend, and how funny a certain agent doing the “mime-walking-down-the-stairs” trick outside our chalet window was . . . but the majority of the weekend is rather accurately documented in the below photos.

(more…)

Science Fiction Isn’t Predictive, Except When it Is

The general public often thinks science fiction writers are supposed to predict the future.

Science fiction writers, of course, know better.

Sometimes, all the same, fiction and reality unexpectedly — and uncannily — overlap.

The narrative of Walter Jon Williams’ new novel DEEP STATE, correlates in any number of ways with the ongoing situation in Egypt. He writes about how he came about he did this, and what he thinks about it, both as the latest Big Idea at John Scalzi’s Whatever, and on io9.com today.

Check out what he has to say — then go read the book, to see for yourself.

The Windup Girl: SF at its very best

The winner of an extraordinary five of 2010’s major international SF awards, and named by Time Magazine as one of the top ten novels of the year, The Windup Girl has garnered Paolo Bacigalupi incredible critical acclaim since UK publication in December:

‘The Windup Girl embodies what SF does best of all: it remakes reality in compelling, absorbing and thought-provoking ways, and it lives on vividly in the mind’ – Guardian

‘Vigorous and compelling… the action scenes, related in taut, breathless prose, can be stunning.  Tremendous entertainment’ – Independent on Sunday

‘Pitch-perfect writing… It’s science-fiction as warnings of the future, as social commentary, and as just bloody good storytelling… SF at its very best’ – SFX

‘Deserves all of the critical adulation already heaped upon it… one of the finest SF books we’ve read’ – SciFi Now

‘One of the best debut novels of recent years’ – Salon Futura

International praise

‘Bacigalupi is a worthy successor to William Gibson: this is cyberpunk without computers’ – Time Magazine

‘Clearly one of the finest science fiction novels of the year’ – Publishers Weekly

‘An exciting story about industrial espionage, civil war, and political struggle, filled with heart-thudding action sequences, sordid sex, and enough technical speculation for two lesser novels’ Cory Doctorow

‘It’s ridiculous how good this book is’ Techland

‘Postmodern Bangkok springs to life in Bacigalupi’s brilliant dystopian tale of culture clash, recalling the best of China Mieville and Neal Stephenson’ Library Journal

Conjures up Venice so vividly you can almost smell it…

Jon Courtenay Grimwood‘s latest novel hits the shelves today, and marks a major change of genre for the critically acclaimed science fiction author.  The Fallen Blade is a meticulously researched and extremely compelling fantasy thriller, set in an alternate 15th century Venice – a city in the grip of corrupt politics, a decadent age, and under threat from a mysterious assassin… 

So far the consensus is that Jon definitely hasn’t lost his touch, and that this is not your average vampire novel!

‘A fantastic evocation of Renaissance Venice, both the atmosphere and architecture of the city, the beauty of the culture it gave birth to and the merciless, brutally violent and Machiavellian politics that ran alongside it … Grimwood has made [a] fusion of genre energy and literary depth his calling card.’ – Damien G. Walter, Guardian Online

‘Conjures up Venice so vividly you can almost smell it… Impressive, but not nearly so impressive as the way Grimwood draws Tycho, essentially a vampire teenager subject to fierce emotion because he doesn’t even realise yet that he craves blood.  He’s a figure both frightening and yet also, at different moments, pitiable and even downright noble…  Reinventing the Vampire myth. Never, ever let it be said that Jon Courtenay Grimwood lacks for ambition.’ – Jonathan Wright, SFX 

‘Sick to death of vampires?  Take heed, because Grimwood’s take on the subject is leagues away from your average fangbanger… The writing is elegant, the dialogue is sharp, the characters economically but well drawn, the action unrelenting, and the story moves – to pardon a phrase – like shit off a shovel…  Hits all the right notes.’  – Alastair Reynolds, SciFi Now

‘It’s too early to start dealing in hyperbole about fantasy books of the year, so let’s just say this one is a very good start.  It’s a novel you can gorge yourself on; a fast-paced, swashbuckling adventure of the old school, full of fire and brimstone thrills and rich flavours.  Yet, unlike many such page-turners, it doesn’t leave a bad aftertaste.  Rather, it leaves plenty to ponder… I’d recommend this book to anyone.’ – Sam Jordison, Salon Futura

Events

Signing at Forbidden Planet, London this evening (Thurs 3rd Feb) with Kate Griffin, 6pm

SFX Weekender – various panels and signing, Sat 5th Feb

Discussion event at the London School of Economics with Ken MacLeod, Thurs Sat 17th Feb

 

Shadowheart

With just 2 days to go until the official release date of Shadowheart (UK / ANZ), the final book in Tad Williams’ captivating Shadowmarch series, we thought we’d give you a little preview to whet your tastebuds. Read the prologue here!

Barrick Eddon, prince of Southmarch, is no longer entirely human. He has vowed to safeguard the legacy of the dark Qar race, and must now decide where his loyalties lie.

His twin sister Briony has a difficult choice of her own. Her father, King Olin, is held captive by the Autarch, a mad god-king who plans to use Olin’s blood to gain unlimited power. And the castle of Southmarch still remains in the possession of Hendon Tolly, Briony’s murderous relative. As time runs out, will Briony decide to save her father’s kingdom . . . or her father?

As the foretold Great Defeat draws near, history is stripped of its costume of lies. Poets and players, mortals and fairies, warriors and gods, all will have their roles to play as the fate of the known world hangs in the balance.

And don’t forget that Shadowrise (UK / ANZ) is also out now in paperback . . .