With sinister echoes of 1984 and Brave New World, this original novel features a near-future city where medical science invents a single-dose pill for eradicating many common genetic defects . . .
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From the acclaimed author of Mr. Shivers and The Company Man comes a new tale of gothic intrigue set during the Vaudeville era.
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by - March 17th, 2011
As I’ve said elsewhere, writing a book is a bit like making a sculpture from the inside. You have a plan, an aim, and as you progress you have some notion of how it should appear to an onlooker when its all done. Except … creating something as big as a novel can have unintended consequences and many of those consequences reside within the minds of readers, an arena that we writers can only hope to influence in exactly the way we’d like.
Yup, reading is an interactive activity – the reader creates much of the world of the book within their own head, and much of that inner creation depends on the writer’s facility with evocative prose with all its cues of description and plot and character and dialogue…
Sometimes writers play games during the writing process – for example, while writing the Greg Cameron character I half-imagined him being played by David Tennant, on the cinema screen of my mind. Theo Karlsson I saw being played by Sean Connery (yeah, I know, Sean is Scottish and Theo is partly Swedish, but if SC can do a Russian sub commander then he’ll do for Theo). Kao Chih always struck me as a younger Jackie Chan, while Robert Horst could have been played by Joseph Cotten….or Rutger Hauer. Read the rest of this entry »
- - March 16th, 2011
This week Jack Womack chats with Jesse Bullington about his latest novel, THE ENTERPRISE OF DEATH. Subjects covered include myth and the medieval mind, folklore and superstition, secret histories, and the use of shock value, swears, and violence in art.
You can listen to the full episode below, or subscribe on itunes or the RSS feed.
by - March 16th, 2011
Sir Walter Scott, in Marmion, wrote “Oh, what tangled webs we weave/when first we practice to deceive…” That’s a perfect description of the fiction writer creating imagined worlds. We invent layers of pseudo-reality, webs intricately connecting myriad details and worked into patterns that give the reader a sense of reality. But writers are humans with embarrassingly short memories when it comes to which minor character left on a voyage two chapters ago–or in the previous book–and thus is not available to hand the protagonist an important message. We’ve forgotten…but readers (some readers anyway) will notice and gleefully (or angrily) point out the mistake.
Prudent writers put all the salient details down in a notebook or separate computer file and refer to this often. When I wrote the original Paksworld books (UK | ANZ), I had notebooks containing all sorts of useful details. I knew that someday I’d write in that universe again, and I kept “everything.” When I started the new series of books, I knew I had the old notebooks and the old maps. I knew that until I tried to find them.
The notebooks, on the bottom shelf of the east wall of my work room…weren’t on that shelf when I looked for them. The master map, stored flat on the old drafting table under a protective cover…wasn’t there when I lifted the cover. Read the rest of this entry »
by - March 11th, 2011
On March 3, The Heir of Night’s (UK | ANZ) release day, I mentioned the relationship between epic fantasy and momentous events—and their often catastrophic consequences for the individuals and societies swept up in them. Sounds like history, doesn’t it?
It’s certainly hard to argue that the relationship between fantasy and history is not a very close one. There’s straight out alternate history; epic fantasy tends to draw extensively on the medieval period, while steampunk prefers the 19th century, which was the great mechanical and engineering age; and there’s a respectable number of fantasies that draw on the Greco-Roman era, with a notable overlap into the Arthurian cycle. Most historically informed fantasy draws on European history, but there are a few notable exceptions, such as the Empire of Tsuranuanni in Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts Empire series, C. J. Cherryh’s The Paladin, and Barry Hughart’s Bridge of Birds, where the influencing historical periods are medieval Asian. Alternatively, Orson Scott Card’s drew on the history and folklore of colonial and post-independence North America for his Alvin Maker series. Read the rest of this entry »
- - March 10th, 2011
I recently came across the original cover letter from Lili’s agent in 2004. That’s when I still had @twbg as part of my email!! I remember looking at this letter — on letterhead, back before all manuscripts were emailed – and putting a note on it for my Editorial Director at the time. I remember I drew little stars on it (What? I was an Assistant Editor! I thought that’s what you did when you wanted to buy something!) and I wrote something to the effect of “I love this. Give it to me!” Hm. Perhaps not in those exact words… but that was the gist.
- - March 10th, 2011
Out now in paperback
Available in August
We recently asked Jim Butcher fans to tell us why they loved reading The Dresden Files as part of a competition to win a load of great books, and we were innundated (in the best possible way!) with positive feedback.
We knew there was a lot of love out there for Jim Butcher and the world of Harry Dresden P.I., and his fans have definitely delivered. We’ve shared some of the responses below. Congratulations to Kieran who was randomly selected as the winner of our nineteen-book prize!
We also heard from all of you that the end of Changes - which is out in paperback this month – left most people at the edge of their seats for the next book, so when the first trickles of text from Jim Butcher’s upcoming book Ghost Story came in this week, we wanted to get it up for you as soon as we could. You can now read chapter one of Ghost Story here (note: you should probably read Changes first if you haven’t already). Read the rest of this entry »
by - March 9th, 2011
I don’t have as much time for reading as I used to, these days. Day jobs and deadlines aren’t exactly conducive to being well-read, even though the folks at Orbit keep me nicely supplied whenever I do my periodic “Hi guys how’s the kids here’s a manuscript by the way any new books OK don’t mind if I do mooch a few” visits to their HQ in midtown. But despite my disconnection from the new/hot/now book scene, there are a few books and series for which I will stop, drop everything, and read myself blind. One such series is Kate Griffin’s Matthew Swift novels, of which the third, The Neon Court, is out now.
Whenever I try to browbeat others into reading these books, I’ve been using “the Dresden Files if written by Neil Gaiman” as my pitch — but frankly that’s doing a disservice to the Dresden Files, Gaiman, and Griffin all at once. The setup is similar to that of the Dresden books on the surface: each book chronicles the adventures of a much put-upon modern magician just trying to go about his life in an urban setting. The urban setting in this case is London rather than Chicago, and the magician in question is not a wizard, but an urban sorcerer. There are wizards too in Griffin’s world, note — and warlocks, and prophets, and the kinds of magic users who can’t be described because they don’t fit neatly into any recognizable paradigm. But amid this wildly diverse set of magically-gifted (and sometimes -cursed) people, urban sorcerers stand out because their power comes, to put it simply, from their love of city life. Urban sorcerers can’t sit still during rush hour. They feel its surge and ebb in their blood, far more powerfully than any natural rhythms. They talk to pigeons, weave spells out of the fine print on subway tickets, read portents in graffiti. And though their ancestors include druids and shamans and all the natural magic users made famous by history and fantasy, these days they become powerless in the green boondocks beyond a city’s exurbs. The life they need, to thrive, is of a grittier, wilder sort. Read the rest of this entry »
- - March 9th, 2011
Now unleashed in all territories: a big whopping Green-Eyed Demon (UK/ US/ ANZ). No need to get jealous - you can now get your hands on your very own copy of the latest addictively-compulsive instalment in the Sabina Kane series. Jaye Wells is bringing us more from the eternally feisty vamp-mage Sabina Kane, more from the sexy badass mage Adam Lazarus, more from the fiendishly ridiculous cat-demon Giguhl - AND more of her trademark ‘faboulous snarkiness’ - as Book Chick City puts it . . .
Jaye Wells: ultimate Queen of Snark – we salute you!
The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. With her sister taken by mysterious captors, the Dark Races on the brink of war and a sinister order manipulating everyone behind the scenes, she’s really got her work cut out.
Using information provided by an unlikely ally, Sabina and her trusty sidekicks – the sexy mage Adam Lazarus and Giguhl, the Mischief demon – head to New Orleans to begin the hunt for her sister. Once there, they must contend with belligerent werewolves, magic-wielding vampires and, perhaps most frightening of all, humans.
But before Sabina can save those she cares about, she’s got to save herself from the ghosts of her former life. Because the past is haunting her. Literally.
If you want a sneaky peek at what’s in store for you, you can read a juicy little extract here.
by - March 8th, 2011
A world-changing catastrophe is a favourite authorial device. It is – almost, but not quite – older than dirt. Whether or not you subscribe to the historical accuracy of Noah’s flood or the Epic of Gilgamesh is a moot literary point – trashing everything in sight makes a fantastic setting for a story.
Pandemics slay billions, massive asteroids slam into the Earth, god-like aliens render our puny weapons obsolete at the stroke of a heat ray, mutually assured destruction lives up to its name: the common factor in most apocalyptic-themed stories is that the protagonists are rendered powerless in the face of overwhelming, impersonal force.
And that’s the problem with turning the apocalyptic into good fiction: the survival of the main characters is more or less a matter of chance. Narrowly avoiding death, repeatedly, while an excellent idea for the people involved, can get increasingly ludicrous for the reader. That the person you’re following survives is, more or less, down to luck. Certainly, there might be some things they can do to shift the odds in their favour – but you can hear the creaking gears of the deus ex machina in the background. Read the rest of this entry »
by - March 7th, 2011
When I was a child, storybook dragons in our town library were harmless, misunderstood creatures who certainly never flamed someone to death or ate maidens. They epitomized the kind of softened, vaguely amused, condescending approach to myths and legends that Tolkein repudiated.
Hence, for a renewed understanding of just how terrible a beast the old legends intended to depict, Smaug in The Hobbit. Smaug is a traditional wicked and greedy dragon with a hoard, who reacts to theft with violence. He has razed whole towns; he is the scourge of his region when he’s not lounging on his pile of gold. He’s not a joke; he’s not cuddly; he’s not generous or kind.
Yevaud, in Le Guin’s “The Rule of Names,” a story in LeGuin’s collection The Wind’s Twelve Quarters, is nothing like Smaug. He seems, in fact, entirely harmless and not dragonlike at all. But in this story, even the mildest, most peaceful, modest, and shy person can be pushed too far.
Yet another very different dragon: Mayland Long in MacAvoy’s Tea With The Black Dragon, the first Chinese dragon, I’d seen in fantasy fiction, although he appears as an urbane and very knowledgeable gentleman. Can dragons retire? Or only Chinese dragons? Read the rest of this entry »
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