No one writes SF quite like Palmer… Hell Ship is a freewheeling extravaganza replete with a hundred varieties of alien, vast spacecraft, exotic worlds… aficionados of bizarre space opera will be amazed and delighted”
GUARDIAN

“The triumphs and tragedies of this novel are told in the style of ancient legend. But there is also a sense of irrepressible fun … This is epic science fiction with a twinkle in its eye”
SUN

“I really do recommend Palmer’s work – he’s an unflinching and relentlessly ballsy writer”
SFREVU.COM

“Great storytelling … a joy to read. Great stuff from Philip which proves why he’s fast becoming my favourite science fiction author”
FALCATA TIMES WEBSITE

“Palmer’s imagination knows no bounds … readable and enjoyable”
THEBOOKBAG.CO.UK

“I knew I would love it after reading just a couple of pages … You will be treated to an entertaining tale of heroics, tragedy and selfless sacrifice all written with a gleam in the eye”
IWILLREADBOOKS.COM

Share/Bookmark

We’ve had amazing advance coverage of these fast-paced adventures and just look at what these experts have to say about the rising star that is Kristen Painter!

Passion and murder, vampires and courtesans — original and un-put-downable.  Do yourself a favor and read this one”
Patricia Briggs

“Dark and rich with layer after delicious layer. This spellbinding series will have you begging for more”
Gena Showalter

“A world full of rich potential. Excellent!”
P.C. Cast

“Kristen Painter brings a sultry new voice to the vampire genre, one that beckons with quiet passion and intrigue”
L.A. Banks

“Gripping, gritty, and imaginative.  If you love dangerous males, kick-ass females, and unexpected twists, this is the series for you!”
Larissa Ione

Share/Bookmark

The Business of Death

Steven de Selby has a hangover. Bright lights, loud noise, and exercise are the last thing he wants. But that’s what he gets when someone starts shooting at him. Steven is no stranger to Death – Mr. D’s his boss after all – but it’s still a shock when a dead girl saves him from sharing her fate. It’s a bigger shock when he finds his friends, family and colleagues have also been targeted. His job is to guide the restless dead to the underworld, but he didn’t expect to find his loved ones among his ‘clients’.

With Mr. D missing and no one in charge, the living are being hunted, the dead start rising and the whole city is headed for a regional apocalypse. Steven must shake his hangover, not fall for the dead girl, and find out just what’s going on – or there’ll be hell to pay.”

The Business of Death is a three-book omnibus (you can get a sample chapter here) so no need to wait for next instalments. And terrific quotes for this series include the following:

Jamieson writes a fast-paced story studded with action-movie beats”
Financial Times

 ”An intriguing evolution of the undead genre”
The Telegraph

“Refreshingly original and enjoyable”
TheBookBag.co.uk

“There is a lot to like … Combine this with the corporate version of Death, the subtle blend of humour and dry wit and you get a well-thought-out rewarding story. I heartily recommend.”
SFBook.com

Share/Bookmark

Cat and her cousin Bee are key players in a drama of dragons and politics. Warring factions want to use or destroy their growing powers, and they’re closing in. The Cold Mages are conspiring to take them prisoner and the warlord Camjiata thinks it’s their destiny to help him conquer Europa – whether they want to or not. And the man Cat was forced to marry is back, as arrogant and annoyingly handsome as ever. Worse still, as Hallows Night approaches, powers hidden deep within the spirit world are rising. Cat must seek allies against these threats, for if she makes the wrong choices, she’ll lose everything.

 Only one thing is certain. When Hallows’ Night comes the Wild Hunt will ride – and it feeds on mortal blood.”

Also, if you’re still here (not dashing around already trying to get hold of the book …) here are a few of the great things that have been said already:

Elliott skillfully blends intrigue and romance in this lively series about strong women caught among powerful and deadly forces’
Publishers Weekly

‘Something pretty unique. Add to this the author’s usual authoritative writing voice, a cracking love story and wrap it all up in politics, machinations alongside double dealing and the result is a very tired but sated reader after a marathon night time session … the result is something that makes this for me Kate’s best series to date. Great stuff’
Gareth Wilson, Faltaca Times

Share/Bookmark

“One disadvantage I suffer from is that I don’t lead a funny life. Hilarious things don’t happen to me, which means I have to make it all up. Whoever arranges these things sees to it that somebody else gets all the good material – the wrong suitcase picked off the airport carousel, the hilarious mistaken-identity incident, all that – while I’m left with days that go something like –

7.00am: wake up
7.15am: drive to smallholding; feed pigs; feed chickens; feed pigs; feed cows; cut firewood
10.30am – 3.30pm: sit in front of computer trying to think of funny stuff
3.35pm as 7.15am
8.00am – 2.00pm as 10.30am

 And so on, day after day (except in winter, when it’s still as dark as a bag at 7am), with never a hint of a free joke or a spontaneously-occurring outbreak of hilarity that I can pick up, shove under my coat, take home and effortlessly convert into marketable prose. The only break in the routine comes when I have to dispose of the body of the latest person foolish enough to tell me about some comic incident in their own life, with the recommendation (usually the last thing they ever say) that I ought to put it in one of my books.

I wouldn’t mind, and I’d save myself a great deal of gravedigging, if the comic incidents referred to above were actually funny, or funny in a way I could use. But they aren’t. Either they’re horribly tragic, involving serious bodily injury or catastrophic damage to property, or they depend entirely on context (because it was George who got to the hotel only to find he’d left the tickets on the kitchen table; side-splitting stuff, except you need to have known George for thirty years to get the joke, and in all other respects, George is about as interesting as the latest amendments to the VAT regulations) or they’d be an absolute riot in a James Herriot or a romantic comedy (but completely useless to me) As it is, I have no alternative but to cut the storyteller’s throat as politely as I can and dig yet another shallow trench out back of the log pile. It’s a great shame and a terrible waste of human life, but what can you do?

Answer; either take a short walk off a tall building, or try and make some use of the materials available to me, however unpromising they may initially appear. Which is why Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages opens with a pig and co-stars a whole load of chickens. True, I’ve made up some funny stuff to go with them, and the funny stuff is neither James Herriot nor your typical romantic comedy (true, girl does meet boy, but boy is immediately disintegrated, which is no bad thing since boy is an amateur guitarist; one thing I can do, even with my limited resources, is wish-fulfilment). The fact remains that the pig started it all, and the chickens sort of helped; and at no point did any of them suggest that I might care to put them in one of my books –

So I did.”

Share/Bookmark

To start launch week on a real high note and to keep you going for just a few days longer, we asked Jim Butcher himself a few questions about his biggest creation…

Did you always know Harry’s grizzly fate (thinking of his ghostly nature by Ghost Story) or do his adventures evolve for you organically as you write?

Oh, I knew from the get-go that I was going to kill him at some point — and then make him solve his own murder. That’s just how the universe seems to treat the poor guy. : ) There are some story events that are fixed in my mind — mostly the large-scale stuff, such as the war with the Red Court, the rise of the Fomor, and the oncoming events of the story’s endgame. The fluid organic things tend to be very personal matters — Dresden’s friends, his family, and especially his romantic relationships.

Do you sometimes find yourself slipping into the Harry Dresden character when say at the supermarket? What would he buy?!

Nah, I’m not Harry Dresden and not much like him, except maybe when he’s screwing up somehow. : ) Getting into character is something that happens after several minutes at the keyboard, and it doesn’t really intrude on the rest of my life.

Dresden buys bachelor chow — things you can prepare by popping in the oven for a few minutes, or maybe by boiling a little water — and which are not too expensive. He’s never really had an expansive budget. : )

Who is your favourite minor character and why?

Butters, I think. He was supposed to be a one-off character when I first designed him, a kind of wacky ME that provided a little color and humor while I was dishing out some grisly details about a murder. But I liked the guy so much, I had to give him a job, and now he’s become part of the regular cast. Butters is such a contrast of clueless and spooky-smart, and while he’s never going to be a studly hero, he’s never going to leave a friend in the lurch, either. I just like the guy.

What’s the strangest question you’ve ever been asked about the Dresden Files series?

“How do I get in touch with the real White Council?”

Followed closely by a statement: “I’m from the real White Council, and we aren’t pleased with what you’re doing.”

Finally, could you give us one little-known fact about Harry and his world?

Harry loves horses! He doesn’t get to ride much anymore, but when he was living with Ebenezar on his farm in the Ozarks, they went riding all the time. Granted, given his size, it might be fair to say that horses don’t like him nearly as much as he likes them, but I wouldn’t want to be presumptuous about the opinions of Equine-Americans.

Thanks Jim!

Jim Butcher’s all-new Dresden Files novel is out this week (27th July). If you haven’t already met Harry Dresden, check out our quick rereads to the rest of the series below:

STORM FRONT
FOOL MOON
GRAVE PERIL
SUMMER KNIGHT
DEATH MASKS
BLOOD RITES
DEAD BEAT
PROVEN GUILTY
WHITE NIGHT
SMALL FAVOUR
TURN COAT
CHANGES

Share/Bookmark

Changes: a Dresden Files novel by Jim Butcher.

Here is, as the title would suggest, where everything changes. This is the Dresden equivalent of Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, or of the Battle of Minas Tirith. This is one where Jim rips up what has gone before, and makes, in many ways, a fresh start. Many of our previous reference points are removed here — this book really does transform things in the Dresden world.

As I’ve said before, the Dresden books have a reputation of starting with a bang. This one is pretty outstanding:
‘I answered the phone, no big deal, until I heard the message: ‘They’ve taken our daughter.’

The phone call is from Susan Rodriguez, his ex-girlfriend who was turned into a vampire by the Red Court back in Death Masks. Harry is told about the daughter he didn’t know, Maggie, kept in secret from Harry for her protection. And then that Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has found out about her, kidnapped her and plans to use Maggie against Harry. Arianna is out for revenge following the death of her husband, an action precipitated by Harry.

Over the next three days Harry’s task, with Susan and half-vampire Martin, is to find his daughter and save her from Queen Arianna and the evil vampires!

Simple? Well, when Arianna initiates the kidnapping, she also simultaneously proposes a peace settlement between the vampire Red Court and the Wizards: something that would be greatly desired by the exhausted Wizard Council. Thus given a choice of saving Harry’s daughter or ending the war, the Wizards’ activities seem most concerned with ending the War – exactly Arianna’s point.

As the coup unfolds, each potential source of help for Harry is removed. A serious and mysterious illness debilitates many at the Council Headquarters in Edinburgh. Newly appointed White Council leader Gregori Cristos has many of the Senior Wardens arrested. Harry is therefore pretty much on his own here, with only his closest friends to rally round. Well, them and Queen Mab, who for reasons of her own is enlisted to help in a pact made with Harry.

To get help, Harry has to pay back some old debts, all at a cost. He also uncovers secrets and makes serious sacrifices that will affect him, and those around him, forever.

So: we finally see a resolution of sorts of the Vampire/Wizard War, though perhaps not the one we initially expected.

We have some great new characters too: Esteban and Esmeralda Bastiste, collectively known as ‘the Ebs’, who are sent as hired assassins to kill Harry. In addition, we have the appearance of an ancient God and the emergence of the Red King, plus Harry visits the domain of the ErlKing. Some of our regulars have their star moments too — the training of Molly as an apprentice finally comes to fruition, Mouse has an interesting development and Harry’s friend Karrin excels herself as we always knew she would.

As you might expect from previous Dresden Files, Jim does do epic battles well. Here there is an epic battle at Chicken Itza, where Maggie is to be sacrificed. This places Harry and his friends against the might of the Red Court. We discover that Arianna’s aim is to sacrifice Maggie in a blood ritual which would release a death curse. This would travel up the family tree from the sacrificial victim to all her siblings, then to her parents, then to all their siblings (like Harry’s half brother, Thomas), then spreading to the grandparents, then the grandparent’s siblings, ad infinitum.

The book features jaw-dropping moment after jaw-dropping moment. Most importantly, here’s where a lot of those plot lines previously told come together. We see aspects of Harry’s past, Harry’s responsibilities, the Vampire-Wizard War and Harry’s friendships. There are minor characters that come to the fore and unexpected betrayals.

And just when you think the tale’s been ramped up as much as it can be, the ending is a stunner — which, in a page, changes things again. In summary, fans of the series are going to be shocked and horrified by some of the things that happen in Changes.

This, for me, puts Harry above the genre competition by a mile. This is where everything that has gone before counts. And for the reader, this gives what happens here an emotional punch that makes reading all the books up to this point really pay off.

Big time.

SEE BELOW FOR A RUN DOWN OF THE DRESDEN FILES
Previous rereads are available here, though books don’t have to be read in this order:

STORM FRONT
FOOL MOON
GRAVE PERIL
SUMMER KNIGHT
DEATH MASKS
BLOOD RITES
DEAD BEAT
PROVEN GUILTY
WHITE NIGHT
SMALL FAVOUR
TURN COAT

Share/Bookmark

Turncoat definition: ‘A person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party.’

After tense events featuring the Fae in Small Favour, we’re back into Wardens, Wizards and vampires in this one. The cease-fire existing between the vampires and the wizard White Council seen in Small Favour still remains, but is still fragile. This is in no small part due to the so-called Black Council (an exciting addition), the fifth-columnists within the White who seem determined to bring the wizards down.

We start, as is usual, with a bang. Though most of the Dresden novels start with a hit of adrenaline, this one tops the lot so far. Harry is at home when on his doorstep appears a badly injured Morgan, the Warden with whom Harry has had a difficult relationship with to date. Then after asking for protection from the White Council, Morgan collapses …

Though harbouring a fugitive from the Council means death, Harry protects his former adversary whilst he investigates the crime that Morgan is accused of, namely the murder of Senior Council member Aleron LaFortier. Harry feels that Morgan has been framed as an attempt to discredit him and the Council, as well as reignite the situation between wizards and vampires. This is of course all very tense!

To resolve Morgan’s situation, we see Harry travel to the Wizards Council’s headquarters in Edinburgh. On uncovering evidence, Harry discovers that there is a deeper problem here. The future of the Council is at stake and Harry has to go against his allies in the White Council for the sake of what he believes in.

At the climax we have unlikely allies who end up fighting together in order to deal with a problem that could affect them all. The thought of wizards, werewolves and vampires fighting together against a common enemy should get you pretty excited and here I was pleased to find Jim certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Though there are fantastic developments then in terms of plot, it is still the relationships between the characters here that keep us reading. There are some major changes here too that will have an effect on events later in the series. Thomas Raith, Harry’s half-brother, is changed by what goes on in this book and not necessarily for the better. The biggest plot point is the death of a fairly major character, which leads to some serious soul-searching by Harry.

What is perhaps the biggest thorny question here is an ethical issue. We are asked to consider whether the sacrifice of an innocent individual is acceptable for the greater good. This is something that sits uneasily with Harry, due to his background, and in Turn Coat it leads to consequences that are neither easy nor happy solutions.

This is a complex turn of events and gets the reader to consider Harry’s real values. Like Harry, at the end I was left wondering who, in this case, is the turncoat? In the world of Dresden, things are rarely black and white. Here things are about as blurred as they can be, making it a really great read.

SEE BELOW FOR A RUN DOWN OF THE DRESDEN FILES
Previous rereads are available here, though books don’t have to be read in this order:

STORM FRONT
FOOL MOON
GRAVE PERIL
SUMMER KNIGHT
DEATH MASKS
BLOOD RITES
DEAD BEAT
PROVEN GUILTY
WHITE NIGHT
SMALL FAVOUR

Share/Bookmark

The Hell Ship hurtles through space. Inside the ship are thousands of slaves, each the last of their race. The Hell Ship and its infernal crew destroyed their homes, slaughtered their families and imprisoned them forever. But one champion refuses to succumb. Sharrock, reduced from hero to captive in one blow, has sworn vengeance. Although Sai-as, head of the alien slave horde, will ruthlessly enforce the status quo. But help is close. Jak has followed the Ship for years and their battles have left Jak broken, a mind in a starship’s body, focussed only on destroying the Ship. Together, can hunter and slave end this interstellar nightmare?

Philip has been kind enough to put up a ‘moodboard‘ of what has influenced his writing journey (a.k.a. time spent exploring space) and will be unveiling further creativity on this site and his blog over the next few weeks. You can also meet the man in person at Orbit’s upcoming London Summer signing on 30th July, so please come along and say hello!

Philip’s previous books have received praise from all quarters and here’s just a smidgeon of the excitement his books have generated:

‘Well written, fast moving and defiantly weird in places’ Jon Courtenay Grimwood
‘Palmer’s lip-smackingly over the top exploration of crime and retribution will delight’ GUARDIAN
‘Playful prose and relentless, explosive action make for an exceptional piece of high-adventure SF’ FINANCIAL TIMES ‘Entertaining far-future thriller . . . packed to bursting with invention’ SFX
‘Brimming with promise’ SCIFINOW

Share/Bookmark

It is wintertime in Chicago and, as snow falls, we begin another tale featuring Harry’s wonderfully complicated life.

At first glance things seem to be going swimmingly. Molly’s training as a wizard by Harry continues and this appears to be working really well. However, a sudden attack on Harry and the Carpenter family leads him to think the Winter Queen has not forgotten him – or his friends. But to Harry’s surprise, the attack actually came from the Summer Queen Titania’s goat-like militia (called by Jim ‘gruffs’). Combined with another case assisting Karrin and the Chicago PD, we are again off to a flying start.

This book is all about promises, made and broken. The small favour in this case relates to the promise that Harry made back in Summer Knight, to Mab, the Winter Queen and the Queen of Air and Darkness. Whilst snow piles up all over Chicago, the task Mab now sets Harry is a formidable one – to be her Emissary and retrieve gangster Johnny Marone, Harry’s nemesis. Johnny has been kidnapped, for reasons unknown, though as time progresses Harry finds that Johnny’s kidnapping is no more than a prelude to something much bigger. And the ‘small favour’ is anything but.

The Big Bad Protagonist of this tale is an old villain from an earlier novel, returning with his group of evil cronies. That, combined with the huge group of supporting acts on Dresden’s side, give Small Favour a huge and mighty cast. We have Vampires, Wardens, Knights of the Cross, the ‘Archive’ and even a Fallen Angel or two making an appearance.

This book shows Jim cleverly plotting and leading the reader a merry dance as we are pulled relentlessly from one situation to the next. For those of us who’ve been here a while, it’s great fun to see how all the pieces fit into the high-energy plotline.

As we get deeper into some of the issues that make Harry’s life and background so complex and also so interesting, this became a real page turner for me. This is one of the fastest moving Dresdens to date, starting quickly and then moving up gears rapidly. The set pieces at Chicago’s Union Station and the Shedd Aquarium are very well done, as too is the grand finale.

By the end not everything is sorted out neatly here, so those expecting it all to wrap up tidily will be disappointed, as there is of course more to keep us reading. There are still wider issues, such as that of the Black Council, to be resolved. However, at long, long last, Harry’s complicated relationships with women might be going somewhere! There is a major life-changing event for one of our crew of supporting characters, some interesting revelations and a finale of sorts, yet with some key points left open for the next tale. All good stuff.

Whatever the future resolution of these threads, it is clear that things in later instalments will be forever different. Once again we realise that the NeverNever is a strange and unearthly place, where the usual rules don’t apply. And any dealings with its inhabitants will be complicated. More importantly, the tale shows us that neither side can be trusted, by Harry or anyone else. Still very highly recommended indeed.

SEE BELOW FOR A RUN DOWN OF THE DRESDEN FILES
Previous rereads are available here, though books don’t have to be read in this order:

STORM FRONT
FOOL MOON
GRAVE PERIL
SUMMER KNIGHT
DEATH MASKS
BLOOD RITES
DEAD BEAT
PROVEN GUILTY
WHITE NIGHT

Share/Bookmark