Archive for Fiction

Cover launch! EXISTENCE and the new-look David Brins

EXISTENCE, a science fiction novel from the award-winning David Brin, admired by Stephen Baxter

This November, we’re releasing the paperback edition of David Brin’s science fiction masterpiece EXISTENCE (UK | ANZ). It’s his first novel to be released in ten years, and he’s truly returned in triumphant form.

It’s a breathtaking novel about First Contact – one that asks ‘why are we alone?’ and ‘are all civilisations doomed to fail?’ And it does it in spectacular, imaginative, mind-boggling, heart-thumping style.

See the paperback cover to the left and just a few of the reviews this unmissable book has been receiving:

‘Cleverly argued and uncomfortably plausible’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

‘A masterpiece of rock-hard SF’ SUN

‘Brin tackles a plethora of cutting-edge concepts…with the skill of a visionary futurologist’ GUARDIAN

‘Bursting with ideas, including near-future tech, first contact with aliens, and the exploration of what it means to be human’ i09.com

‘Existence is my top SF novel of 2012 and I recommend it without hesitation’ SFFWORLD.COM

But it’s not just EXISTENCE that we’re releasing this winter. We’re also giving a makeover to some of David Brin’s most classic titles. See the new-look covers below in all their glory…

New-look covers for David Brin's classic science fiction titles EARTH, POSTMAN, the UPLIFT trilogy and the second Uplifgt triology, called EXILES

See more info about each title below! (more…)

Cover launch! ARALORN by Patricia Briggs

The cover for Aralorn, a fantasy omnibus of Masques and Wolfsbane from Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson novelsCalling all fantasy and Patricia Briggs fans! 

I’m delighted to be able to unveil the cover for a very exciting new title to be released in October this year: ARALORN (UK | ANZ).

It’s an omnibus edition of two fantasy titles that are yet to be released in the UK: Masques and Wolfsbane, from the fan favourite (and New York Times bestselling) Patricia Briggs.

Masques was in fact the first full-length novel that Patricia wrote, but since then it’s been revised and updated. It features the wonderfully unconventional heroine Aralorn, a girl who flees her noble birthright and the expectations piled upon her to become a mercenary and shapeshifting spy. 

Patricia Briggs recently revisited the series with Wolfsbane, and so we decided to collect these two novels in ARALORN. With these stories, the author expertly turns her hand to a setting which is a little more historical/high fantasy than urban fantasy – but fans of the Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega novels will undoubtedly also love this book.

ARALORN shows off Patricia at her best – with characters that are so intriguing that you’ll never want to say goodbye to them. The relationship between Aralorn and her mysterious companion Wolf, for example, is so deliciously intense that you’ll definitely want to see it through to the end.

Look out for ARALORN (UK | ANZ) this October. And you can find the blurb and a larger version of the cover below. (more…)

Terry Brooks, Patrick Rothfuss and The Measure of the Magic

The cover for the fantasy novel The Measure of the Magic by fantasy legend Terry Brooks, who recently interviewed Patrick Rothfuss

In case you’ve missed it, the fantasy legends Terry Brooks and Patrick Rothfuss have been interviewing each other on their websites throughout July, and it makes for some very compelling reading . . . 

My personal highlights include Terry describing himself as being like the OCD-ridden TV detective Monk, and where Pat talks about skipping his writing teacher’s class to go on a date with that same teacher’s daughter. Very sneaky indeed.

Check out part one here on Terry’s site. Also, check out this awesome cartoon of the two of them.

Don’t forget also that Terry’s conclusion to the Legends of Shannara duology, The Measure of the Magic (UK | ANZ), is released tomorrow in paperback! Read an extract here. And here’s what fans have been saying on online retailer sites about the book:

”Terry Brooks is one of the best fantasy novelists of our time . . . He does not disappoint his many fans with this latest book’ Dee

‘Terry Brooks continues to be my longest standing favourite author’ S. Wilson

The cover for the fantasy novel Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks, who recently interviewed Patrick Rothfuss‘This is a really great series of books that have haunting and fleeting references to present worldwide problems. Long may he keep on writing these great books’ Colin L. Williams

There’s also not long to wait now until Terry’s brand new series begins with The Dark Legacy of Shannara: Wards of Faerie (UK | ANZ) – released 23rd August. 

If you like what you hear above, this will a great place for any new readers to jump in and experience the Terry phenomenon!

Cover release: STRAY SOULS by Kate Griffin

As SFX Magazine said this month, Kate Griffin’s acclaimed Matthew Swift novels ‘tell of a parallel and eldritch capital’. In her new book STRAY SOULS [UK | US | ANZ] coming out this October, we find ourselves in the same fantastical London as the Matthew Swift novels, but with a new twist – meet Sharon Li: barista and shaman, on whose shoulders rest the fate of the city. Matthew Swift makes an appearance too, but it’s Sharon and her friends at Magicals Anonymous (a self-help group for people with magical issues) who must step up to save the day.

Here, just for you, we can now exclusively reveal the jacket, put together by our very own UK creative director Duncan Spilling:

First in the Magicals Anonymous series 

STRAY SOULS will be out worldwide from Orbit in simultaneous paperback and ebook this October.

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

PSA: Zombie Outbreak Ravages San Diego

It’s that time of year again. Time for a horde of readers, superheroes, and Jedi to descend on the city of San Diego for Comic Con!

To kickoff the festivities, a new piece of Newsflesh short fiction is available now and set during San Diego Comic-Con…the very last San Diego Comic-Con.

It was the first days of the Rising and no one realized that most of the people who picked up their badges that fateful weekend would never make it out alive. This was the last stand of the California Browncoats.

SAN DIEGO 2014 a really fun story whether you are a regular at the convention or not. If you couldn’t make it out to California,  you can still get a taste for the experience by picking up SAN DIEGO: 2014.  For those of you who are going to Comic Con,  then definitely stop by our booth:  #1118. We will be giving away the yellow button that you see on the cover at various times throughout the weekend. Mira will also be at the show this year so check out her panels and signings.

The only thing we ask is that you leave the zombie plague at home. Remember the Rising doesn’t happen until for another two years, but if you must shamble on over to San Diego, please snack responsibly and try not eat the cast of Firefly.

Details on all our Comic-Con events are  here.

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…)

Captain America, Bitter Seeds and Nazis in fiction

Promotional poster for Paramount's CAPTAIN AMERICA, a superhero movie based on a Marvel comic of the same name - and its link to Bitter Seeds“I want you to know,” said John, “that you completely ruined Captain America for me.”

This was last summer at our local SF convention, Bubonicon. (Which, yes, is named after the bubonic plague.  But that’s another story.) John and I belong to the same writing community here in New Mexico, so we chat from time to time. But we didn’t see this movie together, or even in the same city. Which made his complaint a bit confusing to me. 

“Oh, about 20 minutes in,” he said, “my wife leaned over and said, ‘Hey!  He looks like Ian!’ So all through the rest of the movie I kept picturing you up there fighting Nazis.”

Steve Stirling overheard our conversation. He joined us, nodding. “Yeah. Me, too.”

And so it became a running joke at last year’s convention. (A joke at my expense, naturally. But I refuse to carry a shield.) Fast forward 10 months to last weekend, when I shared this story with a visiting friend. Corry said, without missing a beat, “We saw it on video recently. I told my husband, ‘That’s what Ian looks like.'” 

The cover for Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis - an alternate history novel featuring superhuman Nazis fighting British WarlocksNow, if you ask me, these people are quite mad. There isn’t the slightest resemblance. But when I object, they’re always quick to clarify: No, we didn’t mean the strong, square-jawed, charismatic Captain America. We mean the early version of Steve Rogers. The pre-super-soldier-serum, pre-Vita-Ray Steve Rogers. Of course you don’t resemble the superhero, Ian. We meant the scrawny runt.

Well, obviously.   

Aside from my desperate need for a solid dose of serum and Vita-Rays, I share little in common with young Rogers, much less his superheroic alter ego. I’ve never punched Hitler. Not even once.  (I’m not saying I wouldn’t, but I’ve never had a chance.) I have, however, used Nazis and superpowers in my novels, which meant I was firmly embedded in the target audience for Captain America.

And Steve Rogers and I would surely agree on one thing: Nazis are a pain in the neck. For him, fighting them. For me, writing them.

I expended a fair bit of time and energy ruminating on the fictional superpowered agents of the Third Reich in Bitter Seeds (UK | ANZ). I wanted to tell myself an entertaining adventure story; something chewy and fun, like a good comic book. But I also wanted to tell a story that could be molded around the nooks and crannies of history. So I had to think carefully about the grim realities of the Third Reich, which forced me to consider carefully the portrayal of Nazis in my novel. And I did. I thought long and very hard about how to approach these books before I started.

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Trailer for EXISTENCE by David Brin

Released today is EXISTENCE (UK | ANZ) – the phenomenal new science fiction novel from the multi-award winning David Brin. A book that io9 said will “make you think about the future in a whole new way.”

Truly a tour-de-force of storytelling, it’s his first novel to be released in ten years, and in the words of the Guardian: ‘It’s been well worth the wait’.

To mark this fantastic event we have released a first edition of the book with a limited-edition 3D cover. Watch the trailer below to see what lies ahead . . .

 

Germline and Beyond: How my Short Fiction Links to the Subterrene Novels

Caution: this isn’t a blog post about fiction as much as it’s a post about a weirdo. Me. Because you’d have to be weird to (a) hammer out three books in 1.5 years, (b) write one that wins a major genre award, and (c) figure it would also be easy to also generate a short story and two novelettes to compliment the books’ universe. But that’s exactly what I did. Why? Because people fascinate me in the number of ways they can be ridiculous and murderous, and sometimes I wonder: where will war take us in the future and will people ever change?

Germline, my first book and winner of the Compton Crook Award, is a gonzo-like account of futuristic front lines — the way an outsider sees things, someone not indoctrinated to the military lifestyle and who feels like a teenage outsider going in, an adult alien coming out. But where Germline is a coming of age story, Exogene is something different. Truth be told: I don’t know what it is. Exogene goes deep into the mind of the artificial, a manufactured human-like creature whose path to existence includes brutality too bizarre to be fiction. Some readers dig it. Wildly. Others can’t relate, and that’s just fine. The characters are strong women who find it difficult to tolerate incompetence or cowardice. Looking back, the main character, Catherine, took over the story and I had to follow her lead, a mind that dragged me in some strange directions. I was listening to a lot of The Distillers and Spinerette at the time so Brody Dalle may have seeped in through the cracks.

Then there’s Chimera. If Germline and Exogene are character studies about a man who can’t handle war and a girl who rejects it, respectively, then Chimera is a study of someone for whom war is a natural habitat: Stan Resnick. I’ve seen this. These types of soldiers exist — ones who genuinely thrive in settings that would make most of us want to huddle under a rock and stay there until everything dies down. And by the time writing began for Chimera, a few silly comments regarding Germline came in, comments suggesting it was an Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket derivative (because anything that features a reporter from Stars and Stripes has to be channeling Full Metal Jacket, right?). Neither movie entered my thoughts in writing Germline. But to poke a finger in the eyes of these critics, I watched Apocalypse Now — over and over and over — and decided Chimera would address the enigma of Richard Colby.

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