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Congratulations to CHRIS BECKETT, Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award!

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Yesterday I attended the Clarke Award ceremony at the Royal Society in London. The event opened with a panel discussion on science in five years (in 2,001 days… Geddit?) – I was pleased to learn that there are people currently working on World Ships. That was cool.

Anyway, the reason most of us were there was to learn who won the prize (and, ahem, the drinks afterwards…). And so, big congratulations to…

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CHRIS BECKETT, for his novel DARK EDEN (Corvus)

The runners-up, all equally interesting and high-quality science-fiction novels, were…

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Adrian Barnes, Nod (Bluemoose)

Nick Harkaway, Angelmaker (William Heinemann)

Peter Heller, The Dog Stars (Headline)

Ken MacLeod, Intrusion (Orbit)

Kim Stanley Robinson, 2312 (Orbit)

After the event, I had the pleasure of meeting a great number of people who I have long respected and/or only known on the other end of an email conversation or through Twitter. It was wonderful to meet so many of you and chat about all things genre and much other things besides. A great evening.

Upcoming: “Apocalypse Now Now” by Charlie Human (Century)

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Feast your eyes on this twisted, visual delight…

Human-ApocalypseNowNow-UK

This is, as I’m sure you can gather, the cover for South African author Charlie Human’s debut novel, Apocalypse Now Now. The cover was first unveiled on the always awesome Pornokitsch (whose post also has an interview with Charlie Joey Hi-Fi – go check it out).

I’ve been hearing about this book a lot recently (from one person in particular…), and he has done a sufficiently excellent job of making me ridiculously excited to get my grubby mitts on a copy.

Baxter Zevcenko is your average sixteen-year-old-boy — if by average you mean kingpin of a schoolyard porn syndicate and possible serial killer who suffers from surreal  nightmares. Which may very well be what counts as average these days. Baxter is the first to admit that he’s not a nice guy. After all, if the guy below you falls, dragging you down into an icy abyss you have to cut him loose — even in high school. That is until his girlfriend, Esmé, is kidnapped and Baxter is forced to confront a disturbing fact about himself — that he has a heart, and the damn thing is forcing him to abandon high-school politics and set out on a quest to find her. The clues point to supernatural forces at work and Baxter is must admit that he can’t do it alone. Enter Jackie Ronin, supernatural bounty hunter, Border War veteran, and all-round lunatic, who takes him on a chaotic tour of Cape Town’s sweaty, occult underbelly.

What do glowing men, transsexual African valkyries, and zombie-creating arachnids have to do with Esmé’s disappearance? That’s what Baxter really, really needs to find out.

The cover at the top, by Joey Hi-Fi, is the UK edition (to be published by Century in August 2013), but Apocalypse Now Now will also be graced with an equally sinister and moody cover (also by Joey Hi-Fi) in the author’s native South Africa:

Human-ApocalypseNowNow-SA

Upcoming: “The Raven’s Shadow” by Elspeth Cooper (Gollancz)

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Cooper-RavensShadowI’ve not been very good at keeping up with Elspeth Cooper’s Wild Hunt series. I enjoyed Songs of the Earth, but still need to catch up with Trinity Rising, the second novel in the series. The Raven’s Shadow is the third of four novel in the series, and will be published in August 2013. Here’s the synopsis:

Three moons are rising.

They are rising over the snowy Archen Mountains, where Teia struggles through the high passes to carry her warning to the Empire: the Nimrothi war band is poised to invade and at their head stands Ytha. She means to release the Wild Hunt – and with it Maegern the Raven, the Keeper of the Dead.

In the desert of Gimrael, the moons are rising over the fires of revolution – flames that have already robbed Gair of a friend and left him alone in a hostile city, unsure even if the Song is still his to command. He has one last duty to discharge, and then nothing will stand between him and his ultimate goal: vengeance.

And in the Nordmen’s chilly halls, Savin plays out a game in which kings and chieftains and men are but pawns on a chessboard that spans the Veil itself.

Three moons are rising. When the trinity is complete, the endgame will begin.

The fourth-and-final book in the series, The Dragon House is due to be published (according to Amazon UK) one month after this, in September 2013… Not sure if that can be right. Regardless, this is an interesting series, and well worth your attention.

Also on CR: Interview with Elspeth Cooper

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UPDATE: Just heard back from Elspeth – this is not the final artwork, but just one that Amazon UK has used and that seems to be doing the rounds on the internet. And, also, book four will be published in 2014. Updates to follow, as-and-when information becomes available. I also inserted a new synopsis, provided by the author, substituting it for the Amazon UK synopsis (below).

Sometimes those with the greatest potential must withstand the hardest blows. Fate, it seems, has nothing kind in store for Gair. First his lover and now his mentor have been killed – the first by the dangerous, ambitious Savin, the second in a revolutionary uprising. Alone, and with even his magical abilities betraying him, he has only one goal left: revenge. Far to the north, if Teia has one goal it is survival. Attempting to cross a high mountain pass in the teeth of winter is an act of desperation, but the message she carries cannot wait for spring. An invasion force is gathering behind her, and only an ancient order of knights can hold them back. The danger is real, there are enemies in the shadows, and time is running out…

Upcoming: “The Black Guard” by A.J. Smith (Head of Zeus)

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SmithAJ-BlackGuardThere’s been a little bit of buzz surrounding this novel, but not as much as I’ve expected. The Black Guard is the first in A.J. Smith’s The Long War fantasy series.

I actually read a little bit of a very early version of The Black Guard on submission when I was interning at a publisher last year, only to discover that Head of Zeus had already picked it up. Nevertheless, I was happy to learn it was going to make it to the shelves, and I look forward to reading the final version.

Here’s the synopsis:

The Duke of Canarn is dead, executed by the King’s decree. The city lies in chaos, its people starving, sickening, and tyrannized by the ongoing presence of the King’s mercenary army. But still hope remains: the Duke’s children, the Lord Bromvy and Lady Bronwyn, have escaped their father’s fate.

Separated by enemy territory, hunted by the warrior clerics of the One God, Bromvy undertakes to win back the city with the help of the secretive outcasts of the Darkwald forest, the Dokkalfar. The Lady Bronwyn makes for the sanctuary of the Grass Sea and the warriors of Ranen with the mass of the King’s forces at her heels. And in the mountainous region of Fjorlan, the High Thain Algenon Teardrop launches his Dragon Fleet against the Red Army. Brother wars against brother in this, the epic first volume of the long war.

It’ll be interesting to see how this shapes up. It’ll be released as a Special Edition and also a “standard” Hardcover in August 2013.

Upcoming (in the UK): “Libriomancer” by Jim C. Hines (Del Rey)

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Hines-LibriomancerUKJim C. Hines’ Libriomancer was released a while ago in the US, but I never got around to buying it when I was working there. No idea why… Anyway, luckily for me (and every other person in the UK), Del Rey will be publishing it on these shores very soon!

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of a secret society founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. As such, he is gifted with the magical ability to reach into books and draw forth objects.

But when Gutenberg vanishes without a trace, Isaac finds himself pitted against everything from vampires to a sinister, nameless foe who is bent on revealing magic to the world at large… and at any cost.

Libriomancer will be published on June 20th 2013. For the sake of completion, here’s the US cover (published by DAW):

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Upcoming: “Grimoire of the Lamb” by Kevin Hearne (Del Rey/Orbit)

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Hearne-5-GrimoireOfTheLambJust caught this via the Twitters, and decided to share it on here. I’m a big fan of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles – despite having only read the first two, and being really slow about getting to the rest. Hearne announced today that there will be a new eNovella, GRIMOIRE OF THE LAMB, released on May 7th, 2013, in the U.S. Here’s what the author wrote on his website:

“This is an eBook novella on sale at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, iBooks, etc., for $2.99. It’ll be available in the UK, Australia, and affiliated territories too, albeit with a different cover, and I believe (but haven’t confirmed) that it will be on audio too in the US & Canada…”

So it will be arriving in other territories, hopefully around the same time. With regards to the story, Hearne wrote,

“It’s set in 2005, four years before HOUNDED. Aenghus Óg hasn’t found him yet, Granuaile isn’t bartending at Rúla Búla, but we do get a cameo from the widow MacDonagh.”

Here’s the official synopsis, from Del Rey:

When he’s not vanquishing villainous gods or dodging demons, two-thousand-year-old Druid Atticus O’Sullivan can be found behind the counter of Third Eye Books and Herbs in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, literally minding his own business. But when an evil sorcerer – and amateur shoplifter – snatches an ancient Egyptian tome of black magic, The Grimoire of the Lamb, Atticus is not sheepish about pursuing him to the ends of the earth… or at least to the Land of the Pharaohs.

Unfortunately, Atticus already has enemies in Egypt – including cat goddess Bast, who wants her own book of mischief back from the Druid. In the streets of Cairo, she sends a feline phalanx after Atticus and his Irish wolfhound, Oberon. With fur still flying, Atticus must locate the sorcerer’s secret lair – where he will face killer crocodiles, spooky sarcophagi, and an ancient evil Egyptian who’s determined to order the sacrificial lamb special tonight.

Atticus in Egypt? Count me in. If you haven’t read any of the series before (shame on you!), then this could be a great point to give it a try.

Also on CR: Reviews of Hounded and Hexed, and an Interview with Kevin Hearne

The Iron Druid Chronicles: Hounded, Hexed, Hammered, Tricked, Trapped, Hunted (Novels) | Two Ravens & One Crow, Grimoire of the Lamb (Novellas)

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Upcoming: “A Matter Of Blood”, “Mayhem” & More by Sarah Pinborough (Ace/Gollancz/Jo Fletcher)

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With a number of exciting releases on both sides of the Pond, it looks like 2013 is going to be a very good year for British author Sarah Pinborough.

Pinborough-FG1-AMatterOfBloodUSFirst up, and already out in the UK for ages (published by Gollancz in 2010), we have the author’s critically-acclaimed A Matter of Blood will now be hitting shelves in the US.

In a world steeped in darkness, a new breed of evil has fallen…

London’s ruined economy has pushed everyone to the breaking point, and even the police rely on bribes and deals with criminals to survive. Detective Inspector Cass Jones struggles to keep integrity in the police force, but now, two gory cases will test his mettle. A gang hit goes wrong, leaving two schoolboys dead, and a serial killer calling himself the Man of Flies leaves a message on his victims saying “nothing is sacred.”

Then Cass’ brother murders his own family before committing suicide. Cass doesn’t believe his gentle brother did it. Yet when evidence emerges suggesting someone killed all three of them, a prime suspect is found – Cass himself.

Common links emerge in all three cases, but while Cass is finding more questions than answers, the Man of Flies continues to kill…

This is the first novel in Pinborough’s Forgotten Gods series (which I shamefully have not yet read). In the UK, the series title was The Dog-Faced Gods. A Matter of Blood is followed by The Shadow of the Soul (August 2013) and The Chosen Seed (December 2013). As a bonus, here are the three UK covers for the series:

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Pinborough-MayhemWhile North Americans will be able to finally get their hands on this trilogy in 2013, Brits will also be treated to Sarah’s latest novel, Mayhem (April 25th, published by Jo Fletcher Books)

When a rotting torso is discovered in the vault of New Scotland Yard, it doesn’t take Dr. Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, long to realise that there is a second killer at work in the city where, only a few days before, Jack the Ripper brutally murdered two women in one night.

Though just as gruesome, this is the hand of a colder killer, one who lacks Jack’s emotion.

And, as more headless and limbless torsos find their way into the Thames, Dr. Bond becomes obsessed with finding the killer. As his investigations lead him into an unholy alliance, he starts to wonder: is it a man who has brought mayhem to the streets of London, or a monster?

This sounds really cool, so I’m going to try to get a review done A.S.A.P.

And finally, Pinborough also has three novellas – Poison (April 18th), Charm (July 18th) and Beauty (October 17th) – coming out this year in the UK, to be published by Gollancz. Here are the complete covers for the three, which have been described as “absolutely superb, fun, mischievous novellas”:

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Upcoming: “Steelheart” by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz)

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Spotted this on Amazon UK, while looking up info for any new Brandon Sanderson releases, and thought I’d share it on here:

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Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.

But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics… nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart — the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning — and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Disclaimer: I work for Brandon’s UK Agent

Steelheart will be published in the UK by Gollancz in September 2013. I was lucky to get my mitts on a copy, though, and I blitzed through the first quarter of the novel last night – it’s a lot of fun. I’ll do a quick sort-of-review on here when I’ve finished it. If you’re a fan of super-heroes, but always wondered what humans would do if the super-powered persons all used their abilities for evil… Well, this could be the novel for you.

I also hope it’ll open up the sub-genre of super-hero fiction, as I’d like to read more of it. (And I’m writing one myself, actually…)

Here’s the US artwork for the novel (to be published by Delacorte in September as well):

Sanderson-SteelheartUS

Upcoming: “The Eidolon” by Libby McGugan (Solaris)

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McGuganL-EidolonI stumbled across this book completely by accident, but it looked kind of interesting (which makes me wonder why it hasn’t been mentioned more often, elsewhere…). The Eidolon is Libby McGugan’s debut novel, and here is the synopsis:

When physicist Robert Strong loses his job at the Dark Matter research lab and his relationship falls apart, he returns home to Scotland. Then the dead start appearing to him, and Robert begins to question his own sanity.

Vincent Amos, an enigmatic businessman, arrives and recruits Robert to sabotage CERN’S Large Hadron Collider, convincing him the next step in the collider’s research will bring about disaster. Everything Robert once understood about reality, and the boundaries between life and death, is about to change forever. And the biggest change will be to Robert himself…

The Eidolon will be published by Solaris Books in October 2013.

Upcoming: “Blood Song” by Anthony Ryan (Ace)

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RyanA-RS1-BloodSong

Anthony Ryan’s Blood Song was originally self-published, but Penguin snapped it up in 2012. I know a few other reviewers have already read the novel, and general consensus seems to be that it’s one to watch.

An epic fantasy exploring themes of conflict, loyalty and religious faith.

We have fought battles that left more than a hundred corpses on the ground and not a word of it has ever been set down. The Order fights, but often it fights in shadow, without glory or reward. We have no banners.

Vaelin Al Sorna’s life changes forever the day his father abandons him at the gates of the Sixth Order, a secretive military arm of the Faith. Together with his fellow initiates, Vaelin undertakes a brutal training regime – where the price of failure is often death. Under the tutelage of the Order’s masters, he learns how to forge a blade, survive the wilds and kill a man quickly and quietly.

Now his new skills will be put to the test. War is coming. Vaelin is the Sixth Order’s deadliest weapon and the Realm’s only hope. He must draw upon the very essence of his strength and cunning if he is to survive the coming conflict. Yet as the world teeters on the edge of chaos, Vaelin will learn that the truth can cut deeper than any sword.

Blood Song, the first book in Ryan’s Raven’s Shadow series, will be published by Ace Books in July 2013 in the US.

UPDATE: Rather quietly, it was announced that Orbit has bought publishing rights for the UK. The novel will be released as an eBook in April, and a Hardcover later in July. The UK artwork has been added to the top of the post, on the right.