Upcoming: SOCKPUPPET by Matthew Blakstad (Hodder)

March 15, 2016March 13, 2016 Civilian Reader Upcoming Cybercrime, Hodder, Matthew Blakstad, Most Anticipated 2016, Mulholland, Mystery, Online, Sockpuppet, Suspense, Thriller

BlakstadM-SockpuppetUK This sounds really good. Society is becoming increasingly dominated by social media. And, with an online society often run amok (see, for example, US political “discussion”, endless misogynist internet trolls, and countless other examples), not to mention ever-more reports of cyber-crimes, maybe Sockpuppet is the novel we need? Here’s the synopsis:

You shared your life online. Now how will you get it back?

Twitter. Facebook. Whatsapp. Google Maps. Every day you share everything about yourself – where you go, what you eat, what you buy, what you think – online. Sometimes you do it on purpose. Usually you do it without even realizing it. At the end of the day, everything from your shoe-size to your credit limit is out there. Your greatest joys, your darkest moments. Your deepest secrets.

If someone wants to know everything about you, all they have to do is look.

But what happens when someone starts spilling state secrets? For politician Bethany Leherer and programmer Danielle Farr, that’s not just an interesting thought-experiment. An online celebrity called sic_girl has started telling the world too much about Bethany and Dani, from their jobs and lives to their most intimate secrets. There’s just one problem: sic_girl doesn’t exist. She’s an construct, a program used to test code. Now Dani and Bethany must race against the clock to find out who’s controlling sic_girl and why… before she destroys the privacy of everyone in the UK.

Matthew Blakstad’s Sockpuppet is published in the UK by Hodder, on May 19th, 2016. For more on the author’s writing and novels, be sure to check out his website, and follow him on Twitter and Goodreads. Check back on May 4th for an interview with the author.

[This is the first of four Hodder Upcoming posts, today.]

Post-Trip Book Plug: ROB BOFFARD and DAVID TOWSEY

March 14, 2016 Civilian Reader Random Book Plug, David Towsey, Hachette, Horror, Impact, Jo Fletcher Books, Must Read 2016, Orbit, Outer Earth Series, Quercus, Rob Boffard, Sci-Fi, Tracer, Walkin' Series, Your Brother's Blood, Your Resting Place, Your Servants and Your People, Zero-G, Zombies

Last week, Alyssa and I went on a short trip to Vancouver. It was excellent (read that in Wayne Campbell’s voice for proper effect), and I think we’re going to do our best to make it an annual thing. Anyway, that’s all beside the point. On Friday, we had the pleasure of meeting up with authors Rob Boffard and David Towsey, two author’s I’ve “known” via the Twitters for what feels like ages. There was talk of books, there was beer, there was clam juice, and there was much merriment.

I thought, therefore, I would just let everyone know (again) about their books, which I think everyone should try…

Rob Boffard’s TRACER, ZERO-G and IMPACT (Orbit)

BoffardR-TracerSeries

A huge space station orbits the Earth, holding the last of humanity. It’s broken, rusted, falling apart. We’ve wrecked our planet, and now we have to live with the consequences: a new home that’s dirty, overcrowded and inescapable.

What’s more, there’s a madman hiding on the station. He’s about to unleash chaos. And when he does, there’ll be nowhere left to run.

Tracer and Zero-G are out now — in both eBook and print in the UK, and eBook in the US (print arriving in June and July). Impact is due to be published in August.

Also on CR: Interview with Rob Boffard; Guest Post on “What to do if You’re Set Adrift in Space?”; Review of Tracer

Links: Author Website, Twitter, Goodreads

David Towsey’s YOUR BROTHER’S BLOOD, YOUR SERVANTS AND YOUR PEOPLE and YOUR RESTING PLACE (Jo Fletcher Books)

TowseyD-WalkinSeries

No one knows who will become a Walkin’ — one of the living dead — when they die, but everyone knows it’s a curse

The earth is a wasteland, with no technology, science, or medicine — but the dead don’t always die. Those who rise again are the Walkin’…

Thomas is thirty-two. He comes from the small town of Barkley. He has a wife there, Sarah, and a child, Mary; good solid names from the Good Book. And he is on his way home from the war, where he has been serving as a conscripted soldier.

Thomas is also dead — he is one of the Walkin’.

And Barkley does not suffer the wicked to live.

All three novels in the Walkin’ series are out now.

Also on CR: Interview with David Towsey; Excerpt from Your Brother’s Blood; Guest Post on “When Reading Habits Become Writing Habits”

Links: Author Website, Twitter, Goodreads

Interview with BRYONY PEARCE

March 14, 2016March 13, 2016 Civilian Reader Interview Bryony Pearce, Little Tiger, Phoenix Burning, Phoenix Rising, Phoenix Series, Post-Apocalypse, Sci-Fi, Stripes, Wavefunction, YA

Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Bryony Pearce?

Bryony Pearce lives in the Forest of Dean and is a full time mum to her two children, husband and cat. She is vegetarian and loves chocolate, wine and writing. People are often surprised at how dark her writing is, as she is generally pretty nice.

When the children let her off taxi duty, she enjoys doing school visits, festivals and events. ‪

Your new novel, Phoenix Burning, is published by Stripes. How would you introduce the series to a potential reader?

The Phoenix series is set in a post-apocalyptic world, that is much changed from our own, the now poisonous seas are full of junk and our hero, Toby, lives on a pirate ship that is searching for an semi-mythical island where the crew can be safe from the governments that hunt them. Continue reading →

Guest Post: “The Long Orbit of RADIANCE” by Catherynne M. Valente

March 11, 2016March 10, 2016 Civilian Reader Guest Post Catherynne M Valente, Corsair, Decopunk, Hollywood, Influences and Inspirations, Little Brown UK, Radiance, Sci-Fi, Space Opera, Tor Books

ValenteCM-AuthorPic Sometime in 2009 I was asked to write a science fiction story for Clarkesworld Magazine. At the time, I had mainly written fantasy — I was eager to dive into the other side of the speculative field. Two things had been bouncing around my head, and they bashed together at once. I had sprouted a fascination with the pulp SF planets of Zelazny, Bester, Burroughs, and Asimov’s day. The worlds we thought might be out there before satellite footage assured us it was not. Savage deserts of Mars, undersea Neptune, Venusian waterways. I wanted to make a planet like that. I didn’t want to follow the trend of hewing closely to established scientific fact. I wanted to go back to the wild, free-wheeling pulp universe, where there are no shackles on what you can imagine out there.

At the same time, I had read an interview with Mark Danielewski, who wrote House of Leaves, one of my favorite novels. He talked about his father, a cinematographer, and what a profound influence on his writing his father’s profession had been. And I thought: I was raised by a film director. It shaped every way I see the world and the ways I make my own. And I’ve never written about it even a little.
Continue reading →

This Summer, who you gonna call…?

March 3, 2016March 3, 2016 Civilian Reader Upcoming, Video Charles Dance, Chris Hemsworth, Comedy, Ghostbusters, Ghosts, Horror, Kate McKinnon, Katie Dippold, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Michael Kenneth Williams, Most Anticipated 2016, Movie, Paul Feig, Sony Pictures

Quite looking forward to this.

Guest Post: “What to do if You’re Set Adrift in Space?” by Rob Boffard

March 3, 2016March 3, 2016 Civilian Reader Guest Post Action, Adventure, Impact, Orbit, Rob Boffard, Sci-Fi, Space, Tracer, Zero-G

BoffardR-AuthorPicCrop You’re in trouble. On a mission of international importance and life-saving significance that only you can complete, you have been set adrift in space. Your heroic attempt to repair a crucial bit of satellite technology has gone awry, and now you’re drifting further and further away from your buddies — who, you’re convinced, are already preparing their tearful yet stoic remarks to the news media about how you died furthering the cause of space science. What do you do?

If your answer was something along the lines of “Spend a few minutes screaming then quietly begin peeing yourself”, then you need to chill out. Also, you probably wouldn’t have been selected for the space program. Continue reading →

Upcoming: SPARROW FALLING by Gaie Sebold (Solaris)

March 2, 2016March 2, 2016 Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming Alternative History, Fantasy, Gaie Sebold, Rebellion Publishing, Shanghai Sparrow, Solaris, Sparrow Falling

SeboldG-2-SparrowFalling A new Gaie Sebold novel! I thoroughly enjoyed Sebold’s debut, Babylon Steel, and have been eager to read more of her work (which, actually, makes me wonder why I haven’t…). Due to be published by Solaris on July 26th, 2016, and the sequel to Shanghai Sparrow, Sparrow Falling sounds quite fun:

Master spy, former con-artist, Eveline Duchen returns in an adventure set in a world of steam and magic.

Eveline Sparrow (formerly Duchen) hopes to put her past experiences as a thief and con-artist to more legitimate use; which is why some of the girls at her Sparrow School receive private lessons in burglary, fakery, and other such underhand practices.

But it’s hard to get honest work when few businesses will employ young ladies in the security professions. The duns are at the doorstep, her friend Liu the half-fox-spirit is in some sort of trouble, and the rivalries of the Folk are in danger of overspilling into the mundane world and forcing the Empire into a bloody and horrifying war.

Can Eveline pull things out of the mire this time, or will the Sparrow’s wings be clipped once and for all?

Gaie Sebold is the author of Babylon Steel, Dangerous Gifts, Shanghai Sparrow and Sparrow Falling — all published by Solaris Books. For more on her writing and novels, be sure to check out the author’s website, and follow her on Twitter and Goodreads.

SeboldG-Backlist

Upcoming: THE WOLF IN THE ATTIC by Paul Kearney (Solaris)

March 1, 2016 Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming Fantasy, Most Anticipated 2016, Paul Kearney, Solaris, Urban Fantasy, Wolf in the Attic

Paul Kearney is an author whose work I’ve always been familiar with, but not as familiar as I’d like. His novels always sound fantastic. His next book, The Wolf in the Attic, is no different. Here’s the synopsis:

1920s Oxford: home to C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien… and Anna Francis, a young Greek refugee looking to escape the grim reality of her new life. The night they cross paths, none suspect the fantastic world at work around them.

Anna Francis lives in a tall old house with her father and her doll Penelope. She is a refugee, a piece of flotsam washed up in England by the tides of the Great War and the chaos that trailed in its wake. Once upon a time, she had a mother and a brother, and they all lived together in the most beautiful city in the world, by the shores of Homer’s wine-dark sea.

But that is all gone now, and only to her doll does she ever speak of it, because her father cannot bear to hear. She sits in the shadows of the tall house and watches the rain on the windows, creating worlds for herself to fill out the loneliness. The house becomes her own little kingdom, an island full of dreams and half-forgotten memories. And then one winter day, she finds an interloper in the topmost, dustiest attic of the house. A boy named Luca with yellow eyes, who is as alone in the world as she is.

That day, she’ll lose everything in her life, and find the only real friend she may ever know.

The Wolf in the Attic is due to be published by Solaris in May 2016.

New Books (February)

March 1, 2016August 23, 2018 Civilian Reader New Books Adrian Tchaikovsky, AJ Hartley, Alex Stewart, Allen Steele, Andy Remic, Back Bay Books, Baen, Black Library, Brian McClellan, Bryony Pearce, Christopher Charles, Claire North, Corgi, Dan Cluchey, David Annandale, David Baldacci, David Fisher, David Levien, Don DeLillo, Elizabeth Bonesteel, Faber, Gollancz, Grand Central Publishing, Hadley Freeman, Hodder, Jack Sutherland, Jessica Chiarella, Jo Baker, Jo Spurrier, Joe R Lansdale, John Connolly, John Lansdale, K.J. Parker, Katie Heaney, Knopf, Lauren Groff, Lee Kelly, Marc Turner, Mark Andrew Ferguson, Max Allan Collins, Mickey Spillane, Mishell Baker, Mitchell Hogan, Molly Prentiss, Mulholland Books, Noah Hawley, Orbit, Patrick Hemstreet, Penguin, Pierce Brown, Plume, Rachel Dunne, Riverhead Books, SB Divya, Scout Press, Scribner, Shane Kuhn, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Stripes Books, Stuart Stevens, Subterranean Press, Teddy Wayne, Thomas Dunne Books, Tim Lebbon, Titan Books, Tor Books, Tor Teen, Tor UK, Tor.com, Touchstone, Transworld, Victor Pelevin, Voyager, William Shatner, Willow Palecek

Featuring: David Annandale, Jo Baker, Mishell Baker, David Baldacci, Elizabeth Bonesteel, Pierce Brown, Christopher Charles, Jessica Chiarella, Dan Cluchey, Max Allan Collins, John Connolly, Don DeLillo, S.B. Divya, Rachel Dunne, Mark Andrew Ferguson, Hadley Freeman, S.L. Grey, Lauren Groff, A.J. Hartley, Noah Hawley, Katie Heaney, Patrick Hemstreet, Mitchell Hogan, Lee Kelly, Shane Kuhn, Joe R. Lansdale, John Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, David Levien, Brian McClellan, Claire North, Willow Palecek, K.J. Parker, Bryony Pearce, Victor Pelevin, Molly Prentiss, Andy Remic, William Shatner, Mickey Spillane, Jo Spurrier, Allen Steele, Stuart Stevens, Alex Stewart, Jack Sutherland, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Marc Turner, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Teddy Wayne

* Continue reading →

Interview with S.K. DUNSTALL

February 29, 2016February 29, 2016 Civilian Reader Interview Ace Books, Alliance, Confluence, Linesman, Sci-Fi, SK Dunstall, Space Opera

Let’s start with an introduction: Who is S.K. Dunstall?

S.K. Dunstall is the pen name for Sherylyn and Karen Dunstall, sisters who live in Melbourne, Australia.

We’ve told stories ever since we can remember. At first, we wrote individually, but even back then we always dipped into each other’s stories to edit them. We gradually came to realize that the stories we worked on together were better than the ones we worked on alone, and were a lot more fun to write.

Your latest novel, Alliance, is published by Ace. The second in your Linesman series, it looks rather interesting: How would you introduce the series to a new reader, and what can fans expect from the second book?

Linesman is classic space opera, although our protagonist, Ean, might not quite be your classic space opera hero. It’s character-based, lighthearted action/adventure with some fun moments. Continue reading →