Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Book-Giving Day… And all others.
Hope you all have a great pile of books to keep you company and entertained during the break (feel free to share what you’ll be reading, in the comments).
Back next week.
Your second novel, The Cathedral of Known Things, is out now, published by Gollancz. What can fans of The Relic Guild expect from the second novel?
The boundaries that were set up in the first book are broken down, and the universe is expanded. We see the Houses of the Aelfir for the first time, along with the Genii War. More of the secrets that were kept from the agents of the Relic Guild, and those they had to keep from each other, are revealed. There are some new characters, some new weapons, and one or two surprises along the way. All mixed in with the usual monsters, magic and mayhem, of course.
How did you find the writing process the second time around? Any particular challenges?
The old challenges were still there. The Relic Guild is a single story told over three books. It’s divided into two timeframes, separated by forty years. Planning the past and the present across three books could be hideously complicated at times. Having now finished the third book, The Watcher of Dead Time, I can honestly say that The Cathedral of Known Things was the hardest to write. Continue reading
Jo Fletcher Books publishes Karen Lord‘s critically-acclaimed novel The Galaxy Game in paperback on January 7th, 2016. It is the sequel to the equally-acclaimed The Best of All Possible Worlds. In advance of it hitting shelves, JFB have sent me this short extract to share here, to whet readers’ appetites for the novel. First up, the synopsis:
For years, Rafi Delarua saw his family suffer under his father’s unethical use of psionic power. Now the government has Rafi under close watch but, hating their crude attempts to analyse his brain, he escapes to the planet Punartam, where his abilities are the norm, not the exception. Punartam is also the centre for his favourite sport, wallrunning – and thanks to his best friend, he has found a way to train with the elite.
But Rafi soon realises he’s playing quite a different game, for the galaxy is changing; unrest is spreading and the Zhinuvian cartels are plotting, making the stars a far more dangerous place to aim. There may yet be one solution — involving interstellar travel, galactic power and the love of a beautiful game.
And now, read on for the prologue… Continue reading
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Guy Haley?
I am British, from Yorkshire to be precise. I have a kid, a big dog, a fierce wife and lots of brothers. I’m fine, how are you?
Your new novella, The Emperor’s Railroad, will be published by Tor.com in April 2016. It looks really cool: How would you introduce it to a potential reader?
Global war devastated the environment, a plague of the living dead wiped out much of humanity, and civilization as we once understood it came to a standstill. That was a thousand years ago, and the world is now a very different place. Conflict between city states is constant, the dead are an ever-present danger. Superstition is rife, and machine relics, mutant creatures and resurrected prehistoric beasts trouble the land. Watching over all are the silent Dreaming Cities. Homes of the angels, bastion outposts of heaven on Earth. Or so the church claims. Very few go in, and nobody ever comes out. Until now…
That’s the blurb. It’s an SF/fantasy/horror/western hybrid, where advanced technology, primitive cities and strange creatures exist alongside knights in armour, and there are zombies. Did I mention the zombies? Sounds complicated? It’s not, actually. I have an underlying history for the whole thing, and it’s sweet as a nut, if I say so myself. The protagonist is a knight of the angels named Quinn, he’s got a gun, two swords, a quest, and a whole lot of secrets besides. Continue reading
Featuring: Stefan Ahnhem, Cristina Alger, Ros Barber, Clifford Beal, Stephen Birmingham, Eric Brown, Robin Burcell, Sarah Cain, Matt Carter, Toby Clements, Michael Cobley, Jamie Doward, Michael Ebner, Dan Fesperman, Alison Gaylin, Steven Gore, Ian Graham, Samantha Hunt, Mary Robinette Kowal, Joe R. Lansdale, Helen Lowe, Andrew Marr, Charles McCarry, Peter Newman, K.J. Parker, Daniel Polansky, Stephen S. Power, Terry Pratchett, Jamie Sawyer, Victoria Schwab, Charlotte Silver, Anna Small, A.F.E. Smith, Jean Stein, Tricia Sullivan, Michael Thomas, Ilija Trojanow, Catherynne M. Valente, Jo Walton, Hester Young
Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Peter McLean?
I’m a married man and grandfather in my 40s, who has been writing for over twenty years, and actually taking it seriously for perhaps the last five years or so. Over the years I’ve also been a kung fu teacher, a Wiccan priest, a Unix technician and a chaos magician, and I am now an IT account manager at a multinational outsourcing corporation.
Your debut novel, Drake, will be published by Angry Robot. It looks pretty cool: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?
Thank you! I guess I’d describe it as “a Guy Ritchie movie with demons in it” – Drake is set in the ganglands of South London, but instead of a cheap gangster my central character is a cheap magician, a hitman who uses his magical abilities and the power of an enslaved Archdemon to summon demons and set them on people. Of course it all goes horribly wrong for him in fairly short order, and that’s when things start to get interesting. Continue reading
I think this looks pretty great. I learned that the movie is based on Kim Barker’s biography, The Taliban Shuffle (Anchor), which I’ve picked up. Here’s the synopsis…
When Kim Barker first arrived in Kabul as a journalist in 2002, she barely owned a passport, spoke only English and had little idea how to do the “Taliban Shuffle” between Afghanistan and Pakistan. No matter — her stories about Islamic militants and shaky reconstruction were soon overshadowed by the bigger news in Iraq. But as she delved deeper into Pakistan and Afghanistan, her love for the hapless countries grew, along with her fear for their future stability. In this darkly comic and unsparing memoir, Barker uses her wry, incisive voice to expose the absurdities and tragedies of the “forgotten war,” finding humor and humanity amid the rubble and heartbreak.
The movie is released by Paramount Pictures in March 2016.
Jack Grimwood is a pseudonym for Jon Courtenay Grimwood, the extremely talented author of, among others, The Fallen Blade, End of the World Blues and The Last Banquet. Now, he adds Moskva, a serial killer thriller set in Cold War Moscow. Here’s the synopsis:
Christmas Eve, 1985. The shaved, exsanguinated body of a young man is found in Red Square, frozen solid — like marble to the touch — missing the little finger of his right hand.
A week later, Alex Masterton, the 15-year-old stepdaughter of the British ambassador, goes missing. Army Intelligence officer, Tom Fox, posted to Moscow, is asked to help find her. It’s a shot at redemption.
Fox’s investigation drags him ever deeper towards the dark heart of a Soviet establishment determined to protect its own…
Moskva is due to be published by Michael Joseph/Penguin, on May 6th, 2016. It looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to read it.
Also on CR: Interview with Jon Courtenay Grimwood; Guest Posts on “We Know Goblins Don’t Exist” and group-post “Should You Write What You Read?”; Review of The Fallen Blade
Sarah Cain‘s debut thriller, The 8th Circle is published by Crooked Lane Books on January 12th, 2016. Here’s the synopsis:
A year ago, Danny Ryan lost his wife and son in a car accident. He’s still reeling from the tragedy when Michael Cohen, his friend and fellow journalist, drives into the pond in front of his house with a bullet through his gut.
With Michael’s death ruled a murder, Danny must work to get his name crossed off the list of suspects, and that means digging into Michael’s last article, an expose of the twisted side of Philadelphia politics and nightlife. But powerful people are ready to kill to protect what Michael was about to uncover, and if Danny’s not careful, he’ll be next.
Crooked Lane Books have allowed me to share the first two chapters from the book. Continue reading
Many new trailers unveiled over the last few days/weeks. Including a bajillion Force Awakens trailers, although I’ve left those off because I’ve been avoiding them (it would be nice if some of the movie was a surprise on Friday). Anyway, here are a few trailers for interesting-looking upcoming movies…
I kind of loved the original Independence Day. Haven’t watched it in years, but I thought it was big, bombastic, funny and quite, quite silly. I can’t wait to see this!
This looks extremely action-packed. Which could be fun. I’ve enjoyed the re-booted franchise, although I don’t get all of the references to the original series (I always far preferred Star Wars…).
Well, yeah. This is probably going to be huge. And I’m cautiously optimistic that it’ll live up to expectations. Darker Batman and Superman? Eh, I actually prefer the bleaker image over the all-American Supes, or campy/lighter Bats. I wonder how much of the world they’ll destroy this time…?
Of course I’m interested in this. I’ve really enjoyed the previous two Cap movies, and the Iron Man and Avengers movies.
Something a little different, but Michael Lewis is one of my favourite authors (of any genre), so I’m very much looking forward to this. (Lewis also wrote the books behind Moneyball and The Blind Side.)
Haven’t read Ballard’s novel, but I do want to. This looks great, too.
The first Now You See Me movie was a surprisingly fun film. I’m intrigued to see how they follow it up.
June 2016
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