Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Chris Humphreys?
Gosh, start with an easy one! I was hoping you could tell me!
Chris is an actor and author who was born with a sword in his hand — which must have made it painful for dear old ma. He became an actor so he could leap around with bladed weaponry — and largely succeeded. (I was even Graham Ashe the Immortal in Highlander, though I was dead after ten minutes which seems a swizz!). He became a writer with much the same ambitions, though he also became interested in myth and magic and playing Hamlet at a formative age shook things up philosophy-wise. (Who also dies from a sword cut, of course!) His body is Canadian, his mind is English, and his heart is Norwegian. He has a familiar called Dickon who claims to be a cat, and he writes in a cedar octagon in a forest on an island in the Salish Sea.
Your new novel, Smoke in the Glass, was published this week by Gollancz. It looks really interesting: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?
Glad you think so. Yes, it is Book One of the Immortals’ Blood Trilogy. The story began for me, in that cedar octagon, with a question: If you had the choice, would you want to live forever? Continue reading
I’ve seen the cover for Rivers Solomon‘s The Deep around the internet a few times over the past couple of weeks. Inspired by a song by 
I will share information about each and every new Adrian Tchaikovsky book for as long as Civilian Reader continues. A fantastic author, with a prodigious imagination and a work/writing ethic (combined with ever-greater quality) that we can only aspire to emulating. Made Things is his next novella, due to be published by 
Today, Subterranean Press 
I haven’t read anything else by Saad Z. Hossain, but his upcoming novella from Tor.com sounds fantastic. Really looking forward to reading it when it comes out in mid-August. Here’s the synopsis for The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday:
The first Horror collection from Black Library
Spotted this today on Angry Robot’s website, and the cover caught my eye — I love the way it looks like a poster that’s been slapped up onto a wall (the folds and bubbling between the letters, etc.). Then I read the synopsis, and thought it sounded really interesting.
Welcome back to Civilian Reader! Let’s kick things off with your latest novel, Soulkeeper, which is published by Orbit. It sounds really cool: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?
For some reason, I missed this series when the first book was published, but I find myself intrigued. The Ruthless, sequel to Peter Newman‘s The Deathless, is due to be published by 
In crystal castles held aloft on magical currents, seven timeless royal families reign, protecting humanity from the spread of the Wild and its demons. Born and reborn into flawless bodies, the Deathless are as immortal as the precious stones from which they take their names. For generations a fragile balance has held.
Civilian Reader 