Sci-Fi

Excerpt: THE GALAXY GAME by Karen Lord (Jo Fletcher Books)

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LordK-2-GalaxyGamesUKPBJo 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 →

Interview with GUY HALEY

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HaleyG-AuthorPicLet’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 →

First X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Trailer

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The first trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse. I think it looks pretty good (obligatory BWAAAH aside). I wasn’t sure about the look of the movie Apocalypse, but it seems to look better in the clips than he has in the stills that I’ve seen. Will be interesting to see how the movie shapes up.

Review: BURNING MIDNIGHT by Will McIntosh (Delacorte Press)

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McIntoshW-BurningMidnightUSsmInteresting, fast-paced YA horror-sci-fi

Sully is a sphere dealer at a flea market. It doesn’t pay much — Alex Holliday’s stores have muscled out most of the independent sellers — but it helps him and his mom make the rent.

No one knows where the brilliant-colored spheres came from. One day they were just there, hidden all over the earth like huge gemstones. Burn a pair and they make you a little better: an inch taller, skilled at math, better-looking. The rarer the sphere, the greater the improvement — and the more expensive the sphere.

When Sully meets Hunter, a girl with a natural talent for finding spheres, the two start searching together. One day they find a Gold — a color no one has ever seen. And when Alex Holliday learns what they have, he will go to any lengths, will use all of his wealth and power, to take it from them.

There’s no question the Gold is priceless, but what does it actually do? None of them is aware of it yet, but the fate of the world rests on this little golden orb. Because all the world fights over the spheres, but no one knows where they come from, what their powers are, or why they’re here.

McIntosh’s first YA novel is a pretty interesting one: set in a world basically the same as our own, save for one rather intriguing difference — the presence of “spheres”. It’s a fast-paced, entertaining read, which I have no doubt many will enjoy. Continue reading →

Interview with TOM TONER

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TonerT-PromiseOfTheChildUKLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Tom Toner?

Hello! Tom Toner is a 29 year-old debut novelist from Somerset with a very patchy beard. Thanks very much for having me.

Your debut novel, The Promise of the Child, is published by Gollancz. It’s already generating quite a bit of attention and praise: How would you introduce it to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

The Promise of the Child is the first of a six part series called the Amaranthine Spectrum. It’s set in the closing years of the 147th century, over twelve and half thousand years from now, and I suppose you could call it an epic blend of space opera and fantasy. The book has a huge cast of characters, very few of them human in the traditional sense: on the Old World giants live in paper fortresses and singing sea monsters haunt the coasts, while up in the stars of the magisterial Firmament the remains of immortal mankind are slowly going mad. The Promise of the Child has a lived-in, antiquated feel: pure fantasy on one hand and the most ridiculous and frenetic of space operas on the other. Continue reading →

Excerpt: THUNDERBIRD by Jack McDevitt (Ace Books)

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McDevittJ-ThunderbirdUSI’ve not read anything by Jack McDevitt before. His next novel, Thunderbird, looks quite interesting, though:

On a Sioux reservation near Devils Lake in North Dakota, a working stargate dating back more than ten thousand years has been discovered. Going through the gate leads the traveler to three mysterious destinations: an empty garden world dubbed Eden, a strange maze of underground passageways, or a space station with a view of a galaxy that looks like the Milky Way.

The race to explore and claim the stargate quickly escalates and those involved divide into opposing camps who view the teleportation technology either as an unprecedented opportunity for scientific research of a disastrous threat to nation, not to mention planetary, security. One thing is for certain though — questions about what the stargate means for humanity’s role in the galaxy cannot be ignored.

Thunderbird is due to be published by Ace Books on December 1st, 2015. To celebrate the impending release, the publisher has sent me this excerpt to share… Continue reading →

Excerpt: ECKO ENDGAME by Danie Ware (Titan)

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WareD-3-EckoEndgameToday, we have an excerpt from Danie Ware‘s third novel, Ecko Endgame. Published by Titan Books, it’s the third volume in the author’s Ecko trilogy, a critically acclaimed blend of multiple genres. Here’s the synopsis…

Winter has come to the Varchinde – and with it, the fatal spread of the blight. The grass is dead, and the plains’ cities are falling to the loss of crops and trade.

Now, the Kas take their chance to rise from Rammouthe. Overmatched, betrayed and abandoned by his own forces, Rhan takes the ultimate gamble – he will abandon Fhaveon to lure the Kas into a final confrontation.

But the world’s memory is returning. And, as the battle rages round him, Ecko begins to realise that everything they have done has been for a purpose. If they can fit the pieces together, then they might just win the war. 

Yet, even if they do defeat the Kas, the blight is still there. And to save both the Varchinde and himself, Ecko must face the worst fear of all – the one that has come from his own world.

Read on for the first chapter… Continue reading →

New Books (October-November)

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Featuring: Fiona Barton, Robert Jackson Bennett, Lee Bermejo, Mike Brooks, Nick Cole, Steve Coogan, Nate Crowley, David Dalglish, Matthew Dunn, Kate Elliott, Christopher Fowler, Alexander Freed, Teresa Frohock, Christopher Golden, Charlaine Harris, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Mark Hodder, Drew Karpyshyn, Julia Knight, Victor Lavalle, Peter Liney, Peter McLean, Claire North, Megan O’Keefe, Steven Rowley, Jane Smiley, Paul Starkey, Tom Toner, Ian Tregillis

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Quick Review: AHRIMAN – EXODUS by John French (Black Library)

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FrenchJ-AhrimanExodusA collection of short stories set in French’s Ahriman series

Ahriman, exiled sorcerer lord of the Thousand Sons, has many servants who do his bidding. Each has a tale to tell, but few as compelling as that of Ctesias the twice-dead, summoner of daemons. From an encounter with the mysterious Dead Oracle to the perils of the Hounds and Wrath and navigating the Gates of Ruin, Ctesias is a vital link in Ahriman’s grand plan. This is Ctesias’ tale, in his own words, of his trials and the great and terrible deeds he has performed in his master’s name. This is the chronicle of his path to damnation as he leads Ahriman to his exodus from the Eye of Terror.

Each of the short stories contained within this collection are told from the perspective of Ctesias, a member of the fallen Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. A sorcerer particularly gifted at summoning and binding daemons, he has been adopted into Ahriman’s war band, for a particular reason that his new master is keeping hidden. I had already read a few of the short stories contained herein, but the anthology was a nice way to have them all collected in one volume. As I expected, I enjoyed the collection. Continue reading →