Excerpt: GALLOWGLASS by S.J. Morden (Gollancz)

December 10, 2020December 9, 2020 Civilian Reader Excerpt Gallowglass, Gollancz, S.J. Morden, Sci-Fi, Simon Morden

Today, we have an excerpt from S. J. Morden‘s new novel Gallowglass, which Gollancz has provided as part of the blog tour marking the novel’s release. First, though, here’s the synopsis:

The year is 2069, and the earth is in flux. Whole nations are being wiped off the map by climate change. Desperate for new resources, the space race has exploded back into life.

Corporations seek ever greater profits off-world. They offer immense rewards to anyone who can claim space’s resources in their name. The bounty on a single asteroid rivals the GDP of entire countries, so every trick, legal or not, is used to win.

Jack, the scion of a shipping magnate, is desperate to escape earth and joins a team chasing down an asteroid. But the ship he’s on is full of desperate people – each one needing the riches claiming the asteroid will bring them, and they’re willing to do anything if it means getting there first.

Because in Space, there are no prizes for coming second. It’s all or nothing: riches beyond measure, or dying alone in the dark.

And now, on with the excerpt…

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New Books (February-March)

February 27, 2018August 23, 2018 Civilian Reader New Books Andrea Dunlop, Anthony Horowitz, Ben Fritz, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Claire North, Corey J. White, Dan Abnett, Darius Hinks, Frank Herbert, Gav Thorpe, Guy Haley, Ian McDonald, Jane Harper, Jo Piazza, Joe Mungo Reed, John Connolly, Josh Reynolds, K.R. Richardson, KR Richardson, Kristin Hannah, Lucas Mann, Melissa Caruso, Melissa F. Olson, Michael Redhill, Nick Kyme, Paul French, Paul Goldberg, Rachel Harrison, Robbie MacNiven, S J Morden, Simon Morden, Stephen Markley

Featuring: Dan Abnett, Kevin J. Anderson, Melissa Caruso, John Connolly, Andrea Dunlop, Paul French, Ben Fritz, Paul Goldberg, Kristin Hannah, Jane Harper, Frank Herbert, Anthony Horowitz, Sarah A. Hoyt, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Lucas Mann, Stephen Markley, Ian McDonald, S.J. Morden, Claire North, Melissa F. Olson, Jo Piazza, Michael Redhill, Joe Mungo Reed, K.R. Richardson, Gav Thorpe, Corey J. White

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Guest Post: “On Worldbuilding” by Simon Morden

November 1, 2016October 25, 2016 Civilian Reader Guest Post Adventure, Books of Down, Down Station, Fantasy, Gollancz, Portal Fantasy, Simon Morden, White City, Worldbuilding

One of the joys of writing novels over writing for the screen is that your budget is infinite and your imagination is unfettered. You don’t have to worry about the cost of the number of suns your planet orbits around, nor about the practical effort required to have half a dozen alien races, none of whom conform to a basic upright and bipedal morphology, appear repeatedly and interact with your human characters.

In Down Station, when I blew up London – which in and of itself is a somewhat technical task, involving setting fire to the Underground and melting the streets around Mayfair – I needed somewhere for my survivors to run to. That somewhere was Down, which has more in common with Tarkovsky’s Solaris and Julian May’s Pliocene Earth than it does C.S. Lewis’ Narnia. I wanted Down to be both eerily familiar and surprisingly different: you can, of course, read the Books of Down and not worry about what happens under the bonnet, but as the author, that’s exactly what I had to do – open it up and tinker with the engine until I was happy with how it all worked. Continue reading →

Upcoming: THE WHITE CITY by Simon Morden (Gollancz)

August 16, 2016 Civilian Reader Covers, Upcoming Down Station, Fantasy, Gollancz, Portal Fantasy, Simon Morden, The White City

Hot damn, that’s a nice cover. The sequel to Simon Morden‘s Down Station, The White City is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz October 27th, 2016. Here’s the synopsis:

LET’S FACE IT, NONE OF US DESERVE TO BE SAVED.

Since escaping London’s inferno, Mary and Dalip have fought monsters and won – though in the magical world of Down, the most frightening monsters come from within.

Now they hold the greatest of treasures: maps that reveal the way to the White City, where they can find the answers they’re looking for, and learn the secrets of Down.

But to get there they must rely on Crows, who has already betrayed them at every turn. As they battle their way towards the one place in all of Down without magic, they must ask themselves how far they will go to find their way home.

After all, if there’s one thing the White City offers those brave enough to enter, it’s more than they bargained for.

It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t get into Down Station — the design and artwork for both of these books is superb. C’est la vie.

New Books (Jan)

January 15, 2016August 23, 2018 Civilian Reader New Books A.F.E. Smith, Adam O’Fallon Price, Algonquin, Anthony O’Neill, Black Library, Bret Witter, Camille Perri, Carol Goodman, China Miéville, Christopher Farnsworth, Christopher Sorrentino, Doubleday, Gav Thorpe, Glen Erik Hamilton, Glen Weldon, Gollancz, Grove Atlantic, Heidi Pitlor, Jill Lepore, Joanne Harris, Jonathan Wood, Kristopher Jansma, Lavie Tidhar, Lawrence M Schoen, Lindsey Davis, Liz de Jager, Louisa Hall, Matt Gallagher, Matthew Quirk, Megan Miranda, Mike Lawson, Minotaur Books, Mulholland Books, Open Road Media, Patrick Lee, Richard Kadrey, Richard Russo, Rob Boffard, Sean McFate, Simon & Schuster, Simon Morden, St Martin's Press, Tachyon Publications, Terry Brooks, Thomas Christopher Greene, Tim Akers, Tim Lebbon, Titan Books, Tor Books, Transworld, Viking, Voyager, William Morrow

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A post-Christmas and New Year smorgasbord of awesome has come flooding in, these past couple of weeks. On top of that, there have been some I’ve bought myself (I got a lot of wonderful book vouchers and Amazon credit, this year…).

Featuring: Tim Akers, Robert Jackson Bennett, Rob Boffard, Terry Brooks, Lindsey Davis, Liz de Jager, Christopher Farnsworth, Matt Gallagher, Carol Goodman, Thomas Christopher Greene, Louisa Hall, Glen Erik Hamilton, Joanne Harris, Kristopher Jansma, Richard Kadrey, Mike Lawson, Tim Lebbon, Patrick Lee, Jill Lepore, Sean McFate & Bret Witter, China Miéville, Megan Miranda, Simon Morden, Anthony O’Neill, Adam O’Fallon Price, Camille Perri, Heidi Pitlor, Matthew Quirk, Richard Russo, Lawrence M. Schoen, A.F.E. Smith, Christopher Sorrentino, Gav Thorpe, Lavie Tidhar, Glen Weldon, Jonathan Wood Continue reading →

Upcoming: DOWN STATION by Simon Morden (Gollancz)

September 14, 2015 Civilian Reader Upcoming Down Station, Fantasy, Gollancz, Most Anticipated 2016, Must Read 2016, Simon Morden, Urban Fantasy

How cool is that cover? Simon Morden‘s Down Station is due to be published in the UK by Gollancz on February 16th, 2016. It’s sounds pretty interesting (and a tad weird, but in a good way):

A small group of commuters and tube workers witness a fiery apocalypse overtaking London. They make their escape through a service tunnel. Reaching a door they step through… and find themselves on a wild shore backed by cliffs and rolling grassland. The way back is blocked. Making their way inland they meet a man dressed in a wolf’s cloak and with wolves by his side. He speaks English and has heard of a place called London — other people have arrived here down the ages — all escaping from a London that is burning. None of them have returned. Except one — who travels between the two worlds at will. The group begin a quest to find this one survivor; the one who holds the key to their return and to the safety of London.

And as they travel this world, meeting mythical and legendary creatures,split between North and South by a mighty river and bordered by The White City and The Crystal Palace they realise they are in a world defined by all the London’s there have ever been.

Reminiscent of Michael Moorcock and Julian May this is a grand and sweeping science fantasy built on the ideas, the legends, the memories of every London there has ever been.

Look at all the Pretties Coming from Orbit…!

April 10, 2013 Civilian Reader Covers An Aside, Arcanum, Art, Fantasy, Francis Knight, Last to Rise, Orbit, Peter Higgins, Sci-Fi, Simon Morden, Truth and Fear, Upcoming

That’s my rather fanboy-esque way of titling a post featuring a LOT of new artwork. I missed the original post, when it went up in March, but I thought I’d share some of the images on here. Because they’re pretty marvellous:

Ones that really stand out for me are Peter Higgins’ Truth And Fear (I assume this will be published by Gollancz in the UK, as Wolfhound Century was):