Abaddon’s new series begins today with two new titles

Posted on 09/05/2013 by Matt Freeman

Abaddon has released a new series of novels called Gods and Monsters with two stories published today. Chuck Wendig has created the shared world, beginning the series with his novel Unclean Spirits whilst Pat Kelleher will continue to explore things with his e-book Drag Hunt.

The gods and goddesses are real. A many-headed pantheon—a tangle of divine hierarchies—once kept the world at arm’s length, warring with one another for mankind’s belief and devotion. It was a grim and bloody balance, but a balance just the same. When one god triumphed, driving all other gods out of Heaven, it was back to the bad old days: cults and sycophants, and the terrible retribution the gods visit on
those who spite them.

Five years ago, it all went wrong for Cason Cole. He lost his wife and son, lost everything, and was bound into service to a man who chews up human lives and spits them out. Now, as the man he both loves and hates lies dying at his feet, Cason is finally free. And no gods, demi-gods, acolyte, or monstrous abomination is going to stop him from getting back what’s his…

The Serene Invasion – Eric Brown

Posted on 07/05/2013 by Matt Freeman

Award winning author Eric Brown has created a revolutionary vision of first contact to Solaris with a thrilling new novel that gets to the heart of human nature through the lens of cutting-edge science-fiction.

There are here.. and we are not ready

In 2025, the Serene arrive from Delta Pavonis V, and change mankind’s destiny forever. The gentle aliens bring peace to an ailing world – a world riven by war, terrorism and poverty, by rising conflicts over natural resources – and offer an end to need and violence. But not everyone supports the seemingly benign invasion. There are those who benefit from conflict, who cherish chaos, and they will stop at nothing to bring back the old days.

When Sally Walsh is kidnapped by terrorists and threatened with death, it seems that only a miracle can save her life. Geoff Allen, photo-journalist, is contacted by the Serene and offered the opportunity to work with the aliens in their mission. For Sally, Geoff, and billions of other citizens of Earth, nothing will ever be the same again…

Guest Post by author Al Ewing

Posted on 19/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

Al Ewing, author of a number of novels and comic books, has kindly taken the time to write a guest post as his latest novel The Fictional Man hits the shelves.

In Hollywood, where last year’s stars are this year’s busboys, Fictionals are everywhere. Niles Golan’s therapist is a Fictional. So is his best friend. Fictionals – characters ‘translated’ into living beings for movies and TV using cloning technology – are a part of daily life in LA now. Sometimes the problem is knowing who’s real and who’s not.

Divorced, alcoholic and hanging on by a thread, Niles – author of The Saladin Imperative: A Kurt Power Novel and many others – has been hired to write a big-budget reboot of a classic movie. If he does this right, the studio might bring one of Niles’ own characters to life. But somewhere beneath the movie – beneath the TV show it was inspired by, the children’s book behind that and the story behind that – is the kernel of something important. If he can just hold it together long enough to figure it out…

Al Ewing

When I was a kid, there used to be a thing called the Reader’s Voice.

This was in the humour magazines, 30-page anthology comics made up of one-page strips about kids with quirks. Jack Pott, the kid who compulsively gambles. Sweeney Toddler, a particularly mischievous and malignant baby. Cliff Hanger, whose adventures ended in a Choose Your Own Adventure multiple choice that was resolved for good or ill on the letters page. (The worst pun name was Good Guy, about a kid called Guy who was good. The strip itself was actually rather wonderful, in that it featured a rotating cast of strange, quasi-religious tempters from some off-panel underworld, but I didn’t really appreciate it at the time.)

Anyway. I read Buster comic religiously for years – this was back when you bought one comic and stuck to it – but my understanding is that the Reader’s Voice was universal. What it was, essentially, was a speech bubble coming from off-panel with the reader’s thoughts in it, or what the majority of reader’s thoughts might be at that point. At the end of a strip, after one character had been fatally drowned in a fjord, the Reader’s Voice might waft into the last panel, saying “I’ll bet he won’t ‘fjord’-get that in a hurry!” or “That was more than he could af-‘fjord’!” or possibly “Christ, he’s fell in a fjord!” Or in the middle of the strip, the balloon might waft into view saying “Watch out, Roger!” while Roger the Dodger was in danger of being run down by a brewer’s dray or stalked by a pedophile.

I kid. I kid ‘cause I love.

Occasionally, the characters would talk directly to the readers. They’d smile out of the first panel of the strip, setting the scene directly. “I’m off to the county fair, readers!” Next panel – the county fair costs five pence to get into. Jack Pott – or Gilbert Ratchet, in the note-perfect parodies of a vanished artform that still run to this day in Viz – does not have that kind of money. (The comic characters of my youth were all relentlessly poor, apart from villainous ones like Ivor Lott and that vicious bastard Lord Snooty. These days they’ve probably all got iphones or something, the little scumbags. Or they’re dead from lack of readership. It’s a brutal existence in the kids comics, ask Desperate Dan.)

This was all kid’s stuff, obviously. For one thing, it was horrifically unrealistic. American comics wouldn’t be caught dead doing it, apart from on the occasional house ad, or in forgotten comics from the forties when Batman would turn to the readers and smilingly tell them that if he ever caught them on the rob he would splinter their fragile bones like so many matchsticks. “I think it’s pretty clear that Robin and I LOVE TO CAUSE PAIN, readers,” he would grin, “and we’d love to cause it to you! Imagine us crawling out of your comic in the night because you stole a penny sweet while nobody was looking. Don’t have nightmares, do sleep well.” It just wasn’t done in ‘serious’ media, and still isn’t. People still debate to this day who exactly William Hartnell was wishing a happy Christmas to.

(Although there were notable exceptions to this rule, which I might talk about later on in the tour.)

But in providing this strange kind of airlock, this fictional representative that the reader could place themselves in, the cartoonists let us get one foot in the door of their invented worlds. And when Minnie the Minx spoke directly to the reader, she got one foot in ours. It made it much easier to lose yourself in their stories, their little imaginary lives. Once a story is addressing you directly – not just looking out of the camera while saying something pertinent, but actually saying ‘hey! Reader!’ – it comes to life in a way that feel like it’s against all the rules, but at the same time has a very definite power. Maybe we shouldn’t underestimate kid’s stuff.

The Reader’s Voice might not have made stories realistic, but it did make them real.

Abaddon’s open submission finds two new authors

Posted on 17/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

Chosen from dozens of submissions submitted to Abaddon Books’ open call in autumn last year, two new authors have emerged. The brief was to pitch ideas based either in the imprint’s existing shared worlds – such as Tomes of the Dead or The Afterblight Chronicles – or come up with potential new series.

Tomes of the Dead: Dead Stop, by Mark Clapham and Ritual Crimes Unit: Skinflux by E. E. Richardson will be published as e-novellas in mobi and epub formats. Ritual Crime Unit: Under the Skin is released in September this year, and Tomes of the Dead: Dead Stop is due out in November.

Tomes of the Dead: Dead Stop: a contemporary story about a natural medium (a young man able to see ghosts after a traumatic incident in his youth) who is recruited by the ghost of a woman killed in the first wave of the zombiepocalypse.

Ritual Crimes Unit: Skinflux: launching a new supernatural/police procedural world with a story about “skin-changers” (people who can change into animal shapes by using ritually-prepared animal skins); the scene of crime officer at a murder enquiry has found evidence suggesting that an unregistered and unlicensed skin-changer (itself a crime) may have done the impossible and learned to shapeshift using human skin…

New Abaddon Books commissioning editor David Moore said: “The response to the open month last autumn was amazing, and more than a little daunting. So many brilliant pitches landed on my desk – both for our existing lines and for amazing new worlds – that I honestly struggled to pick out just a couple for publishing. After the months of reading, winnowing and agonising, I had to spend nearly two whole days rejecting some genuinely brilliant submissions and wishing I wasn’t. In the end, though, Elizabeth and Mark – two great up-and-coming young authors with great visions and palpable talent – blew me away with their ideas. I’m fantastically pleased to be welcoming them to the Abaddon stable.”

Seoul Survivors – Naomi Foyle

Posted on 17/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

A highly regarded poet and performer, Naomi Foyle has drawn on her time living in Korea to produce a detailed and fascinating debut that deals with love, betrayal and an impending apocalypse. A fast paced, riveting story set in an all-too-real dark near future, this is a character driven novel that is not for the faint-hearted.

According to the Mayan Calender the world as we know it is about to end – but despite the threat of impending eco-apocalypse, Sydney Travers, an impetuous blonde runaway, is determined to reinvent herself as a top hi-tec fashion model in Seoul. The glitzy Asian metropolis is also a haven for Damien Meadows, an inept drug smuggler and untrained English tutor desperate to buy a fake passport to the planet’s safest terrain. For Lee Mee Hee the road to the city is slick with tears: grieving the loss of her newborn son to famine, she lets a kind Foreign Aid medic smuggle her from North to South Korea in the bottom of a truck.

Assessing all three from a secluded mountain villa is Dr. Kim Da Mi, a maverick Korean-American bioengineer with a visionary scheme to redesign humanity and survive the coming catastrophe. Mee Hee and her fellow refugees are offered sanctuary – in return for signing up as surrogate mothers – but convincing prime Caucasian specimens Sydney and Damien to donate their DNA is a more complex procedure. Over a long hot summer, seduction bleeds into coercion and mutual betrayal, until Lucifer’s Hammer, the long prophesised meteor, nears the Earth and the ruthless forces backing Dr. Kim demand a sacrifice.

Defiance – Opening episodes preview by Alex Bardy

Posted on 12/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

DEFIANCE — The Epic Fantasy Sci-Fi Drama arrives on Syfy (Sky 114; +1, Sky 205; Virgin Media 135; Virgin HD, 165)

Defiance is the new Syfy fantasy drama scheduled to hit UK TV screens on Tuesday 16th April, 2013. Originally designed to run in tandem with the MMO game of the same name (by Trion Worlds), this would have been a daring effort to combine big-budget television drama with open-world online gaming. As it happens, I think cooler heads have prevailed, and now the show producers are content to have the game set in the same world, with occasional crossovers and shared points of reference — they were designed and developed concurrently however, and as such I believe some of the ‘Episode Missions’ of the game are tied to events in the series, but thankfully one narrative doesn’t depend directly on the other.

Not having played the game, I can’t comment on how well or otherwise the crossovers work, but I have been fortunate enough to see the two-hour Pilot episode, and am happy to proffer my findings herein. There will be no intentional spoilers, but I apologise in advance if you do stumble upon any.

The series is billed as “combining the epic scope of a sci-fi blockbuster with the intimacy
of a small-town drama”, and I’m pleased to say that it’s made a promising start, even if some of the background premise is not entirely without fault, or believable for that matter. But hey, we’re talking fantasy drama here, so let’s open the doors, peel back our doubting Thomas brains, and take a wee peek…

The year is 2046, and our beloved planet Earth has been accidentally terraformed
into an exotic landscape in which wild mutants and hybrids roam free, and the closest thing to paradise is a little place called Antarctica. This came in the wake of a protracted war between the alien Votans and the humans on Earth, a war in which the mysterious and apocalyptic Arkfall event resulted in alien terraformer tech being accidentally unleashed onto the planet and its biosphere by the Arks. These Arks —formerly in orbit around the Earth and filled with millions of Votans in hypersleep as negotiations dragged on— were originally launched from the Votanis star system in the Perseus Arm of our galaxy, with hopes of settling what they thought was an uninhabited Earth; the terraformer tech forming part of a grand plan to flee their own doomed star system.

Needless to say, things didn’t go according to plan, and when negotiations with Earth broke down following the assassination of the Votan ambassador during peace talks designed to smooth the migration process for the alien visitors, a global conflict ensued. This conflict, the so-called Pale Wars, culminated in the mysterious Arkfall event that eventually forced an uneasy ceasefire as forces dwindled on both sides and survival against the planet itself became more important than individual squabbles.

Millions died on both sides, including many Votans who would never wake again from hypersleep following the destruction of their fleet in orbit around the Earth (the aforementioned Arkfall), and even now there remains the ever-present danger of debris from the destroyed Ark fleet in orbit (called the ‘Ark belt’) falling to Earth.

The Votans are not a single species or race, more a collective: a suite of aliens that had
previously formed an uneasy peace back in their home star system. We have the hierarchal Castithans, an albino-like race both arrogant and aristocratic, somewhat liberal in their attitudes towards sex and religion; the Indogenes, a more advanced race who are generally considered austere, learned, and scientific in their approach to all things, many also have hidden genetic and cybernetic implants; and the feral Irathients who are human-like, but somewhat more aggressive and independent than all the other ‘peaceful’ Votan races. There’s also what I’d consider the ‘minor’ alien races: Sensoths are ape-like humanoids who seem happy to do the bidding of others, but in no rush to do anything at all, frankly; the Liberata are a fallen race who now seem destined to live their lives out as indentured servants and slaves for the Castithans; and the Volge are a hostile race of huge beast-like automatons armed to the teeth with big guns and bad attitudes — these are the signature villains of the series, so far.

Of course, there are a few other ‘alien’ races, including Hellbugs and other mutant hybrids from the aforementioned apocalyptic disaster, and a ‘race’ of Bio-men originally engineered by Earth’s military to serve as expendable troops in the war against the Votan menace. Oh, and there are outlaw bands of Spirit Riders who are outcasts that give chase to anything they can salvage and make a profit from.

With this in mind, Defiance tells of the whys and wherefores of an uneasy peace as this small frontier boom-town in St. Louis, Minnesota becomes the setting for a compelling new series of adventures hoping to draw on the very best aspects of shows like Desperate Housewives, Battlestar Galactica and A Town Called Eureka to bring us another successful US franchise. Taking the established home-town formula and throwing in big budget effects does not a winning series make, but with a good blend of drama, action, and conflict, Universal Cable Productions are hoping they’re onto a winner, and a legion of potential fans from the computer game should at least lean the odds in their favour.

This opening salvo is something of a two-hour blockbuster, and does at least set the foundations for the conflicts of interest to follow. Thrust into this troubled town is a sweeping cast, led by Josh Nolan (a former soldier) and his companion, Irisa (an Irathient ‘rescued’ from her parents by Josh and brought up/adopted as his own), but comprising numerous other characters rich with potential. The new mayor of Defiance is Amanda Rosewater [played by Julie Benz], tasked with the unenviable job of maintaining peace
in a town of combustible attitudes, as well as acting as mediator between the town’s two main business men: Datak Tarr [Tony Curran], a Castithan who pretty much runs the underworld and gambling dens in town (accompanied by his scheming wife, Stahma); and Rafe McCawley [Graham Greene], a rich and powerful single father who has amassed a fortune through his mining business in this territory and has a family of troublesome teens to support.

There are also a host of minor characters, each with their own stories to tell, and the show does a good job of setting these up for stories to come. In particular, I’m already a big fan of Doc Yewll [Trenna Keating], a straight-talking Indogene doctor with a penchant for sarcasm and forceful direction, shall we say…

This pilot episode tells how Josh [Grant Bowler] and Irisa [Stephanie Leonidas] arrive in
Defiance looking to fund their way back out again following an attack by Spirit Riders, only
to become embroiled in a bitter feud between Datak and Rafe while the new mayor is forced to bring an uneasy peace to the town in expectation of an attack by the Volge, aliens that all the other Votan races hate enough to put aside their own petty differences.

I do like the way the show has set up plenty of contrast between the Votans who have obviously tried to adapt to a new way of life here on Earth (different to what they left behind on their own planet, for example), while the younger generation have obviously been born into this multi-faceted world of alien and human cultures living together, and thus are well-grounded in expected norms and behaviour. This generational gap alone holds plenty of promise for episodes to come, not to mention the human politics and squabbles that arise naturally from a small town environment in which aliens and humans are learning to co-exist.

Plenty to chew on then, and from this viewing I’d say there’s huge potential here, although
I do have some concerns. Josh Nolan is portrayed as some kind of super-soldier-cum-ranger, with extensive tracking skills and an intimate knowledge of modern weapons tech, etc. but feels like a cardboard composite of so many other action heroes, lacking both depth of character and purpose (at least for now). His loyal companion, Irisa, is also confusing: a curious mix of devoted follower, lethal assassin, last-minute saviour, and troubled teen; she saves his hide on numerous occasions, lending weight to the argument that she has no real need of him at all, and surely loyalty can only take you so far…?

Then there’s Kenya [Mia Kershna], apparently the mayor’s sister, but also the proprietor of the town’s combined bar and brothel, a sisterly role which certainly shouldn’t sit well
in any respectable town — her character has yet to be explored in the first two episodes, so maybe it’s unfair to point the finger just yet, but nonetheless she feels something of a bolt-on at present…?

Finally, like all popular TV series, there is a twist or sting in the tale at the end of this pilot,
but one which I’m not convinced can stretch across the entirety of the series, although that does seem to be the hope of the show’s producers if my own sources haven’t let me down.

In summary? Plenty of promise, some great effects, lots of action, and numerous
opportunities for potential conflict. I do hope it works, and with Revolution proving disappointing thus far, it’s about time we had another decent SFTV show.

Man of Steel trailer

Posted on 11/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

Superman has gone through a number of iterations in film and in Zack Snyder’s reboot we have what looks to be a visually amazing retelling of the Man of Steel. With a release date set in June, check out the trailer below to get you in the cape wearing mood..

Gemsigns: Evolution Book 1 – Stephanie Saulter

Posted on 11/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

A cracking debut full of thrills and twists, Stephanie Saulter has created an intriguing setting in a series that is loaded with promise. Gemsigns is a fast paced book that considers all manner of ethical issues from genetically modified humans and slavery to the environment and the economy all written in a sensitive and compelling prose.

For years the human race was under attack from a deadly Syndrome, but when a cure was found – in the form of genetically engineered human beings, Gems – the line between survival and ethics was radically altered.

Now the Gems are fighting for their freedom, from the oppression of the companies that created them, and against the Norms who see them as slaves. And a conference at which Dr Eli Walker has been commissioned to present his findings on the Gems is the key to that freedom.

But with the Gemtech companies fighting to keep the Gems enslaved, and the horrifying godgangs determined to rid the earth of these ‘unholy’ creations, the Gems are up against forces that may just be too powerful to oppose.

Mslexia Women’s Novel Competition

Posted on 09/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

Now in its third year, the Mslexia Novel Competition is currently open to submissions for the 2013 prize. The contest is open to unpublished women novelists in any adult genre, including Sci-Fi.

To enter the competition, send up to 5,000 words – which must be the first 5,000 words of the novel totalling at least 50,000 words. The closing date is 23 September 2013.

The 12 shortlisted authors will be invited to meet literary agents and editors at a special networking event in London, and the three finalists will also be offered free professional feedback by The Literary Consultancy.

The high-profile judging panel is comprised of broadcaster Kirsty Lang, award-winning novelist Val McDermid and literary agent with Aitken Alexander Associates, Charlotte Robertson.
For more information visit www.mslexia.co.uk/novelcompetition

The Disestablishment of Paradise – Phillip Mann

Posted on 09/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

A wonderfully crafted novel from one of Sci-Fi’s longstanding authors, Mann has produced a cast of characters and a world of brilliantly imaginative proportions in this ecological, hard SF thriller.

Something has gone wrong on the planet of Paradise.

The human settlers – farmers and scientists – are finding that their crops won’t grow and their lives are becoming more and more dangerous. The indigenous plant life – never entirely safe – is changing in unpredictable ways, and the imported plantings wither and die. And so the order is given – Paradise will be abandoned. All personnel will be removed and reassigned. And all human presence on the planet will be disestablished.

Not all agree with the decision. There are some who believe that Paradise has more to offer the human race. That the planet is not finished with the intruders, and that the risks of staying are outweighed by the possible rewards. And so the leader of the research team and one of the demolition workers set off on a journey across the planet. Along the way they will encounter the last of the near-mythical Dendron, the vicious Reapers and the deadly Tattersall Weeds as they embark on an adventure which will bring them closer to nature, to each other and, eventually, to Paradise.

Dreams and Shadows – C. Robert Cargill

Posted on 08/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

In the debut novel DREAMS AND SHADOWS, screenwriter and noted film critic C. Robert Cargill takes us beyond the veil, through the lives of Ewan and Colby, young men whose spirits have been enmeshed with the otherworld from a young age.

In one rehearsed motion, he swapped the contents of his bag for the child in the crib. Then he was off, vaulting over the balcony, soaring blindly out into the night below without pausing to admire his own handiwork.

Dithers sailed seventeen stories down, his outstretched arm catching the trunk of a tree, swinging him, spiralling around, leaving a candy-cane stratch in the bark.

Described as part Neil Gaiman, part Guillermo Del Torro, part William Burroughs the novel follows the boys from their star-crossed adolescences to their haunted adulthoods. Cargill’s tour-de-force takes us inside the Limestone Kingdom, a parallel universe where whisky-swilling genies and foul-mouthed wizards argue over the state of the metaphysical realm. Having left the spirit world and returned to the human world, Ewan and Colby discover that the creatures from this previous life have not forgotten them, and that fate can never be sidestepped.

Cargill has created a supernatural culture that all too eerily resembles our own. Set in a richly imagined and constructed world, complete with its own richly detailed history and mythology, DREAMS AND SHADOWS is a deeply engaging story about two extraordinary boys becoming men.

Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now: Terry Pratchett First Novel Shortlist Announced

Posted on 05/04/2013 by Donna Scott

Yet more awards news, award-watchers… this time for the Terry Pratchett Prize’s First Novel Award – aka Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now.

The prize was first launched two years ago, with a prize of £20,000 for previously unpublished novelists. Sir Terry Pratchett said at the time that he was looking for “stories set on Earth, although it may be an Earth that might have been, or might yet be, one that has gone down a different leg of the famous trousers of time [...] the possibilities are literally endless, but remember, it’s all on Earth. Maybe the continents will be different and the climate unfamiliar, but the physics will be the same as ours. What goes up must come down, ants are ant-sized because if they were any bigger their legs wouldn’t carry them. In short, the story must be theoretically possible on some version of the past, present or future of a planet Earth.”

The shortlisted novels and novelists this year, drawn from over 500 entrants, are:

The Unspoken Death of the Amazing Flying Boy by Jean Burdett

Bloodline by Sophie Constable

The Hive by Alexander Maskill

The Way Through the Woods by Robin Pearson

A Kill in the Morning by Graeme Shimmin

The Shadows of Annwn by Catherine Whittle

The judging panel is comprised of Sir Terry Pratchett, Rob Wilkins, Editorial Director Simon Taylor, Publicist Lynsey Dalladay and Alex Veasey from The Forbidden Planet. A winner will be announced on the 31st May.

Iain Banks Diagnosed With Terminal Cancer

Posted on 04/04/2013 by Donna Scott

At the BSFA, we were all extremely saddened to hear of Iain Banks’ illness when he released a statement yesterday to tell everyone that he has been diagnosed with cancer of the gall bladder.

Iain M. Banks has been Director of the BSFA, and his novels Excession and Feersum Endjinn have won the BSFA Award for Best Novel. He is a writer of whom we at the BSFA are all very fond, and not just for the words he has published, so this news has come as a terrible shock to us. We wish Iain and his family all the best and wish them warmth and happiness.

Iain’s statement can be seen here but is reprinted in full below.

I am officially Very Poorly.

After a couple of surgical procedures, I am gradually recovering from jaundice caused by a blocked bile duct, but that – it turns out – is the least of my problems.

I first thought something might be wrong when I developed a sore back in late January, but put this down to the fact I’d started writing at the beginning of the month and so was crouched over a keyboard all day. When it hadn’t gone away by mid-February, I went to my GP, who spotted that I had jaundice. Blood tests, an ultrasound scan and then a CT scan revealed the full extent of the grisly truth by the start of March.

I have cancer. It started in my gall bladder, has infected both lobes of my liver and probably also my pancreas and some lymph nodes, plus one tumour is massed around a group of major blood vessels in the same volume, effectively ruling out any chance of surgery to remove the tumours either in the short or long term.

The bottom line, now, I’m afraid, is that as a late stage gall bladder cancer patient, I’m expected to live for ‘several months’ and it’s extremely unlikely I’ll live beyond a year. So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last.

As a result, I’ve withdrawn from all planned public engagements and I’ve asked my partner Adele if she will do me the honour of becoming my widow (sorry – but we find ghoulish humour helps). By the time this goes out we’ll be married and on a short honeymoon. We intend to spend however much quality time I have left seeing friends and relations and visiting places that have meant a lot to us. Meanwhile my heroic publishers are doing all they can to bring the publication date of my new novel forward by as much as four months, to give me a better chance of being around when it hits the shelves.

There is a possibility that it might be worth undergoing a course of chemotherapy to extend the amount of time available. However that is still something we’re balancing the pros and cons of, and anyway it is out of the question until my jaundice has further and significantly, reduced.

Lastly, I’d like to add that from my GP onwards, the professionalism of the medics involved – and the speed with which the resources of the NHS in Scotland have been deployed – has been exemplary, and the standard of care deeply impressive. We’re all just sorry the outcome hasn’t been more cheerful.

A website is being set up where friends, family and fans can leave messages for me and check on my progress. It should be up and running during this week and a link to it will be on my official website at www.iain-banks.net as soon as it’s ready.

Iain Banks

2013 Clarke Awards Shortlist Announced.

Posted on 04/04/2013 by Donna Scott

Hot on the heels of the BSFA Awards, the winners of which were announced over the Easter weekend, comes the Clarke Award shortlist. ACC_LOGO_MOCKUP_01

Only novels are considered for The Arthur C. Clarke Award, and from a massive submissions pile of 82 eligible books this year (breaking all previous records), the judges have whittled the pile down to 6 brilliant books.

And here they are…

Nod by Adrian Barnes (Bluemoose)

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett (Corvus)

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway (William Heinemann)

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (Headline)

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod (Orbit)

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)

To be eligible, the books needed to be first published in the UK in 2012. 32 different publishing houses and imprints submitted titles to the awards this year.

Eagle-eyed award watchers will spot that 3 of our shortlisted titles from the BSFA Awards for Best Novel have popped up on the Clarkes list too, but not the eventual winner, Adam Roberts, who won with Jack Glass.

The judging panel for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2013 include Juliet E McKenna, and Ruth O’Reilly, who are the representative judges for British Science Fiction Association. Our utmost and heartfelt thanks goes out to these judges. Going through such a huge number of books is no mean feat and you have done a brilliant job, giving us a most thought-provoking shortlist (and more books to be added to my own reading pile now!). So, thank you very much… and our appreciation also extends to the rest of the judges:

Nickianne Moody, Science Fiction Foundation
Liz Williams, Science Fiction Foundation
Robert Grant, SCI-FI-LONDON film festival

Andrew M. Butler represents the Arthur C. Clarke Award in a non-voting role as the Chair of the Judges.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday 1st May at an exclusive award ceremony hosted by the Royal Society, London, and taking place as part of the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival.

The winner will be presented with a cheque for £2013.00 and the award itself, a commemorative engraved bookend.

Abaddon Books appoints David Moore as new commissioning editor

Posted on 04/04/2013 by Matt Freeman

Abaddon Books has announced that desk editor David Moore is to be the imprint’s new commissioning editor.

David will oversee Abaddon Books’ new commissions as well as creating more new original shared worlds – joining series such as the zombie-themed novels of Tomes of the Dead, the post-apocalyptic Afterblight Chronicles, and the Steampunk adventure pulp of Pax Britannia.

This year Abaddon Books will launch two new series – Chuck Wendig’s Gods and Monsters (named as one of the ‘Essential Science Fiction and Fantasy books of 2013’ by io9) and Toby Venables’ Guy of Gisburne, as well as more in the Weird Space series by SF legend Eric Brown.

Editor-in-chief of Abaddon Books and Solaris, Jonathan Oliver, said: “Ever since David started with Rebellion Publishing, it’s been clear that he has an incisive eye for what makes a story work and an editorial hand that gets the best out of a book, while maintaining a great relationship with the author. I’m really excited to be handing over the Abaddon reins to David and can’t wait to see what he plans for the
imprint.”

David said: “I’ve loved every minute of my time with Abaddon Books so far: we punch above our weight, take risks, produce the books we want to and have fun doing it. Getting a chance to take the helm on the imprint Jon put so much of his love and energy into, to steer it through the next few years and stamp my own mark on it, is incredibly exciting. Also scary. Very scary. I’ve already changed trousers twice today.”

Born and raised in Australia, David has lived in three different countries, but as of last year has spent more than half his life in the UK. A life-long geek, passionate reader and aspiring writer (he began the first of, to date, five unfinished novels, Eight-legged Aliens, on a Commodore 64), David has been writing for magazines and websites for 15 years, working in the publishing industry for three, and picking on people’s
grammar and spelling since he could walk. His past career has been mixed, to say the least, including bar and theatre work, providing technology support in the banking sector and filling tea and coffee pots in an architectural firm. He lives in Reading with his wife, Tamsin.

Ender’s Game – new poster!

Posted on 27/03/2013 by Matt Freeman

Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is one of the great military Sci-Fi novels and forms part of a huge and intriguing series. This year will see the film version, mixing the Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow and will feature the mighty talent of Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley and Asa Butterfield as Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin. With a release date late in 2013, the vision for the movie looks amazing…

Tales of Majipoor – Robert Silverberg

Posted on 27/03/2013 by Matt Freeman

A master of Sci-Fi, Robert Silverberg has returned to his most amazing creation – the world of Majipoor. Producing a collection of stories that span the world’s history further exploring and uncovering the strange landscape and diversely populated lands of Majipoor, Silverberg has crafted a series of amazing tales.

A massive world of adventure, romance and danger. A place where dreams can soothe the restless or flay the minds of the guilty. Where humans, aliens and natives live in a shifting, uneasy alliance and where two great men rule over all. No matter who bears the title, there is always a Coronal and a Pontifex, forever miles apart, forever striving to maintain the balance of their far-flung civilisation.
Here, collected for the first time, are the final tales of Majipoor. From the earliest legends of the Shapeshifters to an untold mystery late in the reign of Valentine Pontifex, the seven stories in this collection expand upon and flesh out the remarkable world that Robert Silverberg has created. Spanning a decade of writing from one of the masters of science-fiction, this collection is both a fantastic introduction for those new to Majipoor and a welcome return for those who have visited before.

Searching for Simon, Finding a Cool Film Project.

Posted on 21/03/2013 by Donna Scott

Whilst ambling around the dealers’ room (Bartertown) at this year’s SciFi Weekender, I inadvertently stumbled onto a film set! Director, Martin Gooch, was filming some vox pop-style interviews as accoutrements to his latest film project, The Search for Simon: a science fiction comedy concerning alien abduction. Ever the introvert, I protested most silently as I was invited to provide a snippet of my own to camera. No guarantee it will make the film, but I was nonetheless highly intrigued about the project – especially when I heard about its amazing cast (not me), the challenges of its funding, and how Martin Gooch is reaching out to fans of science fiction to get involved with creating this film.

So, I thought I would catch up with Martin and ask him all about it.

The crew of The Search for Simon on location.

DS: You’ve been the creator of around 20 short films prior to The Search for Simon. This time, you are making what you describe as a Foc-U-mentary. What exactly is that?

MG: Ah well! A Foc-U-mentary is not a mocumentary, neither a film or a drama, but a documentary with scripted drama, real life people, actors and archive footage all meshed together like a mix tape (showing my age), but with film. It’s not a found footage film either, so I hope something new!

DS: The plot of the film, as I understand it, is that you are David, trying to find out what has happened to your little brother, Simon, whom you believe to have been abducted by aliens. What else can you tell us about the story?

MG: This is a British science-fiction comedy movie in the grand tradition of Hitchhikers Guide. But it’s also a movie about more human failings like obsession and addiction, not to drugs but to behaviour and lifestyle. We have tried to create real, well-rounded characters that the audience will relate to and believe in.

DS: In the film, will you be the ‘eye’ behind the camera as you go round interviewing people to try to find out what has happened to Simon?

MG: Sort of. It’s a proper movie, with a complete screenplay, so we have been off shooting scenes all over the place, but as the main character is on the trail of his Abductee Brother Simon, I wanted the interviews to feel real, and if you script an interview, it never ever ‘feels reel’ so I have interviewed a great deal of people, in the hope of finding some pearls of wisdom and nuggets of truth!

DS: Is the story one which is fully formed from the outset, or will the narrative arc depend on what comes back from production?

MG: I was travelling to a lot of places promoting my last feature film – DEATH (AKA: AFTER DEATH) and had been filming some pieces to camera, and I realised in my edit suite that I had a subtext that was connecting all the things I had shot. I sat down and wrote the story to the film quite quickly (about 2 months – if that is quite quick!) Then my friend, the excellent writer Simon Birks, came on board and we finished off the script.

DS: Science fiction and comedy fans will be thrilled to see some of the cast you have signed up to play parts in the film: you have Tom Price, who we know as PC Andy in Torchwood, and who happens to be a very funny stand-up comedian as well. (I once did a gig with him in a bright pink pub that had been converted into a bead shop-cum-theatre. There were pictures of Jimmy Carr everywhere. And lots and lots of beads…) Then you have Carol Cleveland, the star of many a Monty Python sketch; Simon Jones, who we know and love as Arthur Dent in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Ace Doctor Who companion, Sophie Aldred, and Games Workshop co-founder, Ian Livingstone CBE(!!!). Was it your approach to find cast members already quite well known for their humour and science fiction connections?

MG: As I child we didn’t watch much TV and hardly ever went to the cinema, but we did watch Blake’s 7, Doctor Who and listened to HHGTTG on the radio, so now I was making a SF movie I just though how wonderful it would be to be able to work with these incredibly brilliant actors who were so much a part of my childhood. I know many of the cast and crew were as excited about meeting these people as I was.

We were not allowed to watch Monty Python! So I didn’t see any of that until I was about 18! But as an ‘eccentric British film maker making eccentric British films’ Monty Python felt like a second home and Carol Cleveland was a perfect choice for the role of a mother whose son is obsessed with UFOs!

We also managed to get Jasper Fforde the writer to come along to the set for a day (he took fabulous photos for me) and Robert Rankin might even have a cameo! We are filming with Chase Masterson (Star Trek) on Monday so very much looking forward to that!

DS: Ian Livingstone may seem a strange choice for the cast as he’s known for his entrepreneurism rather than acting, but you’re working with him on another film project now, aren’t you? Is that a spin-off project from this one?

MG: Several years ago I approached Ian to say I wanted to write the screenplay for DEATHTRAP DUNGEON the (arguably) best Fighting Fantasy game book. He said yes, so I did. We’ve had it optioned in Hollywood, and are now trying to find a home for it in the UK. It’s a perfect British fantasy world and it would be great for it to be made as a British production rather than selling it off to Hollywood like Lord of the Rings, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Tomb Raider. I think we’d do a much better job.

Ian played a cameo in my last film DEATH, and was not only great fun to work with, but highly supportive of our work and a great morale booster! So we cast him in The Search for Simon too.

DS: What made you want to do a science fiction film?

MG: I love genre movies. SF, Fantasy, Comedy, Western, Ghost, Mystery and so on. There are many, many British directors making the same movies, and I just feel that we should be trying to do different, weird, and under the radar movies. We can’t out-Hollywood Hollywood, we just don’t have enough money, and there is enough depressing material on the TV to last a lifetime so let’s entertain people and try to do it in a new, imaginative and hopefully exciting way.

And where would you rather spend your day? In a terribly depressing concrete jungle, or watching attack ships on fire off the shoulders of Orion?

DS: You have a page on Indiegogo to gain revenue for the film. Why is crowd-funding the way forward for you?

MG: Crowd funding is ESSENTIAL these days! It is the new model for funding. Unfortunately making movies is very hard work. Even with the latest digital technology which has enabled us to make movies much more cheaply and quickly than was once the case.

Movies are a strange breed of the arts where creative people and business people have to come together to get things done. Almost all the other arts can be done by you and your friends or on your own, and the problem really is that Business people don’t trust film makers (due to box office flops) and film makers don’t like business to tell them how to cut their movies – which is why many films have the studio cut and the Directors cut. The studio paid for the movie, and so got it their way. But the director never got to finish the movie his way.

This is why crowd funding works – because you, the creator, retain creative control. The audience get to see the movie you imagined in your head all those months (years?) ago, and not the movie someone in accounts dreamed drew up on a spread sheet.

Once you have carved a path through the development of a screenplay, battled with pre-production, fought with every possible weather on the shoot, actors dropping out, locations closing, crew going on holiday, wrestled with your rushes in the edit and given birth to your beautiful new Movie, you then have to get it out to the world, be it in the cinema, DVD, Festival or VOD or whatever comes next – (direct implant into the brain maybe?), it all costs money, and if you don’t have a war chest for the movie, even if it is the best film ever it will disappear without trace!

We don’t want this to happen!

DS: How can people help or get involved?

MG: Ever wanted to see your name on the big screen? Want to be part of British Science Fiction Film History? Like parties?

Then click here.

Movies need money – and to do this we set up out Indiegogo page.

Here is the short email address for the campaign -

http://igg.me/at/S4S/x/2440041

http://bit.ly/WFJhhv – - for Twitter

Tell your pod family, clone brother and everyone about it, and become part of something wonderful!

DS: And finally, when/where will people be able to see The Search for Simon?

MG: Our WORLD PREMIER will be at the BFI Sci-Fi London Film Festival on the 3rd of May 2013! We will be screening at NFT1, so get your tickets now!

Thanks, Martin!

Images courtesy of Martin Gooch and The Search for Simon

Fantasy in the Court 2013

Posted on 21/03/2013 by Donna Scott

Goldsboro books are hosting a fantastic free event on March 28th: Fantasy in the Court will be the first of what will be an annual event celebrating fantasy and science fiction, described as “an informal gathering for fans of this genre to meet the best fantasy and science fiction writers published today.”

Already confirmed to attend are authors Luke Skull (whose fantasy debut, The Grim Company, published by Head of Zeus, is sponsoring the event, and being launched that night), Seth Patrick, Paul Cornell, Mark Charan Newton, Jeff Noon, John Gwynne, Francis Knight, Benedict Jacka, S. L. Grey, Sarah Pinborough, Stephen Deas, James Barclay, Ben Aaronovich, Mike Carey, Linda Carey and Louise Carey, David Wingrove, and Chris Beckett, with the promise of further authors to be confirmed later.

Although this event is free, those wishing to attend are advised to email fantasy@goldsborobooks.com to secure their place.

The event is taking place between 6pm and 9pm at Goldsboro Books Ltd, 23-25 Cecil Court Road, London, WC2N 4EZ

The Sci-Fi Weekender 2013: Judges, Jokers and Jedi Or There and Back Again: A Geek’s Journey By Peter Ray Allison

Posted on 19/03/2013 by Matt Freeman

Photos courtesy of Antonia Andrew.

Lurking within the shadow of Mount Doom that is Snowdon, something new was
born in a Welsh coast caravan park at Hafan Y Mor. With SFX Magazine having
parted ways with the organiser’s Chic Festivals, this newly evolved (and renamed)
Sci-Fi Weekender was back with a vengeance and something to prove.

For some, the weekend began on the Thursday with an early-starters day. Although
no specific events were held, the caravan park was open for checking in, and the bar
held a quiz night.

What became apparent was that there was barely any mobile reception at the site.
This was tricky if you had planned on meeting friends who had already checked-in,
and thus had your wrist-band and chalet keys with them! Credit must go to security
and other staff who were both understanding and helpful in these matters.

The Sci Fi Weekender began properly on Friday with an opening ceremony, which
included an amazing performance from the Area 51 performance group and set the
tone for the rest of the weekend.

With the Sci Fi Weekender officially begun, the floodgates were opened for a deluge
of panels, screenings, discussions, interviews and drinking. For some, this was
a place where they could meet friends they had made from (and not seen since)
the previous Sci Fi weekends. Everyone was always friendly, from the fellow
attendees to the security and caravan park staff. It was very easy to find yourself in
conversation with complete strangers, and if you happened to lose your friends you
were never without new ones.

The ever-entertaining author Robert Rankin and publisher Dez Skin were both on
top form throughout the weekend. Meanwhile Brian Blessed did not disappoint,
being, as one would expect, both charmingly blunt and enthusiastic. Virginia Hey
was a delight to talk to about her experiences on Mad Max 2 and Farscape. Various
writers and artists were also there, including such luminaries as Paul Cornell, Glenn
Fabry, Gav Thorpe and Stacia Kane.

Area 51 deserve special mention: without their tireless enthusiasm, the Sci-Fi
Weekender would have lost the distinctly carnivalesque tone to the atmosphere. It is
hard to resist a sense of wonder watching a trio of satyrs striding through the crowd,
or finding two giant robots on the dance-floor.

Friday night saw the Imaginarium: a series of performances from the contortionists,
illusionists and performers. However, it was Area 51 that stole the show with a
pyrotechnic crescendo of fire breathing, angle-grinders, lasers, and steampunk
smoke-guns; all performed to a pulse-pounding sound-track.

Saturday night, on the other hand, opened with steampunk hip-hop, courtesy of
Professor Elemental. Lyrically amusing and inventive, Professor Elemental lacked a
decent backing track, but was otherwise entertaining. The final slot of the weekend
was Robert Rankin and Dez Skin facing off in a quiz-show. Whilst both nights were
fun, Friday night had a grander conclusion and it would have made sense to swap
the nights around.

Those who attended previous SFX Weekenders would no doubt have haunting
memories of the accommodation being akin to soviet era gulags, or the descent into
hunter-gathering due to the shops running out of food. Thankfully, that was not the
case this year. Chalets were functional and food remained in constant supply.

The only thing that did run out was the drink. Yes, those assuming that a weekend
spent celebrating the science-fiction genre would be a quiet and reserved affair were
in for a surprise. The warm-up night witnessed the attendees drinking the bar dry!
Never before was there a more mind-meltingly mental dance-floor than on Saturday
night. Neither, for that matter, had there ever been more latex outside of a fetish
club.

The weekend was not an entirely flawless affair, as some of the talks were marred
with sound and technical issues. Also, a couple of the acts started to feel repetitive.
That being said, these are comparatively minor complaints that did not overshadow
what was an epically awesome event.

What I would like to see for next year is some additional elements for children to
enjoy. Many who were present had families, and it would be fantastic if there were
themed events for the kids to enjoy with their families.

Undoubtedly, I have missed something, as this is just a tip of the iceberg that was
this year’s Sci Fi Weekender. Epic is a phrase frequently over-used in this day and
age, yet, in this case, it is entirely appropriate. However, the critical question as
always is this: would I go again? Let’s just say that next year’s Sci Fi Weekender
has already been added to my diary, and leave it at that.

BSFA

The official website of the British Science Fiction Association

Category Archives: SF News