Archive for April, 2009
Nekropolis Review (Time Capsule version)
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Tim Waggoner’s Nekropolis, as many of you know, was originally published in novella form (as “Necropolis”, with a hero called Matthew Adrion rather than Matt Richter) back in 2004, before being picked up by Angry Robot, and expanded to full novel-length as the first part of a new series.
Bewildering Stories reviewed the original book, and (unsurprisingly) rather liked it, describing is as “a classic” (their italics, not ours).
Tim Waggoner’s book surely features one of the most unusual heroes in the detective genre. Matthew Adrion is the ex-cop who doggedly followed a perp into the shadowy realm of Necropolis. He got his man, but he fell afoul of a Darklord in the process, and now he hangs half in and half out of life, a decaying zombie. He can’t go back to Earth, of course, but old habits die hard. Matthew’s still doing what a cop does best, and Necropolis being what it is, there are plenty of folks who need a knight in shining armor, even if he’s getting a little over-ripe and scabrous in the face.
If you want to get a head start on this highly entertaining series, pop over to the Bewildering Stories website for the full review.
Kaaron Warren – not a crack-addled goth chick.
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Not Kaaron Warren, yesterday
Everyone seems to want to interview our authors, lately – and why not? They’re a bunch of really interesting folk! Australian author Robert Hood has just interviewed Kaaron for his website, and what a cracking read it is, too.
We’ve more interviews lined up with our other authors, so keep checking back – or subscribe to our RSS feed.
Back from EasterCon in (mostly) One Piece
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Well, that was an experience and a half! I love conventions, and usually I love curry (but not necessarily this time!)
For more inside information on my EasterCon 2009 experience, head on over to the SFX Website where those lovely magazine types have uploaded my blog of the weekend.
Kaaron Warren Interview
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In all the excitement of EasterCon, I forgot to post a link to this excellent interview with our very own Kaaron Warren. It’s a fascinating read, and you’ll get to find out what Kaaron was talking about when she wrote:
“any zombies which come will be so fascinated by the sea monkeys they’ll leave us alone.”
While we’re away, feast…
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[Click image to see larger.]
While we’re away not being bought beer and wine by prospective authors (yeah, thanks for that, Lee), feel free to feast your eyes on this new cover for Nekropolis, the first of several Matt Richter novels for us by your man Tim Waggoner.
Immense tip of the fedora to the mightily talented Vincent Chong – it’s like he sees dead people or something.
Nekropolis will be published in the UK on 6th August 09, with a US edition following 1st October.
Please leave a message after the beep…
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It’s convention time again, which means that after today there’ll be no-one in the Angry Robot office until after Easter, so if you’re waiting for an email from us, it’s probably going to be after Tuesday 14th.
Marco and I will both be at EasterCon for the entire event, sitting on panels, and sitting on stools. Please come over and say “Hi”.
If you’re an author it’s an absolute categorical truth that we can’t be bought with beer and wine. Honestly. I mean, I’m not going to say “so don’t even bother trying”, as that would be self-defeating. Feel free to try, but don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
Have a great Easter, everyone.
New meat for your metal masters
Posted by: | CommentsANGRY ROBOT have been busy signing more brilliant authors for its upcoming SF/F/WTF?! imprint, due to launch in July 2009. No flannel, here they are…
Award-winning US author J ROBERT KING has been snapped up for two novels brimming with wild creativity and extraordinary ideas. He calls his books “metaphysical suspense” — don’t worry, that just means they blow your imagination apart while at the same time freezing your blood.
Rob’s debut for Angry Robot, the fabulously named THE ANGEL OF DEATH, does exactly that. The Grim Reaper becomes strangely fascinated with a human cop investigating the deaths caused by a serial killer that Death has been following. But Death is a killer too, of course, and is not above the law. It’ll be published in the UK, US and Australia in September 2009, as a mass-market paperback.
This will be followed early next year by DEATH’S DISCIPLES. The sole survivor of a terrorist attack on a plane starts to hear the voices of the dead passengers. And what they’re telling her is far worse than what she’s suffered already.
King’s recent Sherlock Holmes novel for Tor, The Shadow of Reichenbach Falls, attracted a mass of critical attention, as did his Mad Merlin trilogy for the same publisher. And he can ride a unicycle, though maybe not while typing. Find out more at jrobertking.com
From the UK, meanwhile, we’re delighted and just a little scared to welcome ANDY REMIC to our ravening horde. His reputation as the hard man of British SF is well-deserved. Now he’s taking the tough guy stylings of Quake, Spiral and his recent Combat-K novels into fantasy, for a brand new trilogy that sees him, in one mighty bound, become the natural successor to the much-missed David Gemmell.
KELL’S LEGEND, due September 2009 in mass-market paperback, introduces Kell, grizzled veteran warrior much at odds with a civilised world where humanity has become soft. When a new foe arises to threaten the city of Jalder, only Kell remembers that to live, you have to fight, and fight dirty. But how can one man hold off against the Vachine, the terrifying clockwork vampires of legend?
SF Signal said this about Remic’s books: “A roller-coaster of fun… fun and fast-paced @$$-kicking action.”
Fantasy Book Critic agreed: ”Every once in a while a novel comes along that surprises the hell out of you. That was the case with “War Machine” by Andy Remic. Imagine my surprise when “War Machine” became my favorite science fiction novel of the year. Yes, you heard correctly. Gary Gibson’s “Stealing Light”, Peter F Hamilton’s “The Dreaming Void”, Neal Asher’s “Hilldiggers”, Josh Conviser’s “Empyre”, Richard K. Morgan’s “Black Man/Thirteen”, Matthew Jarpe’s “Radio Freefall”; “War Machine” topped them all and no one is more shocked than I am! …I loved every testosterone-fuelled second.”
Join the battle at andyremic.com
Another Angry Robot
Posted by: | CommentsWe like Robots (obviously), and we like them angry. They don’t get much angrier than this:
Fiction Crossing Boundaries
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We are absolutely delighted to announce our first truly crossover novel. We’re a huge fan of the crossover, and have been working hard behind the scenes to bring you something truly special and innovative. Something that will make other publishers think Why didn’t I think of that?
Novels that cross genre boundaries are not new, but with the release of Perl One (1 December, 2009) we’re not just crossing genres, we’re crossing media! Perl One is a space opera, huge in scope, with one big difference – it’s a “knit your own adventure”.
It can be read front-to back as a standard novel (and what a great novel it is!) but the truly innovative part is that the bottom 20% of every page is set aside for knitting instructions (in a mid-grey font so as not to detract from the prose). As the knitter completes each page, another clue is revealed within their fabric, and by halfway through, the knitter is able to influence the outcome of the story by choosing to knit one here, drop a stitch there, etc. There really has been nothing like this in fiction, ever!
The beauty of the format is that non-knitters can read the story like a straightforward novel (set on the asteroid Perl One, a renegade supersoldier must be brought to justice), and will lose nothing of the vitality of the story. Knitters, however, will get the added bonus of reading the first science fiction novel ever written with them in mind!
Perl One will be available to pre-order from May, and the sequel – The Needle of Axos - will be published by Angry Robot in mid-2010.
