Archive for July, 2010
Stunning new art for Friday
Posted by: | Comments
[ Click the image for a bigger version. Go on, do it. ]
That man Greg Bridges has done it again – and this is still just a work-in-progress, would you believe. Following on from his lovely work on book 1 of the City of a Hundred Rows series, just you stop what you are doing and take a close look at this new cover for the sequel. Just stunning.
Penned, of course, by the immeasurably lovely Ian Whates, City of Hope & Despair takes our hero Tom on a wild-goose-chase quest in search of a mythical figure from the city of Thaiburley’s past. And as you can see, it takes him and his assassin companion to some pretty interesting places. In the US and Canada, BTW, City of Dreams & Nightmare will be in stores at the start of November; this one, City of Hope & Despair, will hit the UK in March and the US just a few short weeks later.
Beukes rocks the BSFA
Posted by: | Comments
A fine time was had by all in London last night, when an unusually packed BSFA meet played host to the one and only Lauren Beukes.
Following a day spent shopping, sightseeing and discussing top secret projects with a Certain Big Movie Producer, I’d thought I’d perhaps worn Lauren out. But faced with an attentive crowd hanging on her every word, Lauren rose to the occasion. Following a reading from Zoo City, Lauren was interviewed by blogger Jonathan McAlmont, and then took questions from the floor on Moxyland, Zoo City, future projects, 
the future of South Africa, all the usual stuff. As well as BSFA regulars, Lauren had attracted a fair number of South African ex-pats, one of whom even arrived bearing a genuine cuddly Moxy! The heavily illustrated Del Lakin-Smith had kindly brought his podcast mic to capture the whole thing, so all being well you’ll be able to hear it all as an online download in a few days.
Tonight it’s the turn of Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue to host Ms B. It all starts at 6pm, but do get there early – the word is that those limited edition copies of Zoo City won’t hang around for long.
Meanwhile, the massive interest in Zoo City in Lauren’s native South Africa has produced another interview, this time in the form of a podcast with the (South African) Times. Well worth ten minutes of your time.
And may we just remind you all, cannibal penguin FTW!
The uber-manliness of the manliest of manly men
Posted by: | Comments
Surprising as it might seem, I’m not talking about Angry Robot’s publishing director, though the mistake is easily made. The quote above comes from the very first review of Gav Thorpe‘s magnificent epic fantasy, The Crown of the Blood.
I’m impressed by the moral neutrality. Similar to the work of Tom Lloyd, this is a book about warring factions, each of them convinced that they are in the right… To paraphrase (badly), no one has ever marched into battle thinking they were the bad guy. Mr Thorpe had that nailed. Even the proper “hero” of the book is a dodgy character – Ullsaard is convinced of his cause, but, ultimately, he is left in judgement before the reader.
…this book is hairy, gory, sweaty, shameless… and perhaps even a little bit thoughtful.
It’s out in the UK on September 2nd and the US on the 28th of the same month.
If the review has left you wanting more, and you can’t wait the few short weeks until publication, here are the first 50 pages, complete with dinosaur-punching action:
Click for full-screen. You can embed the free sample in your own site – just copy the code (by clicking on the “menu” button in the bottom right corner of the sample, and selecting “Copy embed code”) into your site.
Zoo City – Free sample chapters
Posted by: | CommentsAs you know, Lauren Beukes is in the UK next week, visiting various places (see here for details on where you can find her) and you can still pre-order a limited edition hardback of her new novel, Zoo City from Forbidden Planet (though don’t leave it too long, there are only 100 on sale and they’re selling very quickly!)
If you can’t wait until the book is out (and quite frankly, we don’t blame you), how about the first 50 pages to whet your appetite?
Click for full-screen. You can embed the free sample in your own site – just copy the code (by clicking on the “menu” button in the bottom right corner of the sample, and selecting “Copy embed code”) into your site.
What a load of morlocks!
Posted by: | CommentsI think the headline speaks for itself. Head on over to Adam Roberts‘ blog for more info… 
Angry Robot Podcast #1
Posted by: | CommentsYes, we have entered the world of podcasting with a monthly show! We’ll cover Angry Robot news, interview our authors, and give away free books!
This month’s episode showcases our fearless leaders, Editor Lee (or Leeeeeëee) Harris and Publishing Director Marc (or Marco) Gascoigne as we talk about SF, the future of publishing, what kinds of books they want, and the history and future of Angry Robot Books.
Our contest this month is for a limited edition hardcover copy of Lauren Beukes’ new book, Zoo City. Listen to find out how you can win!
Theme song courtesy of John Anealio, find more of his awesome science fiction-themed music at SciFi Songs.
Subscribe to the podcast via RSS feed or via iTunes.
The podcast competition ends at the end of July.
UPDATE – podcast competition email address now working, again! Thanks for your patience!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Falling in love again…
Posted by: | Comments
This week we sent the files for our US launch books – all 6 of them – to the printers. It’s given me an opportunity to revisit some of our earlier titles.
Working in publishing, it’s very easy to get caught up in the moment, to focus entirely on the book you’re editing, the book you’re championing, the book you’re reading. And the books you sold this time last year? Well, of course you still love them – you wouldn’t have bought and promoted them if you didn’t – but it’s somehow akin to the love you feel for a family member you’ve not seen in a while, who perhaps lives at the other end of the country. Of course you love them, it’s just that you’re a bit too busy to visit them these days – there’s always Facebook…
Launching in the US has given us the opportunity to visit those remote relatives – it’s reminded us of some of the reasons we originally fell in love with the books we published in the UK in 2009.
Moxyland – great SF; smart cyberpunk – and you know it’s smart when William Gibson tweets how good it is!
Kell’s Legend – violent, visceral, epic – and the clockwork vampires are a touch of genius.
Sixty-One Nails – superb; true urban fantasy from the genre’s most exciting new author.
Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero – no-one writes action scenes like Dan Abnett, and no-one else could get away with the sheer quantity of truly groan-inducing puns with which he fills this book! Brilliant stuff!
Winter Song – traditional SF at its very best – easily Colin’s best book published to date!
Slights – the best horror novel of 2009 is coming to the US. Be worried.
I could write an essay on each of these, but I won’t – Marco and I have October’s titles to get ready. You can read what other people thought about them though, by clicking on the titles.
Altogether, now:
Fallink in love again, never vanted to… Vot am I to do? Can’t help et…
Harbinger of the Storm – Cover Art
Posted by: | Comments
We always enjoy showing off our latest piece of cover art. This one has been designed by Gav Krasner at Spring London.
Click the image to zoom.
Aliette de Bodard’s Harbinger of the Storm is released in the UK in January and the US and Canada in February.
Lauren Beukes and Angry Robot are in London later this month
Posted by: | Comments
A brief reminder – Lauren Beukes (author of the fantastic, critically-acclaimed Moxyland) is making a rare visit to the UK this month from her native South Africa, and we’ve lined up three events where you can meet her, and get your books signed.
Not only that, to celebrate her visit we’ve teamed up with Forbidden Planet to bring you an Angry Robot first – a limited edition hardcover of her forthcoming novel, Zoo City. It’s already attracted a lot of attention, and for very good reason!
You can order a copy of Zoo City from Forbidden Planet, here. Better still, come along to her signing. There are just 100 copies being sold through Forbidden Planet, so you’re going to have to get one soon to avoid disappointment! This is a very limited limited edition.
Lauren will be signing Zoo City at the London Forbidden Planet Megastore from 6.00-7.00pm on Thursday July 29th. Come along and say “Hi” and pick up a copy of the book. I’ll also be there (Lee) despite my wife’s protestations (she doesn’t object to Lauren – the signing is halfway through our holiday, so I’ll be leaving our cottage in Wales to come along to the event). 
British Science Fiction Association
The night before Lauren’s signing at Forbidden Planet she will be the special guest at the July meeting of the British Science Fiction Association, where she will be reading from Zoo City, prior to an interview. There will be a Q&A session at the end, and you don’t have to be a member of the BSFA to attend. There may be one or two other Angry Robot authors there, too, as well as Marc Gascoigne – Angry Robot’s Publishing Director.
The reading / interview will be at the upstairs bar of:
The Antelope Tavern, 22 Eaton Terrace, Belgravia, London SW1W 8EZ (nearest tube station is Sloane Square on the District and Circle lines).
The reading will commence around 7.00pm, but people usually start gathering in the downstairs bar from 5.00pm onwards.
British Fantasy Society
Lauren will also be the guest at the first BFS Open Night of the year. Well, not Open Night so much as Open Afternoon. For those of you who might find it hard to get to central London on a weekday evening, Lauren’s BFS event is on Saturday 31st July from 1.00pm until 5.00pm at The George pub on The Strand, WC2R 1AP (nearest tube station: Temple). And again, you don’t have to be a member to attend, though you can join on the day if you wish.
So, those dates again:
Wednesday 28th July: BSFA meeting - 7.00pm onwards (but any time from 5.00 for general chit-chat and beerage)
Thursday 29th July: Forbidden Planet signing – 6.00pm until 7.00pm (see here for details)
Saturday 31st July: BFS meeting – 1.00pm until 5.00pm
Mike Shevdon – Tools for Writing
Posted by: | Comments
There are many tools available to modern writers – tools that help with ideas, construction, filing. Angry Robot author Mike Shevdon has been trialling many of them, and posting his thoughts on his site.
There’re some really interesting insights here, and if you’re in the business of writing, it’s well worth a read.
Tools for Writing – part 1 – Microsoft Word
Is MS Word good enough for the writing of a full-length novel?
Tools for Writing – part 2 – Rough Draft 3.0
What about dedicated novel-writing software?
Before You Hit Save – a question of file formats
And how best should you save your work once written?
Tools for Writing – part 3 – Jer’s Novel Writer
Another piece of novel-writing software under the Mike-roscope (sorry).
Tools for Writing – part 4 – Scrivener
One of the best-known pieces of writing software for the Mac.
Tools for Writing – part 5 – FreeMind
And a piece of software to help organise your thoughts and ideas.
Mike’s site is worth a regular visit, and can be found at Shevdon.com.
