Archive for May, 2011
The World House: Restoration – The first review (hint: 10 out of 10)
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In a classic example of premature exhilaration, The Traveler has posted the very first review of Restoration by our very own Guy Adams at The Traveler’s Steampunk Blog (note: Restoration isn’t steampunk, though):
I cannot help but wonder what is going on in Guy’s mind… The storyline of Restoration interlocks with The World House on several occasions and the revelations you get from it are frightning.
fast-paced, gripping and terrifying
Restoration is one frightningly good book. I was enthralled by it from the first page… I actually briefly considered skipping work because I could not put it down
10 out of 10
Restoration is published in the UK on July 7th and in the US and Canada on July 26th.
If you haven’t yet read The World House, then now’s a great time to grab yourself a copy before Restoration hits the shelves!
A natter with Damned Busters cover artist Tom Gauld
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So look, everyone is saying that Matthew Hughes’ first novel for Angry Robot, The Damned Busters, is bloody great fun. And they are wise to say such a thing, for it be true.
But perhaps as much attention has been paid – by those who’ve seen the physical editions at least – to the fab cover from cartoonist and illustrator Tom Gauld. In the UK, trendy bookish types like us know him from his pithy cartoons on the letters page of The Guardian‘s Review section every Saturday. In the US and even further afield, though, I suspect he is known to just a few connoisseurs of small press cartoon work. So we tracked him down last Friday afternoon and fired a few questions at the fellow. This is what came back… (All images can be clicked for larger versions, in case you were wondering.)
Q: What do you call yourself – graphic artist, cartoonist, professional doodler, etc?
I say “cartoonist and illustrator”.
Q: How did you get into “all this”?
I drew a lot as a child, and when I realised that you could draw as a job I decided that was for me. I studied illustration at Edinburgh College of art and the Royal College and since graduating in 2001 I’ve been drawing full time.
Q: Do you do lots of sketches and throw all the bad ones around the room or do you chew your pencil for days and then nail it first off?
I sit and doodle in my sketchbook and try to play around quite a lot about with ideas before going on to make a picture. My technique is relatively time consuming and its not easy to change things once they’re drawn so I try to think it all through at the beginning.
Q: What’s your typical working day, if there is one?
I’m at my studio from about 8.30am till 4.30pm. I work best in the morning so that’s when I do most of my creative work and in the afternoons I do more research and admin and internet time-wasting.
Q: Is it really annoying, when people say it’s just scribbling and colouring in, and when will you get a proper job?
Well it’s not really a proper job, and much of it IS just scribbling and colouring in. I don’t deny that it’s a nice way to make a living. A more common misunderstanding is that people say “Oh you must have such FUN coming up with all these FUNNY ideas! You must be laughing all day long!” whereas I’m either wracking my brain for a good idea or meticulously editing the idea to make it as funny or interesting as possible.
Q: Do you think there should be more cartoon-style novel covers?
I don’t think THAT many novels really suit this style, but when it’s done right it can be really great: I’d like to see more great ones. Chris Ware’s cover for Candide was one of the first I saw and one of the best.
Q: What would you kill to illustrate?
Kurt Vonnegut’s books.
Q: Anything you really hate/struggle with drawing?
People. I’m continually seeking a way of drawing people which satisfies me and works for my ideas and stories. I’m slowly getting better but I’m not there yet. Robots are so much easier.
Q: You’ve got a really distinctive style – do you ever experiment with other techniques, formats or materials?
I mess around a bit with other things (brushes, colouring pens, collage, Lego) and I find it can be very helpful for generating and exploring ideas, but I tend to find that when it comes to finished work I’m happy with the simplicity of my usual pen on paper style.
Q: Just how obsessed with robots are you?
I wouldn’t like to say obsessed, but I find them almost endlessly interesting. There is tragedy in their place between sentient beings and disposable products. And as I said, they are much easier to draw than real people.
Q: Isn’t it great how many times you sneak SF/genre tropes into your Guardian Review cartoons? (Sorry, that’s more of a statement.)
Yeah. Sci-fi and genre fiction have much better visuals than literary fiction. I’ve attached a cartoon about this.
Q: Which means you must read widely too – who are your favourite authors, any genre?
Off the top of my head Kurt Vonnegut, PG Wodehouse, John le Carre, Magnus Mills, William Golding, Geoges Simenon.
Q: Who in your field deserves more acclaim?
Anders Nilson is an amazing artist, I’m very excited about his forthcoming 600-page epic Big Questions.
Q: What would you be if you didn’t do this?
If I couldn’t draw for a living, I’d like to write or animate. If I had to do something completely different I’d be a baker.
Q: And will we ever see the Bumper Complete Book of Collected Tom Gauld one day?
Yes, well sort of. I’m just finishing up a graphic novel and once that’s out of the way I’m going to figure out a way to collect much of my previous work in some way or other.
Massive thanks to Tom. See his work online at tomgauld.com. And look, he even made us a new Angry Robot logo. <3
Putting South African Science Fiction on the map
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s a great feature about South African science fiction over at The Guardian, today. Unsurprisingly, our very own Lauren Beukes features quite prominently, being described as having “heralded something of a coming of age for South African speculative fiction.”
It’s a good read, and well worth ten minutes of your time.
While we’re on the subject of Lauren, her quite brilliant Zoo City has just been reviewed over at the SciFi London website:
You see in this reader’s humble opinion it was the only one [of the Arthur C Clarke shortlisted books] with a genuine pull-you-along-for-the-ride decent story inside, a murder/mystery/thriller set against a sci-fi backdrop that compelled you to keep reading until you got to the end and found out what happened. Not the cleverest, funniest, best-written, smartest or most technologically interesting of the six, but by far and away the best story, and really, that’s what makes a great book.
New Angry Robot author – Chris F Holm
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We’re so delighted to announce our latest signing. Please welcome Chris F Holm. He’s just been nominated for a prestigious Anthony Award for his crime short story “The Hitter”, but now he’s signed to Angry Robot for a brace of distinctly supernatural urban fantasies, Dead Harvest and The Wrong Goodbye.
Meet Sam Thornton. He’s a Collector – he gathers souls, the souls of the damned. But when he’s dispatched to collect the soul of a young woman he believes to be innocent of the horrific crime that’s doomed her to Hell, he does something no Collector has ever done before: he refuses.
Growing up in Syracuse, New York, Chris F Holm wrote his first crime story at 6. It got him sent to the principal’s office. More recently, he has made quite a name for himself in both crime and urban fantasy circles with a swathe of acclaimed short stories. His debut novels walk the fine line between classic hardboiled swagger (check out those Hammett- and Chandler-referencing titles!) and Jim Butcher-esque supernatural adventures.
When badgered into saying something nice about us, Chris kindly volunteered:
“In just two short years, Angry Robot has amassed a list of some of the most talented people writing speculative fiction today, many of whom colour gleefully outside traditional genre lines. I’m thrilled to find myself in such talented company, and I couldn’t imagine a better fit for my fantastical take on classic crime pulp.”
The deal, for world rights to two novels across all formats, was arranged by AR Publishing Director Marc Gascoigne and Holm’s agent Jennifer Jackson, at the Donald Maass Agency in New York.
As usual, you can get more information from us by using the Contact page or calling Marketing Mike Ramalho on 0186 – 581 1325
Angry Robot Theme Tune Remix – The Results!
Posted by: | CommentsAaaaaaangry Robot, A A A A A A A A Aaaaaangry Robot…
That clever Mr John Anealio and the equally-talented Mr Matt Forbeck are jointly responsible for the Angry Robot theme tune – John for the melody and Matt for the lyric.
Crazy cats that we are, in March we decided to run a competition to create a remix of the tune, and we had loads of entries. Mr Anealio is currently putting together a downloadable album of all the entries (which were uniformly great), but until then we thought you might like to hear the winners (who get to die horrific deaths in Matt’s next Angry Robot book, Carpathia).
Dale Chase.
Here are the best three, as judged by Matt, John and the robot overlord, Marc Gascoigne. The files will stream, but they’re quite large, so may take a fair few seconds to buffer.
In third place, David Ritter (MacMufasa).
In second place, Denis Cherryman
and the winner:
Dale O’neil Chase. (www.dalechase.com)
Two Authors signing in Manchester this weekend
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Two of our authors, Ian Whates and Gary McMahon are going to be signing copies of their books in the Manchester Deansgate Waterstone’s this Saturday (21st May) from 2pm, as part of a massive SF event being put on by the store.
Ian will be signing copies of both of his books in the City of a Hundred Rows series, (City of Dreams and Nightmare and City of Hope and Despair) while Gary will be signing copies of Pretty Little Dead Things (the first book in his Thomas Usher series – keep an eye out for book two Dead Bad Things) later this year.
After the signing there will be a chance for a quick panel discussion, followed by a short meet and greet in the bookstores own bar.
A bunch of other authors and SF personalities will be in attendance, including Mike Wild, Pat Kelleher, Alwyn Turner and Nev Fountain.
Alt.Fiction – Angry Robot out in force. Again.
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Alt.Fiction gets better every year, and is shaping up to be one of (if not the) best of the UK SF conventions. This year it has expanded from its previous 1 day to become a 2 day event. We’ve just seen the programme guide, and it’s a great one!
As usual, Angry Robot will be out in force. The following fine authors and editors will be around – on panels, running workshops, or lounging in the bar, being fed grapes by adoring fans:
Dan Abnett (one of the Guests of Honour)
Guy Adams
Adam Christopher
Peter Crowther
Guy Haley
Colin Harvey
Gav Thorpe
Ian Whates
plus Roboteers Marc Gascoigne & Lee Harris
We expect a few more of the troops to confirm before then, too.
Alt.Fiction is at the Quad in Derby on June 25th and 26th.
Tickets can be purchased here: http://www.derbyquad.co.uk/altfiction
.
Angry Robot – Taking over conventions since 2009.
Just a couple of days left to get your hands on a Steampunk Kindle
Posted by: | CommentsRemember we told you about our competition to win a steampunk Kindle? Well, you still have a couple of days left in which to enter!
Send us your examples of cool Steampunk stuff – maybe it is a photo of you in your leather and copper get up, or a picture of a day-to-day item that you have converted into a glorious piece of Steampunk tech. Maybe it is a quick sketch you jotted down in a notebook. Hell – it could even be a Steampunk inspired song you have written and performed – or perhaps a Haiku that has been spinning round the inside of your skull for the last few months.
Pretty much anything Steampunk is eligible. Except – and this is important – for novels or short stories. We already have enough to read with all the submissions we got in March. After all we did get 990 submissions in four weeks!
Send your Steampunk awesomeness to
steampunk@angryrobotbooks.com
The best submission will win the Kindle (with a steampunk skin from Gelaskins). We’ll also include 5 eBooks for you to start your collection – Kell’s Legend, King Maker, Servant of the Underworld, Crown of the Blood and The World House.
Three runners-up will also get copies of all of the books that feature in our steampunk month.
The competition closes at midnight on May 15th 2011 (wherever you are in the world).
Free Sample Chapters – Kaaron Warren’s “Mistification” and Tim Waggoner’s “Dark War”
Posted by: | CommentsClick for full-screen. You can embed the free samples 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.
Kaaron Warren’s eagerly-awaited third novel:
Embedded and The Damned Busters – reviewed
Posted by: | CommentsDan Abnett’s superior military SF novel Embedded continues to garner praise, as does Matthew Hughes’ wonderfully funny The Damned Busters.
First up, Embedded, reviewed at Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review:
I don’t know anyone who does military sci-fi better… When the ‘military’ part of this military sci-fi kicks in, Dan Abnett really brings his ‘A Game’ to the table and you are immediately caught up in a rush of fire fights, espionage and explosions… Abnett delivers the kind of pulsating military sci-fi that we all know he can. Fans of Abnett will lap this one up and fans of military sci-fi in general should check it out anyway.
Eight and a Quarter out of Ten
Next, The Damned Busters reviewed at Ginger Nuts of Horror (no, really):
A good six hours later I realised I still had all the house work to do, and I really should go and pick up the boy child from school. Yes the book is that good… Hughes writing is both funny and clever, with some great descriptive passages. he has a style that instantly hooks the reader, that manages to balance the fine line between being a funny novel, and novel that is just full of jokes…
I will be picking up the next instalment of this series without a doubt. A highly recommended read.
‘Nuff said.
