Author Archive
Stunning new art for Friday
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[ 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
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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!
We moved office
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So part of the change to Angry Robot’s business structure has been a move to larger, nattier new offices across Nottingham. From leafy Foxhall’s 18th century hunting lodge and its stained glass windows, we have hefted, ported and definitely lugged our worldly goods – damn, books are heavy. We now reside in the characterful Georgian splendour of our new home in the heart of the city’s historic Lace Market area. And yes, that is a piano in our reception. Feel free to have a tinkle when you pop by…
Angry Robot Limited,
Lace Market House,
54-56 High Pavement
Nottingham
NG1 1HW
UK
We have new telephone numbers too:
Marc Gascoigne +44 (0) 115 – 933 8456
Lee Harris +44 (0) 115 – 933 8455
Our emails remain firstname.secondname@angryrobotbooks.com. You can also use the general enquiries email incoming@… or the form on our Contact page.
Angry Robot’s changes – the FAQ
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You may have noticed that we at Angry Robot have recently been a little quieter and more disorganised than usual. This can now all be explained: today, we’re announcing that Angry Robot has left HarperCollins UK, and is now a part of Osprey Publishing Group.
At the same time as we’re posting this news, we’re sending out a formal press release, as is traditional. But we thought you may have further questions, so here are a few notes, by way of an FAQ kind of thingie… Read More→
Press release: Angry Robot Books to Join Osprey Publishing
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Leading Non-Fiction Publisher Acquires Specialist Sci-Fi Fiction & Fantasy Imprint
Following an acclaimed first year of publishing, the revolutionary science fiction imprint Angry Robot Books has parted company with HarperCollins UK. It will now run as an independent publishing imprint, with the full backing of niche publishing experts, Osprey Publishing.
Angry Robot will continue to operate from its Nottingham base and with its existing team under Marc Gascoigne, its founder and publisher. Marc said: “With the support of HarperCollins UK, my team and I have worked very hard on Angry Robot since it was founded. We have a great publishing programme in place and a dedicated bunch of supporters, the Robot Army, as well as some excellent sales of our first titles in the UK and an imminent launch into the USA. We are very pleased to have become part of the burgeoning Osprey empire. They understand our business and the enthusiasts who drive it.”
Chris Michaels, HarperCollins Digital Publisher, Fiction/Non-Fiction, who helped set-up Angry Robot, said: “Having helped build the foundations for a successful future, we are delighted that the Angry Robot team has found a new publishing partner in Osprey. We believe this will help them develop their niche offering, supported by Osprey’s specialist sales and marketing teams. We wish them good luck for the future.”
Marc Gascoigne added, “Our publishing programme for 2010/11 will be basically unaffected by these changes. There will be a short break while the transition is sorted out, but we will be re-launching in September 2010 and then it will be business as usual.”
Osprey’s move is a reflection of the company’s continuing strategic drive into niche communities that share a deep enthusiasm for their interest or hobby, whether it be military history (Osprey Publishing), heritage (Shire Books), or science fiction and fantasy.
Richard Sullivan, Marketing Director at Osprey commented: “We have a great deal of experience of serving specialist niches with a very tight product focus. Angry Robot is a great fit with our existing businesses. We are very excited about the opportunity to enter into a new market and we are looking forward to helping Angry Robot, its authors and its readers go to some exciting places.”
For more information check out the FAQ we’ve drawn up, or contact Angry Robot direct via the form on this website.
Angry Robot in Publishers Weekly (again)
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That man Lee Harris pops up in this week’s Publishers Weekly, the essential journal of the American publishing industry, in a piece focussing on several of the new genre imprints that have emerged over the last year. We get a good proportion of the air time, too, in a piece that is positive about those brave enough to launch a new imprint in such topsy-turvy times.
Yet again, too, a non-British interviewer has picked up on the fact that Angry Robot books with non-white characters actually dare to have those characters featured boldly on the front. Once more, our Lee expresses our bemusement that a publisher would do anything else. For myself, I find myself wondering what images American moviegoers have been faced with on the movie posters advertising Will Smith and Denzel Washington movies in recent years – surely the US poster for I Am Legend doesn’t show a non-big-eared white guy? Or is it just on the covers of books, arguably the last bastion of mature culture, that some American publishers feel unable to feature black people? Robot he say: Does. Not. Compute.
Walking the Tree – now with free novella!
Posted by: | CommentsAngry Robot set its stall out from the very start as an imprint that would be trying different approaches to delivering stories. Over the last year we’ve been fortunate to be in a prime position to take advantage of the surge in eBook editions. Now here’s another idea we’d like to run past you.
While writing Walking the Tree, ace AR author Kaaron Warren naturally concentrated on her central character, Lillah. But as she explored that woman’s incredible journey around Botanica’s immense Tree, she became just as fascinated with the story of one of her young companions, Morace.
So fascinated, in fact… that she rewrote the whole book from Morace’s point of view! Well, we couldn’t just hide that away and so, if you buy a physical copy of Walking the Tree you’ll find, amongst our usual swathe of extras and freebies at the end, the first two chapters of his story… and a secret download link and password, that will allow you to download or read the entire novella. And if you get the eBook edition, well, you get the whole thing as an added extra.
Who knows – perhaps this sort of thing could catch on. I’m sure we could all think of secondary characters whose adventures we’d like to read from their POV. And plenty more who we wouldn’t, of course.
And now… more fabulous art
Posted by: | CommentsAre you getting bored of this yet? We’re definitely not. It seems like pretty much every day in the Angry Robot office is a “woah, that’s just awesome!” day at the moment, and as long as the weather remains cold and wintery long may that little flash of sheer joy continue to light up our chilly world.
Today’s wonderful specimen is the cover art for Dan Abnett’s September title, Embedded. Our artist is the almost supernaturally talented Larry Rostant, who also provided the cover image for Dan’s most recent book for us, that wild historical fantasy romp extravaganza, Triumff; Her Majesty’s Hero.
Embedded is the first of Dan’s original novels in the vein of his bestselling military SF tie-ins for the Black Library, being set on the battlefield of a future war. In this case, we’re on a desert planet just a few hundred years from now. Rebellious first colonists are fighting back against more recent arrivals, and the war is getting grim. A journalist manages to get himself to the front line by being chipped into the brain of a combat soldier… but when that soldier is killed, he has to take over the body and get himself back home again somehow, broadcasting on an open feed the whole time.
You want hardcore future war? You got it. As per usual, click on this image to get a larger version. Try not to dribble.
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And another *stunning* piece of art
Posted by: | CommentsToday it’s the cover for Ian Whates‘ first fantasy novel, City of Dreams & Nightmare. The cover is by Greg Bridges, the Australian artist who also graced us with the cover for Kaaron’s Walking the Tree.
This time we’re in the land of brass and clockwork, amongst the many towering spires of Thaiburley, City of a Hundred Rows – a setting that is as much of a character in the novel as any of the people. We see a vast metal and glass heart that appears to be running the city through some mysterious alchemical process, while through the great iron-worked windows you can glimpse a brief part of the vast city. To our minds, this is just stunning.
Click this image for a bigger version and check out all that incredible metalwork detailing. Seems almost a shame to shove lettering all over it.
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More gorgeous cover art
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OK, so there’s been a “healthy debate” recently about the featuring (or the avoidance of featuring) characters from non-white cultures on fantasy and SF books. For us, well, perhaps we’re being a tad naive but it never occurred to us. Zinzi, the “girl who finds things” in Lauren Beukes’ very urban fantasy Zoo City, is a black South African, so of course that’s what she looks like on John Picacio’s cover.
And King, the hero of Maurice Broaddus’ superb resetting of the King Arthur mythos among the drug gangs of an American inner city, well, how else could you possibly portray him? If this was a movie – and these incredible books damn well should be! – we wouldn’t blink at a movie poster showing Denzel or Will in the role of our hero. So anyway, here’s the cover art for book two, King’s Justice, which ain’t even out for months and months. Artist once again is the superb Steve Stone. Damn, he’s good.
And here’s our Maurice on his own reaction to the process of depicting his characters in these illustrations.
[As usual, click for a bigger version.]
