Empires – An SF collaboration (25/4/2013)

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Once upon a time there was an author who had an agent who liked the notion of shared worlds. The author quite liked the notion too but couldn’t for the life of him see how to make them work (yes yes there are examples I know). And it came to pass that the author mentioned these things to his editor and his editor stubbornly refused to acknowledge the difficulty and pitfalls in setting up any collaborative project never mind actually pitching it and marketing it and selling it and even came up with a suggestion that the author had to acknowledge might work and a possible collaborator and the author had to agree that yes, indeed, he might have some fun with that. In fact all in all the author walked away from that particular meeting with the distinct impression of having been set up, although apparently he wasn’t.

And so Empires was born, the monstrous hybrid that will be a Stephen Deas / Gavin Smith creation, a pair of interconnected SF novels to be released simultaneously in the summer of next year. In Gavin’s Empires: Infiltration, the Pleasure, the ultimate in galactic drug peddlers, have found a perfect drug in the neuro-chemistry of a retarded but sentient species on a small and insignificant world. Do they come in peace as they say? Maybe they do but they certainly want something. In the counterpart, Empires: Extraction, the coldly mathematical Weft have become aware of a compound that causes them a crippling and ultimately lethal addiction and they’d like to know where it’s coming from. They’d like to make it stop in a very permanent way.

Caught between being battery-farmed and annihilation, can mankind find a way out in the face of Gavin’s personal guarantee that at no point will any vastly technologically superior alien races be defeated by a single big shouty man with a large gun or by some sort of computer hack? Find out next year . . .

Book Giveaway – Age of Scorpio (22/4/2013)

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I have a couple of collaborations in the pipeline with SF author Gavin Smith coming up, one of which I can’t talk about yet and the other one of which I can but have been systematically too lazy/busy to actually get on and do anything about. Anyway, since he’s a great guy and hugely fun and also my writing partner, here’s a book wot he wrote going begging. I haven’t read this one (too new ) but if the rest of what I’ve seen is anything to go by then it’s an adrenaline-fueled action-fest.

So to enter this time you have to help me resolve an argument – what’s the best SF spaceship ever. Is it really the Millennium Falcon? I’m looking for more than the coolest design – I’ll looking for spaceships with personality. So yes, the Falcon counts as it does have a prone-to-break-down-at-inconvenient-moment personality, just about. To enter the competition you have to comment on this post with a suggested spaceship before the end of Friday 26th. Please be prepared to be patient with the delivery and if it’s to an address to outside the UK then I’ll have to ask for a phone number as well as an address. But they do all get there eventually (I think).

Book Giveaway – Jack Glass (again) (15/4/2013)

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I gave away a copy of Jack Glass by Adam Roberts a few weeks back and that seemed quite popular and then it went and won, oh, some award or other . . .  So I’m going to do it again, and again with a really big cover picture because it’s SO pretty and ALSO won an award. So there you go, a book that won two awards on the same day and it’s Adam Roberts so it’s guaranteed to be clever.

This is the trade paperback edition again. Usual deal – comment on this post and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book.No challenges this week – just comment to enter[1]. Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well,so far. Oh, and these days for international delivery I’ll have to ask for a phone number as well as an address if you win.

[1] Exciting bonus goodies occasionally available but not guaranteed to be exciting. But I have T-shirts if you really make me laugh.

Book Giveaway – Rats and the Ruling Sea (ARC) (2/4/2013)

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This week I’m giving away a signed ARC of Robert Reddick’s Rats and the Ruling Sea. This is the second volume in the Chathrand Voyage quartet, the last of which (Night of the Swarm) came out last year, so no irritating waiting for the series to finish if you get hooked. And don’t complain – I already did give away a copy of the first book. This is a truly magical series (as far as I’ve read) full of hope and wonder and magic, and I heartily recommend it for adults and almost-adults alike. Robert has a lovely website for the series here.

Usual deal – comment on this post and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of the book. In order to enter, comment on this post before 6th April. Your challenge this week is to recommend a book to anyone else who comes to visit the giveaway page. If you make me laugh I might send an exciting bonus goody your way[1]. Although, though no one has yet complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far.

[1] Exciting bonus goody not guaranteed to be exciting. Actually it’s often a postcard. Which is pretty lame. But I did give away an Angry Dragons T-Shirt last week.