Giveaway: The Protector (3/8/2015)

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It’s been a while, but this week I have a copy of The Protector to give away. It’s already picked up a couple of nice reviews here and here

Protector_visual low res

ALl you have to do to enter is comment on this post before the end of 8th August. The Gods of Random will randomly select a random winner through means of randomness onm the following day.

No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but 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. Am currently up to date with posting things.

Giveaway: Dragons (26/4/2015)

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Less than two weeks now before I have to tick a box choosing to which one of the various people whose views entirely fail to represent my own I shall nevertheless assign the futile weight of my support. Futile as in the incumbent Tory had a majority larger than the total number of votes for his closest rivel.

So here today are the official policies of the five main national parties in the event of a zombie apocalypse:

The Conservative Party has no official policy, but pretty much plans to carry on as normal, as it already operates on the underlying principle that anyone on benefits is already one of the shambling walking dead. Zombies will be required to prove their undead status in order to claim any state support and to enrol on state-controlled “emplyment” schemes such as workfare.

The Labour Party refused to comment, leaving individual spokesmen to hint at a policy that would be the same as the Conservatives while vehemently demanding that it was entirely different.

The Liberal Democrats stated policy of inclusion and acceptance will be extended to include the undead, according them basic inhuman rights according to European law. However, leaked policy documents have subsequently indicated a plan to incite the zombie apocalypse shortly before the election on the grounds that it can’t possibly be as bad as the pasting they’re going to take otherwise.

UKIP “Bloody Zombies, Coming here from the Afterlife, Taking our Jobs and Eating Our Brains” stated an emphatic policy of rapid deployment of the army and the formation of armed citizen militias to quell the zombie apocalypse while quelling was still possible, mobilisation of the entire medical research establishment to explain how zombification is linked to homosexulaity, and the drawing up of a short-list of various “Johnny Foreigners” to smacked about. Phrases like “spirit of the Blitz” and frequent mentions of Chruchill accompanied the newly-formed UKIP Zombie Apocalypse Policy (ZAP) Team as they disappeared in to the pub.

The Green Party take the view that a zombie apolcalypse causing the extinction of the human race is part of the natural order of things and probably no bad thing, and state that it would be “irresponsible” to try and do anything about it, although if such a thing WAS to happen it would certainly come about because of Climate Change and GM crops, and prevention is better than cure, right, soyou’d vote green if you had any sense but you won’t because in the end it’s just about what’s best for YOU, right. Followed by some sulking.

No, I still don’t have the first fucking clue who to vote for either, nor is there much point in this constituency. But I do have some books to give away, and this week it’s a bit of an Election Special, since in part it’s a story of a bunch of over-privileged knob-heads too busy stabbing each other in the back to notice the incoming catastrophe that’s about to burn every last one of them [1]

adpalaceCover first draftORDER OF THE SCALES draft cover

This is a rare collector’s special giveaway, in that all three books will be signed and lined first edition hardbacks. That makes it a bit unique and special and also worth something for once, because this time there’s a catch: I want you to vote. All you have to do to enter yourself into the draw is leave a comment here, and the giveaway will run until the end of Saturday 9th, and if you’re from outside the UK then that’s it, that’s all…  But if you’re IN the UK and eligible to vote then I require you to use that right on the 7th in order to win my prize. No vote, no win books. If you don’t want to vote then I respect your right to make that choice, and you can respect mine not to give you free stuff.

Usual deal otherwise – comment on this post before 10th May and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy.

No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but 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. Am currently not up to date with posting things (sorry previous Gallow winner – I will do it this week).

[1] Not everyone burns

Giveaway: Cold Redemption/The Last Bastion (13/4/2015)

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Not much news this week. I’m going to be at Edge-Lit on Saturday 11th July doing a workshop on narrative structure and a panel on something or other that has currently slipped my . . . Ok, the title is “How Much History Does Fantasy Fiction Need,” and I can give you the very short answer if you’re not going which is that fantasy doesn’t strictly need very much at all, but you should still come along anyway because Joanne Harris is going to be on the panel too and she will be much more interesting than I am.

BUY MY BOOKS: Gallow: The Anvil. Gallow: Solace. Why haven’t you got them already? They’re cheap and short!

Ren, I’ve got another Critical Failures post on the way about relationships but it’s turning out to be long and complicated and not as much about fiction as I originally thought, so you’ll have to wait a few weeks. Also Zafir has something more to say about villains yet. In the mean time I’m still in a Gallow frame of mind, so this week I’m giving away more Gallow.

cold redemption cover lo-resCover artwork lo-res

Usual deal – comment on this post in some way before Sunday 19th  April and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. This week I’m looking for video game recommendations, please, since I appear to have quite a bit of time on my hands.

No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but 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. Am currently up to date with posting things (it’s so much easier when I don;t do my own stuff – Gollancz are dead efficient, unlike me).

Giveaway: The Fateguard Trilogy (5/4/2015)

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News? I suppose so. The proofs  for The Silver Kings have been marked up and posted back. That really is that then. Job done. Zafir’s last ride. Bellepheros’s last potion. Tuuran’s last swing of the axe. Red Lin Feyn’s last cup of jasmine tea.

Last week I made the mistake of talking about something else before I got on with what really matters here, so look, here’s a link to the self-publishing thing instead of me going on about it some more, and here’s the new article about villains in SFF. There done.

I realise you all have been getting ready for this with little preliminary events like Eastercon and the Hugo nominations, but Nathan Hawke’s novelette Solace comes out as an e-book on the 9th April. In order to get ready for what will doubtless be THE (next) fantasy event of the year (and so soon after the last one too), Nathan is launching a(nother) massive publicity campaign which consists of giving away another signed copy of The Fateguard Trilogy. 940 pages. 330,000 words. Everything Hawke has ever written. A man with an axe on the cover. What more could you want?

You can buy Solace and the first novelette The Anvil from e-book retailers. If you happen to read or th have read The Anvil already then Nathan would like to know what you think, since the current pair of Amazon reviews are worse than useless betwen them.

Usual deal – comment on this post before Sunday April 12th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. Open worldwide and no one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but  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. Am currently up to date, in that all recent winners have been posted.

Glorious Angels (23/03/2015)

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A few days ago I read that an author acquiantance had “finished plotting out his feminist epic fantasy” or something like that. I find myself raising an eyebrow when men call themselves feminists – unfortunately I’ve come across a few who say that when what they actually mean is that they support the status quo and aren’t actively trying to push women back into the dark ages. Which, guys, isn’t quite the same thing.

But anyway, in this case I’m inclined to think the intent was pure enough, but it still left me with a frowny face of something being out of whack.  Why is a man writing a feminist fantasy? It seems wrong to me. Isn’t that a contradiction? I don’t have strong opinion on this so by all means share an alternative point of view, but I felt it was somewhat patronising – as a man, if I did that, aren’t I effectively stepping in to do feminism for you when actually my place, if I want to support, is to stand in the background and cheer? Seems to me that as a male writer the thing to do is portray all characters, irrespective or gender, race, sexuality, anything else, with equal passion, care, respect and agency. And in SFF choose a setting that supports that ideal?

In the spirit of that thought, this week’s giveaway is Glorious Angels by Justina Robson, a “groundbreaking new novel from one of the genre’s most respected authors: a thrilling mix of science, magic and sexual politics.”

Usual deal – comment on this post in some way before Sunday 30th March and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but 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. Am currently up to date with posting things.

There’s also an interesting article about cover art here, from Orbit’s art director.

Giveaway: The Royalist (10/3/2015)

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This week I have two titles coming out in paperback on the same day from different publishers. Last week I had them fight.You might imagine that dragons and lightning-throwing flying ships made of enchanted glass would have an edge on a grizzled civil war veteran, but as it turned out the dragons lost out in the popularity stakes. So this week I’m giving away Cromwell, pikes and muskets and the unwilling and ever-dour renaissance detective Willian Falkland: The Royalist

Royalist-cover-201x309

You get to choose. Usual deal – comment on this post before Sunday 15th March and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. Been kind of a busy week for non-writing reasons so I don’t have a game to play and am just giving books away. Say hi, say which one you want, and you’re entered. You can read the opening chapter here.

No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but 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. Am currently rather behind with posting things.

Giveaway: The Royalist/The Splintered Gods

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You’ve all gone and bought a copy of Gallow: The Anvil, right? Because that came out last week, and have I mentioned yet how the future of Nathan Hawke as a writer probably depends on it?

In a couple of weeks I get to have two of my own titles coming out in paperback on the same day from different publishers, so it seems to me that the only rational course of action is to have them fight. So for this week’s giveaway you get to choose which one you want if you win. Will it be the  magical flying ships, enchantresses who mould glass to their whim, golems and, of course, dragons of The Splintered Gods…

splintered gods cover

… or will it be the historical grit of the the English Civil War, Cromwell, pikes and muskets and the unwilling and ever-dour renaissance detective Willian Falkland in The Royalist…?

Royalist-cover-201x309

You get to choose. Usual deal – comment on this post before Sunday 8th March and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. Given the lack of interest last week, manifesto plans to deal with a zombie apocalypse have been put on hold and I’m just giving books away. Say hi, say which one you want, and you’re entered.

No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but 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. Am currently a bit behind with posting things.

Giveaway: Something Coming Through (22/2/2015)

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This week, at the same time as giving away a copy of some poor bugger’s book, I’m going to do something a bit different. We have an election coming in a few months (please do vote if you’re able), and with that in mind it seemed appropriate for this blog to adopt a more serious tone and start addressing more significant political issues than George Lucus’s radicalisation of the Care Bears. So here today are the official policies of the five main national parties in the event of an impending asteroid strike:

The Conservative Party has no official policy, but will issue bunker access passes to anyone based on how much tax they should have paid but managed not to. This is based on the post-apocalyptic social policy of natural selection: only fittest will survive, and only the biggest bastards will survive to rule.

The Labour Party refused to be railroaded in issuing a policy statement of any sort, but nodded lots at the suggestion that it would basically be exactly the same policy as the Conservatives backed up by vastly noisy denials and assertions that their policy will be something entirely different and much nicer, even while they’re quietly issuing the same passes.

The Liberal Democrats were too surprised to find someone interested in something they might have to say to actually say anything. Whihc probably doesn’t matter because no one would believe them anyway. Off the record one party member suggested they might try to form a coalition with the asteroid on the grounds that it would briefly be the one thing even more hated than them, but that strikes me mostly as wishful thinking.

UKIP didn’t have a policy at all, as usual, but after brainstorming with a few beers down the pub have settled on a plan to strap rockets to the backs of immigrants and launch them into the upper troposphere to create a human shield.

The Green Party take the view that an asteroid strike causing the extinction of the human race is part of the natural order of things and probably no bad thing, and state that it would be “irresponsible” to try and do anything about it.

No, I don’t the first fucking clue who to vote for either. But I do have a book to give away. This week it’s Something Coming Through by Paul McAuley, chosen because politics made me think of Empires: Extraction and that made me think of aliens. And having read a little, I think this might give The Death House a run for its money to climb to the top of the TBR pile. Here’s an extract from the author’s blog:

Something Coming Through isn’t about explaining away the alien: it’s about the difficulty of understanding it. The Jackaroo step in to give aid to humanity at a moment of global crisis. They are, they say, here to help. But they’re also wilfully enigmatic. They appear only as humanoid avatars. They deflect all questions about what they are, where they come from, why they are helping humanity, and what the endpoint of that help might be

Usual deal – comment on this post before Sunday 1st March and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. If you have any other genre questions for our politicos, leave those in the comments too and I’ll see if I can get an answer – next week the five main party’s will address their plans for a zombie apocalypse.

No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but 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. Am currently up to date with posting things.

Giveaway: The Death House (2/2/2015)

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This week’s giveaway is The Death House by Sarah Pinborough. I’ve not read it, but it’s a had a whole stack of excellent reviews and the inside scoop is that it’s much in the vein on The Language of Dying (which I *have* read and can vouch for its moving brilliance). It might possibly be the new Fault in Our Stars. The book doesn’t come out until the end of February, so if you win, cross your fingers I can twist an editor’s arm to get a first edition hardback hot off the presses. The Death House is availabe to pre-order as an e-book for £1.99. This has been a Gollancz PR production [1]

Death House

Death House

Usual deal – comment on this post before Monday February  9th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy.No special game this week, just wave and say hi to enter the draw. No no one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but  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. Am currently a bit behind in posting things.

[1] Not really, but Sarah and her editor were at Super Relaxed Fantasy Club last week. I might have been bribed with wine.

Giveaway: The Fateguard Trilogy (again) (20/1/2015)

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Nathan Hawke’s short The Anvil comes out as an e-book on the 12th February. In order to get ready for what will doubtless be THE fantasy event of the year (and so soon, too), Nathan is launching a massive publicity campaign which will consist of signing every single physical copy of the e-book, a gruelling one-stop signing and reading event at the Super Relaxed Fantasy Club and a market-saturating giveaway of a whole one other copy of The Fateguard Trilogy. 940 pages. 330,000 words. Everything Hawke has ever written. A man with an axe on the cover. What more could you want?

Usual deal – comment on this post before Monday January 26th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. Super Relaxed Fantasy Club is meeting on the 27th January, 6:30 at the Grange Holborn Hotel. from past eperience I recommend getting there a little early in order to have a chance of finding where we’ve all gone. There might be a few copies available on the the night, but more importantly there are going to be a slew of fantasy authors, editors and, most of all, fans, hanging out. If you’re the lucky winner and you’re going to be there, I’ll bring the book; otherwise no one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but  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. Am currently up to date, in that all recent winners have been posted.

Random End of Year Giveway (14/12/2014)

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News this week? Is there any? Not much. The third of my Bulldog Drummond novellas has finished editing. I enjoyed writing them, but I don’t think the first one has sold nearly well enough for there to be any more (I base this purely on the non-existant amazon ranking). There is an audio version now available, if anyone is into that sort of thing. Elite: Wanted looks like it’s kicking Empires’ butt, which wasn’t supposed to happen (yay – go Elite!). Nathan Hawke continues to fiddle with a few short stories.

Usually at this time of the year I do some sort of post that says where various projects are at. So . . .

The dragons and the thief-taker

There’s no sight of a US publisher for The Black Mausoleum, Dragon Queen, The Splintered Gods or The Silver Kings, or for the Thief-Taker series. Both should be available via online retailers, and this seems to have started working a lot better than it did a couple of years ago. They do all appear to be available from Amazon. Dragon Queen came out in paperpack in the summer. The Splintered Gods is out and The Silver Kings is into the later stages of the edit process and should come out in June, I think. This series seems to have settled into a set of devoted followers, to if you’re one of those, thank you. Zafir has been something of a ride. She’ll probably linger with me as one of the best characters I’ve ever written, but damn is she hard to live with.

Nathan Hawke

The omnibus is out there.  As with the later dragons books, there is no US publisher but it’s available from online retailers. There are three rather long short stories which are going to come out as e-books over the first half of next year. If they sell, there may be some more novels to follow – that’s down to Nathan’s publisher being convinced enough that they’re going to make any money out of them. I liked writing Gallow and I’d like to do some more. If you’re a Gallow fan, please help that happen by buying copies for all your friends as Christmas presents.

Gavin Deas

Elite was fun but it doesn’t look like there are going to be any more in the near future. Extraction/Infiltration hasn’t had nearly enough review coverage to turn into decent sales, I fear, but it’s a bit early to know for sure.

S J Deas

Lots of positive review coverage for The Royalist. The Protector, William Falkland’s second mystery, is written, edited, and coming out in June (I think, or maybe September) and the paperback of the Royalist comes out in March (again, I *think*). I’m hopeful this series will continue.

Anyway… Most of you are just here for the free book, right…? :-)

So this week’s giveaway is… a mystery. Several mysteries, in fact, because I’m going to rob a book from the Gollancz offices (they’re all on holiday until like the middle of March or something) for every five entries[1]. I’ll take requests, but I might not be able to honour them (in fact there’s a pretty good chance I won’t, but I’ll try). I’ll be keeping half an eye open for double entries, but only half of one ;-)

So – to enter the great random end-of-year book draw, all you have to do it comment on this post before January 1st and say hello or happy Christmas or something that’s at least not obscene and I’ll randomly select lucky victims for free books. That’s it, although if there’s a specific Gollancz title you’d like me to try and pilfer then say so in the comment! So far no one has complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but  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. Am currently up to date, in that all recent winners have been posted. Obviously all the winners from this particular competition won’t be gettin gtheir books until the new year…

(it’s open worldwide, but deliveries outside Europe can take about two months)

[1] in the unlikely event that we get past fifty entries, I’ll have to drop the prize ratio in order to not go bankrupt…

Giveaway: The Fateguard Trilogy (07/12/2014)

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Damn,  but this is a good-looking book. It’s big too. I mean, Game of Thrones big. Proper fantasy big. None of that namby-pamby barely makes it to 100,o00 words thinks-it’s-some-kind-of-novel-from-any-other-genre fantasy. No no. 940 pages. 330,000 words. A man with an axe on the cover. What more could you want.

Ok, look, yes it’s an omnibus, but it’s Nathan Hawke’s  *first* omnibus and Nathan Hawke is pretty damn proud of it (”it’s like I levelled up”), so tolerate the revelling in it and accept that three novels and seven shorts is pretty decent for a giveway.

And if you don’t win, Gallow: The Fateguard Trilogy is officially published on the 12th, and is probably in most decent bookshops already.

Usual deal – comment on this post before December 14th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. It’s Christmas, so no games, but you have to say something nice about someone who isn’t me as a comment to this post to enter. That’s it. So far no one has complained about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but  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. Am currentlyup to date, in that all recent winners have been posted.

Giveaway: Empires Extraction (1/12/2014)

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New for the last couple of weeks? Not much. The final edits for The Silver Kings have gone in. Copyediting over Christmas at a guess. Nathan Hawke polished off the Gallow short Dragon’s Reach and some extra-secret bonus material. Gavin Deas attended the Elite:Dangerous premiere and headlined the event, if by headlined I mean was the last person on stage before the night ended, which I do. There have been other developments about which I shall not speak, but which are going to mean quite some reduction in writing time next year.

Also Empires came out. There are some early reviews and articles for the truly committed over on the Empires page:

Did I mention that you can read the first chapter of Extraction here?

Now to the giveaway: I did Empires: Infiltration last week, so I suppose I’d better do Extraction this week. Yay! The Snarky Spaceships volume!

Covers 4

The covers are a bit of a clue as to the content. I think they’re well suited for what’s inside. In Extraction, it’s basically badass aliens, snarky spaceships and sweary SAS men. I think Gav give Infiltration a slightly darker, edgier feel, but then the novels have their differences in what’s going on around each protagonist. If you like you that sort of thing, the way the two novels both mesh and work on their own is pretty cool (yes I cutted and pasted that from last week AGAIN. So sue me).

Usual deal – comment on this post before December  and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. This week, since there was a Star Wars trailer(well, sort of) last week, I’m looking for suggestions for things that ought to be in Star Wars: Episode 7 or ought not to be. Or anything Star Wars related will do. 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. Am currently a bit behind.

Book Giveaway: Infiltration (16/11/2014)

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This weeks sees the publication of Empires: Extraction and Empires: Infiltration, and since it’s alos Gavin’s birthday (so Facebook tells me), it seems only appropriate that I bow to that and give away one of his books for absolutely NOTHING AT ALL (and hopefully leave the lucky victim to then go a pick up a copy of Extraction, thus availing me of the several pence of royalty payment, hahAAA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN!) Gav and I also did loads and loads of fun internet things in a futile effort to gain your attention, but frankly I think my best bet is to give away lots and lots of copies of Gav’s book…

Did I mention that you can read the first chapter of Extraction here?

The rest of the last week was spent doing the last edits to The Silver Kings, which now has a rather cool looking cover that I can’t yet reveal because it’s not quite finished and working on Dragon’s Reach. Actually, there’s quite a bit of Nathan Hawke stuff slowly bubblingat the moment, so here, for anyone who wants it and didn’t already read it, is chapter one of The Crimson Shield.

Now to the giveaway:

Covers 4

The covers are a bit of a clue as to the content. I think they’re well suited for what’s inside. In Extraction, it’s basically badass aliens, snarky spaceships and sweary SAS men. I think Gav give Infiltration a slightly darker, edgier feel, but then the novels have their differences in what’s going on around each protagonist. If you like you that sort of thing, the way the two novels both mesh and work on their own is pretty cool (yes I cutted and pasted that from last week. So sue me). This week’s giveaway is Infiltration. There’s a possibility I can get Gavin to sign it, but it’s also possible he may be grumpy about giving his books away again.

Usual deal – comment on this post before November 23rd and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. This week I’m looking for the most preposterous thing you can think of about any alien invasion story ever.

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. Am currently a bit behind.

Giveaway: The Bleeding Land (3/11/2014)

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The edits are done on the second William Falkland book and other than that I don’t actually know what I did last week that was useful. Went ouch mostly, I think. Anyway, short and sweet this time; this week, with The Royalist being a story set in the English Civil War, I thought I’d give away another book with the same setting, not so much of a mystery story but more of a sweeping action-drama thing and rather enjoyable :-)

The Bleeding Land

The Bleeding Land

Usual deal – comment on this post before November 9th  and I’ll randomly select a lucky victims for a free copy. No game this week, so just comment to enter. Extra points for humour and originality, although extra points don’t actually carry any weight with the Gods of Random.

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.

Giveaway; War in Heaven (26/10/2014)

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It’s SF season here at the moment, we Elite out a couple of weeks back and Empires next month and a proposal in the works for something with another SF bent. Edits for all of next year’s titles are now done all bar the shouting and a bit of polishing.

Speaking of dragons, The Splintered Gods has a review from Falcatta Times:

“The writing is always to the point, it gets to the meat of the matter and with some of the subtle hints and wordplay within generates a story that is pretty unique out there.”

Anyway, none of you came here to hear about that, so on to business. Since Empires is coming out next month, it’s probably about time I started giving away a lot of Gavin Smith SF again (we wrote Empires together), on account of the imagined loss of sales annoying him greatly. This week I have two copies of War In Heaven for the taking.

Usual deal – comment on this post before November 2nd  and I’ll randomly select two lucky victims for free copies. This week we’re playing Bad Alien Invasion Supermarket, so you need your comment to come up with something to do with bad alien invasions, by which I mean stupid stuff that make no sense which one might encounter in bad alien invasion stories, and the comments have to be in alphabetical order. So for example, A is for Androids with Off Buttons, B is for Bloody Hell, Lasers Are Not Visible In A Vacuum, etc… You get the picture. You can stretch the the alphabetical point as far as it will go, but if you don’t play the game, your entry is VOID. HAHAHAHAHAAAAA.

You can enter as may times as you like but I’ll count the first two entries – the rest are just for fun and showing off.  Extra points for humour and originality and just for once I’ll throw in an Angry Dragons mug if you make me laugh, smirk or otherwise amuse me.

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.

Giveaway: Elite – Wanted (13/10/2014)

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When a routine bit of piracy goes wrong, the crew of the Song of Stone realise that there’s a bounty hunter on their tail. One who might, finally, be able to outclass them. The Dragon Queen is feared across space, and for good reason. But even the bounty hunter doesn’t realise what she’s been hired to do. Or what is in the container she’s been sent to retrieve.

And she’s not the only hunter in the game…

“Set in the world of bestselling computer game ELITE, and launched to tie in with the latest version, ELITE: DANGEROUS – a game almost 20 years in the making – Elite: Wanted is one of three distinct – but subtly linked – novels written by major authors who are fans of the game, this novel will be a must-buy not only for the 25,000+ people who funded the new game on kickstarter, but also for all of those fans of the original game.”

I’ve spent the last few weeks now wrapped up in edits to The Silver Kings, last of the dragon series, and a couple of Nathan Hawke shorts which have now both been through editing. This week sees the hardback publication of Elite: Wanted, a story of spaceships and pirates and bounty hunters co-written with illustrious SF author Gavin Smith (hence the rather unsubtle nom-de-plume), and so this week I’m giving away a copy dedicated however the lucky winner desires.

wanted cover - lo res

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is comment on this post before the end of  October 19th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim (the usual deal if you’ve been here before). One of the fun things about writng SF like this is naming spaceships, so if you have a favourite spaceship name I’d love to hear about it, but a simple “hi” will do.

This is open worldwide. 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. I am currently up to date with posting things.

Givaway (again): The Royalist (29/9/2014)

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News, such as there is: A second Nathan Hawke short story, Solace, is now with my editor for review, and I’m working through the edits for The Silver Kings now. There will be some deleted scenes to be posted up here at some point, I think. Also, there are these coming out on the 16th:

ThreeTitles

Anyway…

William Falkland is a dead man.

A Royalist dragoon who fought against Parliament, he is currently awaiting execution at Newgate prison. Yet when he is led away from Newgate with a sack over his head, it is not the gallows to which they take him, but to Oliver Cromwell himself. Cromwell has heard of Falkland’s reputation as an investigator and now more than ever he needs a man of conscience. His New Model Army are wintering in Devon but mysterious deaths are sweeping the camp. In return for his freedom, Falkland is despatched to uncover the truth. With few friends and a slew of enemies, Falkland soon learns there is a dark demon at work, one who won’t go down without a fight. But how can he protect Cromwell’s army from such a monster and, more importantly, will he be able to protect himself?

The Royalist is a historical crime thriller set in the depths of winter during the first English Civl War. The opening chapter is available here. To celebrate its publication, I’m giving away a second first edition hardcover copy of The Royalist, signed and dedicated however the lucky winner desires.

Royalist-cover-201x309

It’s SHINY and LOVELY, but you can’t see that here. I’ve never felt a hardcover that felt so nice and silky. Though I might be biased.

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is comment on this post before the end of  October 5th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim (the usual deal if you’ve been here before). Once more, if you have a favourite historical period in which you’d like to see a novel set, or a historical novel you’d really like to see written, or, for that matter, one that *has* been written and which you particularly enjoyed, I’d love to hear about it, but a simple “hi” will do.

This is open worldwide. 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. I am currently up to date with posting things.

Giveaway from the archives: The Thief-Taker’s Apprentice (22/9/2014)

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Berren has lived in the city all his life. He has made his way as a thief, paying a little of what he earns to the Fagin like master of their band. But there is a twist to this tale of a thief. One day Berren goes to watch an execution of three thieves. He watches as the thief-taker takes his reward and decides to try and steal the prize. He fails. The young thief is taken. But the thief-taker spots something in Berren. And the boy reminds him of someone as well. Berren becomes his apprentice. And is introduced to a world of shadows, deceit and corruption behind the streets he thought he knew. Full of richly observed life in a teeming fantasy city, a hectic progression of fights, flights and fancies and charting the fall of a boy into the dark world of political plotting and murder this marks the beginning of a new fantasy series for all lovers of fantasy – from fans of Kristin Cashore to Brent Weeks.

I suppose this only came out four years ago, but it feels like a very, very long time has passed, certainly long enough to have a moment of sober and self-critical reflection. The thief-taker’s Apprentice is certainly not the best book I ever wrote. Whether it’s the worst I suppose depends on where yout tastes lie. I happen to think that the sequel, The Warlock’s Shadow, is vastly better. It was my third (published) book and markedly differed from the first two in its focus. Where The Adamantine Palace sprawled across a dozen and more characters and locations, filled itelf with conspiracy and dastartdly deeds and sacrificed character development for pace and scale, The Thief-Taker’s Apprentice went the opposite way. It is a small, quiet, intimate story focussed entirely on two characters and set almost entirely within the walls of a single city. It was originally intended as a young adult story for boys, which takes a little edge of the sex and violence (although only a little). It certainly has its flaws (Berren’s ‘love interest’ is a flimsy two-dimensional character, intended as a reflection on the shallowness of early teen crushes and to be contrasted against the passions of his first real love in The Warlock’s Shadow; but of course, you don’t know that when you read Apprentice, and so it’s just shallow. And then there’s the single scene which switches the point of view to show the reader something that the protagonist simply cannot know, and that was really clunky).

Reviews, such as they were, were consistent – decent enjoyable stuff, doesn’t set the world alight, so forth. But the world is a big place, so do go and enjoy the one evisceration it received: “The Thief-Taker’s Apprentice’ by Stephen Deas is another example of mediocrity that shouldn’t have been let past the editor’s desk,” Why? Well because it plot has been “thrown against the wall like the proverbial pasta to see if it’ll stick” with “one contrivance after another” and “Nothing is explained, everyone acts entirely unrealistically, and by the end of the book the characters you have been reading have as much depth as a sheen of water on the driveway.” I guess we weren’t made for each other.

On the whole I personally rate it as a 3-star book. It’s perfectly good, perfectly readable, nothing hugely special or memorable. It’s no Royalist or Crimson Shield or Dragon Queen, but it does start a story that carries on into Dragon Queen, which remains the best fantasy I’ve done. All of which probably isn’t much encouragement to drop everything and rush out and buy a copy, but fortunately you don’t have to, as I’m giving one away.

thieftakers apprentice cover

All you have to do to enter is comment on this post before the end of  September 27th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim (the usual deal if you’ve been here before). If you have a favourite historical, fantasy or SF novel which you think is a hidden gem but which no one else ever talks about and which vanished without a trace, I’d love to hear about it, but a simple “hi” will do.

This is open worldwide. 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. I am currently up to date with posting things.

Giveaway: The Royalist (15/9/2014)

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William Falkland is a dead man.

A Royalist dragoon who fought against Parliament, he is currently awaiting execution at Newgate prison. Yet when he is led away from Newgate with a sack over his head, it is not the gallows to which they take him, but to Oliver Cromwell himself. Cromwell has heard of Falkland’s reputation as an investigator and now more than ever he needs a man of conscience. His New Model Army are wintering in Devon but mysterious deaths are sweeping the camp. In return for his freedom, Falkland is despatched to uncover the truth. With few friends and a slew of enemies, Falkland soon learns there is a dark demon at work, one who won’t go down without a fight. But how can he protect Cromwell’s army from such a monster and, more importantly, will he be able to protect himself?

The Royalist comes out a week on Wednesday. What is it? A historical crime thriller set in the depths of winter during the first English Civl War. This isn’t my first forray into “straight” fiction – the Bulldog Drummond stories are historical adventures with no elements of the fantastic – but it’s the first one that’s a proper novel that will be sitting on the shelves of proper bookshops one day. For anyone interested, the opening chapter is available here.

I guess I’m well and truly back from my Summer break, and one thing I promised myself was that I’d start giving books away again once I was up to speed and caught up with the backlog. So with the last Bulldog Drummond novella now delivered and my Nathan Hawke alter-ego firmly in the writing driver-seat until I get back various editing notes, here goes – to celebrate its publication, I’m giving away one first edition hardcover copy of The Royalist, signed and dedicated however the lucky winner desires.

The Royalist shiny

Is this a pretty crappy picture of the cover? Absolutely. But at least you get how SHINY it is (there’s a decent copy of the cover art here). Yes. SHINY and LOVELY. I’ve never felt a hardcover that felt so nice and silky. Though I might be biased.

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is comment on this post before the end of  September 20th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim (the usual deal if you’ve been here before). If you have a favourite historical period in which you’d like to see a novel set, or a historical novel you’d really like to see written, I’d love to hear about it, but a simple “hi” will do.

This is open worldwide. 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. I am currently up to date with posting things.

Giveaway (Dragon Queen T) (30/6/2014)

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The Silver Kings has gone to my agent. Yay. Irritation of the week still gets to be shared between the Achilles tendon that still refuses to stop hurting and the willy-waving reviews. Speaking of which there’s a review of Barricade over here what I writ and what’s full of typos.

Well I thought so…

This week it’s back to various alter-egos. Nathan Hawke is writing a short story. Then SJ gets to work on the second William Falkland novel, which will mean nothing to any of you since the first one isn’t out yet. Cover reveal coming soon though.

This week, by special request, the giveaway is a little different. This week I’m giving away a Dragon Queen T-shirt, to be ordered and printed after the competition closes. I’ll be in touch with the winner about what size it should be.


DQ T-front

DQ T-back

Usual deal – comment on this post before the end of July 5th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim. If you want to enter the competition for the shirt, tell me a T-shirt slogan, real or imagined, that amuses you.

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. I am currently up to date with posting things.

Book Giveaway: The Splintered Gods (22/6/2014)

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By the end of this week I should have a submission-ready draft of The Silver Kings. After that I get to talk with my editor about what comes next. Irritation of the week gets to be shared between the Achilles tendon that refuses to stop hurting and the review for the Black Mausoleum that describes it as having “rape-as-plot-device” when no such thing occurs, plot device or not, at any point. Balancing that is a new review of Dragon Queen at Fixed on Fantasy, “a masterpiece of fantasy and easily Deas’ best work to date.”

Well I thought so…

There’s some World Cup silliness over here (but I’m grumpy about that now), and I’ve also finished reading Barricade and might possibly write up a review of it if I have the time.

This week’s giveaway is The Splintered Gods (finally). I have nothing much to say about it except that it;s the sequel to Dragon Queen, is a bit shorter, and started off trying to be a murder mystery but largely failed.

splintered gods cover

Usual deal – comment on this post before the end of June 28th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim. This week I can’t think of any clever things to ask for in the comments, so just wave and say hi and you’ll get entered as long as you’re not spam offering NFL jerseys.

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. I am currently up to date with posting things.

Book Giveaway: Barricade (9/6/2014)

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I am grumpy this week. My foot hurts. My foot hurt last week. It’s not suppose to hurt and it’s definitely not supposed to hurt for so long. Walking is distinctly uncomfortable, and running and leaping and bounding and jumping and cavorting and other circus skills are all right out, which pisses me off, because while I’m pretty luke-warm about running, I’m generally right up for some leaping and cavorting.

The structural rewrites for Fragile Hope are done, so that’s the news. Back to the last rewrite (I hope) of The Silver Kings this week. Ah Zafir, I shall miss your unholy combination of pathos and ruthless brutality. Anyway. This week’s giveaway. I was going to go with Jon Wallace’s Barricade, but I’m currently reading it and it’s rather good and I don’t know that I want to part with it. So no Barricade for . . .  oh go on then. Here’s the blurb. I’m about a third of the way through it, it’s a fast sharp and darkly witty English version of Mad Max, so far. Imagine a pissed-off Roy Batty instead of Mel Gibson.

“Kenstibec was genetically engineered to build a new world, but the apocalypse forced a career change. These days he drives a taxi instead.

A fast-paced, droll and disturbing novel, BARRICADE is a savage road trip across the dystopian landscape of post-apocalypse Britain; narrated by the cold-blooded yet magnetic antihero, Kenstibec.

Kenstibec is a member of the ‘Ficial’ race, a breed of merciless super-humans. Their war on humanity has left Britain a wasteland, where Ficials hide in barricaded cities, besieged by tribes of human survivors. Originally optimised for construction, Kenstibec earns his keep as a taxi driver, running any Ficial who will pay from one surrounded city to another.

The trips are always eventful, but this will be his toughest yet. His fare is a narcissistic journalist who’s touchy about her luggage. His human guide is constantly plotting to kill him. And that’s just the start of his troubles.”

There’s a couple of sample chapters up on the Gollancz blog, and some reviews and shit by people whose opinions matter more than mine. If you like it, go for Echo Rising by Danie Ware too, or Veteran by Gavin Smith. If the Gods of Random fail you, it’s available as an e-book for the knock-down price of £1.99 for the next few weeks.

Usual deal – comment on this post before the end of June 14th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim. This week, who would YOU like to see go on a road-trip through a post-apocalyptic landscape.

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. I am currently up to date with posting things, although whoever won the Incorruptibles competition, I haven’t had an address to send it to, so check your spam or I’ll send it to someone else.

Book Giveaway: In Dark Service (3/6/2014)

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Apologies to the few of you who saw the previous version of this post; I appear to have suffered a moment of Wordpress incompetence. So let’s try this again . . .

Not much news this week. I’m on break from The Silver Kings and working on the second William Falkland mystery, which won’t mean anything much to any of you on account of the first one not being out yet. There is a cover I hope to reveal shortly.

Moving on: this week’s giveaway is Stephen Hunt’s In Dark Service, Stephen’s first novel for Gollancz.I haven’t read this one, though I’ve read some of his previous series. Here’s the condensed blurb.

“Carter has been kidnapped. Enslaved. But he’s determined to fight to the end. Jacob is a pacifist. His family destroyed. He’s about to choose the path of violence to reclaim his son. Their world has changed for ever. Between them, they’re going to avenge it.”

But never mind that. Here’s the cover. So. So. Purty. So. Much. Cover. Envy…

Usual deal – comment on this post before the end of June and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim. This week, with the World Cup coming up, I encourage any soccer enthusiasts to offer up a well-known SFF character and what position they’d play (Gollum: substitute striker. Never features in the starting eleven but has a record of coming on for the last 10-15 minutes and scoring the winning goal). For those already rolling their eyes, you may blow elegant raspberries instead :-)

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. I am currently somewhat behind.

Book Giveaway: The Incorruptibles (25/5/2014)

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The last major reworking of The Silver Kings is done and I have what feels like a finished book ready now. The spit-and-polish and editing and so forth will now begin. I both love and hate this time in a book’s life. It comes with a great sense of achievement that it’s basically done and with a sense of loss, because now I say goodbye to some characters I’ve grown very fond of, and a (stupid) sense of fear that I’ll never be able to write again.

This week’s giveaway is The Incorruptibles by John Hornor Jacobs. It’s not out yet, so you might have to wait a but, but I’ve read an unproofed ARC and it’s a marvelous. Somewhere across between Deadwood and Rome with demon-powered six-shooters. Here’s the blurb:

“In the contested and unexplored territories at the edge of the Empire, a boat is making its laborious way up stream. Riding along the banks are the mercenaries hired to protect it – from raiders, bandits and, most of all, the stretchers, elf-like natives who kill any intruders into their territory. The mercenaries know this is dangerous, deadly work. But it is what they do.

In the boat the drunk governor of the territories and his sons and daughters make merry. They believe that their status makes them untouchable. They are wrong. And with them is a mysterious, beautiful young woman, who is the key to peace between warring nations and survival for the Empire. When a callow mercenary saves the life of the Governor on an ill-fated hunting party, the two groups are thrown together.

For Fisk and Shoe – two tough, honourable mercenaries surrounded by corruption, who know they can always and only rely on each other – their young companion appears to be playing with fire. The nobles have the power, and crossing them is always risky. And although love is a wonderful thing, sometimes the best decision is to walk away. Because no matter how untouchable or deadly you may be, the stretchers have other plans.”

It’s short and sharp and I liked it. It’s officially out in August, but if you’re lucky you might get an early copy – depends whether our mutual editor is feeling in a good mood or not. Also, if the Gods of Random don’t happen to favour you this time, it’s ridiculously cheap (£1.99) as a pre-order e-book for a limited period.

Usual deal – comment on this post before the end of June and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim.This week you have to help me out, and if you don’t then I’ll know you didn’t read to the bottom of the post and your comment won’t count :-p

I have proposals to submit for something new. Tell me which one most grabs your attention. My editor and agent will probably choose something entirely different and we’ll all fail to agree, but you never know. Am curious to see if a strong favourite emerges:

1: Fantasy. City-based. A misfit gang of thieves accidentally get themselves caught up in an empire-spanning conspiracy and really wish they hadn’t. With occasional zombies and silly hats.

2: A handful of secret and not-so-secret magicians find themselves pulled into the first world war. With arcane tanks, sentient bears, djinn and Rasputin.

3. San Francisco. 1972. Surfers. Hippies. Dope. Aliens. A surreal cold-war conspiracy thriller with an extra-terrestrial prize.

4. A misfit bunch of space-cops in a backwater future world find themselves investigating odd crimes which aren’t as unrelated as they first appear.

5. Baroque Space Opera I struggle to describe better than “Dune meets Game of Thrones”

Comment to tell me which one you like best and you’re in. 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. I am currently a couple of weeks behind.

Book Giveaway: Dragon Queen (12/5/2014)

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Ziva rammed the throttle wide open and threw the Fer-de-Lance into a tight spin, spitting out countermeasures in a classic tesseract pattern. Her wingman, a second Fer-de-Lance, shot between the incoming missiles and her countermeasure bloom, adding to the confusion, but it didn’t make a difference. The Cobra Mk. III was still coming at her. Somehow it had shot all four of her missiles before they’d burst and scattered their warheads and now the Cobra was firing steadily at her with frightening accuracy. Whatever software it was running was unreal and she wanted it.

The second Fer-de-Lance twisted away. He always did that. ‘Turn and take him head on you weasel,’ she muttered.

A lucky shot from the Cobra punched a hole through the crystal titanium skin over the Fer-de-Lance’s port engine. Several cubic centimetres of ablative armour vaporised and took most of the laser’s sting, but not quite enough. Even at this range, the beam of the Cobra’s military laser was still needle thin. The last vestiges stabbed into the engine’s heart and wrecked a power relay no bigger than a thumbnail. A magnetic containment field, already strained to breaking point by Ziva’s frantic manoeuvring, collapsed and raw plasma at eight million Kelvin erupted through the port engine, scouring everything. Damage control cut in at once, raising a magnetic shield and deflecting the plasma outward. The starboard engine started adjusting to compensate but it wasn’t fast enough. The rogue plasma burst out of the ship, kicking it sideways, rupturing the port engine cowling as it went. The kick was hard, hard enough that it almost knocked Ziva out. The ship started to tumble, frantically dumping heat from the engines and ruining Ziva’s perfect countermeasure tesseract.

Before she could do a thing about it, the two chasing missiles arrived milliseconds apart. Their proximity fuses triggered and both warheads burst around her into a scatter of pinhead-sized anti-hydrogen mines. Invisible and lethal. Two seconds later, the first mine hit and the Fer-de-Lance bloomed in a blaze of energy. Overwhelmed shields collapsed and the ship, missiles and mines exploded together with the gamma-flash of a dying star. That was the thing about the Fer-de-Lance: it was a true thoroughbred of a ship but with so much performance crammed into such a tight envelope that it didn’t have the backups and built-in redundancy of the more robust Cobra. Too many single points of failure.

The other Fer-de-Lance frantically ejected countermeasures of its own and darted behind the radiation burst that had once been Ziva’s ship. Its fusion plume flared as the pilot floored the throttle to get away. He turned and ran. The follow-up salvo of missiles from the pursuing Cobra fuzed on the decoys.

Ziva crashed out of the simulation and slammed the flight panel of the Dragon Queen in disgust. ‘Fuck! Again!’

- o O o -

More beating The Silver Kings into shape this week. On Thursday Elite:Wanted comes out in e-book, but only in e-book so I can’t give a copy of it away until it comes out in paper form later in the year. So since I can’t, this week’s giveaway is a choice between a paper copy of the Elite book if you don’t mind waiting or else a copy of Dragon Queen, whihc came out in paperback a few weeks ago and after which Ziva’s ship is named. You choose!

wanted cover - lo res

Dragon Queen lo-res cover

Usual deal – comment on this post before May 18th and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy of whichever book you choose. Give me a comment with either a cool name for a dragon or a cool name for a spaceship (just for fun – I won’t be using them) and we’ll have a popularity contest: dragons vs. spaceships.

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. I am currently very behind so if you’re waiting for a book from a previous giveaway they’re all in the post.

Giveaway: Dragon Queen (14/4/2014)

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Nothing Can Hurt Me

Nothing Can Stop Me

Dragon Queen came out in paperback last weeks and I have a few copies, a tiny precious few. For anyone who hasn’t already listened to be go on about it, Dragon Queen is my attempt to keep all the good stuff from the first series but with vastly more world building and character depth (hopefully sort of like The Black Mausoleum).  So it’s not going to be quite the relentlessly fast roller-coaster of The Adamantine Palace but on the other hand you do get an entire last act that should read like Call of Duty: Dragon Warfare if I’ve done it right. There are some tasters here and here and here. There are a few reviews about the place on Goodreads and Amazon and so forth of you care about such things. I wouldn’t say no to a few more. HINT HINT.

You wanted to know more about the Taiytakei: here they are. And possibly they just made a very big mistake. Efforts continue to write the last volume in this sequence.

Dragon Queen lo-res cover

I have two copies to give away. One here and one on Twitter. Usual deal – comment on this post before April 21st  and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy.

This week, like we did last summer, we’re playing Dragon Supermarket. So you need your comment to come up with something to do with fire and dragons and the comments have to be in alphabetical order. So for example, A is for Absolutely Run Like Fuck When You See One, B is for Burn, C is for Change Your Underwear If You Survive, etc…

Anyway, to enter the competition, you have to play the game. You can enter as may times as you like and I’ll count the first two entries – the rest are just for fun and showing off.  Extra points for humour and originality and just for once I’ll throw in an Angry Dragons mug if you make me laugh, smirk or otherwise amuse me.

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. I am currently a little behind.

Giveaway: Gavin Smith Stuff (1/4/2014)

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ELITE!!!!! (at this point please picture a hyperkinetic author running about in wide circles waving his arms in the air). So there’s an announcement about Elite: Dangerous tie-in novels. Meanwhile the  proofs for The Splintered Gods are done, the proofs for Elite: Wanted are well on their way and hurrah, that’s the end of page proofs for a while and I can get back to The Silver Kings.

Anyhow, if you read the Elite news, you’ll know that Gollancz SF author Gavin Smith and I have turned into some hideous chimera EVEN WORSE THAN EITHER ONE OF US ALONE to write Elite: Wanted. So this week I’m giving away some of Gavin’s books to deny him a few pennies in sales and generally be cruel in a petty kind of way.

Usual deal – comment on this post before April 14th and I’ll randomly select lucky victims. This week I want to know WHY HAVEN’T YOU READ DRAGON QUEEN YET spaceship names. Ones that you’d like to see in print, not ones already there. Who knows…

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. I’m off to the post office RIGHT NOW to clear the Big Book Bonanza. And Blood of Elves (sorry, Blood of Elves winner).

Giveaway: Gallow (24/3/2014)

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The past week has been spent on page proofs and more page proofs. The proofs for The Royalist are done, the proofs for The Splintered Gods are well on their way to being finished. Last week was also a curiously positive week for a couple of other projects. Firstly there’s going to be a third Bulldog Drummond novella, which will be a laugh. Secondly, Gollancz have asked for three Gallow mini-stories (details when there are details to be had). So this week’s giveaway is going to be pairs of Gallow books, Cold Redemption and The Last Bastion. The Last Bastion pretty much picks up from where Cold Redemption leaves off, so they’re pretty much a couple. Normally it would only be one pair, but I’ve been persuaded to give away as many copies as goals Liverpool put past Sunderland later this week. Go reds!

cold redemption cover lo-resCover artwork lo-res

Usual deal – comment on this post before March 31st  and I’ll randomly select lucky victims. This week I want to know WHY HAVEN’T YOU READ DRAGON QUEEN YET which one you’d choose if you were offered – sword, axe or spear. Context free, no implied purpose, make up your own use, etc.

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. I will try to clear the Big Book Bonanza this week. And Blood of Elves (sorry, Blood of Elves winner).

Giveaway: Mystery Book Bonanza

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I just have to point this out again

Things that happen when you have more than one publisher: Two page proofs arrive at one (for those of you who don’t know, the page proofs are the last stage of the process where the last proof-reading occurs and at this point there’s an actual deadline for getting shit done, and generally pretty tight ones too).

I spent yesterday at a small literary festival. This involved showing up with a box of books. I have, I discover, quite a lot of books. Probably more than I have a use for. So this week I’m going to give away all kinds of stuff. There will be some Nathan Hawke. There will be some Stephen Deas. I have Adam Roberts, Joe Abercrombie, Brandon Sanderson, Stephen Baxter and numerous other. The gods of random will pick one entry for every four comments until I run out of books. Aaaaaad….. GO.

cold redemption cover lo-resCover artwork lo-res

Usual deal – comment on this post before March 24th  and I’ll randomly select lucky victims. This week I want to know your must-read books.

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. Recent winners, I have (just about) cleared my backlog again – they’re all in the post!

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