Solaris Rising - The Contents Revealed


Hulloh Solarians

To start your week I'm pleased to be able to finally reveal the full table of contents for our SF anthology, Solaris Rising: The New Solaris Book of Science-Fiction, edited by the excellent Mr Ian Whates:

Introduction - Ian Whates
A Smart-Mannered Uprising of the Dead - Ian McDonald
The Incredible Exploding Man - Dave Hutchinson
Sweet Spots - Paul di Filippo
Best SF of the Year Three - Ken MacLeod
The One that Got Away - Tricia Sullivan
Rock Day - Stephen Baxter
Eluna - Stephen Palmer
Shall I Tell You the Problem with Time Travel? - Adam Roberts
The Lives and Deaths of Che Guevara - Lavie Tidhar
Steel Lake - Jack Skillingstead
Mooncakes - Mike Resnick and Laurie Tom
At Play in The Fields - Steve Rasnic Tem
How We Came Back From Mars - Ian Watson
You Never Know - Pat Cadigan
Yestermorrow - Richard Salter
Dreaming Towers, Silent Mansions - Jaine Fenn
Eternity's Children - Eric Brown and Keith Brooke
For the Ages - Alastair Reynolds
Return of the Mutant Worms - Peter F. Hamilton

Yes, that's 19 stories by a host of the most talented SF writers around. Solaris Rising will be released in November both in paper and e-formats.




Free Ebook! The Wizard's Coming...


‘Captain!’ Hosh’s shriek startled everyone. Up on the cliff edge, he was hopping from foot to foot, pointing out towards the distant horizon. ‘The wizard! The wizard’s coming!’

...and what's more, he's free.

That's right! Those of you who are especially loyal readers and have been picking up your lovely Solaris treats since right back in the beginning will know that the profoundly talented and many-hatted Juliet E. McKenna, author of the upcoming The Hadrumal Crisis trilogy, wrote a story, "The Wizard's Coming," for our anthology The Solaris Book of New Fantasy, way back in 2007.

What you may not have known is that the story actually serves as a kind of "prequel" for The Hadrumal Crisis, introducing some of the characters and revealing some of the events leading up to the first book, Dangerous Waters, which is hitting the shelves in August!

(It also, for really dedicated fans, ties in to her previous trilogy, The Chronicles of the Lescari Revolution...)

And, of course, it's a great story in its own right.

What's more, we're just plain ol' giving it away, right now! So you can have a read, and whet your appetite for when this baby hits the shelves in a few weeks. We got it in .epub, .mobi and even in good old-fashioned .pdf for those who don't get into the ebook thing so much.


Outstanding.

Cheers,

David

Out Soon: Sympathy for the Devil


Hey there!

So we're terribly excited about the third Morris and Chastain Investigation, Sympathy for the Devil (there's Chris McGrath's moody noir cover, above), which is due to hit the shelves at the end of July in the States and in early August over here.

And what's not to be excited about? It's a bit sexy, a bit horrific, a bit urban, a bit fantasy, and all-round pretty damned exciting. This time we see occult investigator Quincey Morris (the direct descendent of the very Quincey Morris who helped Van Helsing and Harker dispatch Dracula, natch) and his white-witch associate Libby Chastain get embroiled in the seamy world of politics, as they attempt to prevent the demon-possessed Senator Howard Stark from reaching the highest office in the land and ushering in the Apocalypse.

Gustainis has even been so kind as to produce a trailer for the book, which you can watch right here:



Which is all pretty cool. So keep your eyes on the bookshelves, and remember to cast your vote with care in the coming election...


UPDATE: Solaris Books would like to formally retract and whole-heartedly apologise for our previous statements regarding Howard Stark. Senator Stark is justly proud of his public profile, both as an upstanding member of the community and as a champion of traditional values, and there is no truth whatsoever to the rumours that he trafficks with or is possessed by demons or any demonic entities. Solaris Books would like to go on to wish Senator Stark the best of luck with his electoral campaign.

Abaddon & Solaris Books Podcast. You know you want to...

Hey chaps,

So yeah, kind of catching up on blogging on the podcast...

The eleventh podcast, No Man's World But Pat's, is now up. Brilliant and alluring Desk Editor David Moore (just to check if the boss is still reading) and northern penmeister Pat Kelleher, author of the thrilling No Man's World: Ironclad Prophecy by Abaddon Books, talk about the stunning new series and its future. Find it here on iTunes, or go to the Store and search for "Abaddon and Solaris."

You can also just go here to look at the feed direct, or to subscribe using an RSS application, like Outlook.

Awesome.

David

Blue Portal's Still Up There!

So this is quite cool.

As you may remember, waaay back in December last year, we offered a free giveaway of the opening chapter of Eric Brown's magum opus The Kings of Eternity, under the title The Blue Portal.

So it's June now, and it seems Eric's still a massive draw. Check it out, he's #73 on the US iTunes chart for free ebooks:


That's not bad, seven months on.

International Steampunk Day (We Love Steampunk Detectives!)

As it's International Steampunk Day, we thought it might be a good time to mention that our sister imprint, Abaddon Books, has launched its first $0.99 ebook, with The Ulysses Quicksilver Short Story Collection!

Do you want to try out one of the world's longest-running steampunk series? These three short stories have been hand-picked by the author, from his earlier works, to provide the perfect introduction the world of Pax Britannia!

LinkThe ebook is available to download for 99 cents through Kindle (UK 69p) and iTunes (UK 49p).


This month also saw the release of Tim Aker's Dead of Veridon! his stand alone hardboiled detective adventure from the man who brought you Heart of Veridon showcases the adventures of disowned aristocrat Jacob Burn and his backtalking anansi associate, Wilson, as they investigate a strange plague infecting the city's underwater residents, the Fehn...

Tor.com have provided a cracking review of the book
, praising Akers's 'superior world-building', his 'captivating' monsters and concluding that: 'Those who enjoy their steampunk tech with a high dose of technofantasy, their “punk” to be the criminal element in a corrupt society, and pulpy dialogue should pick up Dead of Veridon. Though if reading it at a beach, you may find yourself eyeing the water warily from time to time.'

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Solaris Triple Bill in Waterstones, Oxford - July 28th



Rowena Cory Daniells at Supanova Pop Culture Expo - Sydney

After appearing at Brisbane and Melbourne in Australia last April, Rowena Cory Daniells and the Supanova 2011 Expo will be in Sydney next weekend!

Rowena is the author of the bestselling King Rolen's Kin fantasy series and the upcoming Outcast Chronicles. She looks forward to seeing all her fans in Sydney at the Expo on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July.

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Conrad Williams Signing - Sat 11th June - Waterstone's Liverpool One


Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Flight Zero is coming in to land as Conrad Williams, author of Loss of Separation, will be signing copies of his brilliant horror novel this Saturday at Waterstone's Liverpool One branch.

The signing is between 12 and 4pm and not only do you get to meet the man yourself, but you can also be entered into an exciting competition:
Anybody who buys a copy of Loss of Separation and gets it signed by the author at the signings over the coming months will be included in a prize draw to take place later in the summer. Pass on your contact details to Conrad in any of the Waterstone's stores where he will be appearing and, on August 19th (Orville Wright's birthday), one name will be drawn and (s)he will win a goody bag containing:

* A signed copy of Conrad's first (hard to find) novel, Head Injuries
* A very rare signed proof copy (only two in existence!) of One
* A signed US edition of London Revenant
Tempting treasures indeed. So, this is your editor-in-chief encouraging you to make it along to the signing and get yourself a copy of one of the finest horror novels of 2011.



Podcast Ten out now!

Hi all,

Check this shiz out right now.

The tenth podcast, Eric of Eternity, finds peerless Editor-in-Chief Jon Oliver face-to-face with Eric Brown, author of the Space Opera epic Kings of Eternity, out now from Solaris Books.

Find it here on iTunes, or go to the Store and search for "Abaddon and Solaris."

You can also just go here to look at the feed direct, or to subscribe using an RSS application, like Outlook.

Cheers,

David

OUT NOW! (and SOON!)

Wotcher all,

It's been pointed out that between the podcasts, interviews, guest-blogs, up-coming commissions, special features and other hokum with which we fill up our blogs, we don't actually tell you what we've got coming out each month. We hereby vow to rectify this, starting this minute.

If you're lucky enough to live in North America, you may already have seen this month's new releases on the shelves! Over here in the UK, these suckers will be hitting the shelf next week:

Desdaemona, by Chaz Brenchley

Jordan helps kids on the run find their way back home. He’s good at that. He should be – he’s a runaway himself.

Sometimes he helps the kids in other, stranger, ways. He looks like a regular teenager, but he’s not. He acts like he’s not exactly human, but he is. He treads the line between mundane reality and the world of the supernatural.

Desdaemona also knows the non-human world far too well. She tracks Jordan down and enlists his aid in searching for her lost sister Fay, who did a Very Bad Thing involving an immortal. This may be a mistake – for both of them. Too many people are interested now, and some of them are not people at all.

Ben Macallan’s urban fantasy debut takes you on a terrifying journey, lifting the curtain on what really walks our city streets.

David Says: Dark but fun, serious but pacy, a little bit sexy without detracting from the drama, with a pair of engaging, believable young heroes who are cool enough to shine, and yet awkward enough to be believable as teens. A cracking read.


Dead of Veridon, by Tim Akers

Trouble finds Jacob Burn: kicked out of his house, out of his comfortable life – out of everything that is familiar – even turned away from his circle of criminal friends and interesting enemies. Two years after he saved an ungrateful city from a mad angel, thwarting the plans of every powerful faction in Veridon, Jacob is still trying to pull his life together. And still trouble finds him. A bad job goes worse, and soon old enemies present themselves as allies, and former friends set themselves against Jacob as he tries to put the dead to rest and the living to justice. Things gets even harder when he’s appointed by the Council to investigate the rise of the cog-dead, while some hold him personally accountable, and others in the city work to use the chaos to their advantage.

Dead of Veridon is the brilliant sequel to Tim Aker's Heart of Veridon.

David Says: Where do you begin? Is it pastiche? Is it "New Weird"? Eldritch, pseudo-magical, pseudo-technological clockwork shenanigans in a sprawling, decadent, ancient and fascinating fantasy city, seen through the eyes of a hard-nosed, gun-totin' cynic who seems to have wandered in off the pages of a Raymond Chandler novel by mistake, without detracting in any way from the feel of the story. Must-read.

Awesome.

David

Desdaemona Review and Author Interview

The Falcata Times has interviewed Chaz Brenchley, (otherwise known as the pseudonymous Ben Macallan,) and reviewed his latest work, the urban fantasy novel Desdaemona.

The interview is here, and Chaz talks about writing, his guilty pleasures and his low opinion of the 'elevator pitch'.

The review is here, and calls Desdaemona 'a story that concentrates on character and personal relationships over the big exotic landscape.... As usual, [Solaris] don’t compromise on talent but with so many titles treading along a well-worn path, the ones released by this publisher like to hack their way through the undergrowth to create something different.'

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