Fantasycon Photos

Two editors, one PR guy and lots of Solaris authors walk into a convention...

Just a quick post to share with you some of the photos that we took of the Big Solaris Book Event, and to say thank you to all the fans and readers who came to the signing and who told us how much they're enjoying our books.

A big thank you also to the British Fantasy Society, for organising such a fabulous convention, and to all the hardworking volunteers who made it happen.

Gary McMahon, Nicholas Royle, Richard Ford, James Lovegrove, Juliet E. McKenna and Conard Williams at the signing.

The view from the hotel.

Juliet chats with a fan.

House of Fear Launch!

On Tuesday the 27th of September, something scary will be haunting Foyles book shop on Charing Cross Road, London... us! The writers and editors of the upcoming House of Fear anthology of haunted house stories will be celebrating its launch and we'd like you to join us.

You can RSVP and spot who'll be there at the public facebook page, but don't forget to reserve your free ticket through the Foyles website!

House of Fear is an anthology of haunted house stories featuring terrifying tales by nineteen scribes of terror: Lisa Tuttle, Stephen Volk, Terry Lamsley, Adam L.G. Nevill, Weston Ochse, Rebecca Levene, Garry Kilworth, Chaz Brenchley, Robert Shearman, Nina Allan, Christopher Fowler, Sarah Pinborough, Paul Meloy, Christopher Priest, Jonathan Green, Nicholas Royle, Eric Brown, Tim Lebbon and Joe R. Lansdale.

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Online Reviews:

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review reviews Redlaw, gives it nine and a quarter out of ten, and hopes that this could be the start of a series...

SciFiChick.com reviews Sympathy for the Devil. Dark, suspenseful, with plenty of surprising twists, the story was completely engaging and hard to put down. And the characters are complex and gritty. Gustainis never fails to entertain.

The Fantasy Book Review has reviewed Juliet E. McKenna's Dangerous Waters. reviewer, mark, says he not only now understands Juliet's place within 'the pantheon' of British fantasy authors, but is planning the read her earlier novels. As a reader we are stretched as taut as a bowstring... our frustration building until, at the last, the world McKenna has corralled us into explodes in a maelstrom of violence that is merely the tinder spark for what must come in the next books...

Pornokitsch reviews Nicholas Royle's Regicide, (insists on being read through to the final page, with every paragraph serving as another turn in the maze....) as does Gavin C. Pugh of GavReads.co.uk (It’s not often that books affect me after reading them but this one lingers, especially when you start asking how unhinged Carl actually is and when you first started to notice...). Gavin is also running a Regicide giveaway, ending 2nd September, so get over there and enter if you want to bag yourself a copy....

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Press Release: Search for me...

Regicide by Nicholas Royle

Coming in September

£7.99 (UK) ISBN: 978-1-907992-01-8
$7.99/$9.99 (US & CAN) ISBN: 978-1-907992-00-1

Also Available as an eBook

The pain of falling for the wrong girl. A map to an unknown town. A world behind our own. A stunning new novel.

When he finds part of a map to somewhere that doesn’t exist, broken-hearted Carl convinces himself it is the city of his dreams, where the elusive and beautiful Annie will agree to meet him again. But do the streets on the map reveal the land of his dreams or the world of his worst nightmares?

With stunning gold foil cover and a story that will appeal to fans of China Miéville and Neil Gaiman, Regicide is a powerful novel from a master of the macabre that takes readers into a baroque, nightmarish otherworld that will leave them dizzy.

Praise for Nicholas Royle: “A thoroughly satisfying, thought-provoking and beautifully realized work that will keep you pondering for days and will seep into your dreams” – Infinity Plus on Antwerp

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Two Solaris Titles up for 'Not The Booker Prize' prize!

Forget the Booker - THIS is the prize everyone wants to win!
The shortlist for The Guardian's 'Not The Booker Prize 2011' has been announced and there are two (count 'em) titles from Solaris upon it:

Regicide by Nicholas Royle
Concrete Grove by Gary McMahon

The voting system is ... er ... somewhat odd, though it's great to see two of our best titles up there. Regicide is being published in September, but if you've enjoyed Concrete Grove then please vote for it because we think it should DEFINITELY win. Don't just take our word for it, here are the views of others:

New York Journal of Books: “The Concrete Grove conjures up images that will haunt readers long after the book is put away”

British Fantasy Society: “This book is an outstanding mix of urban horror and dark fantasy, hints of King's Dark Tower series, hints of Holdstock's Mythago Wood, but above all the realisation of McMahon's talents as the outstanding British horror writer of our times.”

Andre Farant: “Much in The Concrete Grove reminded me of Clive Barker’s work. I don’t know if it’s a British thing, but McMahon manages, like his more famous (for now) countryman before him, to blend sensuality with horror”

The Eloquent Page: “The Concrete Grove is a must read for all self-respecting fans of horror... I couldn’t tell you the last time I read a novel in a single sitting.”

Read Horror: “Read The Concrete Grove because McMahon depicts precise details succinctly without compromising on the unrelenting pace or quality of his prose... Read The Concrete Grove because it deals in horror that cuts deeper than beasts, monsters, zombies and werewolves... Read The Concrete Grove.”

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Free PDF! Nicholas Royle's "The Lure"

Hey all!

So, to misquote the beloved Golden-era Hollywood director Samuel Goldwyn, "How did you love our book?"

I refer, of course, to our underground-horror anthology, The End of the Line, edited by Jonathan Oliver.

In particular, I refer to Nicholas Royle's powerful, suggestive story "The Lure."

The very anthology, and very story, that have both been shortlisted by the British Fantasy Society for the British Fantasy Awards 2011, in the Best Anthology and Best Short Story categories, respectively.

You haven't read it!?

Well. I can't say I'm not disappointed. I thought you were better than that.

Still, dear reader - if indeed that is your name - panic not! We've had a bit of a chat around the office and decided to give the hell out of that story right to the public! You don't even need to buy the book or anything (although you totally should, and read it; it's awesome). You can read Royle's short story right now, in PDF form, just by downloading it:

Check it out!

We're just giving, caring people like that.

(And hell, you know, if you're a member of the BFS, and are maybe thinking of how to vote, or as it may be, you've got a friend who was at Fantasycon last year and is trying to decide how to vote, or something, you could, you know... keep these in mind?)

Brilliant.

Cheers,

David