Paul Kearney, whose latest novel, The Ten Thousand (REVIEW), was just released worldwide, has released information about his next project. Following the steps of Tobias Buckell (whose penning an upcoming novel based on the popular Halo series of videogames), Kearney will be working on a tie-in novel for the televisions series Primeval.

Stolen from Werthead:

TIME FOR ADVENTURE

A Brand New Novel Based On The Hit TV Series, Primeval

Continuing the exciting new series of original novels spinning out of the prime time ITV series from Impossible Pictures comes PRIMEVAL: THE LOST ISLAND [Titan Books, 24 October 2008, £6.99].

When strange anomalies in time start to appear, Evolutionary Zoologist Professor Cutter and his team must help track down and capture a multitude of dangerous prehistoric creatures from Earth’s distant past.

Written by Paul Kearney (The Monarchies of God, The Sea Beggars), The Lost Island finds Cutter and his team stranded on a mysterious island amidst the perilous Irish seas, where they must fight to survive as anomalies wink in and out around them, releasing untold dangers into the deadly storm.

A heady mixture of action and adventure, Primeval has captured the imagination of audiences and critics alike. Titan’s first novel, Primeval: Shadow of the Jaguar [£6.99, 9781845766924] was a Bookscan #1 bestseller, while the DVD release of the second series topped TV DVD charts with 35,000 copies sold in its week of release.

As the show continues to be syndicated to networks across the world, these brand new original novels take Professor Cutter and his team to places and situations outside of the show to confront new creatures and face new dangers in the Primeval universe.

With the third series scheduled to air in early 2009, Titan’s thrilling new fiction is the perfect way for fans to keep their appetites whet and immerse themselves in the world of the show.

It’s interesting to see acclaimed writers turning to the world of tie-in novels. Maybe we’ll finally start seeing tie-in novels worth reading? Kearney and Buckell’s names attached to a novel are certainly more than enough to get me interested.

Also, here’s a few more tidbits pulled from comments he made on his own forums:

You folk still waiting to read the darn thing may or may not be interested to know that I’ve been hammering out a new idea for a big fantasy series for Solaris. I don’t really want to revisit the world of Kuf in the near future, and the rights to the Beggars still haven’t reverted, so it’s plough on elsewhere time. I’ve decided to really pull my finger out this time and go a bundle on the fat fantasy ethos, setting the new series in seventeenth century Europe, but an alternate Europe – not like in the Monarchies, but in our own geographical and historical world, though with obvious tweaks and differences – the addition of magic and so on. I’m thinking of basing the main character on Oliver Cromwell, but the series will be about the whole Thirty-years-war era. Still in the preliminary stages, but so far Solaris are very happy with the concept.

I’ve been thinking about my style of writing too. Reading some of the reviews for The Ten thousand, I think perhaps I’ve become a little too lean and mean with my prose, and the focus of the narrative. So I’m thinking of being a little more discursive with the new stuff. I’d be interested in some feedback from you good people out there on that one…
Anyway, as soon as I can let you know more, I will.

This new idea, which in my mind is entitled Fury, is something I’ve been toying with in my head since I finished Ships from the West. I’ve decided to try and write ‘fatter’ as it were, and really pad out the characters, the milieu and all the stuff fat fantasy thrives on. Whether it’ll work out, only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure, if someone tells me one more time my books are too short, I’ll smack them on the nose.

Despite my reservations for The Ten Thousand, I’m still very excited about these rumblings. Can’t wait to see what Kearney and Solaris have up their sleeves.

Discussion
  • thrinidir August 29, 2008 at 4:41 am

    great news Aidan, thanks for the heads up.