Monthly Archives: February 2010

Cover Art

Cover Art & Synopsis | Version 43 by Philip Palmer

By Aidan Moher February 22nd, 2010
Version 43 by Philip Palmer

The Exodus Universe.

Your odds of surviving quantum teleportation are, more or less, fifty/fifty. The only ones crazy enough to try it are the desperate, the insane, and those sentenced to exile for their crimes.

Belladonna is home to the survivors of the fifty/fifty—and is therefore a planet run by criminals and thieves. But when a horrific and improbable murder catches the attention of the Galactic Police force, one cyborg cop—Version 43—is sent to investigate.

Version 43 has been here before and has old friends and older enemies lying in wait. The cop was human once, but now, he is more program than man and will find a way to clean up this planet once and for all.

Another solid cover for Philip Palmer from the folks at Orbit. Like its predecessor, I’m sure this will be a love-it-or-hate-it cover. While I don’t like it quite as much as the cover for Red Claw, I still applaud Orbit for going ahead and making the bold decision and not covering Palmer’s books with images that look like every other Science Fiction novel out there, it’s something I’d like to see more publishing companies attempt. As with Red Claw, I love the faux-60’s look, which reminds me greatly of Thunderbirds (or Fireball XL5).

Over on the , Lauren Panepinto has gives a nice peek into the creation of the covers and the ‘branding’ of Philip Palmer and his novels.

News

An Aside | No sign of ‘The Republic of Thieves’ in 2010

By Aidan Moher February 18th, 2010

From the official Anne Groell (senior editor) told us we will–hopefully–be seeing Scott Lynch’s REPUBLIC OF THIEVES #spring2011″>Bantam Spectra Twitter:

Anne Groell (senior editor) told us we will–hopefully–be seeing Scott Lynch’s REPUBLIC OF THIEVES #spring2011

So, looks like the rumours were false. Again. Either that or the manuscript has been turned in (doubtful, given the wording of the twitter announcement) and needs a lot of work. Whichever way, I guess it’s just another delay for The Republic of Thieves. Still, with all this time in the oven, I think we can expect a pretty rockin’ book when it finally hits shelves. Now… where is The Bastards and the Knives?

UPDATE: According the Shawn Speakman, the manuscript has been turned in and already gone through a pass of edits. Good news. It’s also looking like the Spring date may be the result of Gollancz, Lynch’s UK publisher, having the rights to publish the novel first. Could we see a Holiday 2010 release in the UK/Canada and a Spring release in the USA?

News

Free Readin’ | Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky

By Aidan Moher February 18th, 2010

Over at the Pyr Samples Page, a juicy five chapter excerpt of Adrian Tchaikovsky‘s Empire in Black and Gold has been published. If there’s anything I’ve come to trust in the publishing world, it’s the quality of Pyr’s releases. On top of that, I’ve heard rather solid reviews of Empire in Black and Gold, and the Shadows of the Apt series in general.

One

After Stenwold picked up the telescope for the ninth time, Marius said, “You will know first from the sound.”

The burly man stopped and peered down at him, telescope still half-poised. From their third-storey retreat the city walls were a mass of black and red, the defenders hurrying into place atop the ramparts and about the gates.

“How do you mean, the sound?”

Marius, sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, looked up at him. “What you hear now is men braving themselves for a fight. When it starts, they will be quiet, just for a moment. They will brace themselves. Then it will be a different kind of noise.” It was a long speech for him.

Even from here Stenwold could hear a constant murmur from the gates. He lowered the telescope reluctantly. “There’ll be a great almighty noise when they come in, if all goes according to plan.”

Marius shrugged. “Then listen for that.”

Below there was a quick patter of feet as someone ascended the stairs. Stenwold twitched but Marius remarked simply, “Tisamon,” and went back to staring at nothing. In the room beneath them there were nine men and women dressed in the same chain hauberk and helm that Marius wore, and looking enough like him to be family. Stenwold knew their minds were meshed together, touching each other’s and touching Marius too, thoughts passing freely back and forth between them. He could not imagine how it must be, for them.

You can read the full excerpt HERE.

Interview

Interview | N.K. Jemisin, author of ‘The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms’

By Aidan Moher February 17th, 2010

N.K. Jemisin, author of THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMSIf N.K. Jemisin‘s name (okay, well, initials) hasn’t already caught your ear, it will. Soon, with the impending release of her debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (REVIEW), her name will be on the lips of bloggers and reviewers everywhere. Every year, a handful of debut novels catch fire and set themselves, and their authors, above the rest and Jemisin seems poised to do so with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, a confident novel that stands head and shoulders above other debuts.

So, I teamed up with Ana of The Book Smugglers to round up Jemisin and get her to talk about everything from her novel (natch), #racefail, my own potential #generfail, and even Squeenix (you’ll find out).

The Interview

Welcome, Ms. Jemisin, to A Dribble of Ink! Anything you want to say to start things off? To set the tone?

   Hi? =) I dunno, what do people usually say here? How’s it going? I like chocolate. Buy my book!

Chocolate, huh? I like chocolate, too. You’d think I was a woman, I love it so much. Speaking of which, the name, N.K. Jemisin. What’s it stand for and why the initials? And don’t tell me its to appear gender neutral on store shelves (like Robin Hobb or K.J. Parker).

   It’s not, but what if it was? There are a lot of good reasons to go for gender neutrality in this business. Like, say, if I was a male writer in the romance genre — there are quite a few, but it’s hard to tell, because they usually use female or neutral names. I don’t blame them; they don’t want readers’ biases interfering with the stories they’re trying to tell. Of course, there’s a fine line between short-circuiting reader biases and encouraging those biases by concealing the truth, so I don’t bother hiding the fact that I’m female. I figure if anybody really has that much of a problem with it, they’re not going to like my work anyway, so better that they figure it out quickly.

   But the real reason I use initials is just that I prefer to keep some separation between my day job and my writing life. That doesn’t work very well because people keep asking me what the initials stand for. =) Oh, well. But anyway, it’s Nora Keita.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by NK Jemisin

“Yeine Darr is heir to the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. She is also an outcast. Until, that is, her mother dies under mysterious circumstances.

Summoned by her grandfather to the majestic city of Sky, Yeine finds herself thrust into a vicious power struggle for the throne. As she fights for her life, she comes ever closer to discovering the truth about her mother’s death and her family’s bloody history – as well as the unsettling truths within herself.

With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Yeine will learn how perilous it can be when love and hate are bound inseparably together, for both mortals and gods alike.”

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