Archive for Other people’s business
Robot Round-Up, 27.01.12
Posted by: | CommentsHello and, as always, welcome to the weekly round-up of links and shout-outs for folks that have been talking about Angry Robot and our Awesome Authors in the past week or so.
Also, a quick heads-up: most of the office will be disappearing off to the SFX Weekender at the back end of next week, so if the usual Round-Up doesn’t appear for some reason then that’ll be why.
Right, on with the linkaging! (What? Yes, that’s a word…)
Blogger Elloise Hopkins took a look at Giant Thief by David Tallerman and liked what she read: “An endearing protagonist, a host of excellent supporting characters, a less than communicative giant, and most importantly a unique story, are just some of the elements that make this book worth reading.” There’s another review up at Owlcat Mountain, where the reviewer concluded: “Giant Thief shows that Tallerman has a lot of promise as a novelist and I look forward to what he does next.” We couldn’t agree more. (It’s Crown Thief, by the way, and it’s going to be published this Autumn).
Adam Christopher‘s Empire State has been taking the genresphere by storm since its publication earlier this month and continues to do so, with new reviews from Mark Yon at SFFWorld: “It’s a very impressive debut. The sequel [ahem] next novel from Adam [- AR crew], Seven Wonders, is due out from Angry Robot Books in September 2012. Based on what I’ve read here, it’s going to be brilliant.” Paul Simpson also reviewed the book at Sci-Fi Bulletin and was impressed with the authentic film noir atmosphere of the narrative.
We’ve seen another couple of reviews for Carpathia by Matt Forbeck (published early March) this week. Wesley Chu said: “Mr. Forbeck wonderfully paces his scenes fast and furiously, and builds the plot tension right up to the very end” over at Famous Monsters of Filmland and blogger Theresa Derwin said: “This novel is a hoot and tremendous fun. Definitely worth checking out!” Matt’s Angry Robot debut, Amortals gets a mention as well, courtesy of Voxael.
Reviewer Renee Fountain, writing for The New York Journal of Books, had this to say about Chris F. Holm‘s Dead Harvest: “With a candid style that exhibits solid confidence and finesse, Chris Holm pulls readers in and pins us to the edge of our seats with a cleverly conceived story that is flawlessly executed.”
Meanwhile, Chris is giving away the Amazon Kindle edition of his short story collection 8 Pounds, with a free download this weekend only. Details on Chris’s blog. Go, grab, read!
The first review (that we’ve seen) of Anne Lyle‘s forthcoming (April) debut, The Alcehmist of Souls is live on Drying Ink, where Jacob said: “A rich historical setting, some gloriously ambiguous characters, and a whole lot of unexpected surprises collide to make this unmissable for any fan of historical fantasy.” (You know, we think he rather liked it…)
And the first review (again, that we’ve seen) for Chuck Wendig‘s Blackbirds has been posted at Fantasy Nibbles: “The writing is absolutely outstanding, it’s 100% my kind of narrative, there’s just not a single ounce of fat, it’s all muscle, that’s the best way I can describe it. Not a single word is wasted, every one of them packs a punch.”
Chuck’s ‘This is How You Die‘ Tumblr project also got a mention on The Washington Post‘s Style Blog, no less!
Jo Anderton‘s 2011 debut, Debris was reviewed for Marianne de Pierres‘ author blog by Mandy Wrangles, who said: “Debris is an exceptional novel.” You’re not wrong, Mandy. You’re not wrong.
Madeline Ashby, whose debut novel vN we’re proud and pleased to be publishing in August (did you check out the cover art that we announced earlier today? Did you? You really should) speaks out on the subject of media piracy, SOPA, PIPA and things of that ilk at madelineashby.com.
Gary MacMahon‘s Dead Bad Things gets a mention in Peter Tennant’s Best of 2011 review for TTAPress.com.
Val’s Random Comments and Adam Lowe both took a look at Lauren Beukes‘s debut Moxyland, which we’re re-issuing in bright, shiny new livery next month, folks.
Two Dudes in an Attic finally got around to reviewing Aliette de Bodard’s second Aztec noir offering, Harbinger of the Storm. They liked it, a lot.
And finally… no, I got nothing. Just: have a great weekend!
Chuck Wendig asks: “How Will You Die?”
Posted by: | CommentsIn Chuck Wendig’s Angry Robot debut, Blackbirds (May 2012), Miriam Black knows how you will die. All it takes is a briefest moment of skin-on-skin contact and she’ll have a flash, a vision, of the exact time and method of your passing.
A couple of weeks ago, Chuck launched a Tumblr site, This is How You Die, a collaborative trans-media project intended to explore the themes of the novel by inviting readers to submit their own thoughts on death and dying.
Anyone is welcome to participate – instructions are on the site – and submissions (all of which are moderated and selected by Chuck) can take any form the contributor sees fit or feels most comfortable with. So far they’ve ranged from prose thought-pieces to literary quotations, photography, artwork, tweets, even songs. Methods of passing range from the peacefully mundane to the apocalyptic and the bizarre.
Challenging? Definitely. Thought-provoking? Certainly. Therapeutic? Possibly; as Chuck says: “This is a collaborative story and art Tumblr where readers are encouraged to confront their their fears and fantasies about death by submitting how they believe they will die.”
If you’re interested in submitting a thought-piece or anything else of your own, the place to start is: how-you-die.tumblr.com.
{Pic credit: ‘Kalierin’ on sxc.hu}
Robot Round-Up, 20.01.12
Posted by: | CommentsHello again, and welcome to our weekly links round-up of all the latest happenings from the Angry Robot flavoured reaches of the Internets. Or something like that. My last caffeine dose is wearing off, I probably need to re-charge. But I digress…
Empire State was reviewed online by Red Rook Review, The Geek Syndicate (who also ran an excerpt), The Weaving Knight and Starburst Magazine, where it was said: “This is simply one of the greatest science fiction books I have ever read”. The latest issue (#63) of SciFiNow also ran a four-star review: “Empire State is highly recommended to those who like their sci-fi dark, pacey and woven tight by multiple threads of intrigue.”
Meanwhile, author Adam Christopher was interviewed this week for The Ranting Dragon. And just as we posted this round-up, the fine folk over at Tor.com posted their own chat with Adam, which took place while the author hosted a signing of Empire State at the New York Public Library recently.
Lavie Tidhar‘s The Great Game, the concluding instalment in the steampunk extravaganza that is The Bookman Histories, is out in February and has been reviewed by Drying Ink and Libris Leonis. He also gets a whopping ’10 out of 10 zeppelins’ from a review on The Traveler’s Steampunk blog, wherein it was said: “Lavie Tidhar has once again created an outstanding Steampunk novel. Gripping, multi-facetted, and fascinating.” Stick that in your boiler and fuel your airship with it.
David Tallerman, whose debut novel Giant Thief is also published in February, was interviewed for The Mad Hatter’s Review and the book received a cracking review from Marc Alpin at Fantasy Faction, who reckons: “this book will be one of the finest débuts of 2012″.
Chris F. Holm spoke to Elaine Ash about the design elements of his forthcoming (March 2012) Angry Robot debut Dead Harvest, for her Ashedit blog.
Carpathia by Matt Forbeck (March 2012) has been advance-reviewed by Shadowhawk for The Founding Fields.
Paul S. Kemp held a forum-style interview/chat with Reddit’s Fantasy Community this week, talking about his Star wars titles and, of course, his forthcoming Angry Robot debut, The Hammer and the Blade (July 2012). Plus: if you haven’t already seen it, check out the cover artwork for said tome, here.
Anne Lyle, whose debut The Alchemist of Souls we’re publishing in April, has been interviewed by Civilian Reader.
Dan Abnett was a guest on fellow AR-author Kaaron Warren‘s blog this week, for the latest in Kaaron’s Sparks series of author interviews.
K. W. Jeter‘s Infernal Devices received a rave review from Fantasy Nibbles.
Aliette de Bodard‘s Master of the House of Darts was reviewed by WarpcoreSF.
Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis was named as one of Sci-Fi Guys Book Review’s Best Books of 2011 and one of the Top Ten Books of 2011 at The Turn of the Page.
And finally… The Sci-Fi Guys Book Review named Angry Robot as one of their Top Three publishers of 2011, thereby ensuring their place on the ‘Do Not Annihilate’ list when the Robot Revolution comes. A wise, wise move on their part, we’re sure you’ll agree.
Win Everything! All 50 Angry Robot Titles Up For Grabs with SciFiNow
Posted by: | CommentsAdam Christopher‘s Empire State is the 50th Angry Robot title to see the light of meat-space reality. To mark the occasion we’ve teamed up with top-notch UK sci-fi ‘zine SciFiNow to give away one of everything we’ve published so far – yes, all 50 titles – to one insanely fortunate UK or Ireland based competition entrant.
Here’s what you could win:
You want them all, don’t you? Oh, yes you do! (Click for a larger image and get your print-acquisition instincts all a-quiver…)
The competition is being run by SciFiNow and to be in with a chance of winning you’ll need to visit the SciFiNow website and follow the entry instructions. Usual sort of thing: answer an easy-peasy Empire State themed question, hand over your name and email address, then cross your little fingers for all you’re worth. Nothing you meat-sacks can’t handle, we’re sure. And the competition closes on February 15th, so you’ve got a whole four weeks to get your act together.
Also in the latest issue of SciFiNow (number #63 – the one with the survivors of the Great Being Human Exodus of 2012 on the front) you’ll find (on page 90) a review for Empire State in which Dan Howdle says things like: “What [Adam] Christopher manages so successfully is to combine the fast-talking wit of the likes of Dashiel Hammett and Raymond Chandler with the frayed super has-beens of Alan Moore” and “Empire State is highly recommended to those who like their sci-fi dark, pacey and woven tight by multiple threads of intrigue”. This Dan Howdle fellow is clearly a meat-sack of excellent taste and fine judgement.
Robot Round-Up, 13.01.12
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to this week’s Robot Round-Up of what’s been happening in the AR-flavoured reaches of the Interwebs. Lots to tell you about again this week, so without further ado:
James Lovegrove reviewed Adam Christopher‘s Empire State for the Financial Times, saying: “If, somehow, Raymond Chandler and Philip K Dick had collaborated on a Superman story, they might well have produced this novel.” Plus: The Geek Syndicate cornered Adam last week at his UK Empire State launch at Forbidden Planet London, and interviewed him.
Eric Brown reviewed City of Light and Shadow by Ian Whates for The Guardian, saying: “A deft mix of intrigue, assassination and romance culminates in a desperate fight for Thaiburley’s existence, and along the way Whates finally reveals the true nature of the city itself. Compulsively readable.” City of Light and Shadow was also reviewed at Val’s Random Comments book blog.
Jo Anderton was a guest interviewee at PattyJansen.com, where she answered questions five (including an all-important revelation that will change the way writers think about cats forever). And Debris was reviewed a couple of times this week, by Stefan Raets at fantasyliterature.com and by Sean at Adventures of a Bookanaut.
AR author-to-be Lee Battersby – whose debut novel The Corpse-Rat King we’re publishing in the Autumn – talks about his Angry Robot Journey so far on Ripping Ozzie Reads.
Bibliophile Stalker Charles Tan has posted a review of Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. Lauren also took part in a recent Guardian Podcast on the state of SF (along with Alastair Reynolds, Michael Moorcock and Jeff Noon) – well worth a listen. (And Lauren was featured in a Variety article on the South African film industry, but it’s behind a subscriber-only paywall, so no link…)
Aliette De Bodard has shared her New Year’s Genre Resolutions over at SFSignal.com, as did our Angry Robot Podcast Supremo, Mighty Mur Lafferty.
Matt Forbeck‘s Carpathia (March 2012) gets much love from Fantasy Nibbles: “Pure crucifix-wielding, stake plunging goodness. With icebergs. Brilliant!”
Paul Simpson has reviewed both Pretty Little Dead Things and Dead Bad Things by Gary MacMahon over at SciFi Bulletin, here and here.
Blogger David Marshall has reviewed a trio of our titles at his Thinking About Books blog recently: Debris and Dead Bad Things again, along with Reality 36 by Guy Haley.
Livejournal blogger Gill Polack has reviewed both City of Light and Shadow (here) and Chris F. Holm‘s forthcoming Angry Robot debut, Dead Harvest (here).
That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend, read lots, maybe even treat yourself to a few half-price ebooks in the Angry Robot January eBook sale, why don’t you?
Talk to the Robot
Reviewed an Angry Robot title? Interviewed an Angry Robot author? Drop us a line (via the Marketing drop-down option on our contact form) and let us know!
And check out the Robot Round-Up Archive to see what else our authors have been up to recently.
Robot Round-Up, 06.01.12
Posted by: | CommentsHello, hello and welcome to the first Robot Round-Up of 2012. And what a lot of rounded-up stuff we’ve got to tell you about this week.
First things first: a reminder that the Angry Robot January eBooks Sale is still very much in effect. Between now and the end of January you’ll be able to pick up more than half our range of titles at half price or less, either direct from the Angry Robot Store (DRM-free ePub) or from your favourite online retailer of electronic literature, in the US, UK and beyond. Grab yourself a bargain while the grabbing’s good!
And now, on with our weekly what’s-been-happening show:
Empire State, the debut novel by Adam Christopher was officially published this week and the Interwebs have been abuzz with all sorts of coverage, such as:
Reviews from:
• Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing.net – “It’s often fascinating, as captivating as a kaleidoscope… just feel it in all its weird glory.”
• Eddie Robson in SFX Magazine – “[Empire State's] mounting chaos is authentically noir-ish and Christopher paints an effective portrait of a bleak, confused, subdued city. 4****”
• Laith Preston at DragonPage.com – “I thoroughly enjoyed the story as it unfolded. Many times as the story progressed I thought I could see the driving forces behind the plots within plots, only to discover things weren’t quite what I was thinking.”
• Antony at SF Book Reviews – “…a delight to the literary palate with a richly woven narrative, interesting ideas and above all a great story. 5*****”
• Michelle at Ranting Dragon – “…a fast paced revelation-fest that will continue to surprise even the most savvy readers.”
• Dave White at Do Some Damage – “Pick this book up … I urge you to do so. If these wild ideas keep running through Christopher’s head and he gets them down on paper he’s going to be a superstar.”
• Ros Jackson at Warpcore SF – “It’s a complex and intriguing novel: offering more puzzles every time the answers to each mystery are unlocked.”
• Erik Lundqvist at I Will Read Books – “It is not very often I read a book which just keeps on surprising me, but this is the case with Empire State. It’s a really nice situation to be in for a reader, and an excellent reason to keep turning those pages.”
Plus: Adam guest-blogged the Big Idea behind Empire State for John Scalzi’s Whatever blog, Empire State was named in the Superheronovels.com Top 5 of 2011 and you can read a three-chapter extract from Empire State at CriminalElement.com.
[Also, don't forget that the first Worldbuilder Project at EmpireState.cc will soon be accepting creative submissions of all kinds, based on the Empire State world. Keep your eyes peeled for further updates in the very near future.]
(Meanwhile, elsewhere on Her Majesty’s Interwebs…)
Dan Abnett‘s thought-provoking mil-sf novel Embedded was named runner-up in the SFBookReviews.com Book of the Year 2011 poll. (UK readers: the regular-sized paperback edition is out this month and available from all good bookstores and online retailers).
Aliette de Bodard‘s brilliant short story ‘Scattered Along the River of Heaven’ has been published by Clarkesworld Magazine in both text and audio formats.
DaveBrendon de Burgh had a holy-freaking-hell-this-is-awesome moment when reading Colin Harvey‘s Winter Song and said so in his review.
It’s still a few weeks until Chris F. Holm‘s Dead Harvest storms the bookstore shelves, but we’ve seen a couple more reviews this week, from bloggers Ed Fortune and Jacob at Drying Ink.
There’s an interview with The Damned Busters author Matthew Hughes in issue #39 of Theaker’s Quarterly which is available to download in a variety of formats from theakersquarterly.blogspot.com.
Anne Lyle‘s The Alchemist of Souls and Chuck Wendig‘s Blackbirds were both included in A Fantastical Librarian’s watch-list for 2012 and Gav Reads’ 13 Exciting Books from January to June round-ups.
Guy Haley‘s Reality 36, Guy Adams‘ World House: Restoration and Trent Jamieson‘s Roil all feature in Erik Lundqvist’s I Will Read Books Best of 2011 selection.
David Tallerman‘s Giant Thief (published in early February!) was reviewed by Alister Davison for Starburst Magazine, who declared Giant Thief to be “a fun, entertaining read, everything a good story should be … refreshing and engrossing.” (We agree!)
Morpheus Tales #15 includes an interview with Andy Remic – whose Clockwork Vampire Chronicles Omnibus is published in March – along with reviews of Guy Haley‘s Reality 36 and David Tallerman‘s Giant Thief.
And finally, Angry Robot was named as one of Adventures Fantastic’s Four Publishers You Should be Reading in 2012. (We heartily agree with that one as well!)
Talk to the Robot
Reviewed an Angry Robot title? Interviewed an Angry Robot author? Drop us a line (via the Marketing drop-down option on our contact form) and let us know!
And check out the Robot Round-Up Archive to see what else our authors have been up to recently.
Robot Round-Up, 23.12.11
Posted by: | CommentsHello and welcome to the final Robot Round-up of 2011. We’ve unchained ourselves from our desks and will be recharging our circuits for the next ten days or so, which means no round-up next week. But keep those links coming and we’ll be back in January with a fresh batch. In the meantime, here’s what’s been happing in Angry Robot world since the last round-up went live:
In the run-up to the official January 5th publication date, the online buzz for Adam Christopher‘s Empire State is starting to reach the proverbial fever pitch, with mentions in Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell’s Best of 2011 for Forbidden Planet International, Fantasy Nibbles’ Top Reads of 2011, Fantastical Librarian’s most-anticipated in 2012 list. We’ve also seen full reviews this week from Adventures Fantastic, Staffer’s Musings and A Fantastical Librarian.
Some people are already getting equally excited by the prospect of Anne Lyle‘s
Madeline Ashby – 2012 Angry Robot debut author of vN – points the way to three thought-provoking pieces on gender in genre fiction and fandom, over on her blog.
Paul S. Kemp – another 2012 Angry Robot debutant, with The Hammer and the Blade – has revealed his three favourite books of 2011. And Lauren Beukes has posted Part II of her 2011 Recommended Reading List.
Pete Crowther‘s Darkness Falling (out now) was reviewed for the Wag The Fox blog’s Rabid Reads column and Matt Forbeck’s Carpathia (March 2012) gets an early mention from Gill Polack via her Livejournal page.
R Thomas Brown takes a look at Chris F. Holm‘s forthcoming (March 2012) debut Dead Harvest for Spinetingler Magazine and concludes: “This is a novel that appeals to lovers of crime fiction, fantasy and the best elements of pulp fiction.”
And some love for Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis, as The Occult Detective names it as Best Occult Detective Novel (2011).
Trent Jamieson‘s fantastical Roil was named by Jeff Vandermeer in his Omnivoracious.com round-up of ‘Unique Fantasy, SF, and Horror You Might Have Missed’ in 2011. And Gary MacMahon‘s Dead Bad Things was named the winner of the ‘Notably Macabre 2011′ prize over at Spooky Reads.
Lavie Tidhar has posted a brand new short story on his blog: ‘Enter the Dragon. Later, Enter Another’. And Lavie’s Bookman Histories series has been touted as one to look out for on Laura Kramarsky’s Women of Mystery blog.
…and that, as they say, is that for 2011. You meat-sacks have a fantastic holiday season (whatever you preference and practices) and a terrific New Year* (assuming you celebrate it on January 1st), and we’ll see you all back here in 2012 for lots more astoundingly great Angry Robot stuff.
[*Please note, failure to comply with this edict from your Robot Overlords will result in suitably jolly and festive termination. That is all.]
Talk to the Robot
Reviewed an Angry Robot title? Interviewed an Angry Robot author? Drop us a line (via the Marketing drop-down option on our contact form) and let us know!
And check out the Robot Round-Up Archive to see what else our authors have been up to recently.
Robot Round-Up, 16.12.11
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome once again to our regular Friday round-up of all that’s new and interesting in the world of Angry Robot. This week we kick off with:
Our very own Lee Harris has been interviewed by Spooky Reads as part of a new series of interviews with UK genre publishing folk about the current state of and future prospects for the publishing industry.
Jo Anderton‘s Debris has been named one of US periodical Library Journal‘s SF/Fantasy Books of the Year for 2011. Which deserves a cheer, we think: Yaaay!
Dan Abnett‘s Triumff is the latest AR title to feature in Red Rook Review’s “review every Angry Robot book, ever” series and here’s the verdict.
Justin Landon names Zoo City and Empire State in his SFSignal.com best of 2011 list, part I (technically, Empire State is a January 2012 book even though it’s on-shelf date in the US is December 27th, but we feel it might be rude to quibble, so we won’t). Lavie Tidhar is one of the contributors to that piece as well.
Lauren Beukes has been asking her friends what they’d recommend by way of ideal reading gifts this holiday season (this is just part one, part two will follow at the end of the week). And Zoo City has been reviewed by TheUrbanEagle this week as well, who conclded: “I can’t imagine a young South African and/or a fan of fresh absurdities in Urban Fantasy not enjoying this book.”
Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Portectorate series, has been chatting to a certain Mr Adam Christopher about such things as the Empire State drinking game, Adam’s writerly enivronment, his aberrant ice-cream preferences, Carrie Fisher c. 1977 and, of course, the vital importance of The Jacket. There’s all sorts of other weird and wonderful things thrown in for good measure. Go, read!
Adam has also posted details of where to find his Empire State playlist of tunes to accompany your reading of his superhero noir debut.
Guy Haley has some advice for writers and reviewers alike in a blog on reviewing and being reviewed entitled the agonies of criticism. Wise words from a self-confessed somewhat snarky former reviewer turned published writer and, therefore, review-receiver.
Liviu Suciu of Fantasy Book Critic is particularly looking forward to a number of titles in 2012, including Lavie Tidhar‘s The Great Game.
More advice for writers and would-be writers: Chuck Wendig‘s rather excellent “25 Things Writers Should Know About…” series continues with a sage and not-at-all-sweary piece on handling rejection. (Okay, we lied, it’s quite sweary. But still very, very good.)
And finally, the second in the apparently ongoing @KristalShaff Angry Robot Face Painting Series is a nifty bit of time-lapse artistry inspired by Andy Remic‘s Vampire Warlords:
That’s your lot for another week! Next week’s Robot Round-up might be posted on Thursday, might be posted on Friday, depending. The week after that we’ll all be taking a week off so there’ll be no Robot Round-up at all (please do try not to be too bitterly disappointed) and then we’ll be back on our regular schedule in 2012.
Talk to the Robot
Reviewed an Angry Robot title? Interviewed an Angry Robot author? Drop us a line (via the Marketing drop-down option on our contact form) and let us know!
And check out the Robot Round-Up Archive to see what else our authors have been up to recently.
Robot Round-Up, 09.12.11
Posted by: | CommentsHello, hello, hello and welcome to the latest Angry Robot Links round-up. It’s been another busy, busy week on the Interwebs, so without further palaver and to-do:
SFBook.com have announced the shortlist for their SFBook of the Year 2011 poll and two of those titles are ours: Dan Abnett‘s Embedded and Maurice Broaddus‘s King’s War. Both brilliant books, of course, and both deserving of at least few hundred more votes, we reckon. >cough< You’re still here..?
Meanwhile, Mr. Abnett‘s Triumff was on the receiving end of what can really only be described as a rave review, courtesy of Red Rook Review’s “review every AR book, ever” strand. And his comics writing projects were featured in a Beyond the Bunker Practicioners piece this week.
Jo Anderton has posted a selection of pics from the Debris launch party at UNSW on her blog, with a more extensive set on Facebook (warning: includes images of chocolate robots and cake that some viewers may find delicious – no licking the screen…)
Lauren Beukes‘s Arthur C. Clarke Award-Winning Zoo City (you know, we just never get tired of saying that) has been reviewed by Kristy G. Stewart for LooseleafLeaflets.
Another couple of Maurice Broaddus mentions: firstly as the star of the hilarious 97th SF Signal Podcast and secondly, a blog post from Maurice with details of his 2012 convention appearances.
Adam Christopher was the recipient of much love this week. First up (and the one that had Adam literally dancing around the room) was Billy (The Rocketeer) Campbell’s comments on Empire State, which went like this: “As it happens, I’m a sucker for hard-boiled retro sci-fi stories; rocket-powered superheroes, spunky dames, fedoras, Studebakers slewing round gritty Gotham street-corners on two wheels, and Adam Christopher sure knows his way around a tightly spun yarn – I was as happy as a pig in poop from page one! As they say: This story? She’s a real sweater-full, with a great pair’a getaway sticks… Watch out for this Adam kid, he’s nobody’s sap. He’s got a sharp nib and a sharper wit. He’d steal your last few hours before you could say ‘cat’s pajamas’, and you’d thank him for it.”
There was also a cracking review from ‘Bane of Kings’ at TheFoundingFields.com: “…what I found in these pages blew me away … I think we may be looking at one of the best debut authors of 2012 already!”
Aliette de Bodard was interviewed by Jacob Topp-Mugglestone Drying Ink blog and talked about breaking genre expectations, world-building, Aztec civilisation, human sacrifice and much more. Aliette also posted an article on writing technique entitled ‘Playing To Your Strengths, Playing to Your Weaknesses’ at The Night Bazaar.
Matt Forbeck has been talking to legendary geek webcomic Dork Tower about his ’12 for 12′ Kickstarter project (and they snuck in a mention for Amortals as well). And Producer Paul has posted his review of Vegas Knights.
Trent Jamieson‘s Roil was reviewed at Dragon Page by Laith Preston, who said things like: “Trent Jamieson’s Roil, the first book in The Nightbound Land duology, promises… and delivers.” Trent also runs through his Xmas book wishlist in a Book Corner Christmas Special (we’ll pass on the Cinzano thanks, Trent.)
Gary MacMahon‘s Dead Bad Things has been named on the Horror Book of the Year shortlist. Which is a Good Thing, we feel.
And there are a couple of early reviews in for Giant Thief (Feb 2012) by David Tallerman; first a mini-review from Publisher’s Weekly and also an elegantly minimalist review of the first line of the book from Mad Hatter’s Book Review: “This line did exactly what a first line should do: pull the reader in.”
Red Rook’s “review every AR book, ever” programme is back and this time it’s Lavie Tidhar‘s The Bookman that’s under review: “…an intelligent, clever book, that creates a wonderfully complex secondary world … as well-constructed as a Swiss cuckoo clock and as readable as any genre fiction being written today.”
And finally, that man Chuck Wendig has posted a few thoughts on the Seduction of Self-Publishing. Wise words from Chuck, there. Wise words.
Right, that’s all from AR HQ for this week! Have a great weekend. And remember: Be Good, and if you can’t Be Good, then Be Damn Sure They’re Not Going to Catch You.
Talk to the Robot
Reviewed an Angry Robot title? Interviewed an Angry Robot author? Drop us a line (via the Marketing drop-down option on our contact form) and let us know!
Robot Round-Up, 02.12.11
Posted by: | CommentsHello and welcome to our regular round-up of Angry Robot author activity from around the Internets. Without further ado, here’s this week’s selection:
Jo Anderton was interviewed by David Conyers on the subject of her short story ‘Out Hunting For Teeth’, which will be appearing in issue #6 of Midnight Echo, the Australian Horror Writers Association magazine.
In the wake of this week’s announcement of the Zoo City TV/Movie rights deal, Lauren Beukes has been speaking to Bizcommunity.com and The Mail and Guardian about the project.
An interview with Knights of Breton Court creator Maurice Broaddus was the main feature of the latest SpeculateSF podcast. Maurice also revealed the contents of his to-be-read book pile, including Chris F. Holm‘s forthcoming debut Dead Harvest (March 2012).
Adam Christopher‘s forthcoming debut novel, Empire State (January 2012) has been getting some attention this week, with reviews from fantasynibbles.com and Livejournaller Gill Polack. Plus, a top-10 shortlist mention in Kirkus’ Science Fiction and Fantasy for December 2011 watch-list, and The Ranting Dragon’s 5 Most Anticipated December Releases as well. Meanwhile, Adam has been telling The Night Bazaar about his lifelong love of Doctor Who stories.
Peter Crowther‘s first Forever Twilight instalment, Darkness Falling, has been reviewed by David Marshall for his ‘Thinking About Books’ blog, by and Silver Thistle for ‘The Bookshelf Chronicles’ and by Mike Chinn for The British Fantasy Society.
Nathan McKnight has produced an Obsidian & Blood glossary for the Kindle, to help Aliette De Bodard readers keep track of all those Aztec names and their meanings. Aliette was also interviewed by Jeremy L. C. Jones for Clarkesworld Magazine.
Back in November Chris F. Holm was interviewed by R Thomas Brown for Crime Fiction Lover about his love of crime fiction, his recent short fiction collection 8 Pounds and, of course, Dead Harvest (March 2012).
Paul S Kemp is posting a series of excerpts from his forthcoming (July 2012) fantasy saga The Hammer and The Blade (July 2012). He’s just posted the second one and the first is here if you missed it.
Over on her blog, Anne Lyle, author of The Alchemist of Souls (March 2012), reveals the cunning visual reference methodology with which she plots fight scenes (hey, I guess that’ll be the same bleeding-edge character animation software last seen in the truly epic Lord of the Rings movie battle sequences..? eh? What’s that? Not the fancy software? So what does she..? Playmobil figures? Cool..!)
A second round-up mention for reviewer Gill Polack; this time she’s posted her review of David Tallerman‘s forthcoming (February 2012) debut novel Giant Thief.
Matt Forbeck was interviewed by Rick Novy for his ‘Entropy Central’ blog, talking about writing, game design and his ongoing ’12 for 12′ Kickstarter project.
There’s much love for Chuck Wendig as Andrea Philips turns the Creative Spotlight on his projects past, present and, er, projected, for her ‘Deus Ex Machinatio’ blog.
And finally, a rollerskating duck. Oh, no, it’s our Marco, live and uncensored, in the Nottingham online magazine Left Lion.
…and that’s your lot for this week. Have a great weekend!
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