Adam Roberts's Blog, page 19

20 Trillion Leagues Under the Sea: Cover

Amazon have this down for release October 2013; don't know if that's right -- but I do know that (a) the cover is a beauty, m'hearties, and that (b) the book, when it emerges, will be adorned by a plethora of absolutely gorgeous illustrations by Mahendra Singh. Not the cricketer, no. The artist! Really -- if you don't know his Hunting of the Snark artwork then you're missing one of the great treats of the internet. That he is my friend doesn't, I think, disqualify me from insisting that he is one of the most distinctive, most evocative and simply best illustrators at work anywhere today. There's something about his combination of 19th-century precision-gravure and his surrealist or otherwise imaginatively-unfettered modernity of idiom that just knocks the top of my head off.

I'm really honoured that I've been able to collaborate with him on this project.

As for the story, well it's come a long way from this jumping-off-point, as the third of six possible Verne sequel/update/metatext/doojabs. The core idea is the same but the details have largely changed.

NMA: Movie News

I'm delighted that MUSE films have optioned New Model Army. It is, I think, one of my two best novels, one of the things I'm proudest of writing, and although I know full well that only a tiny fraction of books optioned by film production companies ever actually make it to the Big Screen, nonetheless I've found the whole process fascinating. If it has done nothing else, this experience has given me the chance to hang out with the brilliant , and talk film and filmmaking with him, which has been wonderful. Beyond that I got to write a treatment of my own novel, to see what a film option contract looked like, and to play the Imaginary Casting game. Hurrah!

Overheard

Appearing in an anthology of short stories alongside Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Hanif Kureishi and many others? Really? Why, it appears to be true.

And is it for sale? Yes: buy direct from the publishers at that last link, or from amazon here.

Conference

University of Lincoln's Department of English will be hosting New Genre Army: An International Conference on the Writing of Adam Roberts in April 2013. Farah Mendlesohn and Andrew M Butler are key-nothing; follow that link for the official call for papers (if you're thinking of giving a paper). I'll be there, trying somehow to overcome my embarrassment at being the centre of attention. Ahem!

Resurrection Engines

Snowbooks say this was published on the 1st Nov, but a little bird tells me the issue date has been moved to the 1st December. Soon, though! Also, the 'sixteen' tales you can see on the other end of that publisher's site link has been distilled down to a more focussed fifteen, as you can see above. Buy, or preorder, from amazon, or direct from the publishers. Or would you prefer it that your engines do NOT resurrect? That'd be harsh. Here's the TOC, since you ask so nicely:

'The Soul-Eaters of Raveloe' by Alison Littlewood

'A Journey To The Centre Of The Moon' by Alan K. Baker

'She-Who-Thinks-For-Herself' by Juliet E. McKenna

'The Great Steam Time Machine' by Brian Herbert & Bruce Taylor

'Silver Selene' by Philip Palmer

'White Fangoria' by Roland Moore

'The God Of All Machines' by Scott Harrison

'The Crime Of The Ancient Mariner' by Adam Roberts

'There Leviathan' by Jonathan Green

'The Island Of Peter Pandora' by Kim Lakin-Smith

'The Ghost Of Christmas Sideways' by Simon Bucher-Jones

'Talented Witches' by Paul Magrs

'Fairest Of Them All' by Cavan Scott

'Tidewrack Medusa' by Rachel E. Pollock

'Robin Hood And The Eater Of Worlds' by Jim Mortimore

Jack Sticla

That's (... dacă nu mă înșel ...) the Romanian for Jack Glass. I'm very pleased indeed to announce that a Romanian translation of my novel will be appearing late 2013, perhaps 2014, from the exciting publishing house of Editura Trei. As far as I'm concerned this is one of the most exciting things to happen in that part of the world since 1859 when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza. Other people may have a more grounded perspective on the matter. Still, bravo! Or as they say in Romania: 'bravo!'

Reviews

A couple of links. Theresa Derwin from the esteemed BSFG reviewed Jack Glass for the society newsletters. An excerpt:

Riffing on the tropes of crime fiction (the country house murder, the locked room mystery) and imbued with the feel of golden age SF, Jack Glass is another superlative performance from Roberts. Whatever games he plays with the genre, whatever questions he asks of the reader, Roberts never loses sight of the need to entertain. Imbued with humour, clever tricks and a language that sparkles, Jack Glass is a masterpiece of storytelling; rather than being the traditional whodunit, it is a ‘how and when’ he did it.

There is currently an argument within genre fiction such as SF, Horror and Fantasy, that it is not ‘literary’. Well, I encourage any reviewers or readers of the genre to find otherwise, especially with this extraordinary novel and with Roberts work in general. Roberts is an SF powerhouse, and a force to be reckoned with in the genre.

'Best SF Group' indeed! In another part of the planet, the most excellent Miriam Burtsein, The Little Professor herself, has reviewed I Am Scrooge:

My first impulse was to describe Adam Roberts' I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas as a "charming concoction." Except that the book has multiple graphic incidents of various people having their faces chewed off by zombies, which I suspect most readers would not find charming. Impaled, blasted, and bludgeoned zombies are probably also low on most charm meters. And yet...despite the zombocalyptic goings-on, this novel's essentially lighthearted approach to its blood-and-guts (OK, brain-and-guts) subject matter is, well, charming.

I Am Pleased!

Tolkiens biggest heroes as are the hobbits have the world conquered

It appears I have an essay in this promising looking collection.

Reissue News 2: Soddit

The other exciting reissue news is the original A.R.R.R.Roberts title, The Soddit, in this handsome new livery. In two sizes, no less! Two! Soddit and Sodditto.

Reissue News 1. Charles Dickens says

... 'buy this book!'. Not really, of course, he's dead. But were he alive today Dickens would surely say: 'wait ... what strange realm is this? How are these carriages drawn through the streets sans horse? What keeps those speeding silver craft in the sky?' and so on. He probably wouldn't say anything about I Am Scrooge, now reissued for Christmas. That's not even the real Charles Dickens. It's a miniature plastic one. Look at his feet!

In other news, Sainsbury is selling "I Am Scrooge by Sir Adam Roberts". So you could buy that one as well.