Erik Hanberg's Blog - Posts Tagged "erik-hanberg"
Announcing my newest book, The Lead Cloak!
It took me more than two years of writing and editing, but I’m finally ready to announce my next novel.
The Lead Cloak
The Lead Cloak is a science fiction adventure set seventy years in the future. It will be available in three weeks, on October 15. Below is the short trailer I created for it, and there is a whole website with information about the book (haveyoujumped.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nzF6t...
I am so excited to share this novel. It is an adventure with a lot of action and the highest of stakes. It is a mystery, set in a world without secrets. And it is—I sincerely hope—full of big ideas about privacy, class, and our relationship with technology.
The Cover
I have to take a moment to recognize the great work that was done on the cover. Mary has designed all of my covers to date. We knew that this one needed a different feel, and we approached Tacoma artist Chandler O’Leary to create the art for the cover.
Chandler was an early reader of the book, and her insight into the story helped inform how we approached the cover. Together we selected a key moment in the story for the artwork, which you can see here. I think it’s very striking, with a hint of classic science fiction, but also unique. I love it!
The Trilogy
The Lead Cloak is “Book I of The Lattice Trilogy.” I will confess to being a little hesitant to put that on the cover. Would it discourage people, when the next two books are not written? But I felt it was important, because this story was very much conceived as more than just a single novel. To be clear: The Lead Cloak is a full novel. But it is the first act in a larger story that will be told in Book II and Book III.
And I am hard at work on Book II.
How To Get It
The book will be available everywhere on October 15, and we will be kicking it off with a launch party at Kings Books in Tacoma. If you live near Tacoma you should plan to attend!
You can also pre-order your eBook with Kobo or on the Apple iBookstore, which makes an eReader that has been embraced by independent bookstores. By October 15, it will be available on Kindle, Nook, and more. An audiobook will shortly follow.
Here is the book on Goodreads so you can add it your shelf: The Lead Cloak.
Top Ten Signs the World of "The Lead Cloak" is coming true
What will the future be like? Will we wear our computers on our forearm? Will we bid on next week’s weather? Will we have guinea pig for dinner?
Here’s the top ten signs to watch for. I’ll revisit this post in a few decades to see how I did.
Take it away, Mr. Letterman!
(warning, some very mild spoilers of the world of the book below, but nothing about the plot)
10. The United States continues to obsess about safety, especially about head injuries. Football is declared illegal. People must wear soft helmets whenever they not in their homes or a place of worship.
9. Southern Italy and Catholicism reject the modern world. The Papal States break off from Italy and Rome is divided. (This felt much more realistic before Pope Francis was elected. Alas, a writer can’t win them all. But who’s to say what will happen in the next 68 years?)
8. Some native reservations in the US become scientific research parks, renting lab space to scientists who want to research things like cloning that are outlawed by the United States.
7. Weather prediction (and modification) is so accurate that weather is turned into a competitive market where farming regions, cities, tourist destinations, and more can bid on the weather they want to have.
6. Low Earth orbits are populated by tourists, scientists, and even some miners, who have trapped asteroids in Earth’s gravitational pull in order to mine them for metal and rare elements.
5. Women continue their rise in politics, the sciences, and all jobs requiring higher education. (see my Hanna Rosin post)
4. Because of the rise of cheap home 3-D printing for most common items, retail has a harder and harder time surviving. Instead, most retail space becomes temporary rentable “commons,” one day a bar, and the next a furniture shop, or maybe both at the same time. (Quick note: Retail is going to have to figure out the issue of home 3-D printers long before 2081. It’s happening soon.)
3. We start to wear our computers more and more. A screen wrapped around the forearm (called a wrap) is our most common computer, providing automatic translation or information about the topic of conversation, without having to be asked. It can be unrolled to lay flat and become a simple tablet computer as well.
2. A painless, regular treatment prevents most obesity, paired with a sensible diet (like protein-rich roast guinea pig, a South American import the United States goes crazy for). This increases prejudice against those who decline the treatment and become obese, however, since there are now relatively much fewer of them.
1. Personal privacy continues to erode from government, from corporations, and from each other. Eventually, people’s pasts and their private thoughts become open to anyone who wants to look.
That last one is–of course–starting well before 2081 …
Find out more about the future at haveyoujumped.com.
Here’s the top ten signs to watch for. I’ll revisit this post in a few decades to see how I did.
Take it away, Mr. Letterman!
(warning, some very mild spoilers of the world of the book below, but nothing about the plot)
10. The United States continues to obsess about safety, especially about head injuries. Football is declared illegal. People must wear soft helmets whenever they not in their homes or a place of worship.
9. Southern Italy and Catholicism reject the modern world. The Papal States break off from Italy and Rome is divided. (This felt much more realistic before Pope Francis was elected. Alas, a writer can’t win them all. But who’s to say what will happen in the next 68 years?)
8. Some native reservations in the US become scientific research parks, renting lab space to scientists who want to research things like cloning that are outlawed by the United States.
7. Weather prediction (and modification) is so accurate that weather is turned into a competitive market where farming regions, cities, tourist destinations, and more can bid on the weather they want to have.
6. Low Earth orbits are populated by tourists, scientists, and even some miners, who have trapped asteroids in Earth’s gravitational pull in order to mine them for metal and rare elements.
5. Women continue their rise in politics, the sciences, and all jobs requiring higher education. (see my Hanna Rosin post)
4. Because of the rise of cheap home 3-D printing for most common items, retail has a harder and harder time surviving. Instead, most retail space becomes temporary rentable “commons,” one day a bar, and the next a furniture shop, or maybe both at the same time. (Quick note: Retail is going to have to figure out the issue of home 3-D printers long before 2081. It’s happening soon.)
3. We start to wear our computers more and more. A screen wrapped around the forearm (called a wrap) is our most common computer, providing automatic translation or information about the topic of conversation, without having to be asked. It can be unrolled to lay flat and become a simple tablet computer as well.
2. A painless, regular treatment prevents most obesity, paired with a sensible diet (like protein-rich roast guinea pig, a South American import the United States goes crazy for). This increases prejudice against those who decline the treatment and become obese, however, since there are now relatively much fewer of them.
1. Personal privacy continues to erode from government, from corporations, and from each other. Eventually, people’s pasts and their private thoughts become open to anyone who wants to look.
That last one is–of course–starting well before 2081 …
Find out more about the future at haveyoujumped.com.
