My 2018

I published a few things in 2018, and here they are. First off: The Black Prince (Unbound). The author is never best placed accurately to judge his/her own work's merit of course. That goes without saying. But this still seems to me one of the two or three best things I've written. That doesn't mean it's good in any larger context of course. Still: I'm more pleased than I can say that my name appears on the same title-page as Anthony Burgess, and I'll be honest: that's probably enough for me.

By The Pricking of Her Thumb (Gollancz) is a kind-of sequel to The Real-Town Murders, and is another near-future SFnal impossible murder whodunit. If you're curious who dunit you could read the book. I mean, I can tell you: it was money, but it's always money, in these things, isn't it?

Haven (Solaris) is a sequel to Dave Hutchinson's excellent Shelter (Solaris). Dave is writing book 3 right now, after which d.v. I will write book 4.

I put out a couple of novellas this year: one, The Man Who Would Be Kling (NewCon), was part of a foursome of 'alien among us' stories that Ian Whates's press issued. Mine is a kind of Kipling/Star Trek mash-up, as the title suggests. The four books' artwork aggregates, rather neatly, into one long canvas, like Chris Foss's covers for the old Pan Foundation novels. You may need to click-to-embiggen to see them properly.

Also with NewCon is my standalone novella The Lake Boy. This started life as a section of The Thing Itself that outgrew its slot. It's my version of that venerable sf tradition, a Wold Newton Meteorite tale.

I also did some academic work. For example, Cambridge University Press published this:

And last, but not, in my judgement, least is this new translation of Vergil's Eclogues into the idiom of Ted Hughes, plus an accompanying essay on pastoral.

These books appeared on no Best of 2018 roundups and none of them have been, or will be, shortlisted for awards or other signs of community esteem. But I've come to terms with that, esteemless as I have been for the last many years. Turns out it's OK, actually.

I won't publish so much in 2019.