Alt. Fiction - Other Worlds report

I had an excellent time yesterday at the Alt. Fiction - Other Worlds event, which was held in conjunction with Tor UK, and was basically a small-scale convention with a mixture of workshops, panels and book signing action.

The four Tor authors in attendance were Peter F. Hamilton, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Mark Charan Newton and Tony Ballantyne, and the first panel of the day was one they all took part in (above), in which they touched on a variety of topics: the differences between the fantasy and SF genres, the changing nature and importance of cover art, and the subject that is still rumbling on...the supposed death of SF. "Total rubbish" was Peter F. Hamilton's response to that. But it was all very good-natured, and in fact it was enjoyable to see Peter and Mark sparring on the issue.

Peter and Tony engaged in book signing duties

After a short break, the crowd split into two, some heading to the SF panel with Peter and Tony, others to the fantasy panel with Adrian and Mark. I attended the latter, which proved to be an entertaining, lively discussion on various aspects of the genre, touching on various subjects such as the use of religion in fantasy and the merits (and problems with) magic systems.

Following the panels, everyone reconvened for a book signing session and a raffle (the first prize of which was a year's supply of Tor books - not too shabby).

Mark and Adrian chatting to readers

No convention is complete of course without after-hours boozing, so I joined the lovely Tor ladies, the four authors, and some other like-minded folk, for a few drinks in a nearby bar. Beer and wine was consumed, geek talk was had. Happy times. This was then followed by a dash to the station, upon which Adrian Tchaikovsky and myself realised we both had a bit of a wait until our trains, so we relocated to a pub and talked books and video games until it was time for me to run for my train.

So, a really fun day. Many thanks to Chloe and Julie from Tor and the folks from Alt. Fiction for pulling the whole thing together, and to Peter, Adrian, Mark and Tony for being good sports and putting up with us fans. It was terrific to catch up with plenty of folk from the online genre scene too: Adrian Faulkner, Steve Aryan, Mark Yon and Mark Chitty.

As if that all wasn't enough, I found a copy of Mieville's King Rat in my swag bag, and a teaser book full of excerpts from Tor books - including Mieville's Embassytown.

Win.

ConJour - a new UK SFF event

UK genre fans are spoilt when it comes to conventions, yet here's another event to add to the calendar: a new one-day convention called ConJour, which will take place in Leeds on Saturday 11 March 2011.

"ConJour is the first Science Fiction and Fantasy event to be based in Leeds in many years. It is a one day event taking place on Saturday March 12th 2011 and will run from approximately 9am to 5.30pm. The event is taking place at the Leeds Park Plaza Hotel and is being sponsored by Tor UK.


A number of fantastic authors will be attending ConJour and taking parts in panels, talks, Q and A sessions and signing sessions throughout the day. A schedule of the day will be posted on this website and emailed to all attendees closer to date. A copy will also be given to all attendees in the programme.


Authors confirmed to attend the event are:-



Mike Carey


Kate Griffin


Mark Charan Newton


Freda Warrington


Justina Robson


Adrian Tchaikovsky"

The official website can be found here.

Worldbuilders is back...

Pat Rothfuss - and everyone else who has previously got involved - has done a tremendous job in the past raising money for Heifer International via his 'Worldbuilders' campaign, which is both a fundraiser and a chance for fans to win some pretty cool swag.

Pat's confirmed the fundraiser will be going ahead again this year:

"Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while should remember Worldbuilders. For those of you who are new to the blog, here’s how the whole thing works:


1. Authors and publishers donate books.


2. I put the books up on the blog, and we all bask in the warm glow of their radiant awesome.


3. You donate money to the Worldbuilders team page on Heifer International’s website.


4. I (and hopefully a few other helpful sponsors) match a percentage of your donations.


5. You get a chance to win some cool books.


6. Heifer International uses the money to make the world a better place."

Pat's looking for donations from publishers and authors, so if you'd like to help out Pat's awesome cause, let him know.

More details to follow soon.

Gollancz Halloween Party 2010

I had a fine time at the Gollancz party last Thursday. Just about managing to navigate the frenetic London rush-hour and inevitable tube delays, I (eventually) met up with Gav from NextRead near Marble Arch, before linking up with Liz from My Favourite Books and Mark from Walker of Worlds. Together we made our way to the party, braving the sardine-esque crush of the underground.

A suitably bloody Chloe from Tor UK, Mark from My Favourite Books (he had rather unnerving eyes that sadly don't show up here), and a ghostly Gav from NextRead.

The Gollancz party is quite the popular event these days, with plenty of industry folk crammed into the October Gallery. As is always the way, it was a struggle trying to find time to speak to everyone I wanted to see, but I managed to grab a few minutes with the lovely ladies from Tor UK, Voyager and Orbit, as well as the fine chaps from SFX magazine/Future Publishing. I was also pleased to meet Rob Grant, creator of classic British SF comedy Red Dwarf. It was also great to see my blogging comrades Wert (Wertzone...naturally) and Amanda (Floor to Ceiling Books), as well as various authors - Stephen Deas, Gav Smith, James Barclay, Chris Wooding and Joe Abercrombie. 

I stole this photo from Wert, but I'm sure he won't mind. That's yours truly on the left (with demon eyes that resist any attempt at red-eye reduction, apparently), a rather contrite-looking Gav Smith (with steampunk eyepiece), and blogger Mark Chitty.

After a couple of hours at the October Gallery, the party as usual moved to the Swan pub around the corner (I imagine the casual drinkers in there must have been rather unnerved by Stephen Deas, who was in full Ming the Merciless regalia). Various things were discussed, with the topic of embargoes cropping up again and again like a bad penny. Wert and I (rather slyly, it must be admitted) ambushed Amy from Voyager and subjected her to a 20-minute verbal assault regarding GRRM and A Dance with Dragons, which it must be said she handled extremely professionally(!).

So all in all, a very enjoyable evening. A special mention must go to Jon Weir, Gollancz publicity guru who heroically pulled the entire evening together and worked hard to make it such a success. Jon was also kind enough to let me crash at his place for what was left of the night, and he bought me breakfast the next morning. In fact, Jon was so good to me that I'm going to repay him by posting a picture of him once he had consumed plenty of alcohol.

Cheers Jon! Roll on 2011...



The Quantum Thief book launch

I think it's fair to say that when I started this blog back in 2008, I never expected that a few years later I'd be attending a book launch in the sumptuous surroundings of the Finnish Ambassador's residence in Kensington Palace Gardens.

Yet that is exactly how I spent last Friday evening, celebrating the release of Hannu Rajaniemi's debut SF novel The Quantum Thief with a variety of people from the genre publishing world and various scientific sectors (Rajaniemi is certainly well-connected). I chatted for a while with Jon, Simon and Darren from Gollancz, before we all sat for the speeches. The Finnish Ambassador gave a short, humorous speech, before Simon from Gollancz took to the podium to say a few words (below right), followed eventually by Rajaniemi himself. In a nice personal touch, Rajaniemi's mother also stood up and said a few words, as well as playing a youthfully exuberant recording Rajaniemi made of a story he wrote during his childhood.

After the speeches, more wine was consumed and genre conversation resumed. No doubt the ambassador's residence has played host to a number of important conversations in the past, though I bet the merits of the first Tron film have never previously been discussed beneath those extravagant chandeliers. I was fortunate to grab a few minutes with Hannu to have my picture taken (above left) and exchange a few pleasantries.

My recollections of what followed after leaving are somewhat disjointed (there was lots of free wine), though I recall ending up in a gay bar with Jon and Darren from Gollancz, Dave Bradley from SFX, and Dave's boss Stuart from Future Publishing. The less said about that, the better I think. ;)

Anyway, a great night. Next stop on the genre debauchery trail...the Gollancz annual party in a couple of weeks.

Alt. Fiction - Other Worlds, 6th November 2010

Tor UK are teaming up with the folks from Alt. Fiction to hold a one-day event called Other Worlds, on 6 November 2010 at the QUAD centre in Derby:

"Other Worlds offers a mixture of panel discussions, giveaways and signings and is an ideal event for both readers and writers of science-fiction and fantasy. Authors appearing include the UK's best-selling SF author PETER F HAMILTON, Shadows of the Apt writer ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY, rising fantasy star MARK CHARAN NEWTON and author of the Recursion trilogy TONY BALLANTYNE.

Workshop Sessions: Tickets cost £3 each.

11am-12pm Fantasy workshop with Mark Charan Newton

11am-12pm Sci-fi workshop with Tony Ballantyne

These will take place in The Box and the Meeting Room at QUAD.

Main event: Tickets cost £8/£6 concessions

1pm-1:45pm Panel: Other Worlds – The landscape of SF and Fantasy with Peter F Hamilton, Mark Charan Newton, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Tony Ballantyne (Cinema 2)

1:45pm-2pm Break

2pm-2:45pm Science-fiction discussion with Peter F Hamilton and Tony Ballantyne (Cinema 2)

2pm-2:45pm Fantasy discussion with Mark Charan Newton and Adrian Tchaikovsky (The Box)

2:45pm-3pm Break

3pm-4pm Signing with Peter F Hamilton, Mark Charan Newton, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Tony Ballantyne (The Box)

Books available to buy on the day from 12pm."

Hopefully there will be beer as well... I'll be attending, so I hope to maybe see some of you there. Tickets can be booked through the QUAD website.

Peter F. Hamilton book signing

I had a wonderful evening last night at Peter F. Hamilton's signing at the Manchester Deansgate branch of Waterstones.

In truth, it was only on Monday that I found out about the signing, after Chloe from Tor UK very kindly invited me to dinner with herself and Peter afterwards. Despite the fact that I walk past Waterstones on my way to work every morning, I'd somehow failed to notice the large window display that said PETER F HAMILTON SIGNING 16 SEPTEMBER. Well, are you fully awake first thing in the morning? Exactly. 

Anyway, there was a decent turnout for the signing (as you'd expect for an author of Peter's standing), and a lively Q&A session followed Peter's reading from his latest novel, The Evolutionary Void. Peter talked about a number of subjects, including his approach to writing and how he balances the amount of science in his novels, and also told a few amusing anecdotes from his writerly experiences. Then of course came the obligatory book signing session (authors must have wrists of steel, that's all I can say). 

Afterwards I joined Peter, Chloe, the store's SF buyer Andy and events-organiser Vivien, for a drink in the swish new bar in the bookstore (alcohol and books is a great, but potentially wallet-bothering, combination), before we all headed to Rosso for dinner. 

As you can imagine, with Andy being involved in frontline bookselling and with Peter being one of the world's most popular SF writers, the ensuing discussion was lively and covered a wide variety of topics, from the decline of SF reviews in the broadsheets to the emergence of e-books, via how nasty it is having to wear a gruffalo costume at a kids' book event. One revelation that I found particularly interesting is that - despite the deluge of 'dark/vampire fantasy' in bookstores, this new subgenre is apparently not selling well at all (if you remove Meyer and Harris from the equation). Perhaps the vampires' dominance won't last that long after all...

I ought to close by saying that I enjoyed Peter's company immensely; he's quite simply one of the nicest people I've met since I've been involved in the genre, and after chatting with him for half an hour I felt like I'd known him for years. Top bloke. And the food at Rosso was excellent, I definitely recommend it.

So, an excellent evening. Many thanks to Chloe for inviting me (and for paying what must have been a hefty bill), and also to Peter, Vivien and Andy for their excellent company. 

Alt. Fiction 2010

Yesterday I made my way down to Derby for the one-day genre extravaganza that is Alt. Fiction. The journey from Manchester to Derby is fairly short (about 90 minutes both ways) and is a lovely one to undertake in the summer when the sun has deigned to show itself - miles of rolling green hills glimmering with an emerald radiance beneath the azure skies. Mmm, azure skies...not seen nearly enough of them recently. But I digress.

The last Alt. Fiction I attended was in 2008 and while it was a good day, it still had the feel of a fledgling convention that was still finding its feet. Pleasingly, this year's incarnation improved on pretty much every aspect: the events (panels/workshops/signings) were more plentiful and specific in their topics, the facilities (the con was held in Derby's QUAD centre) were superior, and the attendance was greater (with a very healthy blend of editors, authors, agents, bloggers and general readers). The free bag of swag wasn't too shabby either, with a nicely-produced programme, a couple of free books and few other bits and bobs.

Upon arriving (slightly later that anticipated, as I was relying on the map application on my iPhone for guidance...and naturally it refused to work for some reason) I nipped straight into the panel on publishing . I found it interesting that the bulk of the advice offered by the panelists (including agents John Jarrold and John Berlyne, PS Publishing supremo Peter Crowther, and Gollancz publicity guru Jon Weir) focused more on how to approach publishers and agents, rather than how to actually write a novel and get it published (let's face it, that's not something you can really teach). And in any case, knowing how to  approach publishers is a crucial element of the process - there's no point writing a brilliant novel if you then fail to use the proper etiquette when sending it out, as you'll just blow your chances. John Jarrold mentioned that he receives thirty submissions a week from writers who have completely failed to read his submission policy properly - and that he deletes such emails without reading them in full. As he said, "If you don't treat me in a professional manner, I won't treat you in a professional manner." Words worth listening to. Interestingly, the topic of how to behave at conventions came up - another important issue, as some people clearly have no idea how to present themselves properly (such as the writer who, despite attending the panel, clearly failed to pay attention as she spent twenty minutes after the panel bombarding Jon Weir with a load of guff about her paranormal romance novel). Needless to say, Jon was the consummate professional.

I then grabbed a quick beer with Jon, along with Veteran author Gavin Smith, and bloggers Amanda Rutter and Mark Chitty, before heading to the fantasy panel on sparkly vampires versus hack n' slash (a bit of an odd angle to take). The panel featured, among others, Mark Charan Newton and Alex Bell. To be honest, the resulting discussion was rather pedestrian at times - "Mark, what sort of fantasy do you read?" - and one gentleman in the front row actually fell asleep and began snoring. Still, you can't win them all.

Following the fantasy panel, I popped downstairs with Adrian Faulkner (nice chap I knew through Twitter) and we attended a podcast conducted by the tireless Adele from UnBound, featuring Mark and Alex (both fresh from the fantasy panel) as well as Kate Griffin. The resulting conversation was more lively than the earlier panel, though Adrian (unintentionally) did his best to distract the participants with his extremely fizzy bottle of coke, which threatened to drown everything out. ;)

After the podcast, Adrian and I accompanied Mark and his lovely editor Julie to the bar for some more drinks and decent chat. Then it was back upstairs for a final hour of mingling, in which I managed to grab a few words with Gavin Smith, M. D. Lachlan and John Berlyne, before saying my goodbyes at 5 pm (would have liked to stay longer, but the small matter of England's match against the US in the world cup was something I couldn't miss - although as usual it turned out to be a disappointment, so perhaps I shouldn't have bothered getting back for it).

So yeah, a good day in all, though as usual I didn't manage to chat with everyone I wanted to. Alt. Fiction is certainly establishing itself as a crucial convention, which is great to see, and I'll hopefully be back next year.

Last reminder for Alt Fiction!

Just a reminder that Alt. Fiction is this coming Saturday, at the QUAD centre in Derby.

The schedule for the day is packed with panels, readings, Q&A sessions and book signings, so there's plenty to get stuck into if you can drag yourself away from the bar. The full schedule can be found here.

There's a load of authors who have confirmed their attendance - Steven Erikson, Mark Charan Newton, Tim Lebbon, MD Lachlan and Mark Chadbourn to name just a few - as well as load of editors, agents, and general hangers-on like myself. If you're going, do say hello - always nice to meet other genre fans. If you're lucky, I might give you one of my 'business' cards (not that there's any point, but it makes me feel important). If you're really, really lucky, I might be persuaded to let you buy me a drink. Mine's a Guinness or a Jack and coke. Cheers.

Last I heard tickets were getting rather scarce, so you'll need to move quickly if you want to attend.

Forbidden Planet signing photos

Well, it was billed as 'Three of the Best' and it certainly was. All in all, it was a terrific evening of GENRE GOODNESS.

Here's me with China Miéville:

Before the signing I was offering odds of 4-1 on twitter that I would kiss China's nice, shiny head, though was advised by Amanda that the chances of that happening were in fact evens. Thankfully I managed to contain my excitement when I met the man himself, and even managed to have a reasonably intelligent conversation. Plus I gave China my 'business card', which no doubt he has framed and hung above his bed.

Here are some other photos of the event, courtesy of the lovely Chloe from Pan Mac, which I've cunningly STOLEN from the Pan Mac Flickr page.

Me regaling Jason from Kamvision and a lovely chap called Alex with witty asides, while Michelle, my chaperone and bodyguard, looks on.

This man grows his own vegetables, you know. He's the man you need to talk to if you want to know what a marrow is. He also happens to write rather good fantasy novels. His handwriting is crap though.

Adam Nevill, Mark 'Sharon' Newton and China Miéville. Fine writers all. I'd love to see a scrap between Adam and China, they're both big and buff. 

Three of the best, indeed. 

In all seriousness though, it was a really good event. Very informal, so the three authors mingled freely with fans and signed whatever books they'd bought/blagged/stolen (I dragged my heavy Kraken proof all the way to London to get it signed). Afterwards, a bunch of us stalked  accompanied the authors to a local watering hole and we all spent a good few hours drinking and chatting. I got to meet some old friends, as well as plenty of new faces, which was fantastic. As always, events like this really drive home  what a brilliant spirit the genre community has; the enthusiasm is utterly infectious. I was especially pleased to grab a few minutes with Adam Nevill, since we'd exchanged a few emails and it was great to have a chat face-to-face. While I think of it, Jason's just done a good interview with Adam which you can find here.

Anyway, a great night. Next stop - Alt Fiction next month! 

Awesome triple book signing at Forbidden Planet!

How about this for a book signing event?

From Forbidden Planet's website:

Thursday 20 May 18:00 - 19:00

London Megastore

179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR

Three huge talents; one signing event - FORBIDDEN PLANET are delighted to be hosting a triple signing with China Miéville, Adam Nevill and Mark Charan Newton on Thursday 20th May at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR.

In China Miéville’s KRAKEN, a prize specimen has come to the Natural History Museum – a giant squid, whole and perfectly preserved. When it disappears, curator Billy Harrow finds himself in a city of warring cults and surreal magic – and the forthcoming end of the world.

APARTMENT 16 by Adam Neville is wonderfully written, deftly plotted tale of utter horror which will have you turning the lights on in the middle of the night. Follow and unravel the tale of Barringon House – and discover that the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something terrifying.

Two weeks in advance of publication date, CITY OF RUIN by Mark Charan Newton is the follow-on to the massively successful Nights of Villjamur, taking us back to the lands of the Red Sun. This time, we go to to Villiren, where Brynd and investigator Jeryd must fight to save a city that’s already in ruins.

Really hoping to make it down to London for this one...any of you game?

Bring it.

Joe Hill book signing

I had a really enjoyable time at Joe Hill's reading/signing session at Manchester Waterstones last night. Joe kicked off by telling an amusing story about his recent visit to the mall where the original Dawn of the Dead was filmed, using a plastic severed hand to very good effect (and much laughter). Next he donned a pair of plastic horns and read the first two chapters from his novel Horns, pressing a button to make the horns flash in warning whenever he got to a sentence containing an expletive (for reasons he had explained earlier, again to much amusement).

It was in the subsequent Q&A session that Joe's personality and love for the speculative genres really came across. Naturally many of the questions were linked to his family (did your dad give you any advice, did you want to be a writer because of your dad, etc) but Joe fielded these questions with good grace (even though he must have answered these questions a million times before, and the constant reference to his family must annoy him at times).

Most interesting was his revelation that he decided early on to deliberately drop his famous surname and to forge a career on his own terms, rather than relying on his father's influence (contrary to rumours in some quarters, Gollancz had no idea who Hill really was when they bought his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box). Joe explained that this decision was largely because he felt - quite understandably - that his parentage would distort publishers' opinions of his own work; he wanted a publisher to publish his book based on its own merits, rather than because they could market it as the debut novel by the son of a famous author.

It's a decision that Joe deserves a lot of credit for, and it's good to see that it proved the right decision: Joe did get published, and is now a New York Times bestselling author. He's also a very amusing guy, full of witty retorts and entertaining stories. If you get the chance to go along to one of his readings, then I recommend you do so.

Early reminder for Alt Fiction - 12 June 2010

Looks like the popular genre convention Alt Fiction is going to be held this year, after its absence in 2009, with the current projected date being 12 June 2010. Details so far are rather sketchy, though the con will once again take place in Derby. There's usually a good turnout of authors, editors, agents, reviewers and other genre folk, and a host of panels and discussions throughout the day.

Mark Charan Newton has already threatened to gatecrash the event by holding a launch party for his upcoming book City of Ruin, which should be fun (even more fun if we can get him drunk beforehand - that'll be one of my goals for the day).

Anyway, more details as and when. I'll probably be attending, though will no doubt end up in the bar (along with 99% of the other attendees).

The event's official website can be found here.

Adrian Tchaikovsky announces UK book signings

Shadows of the Apt author Adrian Tchaikovsky has announced that he will be signing copies of his books on the following dates:

Weekend of the 5th February - SFX Weekender convention, at which I will be signing books, either at a pre-arranged time or just mug me as and when the opportunity arises. Mid-panel is probably not recommended.

Saturday 13th February - signing around lunchtime (figure 1.00pm start in all likelihood) at Waterstones, Broad Street, Reading (not the one in the Oracle). (Waterstones, 89a Broad Street, Reading, RG1 2AP, 0118 958 1270)

Saturday 20th February - signing at 11.00am in Garforth Book Shop, Main Street, Garforth (15 Main Street, Garforth, Leeds - 0113 286 3534) and then:

Saturday 20th February (again) - signing at 3.00pm at Travelling Man, Leeds (32 Central Road
Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 6DE, 0113 242 7227)

George R. R. Martin confirms London appearance

George R. R. Martin has confirmed that in addition to his Belfast book-signing dates, he will also be appearing at London's Forbidden Planet store on 11 November 2009, at 5.30 pm.

Meeting GRRM is a must for any fan of his work, but I definitely recommend any genre fan to go along regardless of whether they are familiar with his books, since it's not often you get to meet such a legend of the genre.

Gollancz Autumn Party 2009

I had an awesome time at the Gollancz Autumn party in London last Thursday night; it was great to meet a load of authors, editors, bloggers and other industry folk that I'd never had the pleasure of meeting before. The free drink was nice too! The event was held in the refined surroundings of the October Gallery in Bloomsbury, moving on later to a pub around the corner. As well as meeting my fellow bloggers Gav, Graeme, Adam and Mark, I managed to have a chinwag with James Barclay, Joe Abercrombie, Chris Wooding, John Jarrold, Gollancz editor Simon Spanton and publicity guru Jon Weir, and a new author called Gavin Smith whose first book is due out next year (and who is clearly as crazy about A Song of Ice and Fire as me!). 

So overall, a great evening. Here's some photos!

The three blogateers: yours truly, Graeme (Graeme's Fantasy Book Review) and Adam (The Wertzone)

James Barclay and myself

Myself, some small-time author called Joe Abercrombie, Gav (NextRead) and Mark (My Favourite Books)

Mark, Gav and myself

Chris Wooding, myself and a rather inebriated-looking Adam(!)

My fellow bloggers have already posted their own reports of the event here, here, here and here.

Many thanks to Jon from Gollancz for organising such an enjoyable evening (and kudos to him for managing to keep 100+ authors/editors/bloggers from trashing the gallery, despite all the free booze!). 

GRRM announces Irish book signings...

GRRM fans in the Emerald Isle rejoice, for the man himself has just announced a couple of book signings in Ireland.

From his Not A Blog:

"On Tuesday, November 3, I will be speaking and signing at Eason's Bookstore in Belfast. The event begins at 1:00 pm. Or 1300 for you European types.

On Thursday, November 5, I will be at Eason's on O'Connell Street in Dublin. This event begins at 5:00 pm, or 1700.

More details when I have 'em."

I highly recommend going along to see GRRM, even if you've not read any of his novels. Aside from the fact that it's a great chance to meet one of the true greats of speculative fiction, GRRM's also an entertaining speaker who is always interesting to listen to. Proper gent as well, unlike some of his anti-fans...

Forbidden Planet book signing photos

Only just found out about this today, but thought it might be of interest.

Forbidden Planet in London hold quite a few book signings, and have uploaded plenty of photos of the events to Flickr.

Check them out here, if you feel so inclined. :)

Adrian Tchaikovsky book signings

Adrian Tchaikovsky has announced a series of book signings in support of the upcoming third novel in his Shadows of the Apt series, Blood of the Mantis.

The dates and locations are as follows: 

Friday 7th August, 12-1 (probably), Forbidden Planet, Shaftesbury Avenue, London

Saturday 15th August, 3-5. Waterstones, United Reform Church, 89a Broad Street, Reading

Saturday 22nd August, 1-2 (probably) Travelling Man games shop, 32 Central Road, Leeds LS1

Satursday 29th August, tbc, Garforth Bookshop, 15 Main Street, Garforth LS25 1DS

I'm hoping to receive a review copy of this one pretty soon, since the previous instalment - Dragonfly Falling - is one of the best books I've read this year. 

Abercrombie Scandinavian tour reminder

Since I get quite a few hits from Scandinavia, I thought visitors from that part of the world would like to be reminded that Joe Abercrombie is making a series of appearances in Norway and Sweden.

Here are the dates/locations:

25th June 18.00 - Stockholm SF Bokhandeln, Vasterlanggatan 48, 10317 Stockholm

26th June 18.00 - Gothenberg SF Bokhandeln AB, Ostra Larmgatan 16, 41107 Gothenburg

27th June 14.00 - Oslo Outland, Ostbanehallen, Jernbanetorget 1, 0154 Oslo

As reported recently, I had an excellent time at Joe's signing in Manchester, and definitely recommend going along if you can make it.