Little bits of news...

Here are some bits and pieces that have landed in my inbox over the last couple of days...


Justina Robson signing at Forbidden Planet (Liverpool)

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by Justina Robson for the fifth Quantum Gravity title, Down To The Bone, at Forbidden Planet, 92 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4HY on Saturday 19th February 1 – 2pm.

Lila Black faces her greatest challenge yet as she takes herself, her dead lover and the AI in her head into death's realm. The Quantum Gravity series, set in a world where our reality mixes with other dimensions that are the homes to Faeries, elementals and demons, is unique in modern SF - a series that is willing to incorporate legend, myth and magic while maintaining a rigorous approach to scientific and psychological reality. And in Lila Black, Justina Robson has created an enduringly strong yet quirkily human and flawed heroine.

Justina is from Leeds, Yorkshire. She studied philosophy and linguistics before settling down to write in 1992. Her earlier novels, Silver Screen (1999) and Mappa Mundi (2001), were both shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.

You won’t be seeing me at this event, the in-laws are visiting on the 19th and even if they weren’t Liverpool is still a fair old trek (from London) for a signing event that only lasts for an hour... There’s also the fact that I’ve only read the one book in the ‘Quantum Gravity’ series (book two, ‘Selling Out’) so don’t really know an awful lot about the series anyway. Is it any good?

Exclusive Excerpt and Book Trailer from Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson's ‘Hellhole’

Only the most desperate colonists dare to make a new home on Hellhole. Reeling from a recent asteroid impact, tortured with horrific storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and churning volcanic eruptions, the planet is a dumping ground for undesirables, misfits, and charlatans…but also a haven for dreamers and independent pioneers. Against all odds, an exiled general named Adolphus has turned Hellhole into a place of real opportunity for the desperate colonists who dare to make the planet their home.


As General Adolphus secretly builds alliances with the leaders of the other Deep Zone worlds and the colonists work on developing the damaged and volatile planet into a safe haven, they have no clue that Hellhole hides an amazing secret. Deep beneath its surface lies the remnants of an obliterated alien civilization and the buried memories of its unrecorded past that, when unearthed, could tear the galaxy apart.

We are thrilled to reveal Tor.com’s exclusive first excerpt that goes live February 8th at noon! With free registration, Tor.com users will have first access to Chapter 1. To view this early, special preview of HELLHOLE, please click on the following link: http://www.tor.com/hellhole. In addition, please check out the wonderful, new book trailer for HELLHOLE at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUxH6aIXeTU and Enjoy!

There will be more to come between now and March 15th – additional excerpts, blog posts, tour dates and other exciting materials – but for now this should whet a few appetites for this amazing original science fiction series.

Yeah, I know this excerpt has actually been up since the 8th.... I’ve got this one sat somewhere in the reading pile and will hopefully be getting round to it before March 15th. Herbert and Anderson have come in for a lot of flak over their treatment of the ‘Dune’ series (I might even have had a few words to say on the subject myself) so I’m interested to see how they fare in a setting that is entirely their own. We’ll see...

Tor Books announces launch of monthly Twitter Chat Series

New York, NY – Wednesday, February 9, 2011 – Tor Books is excited to announce the launch of #Torchat, a new SF/f genre-themed, hour-long chat series hosted on Twitter. Guest authors will join fans in lively, informative and entertaining discussions of all that’s hot in genre fiction (140 characters at a time) from 4 – 5 PM Eastern on the third Wednesday of every month. Each #Torchat will revolve around a different genre topic of interest, with new guest authors and exclusive fan giveaways from @Torbooks.


Next Wednesday’s first #Torchat will revolve around a discussion of “hard” science fiction, that ambiguous and often narrowly defined subgenre of SF that purports to extrapolate from “real science.” Special guest authors Greg Bear (@spacegriz), Steven Gould (@StevenGould), and M.J. Locke (@MorganJLocke) will lead a fan chat on what Hard SF means, whose really doing it (and whose not…), and the science behind the fiction, using the Twitter hashtag #Torchat.


The chat will be introduced and (loosely) moderated by Tor publicist Justin Golenbock (@jgolenbo), with giveaways of advance copies of upcoming summer SF releases from @TorBooks preceding and following the 4 PM chat.

You used to be able to find me on Twitter but not these days, lets just say I learnt a hard lesson in terms of moaning about work and not locking my Tweets... #Torchat probably won’t persuade me to open another account but does look like it could be fun and worth checking out. Anyone fancy taking part and then letting me know how it goes...?