News from here and there...

Every so often, my email inbox gives me a metaphorical tap on the shoulder and politely reminds me that it’s carrying a whole load of press releases and would I kindly mind doing something about them all. I believe in trying to be nice to my inbox at all times so post all the news bits on here instead, leaving my inbox free for other things.

Check this lot out...

Signings at Forbidden Planet (London)!

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by Jasper Fforde for his new novel One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Wednesday 23rd March from 1 – 2pm.


Jasper Fforde is one of the UK’s most imaginative and entertaining authors. He creates hilarious, absurd and compelling adventures within bizarre and zany worlds and has enjoyed international success with two bestselling series. His books are loved by readers and have a mass following of dedicated fans.

Thursday Next is a literary detective who juggles her time between contemporary Swindon (though the Crimean War has not yet ended and dodos are house pets) and her travels in the world of fiction. In this, the sixth book in the series, it is a time of unrest in the BookWorld. Only Thursday’s diplomatic skills can avert a devastating genre war. But a week before the peace talks, she vanishes. Has she returned home to the RealWorld or is this more sinister?

But all is not lost. Living at the quiet end of speculative fiction is the written Thursday Next, eager to prove herself worthy of her illustrious Namesake. With her clockwork butler Sprockett and her Designated Love Interest Whitby Jett, Thursday has to get to grips with her inability to match up to her Namesake's talent, and prove herself to the one person she respects more than anyone else: The real her...

I haven’t read any of Fforde’s books but do have a copy of ‘One of Our Thursdays is Missing’ sat patiently on the reading pile. I hope to pick it up soon.

That’s not the only signing I’ve got news of though...

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by David Wingrove for his astounding novel Son of Heaven at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Thursday 3rd March 6 – 7pm.

The year is 2085, two decades after the great economic collapse. It’s power broken and it’s cities ruined, the West continues in scattered communities. In rural Dorset, Jake Reed lives with his 14-year old son, haunted by memories. Back in ’43, Jake was a rich young futures broker, immersed in the datascape of the world’s financial markets. He saw what was coming – and was one of the few to escape. For 22 years, he’s lived in fear of the future – and now it’s coming towards him. Chinese airships are in the skies and a strange glacial structure is dominating the horizon. A civil war looms – and Jake will find himself at the heart of the struggle for the future.

This all sounds well and good but I hear that this series is around twenty volumes long... I’m having enough trouble with series that are around half the length! I don’t think I’ll be picking this one up but could I be missing out? Drop me a comment if you’ve read this series (being reprinted by Corvus) and let me know.

The Americans among us might be sat there thinking that they wouldn’t mind going to the Fforde signing but they’re more than a little put off by the distance (I would be). You’ll all be pleased to know that Fforde is touring in the US as well, Check out the dates...

Barnes & Noble /NY, NY / Union Square / March 8 / 7pm
Brookline Booksmith / Brookline, MA / March 9 / 6pm
Joseph-Beth Booksellers / Lexington, KY / March 10 / 7pm
Book People / Austin, TX / March 11 / 7pm
M is for Mystery / San Mateo, CA / March 12 / 2pm
Barnes & Noble (SE 82nd Ave.) / Portland, OR / March 14 / 7pm
Tattered Cover / Denver, CO / march 15 / 7:30pm
Minneapolis Public Library / Minneapolis, MN / March 16 / 7pm
Kansas City Library / Kansas City, MO / March 17 / 7pm
St. Louis County Library / St. Louis, MO / March 18 / 7pm
Quail Ridge Books & Music / Raleigh, NC / March 19 / 5pm

Orbit acquires three new ‘Dresden Files’ novels!

This isn’t news as such because, to be honest, the Dresden books do so well that we’d be more surprised if Orbit had decided not to acquire the next three books... It’s a press release though and that’s enough to see it featured in this post,

Little, Brown Book Group’s Orbit imprint has acquired three new Dresden Files books in this Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling sequence by author Jim Butcher. Commissioning Editor Bella Pagan bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Ritsuko Okumura at Penguin US. The Dresden Files books have attracted a loyal army of fans and follow the trials and tribulations of Harry Dresden, P.I., the only wizard in the Chicago phonebook.

Pagan said: “I couldn’t be more delighted to acquire more of these amazing books. Jim Butcher’s writing seems to gets better with each book, as he delivers high octane supernatural shenanigans leavened with Harry Dresden’s appealing wry humour. If you love urban fantasy with a strong crime element, Jim Butcher is at the top of his game.”


Orbit has Changes in paperback coming out in March, followed in July by Ghost Story in hardback. The first new Dresden Files hardback will be released next year, matching Penguin US dates.

I’m horribly behind with my Dresden reading, should really do something about that.
And talking of being horribly behind with my reading...

Chapter One of Steven Erikson’s ‘The Crippled God’ up on Tor.com!

Calling all Malazan fans!! THE CRIPPLED GOD, the highly-anticipated final volume in Steven Erikson’s New York Times bestselling epic fantasy series, “The Malazan Book of the Fallen,” comes out from Tor Books on March 1, 2011, but fans can read a sneak peek of Chapter 1 right now on Tor.com at 12pm noon EST today (Note from Graeme: I actually got this email on Monday night and should have posted this sooner, dammit...)

www.tor.com/crippledgod

The Malazan Book of the Fallen,” starting with Gardens of the Moon, has always been for the hardcore fantasy fan: the series we recommend to those who want the best of the genre. The sheer size and scope of Erikson’s world-building is unparalleled, the many plotlines and convergences, dozens of original creatures and races, and hundreds if not thousands of unique characters. But alas, we’ve reached the end…where the final confrontation between gods, ascendents, and mortals is destined to go down as the mother of all convergences.

Great news for those of us who have managed to read ‘Dust of Dreams’, if you’re me though... well, you’re probably looking a little shamefaced right about now. I’ll get there, one day... (And maybe then I’ll think about tackling Esslemont’s books as well)

That’s about enough news from me for now. Before I go though it would be remiss of me not to introduce a little public service element to this post, especially where zombies are concerned! Check out this link if you’re not already stocked up in preparation for the zombie apocalypse; it could very well save your life... ;o)