Two Reviews

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any reviews, but here are a couple of City of Ruin that caught my eye recently. First up is at Fantasy Faction, which was particularly pleasing because the reviewer really picked up on something that I was really trying get right after Nights of Villjamur:

And even more fantastic (and sadly far too rare in this male centric genre) is some absolutely fantastic female characters. Take a bow Bellis, Beami, Nanzi, Marysa and Artemisia. None of these are the sadly far too regular victim or princess waiting to be rescued that we still find in fantasy books being published even now, but are all interesting female characters that challenge the traditional female roles.

And a lovely one from last month at Functional Nerds:

More detail, more action, more danger, more romance. More fun. Newton juggles nearly a dozen characters, weaving their story-lines together, but still keeping them distinct. The setting is exotic, easily believable as the layering of thousands of years of history and culture. The stakes are high, and the action intense. Newton draws heavily on economic and social stress, showing the reality of a dying world and a very human reaction to it.

New Two-Book World Rights Deal With Pan Macmillan

PRESS RELEASE:

Bella Pagan, Senior Commissioning Editor at Tor UK, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, has acquired world rights to the first two volumes of a fantasy series by Mark Charan Newton. The agent was John Jarrold.

The first book in a series provisionally titled DRAKENFELD introduces the eponymous hero, an investigator. The series is set in a fantasy world, but will appeal to fans of historical mysteries. In this opening volume, Lucan Drakenfeld is called home after the death of his father – but is immediately thrown into the investigation of a royal death. He also finds that his father’s demise is not as clear-cut as it at first appears…

Pagan said ‘Mark writes compulsive adventures set in utterly convincing new worlds – he’s a terrific writer. I couldn’t ask for a better start to my new position at Tor UK than this first deal’.

Tor UK have successfully published three fantasy novels by Mark in the Legends of the Red Sun series since 2009, with a fourth to appear in the summer of 2012. They have been strongly acclaimed by China Miéville, Peter F Hamilton and reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic.

The first book in the new series will be published in 2014.

Contact John Jarrold or Chloe Healy for further details:

Chloe Healy: e-mail: c.healy@macmillan.co.uk phone: 020 7014 6000 twitter: @UKTor

John Jarrold: e-mail: j.jarrold@btinternet.com phone: 01522 510544

21st November 2011

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A little more? It’s very much a fantasy novel, but equally a crime novel, with a locked-room mystery at the heart of it. Whilst I’ve dabbled with the odd crime sub-plot before, it was mainly a pastiche – Drakenfeld is much more committed to the crime genre, perhaps along the lines of the CJ Sansom novels. (It needs to be rewarding for readers of both genres.) The world is very much a classically inspired setting (Ancient Rome in particular), and there virtually no weirdness. I’m also really enjoying writing the Drakenfeld novel, much more so than any of the previous series, and especially the locked-room element: the impossible crime.

The publication date is provisional: as a book-a-year writer, I presume that would be a 2013 release, but I think there’s a bit of flexibility, what with this being a new series and Pan Mac wanting to get everything set-up properly.

The Reef – back as an Ebook

The Reef – my original indie debut novel – is available back as an ebook. And what’s more, it’s a cheap one: £1.59 on the Kindle, or £1.99 on iTunes.

It was published a few years back with UK indie publisher, Pendragon Press, but only in limited numbers. So the folks at Tor UK decided it would be a great idea to make it available to buy as a digital edition – and for less than two quid. Quite a few people have asked about this title over the last couple of years, so it only seemed logical to bring it back in this format. Of course, it’s much more expensive to do these things with another print run, but one of the cool things about ebooks is being able to publish digital versions of books that wouldn’t otherwise have been released.

I feel I’ve grown a heck of a lot as a writer since this book. I wrote it when I was 23 or 24 years old, and that was an age when I was experimenting with themes and finding my feet. My outlook on the world is different, as is my awareness of various issues, but I’m still proud of this little tome.

Anyway, The Reef being a small press title, there’s not a huge amount of review coverage, but there’s a good review at the Wertzone here:

The Reef (****) is a very solid and enjoyable fantasy which achieves the enviable task of not actually feeling like an overt fantasy despite the near-constant presence of nonhuman species and fantastical concepts.

In the Guardian here:

… a metaphor for the relationship between all living things, and their interaction on every level. Just as the characters explore uncharted territory, both physically and psychologically, Newton treads new ground in his attempt to bring literary concerns to the fantasy genre.

And at Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review:

Whether you’re after soaking up the sights of a fantastically drawn world, or being challenged by the darker recesses of the human mind (or even both!), then this is the book for you.

The Guardian on The Book of Transformations

The Guardian newspaper features The Book of Transformations in its SF and Fantasy review round-up:

The third volume of the Legends of the Red Sun continues the epic story of the city of Villjamur. The series is replete with many of the stock features of high fantasy: evil emperors, battling armies, sinister cultists, occult magic and, not least, the looming, eldritch setting of Villjamur itself. But Newton’s skill lifts the story beyond what might, in the hands of lesser fabulists, have been merely a string of clichés. This is a remarkable catalogue of transformations, embodied in the character of Lan, a “transwoman” making the arduous journey from male to female, from circus performer to an individual whose abilities will help to bring change to a city under threat from forces of evil within and without. The Book of Transformations is a dark and original vision.

Quick Pimpage

I almost feel apologetic for plugging the books and interviews and whatnot, such is the nature of the blog these days. But tough.

First up, a lengthy review of The Book of Transformations over at Civilian Reader:

The choice of a transgender as the main protagonist could have gone awry, but I think Newton has written her character, her difficulties, and her interactions with others (colleagues, strangers, enemies) very well indeed, and with a delicacy that was both welcome and surprising. Often, when one finds characters such as this, a preachy or strident tone can come across (at other, saddening times, more negative tones are evident), but not once did it feel like the author was trying to push an agenda. It’s very much a case of the main character happens to be transgender, and Mark does a great job of highlighting a lot of the problems that face transgenders in the world today, only transferred on a more repressive and less enlightened fantasy setting. If I’m perfectly honest, however, I never thought of Lan as anything other than female, which I think is a sign of Newton’s success at writing her character.

Very happy so far with the reaction to Lan.

And on the Suvudu blog I contribute to their Take Five feature, courtesy of Matt Staggs:

1) There’s a giant spider in City of Ruin that, as part of a minor sub-plot, is taking out union leaders – and the names of those leaders are based on real-world revolutionaries. In fact, there’s a bit of a role for unions in this book – part of what I wanted to do was show that, contrary to what some politicians would tell you, unions are all about ensuring workers are protected (in this case, not being made to work like slaves in freezing conditions etc). You can put this in a fantasy novel and people understand that. You see it on Fox News and… well. Quite.