Just a quick update for next week’s SFX Weekender, for those of you who are going. I’ll be on a panel at 11am on the Saturday (‘What is Urban Fantasy’), along with Ben Aaranovitch, Paul Cornell, Benedict Jacka, Stacia Kane and Sam Stone; at 3pm I’ll be on the Forbidden Planet stand if anyone wants anything signed.
The full schedule is here. I’ll be around on the Friday and Saturday, so if you see me and want a chat, come and say hello. It’s a very informal event.
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.
There’s a brief chat with me over at Rowena Cory Daniels’ blog, in which I say Many Things, and talk a little bit more about the new series:
The lead character, Lucan Drakenfeld, is a bit like a young lawyer-slash-detective, and certainly the polar opposite of a private eye (if anything, he’s a public eye). I’m really trying to steer away from noir pastiche because I feel that would be disrespectful to crime readers. The book is as much a crime novel as it is a fantasy novel. Imagine a mainstream writer trying their hand at a fantasy novel, and filled it with a paint-by-numbers story – they’d be strung up by the fanbase, which is why I’m not doing a paint-by-numbers crime novel, either.
There’s a video interview with my agent, John Jarrold, for those of you who are interested in tales and tips of publishing.
And I review a book about making compost for the Ecologist. More interesting than you might think…
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 – 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.
Forbidden Planet, London, Saturday 15th October, 1-2pm, along with Adrian Tchaikovsky and Adam Nevill.
Be there!
Then maybe here afterwards.
Since my blogging seems to have changed to smaller more frequent posts, here’s another reminder about this signing next weekend:
I’ll be signing at Forbidden Planet, London, with fellow Tor UK authors Adrian Tchaikovsky & Adam Nevill on Saturday 15th October, 1 – 2pm.
Come and say hello. Bring biscuits for the triumvirate.
If you can’t make it, and can’t bring any biscuits, then you can pre-order a copy of The Book of Transformations through Forbidden Planet’s website. I imagine you can contact them to get any paperbacks signed as well, though you might want to check I’m not making that up (I do that for a living).
I’ll be signing at Forbidden Planet, London, with fellow Tor UK authors Adrian Tchaikovsky & Adam Nevill on Saturday 15th October, 1 – 2pm.
Come and say hello. Bring biscuits for the triumvirate.
If you can’t make it, and can’t bring any biscuits, then you can pre-order a copy of The Book of Transformations through Forbidden Planet’s website. I imagine you can contact them to get any paperbacks signed as well, though you might want to check I’m not making that up (I do that for a living).
Newton defies the language of High Fantasy. Profane, skeptical, wounded, on the make… whatever; these characters (human or not) refuse to take their places in a clear moral hierarchy… there are bound to be many more surprises and revelations in store for what should be a growing bunch of fans.
We’ve had a spruce-up, as you can see (or if you’re reading via the RSS feed, get your lazy arses here to have a look). Though a few elements may still change over the next few days, any flaws ironed out, and fix any bugs, we thought we’d get things started again, since this design is streets ahead of the last one.
I owe a big thanks (and a few beers) to Darren Turpin, with whom I co-write a grow-your-own blog, and who can otherwise be found at blogging at Folk & Ale; this man knows all the technical jiggery-pokery to do with websites and whatnot, while I just break them from within.
So relax, kick back (don’t put that drink there, use a coaster), and the show will continue shortly.