First of all, and to avoid all doubt, as at the moment of writing this there is no film biz going on with this book! This is just me having fun with a spurious dream casting for some of the characters for the book. Photos are all from imdb. Obviously this is also all just my picks as of today, and tomorrow they might all be different. If you have your own favourites feel free to disagree and propose your own if you like.

Shards of Earth, book 1 of the Final Architecture series, is out in the UK today! (US readers will see their edition in August, so apologies for that.)

This is the start of my space opera series, meaning it's SF where I get to play with toys that probably couldn't exist under real physics, such as FTL travel and artificial gravity. Given that it's me, of course, the precise parameters for how all this works in the book got pretty intricate and expanded to become the core of what's going on

In Shards of Earth, the aforementioned Earth got twisted into an avant-garde sculpture by a moon-sized entity known as an Architect, prompting a centiry long 'war' that was mostly just humans fleeing across the galaxy as their colonies were served similarly, one by one. Humans developed a secret weapon known as Intermediaries, people whose surgically-mauled brains were able to reach out and contact the Architects. And as soon as they managed that, the Architects just… left.

Fifty years later, Idris, one of the last of the original Ints, is keeping his head down on a tatty old salvage ship known as the Vulture God. Ints are also able to navigate ships through unspace without having to stick to the existing pathways between star systems, making them fantastically valuable to commercial and military traffic. Hence, from being war heroes, Intermediaries are now a commodity, made wholesale out of convicts and undesirables in a ruinously wasteful process. Idris, who has neither aged nor slept since the war, just wants to stay under the radar. Until, on one of their deep-space salvage jobs, the crew of the Vulture God find fresh evidence that the Architects are back…

The universe of Shards of Earth was (and continues to be, as I'm currently working on the third and final volume) enormous fun to write. It's full of alien cultures, weird planets and outrageous characters. A couple of my favourites amongst the supporting cast include Aklu the Unspeakable (the Razor and the Hook) an alien gangster… or maybe gangster, because it's sufficiently alien that what it thinks of its role in events is entirely opaque; and Trine, a colony of cybernetic insects (of course!) originally created as a records repository for archaeologists which has, through dint of just existing for decades longer than intended, become a self-proclaimed expert in the field.

A few links:

You can get signed hardback copies from Forbidden Planet here.

Bookshop.org

Amazon

And here's the Amazon Audible link for the Audiobook, read by Sophie Aldred.

What did I make out of 2020 then? Actually a trick question because whatever hit the shelves this year has been at least 2 years in the making. Just as well the last few annual news cycles have been varying flavours of unsavoury, obviously. There's probably a comic story there, where the villain imperilling the world is just a frustrated writer seeking to recapture the inspiration that bad times can bring on. And I am profoundly lucky I jump that way. I know writers for whom that's the case, and I know writers whom the stress has shut down. It is, frankly, a lottery, and I can't pretend to any particular gift, just fortune.

2020 saw Children of Ruin awarded the British Science Fiction Award, and Cage of Souls shortlisted for the Clarke, which was profoundly gratifying. Coming out this year have been The Doors of Eden and Firewalkers hit the shelves, both of which seem to bave been decently received. Should anyone be so kind as to consider nominating, the former should be eligible for anything taking a 2020 novel, and the latter for the novella.

For multi-author projects, Tales of Catt and Fisher: The Art of the Steal came out very recently, which includes my own novella "Belt and Bracers" as well as work from Freda Warrington, Juliet McKenna and KT Davies, all following the named reprobates on their further ventures through the world of After the War. As per the previous post, also this year, Shadows of the Apt begins its re-release with Empire in Black and Gold and Dragonfly Falling already out.

Next year, I have four major projects coming out: a standalone, two sequels and the start of a new series. January sees the release of Bear Head, the followup to Dogs of War, and I am posting the banner here in full because it is, to be frank, barking mad. And also entirely accurate.

Also scheduled for January is the sequel to The Expert System’s Brother, titled The Expert System’s Champion. Following in the heels of this is a brand-new novella, One Day All This Will Be Yours, in which I finally have a go at a time travel narrative by trying to create the absolute worst time traveller there ever was. If all this seems utterly insane, remember that two-year lead in — so that the year 2020 is kind of a blurred melange of 2018–2021 — and when books are coming out from different publishers you get weird conjunctions like this.

Finally, in May (UK) and I think August (US), we should see the first book of The Final Architecture, my brand new space opera series. The first book is Shards of Earth and the back cover faluff reads something very like:

Eighty years ago, Earth was destroyed by an alien ‘Architect’. Some escaped, but millions died. So to protect its colonies, humanity shaped the minds of Idris and others into weapons and sent them into battle. Then the Architects disappeared.

Heroes like Idris have been forgotten, and he’s glad of it. He’d rather retire to a shabby salvage vessel than be anyone’s living weapon. Until this small ship makes a huge discovery.

Hunted by gangsters, governments and spies, Idris and his allies race across the galaxy searching for answers. For they have something of incalculable value that many would kill to obtain. They have proof the Architects are back, and that the war never really ended.

Listening to Ben's narration (which he absolutely nails) has been an interesting experience. These are books I wrote over 15 years ago, now. My style has (as one would expect) changed over the years. I keep hearing little stylistic choices I know I'd do differently now, and occasionally there's a structural point I would likely approach differently. If I'd set out to write the series now the books would be different, but still very recognisable. And there's no guarantee they would be better on all points just because I would bring a more honed sensibility to the project.

Here are the links: Empire in Black and Gold and Dragonfly Falling in paper or e‑book here.  And for audio, here's Empire and here's Dragonfly.

Thursday 15th August

18.50 Wicklow Hall 1 CCD — panel:  Talking Animal Characters in SFF

Friday 16th August

13.00–13.50 Liffey Room 1 CCD — game show (!): Dungeons and Disorderly CCD

16.30–17.20 Odeon 4 Point Square — Panel: Water in SFF

19.00–20.00 Liffey Room 1 CCD — panel: Speculative Biology

Saturday 17th August

11–11.20 Liffey Room 3 CCD — Reading

12–12.50 Level 4 Foyer CCD — Signing

5.30–6.30 (location unknown at present) Newcon book launch — Once Upon a Parsec

Sunday

15–15.50 Level 3 Foyer CCD — Kaffeeklatsch

19.00–19.50 Wicklow Hall 2B CCD — Panel: Invented Mythologies.