For our fifth year of the Subjective Chaos Kind of Awards, we have stacked our judging panel – and consequently our shortlists – with excellent folk. I’ll be reading and reviewing in batches, starting today with two novellas that focus on very different takes on time travel.
rebellion publishing
With Sinopticon, critically acclaimed writer and essayist Xueting Christine Ni has curated a unique exploration of China’s speculative fiction from the late 20th Century onwards. In advance of publication next week, she was kind enough to stop by for a chat about translation, curation and the Chinese science fiction scene.
99.5% of humanity were wiped out in 3 short years after They arrived. 50 years later, a team of researchers sift through the ruins of a siege city to better understand the catastrophe. When Emerson finds a survivor’s journal, it feels like the jackpot. But can Eva’s account be taken at face value?
Rook has a choice: volunteer for hazardous duty or stay on the chain gang. It’s no choice at all. But deep in Open Waters, something ancient and hungry is stirring. If Rook can’t stop it, death is coming for everyone.
Nobody expected a meteorite to wipe out the Eastern Seaboard, but we had as little chance as the dinosaurs of surviving the ensuing climate catastrophe. There was only one way out: the space program.
Let’s kick off a new week with some news: I’m delighted to be taking part in the cover reveal for a new political tech thriller from sword-swinging physicist and financier Stewart Hotston…
Davy Higgins is the most wanted boy in Oxfordshire. The women of Wycombe don’t know why their leader needs him, but they’ll stop at nothing to bring him in. Father John’s men want to thwart Wycombe on principle. And Guz don’t want anyone else gaining an advantage. If only Davy knew what made him special…
Europe is little more than a myth. Even the Line has disappeared into its own pocket universe. Heathrow has moved to the Community. And a mathematician with the ability to unzip reality and deliver a dirty bomb through the rip may have fallen into the wrong hands…
When the Sisters hit the Earth, they ended modern civilisation in minutes. Tidal waves wiped out coastal cities. The Long Autumn culled millions as oceans rose, crops failed and medicines ran out. 100 years later, opposing forces are trying to assert control over Britain’s scattered survivors. Welcome to the Aftermath.
Yoon Ha Lee’s Machineries of Empire is hands-down my favourite space opera of recent years. The third book, Revenant Gun, was published this week, bringing the series to a close (or does it? There’s a promise of short stories to come, at least) and I’m delighted to be part of the supporting blog tour. To celebrate, I’m giving you my top ten reasons to join the Hexarchate…
Kel Cheris, half-possessed by the ghost of notorious General Shuos Jedao, survived an assassination attempt that wiped out her entire fleet. Or did she? Physical appearances aside, it appears to be Jedao who usurps command of General Kel Khiruev’s fleet. Formation instinct compels the Kel to follow Jedao – but will he really defend the Hexarchate from the Hafn? Or will he betray them to their deaths?
The fractures are becoming kaleidoscopic in the third instalment of the Fractured Europe sequence. University intelligence man Rupert is now settled in Europe and working as an agent for Rudi; former chef Rudi is trying to work out who is behind a string of terrorist attacks; and who knows what the Community – or the Coureurs – are really up to…
In a recognisably near future, countries have broken away from the EU, regions have declared themselves independent and even city blocks claim sovereign status. It’s a headache for bureaucrats – and the postal service – and a busy time to be a spy. Welcome back to fractured Europe.
Stella Maris is a remote planet where hostile races live in peace under the unlikely shelter of a Weird portal. When the corrupt Expansion comes to ‘investigate’, deserter Yale and former slave Ashot fear the worst – knowing that the Expansion sanctioned mass murder on Braun’s World. Will the Weird keep them safe?
Rudi is an excellent chef with a stubborn streak he can’t hide. When he becomes a Coureur – a member of Europe’s clandestine postal and people trafficking service – life becomes more interesting than a Friday night cooking for Hungarian mobsters. But Rudi has no idea what secrets he’s carrying – or who will kill to protect them.
onemore.org 