Hello and welcome to this Original Fiction Spotlight, where today I’m welcoming the brilliant James Swallow to the site. If you’re a fan of sci-fi worlds from Warhammer 40,000 to Star Trek then chances are you’ll have come across James’ excellent IP fiction – I’ve certainly read and reviewed my fair share of his 40k stories! In the spirit of these spotlight articles though, today we’re looking at James’ original fiction. If you weren’t already aware, outside of IP fiction James has a fantastic catalogue of thrillers to his name, with a six-book series from Bonnier Zaffre and two standalone novels from Welbeck Publishing. As part of my ongoing ‘Spotlight On…’ series, I’ve invited James to give us the lowdown on his original fiction, so warm up your TBR list and get ready to find out more about these great thrillers.
It’s official: Track of Words is now a Silvia Moreno-Garcia fan site! Well, I might be exaggerating a little bit, but it certainly feels that way. Prior to 2023 I had read three of her novels – Gods of Jade and Shadow, The Beautiful Ones and Certain Dark Things – and loved them all, but this year I’ve really ramped things up. Six months into the year and I’ve read one Moreno-Garcia novel each month, which brings me up to date with her entire novel catalogue! Having now caught up, I thought it might be fun to put together a sort of Moreno-Garcia landing page to provide an overview of her work, some suggestions for where to start, and links out to all of my reviews.
Hello and welcome to this instalment of my Short and Sweet review roundup series, where I take a quick look at some recent reads that I haven’t been able to write full reviews for. Normally I do one of these per month, but for various reasons (you can read about how mad a lot of the last month was for me in this monthly roundup post) I didn’t manage one in June 2023. To make up for that, this instalment is a special Aconyte Books edition, in which I’m talking about a trio of Aconyte titles that I’ve recently read – two Arkham Horror novels and one Marvel: Legends of Asgard book. I’ve been trying to catch up on books I’ve been meaning to read for ages, and I’ve had these on the shelf since 2020/21, so it’s been great to finally find the time for them.
Published in 2015 by Solaris Books, with a nice new paperback edition released in 2022, Signal to Noise was Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s debut novel, an intriguing tale of music, magic and the recklessness of youth that introduced the world to her genre-swapping talents. In Mexico City in the late 80s, three school friends – Meche, Sebastian and Daniela – learn how to cast spells by listening to vinyl records, using their newfound power to get the things any teenager wants: money, attention, love, freedom. Twenty years later, Meche returns to Mexico City for the funeral of her absent father, and finds herself reliving those early years, and the inevitable pain that came as a result of her dabbling in power she didn’t understand.
Released in May 2023 as a standalone Black Library e-short, Peter Fehervari’s Altar of Maws is the 18th instalment in the Dark Coil, and another example of just how dark and interesting 40k can be in the right hands. Set between A Sanctuary of Wyrms and the novel Fire Caste, this sees a flotilla of T’au barges pulled off course as it journeys along Fi’draah’s winding rivers, and confronted with a ghastly enemy in the midst of an impossible, hidden lake. Jhi’kaara, the ‘broken mirror’, has confronted this sort of darkness before, but for her fellow Fire Warrior Tal’hanzo the monstrousness of what they’ve stumbled across is enough to challenge his beliefs at a fundamental level.
Hello and welcome to a slightly later than usual Monthly Roundup for June 2023, here on Track of Words. I was all set to write this at the end of June, but I turned 40 right at the end of the month and I just didn’t end up with any free time – more on this a bit later. Now things have calmed down a little though, I’ve had time to look back on June and put together some thoughts for this post. It’s certainly been a busy month, with quite a lot of activity on the site alongside far more time spent away from home than usual! As always I’ve put together a quick recap of the last month’s posts, and then a few updates on what’s been happening in June, what I’ve been reading, and what’s caught my eye in the world of SFF publishing of late.
June’s Posts
After a few months of being WAY off my rough goal of two posts per week, June marked the second month in a row that I achieved that goal – with 9 posts (and it would have been 10 if I’d got this one written in time). As usual, there was quite a mix of subjects with five reviews, two guest posts, one blog post and one author interview.
Spotlight on Justin Hill’s Original Fiction – this series continues with a fascinating look at the impressive number of historical fiction novels that Justin has written, exploring everything from Viking kings to Chinese poets and taking in the 11th Century all the way up to the 20th Century. If you only know Justin from his Warhammer work, there’s so much more for you to explore!
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – this was the fifth Moreno-Garcia novel I read in 2023, and the fourth that I’ve written a full review for, and suffice to say I loved it. A sort of historical science fiction novel, and a female-centred retelling of HG Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, this is as beautifully written and vividly described as you’d expect from an author who seems to be able to turn her hand to pretty much any genre with equally impressive effect.
Winter’s Gifts by Ben Aaronovitch – a new Rivers of London book (whether a novel or, like this, a novella) is one of the few occasions where I’ll drop whatever I’m reading and jump straight in, and as usual I was not disappointed. Taking things over the Atlantic to small town Wisconsin in winter, and delving into the realms of the horror story (but still in context of the series), this is the first time we’ve seen a story from the perspective of FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds. While it takes a little mental adjustment to get used to the new voice, once you get used to it this proves to be a lot of fun, and an interesting new angle on the setting.
The Sleepless by Victor Manibo – high-concept SF can be brilliant to read, and here the central concept of a hyperinsomnia epidemic is absolutely fascinating. There’s so much to think about in the implications of never needing sleep again, and Manibo does a great job of exploring a lot of these questions in the context of a compelling mystery. I wasn’t quite expecting it to go from investigative journalism to full-on cyberthriller, but it worked!
Curating Online Book Spaces – it can be daunting to get involved in the online book community (or any online community really), but there are definitely some things you can do to make your life easier. I put this post together to talk about how curating your online spaces can help – how I do things might not work for you, but I think a lot of these suggestions will be relevant regardless.
I Am AI by Ai Jiang – this thought-provoking SF novelette (i.e. a long short story) couldn’t have been released at a better time. It’s the story of a cyborg named Ai (the same as the author) who pretends to be an AI writing tool in order to make money, pushing herself way too hard in order to earn enough to support her community and also strip away yet more of her human parts. It’s dark, but also hopeful, and as timely as they come.
The King of the Spoil by Jonathan D. Beer – the latest Warhammer Crime novel has just gone up for pre-order at the time of writing this, but I was lucky enough to be sent a rare digital review copy in advance of its release. To me it felt very much like an old-school 40k novel, with a dash of Necromunda added in; it’s one of those slightly ambiguous books that leaves you wanting to know more. As long as you’re ok with that, and like the idea of a book that’s less a detective story and more an exploration of criminal socio-politics, then there’s a lot to enjoy here.
Spotlight on J.S. Collyer’s Original Fiction – the second of this month’s guest posts, this time we’ve got the excellent J.S. Collyer with the lowdown on her original fiction. You might be familiar with her Black Library short stories, but she has a whole host of great SF and speculative fiction available, from flash fiction all the way to an action-packed SF novel trilogy!
RAPID FIRE: Jonathan D. Beer Talks The King of the Spoil – if you’ve read my review and want to know more about this intriguing new Warhammer Crime book, you’re in luck! Jonathan kindly answered a load of my questions about his debut novel, giving an overview of what to expect and delving into his thought processes for the characters and settings, his writing process, and loads more.
[UPDATED] Aconyte Books – Reviews and Interviews – did you know that I have a dedicated Aconyte page? Check it out for links to over 70 reviews, interviews and guest posts exploring the fictional worlds that Aconyte populates – Arkham Horror, Legend of the Five Rings, Marvel, Zombicide and loads more.
[UPDATED] Warhammer Crime – The Range So Far – I try to keep this page as up to date as I can, so having read Jonathan D. Beer’s The King of the Spoil I updated the page to include info about that book and its connections, details of an upcoming anthology, and a few general tweaks here and there.
My June
After a really good May, I was hoping that June would prove equally productive, happy and generally enjoyable…and it certainly did, even if it was also considerably busier than I expected. I suppose in hindsight I should have anticipated that of all years, the year I turn 40 would be the one in which my birthday month was particularly crazy! I won’t bore you with all the details, but I’ll give you an overview of what happened; just bear in mind that I usually meet up with friends, or go somewhere different, maybe three or four days out of a month…
Dorset: in the middle of the month my other half and I travelled to Dorset for five days spent by the seaside and in quiet country towns, wandering around bookshops and vintage markets, and generally enjoying being away from London
Nottingham: the weekend before my birthday, some friends and I spent a weekend in Nottingham playing games at Warhammer World, wandering around the exhibition there, and hanging out in Bugmans and the Belfry Hotel bar. We all met at various Black Library Weekenders in Nottingham, so it was the perfect place to catch up.
London: on my actual birthday, my other half and I pottered around some bits of London we didn’t know very well (including a passing visit to Kensington Palace), somehow came out of a Waterstones without buying any books (!), went to a great book talk (more on this later), had a nice meal with a friend, and then stayed at a beautiful Edwardian hotel.
Norway: the weekend after my birthday I went on a surprise trip to Oslo, organised by my other half and a very good friend, which culminated in going to see Bruce Springsteen in concert! I’ll never have a birthday surprise like that again, and it was a fantastic couple of days in a beautiful city!
I honestly don’t normally travel that much, and my birthdays are usually very low key affairs! I guess you only turn 40 once though, and it’s certainly been a month to celebrate. Of course I’m knackered now, so I need a few quiet weeks to recover!
Birthday celebrations notwithstanding, June was a good month overall. I didn’t get quite as much reading done as I’ve been managing in recent months, but that’s no surprise given everything else, and I still got plenty done. I did get quite a lot of writing done too, and while it still felt like I was making heavy work of some of it, other bits – like my Winter’s Gifts review – seemed to come quite easily. It’s been a while since I last felt like a review was quick and easy to write!
Reading Update
It’s interesting how quickly baselines can change. I read 10 books in June, and I keep having to remind myself that this is a lot to read in a month because compared to May (12), April (14) and March (13) it’s actually quite a bit less than I’ve been managing! 10 books in a month is, however, still lots…and 10 really good books at that. To keep this section short, here are just a few quick observations about June’s reading:
Of the 10 books I read, four were audiobooks, four physical books, and two ebooks (not a bad combination)
Five out of the six regular (non-audio) books were to review (although I’ve still got to write two of the reviews!)
I went back to Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries in audio (now on my third time through) for some comfort reading – I love this series so much!
After reading Signal to Noise in June I’ve now read one Silvia Moreno-Garcia a month, every month, this year! That’s now all of her novels read, so I might need to a) write a Moreno-Garcia roundup post, and b) start digging into her novellas and short stories
I’m now up to 72 books read for the year…I suspect I might need to update my Goodreads challenge!
Cool Book Stuff
I went to another two really fun book events in June (after three in May), so I’m keeping up with at least trying to remain sociable!
First up was a talk with Ben Aaronovitch at Waterstones Piccadilly, in conversation with author Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, to discuss his new novella, Winter’s Gifts. Interestingly, Esmie won the inaugural Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award for her debut novel The Principle of Moments (due out in January 2024), and it was nice to see a real connection between the two authors. She was a great interviewer (and indeed interviewee at one point, when Ben turned the tables and asked her a question), and Ben is always fun to listen to. If you’re a Rivers of London fan and you haven’t yet read Winter’s Gifts, I can definitely recommend you check it out!
The second event (on my birthday no less) was Kritika H. Rao in conversation with Tasha Suri, to discuss Kritika’s debut novel The Surviving Sky (out now from Titan Books). Taking place in the beautiful Library Room at London’s Conway Hall, this was a fascinating talk in a really lovely setting, and it totally sold me on the book. I didn’t know much about The Surviving Sky beforehand, but the discussion around its exploration of Hindu philosophy, what constitutes ‘climate fiction’, and the influence of Jurassic Park, all sounded amazing! Obviously I picked up a copy of the book, and I’m hoping to read it pretty soon.
The last thing I want to mention here isn’t a book event, but rather a successful Kickstarter campaign. The SFF magazine Shoreline of Infinity recently ran a campaign to find their climate change issue, which is guest edited by the fantastic Lyndsey Croal, and I was delighted to see them hit their target! I’m a big fan of Lyndsey’s writing, and I’m really looking forward to reading this SoI issue. Don’t worry if you missed the campaign though, as you’ll still be able to order a copy through the usual channels once the issue is out!
SFF Book News
I haven’t been paying that close attention to SFF book announcements recently so I’m sure I’ll have missed loads, but I did spot a few really interesting bits of news that I’m really excited about.
The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older – another wonderful cover reveal from Tordotcom, for a novella that I’m particularly excited for. I loved the first in this series – The Mimicking of Known Successes – and I’m delighted that there will be a second! And isn’t that cover beautiful? It’s due out in February 2024.
The Best of World SF Volume 3 edited by Lavie Tidhar – I was really pleased to see that there’s going to be a third instalment in this fantastic series of international SF anthologies, edited by the brilliant Lavie Tidhar and featuring stories from 28 authors spanning the whole globe. The first two anthologies were fascinating (although this reminds me I still have stories left to read), so I can’t wait to pick this up – it’s due in October 2023.
Lastly, while this isn’t SFF-related I thought it was interesting regardless. The absolute queen of self-published crime, author LJ Ross confirmed recently that she has surpassed 8 million copies sold! EIGHT MILLION! It just goes to show that self publishing is absolutely a legitimate route (as if we still needed convincing) – I’m sure most authors don’t sell quite this many books, but it’s incredible to know that it’s possible!
Other Recommendations
To finish off, here are a few quick recommendations of (mostly) non-SFF things that have caught my interest recently.
Music: I’ve been spending a while listening to Bruce Springsteen’s 2020 album Letter to You recently, and it’s rapidly becoming a favourite. Obviously it helps to hear songs live, which I was lucky enough to do, but I really think this is a fantastic album. If you’re a fan of the Boss and haven’t checked this out, I’d definitely recommend it.
Fiction: this is less a recommendation and more a ‘this looks cool’, as I haven’t actually read it yet, but I was recently sent a review copy of Lessons in Birdwatching by Honey Watson, and it sounds mad but brilliant! I’m hoping to read it soon, so I’ll report back when I can, but I really can’t wait to see what it’s like.
Non-fiction: in June I read The Secret Life of Fungi by Aliya Whiteley, which was short and light but really rather lovely. I can’t say I’m a particular fan of mushrooms in general, but I definitely learned lots about them from this book, and its light-touch approach was ideal for dipping in and out. And no, I didn’t realise Whiteley wrote non-fiction either, until I picked this up!
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If you’re still reading this, thanks for sticking with me! I think that’s a good point at which to end this – hopefully there’s been something interesting in there for you. If you’ve got any comments or questions, please let me know in the comments below or over on Twitter.
In the meantime, have a great July and happy reading.
Hello and welcome to this Rapid Fire author interview here on Track of Words, where today I’m welcoming Jonathan D. Beer to the site to chat about his debut novel – The King of the Spoil, out now from Black Library. The latest novel in BL’s Warhammer Crime range, I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of The King of the Spoil and very much enjoyed it, so I’m delighted that Jonathan was up for talking more about the book. Whether you’re a hardened 40k veteran or this is your first step into the world of Warhammer Crime, read on to find out more about what you can expect from The King of the Spoil, its characters and locations, Jonathan’s writing process, and loads more.
If you’re a regular Track of Words reader then you will probably be familiar with SF author J.S. Collyer from her excellent Black Library short stories, which are well worth reading. If you’ve enjoyed those stories though, she has a whole host of original fiction available too (including a short story right here on Track of Words), which you should definitely seek out as well! As part of my ongoing series of ‘Spotlight On…’ guest posts, today I’ve invited J.S. Collyer onto the site to tell us a little bit about her original fiction – including free short fiction available on her website, a fast-paced SF novel trilogy, and a range of short stories published in various anthologies. If you’re on the lookout for some new SF or speculative fiction, read on and fill your TBR list!
The fifth novel in Black Library’s Warhammer Crime range, Jonathan D. Beer’s The King of the Spoil is another gritty tale of everyday life on the brutal streets of Varangantua, this time exploring the socio-political implications of a power vacuum forming in perhaps the poorest sector of this gargantuan city. When Andreti Sorokin is murdered, the vast gang of which he was the undisputed king – the Har Dhrol – begins to fall apart, bringing chaos to the Spoil. As the shockwaves caused by Sorokin’s death race through the city, information broker Melita Voronova is tasked by the Valtteri cartel (for whom she begrudgingly works) with uncovering the culprit behind Sorokin’s murder. Meanwhile Haska Jovanic, a wannabe ganger on the fringes of the Har Dhrol, finds herself swept up in the upswell of anger forming on the streets of the Spoil, which can only lead to violence and pain.
A story about a cyborg called Ai who moonlights as an AI writing tool, written by an author was name is also Ai – it takes a moment to wrap your head around this, but Ai Jiang’s intriguing and darkly powerful tale novelette I Am AI is definitely written by a human (not an AI) and is very, very good. In a distant but utterly believable future, the city of Emit is dominated by a single, monopolistic corporation – the creepily titled New Era – with vast numbers of citizens living in poverty. Cyborg Ai works herself into the ground trying to earn enough to pay off her crippling debts and strip away her inefficient human flesh, even while doing what she can to support her neighbours and make their lives a little better. As her battery wanes though, and work pressures mount, her choices come increasingly into question.
