Category Archives: Article

The Future of SFF – Sunyi Dean Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post where today I’m joined by the brilliant Sunyi Dean, author of The Book Eaters and cohost of the Publishing Rodeo podcast. Each year as part of the ToW Advent Calendar I invite an author to write about where they see SFF publishing going in the coming year(s), and with her unique perspective from both her writing and her work on the podcast, I couldn’t think of anyone better-placed to talk about this than Sunyi! If you have any interest in SFF publishing (and if you’re reading this then I’m guessing you probably do), read on for some fascinating thoughts about what might be around the corner for both readers and writers.

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Same Stars, New Views: Writing my Second Novel in an Established Universe – Ren Hutchings Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where I hope you’ll join me in welcoming the fantastic Ren Hutchings, author of the brilliant “accidental time travel” space opera Under Fortunate Stars, back to the site! I absolutely loved Under Fortunate Stars, and it’s always a pleasure to be able to host Ren. She’s previously written a great post about why the idea of a ‘ragtag crew’ remains such enduring appeal, but this time she’s back to talk about what’s coming next for her, and what it’s been like writing further stories in the same setting! So if (like me) you loved Under Fortunate Stars and you’re keen to see more of that universe, you’re in luck – read on to find out more.

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Indie Highlights, From This Year to Next – Lyndsey Croal Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m very happy indeed to be joined by Lyndsey Croal, author of Have You Decided on Your Question (along with a remarkable number of short stories), who’s here to talk about a whole host of fantastic indie books. I read and loved HYDOYQ earlier this year, so I was delighted when Lyndsey agreed to write something for the site, and share her enthusiasm for indie publishing! Read on for loads of recommendations for great 2023 indie reads, as well as some fascinating-sounding books due in 2024.

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At the Intersection of Sci-fi and Horror – Alan Lastufka (Shortwave Publishing) Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m really excited to welcome Alan Lastufka to the site! Alan pulls double duty in the world of publishing, as both an author and a publisher, running the independent small press Shortwave Publishing. I’ve read (and loved) two Shortwave books this year, and have been eyeing up more, so I was delighted when Alan agreed to write something for the site. I’m particularly interested in the way Shortwave is able to explore both horror and science fiction in its catalogue, and the way the two genres are increasingly intermingling – and that’s the subject that Alan has tackled in this post! So read on to find out more about Alan, his writing, and the intriguing Shortwave catalogue…

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The End Is Nigh – Shauna Lawless Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, in which I’m thrilled to welcome back the fantastic Shauna Lawless, author of The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (2022) and The Words of Kings and Prophets (2023), two phenomenal historical fantasy novels that are out now from Head of Zeus (and are amongst my personal highlights of the year). In December 2022 Shauna wrote a brilliant post about historical fantasy as a genre, and now she’s back to talk about something slightly different – the tricky subject of endings in fiction, which seems appropriate given that the third book in her Gael Song trilogy is due out in 2024. But is that the end of the series? Read on, and find out…

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12 Debuts To Look Forward To In 2024 – Genoveva Dimova Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post from Genoveva Dimova – author of the upcoming Slavic folklore-inspired Foul Days, out in June from Tor Books. I’ve been looking forward to reading Foul Days for a while now, so I was delighted when Genoveva agreed to contribute this guest post, in which she’s looking ahead to 2024 and picking out a dozen upcoming fantasy debuts for us all to look forward to! I had a few of these on my radar already (and I’ve actually read one, and can confirm that it’s brilliant), but lots more are new to me, and sound fantastic – so if, like me, you’re always on the lookout for new books to add to your TBR, this is exactly the right place to be! And it’s just the icing on the cake that they’re all debuts, too.

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Best SFF Books of 2023

It’s December 2023, which means it’s time for me to take a look back at all the SFF books I’ve read this year and pick out a few of my favourites. I’m sticking with the same format as I went with for last year’s Best SFF post, so I’ve chosen ten fantastic SFF books that I’ve loved this year and listed them in the order I read them (so don’t think of this as a ‘top 10’). As always with these articles I’ve selected only books that were published this year, so some of my absolute favourites didn’t make the list – but even so, it was tough narrowing things down to just 10 books! What’s interesting this year is that quite a lot of these books are relatively low-key and not-very-fantastical – which I love, as it just goes to show the breadth of SFF as a whole!

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Behind The Scene: Exclusive Excerpt From Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post, in which I’m delighted to present an exclusive excerpt from Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty – out now in the UK, and due out in the US on the 9th January 2024, both from Head of Zeus. If you like the idea of dark (dare I say grimdark) fantasy inspired by the Mahabharata, then this is probably going to be the book for you, and to give you a sense of just what to expect Gourav has very kindly contributed some additional comments to go alongside this excerpt!

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Exploring New Worlds – Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this guest post here on Track of Words, where today I’m thrilled to welcome Esmie Jikiemi-Person, winner of the inaugural Future Worlds Prize and author of the upcoming The Principle of Moments (out on the 18th January from Gollancz)! Esmie has very kindly put together a fantastic post about the value of looking for new authors to read and new worlds to explore, featuring a trio of up and coming SFF writers whose novels she recommends checking out. So if you’re on the lookout for new reads (and let’s face it, who isn’t?) then this is for you – and if you’re keen to know more about The Principle of Moments too, keep reading!

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Writing For Traveller – David Guymer Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words, where today I’m pleased to welcome back the always-excellent David Guymer with a fantastic guest post talking about something of a new venture for him! Chances are you’re familiar with David’s writing from his many Black Library stories, or his great work with Aconyte Books, but now he’s venturing into new SF territory with a series of short stories set in the world of Mongoose Publishing’s Traveller. Whether you’re a long-time Traveller fan or this is the first you’ve heard of it, David’s got you covered with this guest post – so read on to find out how this new venture came to be, and what you can expect from this new short story series, Sindal Sunrise.

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