News Archive 2014
December 2014
LIMITED EDITION PRINTS OF MY COVERS
Well, two of them anyway. Leading British genre artist Jon Sullivan is offering high quality, signed prints of a selection of the many book covers he’s created, in strictly limited numbers. They include the covers for the American editions of two of my books, The Righteous Blade and The Diamond Isle (entitled Quicksilver Zenith and Quicksilver Twilight in the UK) –
These and a number of other prints by Jon are being offered on ebay, here, but just until the end of the year. (I should stress that I have no financial interest in this; I mention it only because I admire Jon’s work and these are two of my favourite covers.) One of Jon’s prints could make a great Christmas present for anyone who loves good fantasy art.
TALKING OF CHRISTMAS ...
Back in the ‘70s, when I co-owned specialist bookshop Bookends in West London, we used to commission an original Christmas card every year. This one was by the late and much lamented artist Jim Cawthorn, and is a good example of his wryly humorous style. I offer it by way of wishing everyone ...
A very merry Christmas and a peaceful, prosperous New Year
November 2014
PERSONAL APPEARANCE
Launching an independent bookshop is a courageous move in the Internet age, and I think it’s beholden on authors to support such ventures.
So I’m delighted to be signing at the new Books On The Hill on Saturday 8th November.
“Orcs Attack! Stan Nicholls at Books on the Hill - 1.30pm, Nov 8th
“Arm yourselves against the Orcs! and head down to Books on the Hill in Clevedon on November 8th at 1.30pm to meet acclaimed fantasy author Stan Nicholls, author of over thirty books including Orcs: First Blood, Orcs: Bad Blood and the Nightshade Trilogy. Don’t forget to sharpen your battle-axe… ”
Books on the Hill is on Hill Road, Clevedon, North Somerset, BS21 7LN.
Telephone: 01275 873647; email: info@booksonthehill.co.uk
The shop’s website is here.
AND A REMINDER ...
... that my wife Anne and I will be at this year’s Novacon, the UK’s biggest regional sf convention. Guests of honour are authors Kari Sperring and John Gribbin. Novacon 44 is 14th-16th November at the Park Inn Hotel, Nottingham. Full details at the official website.
October 2014
I’m attending Novacon this year. For those who may not know, Novacon is the UK’s biggest regional convention, first staged in 1971, and has welcomed guests of honour including John Brunner, Anne McCaffrey, Christopher Priest, Brian Aldiss, Bob Shaw, Robert Holdstock, Iain M Banks, Stephen Baxter, David Gemmell and Peter F Hamilton. This year’s guest of honour is Kari Sperring, with John Gribbin as Science Guest. The con takes place 14th-16th November at the Park Inn Hotel, Nottingham. Full details at the official website.
I’ll be there as just another attendee, but I’m delighted to report that my wife Anne Nicholls and myself have been invited to be joint guests of honour at next year’s Novacon, due to be held 13th-15th November at the same venue. It’s a great accolade and we’re very much looking forward to it.
ENTIRE ORCS SERIES IN ONE eBOOK PACKAGE
As I’ve mentioned here before, in response to readers’ enquiries, my Orcs novels are available as ebooks on most platforms. This package of all six books is the best value for money, and the Kindle edition can be downloaded here.
It’s not quite everything in the Orcs series, however, in that it doesn’t include the graphic novel Orcs: Forged For War, which can be found here.
What will probably be the last book in the series, Orcs: Tales of Maras-Dantia, a collection of original novellas and short stories, is due from Newcon Press next Easter. More details on that nearer publication.
September 2014
The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention, held at London’s ExCel Centre in docklands 14th-18th August, was a massive event – some 10,000 attended at its height. The ExCel centre is both huge (something like half a mile long) and fairly soulless, but people make conventions, not places. There were hundreds of programme items, so inevitably much was missed. But all credit to the organisers and the many volunteers for making such a large and complex event run so smoothly. Here are a few photos:
With Christopher Priest (Photo courtesy of Ian Whates)
With Robert Silverberg, Curt Phillips (and Leslie Turek) on Worldcon History panel. Veteran con-goer David Kyle should have been there too, but sadly ill health prevented it.
Awards and Their Narratives panel. L to r: Tanya Brown,me, Simon Guerrier,
Dr Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tom Hunter (moderator)
I think the only other convention we’re likely to get to this year is Novacon, held 14th-16th November at the Park Inn Hotel, Nottingham. The official website is here.
LEGENDS 2
The Legends anthology, edited by Ian Whates and published by Newcon Press last November in aid of The David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy, has been a tremendous success, particularly as an e-book, never having dropped below number 10 in the Kindle bestsellers ratings. So there’s going to be a Legends 2, probably around next Easter, and with an equally impressive line-up of contributors. I’ll post more details as known. The cover is again by Dominic Harman, and here’s a rough:
August 2014
London’s going to be the science fiction centre of the planet this month. 8th-10th August sees the second Nine Worlds Geekfest at Heathrow’s Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel, and the following weekend the capital hosts the World SF Convention.
Last year’s Nine Worlds was a great, superbly organised event. I can’t attend this year, unfortunately, but I highly recommend it if you can get there. However I will be at Worldcon. In last month’s update I posted the provisional schedule of my contribution to the con. Here’s the final version:
Autographing session
Saturday 13:30 - 15:00; Autographing Space (ExCeL)
Kaffeeklatsch
Saturday 19:00 - 20:00; London Suite 5 (ExCeL)
And I’m on two panels ...
Awards and Their Narratives
Sunday 10:00 - 11:00; Capital Suite 10 (ExCeL)
“ ... many factors come into play when judges or voters decide which books to recognise with awards. But what happens afterwards, over the years, as the list of winners grows? As an award develops a "canon", patterns will emerge, different maps of what we should be valuing in science fiction and fantasy. This panel will discuss the maps drawn by different genre awards -- from the Hugos to the Clarke, from Tiptree to Translation, from Aurealis to BSFA -- and the ways in which readers make use of them.”
Participants: Tom Hunter (Moderator), Simon Guerrier, Stan Nicholls, Dr. Tansy Rayner Roberts, Tanya Brown.
Worldcon History
Sunday 13:30 - 15:00; Capital Suite 3 (ExCeL)
“Worldcon is one of the world's oldest science fiction conventions and arguably one of the most successful and influential. In this session we discuss the history of Worldcon, how it emerged and why. Join us for this fascinating glimpse into our Worldcon heritage and the opportunity to ask questions of people such as Dave Kyle, an original Futurian and attendee of what is claimed to be the very first Worldcon, plus Bob Silverberg who has seen so many Worldcons come and go.”
Participants: Curt Phillips (Moderator), David Kyle, Stan Nicholls, Robert Silverberg, Leslie Turek.
There’s also going to be an exhibit telling the history of the David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy (of which I’m Chair) in the Displays area of the Exhibits Hall.
The full Loncon 3 programme can be found here, and very impressive it is too, with over 1000 participants.
The very first convention I attended was Loncon 2, held in August 1965 at the Mount Royal Hotel, Marble Arch. (I was little more than a child at the time, you understand.) That attracted a couple of hundred attendees. Loncon 3 is expecting over 9000. Times have changed.
Loncon 3’s website is here.
July 2014
THE DAVID GEMMELL AWARDS FOR FANTASY 2014
This year’s Gemmell Awards ceremony took place at London’s Magic Circle on 13th June. The winners were:
LEGEND AWARD (best novel)
Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
(Harper Collins UK)
MORNINGSTAR AWARD (best debut)
Promise of Blood by Brian McLellan
(Orbit)
RAVENHEART AWARD (best cover art)
Jason Chan for the cover of Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
(Harper
Collins UK)
Photographs (c) 2014 Peter Coleborn
The David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy official website is here.
LONCON 3
I’m delighted to report that I’ll be taking part in two items at Loncon 3. I should stress that only the draft programme has been published - the final line-up will be released towards the end of this month. But as things stand I’m doing the following, as described by the organisers.
Awards and Their Narratives
Sunday 10:00 - 11:00
An Award is more than just a prize for the best: it's a way of pointing to the genre and saying "see this pattern", a game in which an award suggests what we should be valuing. This panel will discuss the different ways that awards show insight into genre, from the Hugos to the Clarke, from the Tiptree to the Kitschies, and from Carl Brandon to Parallax.
Participants: Tom Hunter (moderator), Stan Nicholls, Dr Tansy Rayner Roberts and Jared Shurin
Worldcon History
Sunday 13:30 - 15:00
Worldcon is one of the world's oldest science fiction conventions and arguably one of the most successful and influential. In this session we discuss the history of Worldcon, how it emerged, why, and imagine where it might be going.
Participants: David Kyle, Stan Nicholls and Robert Silverberg
Loncon 3’s website is here.
June 2014
PANDINO FANTASY BOOKS 2014
It was a great pleasure to be the UK guest of honour at this year’s Pandino Fantasy Books festival, held just outside Milan on 25th May.
The historic setting was impressive, the organisation faultless and everyone involved couldn’t have been kinder or more helpful.
I really enjoyed the event, and it was a joy to meet so many of my Italian readers. Here are a few photos.
There’s coverage of the festival at Italian webzine Fantasy Planet, here.
GEMMELL AWARDS 2014: NEW TROPHY
The ceremony for the David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy takes place at London’s Magic Circle headquarters on 13th June, and I’ll have a report, with photos, in the next update.
There are three categories - the Legend Award (best novel), the Morningstar (best debut) and the Ravenheart (best cover art) - and this year we’re introducing a new trophy for the Ravenheart. Created by artist Lee Blair, this pewter bust depicts Gemmell’s most celebrated character, Druss, looming over the fortress of Dros Delnoch.
NEW FRENCH EDITION OFQUICKSILVER TRILOGY
Published on 18th June as part of Bragelonne’s 10 Romans – 10 Euros series, here’s the cover of a new, limited edition of my Quicksilver trilogy. A bargain for French readers.
May 2014
GEMMELL AWARDS 2014: SHORTLISTS RELEASED
Here are the shortlists for this year’s David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy, of which I’m Chair. Announced at Satellite 4 (Eastercon) in Glasgow on 19th April, voting on the shortlists, which is open to the public, will close at 23.59 GMT on Saturday 31st May. You can vote here. The awards ceremony takes place on the evening of Friday 13th June at London’s Magic Circle.
Legend Award (Best novel)
The Daylight War by Peter V Brett (Harper Collins UK)
Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (Harper Collins UK)
The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch (Gollancz)
A Memory of Light by Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan
(Tor/Forge)
War Master's Gate by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK)
Morningstar Award (Best debut)
The Garden of Stones by Mark T Barnes (47 North)
Headtaker by David Guymer (Black Library)
Promise of Blood by Brian McLellan (Orbit)
The Path of Anger by Antoine Rouaud (Gollancz)
The Grim Company by Luke Scull (Head of Zeus)
Ravenheart Award (Best cover art)
Benjamin Carre for the cover of The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
(Gollancz)
Jason Chan for the cover of Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
(Harper Collins UK)
Cheol Joo Lee for the cover of Skarsnik by Guy Haley (Black Library)
Gene Mollica and Michael Frost for the cover of Promise of Blood by
Brian McClellan (Orbit)
Rhett Podersoo for the cover of She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky
(Hodder)
I have the pleasure of being the UK guest of honour at the third annual staging of the Pandino Fantasy Books festival, held on 25th May in Visconti castle, not far from Milan. I’m anticipating an interesting gathering in a great setting, and looking forward to meeting some of my Italian readers there.
The official website is here.
EEK! I’M IN GEEK!
Geek! Is a German science fiction/fantasy magazine (similar to UK’s SFX magazine). The May/June issue carries a piece by genre journalist Christian Endres that includes a brief section on my Orcs series and quotes from me. Here’s part of the article -
April 2014
FANTASY AUTHORS SHARE THEIR FAVOURITE … RECIPES
Yes, recipes. Edited and published by the aptly named Ulrich Burger, this book, the third volume in a series, collects recipes from approximately thirty fantasy authors. Die Koche is a German book, and consequently the majority of contributors are German, but room was found for me (my contribution is in both German and English). It’s a neat idea - I’d like to see something like this for UK/US authors. We have to eat too, after all.
Incidentally, the cover’s a kind of visual pun, based on the cover of the first German omnibus edition of my Orcs: First Blood trilogy -
ORCS GRAPHIC NOVEL - INTERVIEWS
Some time ago, artist Joe Flood and I were interviewed for the DieGo Comic Publishing/Kingdom of Fantasy site about our graphic novel Orcs: Forged For War.
The interview has now appeared, and its still relevant. You can read it here.
You have to register before accessing the piece, but registration’s free.
On the subject of the graphic novel, I’ve had messages asking if it’s available as an ebook. Yes, it is, in Kindle, Nook and Kobo formats.
This links to the UK Kindle version.
This to the US version.
GEMMELL AWARDS - STILL TIME TO VOTE
A reminder that voting on the longlists for 2014’s David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy is open until 13th April.
The shortlists will be announced on 19th April at Eastercon in Glasgow, and voting on them closes on 31st May.
The awards ceremony takes place on 13th June.
You can vote for your favourite novel (Legend Award), debut (Morningstar Award) and cover art (Ravenheart Award) at the official website.
March 2014
What happened to the February update? Like other ordinary mortals, authors aren’t immune to the vicissitudes of everyday life. In my case it was the long wished for revamping of my workroom, which should have taken a week and ended up lasting more like five. Our central heating boiler had to be replaced at the same time, adding to the disruption, and updating this site was one of the casualties. Now the dust has settled, literally, and I have my dream workroom, hot water, and the return of what passes for normality in these parts. So the following covers items I would have included in last month’s update, had there been one, as well as some newer stuff.
DAVID GEMMELL AWARDS FOR FANTASY 2014
The longlists for this year’s Gemmell Awards are now up on our website.
Legend Award: Best novel
Morningstar Award: Best debut novel
Ravenheart Award: Best fantasy novel cover art
Voting on the longlists closes at midnight on Sunday 13th April.
The shortlists will be announced at 12 noon on Saturday 19th April at Eastercon in Glasgow.
Voting on the shortlists closes at 23.59 GMT on Saturday 31st May.
The awards ceremony takes place on Friday 13th June at
The Magic Circle, London.
You can vote at the awards’ official website.
FRENCH NIGHTSHADES NOW ON KINDLE
My French publisher, Bragelonne, has made my Nightshade Chronicles trilogy available as ebooks on Kindle.
Vol 1, The Book of Shadows, is here; vol 2, Shadow of the Sorcerer, here, and vol 3, A Gathering of Shadows, here.
REPACKAGING OF GERMAN OMNIBUS OF FIRST ORCS TRILOGY
My Orcs series has proved very popular in Germany, and Piper Verlag has issued an edition with a new cover, the fourth such edition to appear in German. The omnibus is also available as an ebook.
‘SHAKE ME … ’ AND ‘LEGENDS’ IN KINDLE EDITIONS
In response to reader inquiries, a reminder that my short story collection Shake Me To Wake Me, and Legends, the anthology of original fantasy stories published to support the Gemmell Awards, in which I have a contribution, are both available as Kindle editions. Shake Me … here, and Legends here.
A RAFT OF RECENT ARTICLES
I wrote an article for the Upcoming4me site about the genesis of my second orcs trilogy, Orcs: Bad Blood. The article, along with pieces by a number of other fantasy/sf writers, will eventually appear in print in the charity-supporting Story Behind The Book Volume 2. You can read my article here.
An interview with me has been published on Italian site Terra-di-Mezzo, and can be found here.
An article about fantasy fiction by Cathinca van Sprundel, with a quote from me, appears on the Dutch site Fantasyboeken.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE
JANUARY 2014
DAVID GEMMELL AWARDS FOR FANTASY 2014
After a successful outing at 2013’s World Fantasy Convention in Brighton (see the November 2013 news update) the David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy, which I have the honour to Chair, return to their usual London venue this year.
Here’s the schedule:
Friday, 14th Feb 2014: longlists published;
Sunday, 13th April 2014, 23:59 GMT: voting on longlists closes;
18th - 21st April 2014: voting on shortlists opens
(Shortlists to be announced at Eastercon [Satellite 4], Glasgow,
18th-21st April);
Saturday, 31st May, 23:59 GMT: voting on shortlists closes;
Friday, 13th June: awards ceremony held at The Magic Circle, London.
The Gemmell Awards consist of three categories – the Legend Award (best novel), the Morningstar Award (best debut) and the Ravenheart Award (best cover art), and all are decided by an open, public vote. The awards’ official website is here.
INTERVIEW
German readers might be interested to know that I have an interview on the sf/fantasy site Review-Corner, which can be found here.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE
The Birmingham Science Fiction Group is the oldest sf group in the UK, and it’s nice to be invited to address its members again. My wife Anne and I will be guest speakers on Friday 14th March, and I’ll be posting more details here nearer the event. The BSFG’s website is here.
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