Scarlet Traces on the 2000 AD Thrill-Cast

The latest 2000AD Thrill-Cast focuses on the new Scarlet Traces anthology. It consists of an hour-long discussion between Scarlet Traces co-creator and anthology editor Ian Edginton, writer Maura McHugh, Rebellion commissioning editor David Moore join, and 2000 AD publicity droid Molch-R, about the world of Scarlet Traces, the legacy of H G Wells' original novel, imperialism and speculative fiction, and moving from comics into prose.

It's an interesting listen, but when the spectre of steampunk rears its ugly, cog-adorned head, it's clear that people have a problem with steampunk, to the point where Pax Britannia, Rebellion's own steampunk novel series, doesn't even get a passing mention.

You can purchase Scarlet Traces: A War of the Worlds Anthology, which includes my story Wonderful Things, here.

Steampunk Thursday: Scarlet Traces - Out Now!

Scarlet Traces: An Anthology Based on H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, edited by Ian Edginton, is available now!

It is the dawn of the twentieth century.

Following the Martians' failed invasion of Earth, the British Empire has seized their technology and unlocked its secrets for themselves. It is a Golden Age of discovery, adventure, culture, invention—and of domination, and rebellion.

Scarlet Traces reveals a world of ant-headed nightmares; vacuum salesmen; war machines; deadly secrets; clockwork marvels; and Sherlock Holmes, T. S. Eliot and Thomas Edison as you've never seen them before...

Including stories by Stephen Baxter, I. N. J. Culbard, Adam Roberts, Emma Beeby, James Lovegrove, Nathan Duck, Mark Morris, Dan Whitehead, Chris Roberson, Maura McHugh, Jonathan Green, and Andrew Lane.

Ian Edginton is a New York Times bestselling author and multiple Eisner Award nominee.

His recent titles include the green apocalypse saga The Hinterkind for DC/Vertigo; Steed and Mrs Peel for BOOM, the steam- and clock-punk series Stickleback, Ampney Crucis Investigates and Brass Sun for the legendary UK science fiction weekly, 2000 AD; game properties Dead Space: Liberation and The Evil Within for Titan Books, and the audio adventure Torchwood: Army of One for the BBC.

He has adapted the complete canon of Sherlock Holmes novels into a series of graphic novels for Self Made Hero, as well writing several volumes of Holmes apocrypha entitled The Victorian Undead. He has also adapted H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds as well as writing several highly acclaimed sequels, Scarlet Traces and Scarlet Traces: The Great Game.

He lives and works in England. He keeps a bee.

Pax Britannia: Reckless Engineering

Available now from Newcon Press is Steampunk International, an anthology of new steampunk stories from Finland, Portugal and the UK.

My contribution is entitled Reckless Engineering, and is the first story to move the Pax Britannia timeline forward properly since 2012's Time's Arrow. Reckless Engineering was to be the title of the 11th Ulysses Quicksilver novel, but unfortunately it was not to be, so you have this instead:

Following a break-in at the top secret Whitehall facility known as 'Think Tank', agent of the crown Ulysses Quicksilver and his trusty manservant Nimrod set off in pursuit of the perpetrator. It is a chase that will take them from the railway sheds of London to the dockyards of Bristol, and an encounter with a long-dead engineering genius.

The book is, of course, also available in Finnish and Portuguese language editions.

     

Steampunk International/Internacional

There's not to go now until Steampunk International is published here in the UK, and this week, editor Ian Whates posted some photos of the books which have indeed now been printed.

However, both the Finnish and Portuguese editions are already available to buy! I have an order in for the Finnish one myself, as I have never had anything of mine published in Finland before.

Steampunk International officially goes on sale on 17th July and features the brand new Ulysses Quicksilver short story Reckless Engineering.

Steampunk International is available to pre-order on Kindle

You may have seen my post about Steampunk International last month. Well, if you prefer your reading material as a series of zeroes and ones, rather than in the more traditional processed tree carcass format, you will be pleased to hear that the anthology is now available to pre-order on Kindle here.

Steampunk International officially goes on sale on 17th July and features a brand new Ulysses Quicksilver short story entitled Reckless Engineering.

Don't forget that the previous Pax Britannia short story Worthless Remains features in Clockwork Cairo, which is also available for your Kindle.

New Newsletter - Subscribers Welcome!

Having launched my blog 11 years ago, to keep readers informed about my various projects, I've finally got round to setting up a subscriber list, so that I can keep interested parties informed even more effectively.

If you sign up to receive my Newsletter, you will get the lowdown on all the different things I'm working on - from short stories to novels, and gamebooks to anthologies - as well as advance notice of when new Kickstarter projects are launching and information about events I'll be attending.

It would be great to have you along for the ride, and if you would like to subscribe, you can do so at the end of this link.

You can read more about my Privacy Policy and how I'll use your data here.

Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes

There's just over a week to go until George Mann's new short story anthology Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes is released but I've been fortunate enough to receive my contributor copy already.

You can pre-order your copy here.

Interesting, around this time last year I was in Cornwall, writing Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of Bodmin. I'm off to Cornwall again soon where I will be writing another short story for another new anthology.

Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of Bodmin

Anyone who has read my Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novels, and has even a basic knowledge of the literary adventures of Sherlock Holmes, will know that the latter in some part informed the former.

Coming out this summer is my first published Sherlock Holmes short story. It's called Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of Bodmin, and appears in Titan Books' Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes, edited by m'colleague George Mann.

The premise behind the anthology is that each story is told by one of Holmes' associates, in my case Sir Henry Baskerville, the poor put upon subject of the murder plot in The Hound of the Baskervilles (which is one of only four Sherlock Holmes novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

The following is taken from the book and explains why I chose Sir Henry to be the narrator of my tale.

Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes is published at the end of August and you can pre-order your copy here.

Clockwork Cairo - published today!

Clockwork Cairo, the inaugural publication from Twopenny Books, is published today.

Edited by Matthew Bright, this brand-new anthology of Egyptian-themed steampunk stories, will take you on adventures from the steam-powered souks of Cairo, to the clockwork bazaars of Alexandria and the shadowy mysteries of the pyramids.

The table of contents includes a brand new Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia short story, by Yours Truly, called Worthless Remains.

You can pick up your copy of Clockwork Cairo here.

International Sherlock Holmes Day

As well as being World Goth Day, and International Biodiversity Day, today is International Sherlock Holmes Day.

It must be clear to anyone who has read my Pax Britannia novels that Sherlock Holmes, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works, have played their part in influencing the adventures of Ulysses Quicksilver. But it may surprise you to learn that, for all my work for other people's IPs, I have never written a Sherlock Holmes story. That is, until now.

Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes is the latest anthology of new Sherlock Holmes stories put together by George Mann for Titan Books. As well as my own, small contribution, the book includes stories by m'colleagues James Lovegrove, Sam Stone, and Andrew Lane.

The conceit that connects them all, is that they are all tales told by characters from the Sherlock Holmes canon, such as Inspector Lestrade, Mrs Hudson, and Professor Moriarty. Or, in my case, Sir Henry Baskerville...

World Goth Day

According to the nice young man on the wireless - I believe the colloquial term is 'Disc Jockey' - today is World Goth Day. And they really couldn't have hoped for a nicer day for it, what with the weather here in London being what could only be described as Raj-like - and I'm not talking about the monsoon season either. Time to crack out the Factor 50, my pale and interesting friends.

Anyway, the DJ - who repeatedly pronounced 'Goth' as 'Goff' (it really was most irksome) - mentioned 'Steampunk' in the same sentence as 'Goth', and I know that those of a retro-futuristic persuasion have, on occasion, been referred to as 'Goths in Brown', so, I thought, what better time to plug my very own science romance novels - more commonly known as the Pax Britannia series - and the brand new Ulysses Quicksilver story that will be seeing the light of day - and let's hope it is a day as lovely as this one - before the end of the month.

Two years after the super short story Tempus Fugit saw print as part of Abaddon Books' 10th anniversary chapbook in 2015, and five long years since Time's Arrow was published, Worthless Remains will be appearing on the roster of stories that make up Clockwork Cairo - an anthology of Egyptian-themed steampunk stories that will be Twopenny Books' inaugural release.

You can find out more about the book here. And you can watch Goths dancing to Thomas the Tank Engine here.

Clockwork Cairo

Twopenny Press's inaugural anthology, Clockwork Cairo, edited by Matthew Bright will be released on 28th May 2017.

An anthology of Egyptian-themed steampunk stories, it will take you on adventures from the steam-powered souks of Cairo, to the clockwork bazaars of Alexandria and the shadowy mysteries of the pyramids.

The table of contents had been announced, which includes a brand new Pax Britannia short story Worthless Remains.


The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn't, the Mummy that Was, and the Cat in the Jar - Gail Carriger
(A story in the Parasol Protectorate world)
*
The Angel of Khan el-Kalili - P. Djeli Clark
*
Mock the Midnight Bell - Sarah Caulfield
*
Worthless Remains - Jonathan Green 
(A  Pax Britannia story)
*
The Lights of Dendera - Tiffany Trent
*
Ushabti - Zan Lee
*
Thermodynamics; and/or The Remittance Men - Chaz Brenchley
*
Lucky At Cards - David Barnett 
(A story in the Gideon Smith world)
*
Sun River - Nisi Shawl
(A story in the Everfair world)
*
The Sun Shall Lie Across Us Like Gold - Benjanun Sriduankaew
*
The Word of Menamhotep - George Mann
(A Newbury and Hobbes story)
*
Silver Linings - Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine
(A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences story)
*
Antonia and Cleopatra - Matthew Bright
*
The Museum of Unlikely Occurrences - Rod Duncan
*
Jabari and the Giant - Christopher Parvin
*
To Kill A God - M.J. Lyons
*
The Infernal - Anne Jensen
*
Imhotep's Dog - John Moralee
*
But For The Pieces He Left Behind - E. Catherine Tobler
*
The Copper Scarab - K. Tempest Bradford

Pax Britannia: Worthless Remains

Having marked the 10th anniversary of the Pax Britannia series on this blog yesterday, today I am delighted to announce that Ulysses Quicksilver returns for a one-off short story in Matthew Bright's Clockwork Cairo - an anthology of steampunk stories with an Egyptian connection - later this year.

One of the great things about the anthology is that each story comes with its own piece of artwork, and here's the title page illustration for my own story Worthless Remains.

Clockwork Cairo will be published in May by Twopenny Books.