Calling all Hugos!

Exciting news!

It's that time of year again when the World Science Fiction Society decides on the nominations for the Hugo Awards. You are eligible to nominate if you attended WorldCon last year, or are to attend WorldCon this year, or have signed up for 2013's WorldCon. Instructions for nomination can be found here and the deadline is 31 January.

The reason I mention this here (and why the news is exciting) is because two of my works are eligible for nomination. They are Pax Britannia: Anno Frankenstein (novel) and The Doll's House (short story) from House of Fear.

Also eligible for nomination is Al Ewing's Pax Britannia: Pax Omega, the third in his El Sombra trilogy, as are cover artists/designers Mark Harrison (Pax Britannia: Anno Frankenstein), Simon Parr (Pax Britannia: The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus) and Luke Preece (House of Fear).

So, if you'll eligible to nominate, please feel free (and drop me a line to let me know here).

And while we're on the subject of nominations, if anyone would like to nominate Pax Britannia: Anno Frankenstein for the Steampunk Awards, feel free!

Special thanks to Drew Northcott (whose DeviantArt page you can find here) for the 'Pax Britannia Needs YOU' poster and to Major Willoughby Chase of the 1st Tea Company.

Ulysses Quicksilver, Hero of the Empire!

Ulysses Quicksilver and his various adventures have inspired a number of artists to produce their take on the character. The latest of them is Kit Cox who recently produced a portrait of the Hero of the Empire and another of Ulysses' loyal sidekick Nimrod, the bare-knuckle boxing butler.

Simon Parr (a.k.a. Pye Parr) has produced several pictures of Ulysses and Nimrod as well. Here are just a few of them.

And then there's Pax Britannia cover artist Mark Harrison's take on the character, most easily seen on the cover of Anno Frankenstein.

There are also a growing number of illustrations of masked vigilante Spring-Heeled Jack. The most recent is by that gentleman caricaturist Kit Cox again but Mark Harrison also produced a portrait of the character back when I was writing Evolution Expects.

Anno Frankenstein caption competition

A while ago* I ran a mini-competition to choose a motto for the Frankenstein Corps, as featured in the imminently-arriving Anno Frankenstein.

Simon Parr's design for the Corps' logo already has a motto (which translates as 'Waste Not, Want Not') but a number of inventive individuals came up with their own suggestions.

I've now, finally, drawn up a shortlist and I'm giving you a week to vote for the one you like best, via the poll that you'll find at the end of this link. And whoever you choose as the winner will receive the following unique** prize.

So, click on the caption you like best and on 5 May I'll announce the winner - at long, long last.

* Far too long ago, to be honest.

** And it really is unique. Nobody else is going to be receiving one of these Anno Frankenstein puzzles featuring Mark Harrison's cover artwork.

Never judge a book by its cover - unless it happens to be a Pax Britannia novel

Jamie Fry (of Fighting Fantasy Collector fame) contacted me via my forum yesterday to let me know that Pax Britannia: Dark Side is featured in the latest issue of SciFiNow magazine.

I duly wandered down to my local branch of WHSmith this morning, picked up a copy, turned to the Library section and discovered this...

A full page about Dark Side and the impact its cover makes! Full credit must go to Mark Harrison (cover artist) and Simon Parr (designer), for the point of the piece is how the fantastic cover (a gruesome homage to Georges Méliès A Trip to the Moon) made Senior Staff Writer Jodie Tyley pick up the book in the first place and discover the whole Pax Britannia series.

From personal experience I know that this particular cover has created no like controversy. Mr Harrison's wife hated it (and my wife's not too keen), whereas plenty of people at the SFX Weekender loved it (as does my son), so much so that the book sold out during the course of the weekend.

Anyway, at the end of the article, you are invited to discuss your feelings about the Pax Britannia series over at the SciFiNow forum, which you can find here.

The Dark Side cover is certainly my favourite to date out of all the Pax Britannia covers. The challenge now is to come up with something equally inspiring for the cover artist of the next book in the series.

What about a steampunk King Kong...?

Pax Britannia: Dark Side - SFRevu's best cover of the month

Ever since it was first released, Mark Harrison's fantastic cover for Pax Britannia: Dark Side (that pays homage to Georges Méliès Le voyage dans la Lune) has caused a bit of a stir. Some hate it (or rather are disturbed by it), but most love it.

And science fiction and fantasy review site SFRevu loved it so much they proclaimed it best cover of the month!

Mark Harrison - cover artist

It's been a while since I posted a piece focused on a particular artist, so I'm making up for that fact now with this post about Mark Harrison.

I first came across Mark's work through legendary British comic 2000AD. He's illustrated everything from Durham Red to Pulp Sci-Fi but I particularly remember his visceral art for Gordon Rennie's Glimmer Rats.

However, roughly eight years after Glimmer Rats I found myself working with Mark myself. He realised the cover for Unnatural History - featuring a duel atop a steam train and a T-Rex with St Paul's Cathedral in the background - and since then has produced every Pax Britannia novel cover (including Al Ewing's El Sombra and the forthcoming Gods of Manhattan).

You can visit Mark's own website here, and see his other novel covers, alongside his comic artwork and concept paintings for computer games.

Meanwhile, here are his six Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novels to date in their full gruesome glory.

Enjoy...

Unnatural History

Leviathan Rising

Human Nature

Evolution Expects

Blood Royal

Dark Side

Pax Britannia badges

A rather exciting package arrived in the post. Well at least I thought it was rather exciting because it contained these...


As part of my on-going efforts to self-publicise I've had some Pax Britannia badges made. One bears Simon Parr's new PB logo and the other is the central image from Mark Harrison's cover for Dark Side, which is coming next summer.

The first place where you will be able to get your hands on one (or two) of these beauties is at my talk at the University College School Beyond Words Festival next Tuesday afternoon, so book your ticket now!

Pax Britannia: Dark Side - you heard it here first!

Yes, that's right, before even Amazon have got hold of it, here's news about the next, next Pax Britannia book, to be published by Abaddon Books next year. Following on from Blood Royal, and the second book in the new Ulysses Quicksilver story arc, is Dark Side...

Escape the rat race of the human race and

Start a new life on the Moon!

You'll find incredible opportunities awaiting industrious individuals in the off-world colonies on Earth's most popular emigration destination.

And if you're simply looking to get away from it all at the Empire's most exclusive holiday resort, with weekly flights departing from the London spaceports, let us bring you the Moon in style!

From the architectural splendour of Luna Prime to the unrivalled calm of Tranquility and Serenity City, there really is something for everyone on Earth's favourite satellite.

See your world as never before when you experience Earthrise over the Caucasus Mountains. Visit the Island of the Winds and wonder at the Peaks of Eternal Light. Marvel at the magnificence of the Moon massifs and charter a solar yacht to voyage across the mysterious Sea of Dreams.

Or if it's adventure you're looking for, why not seek out old enemies and win new allies as you hunt for the killer of your nearest and dearest? While you're at it, investigate industrial espionage undertaken on an audacious scale. Partake in a breathless race against time across the dust deserts of the Ocean of Storms and witness the breaching of Man's final frontier firsthand.

So what are you waiting for? Murder and mayhem await you on the dark side of the Moon. But remember, in space no one can hear you hullabaloo.

And, as a special treat, here's ace artist Mark Harrison's cover for the book too, shown here for the first time anywhere!

Please note that all images are copyright Rebellion developments (c) 2009, and are used here with permission, all rights reserved.

Evolution Expects - the cover revealed

And a nasty piece of work it is too. Here, see for yourself...

Of course, when I say it's a nasty piece of work, I mean it's another fantastic piece of work from esteemed Abaddon artist Mark Harrison, but even I have to admit that the cover image is rather... well... unpleasant.

But that's nothing compared to what Mark's wife thought of it - and then my wife pointed out that I was the one who had come up with the image in the first place!

To find out more about the poor tortured soul who appears on the cover of Evolution Expects, you'll have to wait until April 2009, I'm afraid, when the fifth book in the Pax Britannia series will be released in the UK (the US release date is still to be confirmed).

And for those of you who've been paying attention to earlier posts, here's Mark's concept rough for the final cover design.

Expect the unexpected

Having put Human Nature to bed, I'm now preparing to get started on my tenth - yes, tenth! - novel, the fourth of Ulysses Quicksilver's Pax Britannia adventures and the culmination of the first story arc. (Yes, there is a master plan behind the whole thing!)

And it's not only me who's been getting ready for the next alternative history Victorian-esque action thriller; ace Abaddon cover artist Mark Harrison has as well. He's produced four cover roughs for the next book Evolution Expects (out April 2009), featuring three very different characters from the book.

The powers that be at Abaddon Books and myself have mulled over Mark's designs, throwing ideas back and forth, and have settled on one, but I won't say which one just yet. However, I can give you a glimpse of each of the four cover concepts. (Mark's comments spoken by the various characters had me in stitches!)

On top of that, Mark has produced a concept sketch for one of the characters from the book which is phenomenal - good enough to be a cover all by itself, as it stands! And in time I hope to reveal more here, but again, not just yet.

In the meantime, it's certainly going to help me when it comes to having some visual reference when I come to write the relevant sections of the book.

So cheers, Mark!

Important note: Abaddon Books, the Pax Britannia setting, all text and artwork from the novels are © & ™ Rebellion A/S and reproduced here with kind permission.

Human Nature - the horror revealed!

Today I am pleased to unveil the cover for my next Pax Britannia adventure Human Nature, which is out this December from Abaddon Books.



Cover artist Mark Harrison has done a sterling job once again and, as a result, the cover conveys the Cthulhu-esque horror at the heart of the story whilst not giving too much away. I know that they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but you can in this case you can; it's horror, horror, horror all the way.

Oh, and there's a great big gribbly beastie's in there too.

Back to Britannia

It's been a while since I last visited the world of Pax Britannia (February, to be precise, when I wrote the short story Vanishing Point) but now I'm back and it's like I've never been away.

I've written three completely different books since writing the last PB novel Leviathan Rising, but I'm now well into the next Ulysses Quicksilver adventure Human Nature, due for publication this December from Abaddon Books.

And what a dark tale it's turning out to be. On top of that, to add to my growing excitement (as well as the darker mood of the story) I received Mark Harrison's fantastically grotesque cover for the book through the ether.

But I'm not going to reveal it to you in all its dark glory just yet. But to whet your appetite I'm going to post this teaser pic instead.

Let the rumour-mongering commence!