2012 Upcoming Releases-Science Fiction

**scumby** · July 8th, 2012, 11:45 PM

I just noticed Amazon has a new cover and an October release date for Chris Wooding's Iron Jackal. There wasn't anything on the author's site, but since I loved the first two I'm hoping this is real. Does anyone have any other information? It is for the paper back only, but I'm hoping the e-book won't be far behind, as that is what I will buy.

Thanks!

Jeff

**Loerwyn** · July 9th, 2012, 02:57 AM

That's the YA rebranding of the book. There is a Kindle edition already on Amazon, though.

**scumby** · July 12th, 2012, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by Loerwyn

That's the YA rebranding of the book. There is a Kindle edition already on Amazon, though.

Thanks for the reply. Is that a UK only thing? I'm in the US. When I search Amazon here there is no reference to a Kindle version.

Jeff

**Loerwyn** · July 12th, 2012, 04:05 PM

Weird. That's the US site and there's one showing for me in USD, but maybe it's detected I'm in the UK... Weird.

So maybe the Kindle edition is UK only, then. Looking at Chris' blog, he's unsure of whether a US Kindle edition will release.

**livens** · July 12th, 2012, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by scumby

Thanks for the reply. Is that a UK only thing? I'm in the US. When I search Amazon here there is no reference to a Kindle version.

Jeff

scumby,

Go to the UK amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk

Search for The Iron Jackal and you will see a kindle edition offered. You should be able to buy it there.

**Kazz Wylde** · July 23rd, 2012, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by Rob B

Ever since I read Mark's review of Michael Cobley's Seeds of the Earth almost two years ago, I was hoping Orbit would release it in the US

Well, Orbit just announced they are doing just that, releasing the three novels in the Humanity’s Fire trilogy in that now-common and proven successful publishing strategy for trilogies - a book a month over three months:
SEEDS OF EARTH in October,
ORPHANED WORLDS in November
THE ASCENDANT STARS in December

Pretty cool covers, are these good books? I wonder what Liviu thought of these. Have to check FBC.

**suciul** · July 23rd, 2012, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by Kazz Wylde

Pretty cool covers, are these good books? I wonder what Liviu thought of these. Have to check FBC.

first ok with promise but flaws, second, pretty bad, the flaws overwhelming the good, the third, no intention to waste my time on

**Kazz Wylde** · July 23rd, 2012, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by suciul

first ok with promise but flaws, second, pretty bad, the flaws overwhelming the good, the third, no intention to waste my time on

Oh wow, what were the flaws, Liviu?
I think Stealing Light will be my next read, I need a good scifi.

**ian_sales** · July 24th, 2012, 02:17 AM

I've read the first two and enjoyed them. Mike Cobley is a friend of mine and has been for a long time, but that doesn't alter my opinion of the books. They're loaded, perhaps even over-loaded, new space opera, with a well-handled diverse cast, a neat conception of the universe, and a plot that doesn't let up from the first chapter. If they have a fault it's that Mike has thrown everything into them, but it's to his credit he manages to keep it under control (Pete Hamilton would probably take about three times as many pages to do the same).

**suciul** · July 24th, 2012, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by Kazz Wylde

Oh wow, what were the flaws, Liviu?
I think Stealing Light will be my next read, I need a good scifi.

Regarding the Mike Cobley series, the main issue is that if you want to write a PF Hamilton like saga (with lots of pov's and storylines) you need the pages too and Seeds of Earth simply does not have space for its content, so it feels cluttered, crowded...

The lack of balance - there is a quite unnecessary introductory part that takes place on an isolated at the time planet - does not help and the fantasy elements felt a bit canned, but as mentioned there was a lot of promise. However book 2 was even more cluttered instead of getting "cleaner", a lot of it started to feel "plot for plot sake" - eg I remember character A and B needing to meet, and A travels to B, but of course then something happens and B starts towards A so they actually miss each other quite artificially and all of A's travel seems to feel again extraneous to the story, just showcasing the universe - which is fine if you have 800 pages or more to tell the story but not if you have 400....

Ultimately though I think that the structure of the series just does not work at its length - there is a reason any sff series with tons of named characters and plotlines has tons of pages after all

Gary Gibson for example had a little of this cluttered feel in his debut Angel station - but I really like both his prose and characters and that counts for a lot - so in his Shoal series he stayed away from that and did a relatively simple 1-2 pov/storyline (gets to 3 later but not more) per book and the series felt a little like "Hamilton lite" true, but that can work both ways

KJA had the many characters/plotlines at 400 page length in his Seven Suns saga which was excellent for 4 volumes though went too long at 7 for its depth, but KJA writes functional NYT-bestseller list prose and that works in his tons of "little chunks" chapter style as the focus is purely on action

**ian_sales** · July 24th, 2012, 08:41 AM

OTOH, some would see brevity as a virtue.

**suciul** · July 24th, 2012, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by ian_sales

OTOH, some would see brevity as a virtue.

That's true but it depends on the kind of book/story you want; I am now reading Empty Space and after starting it a few days ago on publication, I had to reread Light and Nova Swing as I realized I kind of forgot a lot - though I remembered well the general storyline but that is less important imho in this trilogy - and I was even more amazed at how much MJ Harrison packed in those two books, especially in Light.

But he is not a traditional storyteller and does not want to tell a story in the saga kind of way, the storyline and the action are less important so his books work very well at shorter length with a lot packed in. The problem is when you want to tell a traditional story, a saga if you want, then you need the pages.

**ian_sales** · July 24th, 2012, 09:41 AM

Possibly, but I find Hamilton's books far too bloated to read.

I have Empty Space but I've not read it yet. I only just finished 2312, which is not a short novel. I actually found it a little disappointing.

**Ropie** · July 24th, 2012, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by ian_sales

I only just finished 2312, which is not a short novel. I actually found it a little disappointing.

Me too, though it was on the good side of 'disappointing'. I don't have the time to be reading huge books, unless the writer is absolutely able to hold my attention in a way that makes me forget about my outside life (eg: Stephen King)