Frontier & Gollancz announce
authors for kickstarted “ELITE: DANGEROUS” Books
Frontier Developments plc (AIM:
FDEV) and Gollancz, an imprint of the Orion Publishing Group, are delighted to announce the authors who will be writing
their three tie-in novels set in the world of ELITE:
DANGEROUS, the
ground-breaking Kickstarted sequel to best-selling computer game ELITE.
Frontier
received crowd-sourced funding for ELITE: DANGEROUS via a hugely successful
campaign on the Kickstarter website, and now has over 45,000 backers. Gollancz
contributed over £13,000 to secure the rights to publish three related books.
After much discussion and many volunteers, Gollancz editor Marcus Gipps
selected the authors and collaborated closely with Frontier to ensure
continuity and reflect the evolving game world.
The original
game ELITE was one of the best-selling and most iconic computer games of the
eighties, and has been credited with inspiring generations of game designers
and players. It was the first game to be packaged with an accompanying novella
– ELITE: THE DARK WHEEL, by Robert Holdstock; an award-winning and
much-respected author, and had a long relationship with Gollancz.
ELITE: WANTED, by Gavin Deas, is a rip-roaring space epic
told from two points of view – the hunted, and the hunter. When a routine bit
of piracy goes wrong, the crew of the Song of Stone realise that there's
a bounty hunter on their tail. One who might, finally, be able to outclass
them. The Dragon Queen is feared across space, and for good reason. But
even the bounty hunter doesn't realise what she's been hired to do. Or what is
in the container she's been sent to retrieve. And she's not the only hunter in
the game...
Gavin Smith
and Stephen Deas are regular Gollancz authors – having produced 15 books
between them over the last few years – and their combined talent makes this a
gripping tale.
ELITE: NEMORENSIS, by Simon Spurrier, tells the story of an
unlikely pair of star-crossed lovers who steal a spaceship and go on the run,
attacking at random and revelling in the fame and glory their violence brings
them. Celebrated by the jaded youth of the Federation and urged on to ever more
flashy acts of destruction, they know it won't be long before they are caught
and killed. But someone is following the couple. Someone who knows why they are
so obsessed with each other. Who knows where they are heading. Who knows
why. Someone who knows more about them than they do themselves. And has
another plan for their deaths...
Simon is
currently writing X-MEN for Marvel Comics and CROSSED for Avatar Press, and has
written for Judge Dredd, Wolverine and many other popular characters. He has
published two novels with Hodder and five licensed novels based on Warhammer
and 2000AD properties.
ELITE: DOCKING IS DIFFICULT, by Gideon Defoe, humorously explores what
life in the future is really like. On
what might be the worst planet in the universe, a young man dreams of the
stars. Adventure! Lasers! Women! And the ultimate goal - to become Elite! Unfortunately,
Misha has to do his chores first. And learn how to talk to Phoebe, the
beautiful customs officer. And leave the planet. But the death of a famous
author unexpectedly drags Misha and Phoebe into a system-wide conspiracy,
complete with smuggling, international art thieves, multi-system corporations,
canapés and exploding pigs. This is Misha's chance to prove he has what it
takes! After all, surely anyone can be Elite if they dream...
Gideon is
best known for his comic novels featuring THE PIRATES! and was the scriptwriter
for the Oscar-nominated Aardman film THE PIRATES! IN AN ADVENTURE WITH
SCIENTISTS, based on his books.
Marcus Gipps
said: “I was delighted by the response to our involvement with ELITE:
DANGEROUS, and very grateful for all of the authors who contacted me and asked
to be considered. It was a difficult decision, but in the end I think we’ve
ended up with three remarkable books, each of which takes a very different look
at the expansive game Frontier has devised while still feeling part of the same
universe. It’s been wonderful to work with Frontier and our four talented
authors, who will bring their own fanbases to the books.”
David
Braben, CEO of Frontier said: “I am a huge science fiction fan, avidly reading
sci-fi novels since I was small. I’ve always enjoyed rich, consistent worlds,
so the ability to work closely with a number of authors as we create our own
galaxy-wide fiction has been amazing. ELITE: DANGEROUS includes thousands of
inhabited star systems with their own histories spanning more than a
millennium, with details ranging from what people eat to how they are
governed. We have worked with the
authors to include things in the game that they need for their fiction in the
worlds in which their stories are set. Books are a great way to bring such
worlds to life, and will fire players’ imagination and enthusiasm for the wider
game as well as, of course, standing as creative works in their own right. I
look forward to reading the final books.”
The books
will be released for sale as eBooks in major digital stores on the 15th
of May 2014. Other ebook retailers will put the books up over
the next few days, and the hardback editions should also go live everywhere shortly. Collector’s hardbacks will then be published
for sale alongside the retail release of the game later that year.
Elite: Wanted
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1iVjv5X
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1knyHrY
Apple UK: http://bit.ly/1jTxYD6
Elite: Nemorensis
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1i9JGnD
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/OaBnyh
Apple UK: http://bit.ly/1gkfvHH
Elite: Docking is Difficult
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1s2cPYF
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/OaBASb
Apple UK:
http://bit.ly/1lkDbks
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