The Book Plank

Business as Usual by David Barnett, Gideon Smith #0.6 Spring, 1890, and England needs a hero. Gideon Smith is yet to step up to the role as public protector of the Empire, but in the background and the shadows, Mr Walsingham pulls strings to keep the often outlandish threats to Britain and her interests at bay. It is a role that lies heavy on his shoulders, and here we find him composing his end-of-year report to Queen Victoria. Last month I read David Barnett's first book in the Gideon Smith series, Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl,  which was a total tour de force when it came down to showing all the different genres amongst the heavy focus of Steampunk and Alternate History. David Barnett introduced a very rich setting and some amazing protagonists. What I didn't know at the time was that David Barnett also wrote two short stories taking place prior to the events of Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl . Gideon Smith and the Brass Dragon , the second book in t...

Assail by Ian C. Esslemont, Malazan Empire #6 Tens of thousands of years of ice is melting, and the land of Assail, long a byword for menace and inaccessibility, is at last yielding its secrets. Tales of gold discovered in the region's north circulate in every waterfront dive and sailor's tavern, and now countless adventurers and fortune-seekers have set sail in search of riches. All these adventurers have to guide them are legends and garbled tales of the dangers that lie in wait -- hostile coasts, fields of ice, impassable barriers and strange, terrifying creatures. But all accounts concur that the people of the north meet all trespassers with the sword. And beyond are rumoured to lurk Elder monsters out of history's very beginnings. Into this turmoil ventures the mercenary company, the Crimson Guard. Not drawn by contract, but by the promise of answers: answers to mysteries that Shimmer, second in command, wonders should even be sought. Arriving also, par...

Author interview with David Barnett  Author bio: David Barnett is an award-winning journalist, currently multimedia content manager of the Telegraph & Argus , cultural reviewer for The Guardian and the Independent on Sunday, and he has done features for The Independent and Wired .  He is the author of Angelglass (described by The Guardian as “stunning”), Hinterland , and popCULT! --------------------------------- Hi David, welcome over at The Book Plank and for taking your time to answer these few questions for us. BP: First off, could you give us a short introduction as to who David Barnett is? What are your hobbies, likes and dislikes? DB: David Barnett is a mild-mannered journalist who spends his nights fighting crime wherever he finds it. Hang on, that’s not right. I am a journalist by day, but I generally spend my nights writing fiction – latterly this has mainly been the Gideon Smith series of steampunk/alternate-history SF/Fant...

Media Alert: Pretty Little Dead Girls Elegant Murder and Tragic Prose are in the Stars This Fall Mercedes M. Yardley’s New Release is Nothing Short of Beautiful Monday, September 8th—Crestview Hills, KY—“Murder and whimsy.” These things may sound incompatible, but dark fantasy author Mercedes M. Yardley’s latest novel manages to entwine the two concepts with lyrical language, beautiful imagery—and a high body count. Ragnarok Publications is proud to announce the release of Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy , coming on September 29th. A dark but lovely fairy tale, this is Yardley at her finest: a tapestry of lush imagery, poetic prose, and beautiful violence about a woman destined to be murdered and her flight from Fate’s inevitable—yet seemingly terrible—marksmanship. Yardley’s fans are no strangers to her lovely, tragic style. She is also the author of the acclaimed novella “Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love”, win...

Author interview with Edward Cox Author Bio: Edward Cox began writing stories at school as a way to pass time in boring lessons. It was a hobby he dabbled with until the late 80's when he discovered the works of David Gemmell, which not only cemented his love of fantasy but also encouraged a hobby to become something much more serious. With his first short story published in 2000, Edward spent much of the next decade earning a BA 1st class with honours in creative writing, and a Master degree in the same subject. He then went on to teach creative writing at the University of Bedfordshire. During the 2000's he published a host of short stories with the smaller presses of America, where he also worked as a reviewer. Currently living in Essex with his wife and daughter, Edward is mostly surrounded by fine greenery and spiders the size of his hand. The Relic Guild is his first completed novel, and it is the result of more than ten years of obsessive writing. THE RE...