Have you written a sci-fi, fantasy or horror book that you would like to get published?
Are you without an agent?
Could you be the next Dan Abnett or Andy Remic?
Do you just need a break?
Angry Robot may just be the answer to your prayers. Becoming a published author is no easy thing (as the authors interviewed on our latest episode attest) and unsolicited manuscripts are nigh on impossible to get in front of an actual Editor, but for the month of March THIS publisher is opening its doors to YOU.
The guidelines for submission are pretty straight-forward, but it’s worth make sure you read them thoroughly to avoid disappointment. One month to change your life.
City Of Dreams & Nightmare by Ian Whates (ISBN 9780007345243)
Ian Whates is a fine world builder. In the towering city of Thaiburley he has created a megalopolis almost too big to fit into the imagination, a single skyscraper so wide, broad and tall as to be simply carved from a mountain, housing who knows how many millions of citizens. His world encompasses steampunk technology, magic, street gangs, politics, elite flying police, mutants and genetic manipulation – an explosion of ideas.
Taken individually they can sparkle – I love the idea of the Kite Guard, swooping in with their puncheons primed to capture the villains – but much of this superb imagary and conceptualisation remain under-explored, like the city itself in the course of the book. Indeed it felt to me as though the author felt compelled to cram as many ideas in as possible in order to make the world feel complex and real, yet in doing so left himself little room for actual story.
What plot there is breaks down into three strands:
1. Tom is a street-nick [nice term], a kid from the lowest levels of the city sent, for no clear reasons, up to the heights of the city by his gang leader. Once there he conveniently witnesses a politically driven murder, is spotted and runs pell-mell back again facing dangers at every turn.
2. Tylus is a member of the elite Kite Guard, but everyone thinks he’s a bit rubbish. Failing to catch Tom he in enlisted by the murderous and ambitious archmage Magnus to find and catch Tom, shadowed by a sinister assassin.
3. Something mysterious is happening in the City Below. Street-nick revolution is a-brewing, stirred up my shadowy forces with arcane powers.
The writing is pacey and there are some effective cliffhangers, but the characterisation is sparse and there are some shockingly under-developed areas (looking at you, Insint.) It could have been special, it should have been thrilling – a potboiler of a novel in a fantastical world in flux – but what we get feels blurred, as though the author is simply desperate to keep things moving in case people look at the details too deeply. I won’t spend time listing every element that seemed illogical, over-convenient or arbitrary. Suffice it to say that I am impressed with the imagination evident in this book, if not so much with the author’s dexterity in displaying it.
For me it was ultimately a city of cards.
2/5
Reviewed by Dion Winton-Polak
Incidentally, Angry Robot were kind enough to send me the sequel City of Hope & Despair due to be published shortly. For a fresh view on the city of Thaiburley keep an eye out for Clover’s review. It’s the next book on her reading list.
I absolutely love the way these look, the reflections are such a great idea! They would both look amazing on a wall, side by side… Like a Good vs Evil kind of thing. The angles and just the composition as a whole are fantastic… I must say that I am more impressed with these than I am with the trailer (and I loved that too).
What does everyone else think? Comment below or send me/us a tweet!
Continuing on from before the previous point one issue, Amazing Spider-man issue 655 returns to Peter Parker and the aftermath of the Spider Slayer and Scorpion attack. The issue follows the funeral of Jonah Jameson’s wife Marla before Peter enters a nightmarish dream state.
Slott wisely knows how to exploit the ability of his artist Marcos Martin here. He allows Martin’s art speak for itself by providing no dialogue of any kind for nine pages. It works and compliments the story to perfection. The almost silence feel to the beginning of this book gives the reader the feeling that they are at a dark moment in life such as a funeral can be.
Further the almost synchronized way the nine pages begin and end builds the right kind of tension and guilt that Peter Parker is feeling for not being able to save Marla. The issue starts with seeing the clock and Jonah awaking, preparing for the worst day of his life. Whereas the end of the nine pages again shows the clock and Peter preparing himself to go to bed. Here Martin manages to show that both characters hold two things in common: their guilt and that they think that Spider-man is to blame.
The second act of the book is a triumph again, almost changing the style completely. Here we fall into Peter Parker’s dream state. Martin again has drawn the panels deliberately in a way that feels like a trippy, out of body experience. Slott’s words build upon the work done by Martin. Parker’s dream illustrates the guilt he is feeling as it shows all the mistakes he feels he has made as Spider-man, questioning whether what he has done is right or wrong. The final four pages unleash an unexpected twist that will bring you back for more next time.
Amazing Spider-man issue 655 is another great showing by the Big Time creative team. A must read.
2000AD are reaching back to the very first issue of the long running anthology series to bring back the story of “Flesh”
Press Release:
After more than 30 years, one of very first strips to appear in 2000 AD is to return in blood-splattering, eon-spanning dinosaur-hunting glory. Dino-terror classic Flesh is to return to the weekly comic with Prog 1724, out on 9 March.
Written by the series. original creator, Pat Mills, and drawn by James Mckay, the new series is the long-awaited sequel to the much-loved original Flesh – part of the line-up in the very first issue of 2000 AD in 1977.
Penned by Mills and drawn by Spanish artist Boix, Flesh was a futuristic Western where time-travelling ranchers farmed dinosaurs like cattle and sent their meat back to a hungry future.
The dinosaurs fought back and destroyed the Trans-Time base – the new series follows the survivors as, stranded millions of years in the past, they are ordered to drive their herds across the prehistoric American landscape to Texas – where another base promises safety … and profit!
The new series will premiere with a stunning gatefold cover by Death’s Head II and Testament artist Liam Sharp.
Matt Smith, editor of 2000 AD, said:
“Flesh was one of the original strips from the very first issue of 2000AD in 1977 and while there have been spin off stories, we never found out what happened to the survivors of Trans-Time Base Three.
“It.s great to see the sequel make it into 2000 AD, 30 years after it first appeared – it„s a great strip with some fantastically gory dinosaur action that will appeal to both old fans who read the original and new readers who want comics with some real bite!”
2000 AD 1724 will be on sale from 9 March 2011, priced at £2.25 available at all good comic stores!
This should be interesting to all you 2000AD readers! Just check out the sneak peak at the art work below! Read the rest of this entry »
Looks like CLiNT Magazine is expanding its line up of talent.
Acclaimed crime novelist Ian Rankin has written an exclusive comic strip for CLiNT magazine. Rankin is most known for his Inspector Rebus crime series novels, praised for its strength of characterisation and gritty realisation of the darker heart of Edinburgh. Ten of the Inspector Rebus novels were adapted as a television series on ITV, starring John Hannah.
Like other personalities such as Jonathan Ross, Frankie Boyle and Stewart Lee, whose writing has also featured in CLiNT, Rankin has a long-standing interest in comics.
“My first love when I was a kid was comics,” he said. Rankin’s first involvement in comic writing was his authorship of the graphic novel Dark Entries, which follows the story of John Constantine, featured in DC’s Hellblazer series.
Rankin’s strip in CLiNT is an exciting graphic twist on his crime-writing oeuvre, and Rankin fans will recognise the familiar scene of a bloody and mysterious murder, where all is not what it seems…
The strip, titled “Someone Got to Eddie”, is illustrated by Stephen Daly and will feature in CLiNT issue #6, on-sale 3rd March, available from all good retailers and specialist comic stores.
CLiNT issue #6
On sale 3rd March
For more information and to subscribe to CLiNT magazine, visit:
Ironclad revolves around the historical siege of Rochester Castle in 1215-6, when King John decided to renege on the recently signed Magna Carta but was faced with a fierce resistance from a small band of men determined not to lose what so many had fought for, a kind of medieval Thermopylae. It’s a story that hooked writer/ director Jonathan English as soon as he heard about it, no doubt helped by his childhood obsession with castles and the stories around them.
Buoyed by the Pope’s backing and an army of Danish mercenaries, King John (Paul Giamatti) sets off towards London to reclaim what he has lost and punish the Barons for their impudence, inadvertently crossing paths with an elderly monk and three Knights Templar en route to Canterbury, with bloody consequences. Recently returned from the Crusades, and struggling to come to terms with the atrocities he has witnessed and carried out in the Church’s name and what it means for his faith, Marshall (James Purefoy) carries word of the attack to Canterbury. There he meets Baron Albany (Brian Cox), setting the wheels of rebellion in motion.
It’s a ragtag company that wrenches control of Rochester Castle from the hands of the aging Reginald de Cornhill (Derek Jacobi), leaving him and the garrison little choice but to throw their lot in with the rebellion and prepare for the arrival of the king and his army of stereotypical Danes, bristling with fur, beards and axes. Giamatti holds it all together though- his impassioned diatribe about his god-given right to rule is brilliant, powerful and a highlight amidst the blood and steel that explodes across the screen soon after his arrival at Rochester.
English purposefully refused to shy away from the reality of combat in that period and the catastrophic effect it has on the human body. The generally accepted Hollywoodism of ‘Thou shalt die from a single blow’ was tossed out of the window at an early stage, and the result is a visceral smorgasbord of violence amidst the most immersive combat scenes since Saving Private Ryan.
The bulk of the shooting was done in the Welsh countryside, where the crew had rebuilt Rochester castle in full, and director English has made the most of the harsh weather and bleakness of the rain-lashed landscape, using both to complement the gritty atmosphere of the movie and to squeeze some great performances from the cast.
Cleverly shot and crammed with more medieval mayhem than you can shake an axe at, it’s a bloody delight and a jewel in the crown of British indie movies.
So either this is the first real part of the Apollo 18 (see trailer here) viral campaign or this just got my interest levels up for the film because of some long hidden facts…
There seems to be some conspiracy theory that there was not only an Apollo 18 but also a 19 and 20 as well and that we might have actually found something on the moon. So this all sounds like crazy talk but I just cannot help smiling when I started to look into this. Go to the original article here on movies online and then do some digging of your own and see what you can find.
For those of you who couldn’t make it to Cardiff this weekend here is a treat for you! The Fallen Heroes Panel where Geek Syndicates very own Barry Nugent, along with artist Steve Penfold, celebrated the launch of the Comic adaption of his novel. The panel was hosted by Gavin Jones and Dan Marshall from The Sidekick Cast
What the heck are the Razzies? For those that are asking that particular question, The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation hands out its “best of the worst” Razzie Awards every year. This Saturday, the night before the Oscars, they handed out awards to the 2011 “winners”.
Worst Picture Winner 2010
The Last Airbender
Worst Actor Winner 2010
Ashton Kutcher (Killers and Valentine’s Day)
Worst Actress Winner 2010
Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis & Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City 2)
Worst Supporting Actor Winner 2010
Jackson Rathbone (The Last Airbender and Twilight Saga: Eclipse)
Worst Supporting Actress Winner 2010
Jessica Alba (The Killer Inside Me, Little Fockers, Machete and Valentine’s Day)
Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3-D (Special Category for 2010!) Winner 2010
The Last Airbender
Worst Screen Couple / Worst Screen Ensemble Winner 2010
Sex and the City 2 Cast
Worst Director Winner 2010
M. Night Shyamalan (The Last Airbender)
Worst Screenplay Winner 2010
The Last Airbender (Written by M. Night Shyamalan)
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel (Combined Category for 2010) Winner 2010
Sex and the City 2
What do you think of the results? Agree or not? Sound off in the comments and you can read the press release behind the cut: Read the rest of this entry »
Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce an EXCLUSIVE PRE-PUBLICATION signing by Dan Abnett for the Forbidden Planet Limited Edition of his new Angry Robot novel Embedded. This will take place at:
Dan lives and works in Maidstone, Kent. He has worked for both Marvel and DC; been one of 2000AD’s most prolific writers and responsible for one of the longest running strips of the last decade, Sinister Dexter. Embedded is his second standalone novel for Angry Robot Books.
When a local squabble starts to turn violent, and the media get the runaround from the military bigwigs, journalist Lex Falk’s interest is piqued. Forbidden from approaching the battlezone on Eighty-Six, he gets himself chipped inside the head of a combat veteran – and uncovers the story of a lifetime. When the soldier is killed, however, Falk must use all his resourcefulness to get back home again… and blow the lid off the whole damn thing.
Love screaming your head off? Getting spooked? Jumping in your seat? If you’re into horror flicks, you should definitely check out AFTER DARK: HORRORFEST! After 4 hugely successful years in the US, the horror festival weekend has landed around the UK (G2 PICTURES) at Empire Cinemas
Starting Friday 4th March through to Sunday 6th March horror fans in key cities in the UK and Ireland will get 7 brand new original horror films and enjoy the opportunity to get dressed up and participate in exciting in-cinema activity and competitions. Some of the films being show include:
Husk – starring C.J. Thomason (Harper’s Island) – about a group of friends who become stranded beside a desolate cornfield and find an old farmhouse. They soon discover the house is the centre of a terrifying supernatural ritual.
Prowl, starring Ruta Gedmintas (Lip Service) and Courtney Hope (CSI:Miami), is a gruesome tale of a bunch of friends who accept a ride from a truck driver and find themselves taken to an abandoned warehouse where they become the prey for blood – thirsty creatures learning to hunt.
Seconds Apart
Scream of the Banshee
Fertile Ground
The Task
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If you end up really loving a film you’ve seen but figure that since they’re indie releases, you’ll never find them on DVD – fear not! Each title will also receive a separate DVD and Blu-Ray release with a complete ‘special edition’ box set scheduled for Halloween 2011. Check out their Facebook page for all the latest updates: www.facebook.com/afterdarkoriginals.uk
Ever wish you could have faerie wings and flit around all over the place? No? Just me? Ah well. World renowned faerie artist Brian Froud (also conceptual designer on Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal) and bestselling NY Times author, John Matthews will be appearing to help you find the fair folk in London this March!
If you’ve ever wondered how to find the people of peace in your own backyard or garden, or wandering around a forest or meadow, this book will help you discover the way. Through insets, hidden messages, magical signs, reflective mirrors, and other paper mechanics, Froud and Matthews reveal how anyone may find the land of Faerie.
They’ll be signing copies of their new book HOW TO SEE FAERIES on Saturday, March 26th from 4-5PM at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue.
He’s baaaaack! Herrick that is and he’s causing plenty of discord at Honolulu Heights, especially for Mitchell. As we’ve previously seen, Mitchell’s typical reaction to getting rid of someone who threatens him is to kill them. But it’s easier said than done, especially since Herrick is the only one who knows how to “beat” death. And more than anything, that’s information Mitchell needs if he’s going to survive his wolf-shaped prophecy. Read the rest of this entry »
Someone close to Gwen has been taken by Cendred to force her into making an impossible choice – save the life of Elyan, her estranged brother or save Arthur’s. One of them will be killed by Cenred, so who will Gwen choose? Loyalty and friendships are tested to the limit as Arthur, Merlin and Gwen put their minds together to try and find a way out out of the problem. As always, Morgana and Morgause do their best stop their plans.
Continuing on from before the previous point one issue, Amazing Spider-man issue 655 returns to Peter Parker and the aftermath of the Spider Slayer and Scorpion attack. The issue follows the funeral of Jonah Jameson’s wife Marla before Peter enters a nightmarish dream state.
