Author Archives: Michael

Sci-fi in a Fantasy World – Kate Dylan Guest Post

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where I’m delighted to welcome author Kate Dylan with a fascinating article exploring some of the differences between science fiction and fantasy, the ways in which some stories work better as SF than F, and what those differences might mean for both writers and readers. If you’ve ever pondered questions like what the difference is between science and magic, or between a tech company and a coven of witches, or how an eight year-old child would end up with a computer implanted in her brain, then this article is going to be of interest!

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Monthly Roundup – May 2022

Hello and welcome to my Monthly Roundup post for May 2022, which is a bit more positive than last month’s after a slightly more productive few weeks. It wasn’t so long ago that publishing eight new posts in a month would have felt like a very lean month, but after slowing down to only five in April I’m actually quite pleased with May’s output – not to mention the five existing Black Library articles that I updated as well (more on those later). As usual I’ll do a quick recap of May’s new posts – as well as the updated articles – and then move onto a general update for the month, where I’ll talk a bit about what I’ve been reading and just give an overview of how things have been going in general.

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Equinox – David Towsey

Hidden witches, gruesome magic and uniquely complex sibling relationships abound in David Towsey’s dark, intriguing fantasy novel Equinox, out now from Head of Zeus. In a world in which each body houses two people – one who lives during the day, and one during the night – Special Inspector Christophor Morden shares his body with his day brother, but not his profession; while Christophor is a witch hunter, Alexsander is a musician. When Christophor is dispatched by the King himself to a small, distant town to seek out and stop a dangerous witch, Alexsander tries to make the most of his new surroundings, but he soon finds his own experiences coming into conflict with his night-brother’s work. As Christophor’s investigation drags on, what they find in Drekenford puts more strain on their brotherly cooperation than ever before.

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[IN BRIEF] A Psalm for the Wild-Built – Becky Chambers

A novella is often the perfect length for a story which really digs into a single, fairly self-contained idea, and that’s exactly what Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built (her first Monk and Robot book) does. It’s the tale of Sibling Dex, a tea monk with a tendency for crises of purpose, who finds themself gradually coming to terms with their own thoughts and needs in the most unlikely of company. On an impromptu journey into the wilderness, Dex is stunned to come across Mosscap, a robot in search of answers to the question of what humans need. In the generations since robots suddenly and unexpectedly achieved consciousness and subsequently left mankind’s cities in favour of the wilderness, no human has even seen a robot, never mind talked to one…until now. And suffice to say, Dex does not feel overly prepared for the experience.

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Under Fortunate Stars – Ren Hutchings

Ren Hutchings’ debut novel Under Fortunate Stars, out now from Solaris, is a characterful and thought-provoking space opera featuring accidental time travel, unwilling heroes and space-based corporate bureaucracy. On board the cargo hauler Jonah, roguish Jereth and cynical Leeg are trying to stay away from the war with the Felen engulfing Union space when they find themselves trapped in a strange deep-space rift. Caught in the same rift is the Gallion, a ZeyCorp research vessel transporting an alien ambassador. When the two ships meet, confusion abounds as the Gallion crew claim to be from a time far in the Jonah’s future. Not only that, but history buff Uma, Director of Engineering onboard the Gallion, recognises the Jonah as the ship that carried the ‘Fortunate Five’ and played a crucial part in ending the war with the Felen…even if its crew doesn’t quite match up to what the history books say.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: David Towsey Talks Equinox

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where I’m joined by the excellent David Towsey – we’ve spoken before about his role as one half of writing duo D.K. Fields and the brilliant Tales of Fenest trilogy, but today we’re chatting about his new solo novel Equinox, which is out now from Head of Zeus. An intriguing fantasy novel with some pretty dark moments and a genuinely fantastic central concept, Equinox is one of those books that really gives the reader a lot to think about – I’ve read it, and I loved it. I’m delighted to be able to talk to David about what readers can expect from the book, where that clever concept came from, and loads more!

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Ahriman: Eternal – John French

Seven years after Ahriman: Unchanged brought the first trilogy to an end, John French returns with Ahriman: Eternal, a new novel detailing the great sorcerer’s ongoing attempts to undo the damage he’s unwittingly caused to his Legion. In the aftermath of the Second Rubric, Ahriman and his Exiles find themselves pursued by the Pyrodomon, a force released by the Rubric which reaches out from the warp to consume the Thousand Sons, sorcerers and Rubricae alike. With cracks widening in the alliance of his followers and the Pyrodomon on their heels, Ahriman looks to techno-arcane xenos abilities – via a captured Necron called Setekh – for the power to control time itself. As the Exiles seek out this power, the Harlequins intervene in their unique fashion, determined to shape events to their own ends and avoid a tragedy only they can foresee.

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Ren Hutchings Talks Under Fortunate Stars

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where today I’m delighted to be chatting to Ren Hutchings about her debut novel Under Fortunate Stars, which is out this week from Solaris. A brilliant space opera full of great characters, accidental time travel, corporate bureaucracy and unwilling heroes, this book is full of mystery and warmth and wonder, and I absolutely loved it. I couldn’t be happier to have the chance to talk to Ren about the story, the setting and some of the themes she’s explored within it, so read on to find out more about this fantastic new science fiction novel (and make sure you keep going right to the end, where you’ll find a link to an original song that Ren has collaborated on, to accompany the book’s release).

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Opinions: Plagiarising Book Reviews is Weird

So there I am, idly browsing Twitter, when I see an author happily tweeting some positive reviews of his latest book, delighted to know that readers have been digging it. “Cool,” I think, “I enjoyed that one. let’s see what other people are saying about it.” I flick through screenshots of Audible reviews, then stop, puzzled. “Am I going mad?” I wonder. I keep scrolling. “Hey, thanks for sharing my review,” one Tweeter gushes in the replies. Scratching my head, I open Goodreads and check the review I wrote a few days earlier. I flip back to Twitter, and yep. That’s my review, copied word for word into Audible by someone else, who’s brazenly taking credit for it.

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Monthly Roundup – April 2022

Hello and welcome to my Monthly Roundup post for April 2022, which this month is going to be more of a reading roundup than usual…given that I only published five posts, the lowest number I’ve managed since way back in March 2016. Since there isn’t much to talk about in terms of what I’ve been writing, this will probably be quite a quick post, as even in my usual ‘General Update’ section I don’t really have too much to include. Perhaps I’ll find more to write about what I’ve been reading recently – we’ll see! In the meantime though, I’ll start off as usual with a quick (in this case very quick) recap of the posts I did manage to write and publish last month.

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