Phoenix Countdown & Competition: 1

Only one day to go till the publication of my new book Phoenix!  A nice interview with me appeared today on SFFWorld.com - click here to read it.

Phoenix Countdown & Competition: 2

Phoenix Countdown & Competition: 3

Phoenix Countdown & Competition: 4

An amazing review of my new book Phoenix appeared today in the Daily Mail, where Sally Morris described it as "a thrilling space/sci fi adventure...  fabulous, high octane stuff, with an uplifting ending, stunningly illustrated by the brilliant McKean"!

It's now just a week till publication, and Phoenix is officially available to order.  Have a look at my publishers' page, where the 'buy now' button links to lots of places you can order it, including Amazon, Foyles, Waterstones, Blackwells, WH Smith, independent booksellers via Hive, etc...

To celebrate, I'll be posting one of Dave McKean's amazing images here every day.  Please please share these as widely as you can, and help spread the word...  And if you leave a comment on one of these images, I will pick a comment at random and send that reader a signed copy of Phoenix!

Phoenix Countdown & Competition: 5

It's a week till publication of my new book Phoenix, and it's now officially available to pre-order!  Have a look at my publishers' page, where the 'buy now' button links to lots of places you can order it, including Amazon, Foyles, Waterstones, Blackwells, WH Smith, independent booksellers via Hive, etc...

To celebrate, I'll be posting one of Dave McKean's amazing images here every day.  Please share these as widely as you can, and help spread the word!

And if you leave a comment on one of these images, I will pick a comment at random and send that reader a signed copy of Phoenix!

Ready?  Here goes!

First Reviews of Phoenix...

The first reviews of my new book Phoenix are beginning to come in.  It's a strange moment for me; having spent seven years writing the book, I have no idea at all how it will seem to someone reading it for the first time...

Vanessa Lewis in picks it as a highlight in The Bookseller's August preview, and says:

"I became totally immersed in the ethereal world created by SF Said in Phoenix... This is an evocative read that highlights the ravages of war while making us consider our place in the universe.  Dave McKean's illuminating illustrations add atmosphere."

And Jill Murphy gives it a fantastic review in The Bookbag - click the link to read the full piece:

"I loved this space quest of a story. It has great worldbuilding, sparkling characters and a thrilling plot. It's beautifully illustrated by the great Dave McKean, who gives the galaxy its rightful majesty.  

You won't find any spoilers here at Bookbag. We hate them. But I will say that Phoenix has a wonderful ending. It's sad but uplifting, grief-stricken but beautiful, and is and utterly, utterly appropriate culmination of the clever plot. I cried!

There aren't many space epics written for middle readers and after enjoying Phoenix so thoroughly, I can't imagine why. Kids love all the TV shows and films - Star Trek, Star Wars etc - and the genre allows for sparkling, nutty characters, so I'm at a loss to explain why this fertile ground isn't cultivated more. It should be. So hats off to SF Said for this fabulous tale. And to Dave McKean, for giving the magnificence and the glory of the galaxy such awe-inspiring artwork.

Phoenix comes highly recommended for all younger fans of sci-fi, a rip-roaring plot and who love a reluctant hero who never stops trying."

What a wonderful review, I really couldn't ask for more!  And I totally agree with her about space epics; I've never understood why there are so few for young readers...

Varjak Paw Around The World, #5

#5: Turkey

One of the nicest things about publishing a book is watching it travel the world.   Varjak Paw has been translated into many languages; there are many editions around the world, and I've been doing a series of posts about them all.  This week, I'm looking at the Turkish edition of Varjak Paw, where he's called Varjak Pençe!

Apparently 'Pençe' means 'Paw' in Turkish, so that makes sense. This edition of the book is printed on a special kind of foil paper, so it's quite glittery in real life, but very hard to scan. Apologies if it looks a bit dark!

Here's the back cover.  As with the German edition, the Turkish publishers decided to switch front and back around, which is fine with me, as I love them both!  The interiors are the same as the UK edition, with all of Dave McKean's fantastic artwork.

Here's the first page, so you can see how it reads in Turkish.  I've learned a few new words by looking at it – for example, the Elder Paw becomes 'Yaşlı Pençe' – but my Turkish isn't strong enough to tell if it's a good translation or not.  So if there are any Turkish-speaking readers looking at this blog, I would love to hear from you!  And if you would like to see more Varjak Paw translations, have a look here...

Big Thanks!

It's been a busy few days, and some big thanks are in order!  First, to everyone I met at the London Film & Comic Con – the organisers, the brilliant Waterstones booksellers, and all the lovely people who came and bought advance copies of Phoenix – thank you!  It was a special day for me, because it was the first time I saw an actual copy of Phoenix, so thanks to everyone who's been part of that journey...  Here's a picture of Dave & I signing; and no, that Toblerone bar didn't last very long!

And today I had the great pleasure of visiting Taxal and Fernilee Primary School, where I met some awesome Varjak Paw fans, some fantastic young readers & writers, and some brilliant teachers!  It was wonderful to hear all your stories, thoughts, and enthusiasm for books; I hope you'll all keep on reading and writing...  And if you want to see the Phoenix book trailer I mentioned, click this link, or have a look at the next post down in this blog!

The Supernova is on YouTube!

Prepare to be amazed: Dave McKean has made an absolutely stunning trailer for my new book Phoenix!  Watch it on YouTube now - and please please share the link, we really need to get this out there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5yQjwqDFXA&feature=youtu.be

Recommended: July 2013

With my new book Phoenix now only a month away, it seems like a good time to share some inspirations.  So this month, I'm recommending Contact: a brilliant novel about the first contact between humans and aliens, written by Carl Sagan.  There's a film version too, with Jodie Foster, but I prefer the book – it's beautiful, original, thought-provoking science fiction, written by a scientist with a real gift for storytelling.

I first encountered Sagan through his amazing TV series, Cosmos.  I watched it as a child in the 1980s, and re-watched it while writing Phoenix.  It was one of my biggest inspirations.  Apparently I'm not the only one who feels that way.  Professor Brian Cox has said it meant a lot to him too – so if you liked his Wonders Of The Universe, or if you're at all interested in stars, galaxies and space, you should definitely watch Cosmos!  It's all up on YouTube: here's the first episode.

And here's a very silly but entertaining song that uses some of Sagan's quotes from the series – it became an internet phenomenon, and is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me!  But the space imagery in it goes to the heart of what I was trying to do in Phoenix, so I hope you enjoy it too...