And to celebrate the US and UK release of The House of Shattered Wings, here is some art! Below, courtesy of Faithom, a sketch of head of Asmodeus, head of House Hawthorn, having an argument with Selene, head of House Silverspires (from chapter 10 if you’ve read the book!).
And below is the painting the amazing Tade Thompson very kindly did for the ebook In Morningstar’s Shadow (which you can still get if you send me a picture of you with the book, ebook or audiobook!). We had to darken it quite a bit for lettering, both to match the darkness of the UK cover, and because it was hard to set letters against the background of the Arc de Triomphe–so I thought I’d post the undarkened version, so you can see the detail (and the creepy eyes in the night!).
So I was going to do a long blog post, but jet lag hit, and the snakelet is keeping me very busy. Nevertheless…
I’ve said a lot of what I wanted to say here. All I’m going to say in addition to that is: different stories speak to different people. A thing that I like might be one that turns you off, and vice-versa. To say that a thing that I like is not “proper science fiction”; that SFF fans need to reclaim the field against the kind of thing I write; that people like me having success and being nominated are a sure sign the field is headed downhill?
Uh. Read that thing I wrote again please.
I am very glad that Liu Cixin/Ken Liu and Thomas Olde Heuvelt showed us the Hugos aren’t necessarily the province of Western Anglophone works; that Worldcon is going to be in Helsinki in 2017; that we will continue to strive for greater diversity and inclusiveness in the field.
And I would also like to thank the 73 people who nominated “The Breath of War” for a Hugo Award for Best Short Story–I’m deeply touched and very appreciative.
Finally: this year saw a record number of Hugo voters and an amazing turnout. If you were one of them, remember that next year you can nominate the works you loved, so start keeping an eye out for the stuff you love this year (and for the love of God please, let’s not do counter-slates). I will, as usual, recommend stuff as the year goes on, and make a blog post closer to the deadline with a recap of what I loved. I encourage you to do the same.
PS: Worldcon was lovely! Except 9 hours of time difference, which turns out to be quite difficult to catch up on…
PPS: I debated over whether to leave the comments open. I reserve the right to borrow Scalzi’s Mallet of Loving Correction.
So you can now buy The House of Shattered Wings both in the US and the UK–I thought it was high time to round up a few of the things that have been going on with the novel, just in case you’re feeling indecisive (or if you want to know more!).
Gripping (…) De Bodard aptly mixes moral conflicts and the desperate need to survive in a fantastical spy thriller that reads like a hybrid of le Carré and Milton, all tinged with the melancholy of golden ages lost.
Will grab readers and force them to pay attention to the amazing writing and the phenomenal characters (…) It’s a whirlwind, it’s heartbreaking and it’s one of the best fantasy novels of 2015.
A fascinating Paris of decay and cruelty. Phillippe is a marvel of a character, unreliable as a narrator but compelling in his flaws and his deep well of homesickness.
Especially haunting(…) convey(s) a visceral sense of immediacy (…) a surprising but compelling murder mystery, which plays out according to the supernatural terms de Bodard has laid out so evocatively.
Grimly prosaic (…) wrapped up in intrigue and politics (…) comes closer to the blunt, grounded violence of Game Of Thrones than the high gothic fantasy it outwardly resembles (…) a grim story with high-flown conventions, but by finding so much ugliness even in supernatural beauty, de Bodard makes both seem more compelling, and more concrete.
The year’s best urban fantasy by far (…) takes a whole hoard of over-familiar fantasy tropes and turns them, evidently effortlessly, on their collective head (…) There’s an intelligence—and, yes, an elegance—to The House of Shattered Wings that is as rare and precious as angel essence.
One of the most unusual and absorbing books I’ve read in years (…) a vivid sense of remembered splendour and grandeur (…) a powerful novel that sinks deep into the reader’s psyche, taking you into a world so rich and characters so compelling that they linger for months after turning the last page. Don’t miss it.
a novel that is not easy to put down (…) has has some incredible moments that will leave you wanting more (…) a thrilling, gripping read, that will leave you wanting another hit of angel essence.
So… many many thanks to everyone who’s signal boosting The House of Shattered Wings: it’s pretty amazing to see the book in people’s hands!
I wanted to give people a heads-up that I recorded for the BBC World Service: it’s a roundtable on magic chaired by Tim Marlow and featuring Scott Penrose (head of the Magic Circle in the UK), Kevin O’Regan (experimental psychologist) and me as the fantasy novelist :). You can listen to it here, or it’ll be broadcast tomorrow at 8:00 GMT in the UK.
Also, because it’s been amazing, and because I put it late, I’m extending the preorder offer for another two weeks: get back to me with a picture of the book/your ebook reader with the book on it/the audiobook before September 8th, 23:59 GMT +1, and you can get a FREE copy of In Morningstar’s Shadow, an exclusive ebook of short vignettes that illuminates corners of the world and characters of the novel. For more info on the ebook see here.
ETA: this is for either the US or UK edition.
The caveat is that this is basically run solely by me and that I’m running a bit ragged: I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can–if I don’t, I beg for your patience.
(if you’re seeing this on LJ or DW, please go to the original post to send the form: the captcha isn’t working in crossposts).
So… I’m on a plane so I can’t really do much except fret (and write book 2!), but in the meantime, today is the release day for The House of Shattered Wings in the US, from Roc Books. So happy book day to everyone who was kind enough to preorder it or who’s going to pick up a copy soon–hope you enjoy!
Stealing the idea from Kate Elliott, but basically: I’m at these events to meet people (and geek over books and other stuff), so if you see me somewhere, don’t hesitate to say hi! (provided I’m not on my way to somewhere else in a hurry, of course). Also, I have pretty period postcards to hand out if you happen to want freebies–see below!
So… with apologies for the delay (I meant to do this earlier, and then I got a little, er, overwhelmed with stuff). I know this is a bit last minute, but still…
Pre-orders for books are a bit like release week for movies: they’re important for how a book performs and therefore pretty important for the author. On the other hand, I’m well aware of how much trust you put in me as a writer, when you order a book a long time before you actually get *anything* in your hands. Accordingly, I would like to offer a little incentive…
If you preordered or preorder The House of Shattered Wings in any form (ebook or physical), you’ll get a free, exclusive ebook: a series of vignettes set in the world of The House of Shattered Wings, hopefully to whet your appetite. They start during the Great Houses War in 1917, and go up to twenty years before the start of the book; a condensed prequel with a glimpse at characters beyond the scope of the book.
Here’s a little teaser of each section:
The Face of Heaven (House Silverspires, Ile de la Cité 1917, during the Great Houses War) If one was dedicated, and silent, and watchful, one could learn to see angels again.
Paid Debts (Houseless areas near Galeries Lafayette, 1925) Imadan wasn’t a fool, ordinarily. He knew the rules and the strictures of post-war Paris; he knew all the dangers that should be avoided.
What has to be done (House Silverspires, Ile de la Cité, 1958) Emmanuelle woke up, still woozy with sleep; and then felt it.
(the actual ebook wouldn’t have come into fruition without Tade Thompson and Rhiannon Rasmussen-Silverstein, who provided cover art and lettering for said cover art in record speed–I know everyone is very busy and am very thankful. Any issues with actual formatting, I’m afraid, are solely at my door…).
So… how do you get this?
It depends. In the UK/Commonwealth, Gollancz is very kindly running this: see below for details. If you preordered/preorder the UK ebook or the physical book (aka “the one with the multicoloured wings”), then follow the instructions there.
ETA: for accessibility reasons, the address is gollanczgeeks followed by the @, followed by “orionbooks.co.uk”.
If you ordered the US edition (US edition only please–the one with the burning feathers :p), then fill in the contact form below and I’ll email you EPUB/MOBI/PDF versions of the ebook. Because I’m at Worldcon anyway, I’m going to let this run on the same timescale as the Gollancz promotion (the deadline is 11:59pm GMT on August 19th), so you can actually order the US edition on release day or shortly after and you’ll still get the ebook.
ETA: if you have the actual book (which is either happening because you got an early UK edition at, say, Fantasy in the Court or Nine Worlds or some booksellers, or because it’s August 18th/19th in the US, or some other reason I’m not privy to :)), email me a picture of the book as your proof of purchase.
The caveat is that this last bit is basically run solely by me and that I’m running a bit ragged: I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can–if I don’t, I beg for your patience (also, I literally cobbled this form together this morning, so I hope it works).
Welcome back to Shattered Wings Thursdays, the weekly feature of art related to The House of Shattered Wings. 5 days to release of the Roc hardcover edition (and 7 days to the Gollancz trade paperback). Eep. Almost there!
Today: last of the magical factions (well, at least those I have space for :p)
The Houseless are, strictly speaking, not a faction, because the term covers a lot of people. The Houses might like to think themselves the centre of the city, but the truth is that many people find a living outside them: they range from people unaffiliated to Houses who nevertheless serve them, to shopkeepers in the city, to the workers that work in what remains of the factories; down to the gangs who run in droves around the Grands Magasins, hunting anything and anyone to survive.
Notable Houseless characters: Aragon (doctor employed as freelancer by House Silverspires), Philippe (Annamite unaffiliated to a House), Ninon (member of the Red Mambas Gang), Jacques Rossigny (informant of House Silverspires).
I speak manga and anime inspiration to Fran Wilde at Geek Mom.
For the Gollancz festival, Anna Caltabiano, Al Robertson, Alex Lamb, Simon Spanton and I get in a “time travel vs fallen angels vs spaceships vs ventriloquist dummies” panel.
A survey of upcoming Science Fiction and Fantasy mentions The House of Shattered Wings:
Urban fantasies are also exploring fresh settings, like the alternate war-ravaged late 20th-century Paris of Nebula Award winner Aliette de Bodard’s The House of Shattered Wings. Roc/Ace editors Gill and Sowards praise the novel for its lush writing, informed by the author’s own experiences living in Paris and her Vietnamese heritage.
Also pleased to announce I (and a raft of authors!) will be part of the Gollancz festival on October 16th/17th in Manchester/London. You can get info and tickets at the above link.
Welcome back to Shattered Wings Thursdays, the weekly feature of art related to The House of Shattered Wings. 12 days to release of the Roc hardcover edition (and 14 days to the Gollancz trade paperback). Eep. Almost there!
Paris Saint-Lazare, cour du Havre en 1919, old postcard
Today: second-to-last of the magical factions (well, at least those I have space for :p)
Lazarus is an interesting faction: first, because it’s a recently founded House (it was founded shortly before the war), and second, because all its heads of Houses have been human. There are no rules that say a House has to be headed by a Fallen, but nevertheless it tends to happen, because Fallen are longer-lived and have a better natural aptitude for magic.
Lazarus is currently headed by Claire, a sixty-year-old woman with a grandmotherly attitude (and if you think that means nice you need a refresher course about grandmothers ^^). The colors of the House are brown and green, its arms are an antlered man emerging from a cavern, and its motto is “Firma nunquamque lapsa” (“Steady never falling”). Its philosophy of life can best be summed up as “divide to reign.” House Lazarus knows it will never be as strong or as powerful as other Houses, and therefore thrives on encouraging discord.
Notable characters from Hawthorn: Claire, the head of the House; Eric, her bodyguard and lover.
