Just what is it about London? The number of people? A history so rich it becomes a mythos also? That it’s the capital? Well all of the above and more – including the fact they say ‘write what you know’ and there’s more than a few writing types in the Big Smoke.
	Somewhere between highlights and exhaustive compilation, here’s our compilation of extraordinary London titles: fantastical and speculative, the cultural, subcultural and political, historical and mythological, steampunk and urban fantasy, the mercurial and the liminal… Title copy is the publishers; just click the hyperlink in the month field to see what we had to say on the title and other (non-London) titles published that month.
	Here’s to the Big City – Enjoy!

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	Last year saw the debut of original, canonical stories of Ben Aaronovitch‘s bestselling Rivers of London in comic form, courtesy of the author, Dr Who show-runner Andrew Cartmel, comic artist and veteran of Who strips Lee Sullivan and Titan Comics. Titled Rivers of London: Body Work (our preview page of that volume), it was released as a collection in March of this year (brought forward a little from April).
	But that’s not the end for the comic adventures of policeman and wizard Peter Grant – because Ben, Andrew, Lee and co have gone almost straight into the sequel. So here it is – issue 2 now just published at time of writing – our series preview page for the latest, Rivers of London: Night Witch! Check out the interior art and check back for more which we’ll add as and when we receive it…

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	ONE
	Costain entered the service station and stopped when he saw Quill standing there, not even pretending to look at the chocolate bars displayed in front of him. Costain headed for the toilets, and Quill immediately followed, as if he didn’t care who noticed. Costain made astonished eye contact with him just before the door, turning to take in the SUVs he’d left on the forecourt outside, with Mick and Lazlo currently filling up the first two vehicles with diesel. No, nobody was watching. He closed the toilet door behind them.
	They stood in the cubicle, with the door bolted: the seat gone, the toilet bowl blocked, everything smelling of shit, a single bulb making it all ghostly white. The cold made their breath bloom around them.
	‘What the fuck is Toshack doing?’ asked Quill. He was speaking too loudly.
	‘I don’t know.’
	‘“I don’t know, sir!”’

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We love our Urban Fantasy here at Carabas and one of the sub-genre’s we particularly focus on, having appeal both to genre fans and mainstream readers. So here’s a round-up of the great UF books and graphic novels publishing from July to December 2015!

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	ONE
	I savoured the sunrise from the eastern butte. Today’s was extraordinary: splashes of molten gold as if the sun had dripped burning liquid on the plains. The sand and the silhouette of the distant western ranges gained colour with each moment, turning pale pink like the chest feathers of the cheeky galahs that swept the plains. The mulla-mulla was in flower too after a recent rain –a carpet of deep purple.
	Birrimun Park: the last natural habitat in the world.
	My father gave his life to this place, and, if it came down to it, so would I. Birrimun was the only place in the world that I felt whole, and sane, which was why I was about to accept a deal with my previously estranged mother and give up my work as park ranger to become her spy.

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I sighed loud enough that my horse, Benny’s, ears flicked back at me. Perhaps that was an overly dramatic summation of my current situation, but then life had taken some dramatic turns of late. Not so long ago, Nate Sixkiller of the US Marshal Service had joined Parks Southern as my colleague. I hadn’t welcomed the coupling, but I was beginning to tolerate it a little better than at first. I worked better alone, and so, I decided, did he.

Together, he and I were supposed to be assisting the Global Joint Intelligence Commission (GJIC) in their preparation to halt some kind of Other Worldly coup. Read the rest of this entry »

	In 2011 Ben Aaronovitch stole London’s supernatural stage with the debut of the first volume of his PC Peter Grant urban fantasy series. Now with five out, the sixth coming this November, TV rights optioned and over a million copies sold worldwide, it’s been nothing short of a phenomenon.
	Another author would happily sit on their nicely defined prose career, with a safe mainstream following: not so Ben A.
	Because courtesy of the author, Dr Who show-runner Andrew Cartmel – Ben himself having two episodes to his name – and comic artist and veteran of Who strips Lee Sullivan, comes an entirely canonical Peter Grant comic series from Titan Comics!

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“I’ve been a massive fan of the series for a long time and it’s always a dream to bring something you revere to life as a comic, especially when you’re working with such an incredible team of creators!” says Steve White, Titan Comics Senior Editor.

Set between Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer (books 4 and 5) Rivers of London: Body Work arrives as a collected graphic novel in December, but the first comic of five was released on the 15th July for those who simply can’t wait – and why should you?

Here’s a trailer and a taster from Titan as to what you can look forward to…

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	www.tompollock.com (The authors site & blog)
	www.skyscraperthrone.com
	@tomhpollock
	Trope-forging urban fantasy author of the London-based adult / YA Skyscraper Throne trilogy

About (from Jo Fletcher Books / the author himself):

Tom Pollock is a graduate of the Sussex University Creative Writing Programme, and a member of the London-based writers’ group The T-Party. A longtime fan of science fiction and fantasy, Tom Pollock has spectacularly failed to grow out of his obsession with things that don’t, in the strictest sense of the word, exist. He has his master of fine arts degree from Sussex University and also holds a master’s degree in philosophy and economics from Edinburgh University. He has lived everywhere from Scotland to Sumatra, but the peculiar magic of London has always drawn him back.

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	www.mikeandpeter.com – Mike Carey and Peter Gross
	Mike Carey’s Goodreads page
	On Wikipedia
	On Comic Book DB (Database)
	@michaelcarey191
	(Photo by Luigi Novi)

Many will now know Mike – or M.R. – Carey from the recent and massive success of the award-nominated The Girl with all the Gifts, already to become a film adapted by the author himself and starring Glenn Close, Gemma Arterton and Paddy Considine. But he’s been around a lot longer than this, authoring fantastical prose and comics in the horror / dark fantasy genres for decades…

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	www.benedictjacka.co.uk
	On Little Brown (Orbit author)
	On Goodreads
	On Wikipedia
	@BenedictJacka

About (from Orbit / Little Brown): Benedict Jacka became a writer almost by accident, when at 19 he sat in his school library and began writing in the back of an exercise book. Since then he has studied philosophy at Cambridge, lived in China and worked as everything from civil servant to bouncer to teacher before returning to London to take up law, but has always found the time to keep writing.

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	www.the-folly.com
	www.temporarilysignificant.blogspot.co.uk
	On Gollancz
	On Wikipedia
	@Ben_Aaronovitch

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Bestselling Urban Fantasy author of the RIVERS OF LONDON and the PC PETER GRANT sequels!

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	www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static
	www.facebook.com/charlesstross
	On Wikipedia
	@cstross
	“I tell lies for money. (Author, not politician.)”
	(Photo by Cory Doctorow – EasterCon 2012)

Charles “Charlie” Stross worked as a pharmacist, software engineer and freelance journalist. With a strong science background and love of SFF he’d had articles and stories published in the 70’s and 80’s; his first full length novel Singularity Sky, a stunning space opera debut championed locally and centrally by Waterstone’s, marked the beginning of his rise to prominence on the pro scene. Since then his novels and novella’s have been nominated for and won the major awards in the genre.

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	I’d had a number of publishers ask if I was looking to do author interviews; it was certainly ‘on the list’ though I’d a mind to do something a little different – a casual pint or coffee with… But where to begin or, rather, who?
	Sometimes the world does actually work a little magic and JIM BUTCHER – over on his first ever UK tour with the paperback release of Skin Game, the latest in his fantastic Dresden Files series – was good enough to be our inaugural interviewee. I caught up with Jim & co on his last day in the UK, after his talk and signing at Waterstone’s Piccadilly, up in the shop’s 5th floor bar…

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	The Urban Fantasy sub-genre is a personal favourite of mine, not to mention very apt for this here site and having great general / mainstream appeal and potential. I’d always planned, along with our Steampunk page, to put up a seasons listing here.
	And, having just last night had the pleasure and fortune of interviewing the urbanly fantastical JIM BUTCHER (! – article imminent!), it struck me as just the right time to do it…

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(Condensed intro – read in full HERE)

It’s a real A-List zone in February – hard to get down to something approaching a concise shortlist of recommended titles, and selecting a Book of the Month is more or less impossible…

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The first month of 2015 brings readers a superb list from which to pick their next read, and anyone attempting to recommend an unenviable task in trying to pick the best – one we couldn’t quite achieve without allowing ourselves a joint award. Read the rest of this entry »

	Here’s an (edited) look at what Titan Books have coming for you over the period January to June 2015! We’ll be bringing you our particular recommends of all publishers together by month of publication. Note: Publication dates are liable to change and some jackets are still to come…
	*** Publisher Page – link / profile ***
	*** See Other Publishers Jan-Jun 15 ***

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