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Here’s our round-up of fantastic and fantastical reading for July. We take in adult SFF and other Fiction, creative and socially minded Non-Fiction, Children’s and YA and Graphic Novels. Whether you’re a general or genre reader or a bookshop looking to make sure your customers aren’t missing out we try to balance an inclusion of the biggest titles with slipstream / crossover hits and those hidden gems for all concerned.
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For our full months event recommendations see our London Events page and Regular Events page also – if we’re missing something (your own event or someone else’s) let us know! |
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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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Across the planet and unknown to each other, a group of troubled teenagers lead lives of quiet desperation. But hell is about to befall them and they find their lives destroyed when they are targeted by dark forces. On the run, they discover they have unbelievable powers and must come together – as The Troop! – Titan |
| This month (Dec 15) TITAN COMICS release #1 of Noel Clarke (Mickey from Dr Who) and Joshua Cassara’s THE TROOP. A quite deliberate riff on the X-Men, with an eclectic mix of ages, personalities and abilities, The Troop follows a bunch of super-powered misfits avoiding the sinister men-in-black and religious nutcases with secrets and hidden agendas to be revealed. | |
| Read on for the press release, title info, launch videos and interior art from #’s 1 and 2! |
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Here’s an (edited) look at what Gollancz have coming for you over the period Jan-Jun 2016! We’ll be bringing you our particular recommends of all publishers together by month of publication. Note: All copy from Gollancz; we’ve included Hardback or Trade PB jackets were a Mass Market Paperback cover is yet to be confirmed and publication dates are liable to change. |
| *** Publisher Page – link / profile *** | |
| *** See Other Publishers Jan-Jun 16 [In Progress] *** |
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Coming in October NoBrow Press bring you Curveball, a futuristic dystopian tale of love and heartbreak written and illustrated by the writer of Boom! Studios Steven Universe Jeremy Sorese – and we have a preview of the wonderfully evocative interior art, rendered in duo- (and trio!-) tone below… Enjoy! |
| Opening pages… |  |
This has only just come to our attention – and via info on their latest project – but a fantastic group of film-makers produced this unofficial Judge Dredd adaptation of classic story!
And their next project? The clever sneckers are only having a go at one of our all time favourites: STRONTIUM DOG!
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| It is a rare thing, to see change coming. Embracing it is rarer still. We cling to the past even as we dream of the future, fearing always that what might be gained cannot make up for what must be lost. Those few who have an instinct for metamorphosis know only too well how bitterly it can be resisted, how unlikely it is for evolution to occur without struggle. They know that transition is most often an ungentle business, and that many weapons can be employed against it. | |
| They know there will be casualties. | |
| Among those few are a man and a woman: friends, lovers, partners: pillars of strength and dispensers of wisdom, although the latter is in short supply at the moment. They have received unwelcome news, though it may shed light on much else that troubles them; and so they grapple with it, trying to understand what it means and how it fits. |
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The man knows the woman is better at this than he is. For all his scholarship and training and experience, for all that he has been proven right far more often than otherwise, she has a gestalt gift that he cannot match. As he watches her framed against the city’s skyline he knows that she is sifting through the cacophony of pending events, looking for connections, parallels, patterns. Read the rest of this entry »
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| End Times | |
| A sliver of light cut through the void, shooting toward the center of the battle display. Every soul on the bridge, breaths collectively held, eyed its path as it streaked across space. The room was dead quiet, except for the droning voice counting down to the point of impact. An explosion the size of a thumbnail blinked and flowered to fill half the display, then darkened again. | |
| The bridge erupted into cheers as the Neptune Divinity flagship’s holographic avatar disappeared. But the celebration was short-lived. Captain Dustinius Monk’s voice cut through the chatter. | |
| “Station status!” he demanded. The grim news of the health of the ship trickled in. | |
| “Shield arms down,” a bridge acolyte said. | |
| “Mobility thrusters offline,” another added. | |
| “Aft hull breached.” |
For your enjoyment and anticipation: select visuals from the upcoming and concluding part of Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Nemo Trilogy! Title information is copied below or check it out along with more greatness for the season from Knockabout here.
Tonight’s gig is part of the Social’s “The Deep Hum of Everything” event, which now seems to be becoming a permanent fixture. The basic premise is that you get three bands for £3, which is not to be sniffed at.
| We start off with Lupo, who are basically purveying English psychedelia circa 1966/67. The harmonies are lush, the guitar is spiky and the bass lines are Paul McCartney melodic. There are harder early Zep-style riffs too. However, despite the all-original material, they are so in thrall to their influences as to almost be a tribute band. They need to add something else to their stew in order to emphasise their originality. |  |
Tonight Ringo Deathstarr exhibit considerable bravery in selecting the rather wonderful Lola Colt to support them. However, before we can see whether Ringo Deathstarr get blown offstage or not, we are entertained by opening act Parlour.
Parlour’s music is very dreamy, trancy, shoegazey stuff, and they clearly owe a massive debt to My Bloody Valentine. There is much tuning and adjustment of effects pedals between songs, and they give the impression that they’re playing for themselves rather than the audience, which possibly isn’t a bad thing.
| This is the third time that I’ve seen Lola Colt, and I’m only just starting to get my head around their music. The reason for this is that there is so much going on when they play. Initially there are no obvious reference points in their music, but more diverse and possibly conflicting hints of influences on display. It could be a car crash, but it works. |  |
In which we explore a gloriously dystopian LA, the most sublime of the sublime of weapons in space opera, Gray Hulks, heroic child-proxies, and quantum-locked Assassins… (If you haven’t read the earlier entries you can find Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here and Part 5 here…)
Los Angeles * Setting * Blade Runner * Ridley Scott
| The sprawl of LA in the year 2019: the opening scene of Blade Runner. |   |
| Industrial flame plumes against the darkness of city and night, the restrained, isolated strike of lightning. Aerodyne “spinners”, patrolling police-craft, come and go, beaming suspicious light wherever they journey. In the foreground are skyscraping edifices, in the background the domineering corporate ziggurat of the Tyrell Building projecting light into the sky: Look on ye might and despair. |
It’s all a play of dark and light, a thematic spectacle continued as we descend past the gigantic digital ghost of a geisha and into the rain spattered streetscape. Read the rest of this entry »
