I have one of the latest-to-the-lame-party-anyway blogs on the planet. My content is rarely unique, often borrowed directly from other sites and never timely. I totally get that criticism and humbly bow my head in shame.
Well, until today, that is! Today I'm a new man. Today I stand tall as a blogger with content worth reading. A blogger who actually has some content on his blog that's nowhere else on the web yet.
Well, until today, that is! Today I'm a new man. Today I stand tall as a blogger with content worth reading. A blogger who actually has some content on his blog that's nowhere else on the web yet.
There's a freaking first for me.
What's the news? I am one of the lucky saps who received an advance reading copy of the US edition of M John Harrison's new novel Nova Swing.
It's a loose follow up to Light, an entirely superior Science Fiction novel with one of the most sophisticated trade paperback packages in recent genre history. Seriously. It was brilliant, all the way around.
I started reading Nova Swing today and thought I'd blog about it briefly. When I went to dig up an image of the cover on the net, there were none to be found. That is, the UK cover (ugly and not compelling to anyone outside existing SF readers) was everywhere...but no sign of the US cover. It's not up on Amazon yet. It's not up on BN.com. It's not anywhere in Google Images.
As of 9:25pm on May 1st, 2007 the only place you can get an early look at the cover is right here at The Hellebore Diaries.
Heh.
And oooh is the package good. Not quite as striking as Light but a lovely polar opposite. More black than white. A black cat and playing cards. A China Mieville blurb on the front cover. Another super job from the folks in the Bantam creative/marketing departments.
The book is due in US bookstores in September of 2007. Go and get a copy right away. Check out M John Harrison's blog too.
Updated 05/02/07: I should apologize for being glib about the UK cover. I'm a retailer of books and my perspective is entirely skewed by what my experiences tell me will sell to a US readership. My comments have little to do with straightforward aesthetics. I've certainly been wrong before: I strongly protested the first couple US Richard Morgan covers when they showed up on my desk...but they did just fine (and bear a certain atmospheric resemblance to the UK cover for Nova Swing).