On the Innsmouth Free Press website, Paula R Stiles reviews the Future Bristol anthology:

“If you’re familiar with the style of Hub Magazine or Irish ‘zine Albedo One, you’ll have a pretty good idea what to expect. Lots of snark, off-the-wall weirdness you won’t normally see in North American specfic (the publisher is from Texas), and considerable attention to world-building… The stories themselves are lovely (being an editor of a ‘zine, I am one picky bitch, so that’s saying a lot); the editing is nice and clean; I love the cover (okay, I really love the cover); the whole thing is as professionally-done as any big publisher puts out; and it’s great to see so many female writers and protags. When Silvia and I say that we wish we could see X type of specfic more often, we mean this type of stuff.”

While in the latest issue of Vector, the critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association, Ben Jeapes writes:

“Future Bristol is a collection of love stories for the city of Bristol… The whole collection is a good read by a good set of authors.

Since my post about making a living from art, I’ve decided to follow the example of Scottish writer Hal Duncan, and make one of my short stories available in PDF format in return for donations.

I will send a copy of the 5100 word story by email to anyone who makes a donation using the “Buy” tab above. There is no set amount: if you’d like me to send you a copy of the story, simply pay whatever you think is a fair price.

The story is called ‘What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done?’.

It received a good response when it appeared in the Future Bristol anthology from Swimming Kangaroo Books, and now the time has come to open it up to a wider audience.

The story starts with a young man meeting a beautiful shop assistant while playing truant from his office job, and ends up somewhere far weirder and stranger than he could possibly have imagined…

Click the “Buy” tab and not only will you have the chance to get a copy of this story for whatever you think it’s worth, you’ll also have the satisfaction of supporting a writer trying to make an honest living through his work.

James Maxey reviews the Future Bristol anthology for Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. Of my contribution, he writes:

“The strongest part of the story is the budding love story between the narrator and a girl he meets in a bookstore. I found the dialogue to be very natural and plausible; often dialogue in short stories is simply there to push the plot forward. Here, the dialogue has nothing to do with the gee-whiz tech that will erupt a few pages later. As a result, it felt very real to me. It seemed like the way people actually flirt, and makes the story feel like an actual window onto life.”

Read the full review online here.

As part of my efforts to promote Bristolcon, I managed to get a story about the Future Bristol anthology into the city’s local paper, The Evening Post.

Read the article here: Link to Evening Post article

Alternatively, please contact me if y0u’d like a copy of the original press release.

Update 04/08/09: Press releases now available to download here.

The Future Bristol anthology is now available to download as an e-book from the Fictionwise site.

“A bargain at $3.49, the book contains nine short stories by leading (local) British authors including BSFA and Philip K. Dick Award-nominee Liz Williams, Interzone Poll-winner Gareth L Powell, novelist and editor Colin Harvey, Stephanie Burgis, Jim Mortimore, Joanne Hall, Nick Walters, John Hawkes-Reed and Christina Lake.”

http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook87221.htm?cache

Keri Honea reviews the Future Bristol anthology for Suite101:

The story with the most original and intriguing name is one of the biggest highlights of the collection. “What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done?” by Gareth L Powell ends the entire world through a freak accident with nanotech computer builders and random chance saves one man from Bristol to decide who will repopulate the earth with him. The tie in to Nicolas Cage’s movie, It Could Happen to You, was both unexpected and brilliantly played out.

“Incredibly ambitious… the quality of the writing and the ideas presented, and that they are irrevocably connected with Bristol is why these stories work so well. Spectacular.”

Link to Future Bristol on Amazon.

The Future Bristol anthology is now available to order from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. It contains the following stories:

1. Liz Williams ~ Isambard’s Kingdom
2. John Hawkes-Reed ~ The Guerilla Infrastructure HOWTO
3. Stephanie Burgis ~ After The Change
4. Joanne Hall ~ Pirates of the Cumberland Basin
5. Nick Walters ~ Trespassers
6. Christina Lake ~ A Tale of Two Cities
7. Colin Harvey ~ Thermoclines
8. Gareth L Powell ~ What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done?
9. Jim Mortimore ~ The Sun In The Bone House

See here for a review of the book: Link to The Fix

The first review of the Future Bristol anthology has appeared online at The Fix. In it, Lyndon Perry writes:

Through a wonderfully accessible selection of stories and genres—from steampunk to biotech suspense to superhero fiction—this anthology is entertaining, compelling, and thought-provoking. As for the writing itself, the craftsmanship of each story is superb. Editor Colin Harvey did a fine job of compiling a diverse yet complimentary collection of short fiction that celebrates, in his words, “the city that we moan about but also love. A city that, like British SF, believes in itself again.” Well, if the authors of Future Bristol continue to write at this high a level, then the future of British speculative fiction—and Bristol itself—is secure. This volume is a delight for science fiction fans of all stripes.

Continue reading “Future Bristol reviewed in The Fix”

In April, Swimming Kangaroo Books release their latest anthology, Future Bristol.

The book contains nine stories imagining what the future holds for the South West’s largest city, including contributions from nine leading British authors: Liz Williams; John Hawkes-Reed; Stephanie Burgis; Joanne Hall; Nick Walters; Christina Lake; Colin Harvey; Gareth L Powell; and Jim Mortimore.

It will be released in April 2009 with a cover by award-winning artist Andy Bigwood, and its launch will be marked with two launch events:

• The first takes place at 2pm on Sunday 12 April as part of the Eastercon event at The Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford. Andy, Christina, Colin, Gareth, Liz, Stephanie will be present to read extracts of their stories and sign copies.
• The second event tales place at 1pm on Saturday 25th April at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in Bristol, and Andy, Colin, Gareth, Jim, Jo, Liz, Nick will be in attendance.

UPDATE 31/03/2009: Forbidden Planet event has been postponed by the store. I don’t know the full details but will post updated date and time when available.

Continue reading “Future Bristol Launch Event Details”