Writer Matthew S. Dent reviews Silversands on his blog:

“I really did enjoy this novel. It was fun, but not silly. The characters were strong, the plot engaging, and the writing well beyond competent. But the real triumph, I feel, is the world that Powell has created. A universe with humanity scattered across the stars by unreliable FTL travel is one that has a lot of potential, particularly with the developments at the end of the story. I hope that Powell returns to this universe at some point, and it would be a real shame if some of the characters from Silversands didn’t get a second appearance.”

Read the full review here.

Photographs taken on the day by Chris Teague.

(click to view)

Cheryl Morgan made a film of me reading at the book launch yesterday.

On his website, reviewer Mark Chitty writes:

Gareth L Powell has delivered a great novel in a very interesting setting.

To read the full review, click here.

Silversands, by Gareth L Powell (Pendragon Press, £12)

Avril Bradley is a communications officer aboard the starship Pathfinder on its mission to locate lost and far-flung colony worlds. She’s also on a personal quest to find Cale Christie, the man she believes to be her father, who passed through an alien wormhole years earlier. But wormhole technology is highly unreliable, and when she does manage to discover the planet where Christie lives, she finds herself caught up in a complex intrigue between competing corporations, corrupt politicians and a scheming artificial intelligence – which may just hold the answer to the stabilisation of the wormhole. Powell’s first novel is a fine hi-tech romp, marred slightly by a rushed and melodramatic dénouement.

-Eric Brown

Read the full article here: click for link

Thirty hardback copies of Silversands have just been delivered to my door, direct from the printer.

They look amazing, thanks to Vincent Chong’s cover art and design, and Christopher Teague’s typesetting.

I started writing Silversands ten years ago, and it’s strange to be finally holding  printed copies of the book in my hand. So much has happened in my life since I wrote the first words of chapter one.

The thirty copies that have been delivered today will be riding up to Odyssey 2010 in the back of my car in a fortnight’s time, and will be for sale on the TTA Press stall in the dealers’ room at the convention. I will also have a number of paperback copies of The Last Reef and Other Stories for sale/signing at the event.

Silversands is also available via Amazon or direct from Pendragon Press.

Had a note from Chris at Pendragon Press to tell me that the first hardback copies of Silversands should be delivered to me by the printer on Friday.

In April, there will be a book launch for my first novel, and you are all invited.

The event takes place from 2.00pm on Saturday 24th April, in the back bar of The Shakespeare Tavern, Princes Street, Bristol.

I will be giving a short reading from Silversands and signing copies, so please come along and join the fun.

The Shakespeare Tavern is a traditional English pub in the Harbourside area of central Bristol. It serves a selection of beers, wines and spirits along with traditional pub meals and snacks. It is a 10 minute walk from Bristol Temple Meads railway station.

Link to Google Maps.

If you are on Facebook, you can join the event here: Link to Facebook Event

Here’s the press release for my novel, Silversands:

MAESTEG, 10/01/2010 – Pendragon Press proudly announces the forthcoming release of Silversands, the hotly anticipated debut novel from rising British SF star Gareth L Powell.

Set 200 years in the future, Silversands tells the story of Avril Bradley, a reluctant astronaut thrown headlong into a world of political intrigue, espionage and subterfuge; a world where retired cops, digital ghosts and corporate assassins battle for possession of a hidden computer file that may just hold the key to humanity’s future.

Continue reading “Silversands Press Release”

The publisher has just sent through the full wrap-around cover art and a PDF file containing the typeset galley proof of my forthcoming novel, Silversands.

It looks good.

Vincent Chong has done a marvellous job with the cover picture and design, and the text looks good laid out and ready to print.

The novel will be launched in hardback in April, with the first 100 copies signed and numbered.

More information.

Plus, on a tangentially related note, the organisers of Odyssey 2010 have been in contact to ask if they can include my picture and bio on the “Also Attending” page of their website, along with the other authors, artists, editors, and critics scheduled to appear at the convention – so look out for that in the next few days.