I am delighted to have signed contracts with Anarchy Books for the publication of my first two books in electronic formats.

Anarchy Books Press Release >..

It is with great pleasure Anarchy Books would like to announce the acquisition of digital rights to not one, but TWO works of SF by the wonderfully talented Gareth L. Powell, author of fabulous SF novel THE RECOLLECTION (published by Solaris Books), Guest of Honour at 2012’s BristolCon and regular contributor to a host of anthologies including Shine, Conflicts, Further Conflicts, 2020 Visions, Future Bristol, Dark Spires, Illuminations and The Sixty.

First we have an incredible collection of SF short stories entitled The
Last Reef containing everything from alien insect invasions to high-octane roller-coaster rides packing enough concepts and inventions to make any lesser SF author weep!

Second, we have Silversands, set in an age when interstellar travel is dangerous and unpredictable, and communications officer Avril Bradley is sent to re-contact lost souls… After an explosion, she is left stranded in a world of retired cops, political intrigue, digital ghosts and corporate assassins, fighting for possession of computer data that will allow them to reach out towards the stars…

Both novels will be available to download from Anarchy Books in PDF, MOBI and EPUB formats during Q1 of 2012 for just £2.49.

Visit www.anarchy-books.com and www.garethlpowell.com for updates.

Message ends >>.

For those of you who haven’t yet got a copy of Silversands, here’s a short snippet for Friday afternoon:

Avril Bradley’s hands were shaking as she unfastened the straps holding her to her bunk. The trip through the wormhole had been rough, like a rollercoaster ride through a furnace, and she could hear the ship’s heat shield creaking and groaning as it cooled. She slipped on a lightweight leather jacket and pulled her shoulder-length hair into a short ponytail. During the trip, her foil pack of cigarettes had fallen onto the deck. She picked them up and lit one, catching her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Her eyes were pale blue like an autumn sky and her features were sharp, as if etched by the quick strokes of an impatient sculptor.

Continue reading “Silversands Excerpt”

Duncan Lawie has written a review of Silversands for Strange Horizons, in which he makes the same point that other reviewers have made: namely that the story could have used a bit more room to develop and breathe. To be honest, I think this is a fair criticism. I’ve learned a lot since writing Silversands all those years ago, and if I wrote it again today, it would be a lot longer.

If you haven’t already read the book, be warned: the review contains a large number of spoilers.

Continue reading “Strange Horizons Review”

On his Muskets and Monsters website, Matt F.W. Curran gives Silversands one of its best reviews so far:

… I admit to feeling a little nervous about reading Gareth L. Powell’s debut novel, Silversands, especially in light of his first collection of fiction, The Last Reef. In my opinion, The Last Reef was the best and most exciting short story SF collection in recent years (and you can read my review of it here) and one of the few collections I still go back to even now (amongst them Hope by James Lovegrove and Barker’s Books of Blood).

So when Silversands was announced I was excited, nervous yes, but excited. I mean, what delights could the writer construct over the course of a novel? Could it match the dizzying heights and imaginations of The Last Reef?

Silversands’ universe requires little introduction; the science fiction tropes within the story are familiar without being unoriginal. There is no plodding back-story to labour over and it keeps that sense of wonder that all good science fiction has. This has its own advantages as we get into the plot from the off and the story rattles along at a good pace. Powell’s writing skills are explicit and direct, creating mood and character through economical prose and without exposition. Each scene is lovingly created and you can tell the writer is enjoying his craft here.

The world building is gritty, frontier SF at its best, with the feel of a society not far away from implosion which adds it’s own sense of tension, while the action is also typically dazzling and dynamic – it has its pulpy moments but nothing that the great SF writers such as Harrison or Asimov would be worried about. It’s utterly compelling, and there’s a feeling of crescendo, of sub-plots merging for a big bang somewhere down the line …

… this is a thoroughly accomplished piece of writing; not one I’d class as a ‘novel’ (novella, probably, and something that could form the back bone of a collection someway down the line), but I’m glad it’s been published and published lovingly (beautifully bound with a great cover) by Pendragon Press. I’m not sure I’ll return to it as much as the well-thumbed Last Reef, but Silversands sits proudly on my bookshelf with other acclaimed genre authors (Dick, Bradbury, Baxter, Banks etc)…

…And you know, Gareth L. Powell doesn’t look out of place amongst them.

Read the original post here.

The new issue of Interzone contains reviews of my novel, Silversands, and the Conflicts anthology, to which I contributed a short story.

In his review of Conflicts, Ian Sales writes:

“Gareth L. Powell provides the highlight of the anthology: ‘Fallout’, a near-future story set in a Bristol depopulated after the crash of an alien craft, and ensuing nuclear fallout, years before.”

Reviewing Silversands, Paul Cockburn writes:

“It’s to Powell’s credit that, rapidly though this particular plot thickens, we nevertheless learn to care about his main characters and [Spoilers!] the deaths of some come as genuine, dramatic knocks. This is because, while neither a particularly flashy nor overly stylish writer, Powell is a master when it comes to using small details to give us a sense of the whole person … in many respects Silversands is an excellent debut.”

At around 4.30pm this afternoon, The Recollection‘s word count total cruised past that of my first novel, Silversands, to make this new novel the longest single work I have yet written – and there’s still at least another 30k to go.

Sorry posts have been a bit sparse around here recently. I’ve been busy trying to produce as much writing as possible in the time I have. I’ve now passed the halfway point with The Recollection, the novel I’m writing for Solaris. The target is 80,000 words.

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)

Colin Harvey reviews Silversands for Suite 101:

Silversands is a worthy addition to any devoted SF reader’s library.

Read the full review here