Author
This week I was delighted to see that my 2018 novel Embers of War was #1 in all three of its Amazon categories this week, and #322 on the overall US Kindle bestsellers chart.
It actually peaked at #265 but I didn’t get a screenshot of that moment, as it happened while I was asleep. But that means Embers came within the top 300 bestselling ebooks on the whole of Amazon, and that’s amazing for a six-year-old novel!
I’m delighted to be able to reveal to you the cover for my next novel, Future’s Edge, which will hit the shops in February, published by Titan Books.
Artwork is by Julia Lloyd of Titan.
From the back cover:
A gripping and heartfelt horror-tinged space adventure from the BSFA award-winning author of Stars and Bones and Embers of War. Readers of James S.A. Corey and Becky Chambers will love this fast-paced story of space piracy, deadly alien artifacts and a race to save what is left of humanity.
When archaeologist Ursula Morrow accidentally infects herself with an alien parasite, she fears she may have jeopardised her career. However, her concerns become irrelevant when Earth is destroyed, billions die, and suddenly no one needs archaeologists anymore…
Two years later, she’s plucked from a refugee camp on a backwater world and tasked with retrieving the artifact that infected her, as it just might hold the key to humanity’s survival. With time running short, and the planet housing the weapon now situated in hostile territory, she realises she’s going to have to commit an act of desperate piracy if she’s going to achieve her objective before the enemy’s final onslaught.
A thrilling, page-turning journey into deep space where the fights are brutal, the relationships are complicated and the world ended years ago.
Future’s Edge is available to preorder now on:
And a host of other places.
Now that the official announcement has been published in The Bookseller, I can finally reveal that I have signed with Titan Books for another space opera novel.
Here’s the announcement:
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August 2024
Titan has bagged Jitterbug, a new space adventure from Gareth L Powell that marks the author’s eighth book with the publisher.
World English rights were acquired by Cath Trechman, fiction editor at large, from Lucienne Diver at The Knight Agency for publication in 2026. “What I love about Gareth’s work is absolutely everything—his storylines, the action, the skullduggery, the characters, but most of all the wit that permeates his novels,” said Diver.
Billed as a “high stakes adventure” with romance and “plenty of witty banter”, Jitterbug is set in a future where the planets in the Earth’s solar system have begun to disintegrate. When Copernicus Brown discovers a stolen data crystal that could be the key to saving humanity, he and his crew must uncover what the numbers mean before the countdown ends.
Powell commented: “This is a new story in a new universe, but it feels like it belongs with the other novels they have already published, as it contains a similar blend of action, speculation and mystery, and relatable characters coping with extreme situations.”
Trechman said: “I’m over the moon to be working with Gareth again. Jitterbug promises to be everything that makes a Gareth L Powell space adventure so special: killer set pieces, awesome fights, snappy dialogue and characters you care deeply for. All-in-all a deliciously satisfying read. I can’t wait!”
***
This means my schedule of forthcoming books now looks like this:
If you’re going to WorldCon in Glasgow next week, and you want to know where you can get me to sign a book, I will be taking part in the following programme items:
Stars and Sabers Publishing, the new imprint founded by Jendia Gammon (Editor-in-Chief) and Gareth L. Powell (Managing Editor) has been officially launched with the reveal of its brand new website and the cover of its first publication.
Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers will be a cross-genre anthology featuring stellar authors of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
The exquisite cover illustration and design is by UK artist and illustrator Niall Grant. We knew the moment we saw Niall’s art that we had found the perfect artist for this anthology, and we hope for our future themed ones as well! Niall’s art recalls golden age illustration with a modern sensibility and a keen eye for detail. He has numerous big-name clients in both the publishing and music industries. We loved working with him on this project.
Niall’s beautiful details represent the genres we will publish at Stars and Sabers Publishing, as well as the kinds of short stories in this anthology. The cover for Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers is wonderful, and its contents are remarkable as well.
Our cross-genre anthology is still being put together, with stories from luminous authors spanning speculative fiction. We’ve already received and contracted several short stories. We are crowdfunding this anthology.
Authors appearing in this anthology include: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ai Jiang, Alice James, Antony Johnston, Bonnie Burton, Cynthia Pelayo, D.K. Stone, David Quantick, Dennis K. Crosby, Eugen Bacon, Gemma Amor, Greg van Eekhout, Helen Glynn Jones, J.L. Worrad, Jonathan Maberry, Kali Wallace, KC Grifant, Khan Wong, Laurel Hightower, Lizbeth Myles, Mya Duong, Paul Cornell, Pedro Iniguez, Peter McLean, Ren Hutchings, Renan Bernardo, Sarah L. Miles, Stark Holborn, and T.L. Huchu. It’s possible we might add a few more authors as well.
Our timeline is:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/anthology-of-shadows-stars-and-sabers
https://ko-fi.com/post/Publishing-Imprint-News-and-Opportunity-H2H2XH2SN
https://linktr.ee/starsandsabers.
Thank you for your support! We can’t wait to share our books with you.
Ad astra per fabulas,
Jendia Gammon (Editor-in-Chief) & Gareth L. Powell (Managing Editor)
Hello friends,
My next novel is now available to pre-order!
Titan Books will reveal the cover soon, but in the meantime, the links are below, and here’s the back cover description:
*
Gareth L. Powell
A gripping and heartfelt horror-tinged space adventure from the BSFA award-winning author of Stars and Bones and Embers of War. Readers of James S.A. Corey and Becky Chambers will love this fast-paced story of space piracy, deadly alien artifacts and a race to save what is left of humanity.
When archaeologist Ursula Morrow accidentally infects herself with an alien parasite, she fears she may have jeopardised her career. However, her concerns become irrelevant when Earth is destroyed, billions die, and suddenly no one needs archaeologists anymore…
Two years later, she’s plucked from a refugee camp on a backwater world and tasked with retrieving the artifact that infected her, as it just might hold the key to humanity’s survival. With time running short, and the planet housing the weapon now situated in hostile territory, she realises she’s going to have to commit an act of desperate piracy if she’s going to achieve her objective before the enemy’s final onslaught.
A thrilling, page-turning journey into deep space where the fights are brutal, the relationships are complicated and the world ended years ago.
*
My novel Descendant Machine has been included as a finalist for the BSFA Awards. I am so pleased about this, as it means all five of the novels I’ve so far had published by Titan Books have made the shortlist for this award, which is a hell of a track record! I’m also happy that it’s my tenth shortlist appearance for the BSFA in ten years.
I am delighted to be able to let you know that I have signed with a new agent, the amazing Lucienne Diver at The Knight Agency.
Lucienne has sold hundreds of titles to every major publisher and her clients have won the Hugo, Nebula, Colorado Book and National Readers’ Choice Awards, and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.
I’m very excited about this new development, as it will help me gain a larger readership in the US, and I think we’re going to achieve great things.
Stay tuned…
Now that the story has appeared in The Bookseller, I can finally announce that I have sold two new books to Titan!
As The Bookseller has a limit on the number of free articles you can read, here’s the text of the announcement for those of you who can’t access it:
Titan Books has acquired two new science-fiction titles by the award-winning Gareth L. Powell, author of the Embers of War trilogy, Stars and Bones, and Descendant Machine.
Fiction editor at large Cath Trechman bought World English rights in a two-book deal from Alexander Cochran at the C&W Agency for Future’s Edge, a brand new space opera novel full of Powell’s trademark themes of found family, romance, horror and heart, and Who Will You Save?, a collection of short stories including some set in the universes of the Embers of War series and the Continuance of Stars and Bones and Descendant Machine.
Titan will publish Future’s Edge in February 2025, followed by Who Will You Save? in September 2025.
Powell said: “I’m delighted to be continuing my relationship with Titan Books. Having already worked with Cath and the team on five previous novels, including the award-winning Embers of War trilogy, I know Future’s Edge will be in very good hands. I’m also very excited about Who Will You Save? This will be my first widely available collection, and I look forward to sharing these stories with readers.”
Trechman said: “I am so thrilled about these two new titles. Future’s Edge promises to be a gripping and heartfelt horror-tinged space adventure as only Gareth can write, and the short stories perfectly showcase his witty and inventive science-fiction. Gareth is such a pleasure to work with, truly one of nicest guys out there and so hard-working and dedicated, we all feel very lucky to have him on our list.”
The short story collection is pretty much complete, and I am around a third of the way into writing the novel. And I’m so happy I finally get to talk about these projects, as I hate keeping secrets!
Stay tuned for further developments.
