AUGUST 2003

My new novel, QUICKSILVER RISING, was published by HarperCollins/Voyager on 4th August 2003.

PRAISE FOR QUICKSILVER RISING

"Nicholls made a mark with the mordantly inventive Orcs sequence, and his move to a new publisher demonstrates a honing of his considerable expertise in the fantasy field. This is epic fantasy crammed with all the ingredients that aficionados demand, delivered with tremendous panache. Exhilarating, innovative fantasy writing."
Publishing News, Forthcoming Books

"Quicksilver Rising is brilliantly conceived and beautifully constructed. From the first gripping action scene it had me hooked. Nicholls' Orcs series was exciting and action packed, but Quicksilver Rising has all the in gredients to become a classic of the genre."
David Gemmell

"Stan Nicholls' endless creativity has been applied to an expertly crafted fantasy novel. Magic is currency and dominant technology. It pervades every stratum of an imperialist society ruled by a paranoid psychotic and riven with decadence and threatened by intrigue. It is the outward mark
that delineates rich from poor. Inside this world, Nicholls tells a story into which the reader is dragged as willing victim. He has an eye for action and character, keeps the pace high, plot finely tuned and pages turning; and in Quicksilver Rising has delivered a hugely entertaining read."
James Barclay

"Nicholls writes in a beautiful sensuous style that perfectly compliments this page-turning fantasy."
Simon Clark

"Stan Nicholls writes sparkling, action-packed fantasy with a dangerous edge."
Freda Warrington

"Fast-paced, high adventure ... a bare-knuckle fight with a magic punch."
Mark Chadbourn

"Great stuff - exciting, intriguing, fast-paced, yet with a thoughtful and serious undercurrent rarely found in the vast majority of fantasy novels."
Louise Cooper

"Quicksilver Rising by Stan Nicholls marks the breakthrough novel of this fantastic author, the man behind the Orcs books that were published by Gollancz a few years ago. Quicksilver is a real step forward for Nicholls, and heralds the start of a new great fantasy saga. Big things are in store for him."
Ottakar's Outland

To read Juliet E. McKenna's review of Quicksilver Rising in The Alien Online, click here.

 

This website is now at www.stannicholls.com.
If you've come here from www.stannicholls.net please change your bookmarks.

 

 

2002

Orcs Stomp Through France
As previously related here (see November 2001 in News Archive), the first volume of the trilogy published in France, as La Compagnie De La Foudre, from Bragelonne [ http://www.bragelonne.fr/ ], seems to have got off to a good start. I gave an interview to prestigious French political and cultural publication l'Humanite, for their December edition. (How unlike the attitude to fantasy and sf in the UK's highbrow press.) I haven't seen the issue yet, but if it proves of interest I'll consider posting a translation on this site. Volumes two and three of the Orcs trilogy will be appearing in France around April and September of 2002.

Site Improvements
Apart from this news update there have been other additions to the site this month. They include an interview with me by journalist Barry Forshaw, in the Biography section. Another book review column, the thirtieth, has been added to the Time Out archive, and this section now has a fast search facility. No more scrolling! There's also a News Archive where past updates are starting to be stored. Thanks to my ace website managers, Here Be Dragons, there should be more content, more sections and more interactivity in the months to come. I'm always happy to hear suggestions and comments from visitors. My aim is to update the site on a regular basis, so keeping dropping in.

Orcs Whodunnit
Following the news item last time about my Orcs trilogy now being available in the US (see News Archive), several American readers have been in touch asking who the distributor is.
The trade paperback editions of all three volumes - Bodyguard of Lightning, Legion of Thunder and Warriors of the Tempest - are being distributed by Sterling Publishing Co, Inc, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810.

Sci-Fi London
Anne is also one of the guest speakers at Sci-Fi London, to be held Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd February, at venues including the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Curzon Soho cinema.
What is Sci-Fi London? In the words of the organisers, it's " ... London's first science fiction and fantasy film festival ... a celebration of the genre in film, television and literature. With the support of our core sponsor, Sci·Fi, the cable and Skydigital channel, the festival will deliver a full programme of film and events. Part of our mission is to counter the giggles and glazed looks one sometimes comes across when you mention 'sci-fi'. It is not just about Star Trek, ray guns or Ewoks - science fiction has a breadth of subject matter and style. It's for people who think, question and explore alternatives."
There are going to be various panels and talks, including The Douglas Adams Memorial Debate, described as, "A panel discussion looking at whether stories and ideas in science fiction literature transfer to science fiction film".
Sci-Fi London sounds well worth attending, and you'll find full details here.

Picocon 19
I'm glad to report that my wife, Anne Gay, and myself are two of the guests of honour at Picocon 19, to be held on Saturday 9th February at the Imperial College Union, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BB.
The other GoH so far confirmed is award-laden sf writer China Miéville, and more will be announced.
Picocon is organised by ICSF - the Imperial College Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Society - which can be contacted by snailmail at 51a Goldhawk Road, London W12 8QP. They have a website here, and another, chronicling the history of the convention, here. Picocon has a reputation as an excellent social event and we're really looking forward to it.

As you may already know, American writer Douglas Lain recently launched a petition opposing the imminent war on Iraq. Originally, the petition was intended for professional writers and artists in the science fiction, fantasy and horror community, and many prominent names in the genre have signed.
The petition has now been opened to anyone who objects to the prospect of US and UK aggression against Iraq. If you believe, as I do, that an attack is unnecessary, would be needlessly destructive and wasteful of innocent lives, and that the motivation of the West is dubious at best, I urge you to sign Douglas’ petition.

You can read and sign the petition here: http://www.douglaslain.com/aawii.html

 

 

NOVEMBER 2001

A New Series and a New Publisher
I'm very pleased to announce that my next three books, comprising The Quicksilver Trilogy, will be published by HarperCollins' Voyager imprint, the UK's leading science fiction and fantasy list. Volume One, Quicksilver Rising, is scheduled for release as a trade paperback in April 2003. Volumes Two and Three, Quicksilver Zenith and Quicksilver Twilight, will appear in April 2004 and April 2005 respectively. All three volumes, running to 120,000 words each, will have subsequent mass market paperback editions.
Voyager Publishing Director Jane Johnson comments, "We are delighted to welcome Stan Nicholls as our newest Voyager author and to announce the acquisition of his brand new epic fantasy series. Stan is the author of the popular Orcs series, but the Quicksilver trilogy promises to reach a whole new fantasy audience, and anyone who loves the work of Raymond E. Feist, Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind will have a treat in store."
How flattering to be bracketed with authors of such status! Quicksilver is an idea I've been itching to write for quite a while, and I'm well into the first volume. I couldn't ask for a better publisher than Voyager, given its impressive track record in the fantasy field, and to be working with Senior Editor Joy Chamberlain. I'll be posting more news about the trilogy here in future months, and eventually I'll be adding a Quicksilver section. Meanti

A Host of Orcish Happenings
Those little green toughies from my Orcs: First Blood trilogy (published by Gollancz) are marauding far and wide.
Here are some recent developments ...

The first volume of the trilogy, Bodyguard of Lightning, appeared in French as La Compagnie De La Foudre on 15th October from Bragelonne with an amazing cover by artist Didier Graffet, who will be rendering all three jackets.
My wife Anne and I were guests of Bragelonne and the number one French sf/fantasy/comicbook store Arkham for the launch in Paris in late October.
Over the weekend of 27th/28th October I was one of the guests of honour at "convention internationale" Collectors Rendez-vous in central Paris, where I signed a satisfying number of copies. Other guests included authors Louise Cooper, Henri Loevenbruck and Ange; film/TV personalities Ted Raimi, Jenette Goldstein and Ken Colley; comicbook notables Steve Rude, J.G. Jones and David Mack, and Gilbert Shelton, of Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy's Cat fame. Illustrious company!
Bragelonne, a small independent a year ago, is now a medium-sized player and already France's leading sf/fantasy publisher. Under its owners Alain Navant and Stephane Marsan, genre enthusiasts as well as astute businessman, the company's going to go far. It's a joy being with them.

Around about now the Orcs trilogy is starting to appear in American bookstores. This is the result of a deal struck by UK publishers Orion/Gollancz with a US distributor. Copies of the British trade paperback editions have been over-printed with the dollar price and shipped across. I've always thought the Orcs would go down well in the American market - it'll be interesting to see how well they do.

The rights to Orcs: First Blood have now sold to Russia. Moscow publisher Eksmo will be bringing out the first volume early next year. That I cannot wait to see.

The Spanish version of the Orcs trilogy, from publisher Timun Mas, is apparently doing well.
But we had to laugh when we discovered that Volume One (Los Orcos 1), La Banda de los Hurones, translates literally as "The Company of the Ferrets"!

My Orcs short story 'The Taking', which is set before the events in the trilogy, appeared in the Mike Chinn edited anthology:
Swords Against the Millennium
published by Alchemy Press, and I'm proud to say that both the book and my story were shortlisted for this year's British Fantasy Award.
Now 'The Taking' is seeing two other appearances.
It's carried in the October issue of 42, the newsletter of The Undiscovered Country Club, otherwise known as the Radbroke Hall Science Fiction and Fantasy Society.
It will also appear in translation in the November issue of France's largest-circulation role-playing magazine, Backstab, accompanied by an interview with me.
You can find out more about the Orcs trilogy, and read 'The Taking', in The Orcs Domain of this website.

SFX Fantasy Special
SFX, Britain's foremost magazine for all things science fictional, is publishing a special fantasy issue to tie-in with the release of the first Lord of the Rings film.
They were good enough to ask me to contribute a History of Fantasy Literature, and I was game enough to have a crack at it. Look out for the special on newsstands in mid-December.

'On Sale Everywhere'
That's the title of a non-fiction anthology edited by Peter Crowther to be published by small press Flyaway Books next Spring.
Like all good ideas, the premise is simple. Pete has asked a whole raft of contributors working in the sf/fantasy/horror/comicbook fields to write a short biographical piece about how they first encountered comics and what influences the form had on them at the time and in their later careers.
My contribution to On Sale Everywhere is called 'Fat Boy Flashing'.
You'll have to read it to find out why.