Welcome to a different kind of Twilight

When certain types of fantasy novel become popular, you often see a rush to capitalise and slake the thirst of these new readers with more of the same. But are you tired of the same old fantasy titles? Weary of cookie cutter fantasy worlds which peddle the same old clichés?

Then you need a change of scenery. Welcome to a different kind of Twilight.

Twilight of Kerberos is one of Abaddon’s original shared worlds – a realm like no other, rocked by war and religious schism, its lands surrounded by impassable mountains and impenetrable storms, dimly lit by a distant sun.

It is dominated by great Kerberos, an azure gas giant that fills the sky. To some, Kerberos is a god. To others, it is another world. Its nature is a mystery, and uncovering its secrets – as, it is whispered, the Elder Races strove to do before they were wiped out – has rocked the world of Twilight to its core.

The Twilight of Kerberos: The Wrath of Kerberos by Jonathan Oliver is the first chapter in the end of the Twilight saga.

Suddenly stranded in a desert by a magical storm, Silus Morlader must lead the crew of the Llothriall across the harsh landscape in search of civilisation. What they find will change their view of the world forever. A new race reveals to Silus that his god, the planet-deity Kerberos, is not all he appears to be; that everything they understand about life on Twilight may be wrong.

It’s also is the first time Abaddon Books has published a brand new title only as an ebook.

At just £4.99 from the Rebellion store you’d be daft not to pick it up! Treat yourself to a whole new world and catch the beginning of the final chapter in the story of Kerberos.

And with the success of the recent series omnibuses – including the The Best of Tomes of the Dead and Afterblight: America – and capitalising on the growing US readership who are discovering Abaddon’s startlingly fresh shared-worlds, Abaddon Books has decided to focus the Twilight range on this format.

The long-awaited third book of the Lucius Kane Trilogy by Matthew Sprange, Legacy’s Price, will see print this March as part of the first Twilight of Kerberos Omnibus, with two more omnibuses in the series to collect the titles by Mike Wild and Jonathan Oliver.

All the titles in the Twilight of Kerberos series are available as ebooks through the Rebellion store…

The Birth of a Dragon

Writing my second novel for Abaddon, it certainly felt like a bit of a beast at times. With my first novel, The Call of Kerberos, I had learnt so much and the trick with Wrath, was taking all that knowledge and doing it all over again. I believe it's known as Difficult Second Album Syndrome. Also, there was the added complexity of writing in a shared-world universe. This isn't a grumble, it's genuinely been great fun bouncing ideas off the other Twilight of Kerberos authors, it does however mean that everything you write has to chime true for everything the other authors are writing in the same world. Sometimes I'd hit on what I'd think would be a fantastic scene, only to find it would do things with the world that wouldn't carry well into future novels.

As well as the complexities of writing Wrath, it was the period during which my wife and I were awaiting the birth of our first child. Maia Rose Oliver was born on the 10th of February, 2011, about halfway through writing the novel. It's true what they say, being a parent changes everything and you can see some of my fatherly concerns channelled through my hero. In fact, Silus is accompanied by both his wife and child on much of his adventures.

And adventure is really the key to this novel. When I first started writing all those years ago, I actually saw myself as being a moody horror writer. (Think of an emo Garth Marenghi and you wouldn't be far wrong). Horror is still my first love (although I think I've grown out of that emo phase) but it was in my early twenties that I first started reading the pulp fantasies of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber and Clark Ashton Smith. It was also in my early twenties that I first started gaming, starting with Call of Cthulhu, but soon moving onto Dungeons & Dragons. The fantasy worlds of the American pulp writers and the adventure games I had started to play had as big an influence on my writing as Ramsey Campbell and Stephen King when I first started. When I sat down to write my first novel, I wanted to give some of the joy back I'd had reading the pulps and rolling a D20. I'm not hugely keen on world building, so with Call of Kerberos I set it almost entirely on the sea or beneath it, giving me a sort of blank watery canvas. With Wrath I started with a world in its infancy and explored pre-history. Both of these gave me great scope to do pretty much what I pleased.

And I decided that I'd do the dragons.

Dragons had been mentioned in the previous Twilight of Kerberos novels, but neither Mike, Matthew or David had gone into too much depth (aside from some scenes in Mike's novels). I decided then, with Wrath, that I wanted to do the dragons. I'm still really pleased with the scene depicting the creation of these awesome monsters and a great deal of the book follows the adventures of the eunuch, Emuel, as he travels across the desert with his dragon companion. Not the easiest creatures to write, as they're so iconic, but I had a lot of fun with them.

Anyway, if you like your Sword and Sorcery redolent with Leiber, Lovecraft, Howard and Ashton Smith and packed full of adventure and monsters, then I present to you my final novel for the series. Head over to the Rebellion store and check it out.

'Twilight' series sees an e-book first for Abaddon

Abaddon Books is to publish its first ever ebook-only title, while capitalising on the recent success of its series omnibuses.

The next book in the Twilight of Kerberos series – The Wrath of Kerberos by Jonathan Oliver – will be the first time the imprint has published a brand new title as only an ebook.

The Twilight of Kerberos is a shared-world fantasy series set on a planet inhabited by the remnants of lost civilisations, orbiting the gas giant Kerberos. The Wrath of Kerberos will be the series’ ninth book.

With its READ ANYTHING campaign and commitment to producing first rate genre fiction, the Abaddon Books team are firm believers in new forms of publishing. The Twilight of Kerberos series is a perfect fit for experimenting with an ebook only release.

And with the success of the recent series omnibuses – including the The Best of Tomes of the Dead and Afterblight: America – and capitalising on the growing US readership who are finding our shared-worlds through them, Abaddon Books has decided to focus the Twilight range on this format.

The long-awaited third book of the Lucius Kane Trilogy by Matthew Sprange, Legacy’s Price, will see print in March 2012 as part of the first Twilight of Kerberos Omnibus, with two more omnibuses in the series to collect the titles by Mike Wild and Jonathan Oliver.

Jonathan Oliver said: “It’s great to be part of this experiment in publishing, and Wrath of Kerberos is a perfect fit.”

“A remarkably creative debut.” – Un:Bound on The Call of Kerberos

TIME FOR A CHANGE: Abaddon Books introduces a new direction for genre publishing

Abaddon Books is delighted to announce a bold new venue in genre publishing – one where the readers are in charge!

Time’s Arrow will be the latest book from the world’s longest continuously running Steampunk novel series, Pax Britannia. Set in a world where the Victorian age never ended, Pax Britannia is an insane world of high technology and rip-roaring adventure.

The big difference with Time’s Arrow? Each instalment will be published as an ebook and, at the end of each of the first two, readers will be able to vote on where THEY want the story to go. Once all three instalments have been published, they will be bound together into a print edition.

The first part of the book will go live online on October 11th, with the vote for what happens next closing on December 11th.

Merging the best of print and online, Abaddon is proud to engage in such an exciting experiment – one where readers actively have a say in how the book is written.

Jon Green has written titles in the legendary Fighting Fantasy series and created seven of the critically-acclaimed Pax Britannia books for Abaddon.

“Pax Britannia is one of Abaddon’s most established series,” said Jonathan Oliver, editor-in-chief of Abaddon Books, “so it seemed like the natural choice for such a unique venture in publishing. This adventure is sure to reach out to new readers while giving established fans a say in the rich universe they have come to love.”

“I am passionate about the whole Steampunk milieu, and the world of Pax Britannia in particular, while my first forays into writing professionally were adventure gamebooks,” says Jonathan Green. “To marry elements of both is a fantastic opportunity for me as a writer and I, for one, can't wait to see how the story pans out!”

About the Series
Pax Britannia launched in 2007 with Unnatural History. A steampunk alternative history set in a late twentieth century in which Queen Victoria – now nearing the end of her sixteenth decade on the throne, and wholly dependent on steam technology for survival – rules over the vastly wealthy, powerful and decadent Empire of Magna Britannia. Airships ply the skies overhead as gentlemen of leisure admire the dinosaurs in London Zoo, while the Empire has extended to the Moon. Across the pond, the United Socialist States of America, loosely allied with the might of Magna Britannia, is home to dreamers, poets, madmen, and heroes, poised to usher in a new era.

The series has included seven books by Jonathan Green, featuring the adventures of Ulysses Lucian Quicksilver, dandy and adventurer and agent of the throne; an omnibus collecting the first three is currently available.

Interview with Jonathan Oliver

The Read Horror blog have interviewed Abaddon Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Oliver for their Meet the Publisher feature:-

http://readhorror.wordpress.com/meet-the-publisher/abaddon/

What Abaddon releases are you most proud of and why?

With so many books published this is very hard to answer. I’m very chuffed that we published Gary McMahon’s first mass market novel with Tomes of The Dead: Hungry Hearts and I was delighted that Simon Bestwick got the recognition he deserved with Tomes of The Dead: Tide of Souls, but really I’m so proud of both imprints. I’m the luckiest man alive; I get paid to work with my favourite people...

Read the rest of the interview here.
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A book what I is writing

Hello

As some folk know, early this year my first novel was released to the world: Twilight of Kerberos: The Call of Kerberos. Some of you will hopefully be thrilled that I'm currently working on the sequel, Twilight of Kerberos: The Wrath of Kerberos, which will see publication in January 2012. I'm half way through it and beavering away in my spare time to get in done. Anyway, here is the cover and the blurb:

Silus Morlader and the crew of the Llothriall find themselves beached in the middle of a desert after a magical storm envelops their ship. Stranded with dwindling supplies, and half their crew missing, Silus leads his companions across the harsh landscape in search of civilisation. What they find will change their view of the world forever. A new race reveals to Silus that his god, Kerberos, is not all he appears to be; that everything they understand about life on Twilight may be wrong.

When the truth is finally told, Silus and his companions must fight their way across a dying world, facing Final Faith fanatics, orcs and dragons. They must find a way to return home and deliver a very important message to Katherine Makennon, head of the Final Faith, before war tears Twilight apart.

Reviewspam and Chips

Wotcher all,

Two review quickies and a reviewesque.

Graeme Flory over at Graeme's Fantasy Book Review has offered some words about Paul Finch's Tomes of the Dead: Stronghold.

It was a book that I had a lot of fun reading. Another chilling entry in the library that holds the Tomes of the Dead...

Kerl at Un:Bound has delivered this lovely review about Jon Oliver's Twilight of Kerberos: The Call of Kerberos.

The stunning setting provides a backdrop for action that leaps from a harbour raid by marauders from below the sea to a duel and boarding action between living submersibles with star-ship grade weapons. There is also a monster in the book that’s creepy-weird enough to unsettle me, and I’ve read a lot of odd stuff in my time!

Thirdly, for Al Ewing's Gods of Manhattan, reviews haven't really started coming in yet, but we stumbled on this awesome commentary out there in internetland, from a guy who described the book as "kind of like shooting pure pulpy joy into my brain":

I finished Gods of Manhattan and was very impressed. It did something with the superhero/modern pulp hero novel I've been waiting for and have only gotten with a couple of books- it played it mostly straight. Sure, there were twists and some modern themes but there was no "Oh, this all takes place while the heroes are in therapy" or some other silly "well, supers/comics/pulps are boring unless you 'fix' them with quirky stuff" and it wasn't jokey and such. It was a story about a bunch of heroes and a bunch of villains.

Cool, huh?

Cheers,

David

Interview with Jon on The Literary Project

Hey all,

Okay, slightly late bringing this one to your attention, but Gemma Noon at The Literary Project has interviewed our loving dictator boss, Jon!

Read it here.

"We publish good fun, action-oriented genre fiction."

Cheers,

David

Interviews!

Here are the final two parts of Jonathan Oliver's interview with Pornokitsch. See the earlier parts here.

Part Four
Part Five

And here's an interview with another Abaddon author from the guys at Horror Reanimated.

Interview with Simon Bestwick.

I had the pleasure of meeting Joseph D'Lacey from the site and the dubious pleasure of interviewing Simon B myself over the weekend at Brighton World Horror. Let me just say, I admire Joe for being able to get a word in edgeways!

I've just been listening to said recordings I made at the convention. We're going to be using them in the next Podcast. I interviewed Simon Bestwick, Paul Kane, Steven Savile (who'll be writing the first Knights of Albion) story, Paul Finch (who'll be writing Stronghold for the Tomes of the Dead line) and several Solaris Books authors.

Most of these interviews took place in the hotel bar, which is, to say, in the natural habitat of this species we refer to as 'author'.

So, for laughs, I've sorted the interviews into two files entitled 'Drunk' and 'Sober.' And no, I'm not telling you which is which!

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Pornokitsch interviews Jonathan Oliver

Those folks at the dodgy-sounding geek culture website, Pornokitsch, have interviewed our very own Editor-in-Chief, Jonathan Oliver.

Read the interview:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

To see some of their previous interviews with Abaddon authors such as Paul Kane, Scott Andrews and Rebecca Levene, take a look over here.

SFXWeekender Tomorrow!

We're heading off to SFXWeekender tomorrow!

This time tomorrow I'll be driving a huge rental van somewhere along the M25, shouting at other drivers, The Bloodhound Gang blaring out of the stereo.

Then this time Friday, Jonathan Oliver, Paul Kane and I'll be nobbing with the stars of science-fiction and fantasy, getting on down and generally having a good time.

If you're coming, make sure and drop by the 2000AD/Abaddon/Solaris stand and say "hi." We'll be chuffed to chat.

I'll try and sling Twitter (@AbaddonBooks) and blog posts up periodically over the weekend.

Cheers,

David

An Announcement

MORE exciting than today's release of the new Apple tablet!!*

Tomorrow, we will release the very first Abaddon and Solaris Books Podcast! iPods at the ready, folks!

The first installment, EVIL FISH DEMONS!, features news on upcoming books, our thoughts on life and general nonsense, David Moore being a cheeky bugger, and an interview and reading from Jon Oliver, author of Twilight of Kerberos: The Call of Kerberos and Editor-in-Chief of Abaddon and Solaris.

*Abaddon Books can neither confirm nor deny rumours that Steve Jobs, reduced to tears by the fear that our podcast release would eclipse the release of his Tablet, begged us to delay our podcast until tomorrow. Thanks for the flowers, chocolates and escort girls, Steve.


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Mass Movement: A Tale of Two Jonathans

Hi all,

Just to a quick shout out to Mass Movement magazine, who have flagged a couple more Abaddon features for us:

- Jonathan Oliver, whose book Twilight of Kerberos: The Call of Kerberos has just gone to press (and who is, incidentally, Editor-in-Chief of both Abaddon and Solaris) has been interviewed in Mass Movement #25, currently available for download.

- Jonathan Green's latest Ulysses Quicksilver book, Pax Britannia: Evolution Expects, has been reviewed on the site and is due to appear in MM #26.

Just you go and check 'em both out.

Awesome.

Thanks,

David