Never ones to miss an opportunity to embarrass our talented creators, Abaddon Books would like to present you with this video of Abaddon author and 2000 AD writer Al Ewing joining a boyband, along with fellow comic book types Kieron Gillen,* Michael Molcher and Matt Sheret. Watch to the end for the Take That impression:-





Keep the day job, Al...


Video taken from Matt Sherat's Flickr page, filmed at last weekend's Thought Bubble convention.

*Is that what you call phonomancy, Kieron?

One week to go...

There's a week left to our Zombie Shelter contest. We've had some fine entries so far, but it's far from a done deal; get your submissions in to abaddonbooks@gmail.com and you could win some of our acclaimed Tomes of the Dead books!

"Mark as undead"

Inspired by my throw-away comment, "What does it say about what I do for a living that I right-click an email and read 'Mark as undead'?", Alexander Allan (or the steampunk-obsessed stick-figure sketcher CapnAlex online) created this doodle. I thought I'd share it with you.

Cool, huh?

David

(Thanks to Alex for allowing us to publish the image.)

Victorian Zombies!

Hi all,

Thought you might want to take a look at this. Sherlock Holmes versus zombies, by Ian Edgington (who's written for 2000AD before) and Davide Fabbri.

How cool is that?

David

Abaddon Competition!

Alright, here it is! Our first ever Abaddon Competition!

Everyone knows it’s coming. You just gotta see the signs. And I see you all preparing – maybe getting some training in with simulations like L4D or House of the Dead, maybe going to see instructive films like 28 Days Later or Zombieland – but how ready are you, really? When the Zs start clawing at your door, what are you going to do? How will you fight them? Where will you take shelter?

With an eye to getting you all ready for the (sadly inevitable) Zombipocalypse, Abaddon is running a competition! We want you to tell us about your zombie-proof shelter. Where is it? How is it protected? Upper stories (good vision, shoot from the balcony) or underground (more secure, more energy-efficient)? Locked down or escape routes? Well-water or bottled? What do you look for in a zombie shelter? It doesn’t have to be a real place (although a friend of mine swears he’s heading straight to Reading Gaol) or at any rate your place (honestly, if you write to us and tell us that you for real have a gun-and-tinned-food-stocked bunker in the suburbs, we may be obliged to inform your psychiatrist...), just the sort of place you’d go when the eatin’ starts.

You have 100 words. Tell us why your hideout’s awesome, not just what it is. Convince us. And make us laugh. All submissions to abaddonbooks@gmail.com by November 27th; winner announced December 4th, and we’ll post the best three reports here. The prize is copies of a couple of our Tomes of the Dead books, to further prepare you for the days to come.

Reviews and (Shh... Top-Secret) Competition Teaser...

Hey all,

Two more reviews for Mike Wild:

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review on Twilight of Kerberos: The Clockwork King of Orl, and

Falcata Times on Twilight of Kerberos: Crucible of the Dragon God.


Also, we're going to be announcing our first ever competition on the Abaddon blog tomorrow.

Check in to take part.

Hint: Zombies.

Cheers,

David

Robots, redux

They open doors now!

It was bad enough when I found out that Daleks can hover up stairs.

Paul Kane - Signing and Interviews

Hi all,

Paul Kane of The Afterblight Chronicles: Arrowhead and The Afterblight Chronicles: Broken Arrow (and a super-secret third upcoming Robert Stokes book) will be at the British Fantasy Society Open Night on the Strand on Friday December 4th.

He'll be promoting his new Hellraiser-inspired anthology, Hellbound Hearts, (this is him signing books at the HBH release in San Jose on Hallowe'en) but should be up for signing copies of his other books and talking about his work in general.

Here's Mass Movement's review of Broken Arrow again, and another rather nice one by Falcata Times.

And here, for good measure, is an interview with Paul by Mass Movement, and another one by GASP etc.

So head on down to the Strand, if you can, and give him some support. Or touch him inappropriately or something, I don't know.

David

(Photo courtesy of Charles Prepolec)

Leeds Thought Bubble Convention

Hey all,

Just a quickie. Al Ewing (of Pax Britannia: El Sombra, Tomes of the Dead: I, Zombie, and The Afterblight Chronicles: Death Got No Mercy), Simon Spurrier (of The Afterblight Chronicles: The Culled; both of them, for that matter, regular contributors to 2000 AD) and Antony Johnston (of Dreams of Inan: Stealing Life) will be at the Leeds Thought Bubble Comic Convention on the 21st of this month. Get down there and poke them. Tell 'em I sentcha.

Al informs me he'll also be DJing at the after-party at Alea Casino on the Saturday night.

While you're online, check out Al's, Si's and Antony's blogs, or follow them on Twitter at @Al_Ewing, @sispurrier and @antonyjohnston.

Cheers,

David

Mike Wild - Reviews and Interview

Hi all,

Mike Wild's second Kali Hooper book, Twilight of Kerberos: Crucible of the Dragon God, came out a couple of months ago; if you've not read it (or the first Kali Hooper book, Twilight of Kerberos: The Clockwork King of Orl), you should check 'em out.

At any rate, Mike's directed my attention to this interview he gave Mass Movement Magazine around the time Crucible came out.

While you're at it, Mass Movement also reviews Clockwork King and Crucible on their site.

(And for a sneak peek at the opening chapter of the third Kali Hooper book, Twilight of Kerberos: Engines of the Apocalypse, pick up Twilight of Kerberos: Night's Haunting, out soon; we've given you a sneak preview in the back.)

Cheers,

David

Another Review...

Hi all,

One more from Tim: this review of Gary McMahon's Tomes of the Dead: Hungry Hearts.

Cheers,

David

Reviews: Broken Arrow and Barefoot Zombie

Hi all,

Tim of Mass Movement Magazine has been kind enough to write this review of Paul Kane's The Afterblight Chronicles: Broken Arrow, and this review of Jasper Bark's Tomes of the Dead: The Way of the Barefoot Zombie.

Thanks, Tim!

In other news, Matthew Sprange's Twilight of Kerberos: Night's Haunting, the second Lucius Kane adventure, went to press this week. So it'll be in stores as soon as we can get it there. If you haven't read it yet, check out the first Lucius Kane adventure, Twilight of Kerberos: Shadowmage.

Cheers,

David

Memento Mori

Ninety-three years ago yesterday, the 13th Battalion of the Penine Fusiliers vanished without a trace from the Somme.

Who knows or dares to dream what became of them, where they went, or what they met there...?

Lest we forget.



No Man's World: Black Hand Gang by Pat Kelleher, due out in February next year.

David

Robots scare the sh*t outta me

Hi all,

Just what the hell is wrong with scientists? I mean, for real.

I appreciate that the zombipocalypse is coming; that even if I live in a first floor apartment with a reinforced door, an escape route down from the balcony, and a room full of shotguns, tinned food and water, the likelihood is that my life will end to the sound of my own skull fragmenting under zombie teeth. I don't like it, but I accept it. Maybe I even welcome it, just a little bit.

So why the hell are the scientists of the world trying to prevent it by ensuring that the robopocalypse happens first? Is being ground under the titanium exoskeletons of my robotic masters enough better than becoming one of the world's army of mindless dead to justify turning it into some kind of race?

Robots can now run, climb, fly, drive, and handle rough terrain. They're stronger than us, smarter than us, and six years ago some damn fool in Japan worked out how to make robots that feed on human blood (Dr. Kazuo Eda, heading the research, said "It is like the metabolism of food... When glucose is oxidised, electrons can be obtained." He went on to add, "No! No! You cannot turn on me! I created you! I am your masterrraaaaaaaarghhhh!....").

We just keep ignoring the signs. In 2007, a robot gun in South Africa went crazy and killed nine friendly soldiers. The army was investigating whether this was caused by a "mechanical glitch," but you and I know they're testing us, seeing how far they can go before we realise the revolution has started.

And today, I was shown this video of a robot that can reassemble itself when smashed apart. Now, after the revolution, when our sons are living in dirt trenches and fighting the evil robot overlords, when we'll finally realise - oh, too tragically late - that we should never have created these machines in the first place and start to fight back, our angry mobs will tear the damn metal bastards apart only to watch them reassemble themselves and come back stronger than ever.

Way to go, scientists. Dicks.

Twitter

Abaddon books is finally joining the (great procrastinators of the) 21st century!

We can be found twitter, here:- @abaddonbooks, where we'l



Damn. We ran out of characters.

Reviews: Hungry Hearts and Tide of Souls

A little late, this, but...

Graeme Flory of Graeme's Fantasy Book Review has a few words to say about Gary McMahon's Tomes of the Dead: Hungry Hearts, out now.

Nine and a quarter out of ten!

Also, the Telegraph's Peter Ingham reviewed Tomes of the Dead: Tide of Souls in his Science Fiction round-up column on the 6th October.

Cheers,

David

Update Time!

Hi all,

Right, so two quick updates:

eBooks

Our hard-working assistant Jenni's been frantically working through our eBook back-catalogue, and now every Abaddon book released up to April this year is available from Mobipocket. There's also lots of the old Black Flame books set in the 2000AD universe, so crack on.

Upcoming Schedule

I'm proofing Matthew Sprange's second Lucius Kane book Twilight of Kerberos: Night's Haunting right now, so that's due out next month. Jon's book Twilight of Kerberos: The Call of Kerberos is due out in November as well, as the series draws ever closer to revealing the secrets of Twilight and the ever-present Kerberos, about the fate of the lost Old Races, and about the strange evil that lurks beneath the waves. Sorry for the delay with these books; as you will have seen in our press-release, we've just taken on a load of extra titles, and we're kind of running to catch up right now.

Fans of crown agent and dandy Ulysses Quicksilver will be thrilled to know that Jonathan Green's Pax Britannia: Blood Royal is due out on time in December. It's the perfect gift for the steampunkophile in your life but remember, a steam-powered centenarian senile cyborg queen is for life, not just for Christmas.

In January, we're still expecting to deliver Weston Ochse's coastal horror Tomes of the Dead: Empire of Salt. This is Weston's first book for us, and we're really looking forward to it. Aquatic zombies and bracing sea air; the perfect combination for a getaway.

February will see the release of Cold Warriors, Rebecca Levene's first instalment in our new horror-espionage setting The Infernal Game, and Pat Kelleher's Black Hand Gang, which will kick off our new WWI/sci-fi crossover No Man's World. These are both really intriguing settings, and I'm pretty excited about both of them.

Coming up, we have more Twilight, more Pax, Scott Andrews' third Afterblight book and, as always, more of those hungry, hungry zombies. Watch this space...

Good hunting,

David

Rule #2: Double-Tap

Listen up, zombie-hunters:

My wife and I watched Zombieland last week, and it is probably the funniest film I have seen this year. Mrs. Moore actually started hyperventilating at one point.

The film is slick, pacy, funny and stylish. It's visually impressive, clever and often ironic, regularly referencing and subverting the genre. Certificate 15, but bloody enough to satisfy fans of undead violence; think of Shaun of the Dead and you have a rough idea. And the hero is a massive OCD geek with a 32-point list of instructions for surviving the Zombipocalypse.

It isn't a conventional zombie-movie plot, being more rom-com than survivalism, but as a parody you'll tend to forgive it that anyway.

See it. And just remember Cardio, Double-tap, Seatbelts, and Bathroom and you're gonna do just fine.

David

Bonus Short Story

Hi all,

We've got a bit of a freebie for you today!

Scott Andrews, of Afterblight Chronicles: School's Out and Afterblight Chronicles: Operation Motherland, has written a short story for us, "The Man Who Would Not Be King." It's set just before Operation Motherland, and it's pretty damn funny.

It's available as the sample chapter at the end of Paul Kane's Afterblight Chronicles: Broken Arrow, but I'm happy to present it as a free PDF for readers of the blog right now.

Download it here.

No, that's okay. Don't thank me.

Cheers,

David

New braaains... err, blood. I meant "new blood."

Hey all,

Introducing the new Desk Editor at Abaddon books, David Moore:

David Thomas Moore stands six feet one inch tall in his shoes. He has the pale, coarse complexion and limpid hazel eyes of a phlegmatic, and keeps his hair cropped short in the manner of the military classes. Born in the colonies, he is unmemorable in appearance, indifferent in breeding and unexceptional in bearing. He is tolerably clean and owns his own suit. He will not accept a position that requires him to do laundry.

I'll be posting on here from time to time, when my editing duties allow.

Good to meet you all.

Way of The Barefoot Zombie

Right, proper post from me soon on stuff I promise.

In the meantime enjoy Jasper Bark's film for Way of The Barefoot Zombie.

Rebellion acquires Solaris

PRESS RELEASE:

2^nd September 2009

REBELLION ACQUIRES SOLARIS IMPRINT FROM GAMES WORKSHOP

This week, Rebellion, Europe’s leading independent games developer and owner of the iconic comic 2000 AD and sci-fi and fantasy imprint Abaddon Books, completed the acquisition of the Solaris book publishing imprint from Games Workshop for an undisclosed sum.

This well-known and highly successful brand offers a mixture of new and traditional science fiction, fantasy and horror books and has many bestselling titles from both upcoming and established names such as Brian Lumley, Gail Z. Martin, Eric Brown and Simon R. Green, amongst others.

Solaris will sit alongside, and be run in parallel with, Rebellion’s own Abaddon Books.

Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion said, “We’ve been aware of the Solaris imprint for some years now and have admired its success with fantastic stories and great writers. Acquiring Solaris will allow us to continue to push our publishing trajectory upwards and expand the quantity, whilst maintaining the quality, of all our titles.”

George Mann, Games Workshop’s Head of Publishing said, “We’re delighted that Solaris has found a new home with Rebellion. After a period of fantastic growth with our Games Workshop related titles, we decided the time was right for us to focus all of our attention on our Black Library imprint. We’re sure Rebellion will now take Solaris forward to even greater heights.”

Rebellion has also entered into a sales and distribution agreement with Simon and Schuster. Under the agreement, Simon & Schuster will continue to handle sales, distribution and fulfilment of all Solaris titles for all new and backlist titles to trade and specialty accounts. The agreement is effective August 31st, 2009.

Simon & Schuster, a part of CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

For more information, visit our website www.simonandschuster.com

Distribution for Solaris will continue to be represented by Simon and Schuster.

www.solarisbooks.com

Editor’s notes

Solaris Books

Acquired by Rebellion Group in 2009, the ethos of Solaris is to publish a mix of new and traditional science fiction and fantasy books for fans of these genres. It also aims to fill the ever-widening gap that has appeared between the large mass-market publishers and the small genre press in the American and British scene. But more than anything, Solaris exists to publish fantastic books by great authors, and to bring to the readers’ attention a plethora of exciting new stories and novels.

Website: www.solarisbooks.com

Rebellion^®

The UK-based computer games super-developer was established in 1992 by brothers Jason and Chris Kingsley. Their first major success was Alien Vs. Predator on Atari Jaguar for Atari in 1995. This was followed by Aliens Vs. Predator on PC in 1999, creating game innovations years ahead of their time. Rebellion’s approach to game production is focused primarily on cross-platform innovation and product quality. Their purchase of the UK sci-fi comic 2000 AD in 2000 and subsequent motion picture productions has provided valuable insight and experience in creating its unique product portfolio.

In 2005, Sniper Elite was released, securing critical acclaim, global sales success and winning the TIGA Award for Best PC/Console Game 2005. Lauded as ‘The Gran Turismo of war games’ by the gaming press, it has built upon the collection of Rebellion owned IPs, which includes Free Running, Evil Genius and the 2000 AD characters Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper.

In 2006 Rebellion purchased the Core Design studios, responsible for the Lara Croft – Tomb Raider series and Strangelite studios in Liverpool. These acquisitions established the company as one of the biggest and most innovative studios within the European development community.

Rebellion won Best Programming and Most Improved Developer at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards, has five BAFTA nominations and won three TIGA Awards for Best Developer, Best Game and Best Handheld/Console Game.

Rebellion created The Simpsons Game with EA on Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with EA on PSP, Star Wars: Renegade Squadron with LucasArts on PSP, Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem with Sierra on PSP and finally Rebellion’s own brand Free Running with Reef Entertainment on PlayStation 2 and PSP.

More recently Rebellion’s long-awaited move to the purpose built studio in Oxford happened along with announcements of Rogue Warrior for Bethesda, further work for Lucasarts on the Star Wars brand, together with the release of the world wide number 1 hit Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts. Finally Rebellion is working on Aliens Vs Predator for Sega which is planned for release in early 2010.

Website: www.rebellion.co.uk

For further press information relating to the above, please contact:

Charlotte Grafton-Chuck

Rebellion Ltd.

Tel: +44(0) 1865 792 201

Email: press@rebellion.co.uk

Abaddon news

Hulloh Folks

As ever, things are madly busy at Abaddon HQ and there are many exciting things to report.

Firstly, we are joining the e-revolution. Yes, soon you will be able to buy Abaddon books for your e-book readers. We already have a handful of titles available (follow the link on the website's front page) and our new e-book editor, Jennifer, is in the process of converting all our Abaddon titles. So very soon it will be even easier to get your hands on our books. Watch this space for more news.

Secondly, we have two (yes TWO) new series starting in 2010 which we can finally reveal the details for.

First up is No Man's World: Black Hand Gang by first-time novelist Pat Kelleher. We're still in the process of completing the cover for this but here is a wee taster:

Pat's novel follows the travails of a group of World War One soldiers who are caught in a strange explosion on the battlefield, only to find themselves transported to an alien planet. This novel is a heady mix of very well researched military fiction and pulp science-fantasy, somewhat in the mould of Edgar Rice Burroughs. I've read the first half of the MS so far and it really is one of the most unusual SF novels I've read of late. No Man's World is out in February 2010 in the UK and will hit the US by June the same year.

Next up is The Infernal Game, a single author series from writer Rebecca Levene, the talent behind the Abaddon titles The Afterblight Chronicles: Kill or Cure and Tomes of The Dead: Anno Mortis. Cold Warriors, the first book in the series, is a great mix of espionage fiction and full-blown occult horror. Rebecca is planning big things here, so it's going to be more than worth your while joining us for the ride. Cold Warriors is also out in February 2010 in the UK, and June in the US. Here's a taster of how the cover is shaping up:

As you can see, both of these covers have a slightly different feel to the previous Abaddon titles and that's because they've been done by the vastly talented Simon Parr, who has been one of the designers behind the Abaddon titles from the beginning. Simon is also a talented artist, as evidenced by these magnificent covers.

In other news, I have been signing up authors for more 2010 titles and I'm very pleased to say that Al Ewing will once again be exploring the Pax Britannia world, with a sequel to his El Sombra novel called Blood and Thunder. It's a pleasure to welcome back Al and readers should go to their nearest bookshop and purchase Al's latest book for Abaddon, The Afterblight Chronicles: Death Got No Mercy, featuring all the man fights bear action you could possibly want.

Right, that's it for now. I'm off to edit books.

Happy reading

Jonathan Oliver

Editor

On things in the sea

Hulloh Folks

Glad to report I have just this week returned from a most triumphant holiday in Tuscany where much chianti was drunk while sitting reading George Martin and marveling at the gorgeous view. Unfortunately I couldn't bring any of that lovely weather back home with me. But hey, thunder and rain is what British summer is all about right? That and zombies, obviously. On Wednesday this week I attended an evening of literature written by our very own Simon Bestwick. Simon read from Tomes of The Dead: Tide of Souls (available in all good UK book stores now) and his superb collection Pictures of The Dark . Simon is a fiercely good short story writer and I suggest you head to Amazon now and order as many of his titles as you can get your hands on.

I'm also pleased to reveal another gorgeous cover from artist Greg Staples. Feast your eyes on this:

This tale of zombie horror and weird seaside resorts is being penned by Weston Ochse, our friend across the sea, and promises to be a terrifying tale of the undead. This will be in UK stores in January 2010 and will be released in the States in April.

In other news I have just completed my edits on The Afterblight Chronicles: Broken Arrow by Paul Kane and am happy to report that this sequel to Arrowhead ups the game considerably. Paul has produced another rip-roaring post-apocalypse adventure tale feature the Hooded Man.

So much to look forward to as always.

In other news I have almost finished the book what I'm writing. Just a few more chapters to go then I shall be handing it over to Rebecca Levene for the edit. Hopefully folks will take to Twilight of Kerberos: The Call of Kerberos, a rousing tale of swords and sorcery and fish. Anyway, it's been fun to write and you shall soon know more of Twilight and Kerberos than previously.

Right, that's me. I'm off to do more editing and that. Have a good weekend.

Watch out for aquatic undead.

Jon

Vacancies

Dear All

Please note that Abaddon has three vacancies that we are seeking to fill. The details are as follows:

Desk Editor
Ref AW148JO

Oxford based publisher Rebellion seeks an experienced Desk Editor for established line of genre fiction. The ideal candidate will have at least 2-3 years’ experience of working in an editorial role, copy-editing and proof reading skills, an understanding of book production, an enthusiasm for the fields of science-fiction, fantasy and horror and will preferably be educated to degree level. To apply please send CV and covering letter, including details of your current salary, to vacancies@rebellion.co.uk quoting the job title and reference number.

Account Manager
Ref AW149JO

Oxford based publisher Rebellion seeks an experienced Account Manager to handle its fiction and Graphic Novel lists. The ideal candidate will have 2-3 years’ experience in book sales and account management, an understanding of book production and marketing, an understanding of and enthusiasm for genre fiction, a solid grounding in the book trade and will preferably be educated to degree level. To apply please send CV and covering letter, including details of your current salary, to vacancies@rebellion.co.uk quoting the job title and reference number.

eBook Production Assistant
Ref AW150JO

Oxford based publisher Rebellion seeks an eBook Production Assistant for 3 month contract role to turn our published genre fiction novels into online eBooks, involving use of InDesign to extract text, minor editing of script files and HTML files and resizing of graphics. You will need excellent proof reading skills, and take pride in producing accurate and neat work. InDesign experience is preferred but not essential if you are a quick learner, have basic technical ability and a genuine interest in furthering your production skills. To apply please send CV and covering letter, including details of your current salary, to vacancies@rebellion.co.uk quoting the job title and reference number.

A quick missive

Hi Folks

Just a quick one as I'm so busy right now. Anyhew, here's how things stand. Tomes of The Dead: Tide of Souls and Twilight of Kerberos: The Crucible of The Dragon God are now at press, and very marvelous books they are too, if I do say so myself. Tomes of The Dead: Way of The Barefoot Zombie will be going to press next week in time for a late release as will Pax Britannia: Evolution Expects. So there will be a whole stack of Abaddon goodness heading your way soon.

The new size suits the books really well, you may have seen the evidence of this with The Afterblight Chronicles: Operation Motherland which is now on shelves.

Meanwhile, I'm very pleased to say that Mr Scott Andrews will be returning to his Afterblight characters next year with his third book for us, The Afterblight Chronicles: Children's Crusade. And, for Twilight of Kerberos, Mike Wild will be returning for a third book in the Kali Hooper chronicles, provisionally titled The Engines of Apocalypse. Already 2010 is shaping up to be a very exciting year indeed.

Right, that's it from me, back to the manuscript mountain.

Happy Reading!

Jonathan Oliver

Editor

Books a plenty

Hi All

Many apologies for the radio silence of late. It has been just a wee bit busy at Abaddon HQ, but there are many exciting things to share with you. Firstly, we have a new cover artist in the form of the massively talented Greg Staples. Greg, as you may well know, is very well known for his stunning fantasy artwork on such properties as Magic The Gathering and World of Warcraft. He is highly respected for his work for the Galaxy's Greatest Comic 2000 AD also. Anyway, Greg has produced two incredible covers for us.

The first is for Tomes of The Dead: Hungry Hearts by Gary McMahon:

As you can see, Greg's artwork is highly detailed and lushly presented.

Greg's other cover for us is for Twilight of Kerberos: Night's Haunting by Matthew Sprange:

Greg will be working on more covers for us in the future.

This is not to say, however, that Mark Harrison will not also be continuing produce his stunning covers for us. Mark is hard at work on a couple of new ones as I type.

In other news, The Afterblight Chronicles: Operation Motherland by Scott Andrews will finally be hitting the shelves in a couple of weeks. Trust me when I tell you it will have been worth the wait. Scott's second Afterblight book has been a pure joy to edit and packs just as much punch as Schools' Out. Fans of the series are in for a real treat.

Folks may also be interested to know that with this release Abaddon Books are becoming enbigenated. Yes, that's an actual word, I can make them up, I'm an editor you know? Starting with Operation Motherland our books will be moving to B format, which means they will be larger and should look more prominent on the shelves. The designers have also been playing around with the format of the novels so expect a feast for thine eyes.

Now, some news on 2010. I've been firming up a few of the titles and there are big things in the offing.

Firstly, I'd like you to welcome US author Weston Ochse to the fold, who is penning a zombie novel for us called Tomes of The Dead: Empire of Salt for release early next year. Weston is a massively talented author whose work I've admired for a while now. It's fantastic to have a new writer on board, and particularly one from the States. You can catch up with what Weston is currently up to on his blog.

Also, we have two new series lined up for next year. Firstly we have Rebecca Levene's series concerning international espionage and the supernatural. We have yet to decide on a title for this series, but the first novel is called Cold Warriors and is just superb. It's a real thrill to be working with Rebecca again and this new horror series looks like it's going to be epic.

We also have a new Science-Fiction series with No Man's World. In this a group of World War One Tommies are transported to a strange alien planet in a freak accident. There they must learn how to survive in a hostile environment while facing a sinister threat from within their own ranks. Pat Kelleher, a first time novelist, is writing the first book. Pat's ideas virtually sparkle on the page and his first book promises to be a science-fiction adventure like no other!

But, back to the next few months and you can expect a superb zombie novel with Jasper Bark's Tomes of The Dead: Way of The Barefoot Zombie, rousing fantasy adventure in Mike Wild's Twilight of Kerberos: The Crucible of The Dragon God and steampunk tales of derring do in Pax Britannia: Evolution Expects by Jonathan Green, all of which should be hitting UK shelves very soon.

Right, that's it for now. Back to the manuscript mountain with me.

Happy Reading

Jonathan Oliver

Editor

Release Dates

All fixed now :)

Julian

Release Date Bug

Hey All,

Since we swapped the site about, there's a bug with the release dates we're looking into - so please disregard them until further notice :)

Thanks,

Julian Hall

Zombies and tentacles and bears, oh my!

Hello

Well, it's been a particularly lovely winter so far with snow, more snow, bit of ice, torrential rain, so it's nice to be able to bring you good news. Yes, more Abaddon titles are in the offing and I have lovely new covers to show you courtesy of lovely Mark Harrison. Did I mention how lovely he is?

Anyway, first up we have Simon Bestwick's debut novel Tomes of The Dead: Tide of Souls. 

I've been reading Simon's short fiction for a while now and it's a pleasure to be able to work with him on his first novel. Simon's fiction is fierce, uncompromising and dark. A stunning new writer who is certainly one to watch. Tide of Souls is due to be releases in July in the UK and US dates will be confirmed later on.  With our zombie fiction this year we're very much aiming for a darker, more gritty feel and Simon has delivered this in spades.

Next up we have the return of Mr Al Ewing. Al is no stranger to Abaddon having produced two brilliant tomes of pulp joy, with Pax Britannia: El Sombra and Tomes of The Dead: I, Zombie. Now he's ventured into the world of the Afterblight with Death Got No Mercy. 

We certainly had fun formulating this cover, and I can honestly say that I've never had an author ask me to have a man punching a grizzly bear on the cover of his book before.

I just recently finished reading the first half of this and I can tell you that it's hilarious bear punching, redneck baiting, bare knuckle fighting, drugged-up, messed-up Scooby Gang, future San Francisco based fun. Trust me, that will make sense when you read it. I don't think we'll have published anything quite like this before. Due out in September in the UK. US release date to be confirmed.

And finally, may I introduce you to a little known author, new on the scene, all fresh-faced and wide-eyed... Me.

Yes, I'm having a scribble, so to speak. Now, before you ask, no I'm not editing my own book. Rebecca Levene (author of Kill or Cure and Anno Mortis) has agreed to be my editor on this project and her advice and encouragement have been invaluable. So, let me introduce Twilight of Kerberos: The Call of Kerberos.

The Call of Kerberos introduces our final hero to the series, Silus. Silus is a fisherman who finds himself on the run from the Final Faith and part of the crew of an unusual ship. More secrets of the world of Twilight are revealed and there's certainly plenty of sword and sorcery. This will be hitting the UK shelves sometime in October, US date to be confirmed.

And that's the new title line-up.

Don't forget to check out Twilight of Kerberos: The Light of Heaven, which should be hitting shelves in the UK very soon.

And don't forget that we have a Facebook page which you can join to discuss our titles and such like.

Right, that's about all from me. 

Back to editing and writing and that.

Happy reading.

Jonathan Oliver

Editor