Papperbok

The mass-market paperback edition of my most recent novel is published today

I don’t propose to use this Substack as a crude promotional platform, hectoring people to Buy! My! Books! and generally beating the marketing drum. There’s no need for that. But I will, to contradict myself, if only briefly, hereby note that today, the mass-market paperback edition of my novel Lake of Darkness is released. It’s a sort-of space opera, as well my first go at writing a Utopian novel, it has some speculations about cosmic geometry relating to black holes, and my teenage son (when I explained the concept to him: he hasn’t read it) suggested I call the novel Space Satan!!!—with that many exclamation marks. I should probably have listened to him.

Nitty gritties: you can buy it direct from my publisher. Amazon (which some people abhor and avoid, of course) have it currently 99p via Audible for a short time, £5.99 on Kindle, and £10.25 for the honest-to-goodness physical book. New Scientist picked it as one of the best SF novels of the year. The BSFA Award did not shortlist it. It will not trouble the Hugo ballot. The estimable Brian Clegg said this about it:

Beyond that, your money and your reading-time are you own, of course, and many other and perhaps better books are available.