Hi all, Nik here. Dan asked me to let you know that he is recovering nicely and will do a proper blog before too long. In the meantime he asked me to let you know about dates for your diary... or one date, at any rate.
Witney Book Festival has invited Dan to speak at the Gallery Room at the Corn Exchange, Witney on September 3rd. Doors will open at 6-30pm and the ticket price is £2-50 with £2- redeemable against purchases.
Dan is more than happy to speak and answer your questions, but here's the thing... 'Titanicus' and the paperback of 'Only in Death' are being released early for this event!
Tickets for the event are available at Waterstones, Witney branch or phone 01993 703525. (Witney, for anyone who is unsure is in Oxfordshire). Don't all rush at once... On second thought, rush... Run as fast as you can... Book early to avoid disappointment!
Other dates are in the pipeline and will be announced as soon as they are confirmed.
44 comments:
Zing!
Huzzah!
Bugger!
Exloding: I've just finish Titanicus and again Dan (I know your audience is captive here) you've done it! It's a incredible book, great story, huge plot (and even bigger engines) (and smaller toys). Thanks a lot, I will add it to my planning for France!
M from BL France
Damn, have ti get my hands on the books soon... i hate holidays, no time for nothin'...
Zing!!!
Witchy for a Look said...
I may have to defrost myself and get to Whitney.
Heard the 40k radio piece: don't think you paused or uttered a single 'erm' or 'uh.' Sign of a quick mind, mate. No wonder you've written thirty odd novels and the rest.
Get well soon dude. Plenty of soup, rest and looking after your energy.
And on that note...
'click'
[artificial voice] "CRYO-TUBE RE-ENGAGING"
Mmmm... Soup.
On a completely unrelated topic, I bought the OST to 'The Dark Knight' the other day and it is a truly fantastic piece of music, right up there with the Gladiator soundtrack and any of the new Battlestar Galactica ones.
Count me in Nik/Dan, on Google maps the car park looks rather small for the corn exchange...any suggestions?
My 1st and only book signing was David Gemmell in September 2005, unfortunately he died in July the following year, I counted myself lucky to have met him.
I'm going to be heading out from Newbury if anyones partially interested...I only bite when requested
@Ross, the BSG score by Bear Mcreary is awesome, I can't say I noticed any of the music in The Dark Knight, but the film was awesome, so maybe the score did it's job perfectly?
I'd also recommend Wall-E, sure it's cute and for kids, but it's also fantastic.
i am very superstitious Hussar so please touch somthing that brings good luck .I would usually say touch wood but on the internet that could have miss interprtations
ha ha!
yet another reason i wish i lived in the UK.
Was that you on the telly just now, Dan, in the BBC2 docu about British comics? I missed most of the clip...
i have seen that before but i didnt see D. and actually thought well were is he,
I think I'm going to forego Titanicus for the time being....probably hang fire until paperback.
I have an unnatural loathing of hardback books. I always wait for the paperback. Which explains why everyone is far more knowledgeable about what's going on than I. Well, that and I'm kinda stupid!
About a third of the way through Ravenor now, so I'm way behind the curve. But at least I have the other two books sitting and waiting to be read in succession.
I like hardbacks, ok they're difficult to carry around with you or read in the bath, and they take up a lot of precious bookshelf space, but they're wonderful objects!
Plus I can't resist reading Dan's books early.
I agree, why wait for ages for the paperback? Its flimsier, less impressive in the bookshelf and most importantly with hardbacks you get to read the damn story earlier.
I always get rid of the paper guard around them as soon as I buy them, much more satisfying.
Plus theres not much worse than walking past a book that you want to read but feel like you shouldn't. Buy the Hardback! Feel Dirty! Its Great!
You're the little
Daemon that sits on my shoulder and whispers in my ear, aren't you? :)
I have two of them. But they always argue.
Yeah, but don't expect an angel to appear on the other side. We already kodnapped it and forgot it in some corner... it talked to much not to get rid of it...
I like hardbacks.....I just don't want to read Titanicus at present, so waiting for the paperback is no great shakes and gives me a chance to read the mountain of books I already have.
Well tell us Xhalax, what is it you like to read when you're not reading Mr. Abnett?
I'm thinking about picking up Joe Hill's book 'Heart-Shaped Box' but don't know if it's any good or not.
Hiwayrobry:
So I suppose you've finished Wheel of Darkness, then?
How did you like it?
SPOILER
THAT'S how you wreck a cruise ship! James Cameron, take note.
rob,
I enjoyed it immensely.
SPOILER
I thought that Pendergast might actually lose (perish the thought!) himself to Agozyen. Very exciting stuff.
I hate when they put a little half-chapter of their upcoming book at the end. I didn't even read it cuz I don't want to spoil anything.
I take it you enjoyed it also?
Well shoot! When did Dan decide to (co) write The Authority?!?! This is the first I've heard about it. Nova rocks and I can't wait 'til Guardians of the Galaxy hits in trade, and now I've got The Authority to look forward to.
Thanks Dan, you're the best!
Hiwayrbry,
I enjoyed it but didn't think it was as good as Cabinet of Curiosities. Having said that, I thought it was far better than Still Life with Crows and The Ice Limit, which is the book it's most easily compared to as a result of the large ship disaster theme. (Note that I don't think either of these were bad per se, but both suffered from very unsatisfying endings.)
I'm beginning to think that it's no coincidence that Preston and Child's best books usually rovolve around a gala event where blood ends up dripping from the chandolier... Cabinet of Curiosities being the exception, and I think you'll agree that it's truly exceptional.
Most definitely.
And just to further your point about their best stuff revolving around a gala event, I still think that Relic is probably their best. Even the movie wasn't half bad, although I'm disappointed they left out Pendergast.
Hiwayrobry - For the most part, I find myself entrenched in BL.
oi Big!
have you seen any images of the new Space Marines? the new scout biker = rough rider conversion
have a look on Bell of Lost Souls...
looks awesome
Yeh mate just seen them cool stuff!
saw some links on their to youtube
for 40k movies,didnt know there was so many.
Xhalax,
Do you stick to the 40k universe or do you venture into the Warhammer world once in a while?
I have brief sorties into Warhammer....but not a lot because everyone suddenly has lasguns when they're not supposed to.
Well, that kinda ruins the whole vibe doesn't it! :)
I liked the old Gotrek and Felix series and Dan's Riders of the Dead but I also like to stick mostly to the 40K universe. I'd like to find a really good book that delves into the Eldar a bit more.
@HiWayRobry - you and me both man, I would love to see a decent book all about the Eldar.
The only attempt I can think of is Ian Watson's Harlequin, which read like the 2nd edition Codex, nothing but a flat list of Eldar troop types and characters!
I suppose the difficulty would be capturing their relatively subtle inhumanity. Still nothing Dan couldn't handle, eh? ;)
Ah, an Eldar book, that would be interesting certainly.
The only problem you would ever have is that we aren't Eldar and have no frame of reference as to how they think - they are after all, undeniably alien.
Leave 'em as the baddies I say.
au contraire, I don't believe the Eldar are the 'bad guys' at all. I just think, as you've stated, their methods and ideologies are just alien to us. But that doesn't make them evil, just misunderstood.
And dukeleto, I couldn't think of anyone better than Dan to give it a whirl :)
SEMI-SPOILER
There have been some subtle nods in Ravenor towards the Eldar. I recall something about 'spirit-stones' or some such and I think he alludes to being mentored by a warlock or a farseer. At least that's the impression I got. I'll have to wait and see if there's any more mention of them in the rest of the trilogy.
The Eldar aren't bad guys?
EVERYONE is the bad guy in the 40k Universe. See below...
Imperium - Uber-fascist xenophobic religious maniacs (speaking as a die-hard Guard player)
Chaos - well duh.
Orks - Hmmm, lets see - created and live FOR WAR.
Tau - Preach the 'Greater Good' - just so long as its the Tau Greater Good that gets served.
Tyranids - How could they not be baddies?
Necrons - Fairly obviously evil due to the whole Terminator vibe (that and wanting to wipe out all life in the universe).
Dark Eldar - They're called the DARK Eldar for Thrones sake!
Eldar - Uber-pragmatic manipulators who would quite happily let the whole of a world burn just so they can get an extra ounce of coffee when the whole shebang goes arse over tit.
So lets face it - no one exactly comes out of it smelling of roses. But what are you gonna do? Its a dark universe.
@Ross - ah but we only have the propaganda of the Imperium as evidence that the Eldar's motivation is ever so frivolous.
It may APPEAR that they are just after an extra ounce of coffee, and their enemies would of course be keen to stress that interpretation, but the Eldar Seers themselves would no doubt claim their prescience foretold some greater doom in the future.
They are enigmatic and ineffable, and writing a series centred on them would be a challenge indeed, one I'd like to see Dan tackle!
@ Dukeleto
Some greater doom? A lack of sugar perhaps?
I thought the eldar character in legion think his name was Slau Dha was well written, as for eldar been evil imo there just self serving and believe their own goals to be more important than anyone else's suppose that comes from been one of the older races, anyway id love an eldar book and with someone like dan writing it I reckon it could be great
p.s anyone else seen the new warhammer online trailer know its cgi but it’s certainly got me hyped about the game
Tyranids are evil?
What's so evil about being hungry?
And though Chaos troops are the bad guys, I don't know if I'd classify the Chaos gods as such.
After all, calling the Chaos gods evil for destroying humanity is tantimount to calling a whale evil for swallowing a school of krill.
Good points.
Choas Gods are evil, because they're...well....evil. Dr. Malcolm's theories aside, Chaos is inherently evil because it's sole purpose is to taint that which is stable (or good).
Tyranids are not evil, per se, but are certainly 'bad guys'.
The Eldar are comparable to the character of Gandalf. Not all that forth-coming with the info but with a more comprehensive vision of the big picture. And willing to sacrifice others to achieve the end purpose.
so Gandalf was evil?
The survival of ones race is not evil ,its when u now better and still behave a certain way thats when ur evil,eg Dark Eldar ,Chaos etc
Amen.
Nowhere did I suggest that Gandalf was evil. Just as the Eldar are not evil.
Post a Comment