Two Book Deal

Fuck yeah.

I have more than one novel* in me, apparently. At least two more, to be precise, after signing a new deal with Titan Books (UK).

The first is The Escher Man. It takes place five years after the events of 36 Streets, and while some characters cross over, it is a stand-alone novel.

When submitting, I blurbed it as follows (though this will of course change by the time the novel comes out):

Endel ‘Endgame’ Ebbinghaus is a violent man, a street-level enforcer for a drug cartel. Or is he? In The Escher Man, nothing is as it seems. Friends, enemies, the past and the present, all become blurred in a world where memory manipulation has become the weapon of choice for powerful corporations.

From the gaudy, glittering demimonde of Macau, to the war-torn, steaming streets of northern Vietnam, Endel must fight to save his family, his life, and the fading memory of the man he once was.

The Managing Editor of Titan UK, George Sandison, described it as such:

One man peels back the layers of implanted memories to save his family in this taut, explosive and thrilling high-concept SF novel. Perfect for fans of William Gibson’s The Peripheral, Richard Morgan, Ursula Le Guin’s The Lathe of Heaven, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

I liked his description. Especially the Le Guin reference, which I had not even considered. I believe my comparison was: Total Recall meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Next, the novella (untitled). I’m exited about this. Set wholly in Australia. It was initially called Oondiri, but because that name isn’t particularly cyberpunk, has been changed. To what, I do not know. Titles are hard, and I haven’t figured a compelling one yet.

Here’s the blurb I wrote (which, again, will change by the time publication come around):

Johnny Mnemonic meets Mad Max in this fast-paced, gritty, and deeply human story that spans the breadth of the Australian continent, and explores the depths of its dark heart.

Jackson Nguyen is a petty crook living slim on the mean streets of Melbourne. When he crosses paths with a desperate Chinese dissident, begging for his help, Jack responds in the only natural way: he steals her shoes.

And yet, despite every effort to mind his own damn business, a wild spiral into the worst kind of trouble begins. Into murder, mayhem, fast cars, fast-talking, bent cops, and long straight highways into the terrible beauty of the vast Australian Outback.

In Jack’s world, taking a stand against the ruling class is the shortest path to a shallow grave. But when an Earth-shattering technology falls into his hands, he must do everything he can to stop the wrong people taking it. In a world of pervasive government surveillance and oppressive corporate control, it’s up to a small-time criminal to keep the spark of human rebellion alive.

They won’t be out for a while – the wheels of traditional publishing turn slowly. I reckon both will arrive in 2024.

* Although if I’m including novellas, then I have to count my collection, Neon Leviathan, which includes the novella, “The Weight of the Air, the Weight of the World.” The story won the Aurealis for best SF novella, so I should bloody well mention it.