Ian Whates

[Ian Whates]

Always feels a little weird writing about myself... far less room to make things up!

Okay, I've been a fan of fantasy and science fiction forever and am delighted to now be writing about such things as well as reading about them. 

To date I've had some 40 short stories published in a variety of magazines, webzines and anthologies, including two in the science journal Nature, one in Beneath the Surface 2, a collection shortlisted for a Bram Stoke Award, and two -- "The Gift of Joy" and "The Assistant" -- shortlisted for Best Short Story in the BSFA Awards (2008 and 2010).  Many of these stories are collected in The Gift of Joy (2009).
http://www.newconpress.co.uk/BookDetail/tabid/57/ProdID/4/RtnTab/70/PageIndex/1/CatID/-1/Default.aspx

My debut novel, City of Dreams and Nightmare, was published by Harper Collins' imprint Angry Robot on March 4th 2010 (UK & Australia), August 2010 (USA).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Dreams-Nightmare-Ian-Whates/dp/0007345240/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267977869&sr=1-1

I'm currently dividing my time between writing two novel sequences; the 'City of 100 Rows'  books are urban fantasy with steampunk overtones, while the 'Noise' series, published by Solaris, are space opera with a twist.

The current publishing schedule for these runs as follows:

City of 100 Rows (Angry Robot)
City of Dreams and Nightmare (March 2010)
City of Hope and Despair (September 2010)
City of Light and Shadow (2011)

The Noise Series (Solaris)
The Noise Within (May 2010)
The Noise Revealed (May 2011)

In between writing, I also edit books, including The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories (co-edited with Ian Watson) for Constable and Robinson, and I edit and publish books (primarily anthologies though I've been branching out lately) via my own small publishing house NewCon Press, which I established in 2006 because of my love of short stories and genre fiction in general.

To date, NewCon Press titles and their contents have won 4 BSFA Awards, 1 BFS Award, have been collected in 'Year's Best' anthologies for SF (edited by Gardner Dozois) and horror (edited by Steve Jones), and gained honourable mentions in 'Years Best' books, plus 4 recommendations from Locus Magazine as among the 'Best of the Year'.  Not bad for a sideline!

www.ianwhates.com
www.newconpress.co.uk

[Ian Whates]

Blimey, somebody seems to like my book... who'd have thunk it?

Just stumbled on the following review of my debut novel, City of Dreams and Nightmare, which was only released on March 4th. Quick work, and not at all bad for a first review.

http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2010/03/city-of-dreams-nightmare-by-ian-whates.html

[allybird]

Great to see you Ian 



'Eighteen stories, five original to this collection, which take you to distant futures and disturbing tomorrows, to strange new worlds and others that may seem uncomfortably familiar. Intelligent science fiction and subtle fantasy packed with excitement, surprises, humour, and warmth.'

[allybird]

CITY OF DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES



'They call it the City of a Hundred Rows. The ancient city of Thaiburley is a vast, multi-tiered metropolis, where the poor live in the City Below and demons are said to dwell in the Upper Heights.

Having witnessed a murder in a part of the city he should never have been in, Tom, a lowly street-nick, has to run for his life through the City Below, Thaiburley’s unsavoury basement world. Accused of committing the murder himself, he is pursued by sky-borne assassins, Kite Guards, and agents of a darker force intent on destabilising the whole city. His only ally is Kat, a renegade like him, but she proves to have secrets of her own…

City of Dreams & Nightmare is Ian Whates’ debut novel, and the first of a series set in the great city.'

[Ian Whates]

Thanks for posting that, Ally!

Never have mastered the art of importiing images into these 'ere boards.

[allybird]

THE NOISE WITHIN



'On the brink of perfecting the long sought-after human/AI interface, Philip Kaufman finds his world thrown into turmoil as a scandal from the past returns to haunt him and dangerous information falls into his hands. Pursued by assassins and attacked in his own home, he flees. Leyton, a government black-ops specialist, is diverted from his usual duties to hunt down the elusive pirate vessel The Noise Within, wondering all the while why this particular freebooter is considered so important. Two lives collide in this stunning space-opera from novelist Ian Whates.'

[Ian Whates]

Thanks again, Ally...

My word, you have been busy!   

[Ian Whates]

Just to alert anyone who might be interested that there's to be a massed signing event at the Forbidden Planet store in Shaftesbury Avenue, featuring many of the authors from the two latest NewCon Press anthologies, namely:

Conflicts:
Keith Brooke
Eric Brown
David L Clements
Andy Remic
Rosanne Robinowitz

The Bitten Word
Kari Sperring
Sarah Singleton
Sam Stone
Ian Watson
Ian Whates

This will be late afternoon (5pm til 7.00pm) on Thursday May 22nd, all are welcome (Hopefully someone will turn up, or it's going to be a very lonely session... I mean, I don't want to spend a couple of hours talking to these guys; I know them already!)

Full details can be found here: http://www.brokenfrontier.com/headlines/p/detail/forbidden-planet-hosts-newcon-press

[Ian Whates]

Two more authors have been added to the Forbidden Planet signing event this Thursday (22nd April):

Chris Beckett and Chaz Brenchley.

[Ian Whates]

A great review of my latest novel, The Noise Within, has been posted here:

http://speculativebookreview.blogspot.com/2010/06/review-noise-within-by-ian-whates.html

"The Noise Within is one of the best sci-fi books that I've read in recent years. It ticked all the boxes for me and left me looking forward to the next installment. I'm expecting great things from this space opera series."

Good Lord, is that really my book she's talking about??!?   

[Ian Whates]

After its first bad (actually, scathing) review a week or so ago, The Noise Within has just received another glowing one:

http://www.walkerofworlds.com/2010/07/review-noise-within-by-ian-whates.html

I think that makes it:

13 good to enthusiastically glowing reviews
3 balanced but still marginally positive
1 truly awful review

I can live with that sort of split!   

[Ian Whates]

An interview with yours truly has just been posted on the Fantasy Literature site...

http://www.fantasyliterature.com/author-interviews/ian-whates/

Good Lord, reading through it, I almost sound interesting!