Ken MacLeod's comments.
The title comes from two quotes:
“If these are the early days of a better nation, there must be hope, and a hope of peace is as good as any, and far better than a hollow hoarding greed or the dry lies of an aweless god.”—Graydon Saunders
Contact: kenneth dot m dot macleod at gmail dot com Blog-related emails may be quoted unless you ask otherwise.
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Descent launch at Blackwell's
My novel Descent (UK/ANZ/Amazon UK/ sample here) is being launched at Edinburgh's fine bookshop Blackwell's on Thursday 6 March.
Details:
Date: Thursday 6th March
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: Blackwell’s Bookshop, 53-62 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1YS
I'll be reading from the novel and answering questions and generally talking about it. I've described Descent as being 'about flying saucers, hidden races, and Antonio Gramsci's concept of passive revolution, all set in a tale of Scottish middle class family life in and after the Great Depression of the 21st Century. Almost mainstream fiction, really.'
The event finishes at 8 pm, and no doubt discussion will continue in one or more of the local pubs.
This event is ticketed, but tickets are FREE. Tickets are available from the front desk at Blackwell’s Bookshop or by phoning 0131 622 8218
For more information or if you would like a signed copy please contact Ellie Wixon on
0131 622 8222 or ellie.wixon@blackwell.co.uk
11 Comments:
Hey, I'm not complaining! Books get out to the shops days before their official publication date. Many thanks for buying it.
Congratulations. I will request my local library get a copy or two. They are pretty good about bringing in popular UK books. Which is why we have a copy of Intrusion here. The shipping fees are otherwise a little high to Canada for an individual order.
Rob
Great stuff. I've just written a text for our chain of book stores here in Sweden, making it our SF-book of the month. I really liked the description of Ryan's progress in life, and how his experiences influence his decisions later in life.
Well, Amazon UK says my order is "preparing for dispatch;" I'm eagerly awaiting.
BTW, off topic, but on the issue of Scottish independence-if you want a Midwestern Yank's opinion-my paternal grandfather was born in Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland, and my paternal grandmother was born in one of the "Magdalen" orphanages in Dublin. Now my mother was born in what is now Slovakia-this kind of inter-ethnic marriage was as common in Chicago (or any other big US city) of my parents' generation as interracial marriage is now. I say this to show I'm not some US Noraid supporter-I was always closer to my mother's family, and consider myself as predominantly of Slovak descent; anyway I always felt closer to the Officials and the Workers' Party than to the Provos. Yet I see so many English leftists rushing to support the Scottish petty bourgeois dream of Holyrod's own spot in the EU, while at the same time, (with the exception of some of the more militant Trots, who don't have to care how impossible their demands are), showing a peculiar blindness to the fact that Ireland is one country, part of whose territory was forcibly incorporated into the UK. I'm not running an IRA Continuity line here-I have a close friend who is a SDLP militant and ran against Gerry Adams in Belfast-but I think this eerie silence may be a reflection of, an expression of just how powerless they feel against the state on a real, burning issue. Who knows? They don't seem to realize on the English "politically correct" left that Scottish independence means a PERPETUAL, reactionary Tory regime -without a US/UN restoration of the "Hanoverians :)-in their own Backyard. Maybe I don't have any right to say anything, but I'm not some "Ukainian" chauvinist, and the English blind spot is real.
Anyway, I'm truly looking forward to reading Descent. I read Mirage Men on your recommendation, and you may find this ironic, but that view of flying saucers was not uncommon in SDS and the anti Viet Nam war movement.
Will there be an e-book Ken? Seems like that would be the best way to get it here in the States. I'm still waiting for an e-book of Intrusion.
@Joe Ray: Amazon UK never lets me buy a kindle book; there is always a little dialogue box telling me this item is not allowed in your country
Ken, I second Joe Ray's request. Those of us fortunate(/sarcasm) enough to live in the States would like the opportunity here. Can't Orbit do something?
Lee - I don't think Sottish independence would mean perpetual Tory rule in England. Most Labour governments haven't needed Scottish MPs to get a majority.
On Ireland, well, that's a long argument but it's true that the Brisih far left's response to the NI conflict showed a certain failure to take seriously even their own analysis.
Hm. That's weird. I already have a copy, which I bought at Waterstone's near Oxford Circus in London on Saturday. Sorry about that—I didn't realize that it hadn't been officially released yet. I was just delighted to be able to buy a couple of UK-zone books early, since I happen to be in the UK on business.
By
Ted Lemon, at
Tuesday, March 04, 2014 1:24:00 pm