Wednesday, 25 August 2010

11K update

My editor and I have been trying to nail down a title for both book 1 of the trilogy, and of the trilogy itself - that "11K" thing, as I hope was clear, was really just my own shorthand for the project as it developed. Well, I think we're there now. There's been some to-ing and fro-ing about whether it's "A: the first book of the B trilogy", or "B: the first book of the A trilogy." But at the moment the state of play is that my next novel will be BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH, book 1 of POSEIDON'S CHILDREN.

There. From the horse's mouth, so to speak.

21 comments:

  1. I've thought of it as 11k for so long now I think it's going to take me a while to stop...

    Is there any idea yet as to when it's going to be released? I got through TW in all of four days, and now I can't wait for the next one!

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  2. but but but all of your novels have 2 word titles (ok technically house of suns is 3)

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  3. Well that's an exciting tit bit to tease us with! Can't wait.

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  4. Ballpark figure on a possible release date?

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  5. Awesome news! I'm really looking forward to the series as I work my way through the stuff you've already written that I haven't yet read.

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  6. Thanks for the heads up Al, 'Blue Remembered Earth' is an evocative, almost romantic title, can't wait for the book. Anything with 'Poseidon' in it somehow seems to remind me of that reasonably awful, boat/wave/disaster remake from a few years back! Looking forward to having that particular association re-defined by your good self :-)Thanks also for the Arcade Fire primer, good album. Will I still be listening to it in 13 years time? We'll see. (BBC Music, in their recent review, indefensibly declared it 'arguably better' than OK Computer. Well I'm arguing ;-) Good album though!)Take care

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  7. Brill; sounds really exciting! Don't suppose there's any hope of any more tidbits of info on 11k?
    cheers
    Peter

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  8. Hi all

    Not sure about release dates yet - no earlier than mid 2011 is my guess, though, maybe shading into autumn.

    Benji: Hope to redefine your Poseidon association. The title of the trilogy will be explained in Book 1; the title of the book is a nod to one of my favorite poems, a A Shropshire Lad. OK Computer? That's a landmark, epoch-defining album. I don't think anyone in their right mind could say that a given album from 2010 is "arguably better".

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  9. Hey Al,

    Looks like Amazon are ahead of you on a release date - they are stating 16th June 2011!
    As far as albums are concerned, have you had a listen to the new one from Muse - "The Resistance"? There is a great symphony at the end reminds me a lot of House Of Suns story - "...spread your code to the stars..."

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  10. Pete_B: we'll see!

    Yes, I like the Muse album, it's great.

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  11. Blue Remembered Earth, sounds good, makes me think of Generation Ships like you had in Chasm City, looking forward to it!

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  12. Richard: there'll be some generation ship related stuff in the second volume, although somewhat different to the Chasm City flotilla.

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  13. Any title would have done the job, but this points too obviously on a dreamlike state of general human development. Certainly it makes it interesting enough to follow on;-)

    LG RS

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  14. You've lost me there, Aurora...

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  15. I like 'Blue Remembered Earth' ... very 'Clarkian'...

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  16. Al:

    I'm a huge fan of your work.
    Is there any chance that Blue Remembered Earth will feature asteroid colonization?There are countless works of fiction that deal with colonizing planets and moons, but few that feature an asteroid path. I'd like to see what a master like you could do with this.

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  17. Anon: it's there in the background, but the main action takes place on Earth, Moon and Mars.

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  18. Al:

    Is the title from the poem Blue Remembered Hills by Alfred Housman?:
    http://www.ety.com/HRP/poetics/bluehills.htm

    What an appropriate poem for interstellar travel. We'll miss our home and never come again. Especially for relativistic interstellar travel like Galactic North or being cryopreserved for centuries.

    I can't wait for BRM!

    Gus

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  19. Hi Gus

    Yep - see earlier comment where I mention "A Shropshire Lad".

    I'll confess to coming to this poem via Vaughan Williams, but it's a favorite nonetheless.

    Al R

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  20. Old post, but I wanted to say that "Blue Remembered Earth" has a very Cordwainer Smith-esque ring to it, maybe it's "Think Blue, Count Two", but I think it's more than that.

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