Thursday 8 October 2020

I've delivered a book

 I've submitted the manuscript for my next novel, the title of which is likely to be INHIBITOR PHASE. I've mentioned another title in the context of interviews, but this is the one that seems to be finding most favour with my publishers, and indeed is the one I initially offered as a placeholder name when the last contract was being drawn up. As may be apparent to those familiar with my work, the book takes place in the Revelation Space universe and is largely set in the years after ABSOLUTION GAP, my 2003 novel. 

It's not intended as a sequel to that book, but merely another entry in the mosaic of books and stories which illuminate a larger future history. That said, it does have connective tissue with some of the other novels. although I've scrupled as carefully as I can to make the book function as a standalone title, a single book which tells a complete tale in its own right and can be read as "just" an isolated story.

It's a much shorter novel than some of its predecessors - a mere 170,000 words, against 275,000 for ABSOLUTION GAP - but there is (I hope) a lot in it, including action set in five different solar systems, and an implied narrative taking in about eight hundred years of future history. Along the way we'll visit some locales that we've seen before, but at different timeframes, and we'll also explore some new corners of the RS universe.

What happens in the book? I'm not going to say - just yet. I can state that some of the influences that have fed into the book include a film by Ingmar Bergman, a song by Scott Walker (in fact more than one), and the closing track of a Muse album.

By by way of a teaser, here's a Wordcloud generated from the text, using https://www.wordclouds.com/

Click to embiggen.





51 comments:

  1. Yay! Looking forward to it already. :)

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  2. I've never been in such desperate need for good news - and finally, there it is!
    The Revelation Space universe is one of my favourite fictional universes. Seeing another puzzle piece added to it makes me more excited than I thought I'd still be capable of. Thank you. :)

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  3. Congratulations! I tend to think that the longer your books are, the more I enjoy them. But I'm very happy nontheless!

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  4. It was the greatest pleasure meeting both of you in Cork and I'm always looking forward to your next release. Thanks for everything.

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  5. Great news, looking forward to this new addition to the RS universe.

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  6. Oh my stars! You hero. Hugely excited for this. Best news of 2020

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  7. Hi Al. Will "Inhibitor Phase" be published by Orbit matching the designs of their recent re-issues of your books? I'm a bit weird about matching book designs. :)

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  8. Truly awesome, Alastair. Best wishes for you and family.

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  9. Super cool. Congrats on 2020 productivity. Hope we're still selling books in the US by the time it drops!

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  10. Like everyone else I can't wait.

    I just finished binge watching The Expanse and now I'm more convinced than ever that we really need a TV/Netflix series based on the The Prefect novels.

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  11. I moved in to our new house this weekend and have been placing my prized "Reynolds collection" up on the new bookshelves. Can't wait to add more, especially in my favourite series. Thank you!

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  12. Looking forward to this. My guess is The Void by Muse.

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  13. Yeah, the waiting period is finally over...this are the few good news for this year.
    Is there a valid release date which can be already communicated ?

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  14. We are very lucky you're such a prolific writer, AR, and I can't convey how excited I am to see your return to the gritty RS, post-Glitter Band RS universe.

    This news is a good excuse to re-read the RS books after Peter Hamilton's Saints of Salvation, which I expect I'll devour in a week when it releases later this month.

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  15. This is amazing and exciting news. I can count on the fingers of one hand the novels/series that I am actively interested in, trying to find information, saving the release date in my notepad as important date, etc.

    I hope you keep your politics out of it. One of the nicest things about Revelation Space is the lack of SJW pandering. Unlike the disaster that was Blue Remembered Earth and its politically correct propaganda. Don't know why you started doing it, but I hope you either keep politics away or at least try for some neutrality. I don;t want any politics in my books, no matter the message or leaning. Not to be confused with social commentary that presents both sides and lets the reader decide, that's fine, biased POVs are not.

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  16. Other writers are available.

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    1. I would not describe the POSEIDON'S CHILDREN series as "politically correct," but rather as somewhat wrong-headed. I look forward to the new book!

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    2. Stay tuned for more wrong-headedness.

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    3. I hope it is baroque, though. The "surprise decapitation" scene in THE PREFECT is one of the most outlandish and memorable in all of fiction. That is how I like my Alastair Reynolds.

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  17. Really looking forward to this :)

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  18. Inhibitor Phase is a wonderfully ominous title - I look forward to reading it! I really appreciate your ability to craft novels that exist as part of a larger tapestry but that still stand up independently.

    I’ve finally introduced my entire family to your work. My parents were the last holdouts, but they’ve now both completed and enjoyed the Revenger trilogy, and I think I may use Inhibitor Phase as their gateway into the RS universe.

    Regarding the comment about politics in your novels: I don’t know how anyone can expect an artist to separate their art from their view of the world (of which politics are an important extension). Accusing someone of pandering seems like a pointless exercise in attempted mind reading. I hope you continue to address the things you feel passionately about in your books.

    Anyway, here’s a perfect pop song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M_nprZQXBQ&ab_channel=TheAlanParsonsProject-Topic

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  19. Queen
    Clavain
    Snowdrop

    *excited*

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  20. Ararat... Ararat...... Oh my..... Juggler... saw Charybdis, must be a new world? Oh my... *shivers in excitement*

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  21. This is wondrous news.

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  22. I’m so happy! Can’t wait to read another book in this universe!

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  23. Das sind tolle Neuigkeiten. Ich hoffe, dass auch eine deutsche Übersetzung kommen wird!

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  24. I just started Aurora Rising. Now this great news drops. Btw I'm hyped to see the name Clavain in the word collage.

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  25. Great title. Can't wait!

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  26. Best author news I've heard all year, can't wait for another tale in my favourite universe

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  27. Can't wait for this to be released! I've been longing for some more Inhibitor-infused terror. Thank you for working so hard so we can enjoy your work later.

    I've got a question on my mind... I'm at the beginning of writing my debut sci-fi novel, and I'm a bit conflicted about how I should build my characters. Do you have any tips for a newbie on how to build believable, relatable, and generally good characters, the likes of which you have all over your work? If you have discussed this before anywhere, a link to that would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much for everything, Al. Stay safe!

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  28. I'm still figuring out character. All I can suggest is doing what I do: study the writers whose characters work for you, and try to emulate their moves. Look at how they develop individual voices and mannerisms for their characters, so that each stands distinctly on the page. I don't think backstory is anywhere near as important as how characters present themselves in the moment. There are many characters in film and literature where we know next to nothing about their past or their origins and yet we immediately latch onto them because of what they do and say in the present.

    But as I said above, I'm still figuring this out.

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  29. Cover art revealed!
    https://www.orbitbooks.net/2020/11/19/cover-launch-inhibitor-phase-by-alastair-reynolds/

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  30. Nestbuilders..

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  31. I just happened upon this post and I'm so excited. I recommend Revelation Space to all my friends as the best hard science fiction out there (I'm a physicist, so I care about the details!), and my favorite solution to the Fermi Paradox. I've read through the whole universe multiple times, can't wait to see what the next installment has in store :)

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  32. Wow! Greenfly era RS novels at last, totally on board for this. July here we come!!

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  33. I see a July 2021 release? That's a bit later than usual.

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  34. i am positively exuberant about this happening!!! after spending a number of months becoming acclimatized to the rest of the books (and a another few weeks re-reading all of them again), i am SO SO SO ready for a couple more. I miss RS universe SO much.

    I am also crossing my fingers for another Prefect Dreyfus emergency too! I can tell from reading them that you really have fun constructing the sort of scif-noir style books just as much as the others :-D

    Thanks so much Alastair! i really LOVE these books you do. I'm a Mechanical engineer, and a lifelong scifi fan, and i just love what you've done with the place. when i get other non-RS stuff these days, it just isn't ever the same.

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  35. Very excited about this! Just added it to my "to be purchased" list!

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  36. Can’t wait for this! I really miss you on Twitter. 😔

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  37. Alastair, will it be available in hardcover?

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  38. Hallo Al,
    eben habe ich Inhibitor Phase vorbestellt. Der Klappentext klingt schon phantastisch. Und da der Heyne Verlag keine deutsche Übersetzung liefert 😔 poliere ich durch das Lesen im Orginal mein Schul-Englisch auf 🙂.
    Bitte noch mehr Bücher schreiben!
    Viele Grüße aus Deutschland
    Marc

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    1. Ich hoffe es gefällt euch, Marc-Oliver.

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  39. Hi Alastair,

    This is great news, I truly enjoy reading your works, especially ones set in RS universe, these are one of the best SF novels I've read so far. Extremely hyped for the new entry! Cheers from your Russian fan!

    Slava

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