Fantasy, science fiction, myth and legend

Please visit our Book Bulletin 2019 crowdfunding project at CrowdPatch to buy recommendations for our Winter 2019 catalogue and to volunteer your skills, experience and contacts. All funds raised will support not-for-profit Jolabokaflod CIC’s forthcoming programme of events.

Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
(UK: Arrow, @PenguinUKBooks, 2012; USA: Broadway Books, @CrownPublishing, 2012)

A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready? … It’s the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We’re out of oil. We’ve wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. Like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS – and his massive fortune – will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. Then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle. Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions – and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.

Recommended by:
Dan Calladine, Head of Media Futures, Carat Global Management | Founder, London Pop-ups
Dan says: ‘A great sci-fi thriller – made into a Spielberg film – about a boy in the near future who becomes obsessed with trying to win a virtual-reality video game contents .’

Dan Calladine is a media industry maven who tracks online and offline media trends and the effectiveness of media strategy for Carat, a media agency within the Dentsu Aegis Network. He is an expert commentator on media, having been interviewed by BBC Radio 4, the Financial Times, Campaign and The Guardian, among other channels and publications. Dan is an expert on social media, including and social media tracking: he is a keen user, being active on YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest. Dan also heads and runs London Pop-ups, a online listings hub for pop-up events in the capital city.

The Sound of Your Soul
Anna Cookson
(UK: Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers, @pegasuspublish, 2018)

There are no fish, in the future. We killed them. But it’s not just the ghosts of the shoals making artist Cally Dune unhappy. Her husband has gone. Vanished, after being called up for the President’s new ‘Training Scheme’. “No body ever comes back the same.” Worried whispers drift through the pubs, gathering like rainclouds to drip their paranoia into Cally’s mind, which is already marinaded in grief for Simon and fear about being called to Training herself.

Letting the wine flow into the places where it hurts, Cally stumbles into the arms of a clammy banker and unwittingly discovers a disturbing and painful secret. She is propelled on a journey through the dust of Africa and the hidden tunnels deep below London … unravelling the fading scrolls of the ancient Egyptians and illuminating their lurid hieroglyphics. And ultimately towards a heartbreaking choice … to save her marriage or save her soul. Because now there’s something else at stake. They are coming for it. And it’s inside her.

Recommended by:
Ed Davey, Novelist and Journalist | Author website: EM Davey; Fantastic fiction: EM Davey; Publisher website: Duckworth Publishers; Journalism website: Global Witness

Ed is an investigative reporter who specialises in undercover journalism and exposing international corruption. His work has featured on BBC programmes including Panorama, Newsnight, File on 4 and the national News at Six; he has written for publications including the New Statesman and the Mail on Sunday. Ed works currently in the Special Investigations team at Global Witness, working to expose corruption, environmental destruction and human rights abuses in some of the world’s most troubled countries. He writes historical fiction published by Duckworth under the name EM Davey.

Walkaway
Cory Doctorow
(UK: Head of Zeus, @HoZ_Books, 2018; USA: Tor Books, @tordotcom, 2018)

In a world wrecked by climate change, in a society owned by the ultra-rich, in a city hollowed out by industrial flight, Hubert, Etc, Seth and Natalie have nowhere else to be and nothing better to do … But there is another way. After all, now that anyone can design and print the basic necessities of life – food, clothing, shelter – from a computer, there is little reason to toil within the system. So, like thousands of others in the mid-21st century, the three of them turn their back on the world of rules, jobs, the morning commute and … walkaway.

It’s a dangerous world out there, the empty lands are lawless, hiding predators – animal and human alike. Still, when the initial pioneer walkaways flourish, the thousands become hundreds of thousands, building what threatens to become a post-scarcity utopia. But then the walkaways discover the one thing the ultra-rich have never been able to buy: how to beat death. And now it’s war – a war that will turn the world upside down.

Recommended by:
Tor Books: at BookExpo America

Tor.com is a site for science fiction, fantasy and all the things that interest SF and fantasy readers. It publishes original fiction, art, and commentary on science fiction and related subjects by a wide range of writers from all corners of the field; both professionals working in the genres and fans. Its aim is to provoke, encourage, and enable interesting and rewarding conversations with and between its readers. Tor.com is publisher neutral, and as such, boasts contributors and content from many different SF/F publishers and fandoms. Tor.com debuted online on 20 July 2008

Peter Ibbetson
George du Maurier
(UK: CreateSpace, @CreateSpace, 2016; USA: CreateSpace, @CreateSpace, 2016)

Two soulmates who are brought together by destiny are kept apart by circumstance (specifically a life prison sentence). They manage to create a life together by constructing a virtual parallel world in the astral realm made of every past experience and memory they’ve ever had in their lives, which they look forward to going to every night when they sleep. They walk among their unchanging, fully reconstructed memories – their dream world becoming more real and vivid than their waking lives. The ending is bittersweet, but ultimately uplifting and satisfying.

Recommended by:
Craig Dudley, Actor | Showreel: Craig Dudley; Artistic Director: The Ensemble Theatre Company of New York

Craig serves as the Artistic Director of The Ensemble Theatre Company of New York. He graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and received a scholarship to the American Theatre Wing. He was mentored for over 20 years by Philip Burton, father to Richard Burton, and has enjoyed an illustrious acting career. He is currently planning a UK tour of the TETCNY production of Diversions and Delights, John Gay’s one-man play about the life of Oscar Wilde.

Norse Mythology
Neil Gaiman
(UK: Bloomsbury, @BloomsburyBooks, 2018; USA: W W Norton & Company, @wwnorton, 2018)

The great Norse myths, which have inspired so much of modern fiction, are dazzlingly retold by Neil Gaiman. Tales of dwarfs and frost giants, of treasure and magic, and of Asgard, home to the gods: Odin the all-father, highest and oldest of the Aesir; his mighty son Thor, whose hammer Mjollnir makes the mountain giants tremble; Loki, wily and handsome, reliably unreliable in his lusts; and Freya, more beautiful than the sun or the moon, who spurns those who seek to control her.

Recommended by:
Nigel Newton, Founder and Chief Executive, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Nigel was born and raised in San Francisco. He read English at Cambridge. After working at Macmillan Publishers, he joined Sidgwick & Jackson. He left Sidgwick in 1986 to start Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury floated on The London Stock Exchange in 1994 and has grown organically and through acquisitions and partnerships. Bloomsbury publishes 2500 books a year from its offices in the UK, US, India and Australia. Nigel is President of Book Aid International. He has served as a member of the Man Booker Prize Advisory Committee and Trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Charleston Trust, past Chair of World Book Day (2006), past member of the Publishers Association Council and Member of the Advisory Committee of Cambridge University Library.

A New York Winter’s Tale (UK) | Winter’s Tale (USA)
Mark Helprin
(UK: Picador, @picadorbooks, 2014; USA: Mariner Books, @HMHbooks, 2005)

One night in New York, a city under siege by snow, Peter Lake attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side. Though he thinks it is empty, the daughter of the house is home …

Thus begins the affair between this Irish burglar and Beverly Penn, a young girl dying of consumption. It is a love so powerful that Peter will be driven to stop time and bring back the dead …

Recommended by:
Martyn Swain, Musician, Composer and Managing Director, The Magical Opera Company

Martyn is an Emmy Award-winning composer of music for drama, TV, films, ads, games, musicals and opera. He plays bass guitar and has played with the likes of Julian Lennon, Aimee Mann, World Party and The Waterboys. Under the banner of The Magical Opera Company, Martyn is the creator of Ruby & the 13th Door, a brand new musical for a family audience.

RoseBlood
AG Howard
(UK: Abrams Books, @AbramsChronicle, 2017; USA: ABRAMS, @ABRAMSbooks, 2017)

Rune Germaine moves to a boarding school outside of Paris, only to discover that at this opera-house-turned-music-conservatory, phantoms really do exist. RoseBlood is a Phantom of the Opera-inspired retelling in which Rune’s biggest talent – her voice – is also her biggest curse.

Rune, whose voice has been compared to that of an angel, has a mysterious affliction linked to her talent that leaves her sick and drained at the end of every performance. Convinced creative direction will cure her, her mother ships her off to a French boarding school for the arts, rumoured to have a haunted past. Shortly after arriving at RoseBlood conservatory, Rune starts to believe something otherworldly is indeed afoot. The mystery boy she’s seen frequenting the graveyard beside the opera house doesn’t have any classes at the school, and vanishes almost as quickly as he appears.

When Rune begins to develop a secret friendship with the elusive Thorn, who dresses in clothing straight out of the 19th century, she realises that in his presence she feels cured. Thorn may be falling for Rune, but the phantom haunting RoseBlood wants her for a very specific and dangerous purpose. As their love continues to grow, Thorn is faced with an impossible choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or save her and face the wrath of the phantom, the only father he’s ever known.

Recommended by:
ABRAMS: at BookExpo America

Founded in 1949, ABRAMS was the first company in the USA to specialise in publishing art and illustrated books. The company continues to publish critically acclaimed and bestselling works in the areas of art, photography, cooking, craft, comics, interior and garden design, entertainment, fashion, and popular culture; children’s books ranging from middle grade to young adult fiction to picture books to board books. ABRAMS creates and distributes brilliantly designed books with the highest production values under the following imprints: Abrams; Abrams ComicArts; Abrams Image; Abrams Press; The Overlook Press; Abrams Books for Young Readers; Amulet Books; Abrams Appleseed; and a gift and stationery line, Abrams Noterie. ABRAMS also distributes books for 5 Continents Editions, Booth-Clibborn Editions, Cameron + Company, Alain Ducasse Édition, Getty Publications, Ludion, The Museum of Modern Art, Obvious State, SelfMadeHero, Tate Publishing, V&A Publishing, and The Vendome Press.

Battlefield Earth
L Ron Hubbard
(USA: Galaxy Press, @galaxypress, 2017)

In the year AD 3000, Earth is a dystopian wasteland, plundered of its natural resources by alien conquerors known as Psychlos. Fewer than thirty-five thousand humans survive in a handful of communities scattered across the face of a post-apocalyptic Earth.

From the ashes of humanity rises a young hero, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler. Setting off on an initial quest to discover a hidden evil, Jonnie unlocks the mystery of humanity’s demise and unearths a crucial weakness in their oppressors. Spreading the seeds of revolt, Jonnie and a small band of survivors pit their quest for freedom in an all-out rebellion that erupts across the continents of Earth and the cosmic sprawl of the Psychlo empire. For the fate of the Galaxy lies on the Battlefield of Earth.

Recommended by:
Galaxy Press: at BookExpo America

Galaxy Press was established in 2002 to meet the demand for works of fiction by bestselling author, L Ron Hubbard, In 2008, the company embarked upon a six-year program to re-publish over 150 short stories and novelettes written by the author in the 1930s and 1940s in the form of an 80-volume book and full-cast audio drama series. These stories span every genre from western and mystery to fantasy and science fiction. Galaxy Press also publishes the annual Writers of the Future anthology, featuring new authors selected by an elite panel of judges.

The Sealwoman’s Gift
Sally Magnusson
(UK: Two Roads, @TwoRoadsBooks, 2018)

1627. In a notorious historical event, pirates raided the coast of Iceland and abducted 400 people into slavery in Algiers. Among them a pastor, his wife, and their children.

In this debut novel, Sally Magnusson imagines what history does not record: the experience of Asta, the pastor’s wife, as she faces her losses with the one thing left to her – the stories from home – and forges an ambiguous bond with the man who bought her ….

Recommended by:
Zoe Ball, ex-Presenter, The Zoe Ball Book Club
Zoe says: ‘Sally Magnusson has taken an amazing true event and created a brilliant first novel. It’s an epic journey in every sense: although it’s historical, it’s incredibly relevant to our world today. We had to pick it’ (Sally’s book was featured on Zoe’s show on Sunday, 12 August 2018: Book 9: The Sealwoman’s Gift)

The Zoe Ball Book Club was a part of Zoe’s weekend ITV show every Saturday and Sunday morning at 8.30 am. The Club invited viewers to join the show reading 10 books over the summer. The Book Club segments ran on Sundays from 17 June 2018. Each week Zoe discussed one of our specific book choices with a celebrity guest. There was a film from each author telling the story, so anyone who hadn’t read the book could join in the show. In March 2019, Zoe left the show to take over presenting BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show from Chris Evans, who left the BBC to present the Breakfast Show at Virgin Radio (Radio Times article). BBC Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox has replaced Zoe as the presenter of ITV’s weekend show, now rebadged The Sara Cox Show.

Birthrights
(Revisions to the Truth: book 1)
J Kyle McNeal
(USA: Elevate Fiction, @JKyleMcNeal, 2017)

Civil war looms, defeated foes plot revenge, and an ancient deity schemes to extinguish all life. In this land where magic has faded into legend, the son of a street sweeper may hold the key to the fate of the realm.

The last in line of a disgraced family, Whym accepts an apprenticeship with a master seeker his parents fear and revile. He soon finds himself entangled in a web of treachery and on a perilous journey to locate a creature of myth and magic.

Meanwhile, Quint, the privileged son of a powerful religious leader, abandons his faith and family to join the fight against a corrupt council. As the adviser to a remote tribe in the Fringe, Quint must find within himself the wisdom and fortitude to save the Dragonborn from an invading army – and their own leaders.

Recommended by:
Elevation Book Publishing: at BookExpo America

Elevation Book Publishing is a traditional publishing company, started to fill a void amongst writers, looking for honest people who understand their struggle. The company supports all aspects of the publishing process, utilising technology and employing professional, effective techniques to produce dynamic entertaining products. Their mission is to elevate talented writers and market books through multiple sales and distribution channels. They focus on creating partnerships with authors, editors, graphic artists, and others to accelerate time to market.

A Secret History of Witches
Louisa Morgan
(UK: Orbit, @orbitbooks, 2018; USA: Redhook, @orbitbooks, 2018)

Brittany, 1821. After Grand-mère Ursule gives her life to save her family, their magic seems to die with her. Even so, the Orchires fight to keep the old ways alive, practising half-remembered spells and arcane rites in hopes of a revival. When their youngest daughter comes of age, magic flows anew. The lineage continues, though new generations struggle not only to master their power, but also to keep it hidden. But when World War II looms on the horizon, magic is needed more urgently than ever – not for simple potions or visions, but to change the entire course of history.

Recommended by:
Redhook: at BookExpo America

Redhook is a commercial fiction imprint within the Orbit unit of Hachette Book Group: it published science fiction and fantasy titles. Orbit publishes across the spectrum of the genre – from action-packed urban fantasy to widescreen space opera; from sweeping epic adventures to near-future thrillers. The unit publishes approximately 40 titles each year from both established and debut authors.

Spinning Silver
Naomi Novik
(UK: Macmillan, @panmacmillan, 2018; USA: Del Rey Books, @DelReyBooks, 2018)

Will dark magic claim their home? … Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s too kind-hearted to collect his debts. They face poverty, until Miryem hardens her own heart and takes up his work in their village. Her success creates rumours she can turn silver into gold, which attracts the fairy king of winter himself. He sets her an impossible challenge – and if she fails, she’ll die. Yet if she triumphs, it may mean a fate worse than death. And in her desperate efforts to succeed, Miryem unwittingly spins a web which draws in the unhappy daughter of a lord.

Irina’s father schemes to wed her to the tsar – he will pay any price to achieve this goal. However, the dashing tsar is not what he seems – and the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of mortals and winter alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and Irina embark on a quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power and love.

Recommended by:
Candide Kirk, Founder, Novellic

Candide is a product and game designer, focused on digital media and publishing. She founded Novellic in 2014, an interactive app for creating, finding, joining and managing book clubs. It enables users to meet new friends who share their reading tastes and, through their chosen book club, to find the perfect next books to read. Under its former brand name Join Book Club, Novellic was shortlisted for the Publishing for Digital Minds Innovation Award at the London Book Fair in 2015. Candide also publishes occasional articles on books, games and digital media for The Huffington Post and various trade publications (including The Bookseller and the Digital Book World conference programme).

The Lord of the Rings
JRR Tolkien
(UK: HarperCollins, @HarperCollinsUK, 2007; USA: Mariner Books, @HMHbooks, 2012)

Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power – the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring – the ring that rules them all – which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins (Bilbo’s cousin) finds himself faced with an immense task, as the Ring is entrusted to his care. He must leave his home and make a perilous journey across the realms of Middle-earth to the Crack of Doom, deep inside the territories of the Dark Lord. There he must destroy the Ring forever and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

Recommended by:
Anita Maguire, Project Manager and Executive Assistant: Cosmoparticle Hub, Physics and Astronomy, UCL (University College London): at the inaugural Jolabokaflod Gala Party

Anita is the Project Manager at UCL supporting the Cosmoparticle Physics (CPP) Initiative at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, including the CASPEN exchange programme, and is also Executive Assistant to Hiranya Peiris, Professor of Astrophysics.

Rainbow’s End
Vernor Vinge
(USA: Tor Books, @tordotcom, 2007)

Robert Gu is a recovering Alzheimer’s patient. The world that he remembers was much as we know it today. Now, as he regains his faculties through a cure developed during the years of his near-fatal decline, he discovers that the world has changed and so has his place in it. He was a world-renowned poet. Now he is seventy-five years old, though by a medical miracle he looks much younger, and he’s starting over, for the first time unsure of his poetic gifts.

Living with his son’s family, he has no choice but to learn how to cope with a new information age in which the virtual and the real are a seamless continuum, layers of reality built on digital views seen by a single person or millions, depending on your choice. But the consensus reality of the digital world is available only if, like his 13-year-old granddaughter, Miri, you know how to wear your wireless-access through nodes, designed into smart clothes, and to see the digital context through smart contact lenses …

Recommended by:
Craig Dudley, Actor | Showreel: Craig Dudley; Artistic Director: The Ensemble Theatre Company of New York

The Day of the Triffids
John Wyndham
(UK: Penguin, @PenguinUKBooks, 2008; USA: Modern Library, @ModernLibrary, 2003)

When a freak cosmic event renders most of the Earth’s population blind, Bill Masen is one of the lucky few to retain his sight. The London he walks is crammed with groups of men and women needing help, some ready to prey on those who can still see. But another menace stalks blind and sighted alike. With nobody to stop their spread the Triffids, mobile plants with lethal stingers and carnivorous appetites, seem set to take control …

Recommended by:
Nick Hennegan, Artistic Director, Writer and Producer | Artistic Director: Maverick Theatre Company; Senior Writer and Producer: London Literary Pub Crawl; Writer: The Social Club Company

Nick has worked in the creative industries all his life and has a flair for conceiving new, popular, award-winning events, working with creative teams and generating new ideas. He has produced over 100 theatre shows in the UK and overseas, is currently seeking funding for The London Literary Pub Crawl, having won a Society of London Theatre bursary. He has written a number of acclaimed plays and he also handles social media for a number of brands across a number of sectors on a freelance basis. He also produces and presents the Literary London radio show on Resonance FM. He is always on the look out for new opportunities

	Christopher Norris on Secret Santa 2022
	Bronwyn on Secret Santa 2022
	Richard on Let’s get the Icelanders…

Please visit our Book Bulletin 2019 crowdfunding project at CrowdPatch to buy recommendations for our Winter 2019 catalogue and to volunteer your skills, experience and contacts. All funds raised will support not-for-profit Jolabokaflod CIC’s forthcoming programme of events.

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