My favourite Sci Fi and Fantasy 2024

Midwinter greetings.

The year isn’t over yet, so more might be added before 31st December.

TBR/L Pile books

Blog Tour Books

Tomorrow’s Children, by Daniel Polansky
When The Night Falls, by Glenn Rolfe
The Garden of Delights, by Amal Singh
Jubilee, by Stephen K Stanford
The Hunter’s Gambit, by Ciel Pierlot
Key Lime Sky, By Al Hess
Ludluda, By Jeff Noon & Steve Beard
Symbiote, by Michael Nayak – not yet published – blog tour in January/February 2025

Non-fiction TBR/L

Review: Ludluda, by Jeff Noon & Steve Beard

Release Date: 2024-12-03
EBook ISBN: 9781915998323 | epub & mobi | £5.99/$9.99/$11.99
Paperback ISBN: 9781915998316 | Paperback | £9.99 / $17.99 / $23.99

Ludluda, the sequel to Gogmagog, takes us on a haunting and delightfully witty adventure in a fantasy world which defies genre.

Luluda tells the story of a journey through a strange modern city whose power is sourced from the ghost of a dragon. Ludwich may no longer be at war with its great political rival overseas, but veteran sailor Cady Meade, survivor of many battles, suspects that the hard-won peace is about to break. She promises to deliver a preternatural ten-year old girl to a coming-of-age festival in the heart of Ludwich. But she has been warned by the prophets that dangers lie ahead.

Cady suspects that the young girl’s fate is entwined with that of the city. When the girl disappears, the old sailor must hunt her down, accompanied by a know-it-all mechanical man whose circuits are slowly grinding to dust. But Cady’s mission has always been to guard Ludwich from enemies both known and occult, and she will never give up.

Following the course of the River Nysis through the city, and beyond, Cady must uncover the final mysteries of the great dragon Haakenur’s life and death and afterlife. Her greatest battle is about to begin.

Angry Robot Sci-fi panel at Foyles

I reviewed Gogmagog in March and will be reviewing Ludluda later this month.

This duology by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard is a sea-faring adventure that has tapped into the minds & hearts of readers who love strange and mythical perspectives on the UK. Ahead of Ludluda‘s publication, Angry Robot is excited to announce the very first in-person event with Jeff & Steve. Who better for them to be talking to then the fantastic Adrian Tchaikovsky! The panel will be chaired by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Dr Una McCormack.

Join them at 7pm on Tuesday 3rd December for a wonderful chat and evening with special, exclusive, tote bags of goodies for attendees!

Tickets & full details are available here.

For an indie publisher like Angry Robot, an event at Foyles in December is a

big deal

I’m very pleased for them and wish I could get to it, because I would love to get my copies of Gogmagog, Ludluda, and Vurt signed. However, London in December is not my idea of fun – there are too many people doing their shopping and it’s rather expensive to stay in London in December. Plus, train tickets less than four weeks out will be extortionate.

However, I really hope people who can get there will go, and have a great time.

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Review: Gogmagog, by Jeff Noon & Steve Beard

13th February 2024 | 9781915202826 | Paperback | £9.99 / $17.99 / $23.99

Gogmagog tells the story of an epic journey through the sixty-mile long ghost of a dragon.

Travel is by boat, a rickety steam launch captained by veteran taxi pilot Cady Meade, on the river Nysis. In her heyday Cady carried people and goods from the thriving seaports of the estuary into Ludwich, the capital city. Now she’s drunk, holed up in a rundown seaside resort, telling her bawdy tales for shots of rum.

All that’s about to change, when two strangers seek her out, asking for transport, one of whom – a young girl – is very ill, and in great danger. The other, an artificial being of singular character, has secrets hidden inside his crystal skull. So begins the voyage of the Juniper.

The Nysis is unlike any other river. Mysteries unfold with each port of call. Not many can navigate these channels, not many know of its whirlpools and sandbanks, and of the ravenous creatures that lurk beneath the surface.

Cady used to have the necessary knowledge, and the powers of spectral navigation.

But her glory days are well behind her now. This might well be her final journey.