Prometheus Books Enters the Mass Market Paperback Format With Series on Pyr Imprint

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jill Maxick
800-853-7545
jmaxick@prometheusbooks.com

November 10, 2008

Prometheus Books Enters the Mass Market Paperback Format With Series on Pyr Imprint

Three-book Science Fiction Series Planned in “Premium” Mass Market Size

Amherst, New York—In May 2009, Pyr, a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Prometheus Books, will publish Crossover: A Cassandra Kresnov Novel in the premium mass market paperback format, with dimensions of 4-1/8 inches x 7-3/8 inches and priced at $9.98. Premium mass market paperbacks are taller than the traditional premium mass market size, allowing for improved readability and cover image area. Crossover, by Australian author Joel Shepherd, was previously published in trade paperback in August 2006.

The Cassandra Kresnov novels Breakaway and Killswitch will follow at the same price and format, to be published in June and July 2009 respectively.

“We’ve had significant interest from the major booksellers in seeing Pyr enter the mass market format, and a great deal of interest in this trilogy in particular,” says Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders. “Joel’s series is smart, sexy, action-packed, and features a very well-rounded and admirable female lead. We’ve been very happy with their performance thus far in trade paperback, and feel they are especially suited to lead our charge into mass market, a perfect example of the type of smart, action-packed and engaging read that Pyr is becoming known for. I’m thrilled that Cassandra Kresnov is poised to entertain even more readers with her mass market debut.”

Cassandra Kresnov is a highly advanced hunter-killer android who defected from her League Dark Star special ops assignment, seeking the quiet life of a civilian, but then becomes unwillingly embroiled in dangerous interplanetary intrigue. Shepherd is known for his strong female protagonists, his gripping action sequences, and his rich depiction of Byzantine political machinations. Tobias S. Buckell, author of Halo: The Cole Protocol, called the series, “A blast to read,” while Publishers Weekly described it as “Robert Ludlum meets Elizabeth Moon.”

Plans for making some Pyr titles available in e-book format are also in the works.


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A Load of Catching Up to Do

Here's a whole handful of things worth passing on.

Michael Moorcock is interviewed on ActuSF. He talks about the genesis of the Sir Seaton Begg character from The Metatemporal Detective,as well as the challenge of envisioning Hitler as a character: "I’m interested in political understanding, not what is correct. In fact you HAVE to look at these things if you are doing your job as a writer. You have to ask the unasked questions!"

Kay Kenyon's A World Too Near,just out this month, gets a marvelous review courtesy of Jackie Cassada in the Library Journal: "Kenyon's sequel to Bright of the Skydelves deeper into the personalities of her characters. This volume by a strong storyteller with a fresh new approach to fantasy and sf belongs in most libraries."

Meanwhile, Kay's previous novel, Bright of the Sky, was chosen as a staff selection for the Book Group Buzz: A Booklist Blog which makes recommendations (and offers sample discussion questions) for book club. They say, "Kenyon has done a masterful job of world building. Her setting is worth reading about. Her characters are believable. Her plot is intriguing. The tone is somber and mean, and there is little that happens in this first book that is redemptive. Conflict is constant and some of the violence is hard to look at. Did I understand all the science? No. Was that important to me? No. This novel is so accomplished that a reader little interested in the mechanics of the world can still enjoy the universe Kenyon has created.
Would I read the next book in the series? You bet!"

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review takes a look at the first of Joel Shepherd's Cassandra Kresnov novels, Crossover,His conclusion: "I think the hype has been totally justified...I loved Crossover and haven’t had as much fun with a sci-fi book in a long time."

Finally, Of Science Fiction takes a look at Justina Robson's Selling Out.TexasBlueBoy apparently hates series, but he likes this one despite himself: "Ms. Robson's blending of pretty hard sci fi with classic fantasy elements is flawless. Her characters are all flawed in very human ways and therefore approachable if not downright likable. I really hate to admit it, but Pyr has brought out yet another great speculative work that deserves to be read."

No shame in admitting that, now, surely!

Crossover: A Very Angry Thing Running Fast

Chris, of the Book Swede & His Blog, has some nice things to say about Joel Shepherd's Crossover,including:

• "....a short, snappy writing style which makes the story always seem to be hurtling along at the speed of a very angry thing running very fast indeed."

• "In a book filled with action and drama, Joel Shepherd still managed to inject humour into situations at just the right moments..."
  

and

• "Breakaway(Book 2) is certainly on my must-read list."

He gives the book 9 out of 10.

The 2007 NYLA Annual Conference

This week, my parent company Prometheus Books are exhibiting at the 2007 NYLA Annual Conference "Libraries: Learning for Life," currently being held this October 17 -20, 2007 in Buffalo, New York. Our director of publicity, Jill Maxick, sends along these pictures of the Prometheus Booth, including a close up on the Pyr display. On hand for the show is Richard Snyder, Marcia Rogers, Lynn Pasquale, and the aforementioned Jill Maxick (pictured below.)


Jill reports: "It is PB's 'first-ever' NYLA conference and though exhibit floor traffic was slower than we'd hoped for (we were told that Eastern NYS conference locations are busier due to a higher concentration of library systems in the eastern districts of the state,) Pyr was extremely well-received. Many comments were made about the female action-oriented protagonists of both the Quantum Gravity and Cassandra Kresnov series, which is funny because I think you've recently blogged about the similarities in their appeal, no? Librarians also favorably commented on the durability for circulation of our trade paper bindings versus mass-market only titles. "

That's Crossover: A Cassandra Kresnov Novelby Joel Shepherd being given out in the stack to Jill's right. Meanwhile, here is a picture of the Pyr display, where I can spy a copy of the just-out The Metatemporal Detectiveby Michael Moorcock. I'm still waiting on my own copy - but it looks good, doesn't it?

Pyr Makes 3 of Pat's Fantasy Hotlist Top 5

Three must be a magic number, because Pat's Fantasy Hotlist has just posted their Top Ten Novels of 2006, and once again Pyr is on the list with three titles.

Ian McDonald's River of Gods comes in at # 4.
Joel Shepherd's Crossover is # 7.
And Sean Williams' The Crooked Letter is # 9.

Pyr is also given the "Best Thing Since Sliced Bread Award", with the comment that we are "a breath of fresh air in both the fantasy and science fiction genres."

Pyr Makes 3 of Bookgasm's Top 5 (point five)

Bookgasm has posted their list of the 5 Best Sci-Fi Books of 2006.

David Louis Edelman's Infoquakeand Joel Shepherd's Crossovertie for fifth place. And, in a list that includes Tobias S. Buckell, Kim Stanley Robinson, and John Scalzi, the number one spot is given to Ian McDonald's River of Gods.

Of Infoquake and Crossover, Ryun Patterson writes:

"This pair of books is a great example of what Pyr is doing right. Infoquake is a tech-heavy exercise in scientific speculation that combines economics, high technology and business mechanics into an all-too-human story of greed, loss and redemption. Crossover isn’t satisfied with being just another hot-chick-android-assassin book and goes for some heavy-duty characterization (not unlike what’s been going on in TV’s Battlestar Galactica) that makes the kicking ass that much more tremendous."

"It’s at once cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk, awash in the verbiage of globalization and emerging-markets uncertainty. As the story’s huge cast of characters tumbles toward their individual destinies in tomorrow’s India, it’s hard to believe that McDonald doesn’t have a time machine stored somewhere in his backyard..."

And they open the list with this comment about the Pyr imprint:

"The biggest story of the year, in my opinion, is Pyr’s rise to prominence as a high-quality sci-fi imprint. Pyr has managed to round up a stable of authors and titles that represents the cutting edge of sci-fi and backs it up with promotion and marketing that pretty much outdoes the other imprints out there. Bravo, Pyr. Here’s hoping for an even greater 2007."

Congratulations to all six authors. On this end, we'll certainly do our best to make 2007 even better than 2006.

Joel Shepherd's Waterstone's Page

Waterstone's in the UK is giving Crossover author Joel Shepherd his own author page, along with an online profile where he talks about "Vikram Seth, women's basketball, and Robert Heilein," among other things.

From the page:
Other than writing, what other jobs or professions have you undertaken or considered?

The most interesting thing I've actually done would be covering the women's basketball tournament at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 for an American internet magazine. Absolutely hectic, the only time I've ever worked 18-hour days. Considered? As a kid, I wanted to be a fighter pilot or airline pilot. Then, a movie director. Otherwise, I think I might have made a good Intel agent for CIA, ASIO - not a spy, just someone who analyses behind the scenes.

Waterstone's Top Ten SF Titles of 2006

Michael, the Science Fiction and Imports Buyer for the UK's Waterstone's books, has just posted his Top Ten SF Titles of 2006. I'm very gratified to see two Pyr titles making the list, Chris Roberson's Paragaea and Joel Shepherd's Crossover. Michael writes:

"Shepherd’s book is a high action, gritty techno thriller that reads like a cross between Ghost in the Shell and Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon, introducing the artificial human Cassandra Kresnov in her fight for the right to survive. Chris Roberson’s Paragaea is a wonderful homage to the planetary romances of authors like Edgar Rice Burroughs and features a Russian cosmonaut who crashes on an alternate world and ends up adventuring with a Napoleonic era British naval officer and a humanoid Jaguar man. Retro in every sense of the word, this is a wonderful story, beautifully realised and hugely entertaining."

The Importance of Being Ernest

Ernest Lilly reviews two Pyr books over on SFRevu. I'm glad that he seems to like both, while being upfront about what he sees as weaknesses in the works too. But I read these two reviews late last night, rather hurriedly/tiredly and didn't - I confess - glance at the byline. When I was done, I was struck by how remarkably well written they both were. As a former full-time, now occasional, journalist, I appreciate the well turned phrase, whether its being turned in the service of one of our authors or not. So when I read both reviews back to back, I wasn't surprised to discover both stemmed from the same source. Ernest is the Sr. Editor of SFRevu's as well, though by no means the only reviewer. But I wanted to pause to give a shout out to some good writing before continuing with your regularly scheduled Pyr plug. Now...

Ernest says a lot of good things about Alan Dean Foster's Sagramanda, which you can check out for yourself, though what struck me the most is his concluding remarks:

"Alan Dean Foster is a master of creating alien worlds for his protagonists to deal with, but his near future India is more complex and alien than anything he's attempted yet. That's the good news. The bad news is that it doesn't feel like India as much as it feels like one of his created worlds, though I admit I've never been there, and Foster, an accomplished world traveler, had undoubtedly done thorough research on the ground. In the end, Sagramanda's strength is the author's willingness to engage in cross cultural conversation with people who may well emerge as the technological leaders of this century, but it's only the beginning of a dialog which will hopefully lead to understanding on both sides. To achieve this, Foster needs to keep the story going for another few books, though Sagramanda has a stand alone feel to it."

The city of Sagramanda is definitely a character in its own right. I don't know that the other (human) characters from the book need to continue, though if New York has a million stories, a city of 100 million - even a fictional one - surely has a few more to tell, right? And Ian McDonald, who wrote the other big Indian novel out now, keeps spinning off new kyberpunk tales. Why not?

Meanwhile, Ernest puts Joel Shepherd's Crossover on his highly recommended list and includes a sidebar that notes the books similarity to Masamune Shirow's landmark work Ghost in the Shell. Again, I encourage you to go read the review for yourself, while I mull over something from his concluding remarks:

" I liked Crossover both for the hot cyber combat action and the chunks of exposition that the author drops from time to time. Call it perverse, but I think the discussion of technology and philosophy is one of the things that makes SF more interesting than mainstream fiction. As a result I'm all for spending a few paragraphs or even a page or two musing about the humanity of machines, or the cultural subtext of warfare, or why androids need breasts. A more aggressive editor might have trimmed this book back a bit, but I'm glad it didn't happen."

I don't know what I would have done if the manuscript had come in on loose leaf, as opposed to my taking on board a book that was published some years ago in another territory. For N. American debuts of existing work, unless the author expresses a strong desire to revise something specific into an "author's preferred edition," and not counting the correction of any typos that have come to light, I prefer our edition to match the original published edition for the sake of history. I know that if I bought a US book, then read that 50 pages were cut from the Australian or UK edition, I'd be rushing out to see what those 50 pages were. In fact, I held off buying the US edition of the aforementioned Masamune Shirow's latest work of manga, when I heard the US edition was missing 12 pages deemed too "mature" for an American audience.

But in Joel's case, I would like to think I would have resisted the urge to trim the fat here if I'd come to the work cold. For one thing, as Ernest points out, once you get through the first chapter, "the action comes fast and hot by the end and never lets up thereafter." For all the above talk of philosophy and grand ideas, this is one hell of an action story, with machine pistols blazing and bionic women leaping out of flying cars from hundreds of feet in the air. Joel really knows his combat, too, and manages to translate the kinetic feel of anime into prose better than I've ever seen done before. But what I always loved about the Shirow is the way that amid all the violence and hardware fetishization, suddenly the comic book will go into a discourse on geopolitical theory or some social/ethical concern and that's vital for the tone of the work as well.

Plus, I've cited Joel's book several times now, on blogs and on convention panels, as a perfect example of entertainment plus depth, in my ongoing insistence that these are not mutually exclusive concepts. Joel's work is rife with politics and philosophy, as well as sex and combat. Just like its clear inspiration, it manages to marry both rousing adventure and rousing speculation - and while not perhaps a perfect book by all assessments, I hope I would have recognized these asides as central to the work he was creating.

Now, with all these Ghost comparisons, it should be said that Shirow usually seems to insert these dialogues into the mouths of naked anime girls in a shower or massage scene. Joel, for his part, leaves out that slightly uncomfortable/puerile aspect, trading the somewhat exploitive scenes for a more mature, balanced portrayal of his many strong female characters. Oh, the sex is still there and then some, but it feels sexy not sexist; it's a sexuality that owes more to the well-drawn characterization and tension of something like the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle than it does to Shirow's work. Several female readers asked me recently, in fact, how Joel was able to write women so convincingly, and we not surprised to learn that he also writes about women's basketball as well. So, I guess what I'm saying is - remove the doll-like anime women from Ghost in the Shell, insert Lucy Lawless, equals great book.

Crossover Crossing Over to the Science Fiction Book Club

Joel Shepherd's Crossover is one of the featured alternative selections in this month's Science Fiction Book Club offerings. This is the first Pyr title to appear from the SFBC, so I'm very excited about it. For book club members, the link to their page is here.

Meanwhile, here's how the SFBC describes the book:

Captain Cassandra Kresnov, Dark Star special ops. A GI for the League—that's who she was in her old life. As if she could ever forget…

Cassandra is an artificial human being, one of the League's most sophisticated experimental creations. Designed to replicate human biology so closely that it's difficult to tell the difference, she is the perfect killing machine: stronger, more intelligent, more creative, and far more dangerous than any model that preceded her.

But with Cassandra's intellect come questions, and a moral awakening. As the war between the technologically advanced League and the conservative Federation winds down, she deserts the League for Federation space to forge an ordinary life on the planet Callay. She feels she can be happy in the glorious megatropolis of Tanusha, even though the Callayans take a dim view of artificial sentience. But that's before Federal Intelligence catches up with her….

Crossover @ SFFWorld

More love for Joel Shepherd's Crossover, this one from Rob H Bedford over at SFFWorld:

"With this novel, Shepherd ... joins the ranks of writers like Karen Traviss, Marienne de Pierres, and Elizabeth Bear.... The other balancing act Shepherd dances throughout the entire novel is between the thoughtful dialogue (both external and inner) and the slam-bang action sequences, the assassination attempt or the various skirmishes throughout the book. In many ways Crossover is a very visceral book, evoking strong and powerful thoughts and emotions, both of which Kresnov inspires in those who surround her.... What makes Crossover stand out is how plausibly and realistically Shepherd draws his characters. The dialogue between Kresnov and her new colleagues propel the narrative and plot very well. Their thought processes and reactions occur very logically and are on equal standing with the plot/action elements of the story. Crossover is a satisfying, engaging, and thought-provoking read from another great new voice from Pyr. The good thing is that Crossover is the first of three books. "

Something to Crow About x 4

Okay, apologies for the terrible pun, but SF Crowsnest has just posted not one, but four, positive reviews of Pyr books.

Geoff Willmetts reviews David Louis Edelman's Infoquake:

"Infoquake is practically a cyberpunk novel although unlike the works of William Gibson, author David Louis Edelman actually knows his subject and isn't prone to making errors with understanding programmers aren't drug addicts, cyberspace and nanotechnology... Edelman has done an excellent job of bringing characters to life for a new writer. He even made business deals interesting. This is also very high grade Science Fiction, using the trappings and then adding more. "

Tomas L. Martin reviews Joel Shepherd's Crossover:

"Crossover is a very intriguing first novel. The politics of the world feel real, complicated and full of power struggle. Shepherd has obviously gone out of his way to not make this a typical android/human story and Cassandra acts like a real person would, instead of pages of existential talk. This definitely helps the character feel fresh despite the number of times a similar effort has been tried....The climax of 'Crossover' is fantastic and the fact that Cassandra enjoys being stronger and more powerful rather than wanting to be simply human is of great credit to the book. She sees herself as an improved human and that seemed far more real to me than an artificial human wishing they were truly 'alive'.For a first novel, this is a very good one and with more books to follow Shepherd is definitely one to watch."

Eamon Murphy reviews Robert Silverberg's Star of Gypsies:

"Star Of Gypsies was first published in 1986, but it has not dated in any way. Silverberg is a master of his craft and doesn't put a foot wrong. Yakoub is a great character, full of vigour, humanity and passion. This is a wonderful space opera and I highly recommend it."

Plus a review by Paul Skevington of the UK edition of Justina Robson's Keeping it Real, (USS edition forthcoming from Pyr in March 2007):

"...more fun than a barrel of angry, viagra-spiked monkeys. ...In a way reminiscent of the RPG 'Shadowrun', Keeping It Real is an example of the type of fiction that takes all of the good bits of cyberpunk and fantasy and throws them into a microwaveable bag. Luckily, with Robson at the helm, the end result is a tasty treat that has none of those nasty solidified green peas in it... This is not the SF of ground-shaking ideas or head-spinning logic. It's a book that revels in pop culture, action, romance and the nuts and bolts of cyber-fantastical fun. For those familiar with the style, it's an enjoyable, engaging read but it would also function as an admirable entry-point to those who might think of SF as being a little sterile and off-putting. Book two is out next year, and I look forward to the scene where little roller-skates come out of Lila's feet during a chase sequence."

Two More Pyr books @ Pat's Fantasy Hotlist

Patrick returns with two more reviews at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. First, he says of Ian McDonald's River of Gods that "only on the rarest of occasions will I encounter a work that totally blows my mind. Hence, I'm pleased to report that Ian McDonald's River of Gods is one such works... Ian McDonald has written what could well be the best scifi novel in quite a while. River of Gods is definitely one of the books to read in 2006. For my money, it ranks among Hal Duncan's Vellum and R. Scott Bakker's The Thousandfold Thought as one of the best novels of the year."

Earlier, he calls Joel Shepherd's Crossover "a remarkable scifi debut," adding that "the novel is a fast-paced thriller with enough action sequences to satisfy anyone. And yet, there is also enough political intrigue to give this book a convoluted and well-executed plot. In addition, Shepherd manages to imbue the darker moments with the right amount of humor to make your lips curl up into a smile on more than one occasion."

Crossover Hits the (FantasyBook) Spot

Paul at FantasyBookSpot.com calls Joel Shepherd's Crossover "very enjoyable," and says:

"The prominent theme of Crossover is what makes a human, well, human, and what better way to explore this than through the mind of a lifelike android. It's been explored countless times in myriad mediums. What makes Shepherd's take different? His characters, especially Cassandra, they are what's worth reading for. Check out Crossover; it's a fun sci-fi thriller that is brimming with ideas and questions."

Paul also notes the similarities to Masamune Shirow's excellent graphic novel, Ghost in the Shell. What always impressed me about Ghost, both manga and anime, was the seemless integration of digital telepathy into - not just one or two protagonist's heads - but to every citizen of the entire world of the future. Shirow gave us a world where every conversation happened on multiple levels - digital images and text annotations popping up via wireless cyberbrain-to-cyberbrain communication in every dialogue. He managed to demonstrate what a paradigm shift even everyday communication becomes when we are all chipped. While much of the look and feel of Ghost in the Shell found its way into cinema in its appropriation by The Matrix, I'd not seen literary or cinematic SF deal with this singularity in verbal & nonverbal communication before. Without being derivative, Shepherd's Crossover impressed me in being the first SF (to my knowledge) to really take this onboard. That the book is loaded with sex and action sequences certainly doesn't hurt, and it's got wonderful characters and great world-building, but this was the aspect that first impressed me.

Crossover Love @ Bookgasm

Ryun Patterson of Bookgasm manages to nail exactly what I like about the book when he says, "Joel Shepherd has written a cool book in Crossover, both a kick-ass android political action tale and a deconstruction of humanity, with both aspects are equally rewarding."

After praising the book for its "ass-whooping" (obligatory in books about hot androids, natch), Patterson says, "It turns out that Shepherd has a few interesting ideas about what it means to be human, and as character after believable character is introduced and becomes a part of the quilt of Crossover’s central message, the impossible happens, and the combat is made that much more powerful because you start caring about everyone."

Which is further proof that butt-kicking and head-scratching need not be mutually exclusive.

Superman Gets Off Cheap

Joel Shepherd is interviewed over on Pat's Fantasy Hotlist concerning his hot new novel Crossover. They talk about his heroine Cassandra Kresnov, the "android cliche," awards vs readers, genre vs literary snobbery, Masamune Shirow, and what's wrong with Superman.

On the subject of writers he admires, Joel says: "CJ Cherryh was a big influence on me growing up, she was the first writer who demonstrated to me that head-burstlingly intelligent, and wickedly entertaining, were not mutually exclusive concepts."

Amen.

And thanks to Pat for this comment: "Pyr Books are slowly but surely establishing themselves as a quality outfit in the publishing world. More and more, the Pyr logo is associated with quality products and great reading experiences."

Thank you - that's very nice to hear.