So, last Thursday, the 23rd August, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Strange Chemistry launch party. I thought I'd write up a little account of what happened there and tell you a little bit about what Strange Chemistry is, if you've not heard of it before!
Strange Chemistry is a new exclusively YA imprint of Angry Robot books. They publish all kinds of YA - 'science fiction, fantasy and everything in between'. The first books from the imprint, Shift by Kim Curran and Blackwood by Gwenda Bond are launched in September, with more books coming each month following. Visit their website here to find out more!
About the event...
I met up with Liz from Planet Print and we walked around to The British Library, where the event was held. We met Nina from Death, Books and Tea and lots of other bloggers while we mingled with publicists and authors, chatting about good books and drinking wine, or in my case, water ;P Anyway, once we'd mingled for a while we were led into a room where we were told a little bit about Strange Chemistry and the books they would be publishing.
There were three readings - the first from Kim Curran, author of Shift (which is a BRILLIANT book if you haven't yet read it!), the second from Jonathon L. Howard, who wrote Katya's World, and then lastly, we had an exclusive reading from Laura Lam, the author of Pantomime, which isn't coming out until 2013 but sounds absolutely fantastic!
After that, we mingled some more, helped ourselves to the proofs and finished copies of the five lead titles (which I will tell you about below) and had some, um, interesting canapes... I'm sure they were very good canapes, if you like that kind of thing! I talked to Kim Curran and got my copy of Shift signed, and also had a great chat with Non Pratt from Catnip Books. Then it came to 8:15 and I had to leave to catch my train, but it really was a great evening and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to go!
A HUGE thank you goes to Amanda Rutter, the editor of Strange Chemistry for setting up and organising the whole event, it was amazing! I look forward to reading the forthcoming titles, so look out for my reviews in the future... Now, onto the books!
Shift by Kim Curran
When your average, 16-year old loser, Scott Tyler, meets the beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Jones, he learns he's not so average after all. He's a 'Shifter'. And that means he has the power to undo any decision he's ever made.
At first, he thinks the power to shift is pretty cool. But as his world starts to unravel around him he realises that each time he uses his power, it has consequences; terrible unforeseen consequences. Shifting is going to get him killed.
In a world where everything can change with a thought, Scott has to decide where he stands.
Blackwood by Gwenda Bond
On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.
Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.
Blackwood is a dark, witty coming of age story that combines America’s oldest mystery with a thoroughly contemporary romance.
Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings
15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn that being the daughter of a witch isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When she and her best friend, Marcus, witness an elderly lady jettisoned out the front door of her home, it’s pretty obvious to Julie there’s a supernatural connection.
In fact, there’s a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie’s high school, her mother falls victim to the spell Endless Night. Now it’s a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won’t just lose her mother’s soul, she’ll lose her mother’s life.
The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. And when Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn’t really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.
To break the curse, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks—all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic, and the growing romantic tension between them.
Katya's World by Jonathon L. Howard
The distant and unloved colony world of Russalka has no land, only the raging sea. No clear skies, only the endless storm clouds. Beneath the waves, the people live in pressurised environments and take what they need from the boundless ocean. It is a hard life, but it is theirs and they fought a war against Earth to protect it. But wars leave wounds that never quite heal, and secrets that never quite lie silent.
Katya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history like that, though. She is making her first submarine voyage as crew; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career.
There is nothing nice and simple about the deep black waters of Russalka, however; soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges. For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin, and when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet.
So, those are Strange Chemistry's lead five titles! A full list of their forthcoming titles can be found here.
And lastly, I have a little something for you! Amanda kindly gave me a goody bag full of little goodies and a couple of books to give away to one of you lucky readers! The bag contains a finished copy of Blackwood by Gwenda Bond and a proof copy of Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings. It also has some glow in the dark stars, pirate bubbles, a unicorn rubber, some flying saucers, and a Milky Way. Oh... And an Angry Robot USB stick, that contains:
- The first 50 pages of Broken by AE Rought, coming out in January
- The first 80 pages of Pantomime by Laura Lam, coming out in February
- The first 50 pages of Shift, Blackwood, Poltergeeks, The Assassin's Curse, and Katya's World
- Cover images of all books
And... It could be yours! Just enter the competition below, to be in with a chance of winning. Due to the large package, I can only open this giveaway to residents of the UK, sorry if you're international! The contest will run for a month, and there will be one winner. Thanks for reading and entering!
Strange Chemistry is a new exclusively YA imprint of Angry Robot books. They publish all kinds of YA - 'science fiction, fantasy and everything in between'. The first books from the imprint, Shift by Kim Curran and Blackwood by Gwenda Bond are launched in September, with more books coming each month following. Visit their website here to find out more!
About the event...
I met up with Liz from Planet Print and we walked around to The British Library, where the event was held. We met Nina from Death, Books and Tea and lots of other bloggers while we mingled with publicists and authors, chatting about good books and drinking wine, or in my case, water ;P Anyway, once we'd mingled for a while we were led into a room where we were told a little bit about Strange Chemistry and the books they would be publishing.
There were three readings - the first from Kim Curran, author of Shift (which is a BRILLIANT book if you haven't yet read it!), the second from Jonathon L. Howard, who wrote Katya's World, and then lastly, we had an exclusive reading from Laura Lam, the author of Pantomime, which isn't coming out until 2013 but sounds absolutely fantastic!
After that, we mingled some more, helped ourselves to the proofs and finished copies of the five lead titles (which I will tell you about below) and had some, um, interesting canapes... I'm sure they were very good canapes, if you like that kind of thing! I talked to Kim Curran and got my copy of Shift signed, and also had a great chat with Non Pratt from Catnip Books. Then it came to 8:15 and I had to leave to catch my train, but it really was a great evening and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to go!
A HUGE thank you goes to Amanda Rutter, the editor of Strange Chemistry for setting up and organising the whole event, it was amazing! I look forward to reading the forthcoming titles, so look out for my reviews in the future... Now, onto the books!
4th September:
Shift by Kim CurranWhen your average, 16-year old loser, Scott Tyler, meets the beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Jones, he learns he's not so average after all. He's a 'Shifter'. And that means he has the power to undo any decision he's ever made.
At first, he thinks the power to shift is pretty cool. But as his world starts to unravel around him he realises that each time he uses his power, it has consequences; terrible unforeseen consequences. Shifting is going to get him killed.
In a world where everything can change with a thought, Scott has to decide where he stands.
Blackwood by Gwenda BondOn Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.
Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.
Blackwood is a dark, witty coming of age story that combines America’s oldest mystery with a thoroughly contemporary romance.
4th October:
Poltergeeks by Sean CummingsIn fact, there’s a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie’s high school, her mother falls victim to the spell Endless Night. Now it’s a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won’t just lose her mother’s soul, she’ll lose her mother’s life.
The Assassin's Curse by Cassandra Rose ClarkeAnanna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan. But that only prompts the scorned clan to send an assassin after her. And when Ananna faces him down one night, armed with magic she doesn’t really know how to use, she accidentally activates a curse binding them together.
To break the curse, Ananna and the assassin must complete three impossible tasks—all while grappling with evil wizards, floating islands, haughty manticores, runaway nobility, strange magic, and the growing romantic tension between them.
8th November:
Katya's World by Jonathon L. HowardKatya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history like that, though. She is making her first submarine voyage as crew; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career.
There is nothing nice and simple about the deep black waters of Russalka, however; soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges. For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin, and when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet.
So, those are Strange Chemistry's lead five titles! A full list of their forthcoming titles can be found here.
And lastly, I have a little something for you! Amanda kindly gave me a goody bag full of little goodies and a couple of books to give away to one of you lucky readers! The bag contains a finished copy of Blackwood by Gwenda Bond and a proof copy of Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings. It also has some glow in the dark stars, pirate bubbles, a unicorn rubber, some flying saucers, and a Milky Way. Oh... And an Angry Robot USB stick, that contains:
- The first 50 pages of Broken by AE Rought, coming out in January
- The first 80 pages of Pantomime by Laura Lam, coming out in February
- The first 50 pages of Shift, Blackwood, Poltergeeks, The Assassin's Curse, and Katya's World
- Cover images of all books
And... It could be yours! Just enter the competition below, to be in with a chance of winning. Due to the large package, I can only open this giveaway to residents of the UK, sorry if you're international! The contest will run for a month, and there will be one winner. Thanks for reading and entering!
Sounds like it was a super fun launch party! I love the sounds of these books, especially Shoft by Kim Curran... Shifting sounds like a cool thing to read about! :)
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome. I really want a unicorn :-)
ReplyDeleteSam
www.freshfantasyfiction.blogspot.co.uk
Am dying to read Poltergeeks! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat Giveaway!!
ReplyDeleteThe Assassin's Curse sounds amazing! I definitely want to get my hands on that book :-) Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI really wanna read The Assassin's Curse!! It sounds soo cool!
ReplyDelete- Farah Maji Bookshelf
Shift looks really good and I like the concept of the undoing-decisions thing. Would love to read them ALL though! And unicorns are pretty damn cool. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time! And thanks for the giveaway :D (Though I just want the Unicorn... ;p)
ReplyDelete