An Interview with Michael Cobley
Hey guys and girls, David here! I have a real treat for you!
Michael Cobley
As you know I did a review for Micheal Colbey’s Seeds of Earth a few weeks ago, and soon after that i got in touch with Mike himself. He graciously agreed to do an interview with me and, well here it is.
Hope you enjoy it!
For those fans of the Shadowking Trilogy and undoubtedly the new Humanity’s Fire series, what have you been up to during the last few years leading up to where you are now?
Hmm, just dipping my head in the infostream of the world I guess. Well, to be more accurate, after the 3rd Shadowkings book, Shadowmasque, came out from Simon & Schuster, I was working on various outlines. The main one involved some storylines and concepts which will actually form the next Humanitys Fire epic. The trilogy commencing Seeds Of Earth actually came after those other ideas. Other things I was doing – being involved with the Liberal Democrat party, campaigning in Glasgow and surrounding areas, and even standing in a couple of local elections (didnt win).
(The obvious question) Where did Seeds of Earth come form? Did inspiration bludgeon you over the head one morning or was it something you had been mulling over in your head for some time.
As you see from above, SOE came about after some other groundwork had been done. Various ideas came together for it, though – SF space opera has a long and rich history and therefore has built up a fabulous store of imagery and concepts and notions which are just there for the taking! I love space opera and the sheer scale of it, across time and space and mind, and after the heroic fantasy I was ready for a total change.
Some of the reviews I have read, including my own one, for the Seeds of Earth novel talks about familiarities in some aspects of the story. Let’s clear this up, were there actually some main influences in your design of the story? Such as? Or where you just following your own train of thought and it just happened that these familiarities popped up.
Well, in terms of tone and flavour, I had David Brin’s Uplift War and Banks’ Culture books at the back of my mind – I admire them so much, but when those influences are filtered through my own experiences and technical abilities they are bound to become something else. Luckily, its become something that people are enjoying reading. As for the main story, well I suppose the idea of the rediscovered lost colony has been done before, but did those writers treat it the way I have, with the political aspects and the deep galactic background and the levels of hyperspace? Hmm, probably not! That’s the key, you see, when brainstorming ideas for writing, coming up with concepts that move you and which have not been done before either in certain ways or in combination with other ideas.
Even though you are currently involved with this sci-fi/space opera, do you think you will be doing another fantasy novel somewhere in the future?
I do have a few ideas for what could be another Shadowkings novel, or mebbe just a unique, stand alone fantasy novel. Just have to wait and see how that would pan out, set against all the other book and story ideas I want to grapple with.
Just for interests sake, what book are you reading currently, or is your time fully occupied with your own writings?
I’m always reading something, usually for about a hour before lights out at night. Went through a phase of madly reading every progressive politics book I could lay hands on, anything by Chomsky, or Greg Palast, Mike Davis, Naomi Klein, or Mark Curtis. Recently I reread the Orcs books by Stan Nichols, several David Gemmell books, and am reading Ian McDonald collection, Cyberabad Days. Waiting to be read I have Richard Morgan’s Black Man, Steve Erickson’s House Of Chains, and Jack Vance’s Galactic Effectuator.
Lastly, how about something to tickle the taste buds of our readers, and mine. Is there anything you can give-away about the follow-up to Seeds of Earth, something to make us sit on the edge of our seats with anticipation? Personally I can’t wait to see happens with the other 2 colonies, the enhanced and Robert’s whole journey.
Well, the title of book 2 is The Orphaned Worlds so basically it takes a closer look at what happened to the other two lost colonies, on Tygra and Pyre, what happened to the colonists there and how they dealt with their situations. Some dreadful truths will be revealed and certain realignments will take place. The Enhanced’s role becomes clearer and Corazon Talavera makes a reappearance. Robert Horst’s voyage through the bizarre levels of hyperspace takes him to the very brink of mortal danger, and then later comes into contact with the Achorga, known as the Swarm, the hiver species which almost destroyed Earth a century and a half ago.
Well there you go, hope you found it as interesting and revealing as i did. If you have not yet checked out the review I did you can find it here; there you will find links to order the book.
Once again i just want to say thanks to Mike for the doing it interview and all the best for the rest of your endeavors.
To get more info about Mike and his work, follow this link to his site, and also, check out this interview Mike did with Mark Chitty over at Walker of Worlds. 
Review: Hand of Isis – Jo Graham
I finished the last 100 pages of Hand of Isis this morning, when I woke up from a very weird dream at around half past 3 and couldn’t sleep anymore. I brewed up a cup of black coffee, got my cigarettes within reach, and settled in to read. Only when I set the book down did I realize that I hadn’t moved the whole time, except to reach for my long-empty cup and to light a cigarette; my bladder was killing me!
This is the kind of thing you can expect to happen to you, my friends, be forewarned!
And I don’t mean that only the last hundred pages will capture you – the entire book will! But you know, things like work, having to eat and sleep sometimes, they will keep you away for a short time. But you will always want to return to Hand of Isis.
First, let me tell you about what a mission it was to get hold of this book! I’d been following Jo Graham on her LiveJournal for a while already after reading and reviewing Black Ships, and I saw an announcement on there that she was having giveaways for Hand of Isis – all that we had to do was leave a comment and she would pick the winners from the comment. So I left my comment, gushing about how I couldn’t wait to read Hand of Isis, and Jo replied, saying that she would get the publishers to send me a copy since I was reviewer. The copy gets sent off, and I’m practically sweating in anticipation… It arrives at my local post office… Sits there for probably two months… And I’m there every few days, asking and checking whether it’s arrived… But the post office staff are so third-bloody-world and couldn’t be bothered to do their jobs properly and don’t look for the package, telling me it hasn’t arrived! So, in the end, it gets sent back, because I haven’t collected it!
Well, I moan and groan about it to Liz over at My Favourite Books – she get’s in touch with a certain wonderful lady over at Little, Brown, and the book gets sent – but the address I gave (the bookshop where I used to work) effectively ceases to exist because the store, and the whole company, goes bankrupt and closes down! 
No book. So I spill my sorrows on Liz again, and she gives me the wonderful lady at Little, Brown’s email address; after mailing her, explaining what happened and giving her my home address, I finally get the book! Then I finish the books I was busy with at that time and settle down to read…
Hand of Isis is, in a nut shell, about learning what one’s place is in life, and learning to love that life and accept what comes. We are introduced to Charmian who, as with Gull in Black Ships, will take us through the world Jo imagined. And through Charmian, we will meet Cleopatra, Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Antonius, and a host of other characters, some of which seem comfortingly familiar… The tale that unfolds will echo in the hearts of everyone who reads the book because we’ve all been in the same situations the characters are placed in, and you will sink away into the story…
It’s easy, from the get-go, to see how comfortable Jo is in her writing, now; not that she wasn’t comfortable in Black Ships – her debut possessed a raw and fetching beauty, as Cleopatra was in her younger years, but Hand of Isis possesses the stately, knowledgeable and serenely confident beauty of Cleopatra after Gaius Julius Caesar. Jo knows now what she is capable of, having tested the waters, and I’m certain that we will be in awe of Stealing Fire, her next book, when it hits the shelves.
Everything that we came to admire about Jo’s writing has become orders of magnitude better – her characters are beautifully realized, so much so that you’ll find yourself wanting to actually meet them, observe them, talk with them. Having watched the HBO series Rome, read Asterix and Cleopatra and also read Conn Iggulden’s Emperor: The Gods of War, I’ve come to know many different incarnations of Cleopatra, Caesar, Mark Antony, as have many of you, I’m sure; the versions that live in Hand of Isis seem somehow more personal, as if we’ve been given an intimate glimpse of the real people behind the historical figures. Some, like Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius) surprised me, others gained greater stature (Gaius Julius Caesar), and others I fell in love with (Charmian and Cleopatra herself). One of the marks of storytelling that will be long-remembered is the ability to create characters that live in your imagination, and consequently, your heart, and Jo’s has such a talent at this that if it could be solidified and prepared, a pyramid could be constructed!
The worldbuilding in Hand of Isis, too, is far beyond what Jo achieved with Black Ships; the Alexandria of Charmian and Cleopatra is vibrant, beautiful, and immense, a character in itself with its own rhythms and moods. Even Rome is amazing! But the worldbuilding never drowns out the progress of the tale or the characters, either; it immerses you in the scents, sounds, sights and flavors of that time so that every page springs up like a 3-D landscape that you yourself travel through.
This is a tale to savour, to sink into, and to remember and fall in love with. Expect to be surprised by the strength and Jo’s vision, expect to book tickets with a time-travel agency to spend a few weeks in Cleopatra’s Egypt (and if you know of such an agency, let me know!), expect to feel all the emotions the characters feel, expect to feel and odd disappointment at the end of the book because you didn’t want it to end, and expect the shedding of tears…
I highly, highly recommend Hand of Isis to anyone, everyone, who loves good storytelling, wonderful characters, history-buffs (even though I’m not one and cannot speak to the historical accuracy of the novel), hopeless romantics… You will all love this book!
C’mon, Jo! Stealing Fire! I need it!
9/10
Books I’m looking forward to!
Hey guys and girls, thought I’d let you know what I’ve got lined up to read and review for the next few months.
Got these all through from various publishers in the post, except for one, which the author himself sent me.
I’ve almost done with Hand of Isis, so as soon as I’m done with that (awesomewonderful) book, I’ll be reading:
(I’m also going to be reading Avempartha, but don’t have the physical book to show you)
Starfinder (John Marco himself signed and sent it to me!)
Nights of Villjamur (Macmillan)
Patient Zero (Jonathan Ball)
Return of the Crimson Guard (Random House)
The Magician’s Apprentice (Little Brown, Orbit)
Best Served Cold (Jonathan Ball)
The Steel Remains (Jonathan Ball)
Shadow of the Scorpion (Pan Macmillan)
Graceling (Jonathan Ball)
If there’s anything you think I should move up the reading list, drop me a comment. Except for Starfinder, Nights of Villjamur and Avempartha, those I’m reading first.
Be Fantastic!
Announcing the Winner of the Red Gloves Giveaway: Redux
Hey guys and girls, due to some unfortunate confusion I’ve had to choose a new winner for the Red Gloves giveaway (don’t jump and cheer like that!), and without any further ado, here’s the new winner:
Congratulations to Lauren Christie!
Lauren’s book will be in the post within the next few days.
But don’t forget, there’s a new giveaway, too!
Be Fantastic!
Giveaway: Swiftly – Adam Roberts
That’s it, guys and girls of South Africa, here’s another giveaway for you!
This giveaway is for readers in South Africa only, sorry the-rest-of-the-world!
Thanks to Elmarie and Donna at Jonathan Ball Publishers I have two, that’s right, TWO copies of this very intriguing title to give-AWAY! That means that instead of 1 lucky winner, there’ll be TWO lucky winners!!
You all know what to do to enter – just leave a comment on this blog-post! You don’t need to leave your email address or physical address, I’ll get that from you later, and there are programs and people out there who’ll use that info to try and take over the world. 
The rules are the same:
1. You may not enter if you work for a publisher; the publishing business here in SA is pretty small when compared to operations overseas, and everybody knows practically everyone else.
2. Only one entry per person, please; it wouldn’t be fair if someone with more than one email address entered with all of them and won, so please don’t do that, k?
Here’s the book’s cover:
And here’s what the book is about:
It is 1848 and the British Empire has grown rich exploiting Lilliputian slaves – the finesse of their working allowing unheard of feats of minature engineering; even Babbage’s computing device has been made to work.
But now the French have formed a regiment of previously peaceful Brobdingnagian giants and invasion looms.
In a world where humanity is both smaller and larger than it once was, love and hate loom large. Mankind discovers itself at the centre of scale. Lilliptians are twelve times smaller than us but there are those twelve times smaller than them, and twelve times smaller again and so on. And the scale of being goes up from Swift’s giants also…
A rip-roaring 19th century adventure, a love story and a thought-provoking pre-atomic SF novel about our place in the universe.
Taken from Adam’s site.
Click this link to check out Adam’s website, and click here for a review!
This competition will run from today until the 1st (first) of May! So get your entires in and spread the word!
Be Fantastic!
The Wheel of Time: Graphic Novel Preview – Dragonmount
WOW! That’s all I can say! And perhaps I-CAN’T-BLOODY-WAIT! Have a look for yourself:
I love the colours and the painting-style of the artwork! I was wrong about a few things -Bel Tine has already passed, etc- but it’s great to see that we’ve finally glimpsed Rand, Mat and Egwene.
Looks wonderful!
Thanks to BookSpotCentral for the link (well, I saw it there and now I’m posting it here too), and keep an eye on Dragonmount.com and Dabel Brothers – they’ll surely have more info or pics closer to May’s release date!
Be Fantastic!
Announcing the Winner of the Red Gloves Giveaway!
That’s right, guys and girls, I’ve randomly chosen the winner of the Red Gloves Giveaway!
Come closer….
Que drum-roll….
And the winner is…
Christina Brunetti!!
Congratulations, Christina! I’ll be posting your book off to you today, so keep an eye out for it in the post!
Thanks to everyone else for entering the competition, but unfortunately there could only be one winner! And if you’re wondering how I chose the winner, check out this website!
This giveaway was brought to you by the great people at Jonathan Ball Publishers, namely Elmarie and Donna.
Wheel of Time Graphic Novel Preview: My Thoughts
I know this news is old but I thought I would revisit it and offer my thoughts on the preview.
First off, the cover:
Amazing! Our first sight of in-novel Lews Therin Telamon and he looks great! The muscles don’t bug me at all – after all, the Forsaken Sammael was a big man, too, and both had always been described as similar. I also like (yikes, might be the wrong word, lets change that, shall we?) feel Lews’ pain through the expression on his face – you can see by his slightly raised arms that he feels utterly helpless and shattered. I like his garments, too – not too ostentatious, and the ancient Aes Sedai symbols look great! We also see Ilyena Sunhair for the first time, although I s’pose it’s not much of a view. One mistake, though: the painting or tapestry on the wall to the right (probably a painting) shouldn’t be damaged. It was driven home in the Prologue how Lews’ insanity-driven channelling hadn’t touched the various artworks in his home. And it would have been cool to at least see Elan Morin Tedronai’s shadow lying across Lews. But overall, awesome!
First Image after the cover:
Now, I’m not sure if this is part of the Prologue comic but it would make sense if it is – this is obviously based on the short piece added to the split-edition of The Eye of the World, in which we meet younger versions of the gang. That’s obviously Egwene, just having returned from a well or the river (probably the river, since I can’t think that a well would be outside Emond’s Field). The Raven is cool, as is the tree. I wouldn’t be surprised if the veiny things, vines or whatever, will be a colour evoking decay and corruption, reminding us of Shaitan. I’m also very glad that her hair isn’t braided!
Second Image after the cover:
I really like this one, makes me wonder if there isn’t some foreshadowing going on? Three trees have now been revealed and with the Raven they could symbolize the Seanchan, Egwene’s future enemies in the Rebel Aes Sedai camp, and her enemies in Tar Valon (these all being the trees), while the Raven represents Shaitan. What do you think?
Third Image after the cover:
Our first view of Emond’s Field and Tam al’Thor! (IMO) Somehow I was expecting a bigger view of Rand’s hometown, but maybe that’s being left till when Rand and Tam arrive with Bela, so that the whole Winternight episode carries more weight. And my logic tells me that Rand is the small kid closest to Tam.
Fourth Image after the cover:
But then this image makes me think that maybe this entire scene is taking place on the Al’Thor farm? If that’s the case, then maybe we have to brace ourselves for some changes to the narrative.
Fifth Image after the cover:
Rand, Mat and Perrin? My guess is: Mat is the one leaning against the fence-post, Rand is the one standing with his hand on the sheep, and Perrin is the one with the longer hair (from the first panel). Anyone know for sure?
Sixth Image after the cover:
First glimpse of Bran Al’Vere? (Last panel) Can’t imagine what he’d be doing in a sheep-pen though? But then I realize he may be a judge and that it’s Bel Tine!
Seventh Image after the cover:
The real Tam? Seems a better Tam than my first guess. Preparing to tell them about the War of the Powers…
Eighth Image after the cover:
Very cool image! Trollocs trollocs trollocs!! And war and flames and male Aes Sedai in battle!
Ninth Image after the cover:
I like how they’ve done this, showing the action behind Rand and the rest – more foreshadowing? Death and destruction following in Rand’s wake as he tries to unify the world for Tarmon Gai’don?
Tenth Image after the cover:
First glimpse of Cenn Buie? And I’m thinking Egwene made a remark about Tam’s tale that drew their attention to her. And are those more ravens streaming up out the forest?
I’m pretty damned pumped for this! Cannot wait to see the finished product!
Be Fantastic!
Dark Horse Comics News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DARK HORSE OFFICIALLY JOINS THE DIAMOND FOC PROGRAM!
APRIL 13, MILWAUKIE, OR–Dark Horse officially announces participation in the Diamond “Final Order Cutoff” program, or “FOC” for short. Dark Horse first announced the intent to participate in this program at last fall’s Diamond Retailers summit in Las Vegas, Navada to a roar of applause heard throughout the casino.
Dark Horse’s final FOC dates will be tied to the calendar day twenty days before the Diamond on-sale date for comics, and approximately three months for graphic novels. Dark Horse will begin including FOC dates for some of our line as early as the May 2009 edition of Diamond’s Previews catalog.
“We are pleased to announce this move to the FOC,” Dark Horse President, Mike Richardson stated. “As every comics retailer knows, times are tough. It is important that Dark Horse not only support them with great product, but with our best efforts to make their ordering decisions as easy as possible. This system will help every retailer who orders Dark Horse product and should lead to better business for all of us.”
Dark Horse hopes that participation in the program will help to further instill confidence in the publisher’s consistently strong lineup of releases and continued commitment to the direct sales market in an ever-changing economy.
Dark Horse’s FOC program will begin on Monday, April 20.
Jeremy S. Atkins
Director of Public Relations
Dark Horse Comics
Review – Seeds of Earth – Michael Cobley
Posted by David:
The second book i have to tell everyone about is Seeds of Earth by Michael Cobley, the first book in the Humanity’s Fire series.
When I say Michael Cobley, you might remember a heroic fantasy series form a few years ago, the Shadowking Trilogy. Yes it’s the same Michael Cobley but he has made a leap form heroic fantasy to a big space opera.
Ok so this story basically runs something like this:
Earth is faced with an alien invasion at the hands of The Swarm, and in a last desperate attempt to survive they launched three colony ships.
150 years later the decedents of the colony ship Hyperion made a new home for themselves on the world Darien, alongside their new and enigmatic allies the Uvovo, denizens of the planet’s forest moon.
Suddenly the colonists lives are turned up-side down when they receive a message form an Earthshpere vessel on its way to Darien, along with their strange allies the Sendruka Hegemony, who seem to posses their own devious agenda.
An ancient device is found on Darien possessing unimaginable power; a mechanical leviathan awakens across the galaxy with dark intent; the other colony ships will be found and the Darien colony must hide a dark and powerful secret; will the galaxy be drawn into a new interstellar war?
What can I say, I loved this book and I cant wait for the next one The Orphaned Worlds.
Ok, first of all the simple things in life; the chapters are short and each one is titled with the name of the character you will be following in that chapter. This makes it easy to follow the several lead characters in the story and helps avoid you getting lost or confused.
The world created by Michael is vast and I do mean vast, containing multiple alien species, alliances, histories, cultures, shapes and sizes. The aliens are distinctly alien and the words are unpronounceable.
There are several elements that are very familiar and takes me back to things like the Zerg from Starcraft as the Swarm, the colony ships as a last desperate attempt to save humanity and so forth. This might rob the sense of uniqueness but personally I found no problem with it.
On the opposite side there are many aspects that are very creative as well, such as the theory of hyperspace and its multi-layers, the warpwell ( not telling you what that is) and the uvovo themselves.
The plot is very well laid out with lots of twists and turns as the story proceeds. Even though there are multiple characters each with their oven storyline, Michael keeps them well apart, and when they meet up it’s perfectly done.
The characters are well formed and relatable, and easy to fall in love with; my personal favorite was Chel the uvovo, and Kao Chih, a colonist form one of the other colony ships on a desperate and dangerous mission to reach Darien. Each character has just enough mystery, drama, action or suspense tied to them to make you come back time and time again.
Now the biggest complaint I had was the complexity of the story at times; like I said Michael creates a big world with layer upon layer of detail which can become a little overwhelming at times. But the breaks I took between reading sessions grew shorter and shorter the deeper I plunged into the story.
All in all this was a rich, well laid out read that was definitely not a disappointment.
Sure it has it’s flaws but then again it also has some amazing space battles, later on in the book, and intriguing mysteries, to ensure you stay reading right from the start of the book.
Well done Michael!
I give it a well deserved 8/10
You can check out an interview with Michael Cobley here.
Not sure if the book is out here in SA yet, guys and girls, but it should be out sometime this month at your closest Exclusive books.
Also, if you want to find out more about Michael, visit his blog by clicking this link, and go ahead and order yourself a copy!
