Two new novels from Paul Kearney

Paul Kearney has two new novels in the pipeline. First up is Umbra Sumus, a Warhammer 40,000 novel about Space Marines, which is a stand-alone right now but has sequel potential. The novel features a new chapter of Space Marines and is tentatively planned for publication by the Black Library at the end of 2014 or start of 2015.

Paul has also been contracted for a new novel by Solaris. The Wolf in the Attic is a stand-alone fantasy novel and will be set in Oxford in the 1930s. From the sound of it, it marks Kearney's return to the stand-alone, less epic kind of storytelling of his first three novels. The blurb is as follows:

The novel is set in very early 1930′s Oxford, features Tolkien and Lewis as characters, and is told from the point of view of a lonely 11 year old girl. She’s Greek, a refugee from the sack of Smyrna, and one day discovers a Romany boy in her attic. The boy is a shape-shifter, and becomes her friend. The two begin to explore the world around Oxford, discovering things they never imagined existed. The girl, Anna, is obsessed by the Odyssey, and likens the Romany boy, Luca, to Odysseus.

The Wolf in the Attic will be published in Autumn 2015.

Paul talks about the process that led to the writing of the new novel here, and discusses his recent backlist reissues and Umbra Sumus here.

New Paul Kearney cover art

Solaris have unveiled the cover art for their second reprint of Paul Kearney's opening three novels. The Way to Babylon will be published on 27 May, 2014.

Solaris also have an art blog about the creation of the cover. Please note that there is an error in that blog post: Kearney's first three novels are stand-alones, not part of a longer series (though they do share a couple of thematic ideas). This is the second of Paul's first three, stand-alone novels to be reprinted, following A Different Kingdom (due in January 2014) and to be followed by Riding the Unicorn (due in late 2014).

Paul is currently working on a new novel (and potentially and tentatively a new series) which I think will excite a lot of SFF fans, which he hopes to be able to tell us more about very soon. And no, it's not related to the Sea-Beggars series, which remains in limbo until Bantam USA sort themselves out.

Update on Paul Kearney's SEA-BEGGARS series

As long-term readers may recall, back in 2007 Bantam Books decided to drop Paul Kearney's nautical fantasy series The Sea-Beggars after two books, citing disappointing sales. Kearney was picked up by Solaris who published a new trilogy (the excellent Macht series) and reprinted his earlier, classic Monarchies of God series. The expectation was that, in time, Solaris would also be able to both reprint and complete The Sea-Beggars.

In March 2011 it was announced that this would indeed be the case: Solaris would reprint the two existing books, The Mark of Ran and This Forsaken Earth, in an omnibus complete with the brand-new third and concluding volume, provisionally entitled Storm of the Dead. To make this possible, the Bantam editions had to go out of print and Bantam had to agree to give the rights back to the author.

Unfortunately, since then there has been radio silence on the matter. It can now be confirmed that the Sea-Beggars omnibus is on indefinite hold, and may not appear at all. This is due to additional contractual and legal wrangling. Whilst Bantam UK gave up the rights as planned, Bantam Spectra in the USA refused. A check of Amazon.com reveals that the two existing Sea-Beggars books are still in-print and selling in the United States, which is presumably why Bantam Spectra have decided to hold onto the rights.

If the books are still selling well enough in the USA for Bantam to want to hold onto them, this would theoretically suggest that they might be interested in publishing the third and concluding volume as a stand-alone novel. However, this is apparently not the case. If the books are not selling well enough to warrant Bantam publishing a third volume, then it is unclear why they would want to hold onto the rights to prevent the series being completed elsewhere. If the series is selling well enough to warrant hanging onto the rights, then it is unclear why Bantam would not be interested in publishing a third volume as well. As it stands, it appears that the fans who have been waiting seven years for a conclusion to this series will have to keep waiting due to the inscrutable machinations of publishing houses.

On the bright side, Solaris are reprinting Paul's first three, stand-alone novels starting in January. Here's an art blog where they talk about the process of the creating the splendid cover art to A Different Kingdom. We may also get some news on new material next year as well.

Paul Kearney cover art

Solaris Books are reprinting Paul Kearney's best novel, A Different Kingdom, on 28 January 2014. They have unveiled the striking cover art:

And yes, they've spelt Steven Erikson's name wrong in the blurb. Hopefully they fix it before it comes out.

Solaris to publish Paul Kearney omnibus in early 2014

Though not the one you're likely thinking of.

Solaris has purchased the reprint rights to Paul Kearney's first three novels: The Way to Babylon, Riding the Unicorn and A Different Kingdom, and will be publishing these as an omnibus in early 2014.

The status of Kearney's omnibus of The Sea-Beggars, which will include the brand-new third and concluding volume of the trilogy, Storm of the Dead, remains unclear.

These early novels of Kearney were different from his later work, which was historically-influenced epic fantasy. They featured people from the real world crossing into a fantastical one, with A Different Kingdom being more of an Irish take on Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood (without being derivative of it). The three books are also independent of one another and are not part of the same series.