So. After about three thousand years, the Wolfskin finally has an official release date:
March 3, 2026.
And yes, it is available for pre-order.
(The copy description has massive spoilers in it, so unless you’ve finished Blindspace, I do not recommend reading it!)
I do not exaggerate when I say that Wolfskin is the best thing I’ve ever written. The character arcs, the storylines, the set-pieces, even the prose, just works. Never before have I written something so epic, so brutal, so heart-wrenching. It is, in my humble and totally unbiased opinion, a damn good book.
Yes, it’s taken a long time to come out. But that’s given me the time to make sure that what I’ve put down is my absolute best, and my exact vision for the story. Again, it is my best book.
However, because of various reasons, including things that are totally beyond my control, my career is not the best place at the moment. Wolfskin is still coming out, but after that? I don’t know. Things are unclear. I’ve suffered a lot of sleepless nights because of it, and there have been days where I’ve contemplated giving up this gig for good.
I’m not giving up. But that also means that I cannot afford to hold back, either.
So. I am going to ask you all to please pre-order Wolfskin.
Pre-orders are disproportionately helpful for authors. It helps the book trade to gauge the interest on a book, or a series. The more pre-orders there are, the more copies get printed. The more copies get printed, the more the publisher has to work to sell said copies, and the greater likelihood of those copies selling.
I kinda hate that I have to weigh all these things up instead of, you know, writing. But that’s the business we’re in.
So, any and all pre-orders and support is much, much appreciated.
If you cannot pre-order it, then there’s a lot of other things you can do for Wolfskin and for the Common series. You can buy them. Ask your local library to purchase them. Tell others about them. Review them on Amazon and Goodreads. Sacrifice goats on an altar of black stone in their name.
Not sure about the last one, but you can always give it a go.
If you are a reviewer with a blog/review channel/BookTube/Instagram account, please get in touch with me and I’ll get my publisher to send out a review copy to you.
It’s been a hell of a long journey, for me and Vakov both. But we’re nearly at the end of his story. I hope that you’ll all stand by my side and see it through to the end.
It’s been a little while since I’ve done one of these so I thought I’d just provide a mid-year update.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my career and my brand as an author. I’ve published. 40 short stories over 10 years across all genres of speculative fiction. But I’m mostly known as a writer of science-fiction. More specifically, novels in the military SF/space opera region. And while I’ve enjoyed my time immensely in with the Common Saga, it is no accident that the books became progressively more space opera as they went along. I don’t particularly want to be known as the guy who writes science fiction. I want to be a Jack of all trades, someone who branches out, who is versatile, who’s able to write in a variety of styles and genres and voices, a la Adrian Tchaikovsky.
It is no secret that some publishers are generally wary of this. I have some strong feelings about that, but the point is that I feel that writers should be able to write whatever they like, at whatever stage they are in their careers, regardless of what’s “expected” of them.
My tastes have always been broad, and I want those tastes to reflect in the books that I write: science fantasy, epic fantasy, space opera, secondary world fantasy, whatever. Limiting myself to one genre limits my readership and my growth as a writer.
So you are unlikely to see a book from me anytime soon that’s in the same style of Stormblood: straight SF, noirish, cyberpunk-adjacent, with a thriller/mystery element. I’m being beckoned to write things that are epic and sweeping and grandiose, and I feel like I’m much more comfortable in such a space.
Does that mean I’m leaving SF behind? No. Not at all. But I am expanding my horizons. And I’m excited about what’s to come.
So. Book updates.
First up, Wolfskin. I do not yet have a release date for the book. I delivered the full edited version to my publisher in mid January and I have since been waiting to receive my line edits. Publishing being what it is, things are moving at a glacial rate. I wish that I had news for you, but I don’t yet, since my publisher wants to hold off on pining anything down until they give me my line edits for Wolfskin. But the story is 99% locked-in, and I’m confident that once the edits do come in, it’ll be smooth sailing. By then I will hopefully be able to start sending out proof copies to reviewers – cue the mix of exhilaration and anxiety that comes from releasing a new baby out into the big wide world.
But I have not been idle. Oh no.
The past year I’ve been chipping away at my new book, tentatively entitled “Rage”. I got a first draft nailed down about a month and a half ago, but I’ve since run into, shall we say, some existential crisises about the book (see the first half of this post). Where it sits in the genre. What readership it will appeal to. I don’t really want to be more specific than that, but I will say that my comparisons to it include The Red Rising Saga, House of the Dragon, The First Law, and Sun Eater.
Why I love all my books equally. I do think that there’s something truly special about this one, and I’m hoping to make it the next book that I traditionally publish.
Here is the tiniest of sneak peeks:
Part 1
“The Wolves have no King”
– The Cinder Knight, before his execution
However this book comes out, I think it will mark a turning point in my career, and will hopefully be exciting for readers, both old and new.
But because there ain’t no rest for the wicked, that’s not all I’ve been working on.
I’ve been chipping away at a straig-up secondary world fantasy with a female protagonist. This book, I’d say, sits firmly at the intersection between Scott Lynch, Baldur’s Gate 3 and Adrian Tchaikovsky. I’m definitely playing a lot faster and loose with the structure, and the freedom of it is both exhilarating and a little scary, but I am enjoying the process of seeing this world unfurl before my eyes.
I don’t know what I’m gonna do with it when it is done, but I’m gravitating towards self-publishing it. We’ll see.
As I’ve already mentioned, in late 2023 I suffered a nailgun injury to my left hand. This, of course, is a big deal for a writer, especially as my career, and my life, has been greatly impacted as a result.
I’m not totally ready to discuss what’s transpire over the past 19 months. But I will say that I recently had several surgeries on my left hand. Things have been dark for a long time, and I’ve feared that my writing career has been in jeopardy. But things should be looking up for me soon. Hopefully.
And on that note, I would greatly appreciate it if you could grab one of my books. If you’ve already done so (and honestly, you’re unlikely to be reading this unless you’re already one of my readers!), then you can always convince one of your friends to buy my books, or spread the word in some other way.
And not just because it would cheer me up immensely after several surgeries. But also because May happens to be the month of my birth! So you’d be getting me a gift for me and you. How is that not a bargain?
Thanks again for everything, guys. I know it’s been a long gap since books, but I’ve been busy cooking and marinating, and soon there will be a literary feast!
The contract has been signed, so I’m pleased to say that my short story “A Love Like Bruises” (which appears in my upcoming collection) will be translated into Chinese and published by the awesome Science Fiction World. This marks my 5th story with them. When they invited me to Chengdu for Worldcon last year, I was pretty awestruck by just how viscerally passionate Chinese fans are for science fiction novels and stories. And I’m delighted that another one of my weird little dottings will get to reach them.
If you want to read the story (in English!), then you can do so in BROKEN STARS. Pre-orders are available on Amazon.
It’s not been a bad year, writing wise, but having so much on means I get my attention split between projects. But even so, I’ve always been focused on this one project ever since I was asked to contribute towards it. And almost two years later, it’s out!
Where The Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction & Fantasyis exactly what it sounds like: an anthology that focuses on Asian science-fiction and fantasy, exploring Asian cultures, themes, language, histories and futures. Being from a background Lebanese background, not usually a culture typically associated with Asia like Japan or China, I went for I knew everyone else wouldn’t be writing. So I wrote a spacepunk story set in Turkey, because I could.
The dataSultan of Streets and Stars is about Bohdi, young programmer of AIs (dubbed djinn) who’s had to skip Earth when a nasty accident resulting in the death of dozens puts rich-as-hell Arab gangsters on his tail, believing him responsible. Only, Mr. Bohdi is in debt to a dangerous alien bounty hunter, who wants the djinn for himself. And things get…messy.
It was a pleasure to combine cutting-edge technology and cool ideas with Middle-Eastern culture and history. Computer viruses are named are monsters from Islamic mythology, starships are fashioned like Phoenician ships, and tech-centres are constructed like Ottoman buildings. And food. Lots of baklava and lokum. When I build a world, I want it to inhabit every sensibility and every character aspect, and I think I achieved that here.
There’s so few good depictions of Asian cultures, and especially Middle-Eastern cultures, so I’m very proud of this story, and happy it’s in this anthology. And I’m even happier it’s doing so, so well. Here’s some reviews:
“. . . this collection is essential for anyone interested in the diverse and engaging possibilities of fantasy and science fiction.” — Booklist(American Library Association)
“. . . this fascinating collection addresses issues of immigration, dual cultures, and ethnic issues through genre devices such as ghosts, steampunk robots, and planetary exploration. Sf readers looking to discover new voices will enjoy this volume that reflects the eclecticism of Asian culture.” — Library Journal
“This anthology was good, with the majority of the stories being either good or very good page-turners.” — Tangent
And then it gets even better, because two of my favourite authors provided blurbs.
“A wealth of stories running the gamut from poignant to mind-blowing, rewarding journeys both faraway and familiar.” — Aliette de Bodard, Nebula Award-winning author of the Dominion of the Fallen saga
“Where the Stars Rise is a hell of a lot of fun. Great writers, magnificent storytelling, and worlds I wanted to spend a lot more time in—no matter how dangerous they were. I had a blast reading it.” — Rob Boffard, author of the Outer Earth series (Tracer, Zero-G, Impact)
And then there’s some select quotes from Bloggers and Goodreads reviews:
The complexities of the stories and the characters and the stories will delight readers, but they will also elicit a reaction all too familiar to book lovers everywhere: the stories will leave readers wanting much, much more. I recommend Where the Stars Rise and also encourage this new subset of science fiction and fantasy. – Ekta R. Garg, from The Write Edge
There are historicals, futuristic, space settings, fantasies, Sci-Fi, with male and female protagonists of all ages. I learned about different counties and times and events. I traveled to the moon and other planets. Some stories are funny, some are sad, some have happy endings and others were bittersweet but I’d be willing to bet that readers with even a passing interest in these genres would find a few to appeal and many to enjoy. Overall, a B+- Dear Author Reviews
There are some truly standout pieces; Memoriam by Priya Sridhar, Back to Myan by Regina Kanyu Wang, and The dataSultan of Streets and Stars, by Jeremy Szal were amazing for me. There are many more well written stories included, but just these three alone are worth the price of the anthology. – NonStop Reader
So people are very much enjoying this anthology, and you will, too. It’s important to boost diverse voices and to support projects that cover international cultures and worlds that are left outside of the mainstream. If you’re interested in Asian cultures, this one is essential.
So now submissions for StarShipSofa are closed. Please do not send me any further submissions, and any sent will be deleted unread. I hate having to do this, so please don’t make me do it.
But anyway, thank you so much to everyone who submitted. I’m not going to disclose how many I got, but let’s just say that I received enough stories to last StarShipSofa for several years. Several, several years, in fact. So obviously this means I’ve got a massive wealth of stories to choose from and I’m looking forward to it.
But it’s going to take some time. More than I anticipated.
By my count, I got at least twenty stories of the novella-ish length. That’s around 15-20k of words each, multiplied by twenty. That’s easily the size of one of the longer A Song of Ice and Fire books, and that doesn’t include the other submissions, many of which are pretty damn long in their own right. But I’m not complaining: I asked for long submissions and I got ’em. But it’s going to take some time to read through them all.
Am I going to finish all these beasts? No. But I will definitely read for as long as I can, as a writer myself I know that the ending can make or break a story, and I’m not one to read a couple of paragraphs and instantly smash the big ol’ red reject button. But there does come a point when I’m prettttty sure I’m not going to pick this story up. But a lot of the time I can’t justify an answer unless I’ve gotten to the end, or near it. So please, be patient with me and I’ll have an answer for you sooner or later.
That’s it for now. Thank you all again for allowing me to consider your stories.
I honestly can’t say how stoked I am to have my name alongside theirs. I’ve been a fan of R. Scott Bakker for a while now (reading about the controversy is books have stirred is amusing), Kameron Hurley is a Hugo award winner of incredible work that’s also been “slammed” by a someone we shall call Requires Attention. (That’s all I’ll say. Google is your friend – or in this case, your enemy), and I’m a huge follower of Richard K. Morgan and his work. He’s actually worked on the videogames Crysis 2 and Syndicate. He’s written work that’s considered to be a classic in science-fiction and fantasy. In fact, his novel, Altered Carbon, is getting turned into a film by James McTeigue, the director of V for Vendetta.
And I’m published alongside them. In a professional SF/F magazine dedicated to grimdark.
Even now I’m still busy wrapping my brain around it. Sitting in a boiling hot room, pounding away a cheap keyboard in the summer holidays, I never dreamed I’d be up to this point. And I am.
But I’m just getting started.
You can pick up the issue of the magazine here, on the home website. It’s also on Amazon, smashwords, etc, so pick where you’d like, but remember that this is a new publication that’s going pro straight out of the bat. Do what you can to support them, so grabbing it from the home website would be much better for ’em.
It seems that I’m fantasy author of the week on reddit. It would be greatly appreciated if you could pop along to visit, have a mug of ale, and even leave a question/comment for good measure.
Seriously, I would really, really appreciate it. I’ve been waiting for this for months now. I’m in Thailand as I type this, but I’ll do my best to answer questions by people who I’m sure will turn up…eventually.
You know that award that I won (an Honourable Mention, to be specific) from the Writers of the Future contest? Well, the story that won it is finally available. It was purchased by the good people over at On The Premises Magazine, in Issue #23. Do you want to read it? Oh, why am I asking; of course do you. And you can read it here.
Enjoy, and do inform me of your thoughts, good or bad. I’m hoping that the majority, if not all of them, will be positive. I’d love to be proven correct.
Also, the brilliant artwork you see at the top was provided by Ken Kirkpatrick and the fantastic folks over at Bloody Cake News.
JEREMY SZAL 