Category Archives: Reviews

Paris Adrift is out this week!

Paris AdriftIt’s here! Paris Adrift is finally out in the world, available from Solaris in the UK and North America. Here’s the synopsis…

Paris Was Supposed to Save Hallie. Now… Well, Let’s Just Say Paris Has Other Ideas. 

There’s a strange woman called The Chronometrist who will not leave her alone. Garbled warnings from bizarre creatures keep her up at night. And there’s a time portal in the keg room of the bar where she works. 

Soon, Hallie is tumbling through the turbulent past and future Paris, making friends, changing the world — and falling in love. 

But with every trip, Hallie loses a little of herself, and every infinitesimal change she makes ripples through time, until the future she’s trying to save suddenly looks nothing like what she hoped for…

I’m delighted that Paris Adrift has been selected by KirkusAmazon and Barnes & Noble as a best of February SF/fantasy! Here are a few of the early reviews…

an effervescent blend of revisionist history, fantasy and science fiction.’ Washington Post

‘E. J. Swift’s PARIS ADRIFT is her best novel yet: a time-travelling adventure that, despite the cosmic stakes, is bravely and beautifully intimate. Despite the apocalyptic backdrop, PARIS is also wistfully hopeful – a novel of ordinary, extraordinary heroism… PARIS ADRIFT uses science fiction’s largest and most unwieldy mechanic for its smallest and most intimate stakes: this isn’t about the world, it is about Hallie. PARIS is a story about significance at every level, individually and collectively; ultimately, whether that’s in time, life, or simply one’s outlook – this is a poetic demonstration of how little changes make big differences. Despite being a novel that’s – literally! – timeless, you couldn’t find a work more wonderfully fitting for 2018.’ — Pornokitsch

‘A great time travel story, inventive and at times overwhelming. Hallie is a compelling character to read, as she is not all-knowing and manages to keep her sense of disbelief for as long as possible. Hallie through the book comes to find an inner strength that she didn’t know existed as she faces challenges without a lot of resources. I can’t really express how much I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more from E. J. Swift soon.’ — Fantasy Book Review (9/10)

‘A great protagonist in a fascinating plot, with some refreshingly original takes on the mechanics and mechanisms of time travel, this was a very enjoyable read… This is a great book. Fantastic characters in an interesting story, excellently paced.’ — Strange Currencies

‘Swift (the Osiris Project series) delivers both an unusual take on time travel and solid characters, including a fantastic protagonist… Swift keeps things moving briskly, throwing out innocuous tidbits while scene setting that lead to surprising later payoffs.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘[A] really gripping book that was also really thought provoking and moving… [The novel] deals with many themes which are very relevant right now and Hallie’s time travel to a bleak 2042 felt too plausible… [I] loved reading about Hallie’s expeditions to 1875. Paris really came alive for me and I just loved all the sub stories going on, particularly Millie’s. PARIS ADRIFT also touches on what it’s like to feel adrift and alone in this big world, whether we’re living the best versions of ourselves. This story is about getting lost in order to find yourself. There’s a good message in this book, that doing small deeds to help strangers can have huge effects later on and the future is something we should all be thinking about.’ — British Fantasy Society

Thanks to lots of wonderful bloggers, there has also been a week-long blog tour to celebrate the book’s release.

You can read an extract of the book over on Pornokitsch.com.

If you’d like to get your hands on a copy, you can order online through Amazon.co.ukHive (UK), or Amazon.com. Signed copies are also available in the Forbidden Planet store on Shaftesbury Avenue, London – with thanks to the lovely team for having me in yesterday!

 

Cataveiro paperback out today!

Cataveiro, Book Two of the Osiris Project, is out in paperback today!

Copies are available through Amazon, Foyles, Waterstones, and The Book Depository, which offers free shipping worldwide.

Here’s the synopsis:

A shipwreck. And one lone survivor.

For political exile Taeo Ybanez, this could be his ticket home. Relations between the Antarcticans and the Patagonians are worse than ever, and to be caught on the wrong side could prove deadly.

For pilot and cartographer Ramona Callejas, the presence of the mysterious stranger is one more thing in the way of her saving her mother from a deadly disease.

All roads lead to Cataveiro, the city of fate and fortune, where their destinies will become intertwined and their futures cemented for ever…

And a few reviews:

‘… the soulful latest instalment in The Osiris Project and a superior sequel… new lead characters, a fresh story and some real action… CATAVEIRO has a soulful, lonely quality as Taeo and Ramona embark on their solitary missions, haunted by memories of the past and visions of what lies ahead… Their imperfections keep them grounded and likeable, preventing EJ Swift from slipping into predictable and clichéd characterisation… as dystopian fiction goes it is an intriguing world to get lost in.’  –  SciFiNow

… the standard dystopian set-up has given way to a compellingly drawn post-collapse world that feels scorchingly real and virtually limitless in its horizons. This is a very human book, a boldly compassionate book, a novel bulging with important questions about our own world which cannot fail to engage the sympathy and imagination of the reader.’ – Nina Allan

‘The characters within are fully rounded, have some wonderful little quirks and when added to the arc really generate a caring response within the reader. Back this up with great prose, solid pace work and of course some magical twists which, when backed with the authors own identifiable writing style all round, makes this a book that hit the spot for me as a reader. Top notch.’ – Falcata Times

‘Another beautifully-written novel… If you enjoy beautifully-written, literary science fiction, with less focus on being an action-packed blockbuster, then The Osiris Project is a must read.’ – Civilian Reader

And Osiris, the first book in the series, was reviewed over at J for Jetpack earlier this week:

‘Machiavellian politics, city in the sea, allegory for our times, great prose, human characters. An excellent debut novel that deserves to be read.’

Publication update – Night Shade sale goes through

At last an update on the US front – it was confirmed earlier this week that Skyhorse Publishing and Start Publishing have acquired the Night Shade Books imprint. The full press release can be found here on i09.

As one of the authors who signed, this means The Osiris Project will now be a part of the new Night Shade/Skyhorse/Start. It’s been a long few months waiting for news, and I’m immensely relieved that we’re now onto the next stage. I have to echo others in saying a huge thank you to Mary Robinette Kowal. She has been an absolute hero, advocating for us on behalf of SFWA and offering her time, energy and expertise to ensure that everyone has had the information necessary to make the best decision in their circumstances. Thanks to Kameron Hurley who set up the discussion forum, to my fellow NSB authors who have been so generous in sharing advice, and to John Berlyne my agent who, as ever, is a voice of sanity (if ever a situation proves why you need an agent, this one does. And incidentally, Zeno Agency has a rare open window for submissions, so if you are at the submitting-to-agents stage, do take a look).

Please continue to support Night Shade authors, both within and outside of the new imprint. I’ve discovered some truly wonderful writers through Night Shade, and I very much hope that the new imprint will continue to discover the kind of innovative and dynamic fiction that has made them such an interesting publisher to date.

In other news: the May/June edition of Interzone reviewed Osiris, calling it ‘an absolute gem’ which obviously made my month, and next Thursday I will be at the National Maritime Museum to launch The Lowest Heaven anthology with a bunch of quite simply awesome authors. Tickets are free but you have to book (see the website: http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/events/universe-late) – come and say hello!

OSIRIS launch – Forbidden Planet

It’s been a week of great excitement with the UK release of OSIRIS on Thursday 7 February. Fittingly, I arrived home on Thursday night to discover that with perfect timing, Del Rey had sent a box full of OSIRIS books, which I greeted, as appropriate, with manic dancing, and just about managed to save from Velma’s muddy paws and claws.

Forbidden Planet launch 1Friday was the big day: a joint launch at Forbidden Planet with Liesel Schwarz, author of A CONSPIRACY OF ALCHEMISTS. I was thrilled to be sharing the day with Liesel, who looked beyond awesome in full steampunk garb, including corset and a hat of which I professed great envy (Camden, apparently, is the place to go). The lovely people at Forbidden Planet had a stack of books for us to sign after which we were whisked out in Madonna-style headsets. We each read our prologues and had a few questions from the audience, then it was off to the Phoenix Artist’s Club, a very cool bar which I must frequent more often, for celebratory drinks and general huzzahs.

Many many thank yous are owed to the team at Del Rey UK who organized such a fabulous event and have worked so hard on the book, and to the friends, family and Twitter pals who showed up to support me – you are wonderful! I had the usual dilemma of wanting to talk to everyone and never quite managing to have a full conversation with anyone, but suffice to say it was a wonderful night, and I went home feeling deeply proud and privileged to be part of the new Del Rey UK imprint.

A few photos from the event:

Forbidden Planet sign  Forbidden Planet mics  osiris launch 4 Forbidden Planet launch - books osiris launch 5

Today it has been very much back to reality and hard work as I continue editing CATAVEIRO. But the weekend has been capped off by a 4* review of OSIRIS in SFX magazine, which concludes with: ‘it’s the characters, and what their lives show us of the fascinating, stratified world of Osiris, that are the heart of this promising debut novel.’ Happy days!

Review round-up

OSIRIS review round-up:

SF Signal
“A fantastic blend of worldbuilding, excellent storytelling and complex characters.” – this review at SF Signal made my week!
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2012/07/book-review-osiris-by-e-j-swift/

LA Review of Books
A detailed, in-depth review by Strange Horizons editor-in-chief Niall Harrison:
http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type=&id=751&fulltext=1&media=

Staffers Book Review
http://staffersmusings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/osiris-ej-swift.html

Bookgasm
http://www.bookgasm.com/reviews/sci-fi/osiris/

The Cleveland Plain Dealer describes OSIRIS as “a terrific debut”
http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2012/07/e_j_swift_and_rob_reid_write_o.html

And finally… Library Journal Reviews listed OSIRIS as their Sci Fi/Fantasy Debut of the Month for July – very cool indeed.
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2012/07/books/genre-fiction/sf-fantasy/sci-fifantasy-debut-of-the-month/