Monsters of the Deep release event

Mr. Wingrove has announced, via his Facebook page, that Chung Kuo book 9: Monsters of the Deep will be released on Thursday, October 19. He’ll be signing autographs that day from 6-7pm at Forbidden Planet in London.

Unfortunately, it’s an ocean away for me, so I won’t be able to attend, but if someone can go and share some pics, that would be terrific.

Also, here’s the finalized cover for Monsters:

Thanks to Jewell for beating me to this news via a comment!

 

Making Room

Moments ago, a box containing the first eight books of the Chung Kuo re-re-launch arrived at my doorstep, courtesy of Fragile Media’s Susan Oudot, each containing a kind inscription from the man himself. The books are beautiful — far nicer in person than in any picture. My wife, who is away at a work conference for the week, will likely be none too pleased to return and find that I’ve relocated a picture of the two of us to make room on the Chung Kuo bookshelf in our small library. Yes, the guy who runs the fan blog has a Chung Kuo bookshelf.

Seeing the books in print again, now with a renewed confidence that this time we’ll be able to see things to their proper conclusion under the wing of Fragile Books, is a wonderful feeling.

Chung Kuo launch updates

I just returned late last night from a terrific three-week trek through Asia and I’m exhausted. But, it liooks like a lot happened in my absence, so let’s get through some big updates.

As I believe everyone knows, on June 22, the first eight books of Chung Kuo re-launched under David Wingrove and Susan Oudot’s Fragile Books banner. Susan was kind enough to send along a quick rundown of the launch event that took place that night at Waterstones in Islington along with some photos.

On a sweltering summer’s evening the great and the good gathered at Waterstones bookshop in Islington, north London for the re-launch of CHUNG KUO. David’s new publishing company, Fragile Books, had the prosecco flowing and appropriately-themed Chinese nibbles on offer (along with the obligatory fortune cookies, of course). Among the guests were fantasy author, Michael Cobley, several writers on the world’s longest-running soap opera, Coronation Street, and tv and film star, Rupert Graves (Sherlock, amongst other things). As David’s wife Susan Oudot – Publishing Director of the new venture – said in her speech “It’s a good feeling to know that finally we have control.” Onward and upward.

Next, David Wingrove’s long awaited official page has finally launched (davidwingrove.com) and is definitely worth checking out. There’s info there about Chung Kuo, Roads to Moscow, and Myst, as well as a new blog. I do want to note that there being an official site doesn’t change the fan-based mission of this site. As always, if there’s anything anyone would like to contribute here, please drop me a line. One of these days I’ll get some forums back up and running.

Also worth noting is that Mr. Wingrove is now active on three social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, and now, even Instagram.

Lastly, while the first eight books of the Chung Kuo re-release are available through the usual channels like Amazon UK, the books are also available at a discount directly from Fragile Books, including to US-based readers.

Susan sends along this note:

Fragile Books are selling directly to fans in the US. If you’re interested in ordering any of the first eight titles, or the complete set at a reduced price, contact David via his Facebook page:  David Wingrove. Or write to the publisher at info@fragilemedialtd.com  Payment is via Paypal.

A Facebook post also indicates that signed copies are available, too (thanks to Goonda for pointing this out during my absence).

 

Exciting times, indeed. I believe that’s it for now. More news to be posted as it comes in. Many thanks to David and Susan for everything they’ve done for fan outreach, through this site and their own channels.