Author: Matt

Maybe some of you noticed (but hopefully not), we were down for a couple days during some domain renewal nonsense. A word to the wise: avoid GoDaddy (the unfortunate registrar and host of this site) if at all possible. I’ve had nothing but terrible experiences from all angles. Bluehost (where I have all my other domains and hosting) is far and away a better service. I’d have switched this one over, but, alas, I wasn’t feeling up to backing up and restoring on a new server the WordPress, the phpBB, the wiki, etc., etc.

BUT, have no fear – this site isn’t going anywhere. As much as ever, I’m committed to keeping this site as the best resource for all things Chung Kuo and other Wingrove-related works outside of the official site. Soon (this week, hopefully), I’ll be posting a one year retrospective with a bit of a personal introspection thrown into the mix. That’s right! It’s been one year since the site’s been up and one year since Son of Heaven was released.

So until then, take care! Need something to read? Go find a copy of The Myst Reader. More on that, too, soon.

-Matt

Son of Heaven has officially won SFBook Book of the Year 2011, and by a significant margin, pulling in 23.5% of the vote. That’s right, almost one in four votes cast was for SoH. Congratulations to David, and well done for all those who voted!

It was very strange, because on Monday last, the day after the party, I sat down and, in the space of an hour, wrote over two thousand words of storyline for BURYING (as we’ll shorten it from henceforth). And If I hadn’t been working, I’d probably have started writing it there and then. Because the wall had come down. Whatever it was that stopped me from working on a fantasy novel had suddenly departed, and though I’ve a ton and a half of other things to do next year, writing the first draft of BURYING THE SMITH will definitely be one of them. And before you ask, that’s the way I work and have worked these past thirty years. I always shadow the work I’m supposed to be writing with another. That’s probably why I have so many unpublished novels – roughly twenty in all… and it makes me think that maybe their purpose wasn’t to be novels after all, but to be simply activity that allowed me to write what I should have been writing and (more to the point) was actually being paid for.

But BURYING is just so rich. Already I have the feeling that it’s real and that I’m just tapping in from this reality. Glimpsing stuff I really oughtn’t to see. And I’m pretty certain that the scenario is totally unlike any other you’ll have seen within fantasy. Oh, it’ll be a Wingrove novel, you can be sure, with nasty things happening to nice people and a high body count… I’m not going senile yet… And, if Matt at the fan site agrees, maybe we’ll run it there, in its pristine state. That might be fun.

– http://www.chung-kuo.net/?q=content/falling-walls (emphasis added)

Yes, Matt at the fan site agrees.

As of now, Son of Heaven has come from behind as it now winning the SFBooks Book of the Year poll with 18.8% of the votes. If you haven’t voted yet, go do it now and help it maintain its lead. I needn’t remind Chung Kuo fans that the more continued acclaim the series gets, the more likely we are to see more Chung Kuo content in the future (short stories, novellas, dare I say… a realization of a film/TV adaptation?). Go vote!

Vote here: http://sfbook.com/sfbook-book-of-the-year-2011.htm

Son of Heaven is up for the 2011 Book of the Year at SFBooks! It’s up against up 11 other books. Let’s show the SF world that Chung Kuo fans mean business. Vote now!

Here’s the link: http://sfbook.com/sfbook-book-of-the-year-2011.htm

Here are some reviews floating around the web for Daylight on Iron Mountain, all of them very positive. Numerical/star scores, if any, are indicated in bold. If any reviews more pop up, leave a comment with the details and I’ll add them to the list!

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From Geek Syndicate:
4/5 “…a good read, fast paced and engaging…”

From The Wertzone:
4.5/5 “rammed to overflowing with political intrigue, corporate scheming, desperate struggles for human survival and, in the final section, a mind-boggling war which is vast in scope… a compelling, page-turning SF epic which leaves the reader eager for more”

From Mark Yon, sffworld.com:
“consistent and enjoyable… the new series is starting to step up a gear and has become a must read series for me… this is a glorious development”

From Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Reviews:
5/5 “…again impressed with the sheer depth and sense of immersion that the author manages to impart on the pages, the knowledge and research that must have gone into creating this book and the series itself is quite staggering. The result is a realistic and sobering feeling of a dystopian future… Characterisation is superb, full of human strengths, weaknesses, passions and emotions… I can honestly say that I loved every minute of this book, it’s such an incredibly rich and immersive journey…”

From The Guardian:
“Wingrove pulls off a difficult feat… Excellent.”

Son of Heaven is currently #1 on the Amazon UK Bestselling list for both paperback and Kindle editions, beating out George R.R. Martin, several classics, and countless Star Wars books. See the good news for yourself here (paperback) and here (Kindle). Congrats David!

If you haven’t already, manage to get your hands on this book. Despite what some reviews say, I enjoyed Daylight on Iron Mountain more than Son of Heaven.

Congrats to David for his (almost) 100 daily blog posts on the official site leading up to today. I’ve enjoyed my daily dose of Wingrove, and I hope he’ll continue despite the 100 days having concluded. They’ve been insightful, informative, and a real joy to read.

Check back soon for a review roundup for Daylight – a compilation of book reviews from around the web – so far overwhelmingly positive!