The Departure

[Rane Longfox]

So, I came into work this morning, and there in the post from Tor sits a proof copy of The Departure. So amazingly excited! I figure this is a good time to start a discussion about it. Personally I can't wait to see a completely new set of characters, but I would like some clarification from Neal before I start reading - when exactly is it set?

 

[Neal Asher]

In the not too distant future...

 

[biodroid]

Neal - do you have a cover for it yet?

 

[Rodders]

I was going to ask that too. Is it set in the same univers as the others?

 

[biodroid]

Stupid question from me Rodders but I just clicked on your sig...are they TIE fighters?

 

[Rodders]

Stupid question from me Rodders but I just clicked on your sig...are they TIE fighters?

LOL. No questions are stupid. Yes, two TIE's escorting Vader in the Death Star trench from Star Wars. Have you seen AE35Unit's USS Discovery from 2001?N Very nice.

 

[biodroid]

Nope not yet, he has something different on his sig now. ASCII art is cool.

 

[Rane Longfox]

About half way through this now, unfortunately not had masses of time to read - and it is very very good

 

[biodroid]

Good to hear Rane.

 

[Patrick Mahon]

Biodroid - you asked about the cover picture. You can see it on Neal's blog, at http://theskinner.blogspot.com/2011/07/departure-reviews.html .

Rodders - it's not set in one of Neal's existing universes. It's an Owner story, according to the cover, and The Owner has only previously appeared in a couple of Neal's short stories, I believe.

The Departure is out at the beginning of September - so not long to go now!

 

[biodroid]

Looking good, I think the political aspect will make this for an interesting story. Hope it will be out on Kindle.

 

[Neal Asher]

And of course the political aspect is what many apparently object to. Ah well.

 

[Bowler1]

I'm a big Neal Asher fan so I removed my Departure post. Sorry Neal, I didn't like it.

 

[Neal Asher]

Okay, The Departure comes out in the USA on Feb 5th, but it seems you can already get the E-book here on Baen.

The people at Night Shade Books are looking forward to bringing The Owner Trilogy to print in the US and have scheduled The Departure for publication Feb 5, 2013 with Zero Point following May 7, 2013 and Jupiter War September 3, 2013 (catching up with publication of that last book in Britain). Nicely keying into that my short story The Other Gun will be appearing in Asimov’s April/May issue that year with, of course, mention of these books in attached biog. It should be an interesting year with those three books slamming into the American market in rapid succession. In essence this should work as quite a profile-raising exercise.

Update:

Well, now it's been pointed out to me:

"British author Asher is rapidly becoming one of the major figures in 21st century SF" - Publishers Weekly.

 

[Vertigo]

This currently available on promotion on Amazon, in the UK at least, for just £0.66

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005GDZHRW/ref=nosim?tag=nealasher

 

[steelyglint]

By the end of 'Zero Point', Alan Saul is too big a character to be confined to just one more volume. Is 'The Jupiter War' to be the last of the Owner, or is there a possibility of more beyond the trilogy?

I mentioned in another post that the proof copy of 'The Departure' claims it is the first in a planned long-running series. A trilogy is not a long-running series. Perry Rhodan was a long-running series - 2,700 installments to May 2013. I wasn't expecting anything on that scale, but I was rather hoping for more than just 3 volumes.

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