The Aviator - now leaving the runway

[Gareth]

It's been long, it's been hard, and my brain hurts, but my new book, The Aviator, the first in what my editor has persuaded me should be a series, is now accelerating down the runway and straining to take flight.

I got the idea from some old guy called Swift. You could say the story's Gulliver-esque. Dylan Horrocks - a brilliant comics artist who graciously agreed to do me a cover - does:

Gareth Renowden’s novel The Aviator is a light-hearted journey (by state-of-the-art airship) around a world transformed by climate change and subsequent political collapse. Rock God Evangelists, super-rich survivalists, back-to-nature primitivists, heavily armed luddites, goats with the secret of eternal youth, and a horny artificial intelligence with a taste for bluegrass and classic Hollywood films; The Aviator is a Gulliver-esque romp through a future we hope won’t come to pass.

Mike Mann (top climate scientist, of hockey stick fame) describes it thus:

Part dystopian tome a la ‘Mad Max’ meets ‘Waterworld’, part stinging indictment of the mendacious ongoing campaign to deny the threats of human-caused climate change, The Aviator delivers a winning combination of wit and insight as it depicts the perils we may bestow upon future generations if we choose not to act on the greatest threat human civilization has ever faced.

And the charming and obviously eminently bribable Sonny Whitelaw, author of a swag of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis novels doesn't mince her words:

A brilliant and wickedly satirical romp through a post-climate change world.

The book's currently available from Amazon US and UK for Kindle, and from me (for epub readers), with more distribution to follow as I work out how to compile for Smashwords and brush up on my InDesign skills for the Createspace edition.

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Limestone Hills

If any members of the Scrivener community would like a review copy (in exchange for glowing reviews in Amazon and elsewhere) send me a PM and I'll be glad to supply a copy in the format of your choice. And if anyone knows how to get cover quotes from Charlie Stross, Peter F Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds or Terry Pratchett, the information would be most welcome!

It was of course written in Scrivener (with a side order of Tinderbox and Aeon Timeline). Without Scriv it would have taken longer, been much harder, and my brain would have hurt a lot more. Thanks Keith.

Now: WTF do I put in book two...?

[Jaysen]

Congrats!

Maybe book 2 could be an Avatar-Moby Dick-Chitty Chitty bang bang hybrid set in utopia?

A little tongue in cheek. Book one sounds interesting. I'll check it out.

[Gareth]

Not sure about Avatar, but the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Moby Dick thing might have legs...

To be honest, I have so many ideas for book two that I think I might have trouble fitting them all in. The airship is such a good vehicle for exploring things. There are lots of corners of The Burning World to poke around in, and ideas and people to prod.

PS: I should have mentioned in the original post: it's (I hope) good value at US$4.99, £3.50, E4.50 and NZ$6.00.

[pigfender]

Looks awesome, Gareth. Definitely going to check that out. Congrats!

[Gareth]

Looks awesome, Gareth. Definitely going to check that out. Congrats!

Thanks!

[Edited to add...]

Should have put this up front: Dylan's Horrocks' wonderful cover...

[herrkafka]

Too bad, Im from Spain and Amazon does not allow me to buy it with my European account.

[Gareth]

It should be available in all Amazon's European stores, but if that doesn't work, you can buy a Kindle version at Smashwords here. Will soon be available at iBooks, B&N, Kobo etc.

Paper copies will be available soon - just got to get my creaking old copy of InDesign fired up to do the page layouts.

[Gareth]

Woke up this morning, got myself a great review: Arthur Smith at Amazon mentions Neal Stephenson in the same breath as my wee tome...

At times the novel reminded me of some of the ambience and free-wheeling twists and turns of Neal Stephenson's novels - "Snow Crash" and "Anathem" particularly.

Woo, and indeed, hoo!