WELCOME TO THE FIRST NEWSLETTER FROM SOLARIS
Our first season has now passed with huge success. We have seen many of our titles such as The Summoner and The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction exceed our expectations—put simply, we couldn’t reprint quick enough! Reviews have praised our authors and given our first few months lot of support. The editors have selflessly jetsetted around the world to conventions, or rather hotel bars, to fight the good fight. Beer has been spilled in late night discussions with the great and good of SF and fantasy. We now feel prepared to let you in to our happy world.

And at the moment, our happy world is dominated by two things.
Spaceships and dragons.

THIS MONTH'S NEW RELEASE
Helix by Eric Brown
Price: £7.99/$7.99
Pages: 416
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Published: June ‘07
ISBN: 978-1-84416-472-1

“This is the rediscovery of wonder.” - Steven Baxter

“Everything you want in a good Space Opera.” - SF Signal

June marks the arrival in stores of Eric Brown’s fabulous space opera, Helix. It is a grand space adventure where the crew of a colonist ship crash land on a helix, a vast construct made up of thousands of worlds. Full of fantastically detailed characterisation and rich in alien races and culture, Helix examines the very essence of life on other worlds.

Eric is a writer of some pedigree, and, as well as liking a good pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord Ale in his Yorkshire hideaway, he reviews SF and Fantasy titles for The Guardian newspaper. Eric was voted the Best New European SF Writer of the Year in the early nineties and has subsequently won the British Science Fiction Award. He will be signing copies of Helix at Waterstones Piccadilly, London, from 5.30 to 7pm, on the 7th of June, as part of a group signing of genre writers. Check out our events diary for further news. Helix will also be front of store in Barnes and Noble, so there’s no excuse for you not to discover this year’s hot new space opera. Read a sample chapter here.

NEXT MONTH'S RELEASE
Bitterwood by James Maxey
Price: £7.99/$7.99
Pages: 464
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Published: July ‘07
ISBN: 978-1-84416-487-5

“An inventive fantasy tale inhabited by a cast of satisfyingly complex characters.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Bitterwood is an unlikely hero in a rich world, with a rich history that holds many surprises.” - Carrie Vaughn

In July, James Maxey’s eagerly anticipated debut of Bitterwood, hits the shelves. Bitterwood is a fabulous reworking of the dragon fantasy genre. The buzz for this novel is loud. It has already gained a Publishers Weekly Starred Review: “Maxey’s world is stunningly imaginative, a landscape both familiar and alien, and packed with thoughtful treats for readers.” James will be at ConCarolinas, June 1 - 3 2007 in North Carolina, and also at this year’s DragonCon in Atlanta. More details on our website. You can read a sample chapter from Bitterwood here.

COMING SOON
Infinity Plus, edited by Keith Brooke and Nick Gevers
Science Fiction
£9.99/$15.00
ISBN: 978-1-84416-489-9

In 1997 www.infinityplus.co.uk was launched to showcase some of the best in SF, fantasy and horror fiction. This anthology collects stories by some of the most important names in the genre.

Set the Seas on Fire by Chris Roberson
Fantasy
£9.99/$15.00
ISBN: 978-1-84416-488-2

1810, and while Europe burns in the Napoleonic Wars, the HMS Fortitude is smashed by storms, driven far off course to a tropical island that harbours dark secrets… Read a sample.

FURTHERMORE
The unmissable George Mann was at this year’s Book Expo America, keeping an eye on Solaris fantasy star Gail Z. Martin, author of The Summoner, and Chris Roberson, whose novel Set the Seas on Fire, a supernatural maritime romp, is released by Solaris later in the year. George has tried to convince us that he didn’t appear dressed as a waiter at this gathering. He was instead working hard on our behalf, schmoozing with the best. Other events with Gail Z. Martin include her ongoing book tour, and her forthcoming Hawthorn Moon promotion… More details of that online in the coming weeks.

In other news, last month’s release, Emily Gee’s romantic fantasy Thief With No Shadow, has continued to impress. Genre magazine, SFX, said of it: “Pleasingly standalone, gorgeously indulgent and hopelessly romantic.” More great opinions in our press reviews section. Emily reports that she has just finished this year’s harvest in the fabulous vineyards of Marlborough, New Zealand… much to Solaris publisher Marco’s envy.

And we couldn’t go without mentioning the winner of this year’s Arthur C. Clarke Award. It went to—huzzah!—M. John Harrison, for his intensely literary SF novel, Nova Swing. Yes, it’s not published by us, but we’re fanboys at heart (just check our spending habits), and this is a fabulous title, the follow up to the equally spectacular Light. If you’ve never read this guy, you don’t know what you’re missing. Once you’ve read Helix and Bitterwood, of course…

If you have had this newsletter forwarded to you by a friend you can sign up yourself on the Solaris site.

Mark Newton
Solaris Assistant Editor