On My Radar: The Outcast Hours

The Outcast Hours, a brand new anthology edited by Jared Shurin and Mahvesh Murad has just been announced.

The anthology promises to be a real treat for speculative fiction fans with a stunning selection of contributors including some of the best talents South Africa has on offer. Scheduled for publication on 19 February 2019 from Solaris this is definitely one to add to the pre-order list!

THE OUTCAST HOURS
Edited by Jared Shurin and Mahvesh Murad
ISBN: 9781781085745
Release date: 19 February 2019

We live our lives in the daylight. Our stories take place under the sun: bright, clear, unafraid.

This is not a book of those stories.

These are the stories of people who live at night; under neon and starlight, and never the light of day.

These are the stories of poets and police; writers and waiters; gamers and goddesses; tourists and traders; the hidden and the forbidden; the lonely and the lovers.

These are their lives. These are their stories. And this is their time:

The Outcast Hours.

Including stories by Marina Warner, China Miéville, Frances Hardinge, Will Hill, Sally Partridge, Jesse Bullington, Jeffrey Alan Love, Kuzhali Manickavel, Amira Salah-Ahmed, Cecilia Ekbäck, Celeste Baker, Karen Onojaife, Daniel Polansky, Genevieve Valentine, Indrapramit Das, Leah Moore, Sam Beckbessinger, Sami Shah, Lauren Beukes, Dale Halvorsen, Yukimi Ogawa, Lavie Tidhar, Silvia Moreno Garcia, Genevieve Valentine, Maha Khan Phillips, William Boyle, S.L. Grey, M. Suddain, and Omar Robert Hamilton. Sam Gretton (Cover Artist)

Opening Lines: Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell

Some novels have the ability to draw you in from the start. A single line or paragraph can grab your attention in such a way that the novel just demands to be read. Opening Lines is a feature where I'll share some of the best opening lines that hooked me.

Another ship dropped off the tactical grid, obliterated by a shower of pin-sized antimatter warheads.

Embers of War by Gareth L. Powell

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The sentient warship Trouble Dog was built for violence, yet following a brutal war, she is disgusted by her role in a genocide. Stripped of her weaponry and seeking to atone, she joins the House of Reclamation, an organisation dedicated to rescuing ships in distress. When a civilian ship goes missing in a disputed system, Trouble Dog and her new crew of loners, captained by Sal Konstanz, are sent on a rescue mission.

Meanwhile, light years away, intelligence officer Ashton Childe is tasked with locating the poet, Ona Sudak, who was aboard the missing spaceship. What Childe doesn't know is that Sudak is not the person she appears to be. A straightforward rescue turns into something far more dangerous, as Trouble Dog, Konstanz and Childe find themselves at the centre of a conflict that could engulf the entire galaxy. If she is to save her crew, Trouble Dog is going to have to remember how to fight...

Silverwood: The Door - Season 1 Now Available

October means one thing - all the creepy goodness comes oozing out of the darkness! Serialbox has just released the first episode of their brand new serial, Silverwood: The Door. Created by Brian Keene and based on Silverwood by Tony E. Valenzuela this new serial sounds like it will be the perfect thing for those dark, scary nights.

Deep within the forest of Silverwood, California, a crack between dimensions has appeared. A dark force that lurks among the trees is growing stronger, determined to return home if it can only gather the strength to open the door—bad news for a Cub Scout troop and the employees of Hirsch Capital on a company retreat nearby. As their darkest fears and impulses power the mysterious force, their bonding exercises take a deadly turn. Will anyone be able to keep their minds long enough to close the door before our world is torn apart?

You can read or listen to the first episode for free over at Serialbox.

If you love creepy things then definitely check this out!