Wednesday, December 29, 2021

2021 Writing Summary

 So, what have I accomplished in 2021?

Somehow I wrote an entire novel in 8 months, which is now on query with literary agents. 

I also wrote a collaborative short story, a flash fiction piece of 100 words, two short stories, a novella and halves of two other stories. 

I thought I'd made a conscious decision to cut down on the number of book reviews so I could concentrate on the novel, but somehow I ended up writing 24 of those too.

I also had ten stories published this year in seven languages, including one new language: Marathi. 

No idea what I'll be doing next year...




Friday, December 24, 2021

Book Review: Wergen: The Alien Love War

 I have previously read most of Mercurio D. Rivera's Wergen stories as they appeared in various magazines and anthologies, and I enjoyed them all immensely.




Read the rest of my review in issue #2 of ParSec magazine.




Thursday, December 23, 2021

Book Review: Tomorrow by Chris Beckett

Chris Beckett has his usual effect on me with his new novel Tomorrow in that, as soon as I start reading it, I fall into a trance-like state of comfortableness.




Read the rest of my review in issue #2 of ParSec magazine.




Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Five Ways to Accidentally Save the Earth from Alien Conquest

 In keeping with my tradition of unfeasibly long titles, my latest story is called Five Ways to Accidentally Save the Earth from Alien Conquest. It's out now in issue #2 of ParSec magazine.




Sunday, December 19, 2021

The Gondolier Activities

 In a late burst of activity, I have received translations of The Gondolier in Arabic, Japanese, Kannada, Korean and Telugu, taking the total number of languages for this story to 56.

Of these, 20 have been published and the others appear here on this blog. There are possible markets for some of these new languages, but others will appear here in the near future. 

At WorldCon in Dublin in 2019, my display of The Gondolier included 42 languages. I'm hoping to repeat this at the 2024 WorldCon in Glasgow, with a lot more translations.






Friday, December 10, 2021

Canines, Reptiles and Other Biological Anomalies

The fourth in my 'Yorick' series of stories is out now in Hungarian in Galaktika magazine. This is my 7th appearance in this magazine altogether, and the second time my name has appeared in large front on the front cover. 

 This one continues the tradition of long titles and is called Canines, Reptiles and Other Biological Anomalies.






This time, my name has somehow outranked Paul DiFilipo!

Wednesday, December 08, 2021

Book Review: Blindspace by Jeremy Szal

Jeremy Szal’s action-packed debut novel Stormblood exploded onto the scene last year, introducing us to alien-DNA-infected, ex-soldier Vakov Fukasawa. After agreeing once more to work for the interstellar government known as Harmony to track down the drug dealers spreading the same stormtech drug that was used to turn him into a killing machine, Vakov finds himself at the beginning of Blindspace facing a huge and complex conspiracy involving drug cartels, cultists, deep space pirates and smugglers.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Thursday, November 04, 2021

The Gondolier in Marathi

 The Marathi translation of The Gondolier is now out in Dhananjay Diwali Magazine.



Marathi is the 20th language that The Gondolier has been published in, and my 31st language altogether.





Wednesday, November 03, 2021

Brief Candle

 Issue #8 of Brief Candle - the punk Shakespeare magazine - is out now and includes my story Alleged Shakespeare Play May Prove Time Travel Possible. It's nice to find a magazine perfectly suited to a story.







Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Book Review: AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future by Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Quifan

One of the greatest challenges for a Science Fiction author is to write a story set twenty or so years in the future. It’s not close enough to be indistinguishable from today, it’s not far enough in the future that anything could be possible, but it is close enough that you can soon be proven entirely wrong in your predications.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Wednesday, September 08, 2021

Alleged Shakespeare Manuscript

 I'm very pleased to announce that my short Alleged Shakespeare Manuscript May Prove Time Travel Possible has been accepted by Brief Candle magazine and should be out in issue #8 in November.





Sunday, August 29, 2021

The Fourth End

 This weekend, I reached the end of my fourth novel! This one is set on Astropolis, the orbital habitat that is the setting for several of my short stories and collaborative stories. 

Now for lots of editing, re-writing, submitting, etc, etc, etc...




Thursday, August 26, 2021

Book Review: Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds

The arrival of a new Revelation Space book from Alastair Reynolds is always quite an event and this is no exception.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Saturday, August 21, 2021

Book Review: A Strange and Brilliant Light by Eli Lee

In a fictional country that sounds like it could be on the edge of Europe, in a future time that sounds like it could be just beyond our own, artificially intelligent machines are beginning to emerge.






Read the rest of my review in issue #1 of ParSec magazine.



Friday, August 20, 2021

Book Review: The Ninth Metal by Benjamin Percy

When a comet passes relatively close to the Earth, it's not planetary destruction everyone has to worry about in The Ninth Metal, but countless meteorites that rain down strange and exotic substances on the planet.






Read the rest of my review in issue #1 of ParSec magazine.



Thursday, August 19, 2021

Graphic Novel review: YuanYuan's Bubbles by Cixin Liu

Of the four graphic novels based on Cixin Liu’s stories that I’ve read so far, YuanYuan’s Bubbles is the first one where I haven’t previously read the original story, so this was a new journey of discovery for me.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Graphic Novel Review: Cixin Liu's The Village Teacher

The cover image for this graphic novel adaptation of Cixin Liu’s story The Village Teacher seems very incongruous. The title brings to mind a quaint little village hall school scene, but the cover features an interstellar battle fleet destroying a planet.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Sunday, August 08, 2021

Graphic Novel Review: Cixin Liu's The Wandering Earth

As part of the new series of graphic novels adaptations of Cixin Liu’s work, one of his best-known short stories, ‘The Wandering Earth’, has been adapted by Christophe Bec into a fabulous and sumptuous looking work.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Saturday, August 07, 2021

Graphic Novel Review: Cixin Liu's Sea of Dreams

Several of Cixin Liu’s novels and two short story collections have been translated into English and I’ve read all of them, as well as having the chance to meet him in person in London when he was over in the UK.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Friday, August 06, 2021

Book Review: Holdout by Jeffrey Kluger

When an accident triggers an evacuation of the International Space Station, one of the astronauts decides to stay behind. Ignoring protocol and direct orders, Walli Beckwith remains on board and is soon branded a traitor and a pirate. Using her new-found notoriety to shine a spotlight on the wholesale destruction of the Amazon rainforest, her status soon changes to folk-hero.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Tuesday, August 03, 2021

Book Review: This is Our Undoing by Lorraine Wilson

It’s seldom that I’m stumped when coming to write a book review, but all I can think to say about Lorraine Wilson’s novel This Is Our Undoing is that it is utterly wonderful.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Front Cover Quote!

A few of my reviews have been quoted on the back cover or inside cover of new books, but now, for the first time, one of my reviews has been quoted on the front cover of a book!






Saturday, July 24, 2021

Translator Interview: Louise Johnson

Languages and translation has long intrigued me, and I've read quite a number of translated novels.  After reading Andrea Victrix, I had a lot of questions about the author and about the translation of his work. I arranged to meet Louise Johnson, translator of the novel, in Mallorca where the novel is set. Sadly, due to Covid, that wasn't possible, so we corresponded by email instead.


Read the interview at SF Crowsnest.




Friday, July 23, 2021

Book Review: Andrea Víctrix by Llorenç Villalonga

Hailed as a classic of dystopian literature in Catalan, Llorenç Villalonga’s 1974 novel Andrea Víctrix has now been translated into English for the first time and published by specialist small press Fum D’Estampa Press.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Tuesday, July 13, 2021

The Camel Goes to Greece

 I'm very pleased to say that my camel-related story Englebert has been accepted by Greek magazine Ef-Zin, who previously published two of my stories several years back. It will appear some time this winter. 

This will be my sixth story in Greek, and the fifth language for Englebert.




Wednesday, July 07, 2021

The Gondolier in Kashubian

 Along with the Polish translation of The Gondolier, I received this Kashubain translation. Kashubian is a Slavic language related to Polish and is spoken by about 200,000 people. 


Gòńdoliéra

Gareth D Jones

 

Czôrni dzób mòji gòńdolë brnõł bez spòkójné wodë karnôlóv. Bëlni czółen richtich mje słúżił dłúgjé lata, wożõcë pasażéróv mjastovima wodnima szlachama, provadzoni rãkamë vjelenë pòkòlenjóv mòjich przódkóv.

Słúńce zapadało nad anticznim gardã, zmjenjivajõcë wodã v tintovõ blevjõzkã, leżõcõ pòmjidzë pësznima bùdinkama z pjôskòvca. Jem głãbòk wodetchnõn chłodnõ vjeczórnõ briżõ.

Je jakji snôżészi môl jak ten cëdovni gard karnôlóv? Kjéj bôt dobrnõł do sztrõdú, jô jem stanõł, żebë so rôd pòvzerac na corôzka cemnjészé njebò Marsa.

 

Kùnjc

  

Translated by Słavòmjir Jónkòvskji


Tuesday, July 06, 2021

The Gondolier in Polish

I received a Polish translation of The Gondolier quite some time ago but, due to an oversight, it never made it on to this site.


Gondolier

Gareth D Jones

 

Czarny dziób mojej gondoli sunął łagodnie poprzez spokojne wody kanałów. Smukła łódź służyła mi długie lata, przewożąc pasażerów miejską siecią wodnych alejek, sterowana dłońmi pokoleń moich przodków.

Słońce zachodziło nad starożytnym miastem, zamieniając wodę w atramentową wstążkę położoną między eleganckimi bryłami piaskowych budynków. Głęboko odetchnąłem chłodną wieczorna bryzą.

Czy istniało miejsce piękniejsze niż to wspaniałe miasto kanałów? Kiedy łodź dobiła do kei, zatrzymałem się, by pogapić się usatysfakcjonowanie na ciemniejące niebo Marsa.

 

Koniec

 

Translated by Słavòmjir Jónkòvskji




Monday, June 28, 2021

A Detective Inspector, a Week-Old Haddock and the Means to Destroy Paris

The comedy spy-fi story A Detective Inspector, a Week-Old Haddock and the Means to Destroy Paris that I co-wrote with Alex and Haydn is out now on the Tall Tale TV podcast.




This is the second of our joint stories to be published, after last year's The Good Ship Munders.

Tall Tale TV has previously published Alex's Unveventful Day of the Bodger; a complillation of three flash fiction stories that included Alex's Brothers in Qualms, Haydn's The Final Battle is But a Game and my own Escapades in Time; and my short stories Observers and The Righteous Indignation of the Naked Mole Rat.



Monday, June 14, 2021

Book Review: This Eden by Ed O'Loughlin

Michael is a struggling engineering student whose girlfriend, Alice, is a coder and is working on a mysterious project for a big Silicon Valley corporation. When she dies, that same corporation offers him a job, though he doesn’t really know why. With the job come secrets, industrial espionage and shadowy figures from Alice’s other life he knew nothing about.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Sunday, June 13, 2021

Polish Ants and Dinosaurs

 The Polish edition of Cixin Liu's Of Ants and Dinosaurs has just been released, and my review of the book from SF Crowsnest has been translated into Polish for the occasion.





Wednesday, June 09, 2021

Book Review: The Dalliances of Monsieur D'Haricot by Barbara Stevenson

As soon as I saw the cover of The Dalliances Of Monsieur D’Haricot, I knew I wanted to read it. A dapper Frenchman on what I assumed, erroneously it turned out, to be a steampunk bicycle. It reminded me of my childhood reading of the Agaton Sax books. Monsieur D’Haricot is a French secret agent with impeccable manners and a compulsive air of gallantry, dedicated above all else to the ideals of France.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Tuesday, June 08, 2021

Haggis, Rhino and Other Slovenian Wildlife

 The Slovenian translation of my short story Haggis, Rhino and Other Unexpected Wildlife is now out in issue #10 of Supernova magazine.




This is my second story in Slovenian, following The Gondolier in 2015, and the second language for this story after Hungarian.



Sunday, May 23, 2021

Gwyllion Magazine #2

 Issue #2 of Gwyllion magazine is out now, and includes the Welsh translation of of my flash fiction story Never Talk to Strangers.






Friday, May 21, 2021

Book Review: Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill

In 2017’s Sea Of Rust, C. Robert Cargill told a tale of the far future where purpose-built robots struggle to survive once they no longer have a purpose, having wiped out humanity to gain their freedom. In the prequel, Day Zero we go back to the beginning, to the incident that triggered robotkind to turn on its makers and destroy all human society.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Saturday, May 15, 2021

New Reviewing Venue

 For the past several years all of my book and magazine reviews have appeared at SF Crowsnest, but before that my reviews appeared in several other places.

New genre magazine ParsSec, which will include one of stories in issue #2, will also include book reviews and I've been invited to join the reviewing team. So you'll now see my reviews appearing in two places.



Saturday, May 08, 2021

Stalker Award 2021 Long List

 The long list for the 2021 Stalker Awards - the Estonian genre awards  - is out. My story The Sound of Death has been long-listed for best short story translated in to Estonian. It was published in Reaktor in July 2020. 



Sunday, May 02, 2021

Five Ways to Accidentally Save the Earth from Alien Conquest

 The brand new magazine ParSec has been launched by PS Publishing, edited by Ian Whates, and the first two issues have a fabulous line-up of authors, including me. My short story Five Ways to Accidentally Save the Earth from Alien Conquest will be appearing in issue #2 in November.





This won't be my only involvement with ParSec. Further news to be announced...




Sunday, April 25, 2021

Book Review: Radio Life by Derek B. Miller

In a post-apocalyptic future several centuries from now, various tribes live in uneasy co-existence, their philosophies differing as to whether it’s best to recover ancient knowledge to improve their lives or make sure that knowledge is forgotten forever so as not to bring destruction on the Earth once more.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Tuesday, April 20, 2021

The Camel Returns

 The Romanian translation of my SF camel story Englebert is out now in issue #16 of Galaxia42 magazine.





This is the fourth language for this story following English, Hungarian and Vietnamese, and it's my third story in Romanian.



Saturday, April 17, 2021

The Chorochronos Archives

New time travel anthology The Chorochronos Archives is out now from JayHenge publishing. It includes my Victorian SF story The Long Afternoon of Sir Rupert Moncrief, which has previously appeared as a podcast from Gallery of Curiosities






 You can read this story in two different ways, either in chronological order, or following Sir Rupert as he jumps back and forth in time.



Tuesday, April 06, 2021

Venus of Hungary

 The Hungarian translation of  my reality TV space exploration story Venus of Venus is out now in Galaktika #373.



This is my 6th story in this magazine, and this time my name has been promoted to large font on the cover. 



Friday, April 02, 2021

Book review: Nova Hellas: Stories from Future Greece edited by Francesca T Barbini & Francesco Verso

The 2017 anthology Stories From Future Athens has been translated into English and a couple of additional stories added for the anthology Nova Hellas: Stories From Future Greece from Scottish small press Luna Press, edited by two Italian editors, Francesca T Barbini and Francesco Verso.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Friday, March 19, 2021

The Return of Sir Rupert Moncrief

 My Victorian time travel adventure The Long Afternoon of Sir Rupert Moncrief has been accepted for publication in the anthology The Chorochronos Archives from JayHenge Publishing. The story first appeared in the Gallery of Curiosities podcast, where it was shortlisted for a ParSec award. This will be its first time in print.





It's due to appear in April.



Thursday, March 18, 2021

Book Review: Seven Devils by Elizabeth May and Laura Lam

A ruthless empire strives to conquer every planet and destroy every alien race, controlling its subjects and ensuring their loyalty through indoctrination and conditioning. On a remote planet, a beleaguered rebellion plots to withstand them. Elizabeth May and Laura Lam have cooked up an entertaining twist on the ‘galactic empire versus rebels’ trope in the fast-paced novel Seven Devils.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Saturday, March 06, 2021

Never Talk to Strangers in Welsh Again

 I'm very pleased to have sold a reprint of the Welsh translation of my short story Never Talk to Strangers to Gwyllion magazine. It's due to appear in issue #2 in May.








Saturday, February 27, 2021

Book Review: Purgatory Mount by Adam Roberts

In the far distant future, a group of long-lived humans take a 40 light year flight aboard the starship Forward to investigate an interesting feature detected on the planet V538 Aurigae. The craft is also a generation ship for what appears to be a sub-species of human and briefly reminded me of Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Friday, February 19, 2021

Book Review: The Future is Yours by Dan Frey

EMAIL 

From: Geoff Willmetts, SF Crowsnest 
To: Gareth D Jones 

Hi Gareth, here’s a new book for you to review: ‘The Future Is Yours’ by Dan Frey. It’s written as a series of emails, texts, transcripts, reports etc. 

REPLY 

Hi Geoff, sounds great – I like that kind of thing. I’ve read (and written) quite a few short stories like that, but a whole novel is unusual. Send it my way!






Read the rest of my review, written in the style of the book, at SF Crowsnest.



Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Book Review: The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

Celebrated scientist Evelyn Caldwell has cracked the secret of creating human clones. This could be the start of a high-concept SF novel involving an imperial clone army but, in fact, takes a far more interesting and darkly humorous.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Tuesday, February 02, 2021

William Shakespeare's Returneth to the Future

 I enjoyed reading William Shakespeare's Star Wars Episode IV: Verily, a New Hope by Ian Doescher a few years back, and thought to myself, what else could be Shakespearised? The obvious answer seemed to be Back to the Future.

I wrote a Shakespearian version of the opening scene and, rather pleased with it, sent a query to the publishers of Ian Doescher's books, only to discover he was already working on the same idea. His book was later published as Get Thee back to the Future, and my opening scene remained languishing on my computer.

I rediscovered it again today and decided I may as well post it here instead.


William Shakespeare’s Returneth to the Future

By Gareth D Jones

 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

 

CHORUS

DOC BROWN, a scientist

MARTY MCFLY, his friend, a high school student

 

 

 

ACT I

 

SCENE 1.

In Doc Brown’s house.

 

CHORUS        A house quite startling in its clutter’d mess,

In fair Hill Valley where we lay our scene,

                        Is where Doc Brown doth genius confess

                        And tinker with both time and time machine.

A vast array of clocks all march in time,

In harmony they start their daily task

And trigger automation so sublime,

                        So that on time Doc Brown may break his fast.

                        But for this feast of food so skilful made,

                        Of coffee, egg and toast on which to dine,

                        There is nobody home, no table laid,

                        Not man, nor beast, the loyal dog Einstein.

                        And in amongst this wonder of cuisine,

                        The TV tuned in to a sombre scene:

[Exit.

 

NEWSCASTER  A theft of rare plutonium, we hear
Hath taken place and causes us much fear

                        Foul terrorists from Libya were blamed,

                        Yet now ‘tis but an error, it is claimed.

[Exit.

 

Enter MARTY MCFLY.

 

MARTY            Oh Doc! Doc Brown! Art thou at home, pray tell?
What is that stench, that overwhelming smell?
'Tis Einstein’s food upon the kitchen floor,
A mess the mutt will relish, that’s for sure.
I know not where the Doctor can be found,
But while I'm here I'll try out this new sound.
I'll turn the amps up, all the dials to ten
And my guitar I will plug in, and then
With plectrum twixt my fingers I will strum...

[Marty is flung across the room.

That sound! So loud! For hours my ears will hum!

[ A telephone rings.

 

DOC BROWN   [On the phone:] Young Marty, is that you my faithful friend?

 

MARTY            Hey Doc, hey Doc, where art thou this fine day?

 

DOC BROWN   Pray canst thou meet me at the Twin Pines Mall?

Tonight at one fifteen and there I shall

Reveal a major breakthrough I have made

For which I’ll need assistance of first grade.

 

MARTY            But wait a moment, one fifteen you say?

In early morn, before the light of day?

O Doc, what’s going on? Where hast thou been

All week? And what of Einstein? Hast thou seen?

 

DOC BROWN   Indeed he is right here along with me.

 

MARTY            Thou left thine apparatus on all week.

 

DOC BROWN   My apparatus, Marty, brings to mind

Thou best had not hook up the speaker grand,

Mayhap there could be caused an overload.

 

MARTY            Advice I’m sure that will be helpful, aye.

 

DOC BROWN   Until tonight then, prithee don’t forget,

At Twin Pines Mall at one fifteen be set.

 [Clocks chime.

                        Are all my clocks a-chiming in accord?

 

MARTY            Yea verily, ‘tis eight o’clock precise.

 

DOC BROWN   Ah, perfect! My experiment hath worked.

For five minutes and twenty they have shirked.

 

MARTY            O wait a minute, wait a minute, Doc!

Thou meanst it’s twenty-five past eight o’clock?

 

DOC BROWN   Precisely, Marty, that is what I mean.

 

MARTY            Ye gads! I’m late for school, I must away!

[Exit Marty, on a skateboard.

 

 CHORUS:        And so on wheeléd board young Marty flies,

                        With aid of passing carriages he speeds,

                        A poster of Mayor Wilson he espies,

                        En route to tend to his scholastic needs. 

[Exit.


Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Book Review: Inscape by Louise Carey

Set in a high-tech future London that has been built on the ruins of its pre-meltdown predecessor, Louise Carey’s novel Inscape is a sparkling mix of cyberpunk, espionage and post-apocalyptic social stratification.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.



Sunday, January 17, 2021

Romanian Camels

 My short camel-related story has been accepted my Romanian magazine Galaxia 42. First published in Daily Scienc Fiction, it has also been published in Hungarian and Vietnamese. It should be out in the spring.




Friday, January 08, 2021

Book Review: Bear Head by Adrian Tchaikovsky

In Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Dogs Of War we were introduced to the world of bioforms, bio-enhanced intelligent animals developed to fight and to always obey. Things had changed by the end of that novel and now two of those characters, huge bear Honey and distributed intelligence Bees, are back in Bear Head.






Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.