A fantastic five star review from the discriminating pen of Jayne Nelson in the current issue of SFX magazine (#157, June). I’m tempted to quote the whole thing but you should really buy SFX and see for yourself. I’ll share my two favourite quotes with you, though:

‘Lewis Carroll, eat your heart out.’

‘The Modern World is another welcome glimpse into a fantasy world so aggressive it could knock seven shades of Hell out of most entries in the genre. We can’t recommend it highly enough.’

I’m going to be signing copies of The Modern World and the other Castle books in Waterstones, Piccadilly, London, on Thursday, June 7th, 5:30pm to 7:00pm.

Also at the scene will be Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Robert Holdstock, Steven Savile, Chris Dolley (who has organised the event), Andrew Dennis, Eric Brown, John Lambshead and David Devereux. The list keeps growing so I’ll keep you posted of any changes.

This will be Europe’s largest signing event in Europe’s largest book shop (eight and a half miles of shelves), so do come along. I’ll see you there!

The publication date for The Modern World in the UK is now 17th May. This is the last word I've had from Gollancz and I don't expect it to change again. So I'm afraid that everyone waiting will have to wait a little longer. But I trust you'll find it's worth it.

Please note that the title in the US is Dangerous Offspring. This is the same book as the The Modern World, so don't rush out and buy both - unless you really want to, of course!

I have added some more books to The World page – references for drugs, something Jant knows a lot about - and Architecture for Frost, a major character in The Modern World.

I have just signed a contract with Gollancz for two more Castle books. The first one will be called Carniss Keep.

The story is set 125 years before the events of The Year of Our War and shows a younger, cockier Jant before drugs, marriage and Shira Dellin got to him. Who’s Shira Dellin? Well she’s mentioned in all three of the other books but you will have to read this one to find out. Suffice to say she is capable of causing just as much trouble for everyone as Jant is.