Goldsmiths Press to publish my latest novel Alston Moor

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I am totally thrilled that Goldsmiths Press will be publishing my novel Alston Moor in the Autumn of 2026 as part of the press’s Gold SF feminist series. Alston Moor is a work of eco-fiction with two parallel storylines set 500 years apart. I have adored every minute I’ve spent on research for this novel, whether I’ve been hiking on the North Pennines or reading texts detailing late-medieval life in this remotest of English landscapes.

I can’t wait to see this novel out in the world. Patience!

The entwined stories are told through multiple voices including cattle-herding Isabel and peatlands scientist Elizabeth who are both reeling from the overwhelming crises of their day: the eradication of religious traditions during the English Reformation and the impending ecosystem collapse of today.

Copy edits are imminent. And I am already enjoying working with the excellent Goldsmiths Press/Gold SF team.

Watch this space…

NOTE: Goldsmiths Press has acquired World English Language rights. All foreign rights and film & tv requests to assistant at sarah-such dot com at the Sarah Such Literary Agency, UK.

Happy reading, everyone!

Bridge 108 – Publication Day!

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Bridge 108, my fourth novel, is published today by 47North in hardback, paperback, audiobook and eBook editions! I’m over the moon.

This is my first novel to appear in hardback. And what a gorgeous hardback it is, with a beautiful dust jacket covering stunning book boards. How to make an author happy!

A stormy Isle of Bute in Scotland. Bridge 108 is my first book release since moving here two years ago!

I’m grateful to my wonderful editor, Jason Kirk, and the whole 47North team, the Brilliance audiobook team, and the cover designer David Drummond. The audiobook has six narrators for the voices of Caleb (Will M. Watt), Ma Lexie (Moira Quirk), Skylark (Fiona Hardingham), Jerome (Steve West), Jaspar (James Langton) and Sonia (Elizabeth Knowelden), and I am thrilled to bits with their fantastic performances.

As some of you know, Bridge 108 is set in the world of my debut, A Calculated Life, though either novel can be read first. Whereas A Calculated Life focuses on ‘the haves’ in late-twenty-first century England, Bridge 108 focuses on ‘the have-nots.’

Early reviews in The Guardian, Financial Times, Locus, Interzone, and more, are positive – see them on my Press page. Author interviews are in the pipeline so keep an eye on my tweets, and here on my website if you are curious.

“Charnock tells her story through the lives of ordinary people caught up in situations beyond their control, and Bridge 108 is all the more powerful for that.” — The Guardian

“Anne Charnock’s Bridge 108 is set in the same universe as her terrific 2013 debut A Calculated Life…(Bridge 108) seems horribly prescient. With the inclusion of climate refugees, child trafficking, and slavery, Bridge 108 adds that final touch of verisimilitude to Charnock’s post-Brexit nightmare.” — Locus Magazine

Are you are interested in fiction that relates to climate change? I’ve made recommendations on TOR.com — Five Recent Books About Climate Catastrophe.

Many thanks, all, for your continuing support for my scribblings.

Here is the back cover blurb for Bridge 108:

From the Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author, a dystopian novel of oppression set in the climate-ravaged Europe of A Calculated Life, a finalist for the Kitschies award and Philip K. Dick Award.

Late in the twenty-first century, drought and wildfires prompt an exodus from southern Europe. When twelve-year-old Caleb is separated from his mother during their trek north, he soon falls prey to traffickers. Enslaved in an enclave outside Manchester, the resourceful and determined Caleb never loses hope of bettering himself.

After Caleb is befriended by a fellow victim of trafficking, another road opens. Hiding in the woodlands by day, guided by the stars at night, he begins a new journey—to escape to a better life, to meet someone he can trust, and to find his family. For Caleb, only one thing is certain: making his way in the world will be far more difficult than his mother imagined.

Told through multiple voices and set against the backdrop of a haunting and frighteningly believable future, Bridge 108 charts the passage of a young boy into adulthood amid oppressive circumstances that are increasingly relevant to our present day.

Happy reading, everyone!

Bridge 108 — Cover Reveal!

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I’m thrilled to reveal the stunning cover art for my novel Bridge 108. This is my fourth novel and it will be published by 47North on 14 January 2020. The cover designer is David Drummond, who also designed the wonderful cover of Dreams Before the Start of Time.

Bridge 108 will be published on 14 January 2020. Cover art by David Drummond.

Bridge 108 is a standalone novel and it is set in the dystopian world of my debut novel, A Calculated Life (47North) and my BSFA award-winning novella, The Enclave (NewCon Press).

When I first started drafting A Calculated Life, way back in 2002, I set my story against a backdrop of climate change. The north of England has shifted from a wet, temperate climate to one that’s closer to mediterranean. In Bridge 108, I focus on those people living at the bottom of the heap in late 21st century society — the economic losers living in the enclaves, the climate migrants and their traffickers.

Here is the back cover blurb:

From the Arthur C. Clarke Award–winning author, a dystopian novel of oppression set in the climate-ravaged Europe of A Calculated Life, a finalist for the Kitschies award and Philip K. Dick Award.
Late in the twenty-first century, drought and wildfires prompt an exodus from southern Europe. When twelve-year-old Caleb is separated from his mother during their trek north, he soon falls prey to traffickers. Enslaved in an enclave outside Manchester, the resourceful and determined Caleb never loses hope of bettering himself.
After Caleb is befriended by a fellow victim of trafficking, another road opens. Hiding in the woodlands by day, guided by the stars at night, he begins a new journey—to escape to a better life, to meet someone he can trust, and to find his family. For Caleb, only one thing is certain: making his way in the world will be far more difficult than his mother imagined.
Told through multiple voices and set against the backdrop of a haunting and frighteningly believable future, Bridge 108 charts the passage of a young boy into adulthood amid oppressive circumstances that are increasingly relevant to our present day.

Bridge 108 will be released in hardback, paperback, eBook and audiobook editions.
Pre-orders are now open!

Mountainfilm, The New Normal, and 21 kids sue Federal Government over climate change

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It was such a thrill being invited to Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado. Now that I’ve recovered from jet lag — made worse by an all-night vigil watching the UK election results coming in — I’d like to tell you about the high points of Mountainfilm, which include meeting an eleven-year-old girl from Oregon who is taking on the US Federal Government.

What, you ask, was I even doing at the festival? Well, I went to Mountainfilm with my husband Garry to talk about climate change — specifically about how our community of Ashton Hayes has spent 11 years cutting our carbon emissions. Garry gave a well-received and positive talk at the festival’s Symposium and over the course of the week we spoke with local residents, non-profit organisations and media about Telluride’s own plans for achieving carbon neutrality. The two points about the Ashton Hayes project that struck everyone at Mountainfilm were these: One, we don’t ever invite politicians to address our meetings. Two, we don’t argue with anyone. Several New Yorkers were pretty aghast; they couldn’t imagine not arguing.

Attorney Julia Olson with her client Avery McRae at Mountainfilm Symposium.

So, the major highlight for me… was meeting eleven-year-old Avery McRae who is the second youngest of 21 plaintiffs (all under the age of 20) suing the federal government for ignoring early warnings over climate change and endangering their health by continuing to burn fossil fuels. Avery was accompanied by her dad, a climate scientist, and lead attorney in the case, Julia Olson.

Juliana et al v. United States et al is working its way through the courts, so watch out in the news media for this fascinating and potentially game-changing legal action.

I was immensely impressed by Avery’s clear thinking and hard talking. It made me wonder if every politician ought to have an eleven-year-old at their elbow, watching every piece of proposed legislation crossing their desk. I’m sure Avery would ask: “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Is that really fair to us kids?” Read more

A Conversation with Matt Hill, Author of Graft—Finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award 2017

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Matt Hill's novel Graft is a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award 2017.

Matt Hill’s novel Graft is a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award 2017.

It’s incredibly timely to post this conversation—originally published by Strange Horizons under the title Manchester, A Tale of Two Dystopias—because of two exciting events:

Last week, the Philip K. Dick Award announced that Matt’s novel Graft is a finalist for the 2017 Award. Many congratulations, Matt!

And in two weeks’ time, NewCon Press will publish my novella, The Enclave, written in the world of A Calculated Life—itself a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award in 2013. You can pre-order the Kindle eBook or Paperback/Limited Edition Hardback 🙂 Read more

A Conversation With Speculative Fiction Author E.J. Swift

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ejswift_author photo_bw smallI met E.J. Swift last summer when we shared a panel at LonCon 3, with David Hebblethwaite and Adam Roberts, discussing writers who cross the boundary between mainstream fiction and science fiction. Since then, I’ve finished my second novel, Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind, and E.J. has completed her trilogy The Osiris Project. Not only that…E.J.’s short story “The Spiders of Stockholm” has been long-listed for The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Competition.

We felt it was time for a catch-up chat—about past writing and future plans. Read more

Arthur C Clarke Award #6: 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

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I have to admit that I haven’t read Kim Stanley Robinson’s fiction before and on the strength of 2312 I’ll read his Mars Trilogy, which established him as a big hitter, with a literary bent, in the realm of hard SF.

Truth is, I don’t really gravitate to other-world science fiction. I suppose because I’m mainly interested in social science fiction I’ve tended towards Earth-based scenarios. I’m now thinking I should reconsider this bias.

Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312 is the sixth, and final, novel I’ve read on the shortlist for this year’s Arthur C Clarke Award. The winner will be announced tomorrow evening (1 May) at the Royal Society in London. And I’ll be there! Read more

Arthur C Clarke Award #5: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

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A global flu pandemic has decimated the human population and, if that’s not bad enough, the worst effects of global warming are taking their toll. The Dog Stars is set in Colorado nine years after the flu pandemic. Hig, a pilot, has made a life for himself at a remote airfield and he’s coping with his emotional trauma – ‘being at the end of all loss’ – thanks to the companionship of his dog Jasper.

This is the fifth novel I’ve read on the Arthur C Clarke Award 2013 shortlist. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 1st May. Read more

Manchester: Climate Change Winner or Loser?

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Tuscany

Ah! It would be lovely, wouldn’t it – if Manchester and the north west of England emerged as the new Florence and Tuscany of Europe? Just imagine cypress trees and vineyards scattered among the Pennine foothills and the Cheshire Gap. In A Calculated Life, Mancunians have adapted to a hotter climate and the region’s agricultural patterns have shifted dramatically. Thus climate change forms a backdrop to the novel.

Read more