Fiction Highlights 2016
Published on 16 November, 2016
Authored by Titan Books
The New York Art Scene. The Faroe Islands. Cut-throat virtual worlds. This year's fiction at Titan has whisked us from destination to destination.
Cold-hearted killers. Dissident musicians. Super-intelligent hairy beach balls. This year's fiction has introduced us to a gallery of strange and engaging characters.
Science Fiction. Crime Fiction. Fantasy. It has been a marquee year: take a look at our highlights below...
The Gradual by Christopher Priest
Alesandro grows up in Glaund, a fascist state constantly at war. His brother is drafted; his family is destroyed by grief. He catches glimpses of islands in the far distance from the shore, and they inspire his music—music for which he is feted. His search for his brother brings him into contact with the military leadership and suddenly he is a fugitive on the run. His endless travels take him through places and time, bringing him answers he could not have forseen.
“This book stands comparison to anything by David Mitchell or Mark Helprin or George Saunders. It begs to be filmed by Terry Gilliam or David Lynch or Michel Gondry. And it justifies and ennobles all the high ambitions of the New Wave of science fiction, whose banner Christopher Priest had unfailingly flown, through all of his imagination’s manipulation of space and time.” — The Barnes & Noble Review
Super-intelligent hairy beach balls suddenly appear from another universe. Billy Morton’s family come quickly to love the playful alien ‘Louie’. But when Louie starts using their computer to hack into government and corporate accounts, learn all that the NSA knows, and steal millions from banks, the Government decides that all these aliens, even though most of them seem interested in only harmless play, are terrorists.
“Political commentary meets first contact invention, and somehow comes out the other end a hilarious sci-fi comedy.” — Barnes & Noble Sci Fi Blog
Some time in the near future, energy giant NovusPart has developed technology to transport people from the past to the present day, and they have just moved the lost population of Pompeii to a replica city. Historian Nick Houghton is brought in to study the Romans, but he soon realises that NovusPart are underestimating their captives. The Romans may be ignorant of modern technology, but they once ruled an empire. The stage is set for the ultimate clash of cultures…
“Much like Crichton, Godfrey seems most at home delving into the nerdy details of his thought experiment, bringing to life the world of the Pompeiians with a convincing degree of historical accuracy” — Shelf Awareness
A child is kidnapped with consequences that extend across worlds… A writer reaches into the past to discover the truth about a possible murder… Far away a young woman prepares for her mysterious future…
The Race weaves together story threads and realities to take us on a gripping and spellbinding journey.
“Intensely readable and intellectually sophisticated, The Race is one of the finest novels I’ve read.” — The LA Review of Books
Shock Pao is the best. There isn’t a system he can’t crack into, nothing he can’t steal for the right price. Outside virtual world the Slip, though, he’s a Fail—no degree, no job, no affiliations to protect him from angry ex-customers. Of which he has quite a few. So when his ex brings Shock a job which could help him escape his miserable existence, he accepts, little realizing that it will turn out to be his most impossible, illegal and incredible assignment yet.
“A flaming loop-the-loop rollercoaster with no brakes” — NPR
They were the New York art scene’s golden couple until Amanda Oliver was found murdered, and her husband Philip confessed to shooting her. But was he a continent away when she died? Art dealer Jackson Wyeth sets out to learn the truth, and uncovers the secrets of Manhattan’s galleries and wild parties, a world of beautiful girls growing up too fast and men losing their minds. But even the worst the art world can imagine will seem tame when the final sin is revealed…
“Clever…built masterfully…[a] powerhouse debut.” — SoHo Sins
The Blood Strand by Chris Ould
Having left the Faroes as a child, Jan Reyna is now a British police detective, and the Islands are foreign to him. But he is drawn back when his estranged father is found unconscious, a shotgun by his side and someone else’s blood in his car. Then a man’s body is found, a shotgun wound in his side, but signs that he was suffocated. Is his father responsible for the man’s death? Jan must decide whether to stay or forsake the Faroe Islands for good.
“For those who like their mysteries bleakly atmospheric, as aware of cultural intricacies as they are the working of the police system, The Blood Stand is a winning opener in what promises to be an engaging trilogy of crime novels” — Blog Critics