Jonathan Barnes's Blog

The wonderful Kristin of the My Bookish Ways blog ("SFF, suspense, and more, since 2010") conducted a short interview with me earlier this month. You can read the results here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2015/04/an-interview-with-jonathan-barnes-author-of-cannonbridge.html

Well, Cannonbridge was released earlier this month. It's hugely exciting to have a new book out at last and I'm thrilled that lots of people seem to be enjoying it. Not all readers, of course, but that's fine too. A book can't be for everyone...

In a pleasing, elegant piece for the Literary Review, the critic Philip Womack called the novel "a labrynthine literary thriller... written with elegance and care, and with a flair for suspense and revelation." SFX magazine awarded the book four stars and their reviewer Sarah Dobbs promised that "it'll keep you reading to the very end... the novel deserves to become well-known."

Publishers' Weekly described the book as "a vividly-plotted, cinematic genre-bender." The full piece can be read here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/9781781082973

Several prominent bloggers have also been kind, inclunding Dad.info (http://www.dad.info/article/review-cannonbridge-by-jonathan-barnes), the Eloquent Page (http://www.theeloquentpage.co.uk/2015/02/07/cannonbridge-by-jonathan-barnes/) and My Bookish Ways (http://www.mybookishways.com/2015/02/read-this-cannonbridge-by-jonathan-barnes.html)

There'll be more to come, I hope, but this is heartening stuff. Wonderful to find that something that was such fun for me to write communicates at least a little of that glee to some readers.

I'm delighted to say that Cannonbridge, my third novel, will be published later this month on February 12th. It can, of course, be pre-ordered now.

If you're eager to get a copy in advance (well, a day in advance at any rate) I'm very excited to say that I'll be signing copies on Wednesday February 11th at Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue, London. More details here: https://forbiddenplanet.com/events/2015/02/11/jonathan-barnes-signing-cannonbridge/

Needless to say, it would be great to see you there!

This is my favourite time of year, connected inextricably with ghost stories. Revisiting Sheridan Le Fanu's "In a Glass Darkly", I came across this disquieting paragraph...

"Mr Jennings is a perfectly gentlemanlike man. People, however, remark something odd. There is an impression a little ambiguous. One thing which certainly contributes to it people, I think, don't remember; or, perhaps, distinctly remark. But I did, almost immediately. Mr Jennings has a way of looking sidelong upon the carpet, as if his eye followed the movements of something there. This, of course, is not always. It occurs only now and then. But often enough to give a certain oddity, as I have said, to his manner, and in this glance travelling along the floor there is something both shy and anxious."

I'm really thrilled to be able to announce at last that my third novel, Cannonbridge, will be published by Solaris in February next year. I don't want to say too much about it yet but here's a brisk teaser...

Flamboyant Matthew Cannonbridge was touched by genius, the most influential mind of the 19th century, a great novelist and playwright and the poet of his generation. The only problem is, he should never have existed...

Amazon, inevitably, has more... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cannonbridge-Jonathan-Barnes/dp/1781082979/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413702308&sr=8-1&keywords=cannonbridge

The new series of Sherlock Holmes has been announced! A four-hour audio-drama, starring Nicholas Briggs and Richard Earl, it examines those mysterious years in which Holmes was missing, presumed dead, whilst secretly travelling the world in disguise. I've written the scripts and I hope that it fits together satisfyingly with my previous Holmes stories, The Ordeals of Sherlock Holmes and The Adventure of the Perfidious Mariner, as well as hinting at some possible future developments. It's released in December on CD and download from Big Finish Productions. More here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-judgement-of-sherlock-holmes-boxed-set-1116.

Online to listen to now for free... a teaser clip from the forthcoming version of Frankenstein from Big Finish Productions, which I adapted and which stars Arthur Darvill.

Very excited for this to come out - it's sounding great so far... :-)

 https://soundcloud.com/big-finish/frankenstein-teaser-clip

It's been a busy few months. And here are two of the reasons why...

Two exciting pieces of recent work:

A new introduction to J B Priestley's novel The Doomsday Men for Valancourt Books (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Doomsday-Men-J-Priestley/dp/1941147143/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1404578785&sr=8-2)...

An essay for Fan Phenomena: Sherlock Holmes : "On Writing New Adventures on Audio: Into the Interstices of Canon" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fan-Phenomena-Sherlock-Holmes-Intellect/dp/178320205X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1404579096&sr=8-1)

I'm delighted to say that I've written the scripts for the opening two episodes of the new SF audio series from Big Finish Productions: Charlotte Pollard. 

It's a Doctor Who spin-off of sorts (for the uninitiated, Miss Pollard was the longest-running – and, arguably, the definitive – companion to Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor) but I think it has its own distinctive character and flavour. 

I've contributed the first two stories – The Lamentation Cipher and The Shadow at the Edge of the World – whilst the second pair – The Fall of the House of Pollard and The Viyran Solution – have been written by Matt Fitton. India Fisher and Michael Maloney star! More here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/charlotte-pollard---series-one-box-set-1020

Love this creepy, kooky cover for the second story!

I'm delighted to report that the excellent Paul Simpson of the website Sci-Fi Bulletin has reviewed individually all six of the tales which make up the ghost story sequence SKAYNE.

He's been remarkably generous, calling them "insidiously creepy", suggesting that "Barnes skilfully builds the atmosphere" and writing that "each resounds in the mind afterwards for different reasons".

You can read the reviews at the SFB website, via the links below:

One: The Library at Iffley Tower
http://scifibulletin.com/books/horror/review-skayne-1-the-library-at-iffley-tower/

Two: The Tempelstone Gate
http://scifibulletin.com/books/horror/review-skayne-2-the-tempelstone-gate/ 

Three: The Last Constitutional
http://scifibulletin.com/books/horror/review-skayne-3-the-last-constitutional/

Four: GH19
http://scifibulletin.com/books/horror/review-skayne-4-gh-19/ 

Five: Synch in Progress
http://scifibulletin.com/books/horror/review-skayne-5-synch-in-progress/ 

Six: The Ground Outside
http://scifibulletin.com/books/horror/review-skayne-6-the-ground-outside/ 

All six stories themselves are still available here: http://www.nicholasbriggs.com/product-category/ebooks/