Solaris Books

Solaris Books

Parent company	Rebellion Developments
Founded	February 2007
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Headquarters location	Oxford
Key people	Jonathan Oliver, Editor-in-Chief
Publication types	Books
Fiction genres	Science fiction Fantasy Dark fantasy
Official website	www.solarisbooks.com

Solaris Books is an imprint which focuses on publishing science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy novels and anthologies. The range includes titles by both established and new authors. The range is owned by Rebellion Developments and distributed to the UK and US booktrade via local divisions of Simon & Schuster.

History

Solaris Books was founded in February 2007 by BL Publishing, to trade alongside their existing licence-based imprint the Black Library, and the then-existing Black Flame imprint. When asked why BLP had started the new imprint, Consulting Editor George Mann stated that "...between... the major corporate publishers... and... the small and independent press... there seems to be little or no room left for the midlist,"^[1] and that Solaris would provide a mass-market platform for up-and-coming writers, or established writers with smaller readerships.

In September 2009, it was announced that Solaris Books had been bought by Rebellion Developments, who also publish comics and graphic novels under 2000 AD imprint and genre fiction under the Abaddon Books imprint, for an undisclosed sum.^[2] The imprint came under the leadership of Abaddon editor Jonathan Oliver, who ran both imprints side by side as Editor-in-Chief, along with editors David Moore and Jenni Hill.^[3]

The new team continues to publish books in the Solaris tradition, maintaining existing relationships with authors such as Brian Lumley, Andy Remic and Juliet McKenna and also discovering new voices in the SF and fantasy genres. As of August 2010, Solaris had published seventy-three titles by twenty-nine authors,^[4] including anthologies and new editions of out-of-print titles.

Authors

• Natasha Rhodes
• Brian Lumley
• Gail Z. Martin
• Andy Remic
• James Lovegrove
• Juliet McKenna
• Eric Brown
• Gareth L. Powell
• James Goss
• Ed Greenwood
• Paul Kearney
• James Maxey
• Emily Gee
• Tim Akers
• George Mann
• Simon R. Green
• Ian Whates
• Keith Brooke
• Chris Roberson
• Adam Roberts
• Ben Jeapes
• Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Publications

• The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction (edited by George Mann, February 2007, ISBN 1-84416-374-1)
• The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two (edited by George Mann, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84416-542-1)
• The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Three (edited by George Mann, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84416-709-8)
• The Summoner (by Gail Z. Martin, February 2007, ISBN 1-84416-468-3)
• Deadstock (by Jeffrey Thomas, March 2007, ISBN 1-84416-447-0)
• Dante's Girl (by Natasha Rhodes, March 2007, ISBN 1-84416-666-X)
• The Touch (by Brian Lumley, March 2007, ISBN 978-1-84416-485-1)
• Thief With No Shadow (by Emily Gee, May 2007, ISBN 1-84416-469-1)
• Helix: (by Eric Brown, June 2007, ISBN 1-84416-469-1)
• Bitterwood (by James Maxey, July 2007, ISBN 978-1-84416-487-5)
• Infinity Plus (edited by Keith Brooke and Nick Gevers, August 2007, ISBN 978-1-84416-489-9)
• Set the Seas on Fire (by Chris Roberson, August 2007, ISBN 978-1-84416-488-2)
• Splinter (by Adam Roberts, September 2007, ISBN 978-1-84416-490-5)
• The Solaris Book of New Fantasy (edited by George Mann, December 2007, ISBN 978-1-84416-523-0)
• Dark Lord (by Ed Greenwood, September 2007, ISBN 978-1-84416-519-3)
• Arch Wizard (by Ed Greenwood, December 2008, ISBN 978-1-84416-651-0)
• House of Fear Anthology edited by Jonathan Oliver ISBN 978-1-907992-06-3
• Phoenicia's Worlds (by Ben Jeapes, 2013)

Awards

• Mary Robinette Kowal's story "Evil Robot Monkey", from The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Two, was nominated for the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.^[5]
• Paul Cornell's story "One of Our Bastards is Missing", from The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three, was nominated for the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novelette.^[6]
• Ellen Datlow's Poe Anthology won the 2010 Black Quill Award for Best Dark Genre Anthology (Readers' Choice),^[7] and the 2010 Shirley Jackson Award for an Edited Anthology,^[8] and was nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in an Anthology.^[9]
• Alastair Reynolds' story "The Fixation", from The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three, won the 2009 Sidewise Award for Alternate History (Short Form).^[10]
• Chris Roberson's The Dragon's Nine Sons won the 2008 Sidewise Award for Alternate History (Long Form).^[11]
• Stephen Baxter's story "Last Contact", from The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, was a finalist in the 2008 Locus Award for Short Story^[12] and a nominee for the 2008 Hugo Award for Short Story.^[13]
• Mary Rosenblum's story "Sacrifice", from Sideways in Crime, won the 2008 Sidewise Award for Alternate History (Short Form).^[14] Tobias Buckell's story "The People's Machine", and Kristine Kathryn Rusch's story "G-Men", both from Sideways in Crime, were nominated in the same category.

See also

• Abaddon Books, another Rebellion imprint releasing speculative fiction novels in a number of themed lines
• 2000 AD, a comics anthology, publishing fiction featuring characters such as Judge Dredd and, through their sister comics magazine Judge Dredd Megazine, Tank Girl
• Black Flame, another BL Publishing imprint largely focused on licensed franchises

Notes

1. Solaris Books: The Interview, VanderWorld, 11 April 2006
2. Rebellion acquires Solaris imprint, The Book Seller, 3 September 2009
3. Staff, Solaris Books, 1 October 2009
4. Authors, Solaris Books, 1 August 2010
5. 2009 Hugo Award Nominations, The Hugo Awards, 19 March 2009
6. 2010 Hugo Award Nominees – Details, The Hugo Awards, 4 April 2010
7. 3rd Annual Black Quill Winners, Dark Scribe Magazine, 7 February 2010
8. Shirley Jackson Award 2009 Winners, Shirley Jackson Awards, 11 July 2010
9. 2009 Bram Stoker Award Nominees, Horror Writers' Association, 1 March 2010
10. Sidewise Awards Results, SF Awards Watch, 6 August 2010
11. Winners and Finalists, Uchronia, 1 August 2009
12. 2008 Locus Award Finalists, Locus Online, 23 April 2010
13. 2008 Hugo Award Nominees, The Hugo Awards, 21 March 2008
14. Winners and Finalists, Uchronia, 1 August 2009

References

• Solaris Books at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

External links

• Official website