The Outer Earth Trilogy Is Here!
WOAH. What in the shit is that?
That, my pedigree chums, is the collected Outer Earth series in one massive omnibus edition.
Wait…what?
All three books in the series – Tracer, Zero-G, Impact – squashed together in an absolute doorstopper of a book, for the price of a single hardcover novel. Three in one. Three for one. Whatever the hell you want to call it, we did it. Well, Orbit Books did it. I just wrote the things.
On a related note, does anybody else think the word ‘omnibus’ sounds wonderfully old-fashioned? I’m not sure it’s the best way to describe things here. I like to think of this one as a boxset. The Outer Earth Boxset has a real nice ring to it.
But it doesn’t come in a box, tho…
Shut up.
Aren’t the individual novels out already? Why are you rereleasing these books?
Well spotted, Sir and/or Madam. Your perspicacity knows no bounds. Ah, perspicacity…now there’s another wonderful old word…
Sorry. Anyway. The original trilogy sold just fine, but one of the things Orbit and I found was that readers were often unsure of how many books were in the series, or what order they came in. Unfortunately, that’s one of the buggers about book cover design that publishers and authors have to deal with: if you put a number on the cover (as in: “Book 2 of the Outer Earth Trilogy”), and a bookstore is sold out of Book 1, then Book 2 and 3 just get left on the damn shelf.
That, and the fact that Tracer, Zero-G, Impact were marketed as action thrillers. That’s the idea – they are action thrillers – but it also meant that traditional scifi fans didn’t always realise this was a book that they might enjoy too. Again, not something I feel bad about – in publishing, you have to pick an angle, and we did, and it worked out OK. But it does mean that casual readers who don’t know who I am (which, frankly, disgusts me, but there you go) might not have picked up the series.
This is a chance to grab that new audience and shake it very hard thirty or forty times while screaming “READ THIS BOOK” into its face in very loud, spittle-flecked tones. It has a sick new cover, courtesy of designer Helen Surman, and the copy on my desk as I write this looks…well, pretty fucking badass, actually.
What’s it about?
Glad you asked.
A hundred years in the future, we’ve completely destroyed our planet. The last remains of humanity – a million or so people – lie squashed into a city-sized space station orbiting the Earth.
The station is rusting, broken, overcrowded, falling apart. Public transport is long gone. To move packages and messages from place to place, the citizens of Outer Earth rely on tracers: human couriers who can take shipments through dangerous areas. Tracers are smart, fast, agile, and really good in a fight.
Riley Hale is one of them – maybe, if you believe her and her crew, the fastest tracer on the station. She never fails a delivery, never looks to see what her cargo is, and tries her best not to think about the family she lost, years ago. But when she’s ambushed on a routine run, and discovers she’s been transporting a severed eyeball, she finds herself the target of a psychopath who wants to wipe Outer Earth from existence – and humanity with it. To stay alive, she’ll have to run like hell.
Sounds intense!
You have no idea. It’s a flying kick to the head, a story fired out of a shotgun, a nuclear explosion of a novel. Don’t believe me? Here are quotes from reviews of the trilogy…
‘Fast, exhilarating and unforgettable, and once you start it you can’t stop’ Sarah Lotz, author of The Three
‘Sets a new standard for all-action SF’ Ken MacLeod
‘Relentlessly fast pace . . . Vivid action scenes’ SFX
‘Exhilarating and guaranteed to keep you hooked until the very last page’ Glamour
‘If you’re after a fast-paced, action-packed, cinematic space adventure, then [this] is absolutely for you’ Civilian Reader
When was all of this first released?
Tracer dropped in 2015. Zero-G and Impact came out back-to-back in 2016.
Three books. OK. So how long is it?
977 pages.
Holy hell!
Yeah.
Wait: couldn’t you just go for an even 1,000?
We could have. But publishers, obviously, don’t want to up their costs too much. And once you go past 1,000 pages, printers start adding on extra zeroes.
And right now, the book is longer than most of the Wheel Of Time novels, by about fifty pages. It also has the distinct advantage of being a complete, finished story that you can read in one go. Also, I didn’t die before I finished it, so there’s that.
Besides: after 977 pages of the kind of action I like to write about, you are going to be more than satisfied. You are going to need a stretch, a stiff drink, a cigarette, maybe while lying in bed with the covers puddled around your –
You know what? I’m overpromising here. Let’s move on.
What about Echoes?
Ah, you’re referring to the collection of short fiction set in the same universe, with four stories focused on four separate supporting characters, set before the events of the first book?
…Yes. Also, why are you talking like that?
God knows. Anyway, no, unfortunately Echoes isn’t in here (977 pages, remember? Echoes is short, but not 23 pages short. It would take things over the 1,000 page limit).
Not to worry! You can still pick up the collection here, for less than a cup of coffee.
When is it out, and how do I get it?
6 Feb 2018. You can order it from your preferred store below! As always, please consider ordering from IndieBound, and supporting your favorite indie store – although it’s available everywhere, and it’s totally cool if you order it from bigger stores too.
Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Book Depository / IndieBound / Google Play / iBooks / Kobo / Waterstones
And if I listen to audiobooks?
You’re in luck! While the omnibus/boxset/space station novel extravaganza isn’t being offered as a single audiobook (which, after all, would stretch to about fifty hours!) you can buy all three novels in audio form on Audible, using the link below.
This sounds awesome. Outstanding. Will you object if I buy several copies as birthday, Christmas and bar mitzvah gifts? Also, I’d like to nominate you for the Man Booker, the Hugo, and the Nobel Peace Prize. Is that cool? I don’t want to intrude…
Yes, fictional interviewer. It’s totally cool. All of it.
