In the spirit of the DVD phenomenon, we've created a little easter egg for buyers of the audiobook version of Pirate Sun.  There's additional material here that provides clues to the plot and characters in The Sunless Countries, which won't hit store shelves until next August.

Extra paper costs; extra bytes don't.  There was some material at the end of Pirate Sun that wasn't absolutely necessary--"good to have" scenes that we ultimately decided slowed the ending of the paper edition.  Audiobooks have a different style of pace, though, and a little extra time costs us nothing.  It reallly is a lot like DVDs, where the "good to have" scenes not released in the theatrical version are included because, well, they can be.

A lot of people have assumed that I was writing a trilogy--and, in a sense, I have been.  Pirate Sun ends the main plotline begun in Sun of Suns, and in that sense completes the story.  There remained lots of dangling questions, though, as well as opportunities for setting and adventure that had to remain unexplored in the first three books.  Hence, The Sunless Countries.

Virga is a world of infinite possibility.  I'm currently writing a set of short stories set there, because there's just too much to say about the place.  I love to go there in my imagination, and I know a lot of other people do too.  The fun's not over yet.

So if you want a hint of what's to come, pick up the audiobook version of Pirate Sun and enjoy!

Tor.com has a review of Metatropolis here.  They really liked it, the reviewer, John Joseph Adams, going so far as to say, "Overall, METAtropolis is one of the best anthologies I’ve read in a long time."  He follows that up with praise for each of the stories, and the narrators, three of whom are Battlestar Galactica actors.  But I really got happy when he said this:

The two standout stories, I thought, were the two with the most complicated titles—Scalzi’s Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis and Karl Schroeder’s To Hie from Far Cilenia. Scalzi’s is the most accessible and fun; Schroeder’s is the most inventive and full of gosh-wow sensawunda.

This is fantastic--another case where I had literally no idea how my story was going to be received.  It's... well... more than a bit strange.  But with the other pieces to anchor the world a bit, I guess it works.

Meanwhile, over at SFFAudio.com is another great review, praising both the stories and the excellent narration.  They have this to say about my story, "To Hie from Far Cilenia:"

...And last is Karl Schroeder’s story, “To Hie from Far Cilenia”, read by Stefan Rudnicki. This is a wonderful story of cities of a different type. Idea-rich, action-packed - it’s got it all. It’s a perfect cap to a great bunch of stories, taking things in a completely different direction. A virtual world superimposed on the “real” one, but isn’t the virtual one just as real? Rudnicki is excellent, like always.

Hey Mom, I made some sensawunda!

As I'm currently recovering from a little medical problem and have no energy to post at length these days, I'll let John Scalzi tell you all about it.  He does a much better job of it than I would, anyway.

You can try out Metatropolis, the shared world anthology from Audible.com, before buying.  There's a sample from my own story, "To Hie from Far Cilenia", or if you want you can listen to Jay Lake's excellent story, "In the Forests of the Night" in its entirety.  

Audible and I have been collaborating on other projects as well.  In fact, you can now download the first three Virga books, unabridged, in audiobook format from Audible.  I've been having a rollicking good time listening to them myself--it's quite an experience when your own words come back to you through someone else's voice! 

Publication date for this shared-world project is October 21, but you can get a taste early by pre-ordering and receiving the first story immediately! 

What's Metatropolis about?  It's about the near future of our cities--how they are going to evolve and mutate in the next quarter-century or so; and it's a series of stories about ordinary people caught up in--and helping cause--this transformation.

Here's the stories, and briefly, what they're about: 

In the Forests of the Night by Jay Lake

High in Oregon’s Cascades, a mysterious stranger named Tygre Tygre walks into the off-the-grid settlement known as Cascadiopolis and claims asylum. He is a man with no past and seemingly otherworldly abilities. Will he be the Cascadians’ salvation?

Stochasti-city by Tobias Buckell

OK, Reg. You’re a bouncer who’s barely eking out a meager existence in the decaying Wilds outside Detroit. So a little job tracking the Eddies on their patrols seems like easy money. Well, think again, Reg. Because a riot’s about to happen… and you’re going to be the cause…

The Red in the Sky is Our Blood by Elizabeth Bear

How does the stranger know Cadie’s real name – and why she’s on the run – and what it all has to do with the Ukrainian mob? He’s offering her freedom from possessions and a totally new way of life. But he wants just this one little favor…

Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis by John Scalzi

The only thing Benji lacks more than ambition is luck. And his new job has to be the lowest of the low. But something is stirring in the zero-footprint economy of New St. Louis. And Benji’s about to find himself chin deep in the muck!

To Hie from Far Cilenia by Karl Schroeder

Gennady’s an expert on nukes, so when the Interpol man hires him to track some stolen plutonium, it seems like business as usual. Except for this: all signs lead to – a place that doesn’t exist.

The Narrators

• MICHAEL HOGAN (In the Forests of the Night) is best known as Col. Saul Tigh, the executive officer on the landmark SciFi Channel series, Battlestar Galactica. Among his other numerous roles are multi-episode appearances on such television series as The L Word and Monk.
• In addition to his role as Lt. Felix Gaeta on Battlestar Galactica, ALESSANDRO JULIANI (Stochasti-city) has appeared in Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel, and other series.
• KANDYSE McCLURE (The Red in the Sky is Our Blood) plays Officer Anastasia “Dee” Dualla on Battlestar Galactica, and has also appeared on such TV series as Smallville, Dark Angel, and Da Vinci’s Inquest.
• SCOTT BRICK (Utere Nihil Non Extra Quiritationem Suis) is one of the most prolific and best-loved voices in the audiobook business, having narrated more than 400 titles. He’s been named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile Magazine, the leading industry publication. Sci-fi audio fans know him best for his 2008 Audie Award-winning work on Frank Herbert’s Dune.
• STEFAN RUDNICKI (To Hie from Far Cilenia) has more than a thousand audiobooks to his credit as narrator, writer, producer, or director. He is best known to sci-fi audio fans for his voice work on Ender’s Game, and other titles in Orson Scott Card’s classic “Ender Wiggin” series.

We had tons of fun putting this project together.  I hope you have as much fun listening to it!