He also made a number of points I found interesting inasmuch as they were responses I had not anticipated to the story. It’s already become apparent from comments and reviews that those of a more literary bent prefer Adrift on the Sea of Rains to The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself, and I’d assumed that was as much due to the ending of the former as anything else. Yet Paul Cornell described the ending of Adrift on the Sea of Rains as very much a genre ending. Before The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself was published, I’d seen reviews of Adrift on the Sea of Rains which assumed the story of the second book of the Apollo Quartet followed on immediately – in other words, the story of the first novella wasn’t neatly tied up and resolved, and required more narrative. I’d always thought that constituted a “genre ending”. Science fiction likes its closure. It’s only at the more literary end of the genre that stories are not neatly resolved or explicated. At least, so I’d always believed – though there are exceptions, such as Arthur C Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama.

Finally, for the record, the second book of the quartet, The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself, is available, and has been since January this year – in limited hardback, paperback, ebook and on Kindle. I’m anticipating the third book, Then Will The Great Ocean Wash Deep Above, will be published some time in late summer – I certainly hope to have it available for the World Fantasy Convention at the end of October 2013.

Oh, and I couldn’t resist the title of this post…

When I wrote Adrift on the Sea of Rains, I deliberately wrote it as literary fiction. It’s a science fiction story – astronauts! moon base! the Bell! – but I wanted to use a literary fiction mode of telling it. I focused the prose on the landscape of the Moon and the internal emotional landscape of the protagonist, Vance Peterson. I slathered it in technical detail. But I didn’t use a typical science-fictional narrative structure.

For The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself, I decided to use a narrative structure more commonly used in science fiction. It’s a puzzle story – but the solution to the puzzle is only made available to the readers, not to the characters in the story. In other words, I added an intellectual dimension to the story that’s visible only to the reader. That’s something science fiction does quite a lot. I tricked it up, of course, using a glossary and a coda, and indulging in some authorial sleight of hand by trying to distract the reader into thinking the two narratives – Elliott on Mars and Elliott travelling to Gleise 876 d – were the whole story.

And from the reviews I’ve seen so far, and comments made to me by friends and acquaintances, I’ve discovered that sf fans who read a lot of literary fiction – and perhaps hold it in higher esteem than sf – prefer Adrift on the Sea of Rains. But those who enjoy science fiction far more than other modes of literature, they like The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself better.

I didn’t consciously set out to target each of the novellas at different types of science fiction reader. To be honest, I thought Adrift on the Sea of Rains would only really appeal to space geeks. I had imagined most sf readers would stumble over the level of detail – acronyms! equations! Apollo Lunar Module control panels! – but in fact the most consistent complaint I’ve seen to date is on the lack of quote marks around dialogue.

All of this is making Apollo Quartet 3, Then Will The Great Ocean Wash Deep Above, more of a challenge to write than I had initially anticipated. This doesn’t mean I plan to aim it squarely at another type of genre reader – fantasy fans, for example. That just wouldn’t work. But it does mean I’m going to have to think carefully about what I want each of the two narratives in it to achieve. And how I think they might be read.

And when I look at the list of books I have to use for research, and the themes and motifs I want to cover, and the narrative structure I want to use… I have to wonder why I didn’t chose to write space opera, or some similar form of sf that allows me to use a straightforward linear narrative in a world I’ve made up from whole cloth…

And it won.

Here’s a photo of the award:

The other winners were Jack Glass by Adam Roberts for best novel, the cover art of Jack Glass by Blacksheep for best artwork, and the World SF Blog for best non-fiction. Congratulations all.

So, for people who have read Adrift on the Sea of Rains in the BSFA 2012 booklet, here’s the full bibliography and online sources as they appear in the paperback, hardback and ebook editions…

BIBLIOGRAPHY

_Bean, Alan: APOLLO: AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT (1998, The Greenwich Workshop Press, ISBN 0-86713-050-4)
_Buttler, Tony: AMERICAN SECRET PROJECTS: FIGHTERS AND INTERCEPTORS 1945 – 1978 (2007, Midland Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85780-264-1)
_Buttler, Tony, and Yefim Gordon: SOVIET SECRET PROJECTS: BOMBERS SINCE 1945 (2006, Midland Publishing, ISBN 978-1-85780-194-1)
_Carson, Don, and Lou Drendel: No. 15: F-106 DELTA DART IN ACTION (1974, Squadron/Signal, no ISBN)
_Cook, Nick: THE HUNT FOR ZERO POINT (2001, Century, ISBN 0-7126-6953-1)
_Cowen, Mark, director: MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION: WALKING ON THE MOON (2005, HBO Home Video DVD)
_Davis, Larry: No. 199: F-102A DELTA DAGGER IN ACTION (2005, Squadron/Signal, ISBN 0-89747-494-5)
_Donald, David: TUPOLEV BOMBERS (2002, AIRtime Publishing, ISBN 1-880588-62-5)
_Farrell, Joseph P: THE SS BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL (2006, Adventures Unlimited Press, ISBN 1-931882-61-4)
_Ginter, Steve: NAVAL FIGHTERS No. 64: A-5A / RA-5C VIGILANTE (2005, Steve Ginter, ISBN 0-942612-64-7)
_Godwin, Robert: APOLLO 15: THE NASA MISSION REPORTS VOLUME 1 (2001, Apogee Books, ISBN 1-896522-57-2)
_Godwin, Robert: APOLLO SPACECRAFT NEWS REFERENCE (LUNAR MODULE) (2005, Apogee Books, ISBN 1-894959-35-3)
_Godwin, Robert: APOLLO SPACECRAFT NEWS REFERENCE (NAA COMMAND SERVICE MODULE) (2005, Apogee Books, ISBN 1-894959-49-9)
_Godwin, Robert: APOLLO ADVANCED LUNAR EXPLORATION PLANNING (2007, Apogee Books, ISBN 978-1-894959-80-3)
_Godwin, Robert: APOLLO TRAINING—APOLLO SPACECRAFT & SYSTEMS FAMILIARIZATION (2007, Apogee Books, ISBN 9781-894959-79-7)
_Godwin, Robert: THE LUNAR EXPLORATION SCRAPBOOK (2007, Apogee Books, ISBN 9781-1894959-81-0)
_Godwin, Robert: LUNAR MODULE ORIENTATION GUIDE & COMPARTMENT FAMILIARIZATION (2009, Apogee Books, ISBN 978-1-926592-11-4)
_Greer, Gordon B: ALL-WEATHER FIGHTERS (2006, iUniverse, ISBN 0-595-40656-4)
_Holder, William G: AERO SERIES No. 27: CONVAIR F-106 (1977, Aero Publishers, Inc., ISBN 0-8168-0600-4)
_Kamecke, Theo, director: MOONWALK ONE (1970, The Attic Room Ltd DVD)
_Kelly, Thomas J: MOON LANDER (2001, Smithsonian Institution Press, ISBN 1-56098-998-X)
_Kinzey, Bert: IN DETAIL & SCALE VOLUME 35: F-102 DELTA DAGGER (1990, TAB/Airlife, ISBN 1-85310-618-6)
_Launius, Roger D: SPACE STATIONS: BASE CAMPS TO THE STARS (2003, Smithsonian Institution, ISBN 1-58834-120-8)
_O’Brien, Frank: THE APOLLO GUIDANCE COMPUTER (2010, Springer-Praxis, ISBN 978-1-4419-0876-6)
_Reinert, Al, director: FOR ALL MANKIND (1989, Eureka Entertainment Ltd DVD)
_Riley, Christopher, and Philip Dolling: APOLLO 11 OWNERS’ WORKSHOP MANUAL (2009, Haynes Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84425-683-9)
_Scott, David, and Alexei Leonov: TWO SIDES OF THE MOON (2004, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0-7432-3162-7)
_Sington, David, director: IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (2007, Channel 4 DVD)
_Sullivan, Scott P: VIRTUAL APOLLO (2002, Apogee Books, ISBN 978-1-896522-94-7)
_Witkowski, Igor: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WUNDERWAFFE (2003, European History Press, ISBN 838825916-4)

ONLINE SOURCES

A Space About Books About Space – http://spacebookspace.wordpress.com/
Apollo Flight Journal – http://history.nasa.gov/afj/
Apollo Guidance Computer Schematics – http://klabs.org/history/ech/agc_schematics/index.htm
Apollo Lunar Surface Journal – http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html
Apollo Operations Handbook – http://history.nasa.gov/afj/aohindex.htm
Beyond Apollo - http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/beyondapollo/
Encyclopedia Astronautica – http://www.astronautix.com/
The Project Apollo Image Gallery – http://www.apolloarchive.com/apollo_gallery.html
Virtual AGC Home Page – http://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/
Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org

The mention in the Guardian in January, and being shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Association Award, did generate a spike in ebook sales, but the paperback has sold steadily since publication in April last year. Hopefully, it will continue to do so.

In related news, the second book of the Apollo Quartet, The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself, is also available, and has been doing quite well. Recent reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Science Fiction(365), upcoming4.me, Tony’s Thoughts and Glen Mehn’s blog have all been very positive. Review copies are still available for those who want one.

The third book of the quartet has now been plotted out – though that may change – and I’ve started on the research, but I won’t be starting on the writing until after the Eastercon. I’m hoping to have it available by the end of summer – late August or September. But I hoped the same for The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself, so we shall see. I am not the most prolific of writers, chiefly because I have stupidly chosen to write a form of science fiction which requires massive amounts of research. Sometimes, I wonder what it might be like to to be able to make things up as you go along…

Afterwards, at 15:00, there’ll be an opportunity to buy copies if the book and get them signed.

The limited hardback edition of The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself has been doing well, but there’s a way to go yet before it’s sold out. The limited hardback of Adrift on the Sea of Rains, however… I have half a dozen copies left. When they’re gone, it’s paperback, ebook, or nothing, I’m afraid.

On Amazon (UK), The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself has so far managed five 5-star reviews. I particularly like the one which starts “So good it’s hard to know where to begin”. People tell you to avoid self-published books with only 5-star reviews – but these are all genuine. Honest. There are also reviews on Upcoming4.me and SF (365), and a couple on GoodReads. Thanks to everyone who has written a review. Copies are still available for review for those who haven’t, by the way.

Adrift on the Sea of Rains has ten reviews on Amazon (UK), over half of which are 5-star. There are also a lot of reviews around and about on the internet – and more will likely appear, now that it has been shortlisted for the BSFA Award. The latest review I’ve seen, in fact, was in Vector, the critical journal of the British Science Fiction Association. I was quite taken with the line, “packed with invention and fleeting displays of true literary grace”, though there was a caveat. Anyway, see here for links to all the reviews so far. Again, thanks to everyone who’s reviewed the book.

I’m going to delay starting on Apollo Quartet 3: Then Will The Great Ocean Wash Deep Above for a few months. I’ve already begun collecting research material, and thinking about the plot; but I don’t plan to put pen to paper (so to speak) until April/May. I have other projects I’d like to complete first. Including a short story, which doubled in size last weekend, and I’ve been told now it deserves to be much longer…

I also have a submission to Whippleshield Books, which I need to read and make a decision on. Submissions remain open, and I plan to write something here soon about the guidelines. Whippleshield Books may be a micro-press, but it’s a micro-press with a very specific taste in fiction.

(The photograph above, incidentally, is not the Whippleshield Books Control Centre but Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, taken from here, and the original caption reads “Laurie Turner and Andrew Tupalski”.)

Novels, short fiction, artwork and non-fiction for the the British Science Fiction Awards are nominated by members of the BSFA. The winner will be announced at EightSquared, the annual British Eastercon, in Bradford on 30 March.

Incidentally, UPS tried to deliver five boxes from the printer on Tuesday. I’ve had to re-schedule the delivery to Friday. But once I have them – that’s it, that’s The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself officially published and available to buy. Pre-orders will be shipped out next week. And the Kindle version will go up on Amazon this weekend.

And after that, I’ll need to get started on the research for book three, Then Will The Great Ocean Wash Deep Above. I’ve already bought a couple of books on the subject, and even a DVD-only documentary. I’ll post an update on the writing a few months from now. For the time-being, I have a few other projects I’d like to get done – some short fiction, an unrelated novella, some novel treatments…

“Ian Sales’ Adrift on the Sea of Rains is one of the most outstanding self-published books of the year, and a homage to the golden age of SF writing and the Apollo space programme.”

That’ll be going on all the marketing from now on. And if I go to a second print-run for the paperback, I’ll put that quote on the back. Thanks, Damien.

There will, of course, be no second print-run of the hardback – after all, that’s what “limited” means. And if you want a copy of the hardback, you’d best move fast. There are less than a dozen copies left. You can buy it here.

Book two of the Apollo Quartet, The Eye With Which The Universe Beholds Itself, is available for pre-order. I’m expecting the hardback edition – again limited to 75 copies – to be delivered in mid-January, and the paperback edition a week or so later. The ebook versions will be made available when the hardbacks arrive.