When I first conceived the idea of an urban fantasy set in and around Covent Garden I did so secure in the knowledge that, if nothing else, at least the setting would be original.Imagine my horror when, a mere 10,000 words into my magnificent octopus, the very personable Mike Shevdon turned up in my shop and thrust an ARC of his first novel into my hands. It's an urban fantasy, he told me cheerfully, set in and around Covent Garden.
I said thank you through gritted teeth and promised faithfully to make sure I ordered lots of copies and put them face out. That evening I started reading on the bus home in the hope that it would be terrible but unfortunately it wasn't.
It was actually very good - damn!
Beautifully researched, meticulously plotted and paced to keep you in suspense until the very last page this is an excellent book and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.
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2 comments:
Heh. I felt exactly the same when I began revising my Elizabethan spy fantasy, only to discover that Mark Chadbourn had just published...an Elizabethan spy fantasy.
Eventually I stopped whimpering into my keyboard, finished the revisions and sent it out. It's now garnering some interest, and the similarity's not a problem, since I can use his book as a comparison title. If you liked "The Sword of Albion", you might like...
I've met Mark since then and we had a very friendly chat about it, so it's all cool :)
It's always useful to remember that while authors like novelty publishers like a bit of familiarity.
Good luck with your book.
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