James Lovegrove sold an epic new science fiction novel, The Age of Ra, to Solaris Books. They plan to publish it in 2009 in both the UK and the US.
“In The Age of Ra, the ancient Egyptian gods have defeated all the other pantheons and claimed dominion over the Earth. The world is divided into warring factions, each under the aegis of a different deity. Lt. David Westwynter, a British soldier, stumbles into Freegypt, the only place on the planet to have remained independent of the gods’ influence. There, he encounters the followers of a humanist leader known as the Lightbringer, who has vowed to rid mankind of the shackles of divine oppression. David and the Lightbringer have a personal connection. And there is far more to this freedom fighter than it seems, even as he drags the world toward one final, apocalyptic battle. The Age of Ra is a powerful science fiction novel exploring themes of freedom, oppression, war, and love, and a desperate fight for control of the Earth.”
Consultant Editor George Mann said of the deal: “I can’t wait to take James’s work to the US, where a wholenew readership awaits him. And who could resist scarab tanks, ray-gun staffs, and legions of the animated dead marching across the planet at the will of the Egyptian gods!”
Lovegrove’s first novel, The Hope, was published when he was 24. Since then, he’s written nearly two dozen books, a well as a series of teen fantasy novels, The Clouded World, under the pseudonym Jay Amory.
[Edited 10 February 2008: Darren Turpin writes to tell us “I’ve just posted a few questions about the new series over at this site if you want to add this on as an additional link for folks to check out.” Thanks, Darren.]