Published earlier this month in the US, James Smythe’s The Explorer is now out in hardback in the UK. To add to the amazing quotes we shared earlier this month, there has been EVEN MORE early praise for this dark, SF thriller, including…
‘A wonderful examination of coping with loss, time and death.’ – SFX Magazine gives it 4 1/2 stars
‘A thriller of deep-space exploration with overtones of the best 70s space-based SF’ – The Guardian features it in their round up of 2013 SF predictions
‘The Explorer earns a “can’t miss” recommendation for its mind-bending, heart-wrenching, avalanche of a reading experience.’ – SF Signal is a fan
‘…one of the most gripping novels that I’ve read in 2012. Dread, claustrophobia and unease permeate this imaginative, bleak masterpiece. The Explorer was easily my favourite sci-fi novel of the past year, possibly my favourite of all time, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.’ Starburst Magazine gave it 9/10
‘Utterly gripping, terrifyingly claustrophobic, heartbreaking. Literary sci-fi of the best kind.’ Alex Preston (author of The Revelations)
‘James Smythe’s Explorer unfolds like fractal origami. Elegant, streamlined, complex and beautiful.’ Tom Pollock
‘a perfect crossover between literary fiction and science fiction’ Booktrust
‘a head-scratching mystery, a powerful, dangerous vision of the future, and a beautifully-written drama about humanity and what we strive for, all wrapped up in a spaceship-shaped puzzle box. It’s mind-bendingly good. Read it at once.’ Will Hill
‘A suffocating lonely sad and brilliant paean to no one being able to hear you scream in space.’ Nikesh Shukla, author of Costa First Novel Award-shortlisted novel, Coconut Unlimited
‘even if you’re not a fan of sci-fi, or think you’re not, you’ll still find a lot to love about The Explorer. In many ways the space setting and sciency conundrums are incidental; this is at heart a novel about a man pushed to the very edge of his endurance, who must somehow find the mental fortitude to carry on.’ Page Plucker
‘The story is not only entertaining but captivating. In the later stages of the book the plot twists and turns – sometimes back on itself – and through its complexities there actually is a romping good space travel yarn.’ Dog Ear Discs
‘absolutely loved this book, gripping and clever; it kept me up reading late into the night.’ Curiosity Killed the Bookworm blog
‘It’s a taut, claustrophobic, frankly unnerving exploration of grief, memory, self-knowledge, and what it really means to go where no one has gone before both physically and psychologically… I found Smythe’s writing to have a rare power to move. The Explorer is a profound and deeply impressive novel which I urge you to read.’ Words of Mercury blog
‘a taut psychological thriller, that draws on fear of the unknown and the debilitating effects of isolation…. Smythe’s control of the tension is, by and large, spot on. ‘The Explorer’ is reminiscent of Stephen King’s early short fiction… The novel’s conclusion is expertly constructed, and the denouement jaw-dropping. It’s the closest thing I have seen in literature to a ‘Sixth Sense’ type reveal, that will have you thumbing back through the book, to check all the pieces were there. I can assure you they are, and you won’t quite believe you missed them. Things are even left open for a sequel, and such is the open nature of the tale, it could be taken in any number of directions. I can’t wait to see which one the author chooses. If The Testimony marked James Smythe as an author to watch, then The Explorer demands that he is one to follow. An excellent novel.’ Quicksilver Reads blog
‘The whole book is a sort of reflection of ourselves, of society, set against the back drop of space, whilst also being a superb work of science fiction in the traditional sense.’ The Opinionated Geeks blog
‘The Explorer is a modern Sci-fi novel that grips the reader from the start. It traps you inside a spaceship and does not let you go, you feel the oxygen levels plummeting, you’re cold and starving, while a error message keeps popping up on the screen. There isn’t much time left. What would you do?’ Read, Write and Read Some More blog
So – have you read it yet?
The Explorer is out TODAY in hardback and is also available as an eBook.
Pick it up at your local store or order it today from Amazon or Waterstone’s.
James is doing two events later on this month:
Wednesday 30th January – 7pm
Event with Ben Johncock for Waterstones11-17 Castle Street, NR2 1PB, Norwich. Tickets available in store or on 0843 290 8519
Saturday 26th February
Q&A with Nikesh Shukla at the Review Bookshop, 131 Bellenden Road, SE15 4QY. For more information 0207 639 7400
