Scrying the Fantastic

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2010. Wear... sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. If I could offer you two, they would be to wear sunscreen, as I've expressed - after all, the long term benefits of wearing sunscreen have been proven by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience - and to add Scrying the Fantastic to your bookmarks right this second.

Wait, what was that? You're wondering what this Scrying the Fantastic might be?

Well, do I have a treat in store for you today, readers - in fact, for all you UK fans of speculative fiction. Whether sci-fi's your bag or it's fantasy that you love... whether you like to dig into a literary morsel of paranormal romance before you head for bed or scare yourself silly with a little horror... whatever species of speculative fiction it is that floats your boat, going forward, I don't doubt that you'll find Scrying the Fantastic to be an invaluable resource to help keep track of what's coming out from all the British publishers and imprints who have a hand in the world of books we love.

Thanks to the kind cooperation of a who's-who of those very publishers - including, among many others, the likes of Orion, Orbit, Macmillan, Headline, Voyager, Penguin, TOR, Random House and Simon & Schuster - each month, Scrying the Fantastic will be proud to present a list of forthcoming fantastic fiction alongside synopses, release details, cover art and much, much more. If you've struggled in the past to get to grips with all the books that come out each week, Scrying the Fantastic is here to lend a helping hand. And in the months to come, it's only going to get better.

Scrying the Fantastic is a hugely ambitious project, of course, and I've a blog to attend to myself, so it's with tremendous pleasure that I say The Speculative Scotsman won't be undertaking this endeavour alone. Joining me, in fact, is a veritable Justice League of Bloggers - I call Batman! - a supergroup, you might say, of speculative fictions fans whom I'm sure many of you will already be familiar with, including, in no particular order: 

Magemanda of Floor to Ceiling Books

Hagelrat of Un:Bound

Harry Markov of Temple Library Reviews

Jason Baki of Kamvision

Mark Chitty of Walker of Worlds

Bryce Lee of Seak's Stamp of Approval

And me. Unofficially, Scrying the Fantastic launched yesterday, with an introductory post explaining what the new blog's all about. Today, we're all kinds of a go.

Now get on over there, quick-smart like, and start planning your reading for the coming months.

We will begin Scrying the Fantastic... now.