The Aviator: new book now in flight

At last it can be revealed — the project that’s been swallowing most of my writing time over the last year. The Aviator is a work of speculative fiction ((Which I have sometimes described as a science fiction adventure comedy satire, or, via a tweet of Margaret Atwood’s, cli-fi.)), the first in a series set in The Burning World, and it’s my first foray into extended fiction — in which a plot idea borrowed from a bloke called Swift is wrapped around a dystopian vision of a climate-changed near future, all garnished with tales of strange people with even stranger ideas. This is how the great NZ comics artist Dylan Horrocks, who provided the book’s magnificent cover, describes it:

The Aviator is a light-hearted journey (by state-of-the-art airship) around a world transformed by climate change and subsequent political collapse. Rock God Evangelists, super-rich survivalists, back-to-nature primitivists, heavily armed luddites, goats with the secret of eternal youth, and a horny artificial intelligence with a taste for bluegrass and classic Hollywood films; The Aviator is a Gulliver-esque romp through a future we hope won’t come to pass.

I’m grateful to Mike Mann (yes, that one) for a generous note of approbation, and to sci-fi author ((And regular HT reader.)) Sonny Whitelaw for describing it as “a brilliant and wickedly satirical romp.” The first extended review — by my fellow sciblogger Ken Perrott of Open Parachute — has just been published, and provides an interesting and very positive take on what I’ve been up to.

The Aviator is currently available via Amazon for Kindle readers, and as an epub for other devices. You can download a free sample of the book — roughly 10% of the 100,000 word total — at Amazon. Editions for sale via Apple’s iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Kobo are in the works, and a paperback edition will be available in September. All digital editions are DRM free. When the publishing process is done and dusted, and I’ve stopped jumping through promotional hoops, I’ll be starting on book two. I have lots of ideas I want to explore from the vantage point of Thunderbird (the airship), if she’ll let me.

Buy now:

27 thoughts on “The Aviator: new book now in flight”

  1. The thing is, Gareth, that every time I read ‘Thunderbird’ I get that ‘da-dadada, dah dah da-duh de-da-da-daa’ brass fanfare* going through my head… 😉

    It’s extremely hard to dislodge.

    1. This is the pic I used as a temporary cover while Dylan was working on the final image:

      TB2 is still located under my monitor, ready to inspire the next volume…

      Meanwhile, your diversion for today. 😉

  2. Read it. Appropriately its my first cover to cover reading of an ebook. I love the way ebooks let you know you have time to sprint to the end once you know you are 80.63% of the way there.

    Congratulations. Its an entertaining romp. Turns out the future involves cool airships, mass migration with climate change, the singularity, and a thriving cafe culture in Nelson.

    I have been wondering, has anyone actually flown the Tasman in an airship? Soon might be good.

    1. The printed edition will be print on demand, at least at first, so no wasted paper. I hope the ebook will be available in NZ libraries, but I haven’t got the distribution finalised yet.

  7. What a great read to make it through a nasty bout of winter flu….!

    But now I am really curious where Croft and his other so capable blimps and their aviators have taken refuge. Surely a sequel is unavoidable now, to relieve the rest of us from playing with the possibilities in endless loops, overloading the aging NI circuits and with no goat cheese trading anywhere… 😉

    1. I finished a day ago and wondered the same as you, Thomas … where is Croft and why hasn’t he been in touch? Maybe Brazil or Siberia? I hope Gareth has been writing the next book, because I don’t want too long to find out.

      Gareth, I’ll put a review on Amazon when I figure out what I want to say.

      2. Croft is one of the main reasons why there will be at least one more book in The Burning World series. I’m not telling you where he is. I have a good idea, but… 😉

    2. ‘Book one’ is always a bit of a hint!

      I’m still meandering through – just doing the reading last thing at night is my excuse! Will also do the review thing as soon as I’m done.

  8. Didn’t New Zealand’s last Jewish prime minister, Julius Vogel, bring out a ripping yarn about Lady somebody-or-other swanning around the Empire on an airship?

  9. Finished it the other day. My first Kindle download. A great read! Well done Gareth! I look forward to the sequel. Many interesting possibilities there.

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