Utrechtenaar gets Honorable Mention

I am pleased to announce that my novelette Utrechtenaar has received an Honorable Mention in Gardner Dozois' The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection.

Of course this would be the place to brag about being maybe the first Dutch writer ever et cetera, but really, just go read (or listen to) the story. | 12-2016

Utrechtenaar update

My novelette ‘Utrechtenaar’ has by now been selected for inclusion in the Lethe Press anthology Wilde Stories 2016: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction.

And Publishers Weekly has the following to say about it: “Many troubled characters in these stories face self-hatred, homophobic parents, and defeatism, but they rise above with inspiring determination to love whomever they choose; each story excels as speculative fiction as well.” | 08-2016

news: story in strange horizons

My novelette ‘Utrechtenaar’ has appeared at Strange Horizons, in two parts. There is also an audio version available as podcast. For lovers of historical fantasy, this is my attempt to tell part of a story which has been hidden for a long time, covered up by a society which did not want to hear such stories — a history which has only recently received more attention.

The beautiful artwork is by Vlada Monakhova.

A lot of effort has gone into this story, and I am quite pleased that it has found such an excellent home. But don't just take my word for it; over at Locus Online, Lois Tilton has recommended the story as part of her June short fiction round-up. | 06-2015

new novel

It's been some time coming, but it's finally here: my new novel Een rivier van goden. Dutch only for now, because, well, we all know how that works. In this book we return to the Bronze Age. It's an epic story with a touch of Mesopotamia, a whiff of magic, and a generous helping of suspense. More (Dutch) info here, but obviously we can't resist showing the cover:

And here's the link to the publisher's prospectus. | 04-2013

interviews

A new interview with me has appeared in Fantasy Faction webzine. There was already an article on Dutch Fantasy (which is quite groundbreaking in its own right, so go read it!), and in this game of questions and answers I talk about writing fantasy & SF in the Netherlands in general, and about my own work in particular.

This is an English-language article. Other, Dutch-language interviews can still be found here. | 09-2011

E-books

Dutch news flash! My novels have been available as e-books with Adobe digital rights management for some time now. This month, Meulenhoff Boekerij has taken the bold step of replacing this by a form of ‘social DRM’: a personalised watermark in the EPUB files.

Read the Dutch news item for more information... | 07-2011

nomination season

Not that this is likely to make any difference, but I would like to remind everyone that some of my work is now eligible for nomination in the 2011 Hugo and Nebula Awards:

Novelettes

• Mannikin, Interzone #229
  (included by Lois Tilton at Locus Online in her list of best short fiction from 2010)
  (English version available here; Dutch version here)
  

Short Stories

• A Thousand Trains Out of Here, DayBreak Magazine
  (or download the iPhone app)

So if you are nominating this year, feel free to take these into consideration, should you be so inclined. | 01-2011

news: story in interzone

My story ‘Mannikin’ has appeared in Interzone #229. It is somewhat steampunk-themed, although the setting actually predates the rise of the steam engine. Anyone looking for a label might perhaps want to consider using sailpunk, referring to the Age of Sail.

| 07-2010

elf fantasy fair

On April 24th and 25th, the 10th edition of the Elf Fantasy Fair took place at Castle De Haar in Haarzuilens, The Netherlands. This is the largest event of its kind in The Netherlands. The organisation had courageously invited me as a VIP guest. So I signed books, did two interviews and was on the Roly Show, along with authors Michael Peinkofer and Paul Hoffman, and two actors from the Harry Potter movies.

An interesting weekend. I took a few pictures — the least abominable of these are shown below.

raving audience

banners in the booth

| 04-2010

news: short story online

Not many of my stories can be classified as ‘near-future’. A few months ago I did write one, though; a short SF story which is set presumably some time in the next fifty years. It's called A Thousand Trains Out of Here, and it has just appeared in the online DayBreak Magazine, as part of the promotion for Jetse de Vries' SHINE anthology of optimistic SF (Solaris, March 2010) | 02-2010

ezzulia interview (dutch)

Last month I was a guest at the Archeon Midwinterfair, mostly in a capacity as member of the jury for the 2009 Paul Harland Prize — i.e. sitting behind the table, nodding sagely and firing off witty one-liners from the jury report at the right moments. More interestingly, I was also interviewed about my novel The Scrypturist. Apologies for the fact that it's Dutch only, but it's available here. | 01-2010

news: short story online

The English version of my short story ‘i’ is now available online: read it here. It appeared originally in The Elastic Book of Numbers, which won the 2006 British Fantasy Award for best Anthology. The Dutch version of this story was published in Zwarte Sterren 1. | 12-2009

news: The Scrypturist

Paul Evanby's first novel appeared recently from Mynx (a Meulenhoff Boekerij imprint), Dutch publishers of J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, Frank Herbert and other classic authors. Despite having been available for only two months, the first printing of The Scrypturist has already sold out. | 12-2009

Mauric Dystergrove is one of Revantine's best Writers. On request he writes entire worlds, great spells or simple protections. Until a stranger arrives in town, his skin covered in an unknown script, on the run from a dark past. His desperate search for a secret book convinces Mauric of one thing: nothing will ever be the same again — not even if they succeed in preventing the unimaginable disaster which threatens to destroy the world.

The Scrypturist is a convincing and mature fantasy debut by an award-winning Dutch author with an original voice, rich language and convincing characters. Inventive, tightly plotted and with ingenious magic — The Scrypturist is the first part of an epic tale about a world on the brink of a revolution.

“... the most intelligent novel I've read in this genre for years...” (Ezzulia.nl)