John Jarrold

Simon Taylor, Editorial Director of Transworld, has acquired world rights in a three-book SF series by debut novelist Andrew Bannister pre-emptively, for a major five-figure sum. The first novel is titled CREATION MACHINE.  The agent was John Jarrold and the first book will be scheduled for Spring 2016.

 

Andrew Bannister is an environmentalist, speaker and writer of fiction and non-fiction. He has published novels, short stories and technical articles. He has been reading science fiction since he was seven.

 

Andrew began writing as a student in the 1980s. His first published article was an in-depth investigation of the history and progress of the AIDS epidemic, published in the Imperial College student newspaper ‘Felix’ in 1986. This was followed by smaller articles in various magazines including an explanation of room-temperature superconductors, commissioned and published by ‘Electronics Times’ in 1989.

 

During the 1990s Andrew wrote mainly for his own pleasure and education, developing skills in technical writing and longer fiction whilst pursuing his career as a sustainability consultant. He continued to publish occasional short pieces in fanzines and special interest newsletters.

 

In the early 2000s Andrew completed two courses in Creative Writing at South Leicester College and subsequently joined the Leicester Writers’ Club where he has been an active member ever since.

 

Andrew describes his wonderfully imagined setting here:

 

“The trilogy is set in The Spin at an indeterminate time. The Spin is an ancient artificial cluster of ninety-nine planets and associated suns, inhabited mainly but not entirely by humanoids. The Spin is hundreds of millions of years old and its Creators are no longer extant or known. Their influence is felt in the bizarre form of The Spin itself – several of the planets follow orbits which appear physically impossible – in the deliberately contradictory evidence left in some geological strata, and most importantly in the occasional discovery of remnant machinery from the Construction Phase: the so-called Artefacts. The Creation Machine is the first of these artefacts to impact significantly on the trilogy.”

 

John Jarrold said:

 

“This is one of the most exciting projects I’ve been involved with, as an agent or a publisher.  Andrew’s writing, characters and invention bear comparison with any major SF novelist of the last twenty years.  I’m delighted that Transworld and Simon Taylor share my overwhelming enthusiasm.”

 

Simon Taylor said:

 

‘Far-flung and far future space opera is a particular passion of mine and in Andrew Bannister I believe we’ve a star, a constellation even, in the making. We responded to the vision, the sometimes-head-spinning concepts and conceits, the strong, confident writing, the wit and, crucially, the fact that he has created characters – whether flesh and blood or a mobile mass of sentient particles – we care about and are rooting for!’