Like Wellsian war machines the shepherds stride into riots to grab up the ringleaders and drag them off to Inspectorate HQ for adjustment, unless they are in shredding mode, in which case their captives visit community digesters, or rather whatever of them has not been washed down the street drains.
Pain inducers are used for adjustment, and soon the Committee will have the power to edit human minds, but not yet, twelve billion human being need to die before Earth can be stabilized, but by turning large portions of Earth into concentration camps this is achievable, especially when the Argus satellite laser network comes fully online…
Alan Saul has taken a different route to disposal, waking as he does inside a crate on the conveyor into the Calais incinerator. How he got there he does not know, but he does remember the pain and the face of his interrogator. Janus speaks to Saul through the hardware implanted in his skull, sketching the nightmare world for him. And Saul decides to bring it all crashing down…
32 comments:
Sounds dark. Looking forward to it.
It still says "a polity novel" at the bottom. I thought it wasn't?
Ah, bugger -- I used the picture from my files, Friso. I'll change it.
Aha - the cover pic has somewhat changed. An 'Owner' novel....interesting.
Hey, question for all you computer geeks. What do you recommend for converting pdf to jpg?
When I want a pic off a pdf I get it nice and large on the screen then press ctrl and Prt Sc (print screen).
This copies all the screen on to your clipboard.
So then just paste it into program of choice (Paint, Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro etc.)
I find Microsoft Office Picture manager very handy as you can crop / change brightness easily.
Any help?
i use Photoshop to convert between formats but there are freeware
looking forward to this novel, I enjoy your departures from the polity stream
Free one here. Tried it and it works. Couple of nag screens but nice clear output.
http://download.cnet.com/Office-Convert-PDF-to-JPG-JPEG-TIFF-Free/3000-10743_4-10900900.html
yeah i use photoshop because it's easy to manipulate quality/size, plus adobe-to-adobe. pdf is not the best format for changing images anyway though - they tend to be less editable and not the best quality to start with.
Thanks Disco Stu, that method works fine for the purpose of putting stuff up on the blog, though loses quality.
Jebel, I wouldn't bother with pdf, but that's the format Macmillan often use for the covers they send me.
man-of-inaction, I'll probably have a crack at some of the freeware, or just get hold of photoshop. Hope you enjoy The Departure!
Thanks, Neal! I've made my preorder from the Book Depository! I will be looking forward to reading your latest!
Photoshop GOOOOD.
It's on the Book Depository? I looked earlier but couldn't find it. I'll stick up a link.
Okay, shit, I just looked at some versions of photoshop. What versions are you guys using and how much does it cost?
Neal, check out GIMP, an open-source photo editor that's NEARLY as powerful as PS...and free to boot.
http://www.gimp.org/
I look forward to reading The Departure, but I'm firmly in the 'I want more Polity!' camp.
perfect solution for the sequel.
"kill everyone now".
Neal, Photoshop is the "gold standard" for image manipulation. If it can't be done in PS...then it probably just "can't" be done. Period.
That being said, it has a HUGE learning curve and is absurdly overpriced.
Adobe also makes a much cheaper alternative called "Elements" which is aimed at the home market and is much easier to use. It should do most of what you need.
Free alternatives, off the top of my head...
1) GIMP
2) Paint.Net
Yeah I would steer clear of paying for Photoshop if possible when there are free alternatives like the guys have already mentioned.
My girlfriend bought an Adobe package that included Photoshop not long back. After over a month of waiting for activation/serial codes we decided on getting a refund...
You can see the full cover for "The Departure" and many more of Neals covers on the artist's website
http://www.jonsullivanart.com/GALLERY-XXXXX.html
bottom left in the 2010 gallery
Think I'll pre-order on Amazon once the price comes down a little, £17.99 is a little steep for me at the moment.
Is the September date accurate?
This is great Neal. Thanks for the Book Depository tip. Fee postage to Aussie too. Ordered.
I'll have to wait 'til it shows up on Fishpond, the NZ exchange rate is awful at the moment.
Have a look at this Neal; I saw it in action at the Weta Shop and while it isn't quite a mosquito gun, it's still very cool.
http://www.wetanz.com/welcome-to-valve-hq
gwiminence, I have to admit to reservations about going to a site with 'gimp' in the name!
And that would be a duology, Vaude.
As for the programs to use my brother suggested paintshop pro, which I'll take a look at too.
Anthony, the September date is accurate as far as I know. Incidentally, the books are 25% off on the Book Depository site.
bob.hallam, it's one that bears repeating. Too often I hear from US fans who can't get my books or find the shipping too expensive. We use it in Crete too.
Just get gimp it's good.
Yep, Gimp converts the pictures very well.
back to the subject ;-) Hey Neal, I really would prefere this book in eBook Format. Yes, I'm one of the geeks that does everything on his iPad / Android Pad... Any plans if it will be released by Amazon, Apple or anybody else in electronic format? BTW, I was a book geek for the last 33 years, never ever someone could bring me to read some thing on a electronic device. Last year I got stuck in traffic for several hours and startet to read a free novell on my iPhone. I was really astonished how well it went - I recommend an iPad though ;-)
Regards
Yeah, Neal, gimp isn't fly-by-night software. It's probably the second largest photo editing suite in use, behind, of course, PS. Though I do scratch my head at why they chose that name, heh.
I'll throw my hat in the ebook ring, too. I have all of your books on the kindle, from Amazon. I wish some of the hold-out authors would get with the inveitable game *cough cough, Rowling*
Congrats for the new book, will buy it for sure!
Since you're not a digital arts professional (right?), using something like Photoshop (assuming you're paying for it, of course :P) would be strange when GIMP's at hand for free. It'll probably do everything you'll ever need.
Roger, I'm sure it will be - all the other ones are.
I shall be exploring how to use 'gimp' as time goes on, though I won't be wearing a zip-up leather mask whilst doing so.
Ah I really enjoyed the Owner series in "The Engineer [Reconditioned]" series (despite the shoddy editing). It's a very interesting concept and yet open to a fair bit of creative freedom.
To Antony; As much as I dislike Amazon, they have a price promise which states [for pre-ordered books]: "For items with a future release date, the Amazon.co.uk price may change between the time of order and the date the item is dispatched. We do not charge you until we dispatch an item; therefore, when you pre-order selected books, CDs, videos, DVDs, pieces of software or video games, you will be charged the lowest price offered by Amazon.co.uk between the time the order was placed and the item's release date." Which is nice. They've dropped it to match TBD at £13.49.
It's also up on Waterstones.com now [at full jacket-price]. But book depository all the way!
I am really looking forward to your Maker Duology, I loved the world you made and can't wait to get back to it.
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