Gollancz acquires sequel to Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s A Meeting with Medusa, written by Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter

Gollancz is delighted to have acquired World Rights to The Medusa Chronicles; a science fiction adventure written in a unique collaboration between two high profile science-fiction authors: Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds.

The Medusa Chronicles is inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s influential short story A Meeting with Medusa, following the story of Howard Falcon, captain of an experimental airship and crash survivor who leads an expedition to explore Jupiter’s atmosphere. Picking up Clarke’s themes of space exploration and the nature of humanity, this loose sequel will be a true sense-of-wonder story that will delight fans of classic science-fiction as well as both authors’ existing readerships.

Stephen Baxter said: “A Meeting with Medusa was arguably Clarke’s last great work of short fiction, and, we discovered, inspired us both when we were younger. Today the science of the story still holds up, and its encapsulation of a great theme – humanity vs. the machine – in the dilemma of a single individual remains very effective, and full of story potential. For me, working with Al on this project has been like working with Clarke himself, one more time.”

Alastair Reynolds said: “A Meeting with Medusa has always been a touchstone text for me, one of the very first SF stories that I ever read, and with a resonance that has haunted me across the ensuing forty years. I could not have hoped for a better partner in this collaboration than Steve, and I hope our joint effort reflects our deep admiration and respect for the boundless imagination and essential good-natured optimism of Arthur C Clarke.”

Stephen Baxter is the author of more than forty novels, including the Sunday Times bestselling Long Earth series, co-authored with Sir Terry Pratchett, and the acclaimed Time’s Eye trilogy, co-authored with Sir Arthur C. Clarke. He has won major awards in the UK, US, Germany, and Japan. Born in 1957 he has degrees from Cambridge and Southampton. He lives in Northumberland with his wife. Visit Stephen Baxter’s website at www.stephen-baxter.com.

Alastair Reynolds was born in Barry, South Wales, in 1966. He studied at Newcastle and St Andrews Universities, has a Ph.D. in astronomy and worked as an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency before becoming a full-time writer. An award-winning as well as bestselling writer, with more than thirteen published novels to his name, Locus described him as ‘the most exciting space opera writer working today’. You can learn more by visiting voxish.tripod.com, or by following @AquilaRift on twitter.

The Medusa Chronicles will be out in hardback and eBook on the 18th February 2016.