''Silversands'' (, published by

Pendragon Press There are five unrelated publishers with the name Pendragon Press. The first is a British small press based in Maesteg in Wales and specialising in science fiction, fantasy, horror and weird fiction. It is run by Christopher Teague. In 2005 the ...

) is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by British writer Gareth L. Powell. It was his

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

Plot summary

In an age where interstellar travel is dangerous and unpredictable, and no-one knows exactly where a trip ends up, Avril Bradley is a Communications officer on board a ship sent to re-contact as many of these lost souls as possible. But a mysterious explosion strands her in a world of political intrigue, espionage and subterfuge; a world of retired cops, digital ghosts and corporate assassins who fight for possession of computer data that had lain undisturbed for almost a century.

Ebook edition

As ''Silversands'' was only produced in a limited run in hardcover, online publisher Anarchy Books released a mass-market ebook edition in April 2012, including the bonus short story "Memory Dust".

Critical reception

The novel received mostly favorable reviews, including reviews from '' Interzone'' and Eric Brown in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Brown regarded the novel as a "fine hi-tech romp" but was critical of what he called "a rushed and melodramatic dénouement."

References

External links

''Silversands'' on Gareth L. Powell's website
2010 science fiction novels 2010 British novels Space opera novels British science fiction novels 2010 debut novels {{2010s-sf-novel-stub