• Chat with Me on LibraryThing: From now until next Friday, August 1, I’m participating in my own LibraryThing Author Chat. Which basically means that any LibraryThing member is free to post questions to the author in an open forum, and I’ll answer them. Somebody please log on and ask me something so I can prop up my frail, stunted ego.
• SFFWorld MultiReal Review: Rob Bedford of SFFWorld has given MultiReal what can only be called a rave review. Remember that this is the guy who called Infoquake “THE science fiction novel of the year, if not the past five years,” and said that “the genre might not be quite the same after this book.” So I’ve been looking forward to what Rob has to say. Excerpt:
  

  MultiReal is on par with the previous volume for Edelman’s ability to change the game a bit and still maintain what made Infoquake such a great novel; his growth as a writer is most evident in the characters themselves. If anything, MultiReal may be a bolder novel… MultiReal is also not a “treading water middle book” of a trilogy… it really drives home much of what Edelman was setting up in the first volume and leaves the reader eager for the next volume. David Louis Edelman has crafted another winner with MultiReal… I for one can’t wait to see where Edelman takes the conclusion of this [thus far] spectacular trilogy.

• Listen to My “Key to Publishing” on Audio: The popular podcasts Adventures in SciFi Publishing and I Should Be Writing are jointly holding a Keys to Publishing Contest. Not only will they be giving away copies of Infoquake and MultiReal, but they’ll also be giving away books by my buddies Tobias Buckell, Jay Lake, Sean Williams, and Kay Kenyon (as well as Brenda Cooper, whom I’ve not yet had the pleasure of meeting). As part of the contest, they asked the authors to contribute short audio pieces on the key to getting published. Here’s my contribution, on I Should Be Writing 94. The whole podcast is worth listening to, but for reference’ sake, the intro to the Keys to Publishing sections starts at 3:40, and my audio piece runs from 4:50 to 7:36.)
• Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist Contest Winners: Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist has announced the winners of their MultiReal giveaway contest, which ended up being an Infoquake/MultiReal giveaway contest. (In case you’ve forgotten, Pat called Infoquake “one of the very best science fiction debuts I have ever read.” And he hasn’t reviewed MultiReal yet, so I’m very interested in making sure he’s happy. Can I FedEx you a pillow, Pat?)
• POD People Review: Chris Gerrib of POD People has reviewed MultiReal and given it a rating of 10 out of 10. Says Chris (a self-published SF author in his own right):
  

  MultiReal is a deep book, full of plots and counter-plots, with a stunning vision of the future. It manages what seems to be impossible, making the act of computer programming exciting, while reflecting on the nature of government and business. This is high science fiction at its finest.

  Which prompted this amusing reply from one baron_waste on the LiveJournal mirror of the article:

  In ten years, that book is going to be as embarrassingly dated as any 1950s “Atomic Mutant Vegetables Conquer the World” story. I mean, look at it. Maybe he won’t care — royalty checks are their own currency, in the literal sense of the word — but this ain’t exactly The City and the Stars you’re describing here.

  Fine, baron_waste. Not only do you pick on my book, but you make fun of the title for my next book, Atomic Mutant Vegetables Conquer the World. See if I care.

• The Agony Column Audio Interview. Rick Kleffel of The Agony Column discusses Infoquake with me. Says Kleffel in his introduction to the 32-minute audio interview, “I loved this novel, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. It stayed with me, this economic vision of the future as one giant marketing meeting and product development push.” The interview is available in both MP3 and RealAudio formats. Portions of the interview are scheduled to appear on KUSP radio and NPR’s Weekend Edition.
• SFFWorld Interview. SFFWorld’s Rob H. Bedford (the man who recently called Infoquake “THE SF book of the year, if not the past five years”) conducts an in-depth interview with me about Infoquake, 9/11, the critics, and DeepGenre. Favorite quote: “Before 9/11, there was a lot of talk about how we had left the standard economic cycle behind and were living in this fairy tale land of perpetual wealth. People really believed this, and the original draft of Jump 225 reflected this attitude.”

And there are also two new reviews to link to:

• William Lexner: Infoquake “Obvious Frontrunner” for Philip K. Dick Award. In a stellar review for his I Hope I Didn’t Just Give Away the Ending blog, William Lexner says: “David Louis Edelman keeps the action coming at a breakneck pace, and despite the lack of SFnal tropes such as interstellar travel and space battles, Infoquake never lacks in excitement…. Infoquake seems an obvious frontrunner in the race to win this year’s Philip K. Dick Award.” He goes on to praise the appendices and historical timeline, calling the world of Infoquake “as rich with history as our own, and only rivaled in speculative fiction by J.R.R. Tolkien and perhaps George R.R. Martin.”
• L.A. Splash: “Thought-Provoking and Terribly Imaginative.” L.A. Splash magazine weighs in with a brief rave review for Infoquake, calling it “a thought-provoking and terribly imaginative book.” The reviewers further go on to say: “Infoquake is one of those books that hooks you into the story and makes you never want to put the book down. But once you have decided that you must get some sleep before work the next day, you put the book down and find yourself unable to stop thinking about the questions raised by the story.”

My next appearances will be at CapClave in Silver Spring, MD (October 20-22) and, hopefully, World Fantasy Convention in Austin, TX (November 2-5).

• Readings in Baltimore and Northern Virginia Next Week. On Tuesday, September 5, at 7:00 P.M., I will be making an appearance at the Barnes & Noble in White Marsh, MD to promote Infoquake. And on Thursday, September 7, at 7:30 P.M., I’ll be reading and signing at the Barnes & Noble in Reston, VA. If you’re in the area, come along and bring your books for me to sign. Or better yet, buy more!
• SFFWorld Calls Infoquake “THE Science Fiction Book of the Year.” Rob Bedford of SFFWorld has published the official SFFWorld review of Infoquake, saying: “The manner in which people who experienced Dune upon its publication speak about Herbert’s opus is not dissimilar to the feeling Infoquake elicits — the genre might not be quite the same after this book…. Infoquake is a stunning debut novel by a lucid, precise, and talented new voice in the genre…. This may be THE science fiction book of the year.” Rob goes even further on his blog, calling Infoquake “THE science fiction novel of the year, if not the past five years.”
• Rave Reviews from Meme Therapy, Fantasy Magazine and Bookgasm. Three more outstanding reviews for Infoquake that make me literally blush:
  • Meme Therapy. The science fiction/technology blog Meme Therapy (which recently interviewed me) published a 4-star review, saying “Infoquake definitely hooks in the reader, and I for one can’t wait to get my grubby wee paws on the second installment.”
  • Fantasy Magazine. The upcoming issue of Fantasy Magazine calls Infoquake “an entertaining and intelligent debut” and states that “the novel also addresses weighty themes: the destructive price of greed, the unchanging relentlessness of the human drive to innovate and to compete.”
  • Bookgasm. Ryun Patterson of Bookgasm said in his rave review: “Infoquake is a triumph of speculation. Edelman has foreseen a nanotech future of warring corporations and stock markets of personal enhancement in which both the good and the bad of the present day are reflected with an even hand and startling clarity…. it’s Wall Street meets Neuromancer.” (Pattersun also praises my publisher, Pyr, saying that “Pyr is quickly becoming the standard by which all other sci-fi imprints are judged.”)
• Flickr Photos from Infoquake Launch Party and WorldCon. I’ve uploaded a handful of photos to Flickr both of the August 12 Infoquake launch party (featuring the world famous Infocake) and of a few events at the WorldCon Science Fiction Convention in Anaheim, CA this past week. Okay, so Ansel Adams isn’t exactly rising from the dead to praise the artistic quality of these photos, but he’s not spinning in his grave either. (In fact, we kind of like Ansel exactly how he is right now.)
• Nine Drafts of Infoquake‘s Chapter 1. I recently posted all nine drafts of the first chapter of Infoquake onto my website, with footnotes to comment on the editing process along the way. From the blog: “Now the point of posting these drafts is not to dazzle everyone with how wise and witty I’ve become. (Although if anyone is dazzled, I’m enough of an egomaniac to take it, no questions asked.) The point is that I thought writing neophytes might be interested in a behind-the-scenes look at what novelists go through in the revision process.”

Believe it or not, there are still more reviews pending, which I’ll link to as I get them. Also in the coming weeks, watch for a full-length audio interview with me (clips of which are supposed to appear on NPR at some point) and another web interview as well.

My most sincere thanks to all those who have lent their support to my efforts to get the word out about Infoquake!