March 13th, 2017 1 comment

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Lethbridge-Stewart The Life of Evans

Only available directly from www.candy-jar.co.uk

Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce its brand new limited edition Lethbridge-Stewart novella range!

Three new hardback novellas will be released throughout 2017, strictly limited to 400 copies each. March sees the release of The Life of Evans by John Peel, with Day of the Intelligence by Andy Frankham-Allen following in May, and The Flaming Soldier by Christopher Bryant in July. Each can be pre-ordered separately, or as part of a discounted bundle.

Head of Publishing, Shaun Russell, says: “We’re very excited to announce these novellas, a way to tell stories that may not necessarily work as full-length works, giving us a chance to explore different corners of the Lethbridge-Stewart universe. We’re launching this new range with three very special releases, all with very specific goals.”

Day of the Intelligence is released to celebrate fifty years of the Great Intelligence, telling the official origin story, fully authorised by Haisman & Lincoln, with The Flaming Soldier being released to commemorate the World War II hero, Eileen Youghusband.

But first comes The Life of Evans, which tells the untold story of Driver Evans, everybody’s favourite Welsh slacker.

Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen says: “I always had a plan to develop Evans beyond the obvious cliches of his television appearance, but it turned out to be one-too-many character arcs for the series. As such Evans disappeared after 2016’s The Grandfather Infestation. Fortunately, the idea of the novellas came along, and due to the popularity of Evans, I decided it made sense to explore Evans’ character arc in the first novella. John Peel was the obvious choice; he writes quickly, and works very well to spec, and since we’ve had a lot of readers ask for more Peel, it seemed the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. And, naturally, John nailed it.”

John Peel says: ”Part of the fun of writing this kind of story is inventing new menaces. This time I got to create two – only one of which was alien. Another part of the fun is doing terrible things to our favourite characters, and I certainly put poor old Evans through the wringer. I think he’ll survive it.”

Also included in this book is a bonus short story by Robert Mammone, called Time and Again. The story serves as a sequel to the 1985 Doctor Who television serial Timelash, and is a prequel to the forthcoming spin-off series, Travers & Wells, revealing more of the mystery that was first seen at the end of the novel, Times Squared. Travers & Wells will be a new novella series, echoing the novellas of HG Wells, such as The War of the Worlds.

Frankham-Allen says: “I contacted Glen McCoy in 2016 about using the characters from his Doctor Who adventure, and after a lovely phone call with me explaining my ideas for the series, he was more than happy with what he called ‘a wicked imagination’. Once that was settled, it was just a case of finding the right person to launch the series, so I turned to Robert as I was very impressed with his speed and level of excellence when he wrote us a Halloween story last year.”

Robert Mammone says: “When Andy and I were chatting on Skype about the upcoming novellas it suddenly dawned on him we could set up the range with a prequel short story. I immediately said yes and then knuckled down to getting the ideas, themes and plot straight. I didn’t want the story to be a direct sequel to Timelash, but I did want to take elements from that story as a way of looking at how those who assume authority after toppling a dictatorship can end up aping some of the actions of those overthrown. And despite the melancholy tone, it was an exciting project to work on – be faithful to the source material, but broaden and deepen the themes to bring them up-to-date with 21st Century sensibilities. I hope everyone enjoys it and stays for the ride that is about to begin!”

The Life of Evans is available for pre-order now, for £12.99 (+ p&p), and will be which published in hardback, with a strict print-run of only 400 copies. You can pre-order individually or as part of the discounted novella UK bundle for only £38.40, saving £9.57, or an international bundle for only £55.59, saving £7.40. Order early to avoid disappointment. Only available directly from Candy Jar Books at:www.candy-jar.co.uk

Categorised under: Books, Story books