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SKYLIGHT BOOKS presents WARREN ELLIS discusses his new novel NORMAL in conversation with CORY DOCTOROW at PIETER PERFORMANCE SPACE

Normal (FSG Originals)

Skylight Books is thrilled to present Warren Ellis as he reads from his new novel Normal with Cory Doctorow at Pieter Performance SpaceNOTE: THIS READING WILL BE HELD AT PIETER PERFORMANCE SPACE (420 W AVE 33,  LOS ANGELES, CA 90031) AND TICKETS ARE REQUIRED FOR ENTRY. TICKETS COST $18 AND INCLUDE A COPY OF NORMAL AND SALES TAX. For members of our Friends with Benefits program, tickets are only $15. Tickets will go on sale beginning Thursday, October 20, 2016 via Brown Paper Tickets.

A smart, tight, provocative techno-thriller straight out of the very near future--by an iconic visionary writer. 

Some people call it "abyss gaze." Gaze into the abyss all day and the abyss will gaze into you.

There are two types of people who think professionally about the future: Foresight strategists are civil futurists who think about geoengineering and smart cities and ways to evade Our Coming Doom; strategic forecasters are spook futurists, who think about geopolitical upheaval and drone warfare and ways to prepare clients for Our Coming Doom. The former are paid by nonprofits and charities, the latter by global security groups and corporate think tanks.

For both types, if you're good at it, and you spend your days and nights doing it, then it's something you can't do for long. Depression sets in. Mental illness festers. And if the abyss gaze takes hold there's only one place to recover: Normal Head, in the wilds of Oregon, within the secure perimeter of an experimental forest.

When Adam Dearden, a foresight strategist, arrives at Normal Head, he is desperate to unplug and be immersed in sylvan silence. But then a patient goes missing from his locked bedroom, leaving nothing but a pile of insects in his wake. A staff investigation ensues; surveillance becomes total. As the mystery of the disappeared man unravels in Warren Ellis's Normal, Adam uncovers a conspiracy that calls into question the core principles of how and why we think about the future--and the past, and the now.

Praise for Normal

“This book may be the perfect way to sample Ellis, drawing on his fascination with futurists and the threats imposed by ever faster technology and offering a story that employs his profane poetry to a degree that may inspire cackles from fans . . . Ellis even manages to bring his damaged hero to an epiphany, although it’s one that will scare the living hell out of anybody who truly ponders what the world is becoming. A crackling, funny, and frightening horror story from a unique voice in genre lit.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] fascinating near-future thriller from Ellis (Gun Machine) . . . Readers will root for Adam as he struggles to discover what is actually going on in Normal, who is to be trusted, and what happened to Mansfield.”—Publishers Weekly

Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. The event will begin at 7:30 p.m. The reading and Q&A will be followed by a signing.

  • Please note: Warren Ellis will only sign NORMAL--no backlist, memorabilia, posters, DVDs, fan art, etc.
  • No photos, please. 

If you're already a member of our Friends with Benefits program, click on the "Enter a Password or Discount Code" and enter the first half of your email address (before the @) that you used to register as a member. If you'd like to sign up for membership ($25 for one year), go here, and leave a note in the order comments field when you check out that you'd like a discount code for this event. We'll e-mail you the code as soon as we process your membership order (which might take a day or two). 

CAN'T ATTEND? Please purchase a copy of Normal by calling the store at (323) 660-1175 or ordering online at www.skylightbooks.com. We'll do our best to get it signed for you. (Just be sure to click the purple "Signed Copy" button on the next screen once you add the book to your cart.) You  may pick up this book in the store after the event, or have it shipped to you.

Warren Ellis is the author of FSG's first digital original, Dead Pig Collector; the New York Times bestselling novel Gun Machine; and the underground classic Crooked Little Vein. He is also the award-winning creator of a number of iconic, bestselling original graphic novels, including RedMinistry of SpacePlanetary, andTransmetropolitan, and has been behind some of the most successful reimaginings of mainstream comic superheroes, including the Fantastic Four and Iron Man. He has written extensively for ViceWired, and Reuters on technological and cultural matters, and is working on a nonfiction book about the future of cities for FSG Originals. He lives on the southeast coast of England.

Photo by Ellen J. Rogers

Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist, journalist, and blogger—the co-editor of Boing Boing (boingboing.net) and the author of the YA graphic novel In Real Life, the nonfiction business book Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free, and young adult novels like Homeland, Pirate Cinema, and Little Brother and novels for adults like Rapture of the Nerds and Makers. He is the former European director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and cofounded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, Canada, he now lives in Los Angeles.

 


 


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Event date: 
Monday, December 5, 2016 - 7:30pm
Event address: 
420 West Avenue 33
Los Angeles, CA 90031
Normal: A Novel By Warren Ellis Cover Image
$15.00
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
ISBN: 9780374534974
Published: FSG Originals - November 29th, 2016

Gun Machine By Warren Ellis Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780316187411
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: Mulholland Books - January 14th, 2014

Crooked Little Vein: A Novel By Warren Ellis Cover Image
$14.99
ISBN: 9780061252051
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: William Morrow Paperbacks - July 22nd, 2008

Little Brother By Cory Doctorow Cover Image
$12.99
ISBN: 9780765323118
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: Tor Teen - April 13th, 2010

In Real Life By Cory Doctorow, Jen Wang (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Cory Doctorow, Jen Wang (Illustrator)
$20.99
ISBN: 9781596436589
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: First Second - October 14th, 2014

Information Doesn't Want to Be Free: Laws for the Internet Age By Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman (Foreword by), Amanda Palmer (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman (Foreword by), Amanda Palmer (Foreword by)
$15.00
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
ISBN: 9781940450469
Published: McSweeney's - November 24th, 2015

Homeland (Little Brother #2) By Cory Doctorow Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780765333704
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: Tor Teen - May 27th, 2014

For the Win: A Novel By Cory Doctorow Cover Image
$20.99
ISBN: 9780765333841
Availability: Not in Stock. Available to Order.
Published: Tor Teen - September 4th, 2012