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Ian Whates is a director of both the Science Fiction Writers Association and the British Science Fiction Association. He is also the proprietor and editor of NewCon Press. Here’s Ian Whates’ website. Read Ryan’s interview with Ian Whates. 
Ian Whates is a manically busy man. He has written dozens of short stories, published several novels, and has edited several anthologies. He runs his own publishing company, NewConn Press, though his work has also been published by Angry Robot and Solaris. As if that’s not enough, he is also a director and Chairman of the British Science Fiction Association. Ian’s novel City of Dreams & Nightmare was included in FanLit’s Best of 2010 list ( Read More
The City of a Hundred Rows — (2010-2011) Publisher: The first in a series of novels set in one of the most extraordinary fantasy settings since Gormenghast — the vertical city of Thaiburley. From its towering palatial heights to the dregs who dwell in The City Below, it’s an incredible creation. When Tom, a teenage street thief from the depths, ventures into the uppermost levels to impress a girl, the last thing he expects to do is witness a murder. Accused of the crime, he must use all of his knowledge of the ancient city to flee certain death.
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City of Dreams and Nightmares by Ian Whates
Thaiburley is a sprawling city carved into a towering mountain. For everyone but the privileged few that live in the upper rows, Thaiburley is a city of nightmares. Those that live in the City Below do their best to survive gangs and poverty, sometimes scavenging the scraps thrown down from the heights. Street-nicks like Tom, on the other hand, take what they need.
When Tom, who has a knack for stealth, leaves the lower levels to spend a night exploring the City Above, he is shocked to witness arkademic Magnus murdering his protégé. Fleeing from the murderous arkademic, Tom is nearly caught by Tylus, a Kite Guard. Tom escapes, only to fall off one of the highest walls in Thaiburley. Fortunately, Tom is saved from death by a group of netters, but he finds himself lost in the City of Dreams and Nightmares, Ian ... Read More
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City of Hope and Despair by Ian Whates
In City of Dreams and Nightmares, Ian Whates introduced us to Thaiburley, a mountain city where the rich literally live at the top of the mountain and the poor make do in the City Below. When Tom, a street-nick with a burgeoning gift for magic, ran afoul of a scheming arkademic, Magnus, he only just managed to escape being killed at the hands of Magnus’ versatile assassin, Dewar. Give credit where it’s due, Tom survived thanks to Kat, a girl who is pretty deadly when armed with her twin short swords. By the end of City of Dreams and Nightmares, readers might have expected to see Tom leave the city below in order to enter the upper echelons of the arkademics and politics. However, throughout City of Hope and Despair, Whates chooses to take the road less taken.
... Read More
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City of Light & Shadow by Ian Whates
Ian Whates’ City of Light & Shadow is the third novel in the CITY OF A HUNDRED ROWS series. The series title refers to Thaiburley, a city of rows built on top of each other. The lowest rows are plagued by gang violence while the well-intentioned leaders at the Heights do their best to keep order. The previous novel, City of Hope & Despair, relied on its supporting cast of assassins and gang leaders to drive the plot forward. Here, our not-quite-a-chosen-one hero, Tom, takes center stage.
Tom is an adolescent uniquely blessed with the power to save the city from the corruption of the goddess Thaiss’ evil brother. We learn that this brother has corrupted the source of arkademic power — the core — in the city, and now people are dying of bone flu whi... Read More
Noise — (2010-2011) Publisher: On the brink of perfecting the long sought-after human/AI interface, Philip Kaufman finds his world thrown into turmoil as a scandal from the past returns to haunt him and dangerous information falls into his hands. Pursued by assassins and attacked in his own home, he flees. Leyton, a government black-ops specialist, is diverted from his usual duties to hunt down the elusive pirate vessel The Noise Within, wondering all the while why this particular freebooter is considered so important. Two lives collide in this stunning space-opera from debut novelist Ian Whates!
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