FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dot Lin, Tor Publicity, 646-307-5408 or dot.lin@tor.com
The ground-breaking, Caribbean-inspired debut from the
first-place winner of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the
Future Award…
CR YS TAL
RAI N
Tobias S. Buckell
.
“Caribbean-born Buckell's debut captures the flavor of Afro-Caribbean culture in
the lilting dialog of his characters and in their customs. An original tale with
distinctive characters and a fresh approach to world-building…”
—Library Journal starred review
By the time Tobias S. Buckell turned 25, the Caribbean-born author had lived
through an island revolution, looked on as the boat he lived on was destroyed by a
hurricane, and been named first-place winner of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the
Future Award. Buckell’s short fiction featured a unique blend of SF/fantasy elements
and Caribbean culture that not only gained the young author critical acclaim, but also
brought a much-needed Caribbean voice to today’s literary scene.
Now, Buckell
continues to fill that literary void with a ground-breaking novel that is bursting from the
seams with invention, adventure, and the exotic rhythm of the Caribbean—CRYSTAL
RAIN (A Tor Hardcover; $24.95; February 7, 2006).
Long ago the old fathers came to Nanagada through a wormhole in the
sky, looking for a new world to call their own. But that was many generations ago, and
what was once known has long been lost. Now, steamboats and gas-filled blimps
(over)
traverse the exotic planet where people once looked up to see great silver cities in the
sky.
Like his world, John deBrun has forgotten more than he remembers. Twentyseven years ago, he washed up onto the shore of a new land with no memory of his past.
Since then he has been trying to fill the hole in his life history with a new life amongst
the steamships and musical Caribbean accents of his new homeland. But the mysteries of
his past are never far from his mind.
These mysteries take on new urgency when the fearsome Azteca storm over the
mountains, in search of fresh blood and hearts to feed their cruel inhuman gods.
Nanagada’s only hope lies in a mythical artifact, the Ma Wi Jung, said to be hidden in the
frozen north. And only John deBrun knows the device’s secrets, even if he can’t
remember why or how!
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR CRYSTAL RAIN
“[An] enjoyable SF debut…Buckell handles his interlocking narratives well and his
characters retain their humanity (even the slightly alien ones).”
—Publishers Weekly
“[A] stellar debut novel…The plot is well constructed and the writing is simply superb,
particularly the dialogue, which is amazingly beautiful and evokes a people who are
clearly from our world but living far, far away.”
—Romantic Times Bookclub
“Crystal Rain is refreshing and imaginative, an exotic stew of cultures, myths, and
technology.”
—Kevin J. Anderson
“There’s a nova in the skies: Tobias S. Buckell is a dazzling new voice, and Crystal Rain
is an explosive debut. Read it!”
—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award–winning author of Hominids
Tobias S. Buckell is a Caribbean-born writer who grew up in Grenada, the US, and the
British Virgin Islands. He now lives in Bluffton, Ohio.
CRYSTAL RAIN
By Tobias S. Buckell
A Tor Hardcover
ISBN: 0-765-31227-1
352 pages / $24.95
Publication Date: February 14, 2006
For more information contact:
Dot Lin, Associate Publicist
T: 646-307-5408
F: 212-982-2862
dot.lin@tor.com
www.tor.com
Visit http://www.crystal-rain.com!