Thursday 15 September 2011

O is for OUT NOW IN PAPERBACK!

And here it is, the book the Telegraph is calling, ‘Fatherland for an action movie age’ and The Times, ‘An horrific reimagining of the Dark Continent’:




O is also for OPERATION NELKE

This is the name of Arnim’s operation to invade Angola in my book. Although plans for a Nazi occupation of Angola were discussed as early as 1937, no official operation name was ever designated to it (unlike Operations Banana and Sisal the proposed conquest of, respectively, West and Central Africa).

Despite having to make up a name for the operation, I wanted it to have some historical resonance. In 1974, there was a coup d’etat in Portugal that eventually led to Angola’s independence (and later civil war). This was known as the ‘Carnation Revolution’ because no shots were fired; instead flowers were put in the barrels of rifles. I liked the irony of that in relation to my alternative history, hence ‘Nelke’ – the German for carnation.


8 comments:

  1. Hooorah!!!!!

    I love the tagline too!! Good luck with the paperback edition!!

    I always contend that if there's something truly worth saying, is to say it with flowers. :-)

    Take care
    x

    ReplyDelete
  2. p.s. just saw your paperback in the 3 for 2 offer at Waterstones!! Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kitty - glad you saw the paperback in Waterstones on 2 for 3. That promotion has ended and now it's on 'Best of 2011'.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's not in the Gower St branch of Waterstones! I just checked! Boooo to them!

    Take care
    x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Can you tell me when the next book in the series will be 'out now' please. Loved the first one.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tiny - thanks for dropping by. I'm currently working on the sequel at the moment and it is due to be published next year (2013). The best thing for updates is to sign up to my mailing list on the website or check AFRIKA REICH's page on Facebook. Glad to hear you enjoyed Book 1!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Greetings from New Jersey. Linked to your blog from Henry Holt: Cannot wait to read this novel when its out next year! Fatherland is one of my all time favorites, Turtledove too.

    CB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Clary – thanks for your comment. The US edition comes out in February 2013. Although there is a connection between my book and FATHERLAND, if you read more of this blog you’ll also realise mine is quite different from Robert Harris’s, less a forensic procedural and more an action thriller. If/when you read the book, do let me know what you think.

      Delete