Press release

The cigar-chomping monkey is back!

Gareth L. Powell signs up for early 2014 sequel to Ack-Ack Macaque


Solaris is pleased to announce that it has commissioned Gareth L. Powell to write the sequel to his well-received science-fiction Steampunk novel, Ack-Ack Macaque.

HIVE MONKEY will be delivered in summer 2013 for an early 2014 publication.

Powell, author of critically-acclaimed The Recollection, was commissioned by Jonathan Oliver, editor-in-chief of Solaris Books, which published Ack-Ack Macaque earlier this month.

The novel about a sentient cigar-chomping, gun-wielding, Spitfire-flying monkey who once battled German ninjas in the skies over Britain in 1944 made a huge splash when it was published earlier this month.

Supported by a strong social media campaign by Powell, and with a well-received comic strip prequel published in legendary British SF comic book 2000 AD, Ack-Ack Macaque was an inventive science-fiction novel with a fun Steampunk sheen and a primate twist.


“Fizzes with wild ideas... A ripping yarn about murder, mayhem and monkeys”
– Philip Reeve, author of Mortal Engines
series on Ack-Ack Macaque


Ack-Ack Macaque
By Gareth L. Powell

$8.99/$10.99 (US & CAN) ISBN 978-1-78108-060-3
£7.99 (UK) ISBN 978-1-78108-059-7
Also available as an ebook

Monkeys. Ninjas. Zeppelins. A science-fiction novel with a Steampunk sheen and a primate twist, Ack-Ack Macaque is a blisteringly fun SF masterpiece from master storyteller Gareth L. Powell.

In 1944, as waves of German ninjas parachute into Kent, Britain’s best hopes for victory lie with a Spitfire pilot codenamed ‘Ack-Ack Macaque.’ The trouble is he’s actually a cynical, one-eyed, cigar-chomping monkey, and he’s starting to doubt everything – including his own existence!

A century later, when nuclear-powered Zeppelins circle the globe, ex-journalist Victoria Valois is drawn into a deadly game with the man who killed her husband and stole her electronic soul, while the heir to the British throne goes on the run. Meanwhile, the doomsday clock ticks towards Armageddon...

About the Author

Gareth L. Powell is the author of the SF novel Silversands, and the critically acclaimed short story collection, The Last Reef. His work has been published all over the world and featured in a number of recent anthologies, including Shine. Gareth lives in the English West Country with his wife and two daughters.

www.garethlpowell.com