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Kate Russell is best known for presenting the Webscape section of BBC’s technology programme Click, but as well as being an accomplished journalist, she has also turned her expertise in a whole new direction. Her debut novel, Elite: Mostly Harmless, burst on to the scene and has since been taking the fiction world by storm.
Kate’s own personal journey to the planet Slough can be followed live on Twitch TV from the 18th December, and Kate will be appearing next year at Sci-Fi convention FantastiCon 2015.
Her interest in fiction comes from a long-standing bond with the space trading computer game, Elite, whose original 1980s incarnation changed the face of computer gaming and rivalled Star Wars in popularity. Kate says, “The original game of Elite was what inspired my love of technology”.
When Frontier Developments announced a brand new incarnation of the game, Elite: Dangerous, it came with a small number of licences to write authorised fiction. Kate put her idea forward. Frontier Developments loved it and Fantastic Books Publishing snapped up Kate into their Elite author group.
As befits Kate’s expertise, the technology in the world of Elite: Mostly Harmless is fascinatingly credible, the world of the book peopled by vivid characters you won’t easily forget. The story follows the travels of Commander Angel Rose and her robot, DORIS, as they lurch from disaster to calamity.
The book is available as an ebook, paperback, hardback and as an audiobook via CD or MP3. The audiobook is read by Kate herself and features a cameo from David Braben, founder of Frontier Developments.
Elite: Dangerous is officially launched on today and more information can be found on the official website.
Check out Kate Russell on Facebook and Twitter.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.