The Noise Revealed (40 page)

First and foremost I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Helen, who accepts being a keyboard widow with grace and understanding, and is more supportive than I have any right to expect or deserve. Then there is Ian Watson, whose advice and input have been invaluable, especially with the first book. It was Ian who suggested naming the pirate vessel
The Noise Within
, for example, effectively providing the novel with its title. A debt of gratitude is also owed to Andy West, whose technical input for this second volume has helped me avoid making an even greater fool of myself with aspects of Virtuality. More thanks are due to the members of the Northampton SF Writers Group, who workshopped assorted chapters of both novels (three from the first, two from the second) and made a number of useful criticisms and suggestions.

I'm deeply indebted to George Mann, Mark Newton and Christian Dunn of Black Library, who were brave enough (feel free to replace with either 'farsighted' or 'foolhardy,' depending on your opinion of the books) to commission two novels from a debut novelist based on a sample chapter, a synopsis, and a history of short story sales, to literary agent John Jarrold for facilitating the deal, and to Jonathan Oliver and Jenni Hill at Rebellion for seeing the process through to its conclusion.

Thanks to Dominic Harman for coming up with such bloody brilliant cover art, and, finally, to all those who have blogged, reviewed and emailed to say how much they enjoyed
The Noise Within.
Such feedback and support means a heck of a lot. After all, without readers, writing really would be a solitary existence.

Ian Whates

August 2010

Indicia
Title Page
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Part Two
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Also by Ian Whates
Acknowledgements